A/N: Sorry this update took so long, but honestly, I have hit I bit of a block with this story. I don't exactly know where I want it to go at the moment. This isn't much of a chapter, I'm sorry; it's more of a filler one until I can decide where I want to take this story. Hopefully, it won't take me so long to update next time!
Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers!
~Jen~
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Planes, Trains, and Harry Potter?
Chapter Six
Hermione couldn't believe her eyes; standing in front of her was Malfoy and Ginny, together! At first she thought she had to be dreaming, there was no way this could happen. She rubbed her eyes a bit, and the image was still there. She pinched herself, but she didn't wake up. Finally accepting this as reality, Hermione looked around at everyone.
They were all standing still, everyone too afraid or too shocked to say anything.
"MALFOY! What in the bloody hell are you doing with my sister?" Ron screamed. He inched himself closer, but didn't move any more.
Malfoy stood rooted to his stop. He looked around at everyone and Hermione could see fear evident in his eyes.
"Ron, calm down! Let me explain," Ginny began, holding up her hands and walking cautiously to her brother.
"Explain?" Ron shouted. "How can you explain this?" Ron pointed toward Malfoy. He was so angry words escaped him.
Hermione finally decided it was time to calm everyone down and get a hold of the situation. Stepping forward, she made her way over so she was standing in between Ron and Malfoy.
"Listen Ron, I really think we should let Ginny tell us her side of the story. We can at least hear her out," Hermione reasoned, and Ron turned and glared at Hermione.
"Hear her story? Hermione, do you not see who she is with? Did that fact escape you? She is with Malfoy for bloody's sake!" Ron bellowed. His hands were clenched by his sides, his eyes narrowed, and his face was now the exact color of his hair.
Hermione wasn't fazed at all by him yelling at her; she was used to Ron's temper. She stood her ground and said back, "I understand how you feel, but maybe there is a good reason for this. I'm sure Ginny," Hermione turned to look at the young girl standing beside her. Ginny gave a sympathetic look and Hermione gave Ginny a there-better-be-a-good-reason look. Turning back to Ron she said, "Has a very good explanation."
Ginny only nodded her head in agreement.
Hermione looked over at Harry, who had yet to say a word, and motioned for him to help her out in the situation. Taking the hint, Harry moved over to stand beside Ron. He laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "Yeah Ron, maybe we should hear Ginny out."
Ron turned to Harry and shouted, "And what are we supposed to do about him?!?" He pointed toward Malfoy, but didn't turn his way.
"Why don't we just tie him up," Tyler suggested. He was standing beside Claire, who was trying her best to decipher the situation. She didn't like Malfoy at all, and this was very startling to her, also.
"No, we can't do that," Ginny tried to reason, but Ron shook his head.
"I will talk, but only if he is tied down," Ron said back. He folded his arms across his chest and turned away from Malfoy, Ginny, and Hermione.
"Alright. Ginny, you go on back into our tent and we will be there in a minute," Harry said.
Ginny nodded her head and walked solemnly toward the boy's tent. She went inside and as soon as she was out of sight, Ron rounded on Malfoy.
"Malfoy, I should beat you to a bloody pulp right now! What the hell do you think you're playing at?" Ron shouted. Malfoy stood still. He didn't say anything back and Hermione figured it was because he was terrified about what Ron would do to him. "I see you're not making at snide remarks! Well at least you have a bit of sense, because as you can see we're not at Hogwarts anymore, and anything goes!"
Harry pulled Ron away from Malfoy. "Ron, just calm down. Let's get him tied up then we can go and talk with Ginny," Harry explained.
Ron calmed down a bit and Lavender walked up to him. "You ok, Ron?" she asked with concern.
"Not really," Ron replied. Lavender rubbed his shoulder and gave him a smile.
"Let's walk over here for a bit," she said motioning toward the fire that had died out a few hours ago. Ron nodded his head and Lavender led him away.
Hermione turned toward Harry. "Where are we going to tie him up at?"
"You seriously aren't going to tie me up, are you?" Malfoy asked, finally speaking for the first time. He eyed them all warily.
"We are for right now, and if you know what's good for you, you wouldn't complain. It could be a lot worse, for instance, we could let Ron have a go at you," Harry threatened and Draco glanced over in Ron's direction. He didn't say anything after that.
"Alright, well let's put him over there by that tree," Hermione said, pointing toward a huge tree that was right beside the tents.
Harry grabbed Draco's one arm and pulled him. Draco didn't resist and Hermione wasn't surprised.
They walked over to the tree and Hermione pulled out her wand. Harry pushed Draco against the tree, who decided to sit down. Hermione muttered an incantation and magical ropes shot out of her wand, binding Draco securely to the tree.
Draco glared at them, but stilled remained silent.
"Alright, let's go talk with Ginny," Hermione said and they made their way into the guy's tent.
Hermione looked around and noticed it was basically the same as theirs, but more manly. The couch was a different color and also the kitchen had a different décor, but the layout was the same.
Ginny was sitting in the armchair farthest away from them. Hermione walked behind Harry, who took a seat on the far end of the couch. Hermione sat beside him, Claire beside her, and Tyler on the other end. Lavender and Ron walked in, and took the loveseat against the other wall.
They all sat silently, and Hermione hoped that someone would just begin. Ginny didn't look any of them in the face.
"Ok Ginny, talk," Ron finally said and they all turned their attention to the red-haired girl.
She wrung her hands together, fidgeting about in her chair as she eyed the floor. "Ok, I will, but first you have to promise me you won't say anything till the end, alright?" Ginny asked and everyone nodded. She continued, "Well, it was about this time last night that I snuck out of Gryffindor tower. I was meeting Malfoy," Ginny stopped for a second letting everyone absorb the information.
"I met up with him in the Astronomy Tower, where we usually meet, but Filch was becoming suspicious of us. One day in Herbology, Professor Sprout made me go out and dump some stuff behind the greenhouse. When I did, I saw a carriage. I figured it was abandoned and I took a look inside. I liked it and figured it was a good place for us to talk and sno…," Ginny didn't finish her sentence. Hermione knew what she was about to say, and by the looks of everyone else, they did too.
"Anyway, I told Draco, and we went there for the first time last night. We didn't want to get caught, and so we saw the small room at the end of the carriage. We pulled open the door and walked in. We stayed there all night, and we were just going to sneak back in this morning, but what do you know, the carriage began to move. We didn't want to get in trouble, so we stayed still and quiet. We sat in there until we heard Dumbledore talking to each of you, and then the carriage began to move again. We tried the door, but the damn door was locked. We tried everything, but we couldn't get it open. Our wands didn't work, and that door is awfully strong because we used all our might to try and break it down. We stayed in there as long as we could, but we just couldn't take it anymore, so we started banging, and then well, you know the rest…" Ginny trailed off. She still didn't look up and Hermione knew she was embarrassed.
"How could they get into the carriage? I thought Dumbledore made us make up the password," Harry asked and Hermione turned toward him.
"Well, he let us pick the password, which probably means that it wasn't even set the night before. When you said it this morning, it probably triggered the lock, and Dumbledore said that the room is very secure, so nothing could really open it unless you had the password," Hermione answered for him.
"I want to know what the hell you were doing with Malfoy," Ron asked. His head was perched up on to of his hand and his eyes were staring intently at Ginny. She looked him in the eye and Hermione could feel the tension.
"We've, well, we've been seeing each other," Ginny admitted and no one moved. Hermione figured they all sort of suspected it, but when Ginny voiced it, it was as if the reality hit them for the first time.
"For how long?" Ron asked, still in the same position, yet his anger was rising.
"Ron, you have to under…" Ginny started to say, but Ron interrupted her.
"For how long, Ginny?!?" Ron seethed.
"Since the end of last year," Ginny answered and Ron shot up from the couch.
"What about Neville? I thought you were seeing him?" Harry asked.
"Neville's really nice, but he isn't my type," Ginny said and Ron made a noise.
"He isn't your type? And Malfoy is, huh?" Ron said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"The future death eater, snot-nosed git, and not to mention our bloody enemy! Why are you with him? WHY?!?" Ron began pacing the room, clenching his hands and running it through his hair in frustration.
"Ginny, what are you thinking?" Harry chimed in. Hermione could tell that he was becoming angry too. Hermione knew that Ginny was a like a sister to Harry, and he cared for her deeply.
Ginny looked up to Harry and said, "You don't understand. He's really different with me."
"Different? How is he different? This is the guy who taunts Harry about his parents, rags on us about being poor, calls Hermione a mudblood, and he also said something about Tyler and Claire here the other day! How is he different?" Ron asked. He stopped in front of Ginny and stared her down.
Hermione could see the tears welling up in Ginny's eyes. Ginny looked at her brother, then at the floor. "I know," Ginny said through her tears. "I know he's like that, but when he's with me, he's a completely different person. No one sees, but he doesn't know how to be nice with you, it's his nature, it's all he has ever known, but I'm helping him and trying to…" Ginny couldn't say anymore. She buried her head in her hands and began crying.
Hermione felt bad for the young girl. She got up from the couch and kneeled in front of her. She wrapped Ginny in a hug and said, "Ginny, it's ok. It's just hard for us, you have to understand that. But don't worry ok, maybe it's best that we all get some sleep. We'll feel better in the morning."
Harry stood up and walked to Ron. "Try not to think about it tonight. We're all tired and edgy, we have a long road ahead of us, and it looks as if these two are going to be joining us, so we need to push everything aside for now. We'll deal with it when we're all ready."
Ron nodded and walked of to his bedroom without another word. Hermione looked up to Harry and they shared a knowing look. Harry crouched down to Ginny and rubbed her back. "Listen Ginny, you just have to be patient with all of us, especially Ron. You know how we feel about Malfoy, and we haven't seen any change in him. But, let's just go to sleep now. We need to rest," Harry told her.
Ginny got up from the couch, drying her tears, and they all walked out of the tent. Ginny didn't say anything; she just made her way over to the girl's tent.
"So, what do we do with him?" Hermione asked. Draco was still sitting against the tree.
"Let's just leave him there," Harry said and Draco snapped to attention.
"No, seriously, you can't let me stay out here! It's dark and there are," Draco began. He swallowed hard as he looked around. "There are creatures out there, they could eat me."
Harry smiled at the thought. "Well, we could only hope," he said and Tyler laughed with him.
Hermione looked up to Harry and shook her head. "Harry, we can't leave him out here. That's something he would do, and we are not like him."
Harry looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Well then, what do we do with him?"
"Let's put him in the compartment that they were in earlier," Claire suggested.
"Alright," Harry said. They released Draco out of the rope and Harry and Tyler grabbed both of his arms.
"No, you can't put me in there! I'm claustrophobic! Please, don't!" Draco shouted as he struggled against them.
"Sorry, but it's the only option we have," Harry told him and they heaved him inside, slamming the door shut. "Now," Harry said turning around toward Hermione and Claire. "He can't get out unless someone says the password."
They all headed back to their tents. Claire and Tyler stopped and said a quick goodnight, and they both departed to their rooms.
Harry and Hermione walked into the girl's tent, and Hermione was surprised Harry followed.
"Harry, is there something you need?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head.
"No, but I just wanted to see what it looks like in here. Almost the same as ours," Harry answered, looking around.
Hermione walked toward her bedroom while Harry surveyed the kitchen. She opened the door and found Ginny sprawled out on her bed. "Great," Hermione muttered, and Harry walked over to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Well, it looks like Ginny picked out my bed and took it over. I guess I'll just have to sleep on the couch," Hermione said.
"Nonsense," Harry told her and Hermione turned toward him.
"Huh?" she asked and Harry smiled.
"Just get your things and you can sleep in my bed. We enlarged ours so we could have more room to sleep," Harry told her and Hermione felt a bit embarrassed.
"I don't know," Hermione told him and Harry smiled.
"I don't bite. I will stay on my side and you will stay on yours. What's the big deal?" He said to her and she smiled.
Hermione thought about the proposition. She would love to sleep in Harry's bed, but she felt so insecure. The thought of being that close to him, sharing a bed with him, was enough to make her head spin. Lighten up Hermione, just do it. It's only Harry. Yeah, that's the problem, it's Harry!
"Alright, let me get my things," Hermione answered and she went into her room. She grabbed a change of clothes for in the morning and followed Harry out.
They walked over to the other tent and slipped inside. Harry sealed it up and they walked to his room.
It was neat, no clothes were on the floor, but it was only the first night. The bed was definitely larger, at least two times bigger than her bed. "Which side do you sleep on?" Hermione asked him.
"Usually the right," Harry answered and Hermione smiled.
"Good, because I usually sleep on the left."
She walked over to her side of the bed and laid her clothes on the chair in the corner. She took off her robe, laying it on the chair, and crawled under the covers. Harry took off his robe and laid it on the dresser. He cut out the light and slipped inside the bed.
Hermione lay on her side, facing the wall. She felt extremely uncomfortable with Harry being next to her in a bed. This is what you always wanted, right? No, I thought when we shared a bed it wouldn't be as friends, but as boyfriend and girlfriend.
"Night, Hermione," Harry whispered and Hermione smiled.
"Goodnight Harry," Hermione replied. She felt at peace in that moment and closed her eyes. She let her rest take her and absorbed herself in her dream world.
Sorry it wasn't much, and it was rather short for me. Hope you liked it anyway. Tell me what you think by REVIEWING!!!