Halloween Mix-Up

Halloween Mix-Up

by: Tassana Burrfoot







Chapter Twenty-Two: Bumpy Night







Hermione gazed down at the sleeping figure of Draco Malfoy. It was almost two o\'clock in the morning. A small smile crossed her features as she looked down at the young boy who was, in many ways, a man.



He didn\'t snore, nor did he steal covers or hog the bed. He slept peacefully on his side, an arm lying across her lap. His blond hair fell carelessly across his soft, pale face.



She knew what had woken her up. She looked around the room and shivered. It wasn\'t cold. In fact, being so close to him under the thick satin sheets and silk comforter, she was quite warm. But, she shivered all the same.



An involuntary shudder coursed through her as she thought over the nightmare she had had. In her dream, Harry had been defeated. Voldemort had won. Worse still, Lucius Malfoy had laughed at her, his hand holding her bare shoulder with malicious glee. And the spell was still on her.



She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. She would not allow herself to think of them. It was a dream, nothing more.



Careful not to wake Draco, she slipped out of the bed and reached for her house robe. A glass of milk. That\'s what she needed. A glass of milk and she would be able to sleep.



Grabbing her wand, she slipped out of the room and into the long, dark corridor. Thankfully, there was carpet under her feet, for she knew the floor was made of stone and would be quite cold at this time of the night. Not that the carpet was warm.



She did not light her wand, for she knew better. The house hated her. Draco had laughed at her when she had mentioned it, but she hadn\'t cared. She knew. She could feel the vibes the house gave off. It wanted her gone.



As long as she crept along in the dark, she would be fine. The portraits wouldn\'t wake, nor would the house. It would be perfectly content sleeping.



Finding the stairwell was easy enough, even in the dark. To her great relief, the hallway Draco lived in had a direct route to the stair. All she had to do was walk down the stair, through the parlor, past the dining room, and into the kitchen. Simple enough.



The moment her hand touched the banister, she bumped full bodied into a wall. Only, it wasn\'t a wall. It was someone cursing silently, then, it was a bright light. She dropped her wand.



"Miss Granger! What are you doing out of bed at this ghastly hour?" Lucius Malfoy demanded as he stepped away from her and straightened his robes.



She breathed a sigh of relief as she thanked Merlin there had been no skin on skin contact. She brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I\'m sorry," she said, standing straight. "I was just going into the kitchen for a glass of milk."



His eyes narrowed. "Why didn\'t you call for one of the house elves?"



She checked herself before retorting rudely. This was his house, after all. She just sighed, "I didn\'t want to wake anyone."



He lifted a single eyebrow. "House elves do not sleep that much, Miss Granger," he replied. "Surely even a Mudblood like you would know this."



She wrinkled her nose. "I understand this is your house, Mr. Malfoy, but I have to ask that you do not call me that name. Your son saw me fit enough to bring home, which must say something to you."



"That he is either delusional or bewitched," he drawled.



She pinched her lips together and briefly wondered just how much he actually knew. "Might I ask what brings you out of bed?"



"That is none of your business," he answered. "As you have pointed out, this is my house and I will do as I please... Including calling a Mudblood for what they are."



She clenched her teeth together. "I didn\'t come here to be verbally abused," she told him.



"Why did you come here?" he questioned. "You know I am a Death Eater. Just because I am out of Azkaban doesn\'t change things. I am still required to report to the Dark Lord."



"It\'s not..."



She stopped as his words and the insinuations behind them began to sink in. He was right. He was a Death Eater. Leopards didn\'t change their spots. And he had a mighty large spot on his left arm.



She looked up into his cold, steel eyes. For the first time in a long time, she felt fear. What better leverage against Harry than to have her brought to Voldemort? Talk about a huge blow to the heart.



"You wouldn\'t actually turn me in, would you, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked in a hushed voice.



He folded his arms and studied her for a moment. If she didn\'t know better, she\'d think he actually enjoyed the fear he was getting from her. Wait. Of course he enjoyed it!



Finally, he spoke, his voice soft and silky, "No, Miss Granger. I will not turn you in. Though, doing so would greatly please his lordship. However, I will not risk him learning of my son\'s involvement with you, thereby destroying my own family. I\'m not a sadist."



She released the breath she hadn\'t realized she was holding in. "Well, I should get going. I\'m really thirsty and that glass of milk is starting to sound really good. I apologize for bumping into you."



She looked around for her wand and was relieved to spot it close by. However, as she bent to pick it up, Mr. Malfoy had done the same thing. A crack resounded on the walls as their foreheads collided with one another. They both stepped away from one another as they clutched their heads. Great Merlin, he had a hard head!



Hermione\'s eyes widened in horror as she stared at Mr. Malfoy. He handed her her wand and looked at her curiously. Misinterpreting her horrified expression, he said, "That is the second time you have \'bumped\' into me. No worries, however. I will not hex you for such a thing."



She shook her head slowly, though she could not find words to respond. Not that it really mattered. Even if she had words, there was no way she would be able to speak them. She turned on her heel and fled back to the bedroom she shared with Draco.



"Draco!" she hissed as she ran to the bed. She pushed at his arm. "Draco!"



He moaned and turned away from her. She huffed in annoyance and pushed him more forcefully. "Draco, wake up!" she practically hollered.



She heard him mumble something unintelligible and pushed on him again. "Get up!"



"I\'m up!" he snapped.



He turned around to face her. Seeing her expression, he sat up. "What\'s wrong?"



"It happened!" she cried, climbing into the bed next to him. "It was an accident. I just wanted a glass of milk. I had had a bad dream. Milk has always been good at getting rid of bad dreams, at least that\'s what my mother used to always say. So, I had gone down to get a glass of milk when it happened!"



She had said all of this really fast and, in his sleepy state, he was unable to follow. He held out a hand to stop her. "Wait, slow down. What happened?" he asked, using a finger to rub some sleep out of his eye.



"Your father and I touched!"



Well, that was one way to wake him up. Draco\'s eyes widened as he stared at her. "What?! How?!" he demanded, all his senses alert.



She shook her head. "I had dropped my wand. We had both reached down to pick it up and we bumped heads. Oh, sweet Merlin, what am I going to do?"



"Wait, wait," he said, shaking his own head and grabbing her hands to keep her from burying her face in them. "What was my father doing in here?"



She blinked in confusion. "He wasn\'t in here. He was in the hall. Well, actually at the stairwell. Hadn\'t you heard anything I had said?"



He shook his head. "You mean when you were ranting faster than a niffler can dig? The only thing I caught in that jumble of words was \'it happened.\' You woke me from a dead sleep, Hermione. Give a man a chance to wake before you go off like that."



She took a deep breath and said slowly, "I had had a nightmare. My mum used to always say that, after a nightmare, to drink a glass of milk and it will help you fall back to sleep. I was on my way to the kitchen when I incidentally bumped into your father and dropped my wand. When I reached down to pick it up, he did so too and our heads collided."



He closed his eyes and groaned. Hermione couldn\'t help but wonder what he was thinking about, though she dared not ask. "I suppose now we have to tell him," she commented, letting her eyes fall to her lap.



Draco ran a hand across his face. "I had not planned on sharing any girl with my father, especially not you," he responded.



She shot him a dirty look. "You had not planned on sharing any girl with your father? What is that supposed to mean? Do you think I enjoy this?" she asked.



"What? No!" he answered, shaking his head. He sighed, "I know this is the last thing you wanted. All of it. I just... It\'s complicated. And the longer this damn curse lasts, the more complicated it\'s getting."



"No shit, Sherlock," she growled.



He tilted his head in confusion. "Sherlock? Who\'s..."



"Don\'t worry about it," she snapped. "It\'s inconsequential. I do not want to do anything with your father. Actually, I refuse."



"You can\'t do that!" he exclaimed. "Don\'t you get it? You don\'t have a choice in any of this. Like that girl in the story. You..."



"I chose not to have sex with Zabini and his little gang," she pointed out. "You didn\'t seem to have a problem with that."



"Yes, but that was different," he argued. "My father didn\'t rape you. In fact, he would never even willing touch you for any reason in normal circumstances."



Her eyes widened. "You actually want me to sleep with him?"



"No!" he insisted. "That\'s the last thing I want. But, at the same time, I don\'t want my father to go crazy because of an accident."



"You mean he hasn\'t already gone crazy?" she muttered, under her breath.



Unfortunately, Draco had caught it. "What\'s that supposed to mean?" he demanded.



She sighed and shrugged. "He\'s a Death Eater, right? Following a crazy old man with superficial beliefs. Your father isn\'t exactly Man of the Year."



"So, that means that he\'s crazy or deserves to be driven to madness?" he questioned.



"No, but I wouldn\'t be surprised if he did go crazy," she said. "Look at what that madman did to your aunt. Lestrange isn\'t exactly sane. Far from it."



"Azkaban did that to her."



"Lord Voldemort did that to her."



Silence rang in the room as he stared at her in disbelief. "You-y... W-w-wha..." he stammered. "Are you insane?! Saying the Dark Lord\'s name like that?"



"Showing fear of the name shows fear of the creature," she said, as if that answered everything. "I\'m not afraid of him."



He shook his head. "You are crazy. Don\'t ever say that name again in my presence. You may not value your life, but I value mine. It\'s not just a matter of fearing the name, Hermione. Saying the Dark Lord\'s name is like provoking him," he said to her.



She just shrugged. "What are we going to do?" she repeated, turning the conversation back to the matter at hand.



He glanced at his clock and sighed, "The only thing we can do. My father will be in his study now. We\'ll go talk to him. The book is in my trunk. Let me throw on a pair of boxers and a robe and we\'ll go down."



She nodded as she climbed back out of the bed and headed for his trunk.