A/N: Thanks AGAIN to all of you who took the time to review chapter 2! Your comments are awesome and we're both excited you like this story!
Walking Away- Craig David
I'm walking away from the troubles in my life
I'm walking away oh to find a better day
I'm walking away from the troubles in my life
I'm walking away oh to find a better day
I'm walking away
*** *** ***
"Draco..." Lavender had her head lolled back as he planted kisses along her jaw line. "Merlin, please do that again...." Her hand buried itself in his fine white blond hair.
He looked up into her eyes and grinned wickedly at her. "You like that, do you?"
"More than you know," Lavender replied. "You're so good at what you do," her lips curled up as he kissed her again.
Feeling a little bold, he decided to push the envelope to see how far she'd let him go. As he nuzzled into her neck, he took his hand and lifted it under her jumper and heard her gasp in surprise as he did so.
Lavender heard tiny warning bells going off in her head. "Draco..." she said, pulling his hand away as it tried to slip under her bra. "Come on..."
"What?" he said, trying to mask his anger and impatience with her. The way this girl had talked to him, he hadn't figured her on being a virgin. "I thought we were having a good time? And you can't ask for a more romantic mood than this, Lav. Come on, by the lake with the moon shining down on us."
"I know..." Lavender replied. Draco seemed to take this as a sign of submission for he leaned over and kissed her again, his fingers creeping back into her jumper. "Draco!" she pushed him away again. "I like kissing you but that's as far as it's going to go for now!"
He abruptly pulled his hand out from under her jumper and growled in frustration. Draco looked at his watch and the digital display read "11:55". "Well, it's not like I won't be coming away from this evening empty-handed."
He got up from the chaise lounge chair they'd both been sharing and stared down at her. Mustering up a smile, he poured on the Malfoy charm. "You're right. I got a little carried away with you looking so beautiful tonight. Maybe we should just call it a night. Your aunt and uncle will be wondering where you are."
Lavender smiled. "Thanks Draco. You're right, they probably are still up. If they're not, Hermione will be." she rolled her eyes. "She's such a bother sometimes."
"Yeah," Draco said absently, glimpsing quickly at his watch again. Ginny Weasley would be waiting for him. "I'd walk you back, but I need to… um… do something before I head back to my own cabin, so..."
"Oh," Lavender felt a bit put out and she must have looked it for Draco leaned over for one last lingering kiss. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then?"
"Of course," he said and winked at her before quickly turning on his heel and heading back toward the staff quarters. He turned and looked back in her direction. Sure enough, she was staring at him with a lovesick expression on her face. "Good night, beautiful," he called to her before walking quickly toward his cabin.
*** *** ***
Ginny languished across Draco's green silk sheets, her lingerie pulling high on her leg. She loved being in his bed… the sheets always felt so cool on her hot skin. Her long red hair was loose and wavy, just the way Draco liked it, and she swept the ginger strands over her shoulder so they hung alluringly over her breasts.
Draco unlocked the door of his cabin and stared at the beautiful redhead as she rolled around in his sheets. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he asked her teasingly. "What would your dear brother the Weasel have to say if he saw you like that in here with me?"
"Like I bloody care, he's alone and I'm not." Ginny stretched her legs in a catlike fashion. "What are you standing there for lover?"
He grinned at her and shut the door firmly behind him. As he walked toward the bed, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt and threw it to the floor. Ginny reached out and pulled him on top of her, his mouth meeting hers immediately. She made little work of his trousers, dropping them on top of his discarded shirt.
"Someone's a little eager tonight, huh?" he said, leaning down and kissing her bruisingly on the lips. "I like that, Red."
"I like you," Ginny replied as his hands slid over her lacy black lingerie. "Fuck me," she said through clenched teeth. "As hard as you can, Draco..."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, reaching over to turn off the lamp on his bedside table before proceeding with the task at hand.
***The Next Day***
The next morning, Ron walked the distance between his cabin and Harry's in breakneck speed. He was starving and when Ron Weasley was hungry, he didn't have time to lose. He knocked forcefully on Harry's door, praying his friend was up and ready to go and not sleeping in. "Come on, Potter," Ron called as he pounded on the door again.
"Will you relax?" Harry snapped, yanking his door open. "I can't bloody go to breakfast all starkers!"
Ron rolled his eyes. "Not ready again, as always. Well, at least you're consistent."
Without waiting for an invitation to come in, Ron pushed his way past his annoyed friend and sat down on a chair. "All alone?" he asked, as Harry came back into the room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Harry asked, pulling a shirt from the drawers.
"Don't try to be coy with me, Potter," Ron said sarcastically. "I saw you last night. Dancing. Putting on the old charm for one of the guests, huh? If my eyes don't deceive me, it's the same girl that you said you weren't checking out in the parking lot, too."
Harry turned and glared at his friend. "She looked lonely, so I thought I'd be nice. And I wasn't checking her out!"
"Yeah," Ron said. "And you're uncle's going to be Humanitarian of the Year. Besides, what's wrong with checking her out? She's pretty, Harry. In fact, if you're not interested--"
"Don't even think about it!" Harry shouted.
"Oh?" Ron asked, enjoying this. "Why wouldn't I or anyone else feel free to ask a perfectly nice looking girl out?"
"Because," Harry replied, his teeth clenched tightly. "That's why." His wand was iron gripped in his hand.
"Merlin's beard, Harry!" Ron said quickly. "Put your wand down! I was only joking!"
Harry visibly relaxed. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just really... uptight about Cho right now." he muttered, running his hands through his hair.
"Did she find out for sure?" Ron asked, concerned.
"Not yet," Harry said. "She should be taking the test right now; she didn't want to do it last night in case it was positive. She knows if it's positive..." he shook his head. Ron was silent, not really knowing what to say. "Let's go," Harry said. "If she's not at breakfast we'll stop by there afterwards."
*** *** ***
Hermione hummed to herself as she walked with her parents and Lavender towards the restaurant for breakfast. She couldn't stop thinking about the previous night; the way Harry had rested his forehead on hers, the way he'd pressed their bodies so close together.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Lavender asked, noticing her cousin's large goofy grin.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, still back on the dance floor with Harry.
"You've been humming all morning, and this is the first time you haven't brought a book to breakfast since we got here." Lavender pointed out.
"I forgot my book?" Hermione looked around. "Oh… oh well." She shrugged.
Lavender stared at her. "Alright, who is he?" she pulled her cousin back behind her aunt and uncle.
"What do you mean?" Hermione looked focused for the first time that morning.
"You've been humming, daydreaming, and you forgot a book." Lavender said. "I know the signs of being in love…"
Hermione opened her mouth to reply but her mother interrupted them. "Girls?" Elinore called to them. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine Mum," Hermione smiled innocently.
"Lavender?" Elinore asked, looking at her niece.
Lavender looked at Hermione who widened her eyes. "Just talking, Aunt Elinore," she said sweetly.
As two girls feel into step behind them, Robert turned around and commented to his wife teasingly, "You know, I knew I was asking for trouble when I took three girls on vacation."
Hermione opened her mouth for a retort but snapped it shut as she noticed a now familiar black head of hair on the path coming towards them. Harry looked up as he saw her, and she could swear he was smiling slightly.
"Hi," Harry said as her group passed him and Ron, his eyes trained solely on Hermione.
"Hello," she answered, her cheeks turning a bit pink. Harry nodded to the older couple, assuming they were her parents before walking away.
The entire exchange didn't go unnoticed by Lavender. "Was that him?" She jabbed her cousin sharply.
Hermione turned even more red and glared at her. "Shut up Lavender, I'll tell you later…." She hissed, not wanting her parents to overhear.
"Remind me where I was wrong," Ron said. "You were or you weren't checking her out?"
"Sod off," was Harry's answer as they came upon the breakfast hall.
*** *** ***
Later that afternoon, Lavender and Hermione were sitting by the lake, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. Lavender was glad to finally have some time alone with her cousin. They'd spent the entire day in the company of Hermione's parents, as they'd planned a family fun day. Now, Robert was playing golf with Vernon Dursley and Elinore had gone back to the cabin for a nap.
Lavender looked over at her cousin who had her nose buried in a book, as usual. "So," Lavender said, looking sideways at Hermione.
"So what?" Hermione asked, wanting to avoid this topic with her cousin.
Lavender laughed. "As if you don't know; your cheeks turned three shades of red when those boys walked by us this morning. So, what's the story, cousin?"
Hermione thought for a moment. She knew Lavender wouldn't say anything to her parents about Harry if she asked her not to... and this really was the only time she ever felt close to her cousin. "Well... you may not believe me if I tell you who that was..." she began.
Lavender swung her legs around her lounge chair and faced her cousin. "Wait a minute!" she exclaimed before Hermione could go any further. Black hair, scar...oh Hermione! That's not the Harry Potter, is it?"
Hermione blushed again. "Yeah..." she smiled. She leaned closer to Lavender. "Last night, when I went out walking, I wandered up by the employee quarters. Neville, one of the other guys that works here, took me up there... they do this dance... it's like..." she turned even redder. "It looks like they were all shagging with their clothes on."
"What?" Lavender asked, louder than she'd meant to. A couple of nearby guests looked in their direction and Lavender blushed. "Don't tell me you did that, too?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.
"Well... sort of," Hermione confessed and Lavender giggled. "Harry came up as I was about to leave and he pulled me out there. At first I'm sure I was horrible... but it's really not that hard to do. I caught on pretty quickly... and then afterwards, he thanked me for the dance and kissed my hand."
Lavender beamed at her. "Hermione! That's great. Then, what happened?"
"Nothing," Hermione sighed. "I left pretty soon after that."
Lavender shook her head disappointedly at Hermione. "Why did you leave?"
Hermione shifted in her chair. "Well he had his dancing partner, he went back by her... and I really didn't know anyone else so..." she looked away.
"You have so much to learn," Lavender said, leaning back onto the lounge chair. "You should have stuck around- flirted a bit with him. How else is he going to know you fancy him if you don't let him know. That shy act isn't going to work on someone like him. You've got to put yourself out there. Of course, it's not helping with Uncle Robert trying to pawn you off on that horrible Dudley every time you turn around."
"Oh I don't think he's trying to pawn me off," Hermione said in defence of her father. "He's just trying to be nice is all."
"What do you think he and that Vernon person are doing right this moment on the golf course?" Lavender asked her. Without waiting for an answer, she went on. "They're discussing your futures. If you don't nip this in the bud, you're going to be Mrs. Dudley Dursley before too much longer, Hermione. Mark my words."
Hermione looked ill. "I need to go to the loo." she grabbed her book and ran off. She couldn't let that happen... married to Dudley Dursley? "No way," Hermione said determinedly.
*** *** ***
Harry was worried. He had been looking for Cho all day to find out the results of her pregnancy test, yet she'd been nowhere to be found. He wanted to search for her some more as afternoon turned into evening, but knew that at least one of them should show up to the ballroom that evening.
One of the worst things about being a dancer at Hillsdale was that anytime a guest asked him to dance, he could not refuse. Currently he was waltzing with a woman probably 30 years his senior; although it seemed she was unaware of that fact by the way she was batting her sooty eyelashes at him.
His heart truly wasn't into dancing that night, so his waltz was only half-hearted as his eyes scanned the room for his partner. He saw Hermione a few times as he whirled around; with her parents and then with Dudley, which made his fist tighten.
The song finally ended and Harry thanked his partner and gracefully backed away to Neville. "Have you seen her yet?" he asked in a low voice.
Neville shook his head worriedly. "No, not even a glimpse. I'm really bothered that she hasn't shown up anywhere all day." Harry nodded tersely as yet another guest approached him and he was off once more.
Hermione stood on the edge of the dance floor beside her parents and that awful Dudley, who if she wasn't mistaken smelled worse tonight than he had any other times she'd been around him. She watched as Harry danced with an older woman who was clearly having a better time than he was. He looked positively miserable. If she was more courageous, she might go over than and ask him to dance, but she wasn't that forward. Besides, he honestly didn't look as if he wanted to be in the room.
She was about to beg off for her own cabin when her dad looked over at her and Dudley. "Why don't you two go for a walk?" he asked with a grin at them.
"That sounds fantastic," Dudley said eagerly. "I'm actually quite hungry; I didn't get enough to eat during dinner."
"You ate enough for a small third world country," Hermione muttered under her breath. She looked up, wondering if she'd actually said that out loud.
Dudley hadn't appeared to have heard her, and he steered her away from the crowd, his beefy arm across her shoulders. Hermione hunched herself inwards, holding her breath. They headed for the kitchens, where Dudley launched himself at the refrigerator. "Wow, a whole ham," he said, his eyes wide.
"You're not really going to eat the whole thing, are you?" she asked, crinkling her nose in disgust.
"Uhhhh... no..." Dudley grinned hideously. "Want a piece?"
"No," Hermione said politely. "I'm still full from dinner."
Hermione watched as he placed the ham on the counter and then to her amazement back into the refrigerator for something else. Hermione heard something; she looked around the dark kitchen to see what it was, but couldn't find anything. Dudley was still engrossed in the contents of the refrigerator when Hermione heard that noise again---a sort of sniffling noise. She bent down and saw that there was a figure crouched down by a table in the back. The light from the window illuminated her face a little and Hermione could see it was Harry's dance partner.
Cho looked up fearfully, her eyes meeting those of the brown haired girl that Harry had been dancing with the night before. She pleaded for the girl to stay quiet and shrank back further into the shadows.
Hermione pulled on Dudley's arm. "Let's go back to the ballroom… I'm rather in the mood to dance."
"Really?" Dudley's eyes brightened, and for once he forgot about food as Hermione smiled brightly at him.
Once back in the ballroom, Hermione dropped Dudley's arm (which was like a dead weight) and ran for Neville. She whispered into his ear about what she saw and Neville immediately ran for the dance floor.
"Harry, we found her," Neville said. Harry's eyes widened and he apologised to his current partner before running off the floor, Neville and Hermione hot on his heels.
"Where is she?" Harry asked briskly.
"She was in the kitchens," Hermione replied. "I… I'm not sure what's wrong, but she was crying…"
"She's pregnant," Neville said.
"Neville!" Harry snapped. "We don't know that for sure!"
"Why else would she be hiding all day?" Neville replied.
"Pregnant?" Hermione asked, stopping dead in her tracks. She grabbed Neville by the arm and turned him to face her. "Who's, um, who's the father?" Her heart sank as she looked in Harry's direction.
Fury was written all over his face. "You automatically think it's mine, right?" he asked irately. "Just because I'm her fucking partner in dancing, that makes me the father." Gone was the sexy, sweet green eyed god she had danced with the night before.
Hermione shrank back. "No, honestly! I didn't mean to imply anything, really." She looked helplessly at Neville to get her out of this mess she'd created with her big mouth.
Harry glared at her angrily a moment longer before stomping off. Neville put a hand on her arm. "Come on, in case Dudley tries to come back in the kitchen. Don't worry about Harry... he gets really pissed off when he's stressed out."
Hermione hesitated a moment. He obviously didn't want her there. But, Neville was right, she thought to herself. Cho, Harry and Neville would be in a heap of trouble if Dudley decided to return to the kitchens. She nodded and she and Neville ran to catch up to Harry.
The three of them reached the kitchens and Harry ran to the back and gathered the shivering girl into his arms. "Shhhh Cho... it's all right I'm here..." he hugged her tightly.
"Harry," Cho clung to him and sobbed. "It came out positive... I don't know what to do!"
"Harry," Neville said nervously looking around. "Maybe we should go back to your cabin? Anyone could come in here at any moment."
Harry nodded and still carrying Cho, made his way toward the back door. Hermione watched sympathetically as Cho continued to sob uncontrollably into Harry's shoulder.
They all walked back to Harry's cabin, Cho still crying. Harry set her on his sofa and retrieved a thick blanket from the bed while Neville got her some tea. "What do you want to do?" Harry asked, squeezing her hand.
"I don't know," Cho replied miserably. "I can't have this baby Harry, I just can't..."
Hermione stepped closer to Cho. "Have you told the father?" she suggested helpfully. "I'm sure if you told him, he'd help."
"Right," Cho snorted. "As if Draco Malfoy would step down from his high and mighty throne to help me." she clapped a hand over her mouth in horror at her words.
"Draco?" Hermione asked, stunned.
"Hey!" Harry shot up angrily and Neville pushed him down. "Settle, Harry. I know a doctor in the next town over, if that's the route you want to go," he looked at Cho who gazed back hopefully.
"How much would something like that cost, though?" Cho asked, turning her gaze on Neville.
"I don't know." Neville replied. I can call him right now; I know he runs late hours in his office." Cho nodded and he grabbed the telephone next to Harry's bed. After speaking for a few minutes, he looked up. "He says he can do it a week from tomorrow for 200 quid, after that he's going on holiday for four weeks."
Cho stared back at Neville, her mouth agape. "Where the hell am I going to get 200 quid in one week? I don't even make that much in a month!" She sank back lower into the sofa.
Harry thought hard. "That's also the night we do our dance for the Sheldrake."
"I don't understand," Hermione asked looking at Neville. "What's the Sheldrake?"
"It's another dance they do; they get a nice commission from it and a yearly gig." Neville explained briefly, and then looked back at his friends. "Yes or no, he's still waiting."
"Tell him we'll take it for now, and then we'll figure something out," Harry replied and Neville nodded.
The room was silent, save for Neville's hushed undertones as he spoke to the doctor on Harry's mobile. Hermione took the empty seat beside Cho. "Couldn't someone else fill in for you?" Hermione suggested. "Can't someone else learn the steps?"
"No, no one else can," Harry spat sarcastically. "Luna's busy with her lessons with Ron, and she's already filling in for Cho on the dance floor enough as it is. And there's no one else...."
"Oh," Hermione said sheepishly.
Harry stared straight at the wall, seeing red. He was seething, he wanted to punch in that smug face of Draco Malfoy for putting Cho in this position... and the most frustrating part of all of this was that he wanted to shove Cho aside and pull Hermione down on the sofa and snog her senseless.
His foot tapped nervously on the floor as Neville finished up with the doctor. "All right, we're set." Neville said, setting the telephone down. "If we want to cancel we're going to have to do it in the next few days otherwise he'll charge us."
"Great," Harry replied sarcastically, getting up to pace the room.
Hermione knew she should probably keep quiet, but she wanted to help if she could. She looked over at Cho. "Maybe you could ask Mr. Dursley for an advance on your wages?"
Cho turned to look at her. "Vernon Dursley would kick the two of us out of here without any pay if he found out about this," she said, her voice unsteady. "So this means you can't tell anyone anything about what is going on here."
"I wouldn't," Hermione said sincerely. "You have my word."
*** The Next Evening***
The Grangers and Lavender were finished with dinner when Hermione finally worked up the courage to ask her father for a favour. She let her mother and Lavender walk on ahead before taking her father's arm.
"Daddy," Hermione began. "You know how you once said if someone was in trouble I should help?"
Robert looked down at his daughter with a concerned expression. "Of course, sweetheart."
"Well I know someone here who's in trouble..." Hermione hesitated. "Can... can I borrow 200 quid?"
"That's a lot of money, Hermione," Robert said. "What's it for?"
Hermione looked down. "I... I can't say. I promised the person I wouldn't. But you can trust me Daddy, you know that!"
"This isn't something with Lavender?" Robert asked, looking down the path where Elinore and Lavender were walking. "Because you know that she could come and talk to me or your mother."
"No, it has nothing to do with Lavender," Hermione said. "Please... please... I'll pay you back someday I promise!"
Robert looked deeply into his daughter's pleading eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not anything illegal, is it?"
"No," Hermione shook her head emphatically and looked as innocent as she could.
His stern expression softened. "That was a stupid question. I know you'd never be involved in something like that. I'll have that money for you later this evening."
"Thanks Daddy," Hermione hugged him as they came to their cabin.
*** *** ***
Hermione walked quickly up to the employee area, an envelope clutched in her sweaty hand. She opened the double doors and entered the swarm of closely dancing couples.
She walked through the room, her eyes peeled for Harry, Cho or Neville. She finally spotted Harry and Cho dancing together near the corner of the room, Neville standing nearby talking to a redheaded guy.
Hermione tapped Cho's shoulder and the two broke apart, Cho looking at her in confusion as Harry stared at her blankly. "Here's your money," she said, holding out the envelope.
"You mean Draco owned up?" Cho asked, hope springing into her eyes. Hermione shook her head.
"I didn't even talk to him... I can hardly stand looking at him." she replied.
"So where did you get this?" Cho asked, opening the envelope.
"You said you needed money..." Hermione shrugged. "Yeah, it takes a real saint to ask Daddy," Harry said sarcastically, but regretted it immediately when he saw the hurt expression on Hermione's face.
Hermione glared at him momentarily before Cho handed her back the envelope. "Thanks Hermione but I can't use it," she said. She pulled on Harry's hand and he followed her back onto the dance floor.
"What?" Harry asked, looking dumbfounded at Cho. "Cho? What's the matter with you? You should take the money!"
"I can't," Cho shook her head. "I can't let us loose next year's dance because I made such a stupid mistake."
Hermione looked at Neville. "I couldn't move around her appointment and Luna... Luna's the only other dancer good enough to fill Cho's shoes but she can't do the dance that night. If they cancel they loose their gig next holiday as well."
"So there's no one else at all here who can do the dance?" Hermione asked aloud. "I mean, there's got to be someone!"
Harry looked exasperatedly at Hermione. "There's no one! How many times do we have to tell you?" Hermione looked sheepishly at him. "What? Do you want to do it? Does Little Miss Fix-It want to take time away from playing the dutiful daughter to dance?"
Cho, Hermione and Neville stared at him. "That's actually not a bad idea," Neville said thoughtfully.
"It was a joke, Neville!" Harry said, shaking his head.
"What's wrong with that?" Cho asked. "Harry, you're an amazing dancer and a great partner, you can lead anyone!"
"You expect me to teach her this stuff in less than a week?" Harry asked. "That would take a miracle worker!"
"I'm a quick learner," Hermione replied. "It certainly didn't take me long to catch on the other day." she crossed her arms over her chest and stared evenly at Harry.
"You can't be serious," Harry asked, stepping away from Cho and closer to Hermione. "You really want to do this?"
"Please," Cho put her hand on his arm. "This is our only chance to make this all work."
"If I agree to this," Harry said, looking from Cho and back to Hermione. "You've got to promise me that you'll give this your all. Our futures depend on this, Hermione. This isn't just some game. Have you got that?"
"I've got it," Hermione replied coolly. If he wanted a dancer, she'd give him a dancer. She'd prove his attitude wrong if it was the last thing she did.
A/N: All right, here's your next chapter ;) Just a note to say that this story will not be updated until next week. So until then, enjoy and please leave a review!
On another note: We're having a contest for this story- If you review each chapter, your name will go into a drawing to win the 'soundtrack' for this story- which will comprise of all the songs we use in the chapters. The CD will have a cover and everything, and if you win, Heaven will mail you a copy of it, free ;)
You will have until 10 days after the completion of this story to submit reviews of all chapters to be entered in the contest. Good luck and we both hope we'll have LOTS of entries! :D