An: Thanks for all of the reviews. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 9
Harry and Danny were both anxiously waiting for Hermione to continue her conversation. The tone she had greeted them with only meant trouble and Harry knew all too well the things he had done for Hermione when she used that tone on him. He was deeply disappointed when she addressed Danny over him and he felt a surge of anger directed at Danny. He clenched his fists and tried to calm himself down since he didn't want Danny to start sprouting any nasty features on his face. He glanced back at Hermione. She was trying to charm Danny and it irritated him.
Harry started glancing around and noticed Ginny over at the appetizer table eyeing them. Harry gulped. She had that mischievous Weasley look that the twins always got when they were trying out a new invention.
"Harry,"
Harry's attention snapped back to Hermione.
"Uh, yeah." Harry said cautiously.
"You're coming right?" Hermione asked
Harry knew Hermione hated it when he didn't pay attention to her so he agreed to going wherever it was they were going.
"Good it's settled then. We'll meet later at the Bella Serra." Hermione said.
"What's settled?" Ginny asked from besides Harry.
Harry didn't know if he should be grateful that Ginny asked the question that he wanted to ask or fearful that Ginny had come to interfere.
"Shopping." Hermione said brightly.
Harry nearly fainted on the spot. She had to be kidding. Hermione didn't go shopping and if she did it was to the book store and Harry knew first hand how heavy books were.
"Oh great, that was on my list of things to do. When do we leave?" Ginny asked excitedly.
Hermione fidgeted slightly and she glanced at Danny which thoroughly annoyed Harry. Whatever happened to the glances she gave him when she was trying to duck Ginny.
"Ginny" Hermione tried to say.
"Oh this will be so much fun; All of us going shopping!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.
"Can you define us?" Danny asked.
"Draco, Me, Hermione, Harry, Luna and Ron, who else would us be?" Ginny declared.
Danny swallowed uncomfortably and Harry felt a bit of satisfaction. He mentally encouraged Ginny.
"I have a long list of things I need to get. Daddy also asked me to pick up a few things for him." Ginny said rambling on.
"I guess I could ask Delinda and Sam to come along. Everyone won't fit in Danny's car" Mary said.
"Delinda and Sam." Danny squeaked.
Mary smiled wickedly at Danny.
"Is there a problem with Delinda and Sam?" Hermione asked.
"No." Danny said. He leaned closer to Harry and commented under his breathe "I hope you're strong because those two can buy a house full of clothes."
"You haven't seen Ginny shop yet." Harry replied back.
"You two have something to say?" Hermione asked noticing the soft conversation between the two.
Before either man could respond there was a huge commotion over by the appetizer table that drew their immediate attention.
-*-
Earlier Draco's quest for Ginny had led him to the appetizer table. He realised he had just missed her as he saw her headed towards Harry and Hermione. He was going to join her when Delinda appeared at the table with a tray of new appetizers. She encouraged him to tray then and they struck up a conversation.
"So what do you do in England Mr. Malfoy?" Delinda asked casually.
"I am a business man and please call me Draco." Draco replied smoothly while he kept one eye on Ginny.
"What type of business? There are so many things that you could be doing. Are you into stocks, computers, what?" Delinda asked with a sexy smile.
"Stocks," Draco said taking a pick between the two options that Delinda gave him. He couldn't really tell her what he really did but from the pleased look on her face he must have said something good.
"Oh, so have you seen much of Vegas yet? If not I wouldn't mind giving you a personal tour" Delinda said seductively.
Draco smiled. He always had the talent to make women throw themselves at him. He was happy to see he hadn't lost it.
"Thanks for the offer but I think my girlfriend has made some plans to see some shows." He said emphasizing the word girlfriend. Draco was faithful to Ginny and he had no plans to change that.
"She may have picked some but I can definitely tell you what the must sees are." Delinda said coming closer to Draco.
Out of the corner of his eye Draco saw a mass of read hair moving towards him and he swore silently. Ginny was pissed. He felt a fist connect with his jaw and he tumbled backwards over the dessert table on to the floor.
"Ginny, what the hell did you do that for?" Draco asked angrily as he looked up at the red head expecting to see his girlfriend.
"Ginny? What do you think I punch like a girl?" Ron spat at him.
Delinda ran around the table and reached down to help Draco up. He angrily sprang to his feet and faced Ron. By that time a crowd had begun to form around them.
"What on Earth has gotten into you?" Draco asked as he rubbed the spot where Ron had punched him.
"You owled them!" Ron accused Draco.
"What is going on here?" Ginny asked as she stepped to the front of the crowd. She stopped in between them and placed her hands on her hips while glaring at each of them. She noticed Delinda standing next to Draco and promptly placed herself between them. She placed her hand into Draco's and calmly stroked his back to calm him down. Luna had appeared next to Ron and seemed to be placating him as well. Ginny shot a quick look at Delinda to make sure she understood that Draco was hers.
Ron was about to accuse Draco again when Hermione suggested that they talk about it upstairs. Ron consented and they started heading upstairs. As Hermione reached the door Danny pulled her aside and asked hopefully if the shopping trip was cancelled for the day. Harry, who was right behind Hermione and eager to grab her back, informed Danny that nothing stopped Ginny from a shopping trip. Harry then hurriedly herded Hermione in the direction of the elevators.
-*-
It was 4 pm in the afternoon and Mary, Delinda and Sam were waiting for Danny and the others, in the lounge, at Bella Serra. They saw Sarasvarti sitting at a table with a pair of twins and Mary recognized the twins as part of the Hogwarts group. Delinda, letting curiosity get the better of her, dragged Mary and Sam to the table.
"Hey" Delinda said greeting the girl. Delinda never said her name out loud because she couldn't pronounce it.
"Hi Delinda!" Sarasvarti replied back.
Delinda pointedly looked at the other Indian girls at the table and waited for Sarasvarti to introduce her.
"Delinda, meet my cousins Parvarti and Padma Patil. They are from England and are here for the Hogwart's School Reunion."
"Nice to meet you!" Delinda said as she shook the twins' hands.
"Parvarti mentioned to me that she was looking for a venue for their school reunion and I suggested here!" Sarasvarti said.
Delinda gave the girl a fake smile while she was really fuming at her on the inside. All day those people from Hogwarts kept asking her question after question about food. She got the same question at least a dozen times. "What's an éclair? What's crème burlee? What's quiche?" It was like they had never heard of them in their entire life. Delinda had been to England and she was pretty sure they had desserts there but what really pissed her off was having to clean up after shovel face caused Draco to destroy the appetizers. She broke two nails doing over those appetizers and she had to spend the last hour in the salon getting them redone.
Mary noticed Hermione and her friends arrive and they said their good byes to Sarasvarti and headed over to them. After the hellos an uncomfortable silence fell on them before Hermione decided to break it.
"Where is Danny?" She inquired as she looked at her watch. Danny was already five minutes late.
"Probably hiding in the security room." Sam stated with a smirk.
"Where are Harry and the others?" Mary asked as she too looked at her watch.
"They're coming." Ginny said eyeing the provocative outfit Delinda had chosen to wear. Ginny personally thought that having a skirt so short was inviting the whole world to take a view but she hardly noticed that her skirt was roughly the same length.
"Is everything ok with your friends?" Mary asked Hermione as she was politely asking about the incident earlier.
"Oh it's fine." Herimone said. They had settled things upstairs. Ron had explained about his encounter with Lt. Fairweather. He was very pissed that his wand had been confiscated. Draco denied calling them. Harry and Hermione both agreed something fishy was going on and that they would come to the bottom of it. In the mean time a truce was called and so far things seemed to be going fine..
-*-
Danny was in the security room looking at the lounge where the girls were conversing. There were six women there, waiting to go shopping with him. Danny would go back to basic training in the army, if he could avoid the coming disaster.
"Hey Mike." Danny called across the room.
"Yeah man?" Mike answered.
"I need a favour, a huge favour." Danny said.
Mike eyed him warily before he asked. "What?"
"I need you to knock me out and take me to the hospital!" Danny said with a pleading look.
Mike laughed.
"Sorry man. You got yourself into this situation. You're on your own with this one." Mike replied with a hearty laugh.
Danny gave him a disgruntled look.
"It's 15 minutes past four. You should get going. Besides you have company." Mike said indicating to one of the cameras that monitored the 9th floor hallway.
Draco and Harry could be seen walking briskly in front of Ron. Every 3 seconds Harry would turn around and encourage Ron to hurry up.
Danny grudgingly got up and dusted himself off. He took a glance at the screen and was indeed relieved to see he would have three male companions to split the weight of the mountain of shopping bags. Danny sighed and decided to suck it up and endure the torture.
-*-
Harry and Draco had finally gotten Ron in the elevator. It took a lot of convincing but Draco promised to make sure that the girls went into a swimsuit store. The thought of six gorgeous girls in skimpy bikinis, was enough to over ride the self-preservation instinct and convince Ron to go. Draco needed to go as he had to get working on the plans he had made for Las Vegas. He also needed to please Ginny. He didn't like when she was angry at him though she had been pampering him quite a bit since Ron had punched him earlier. Harry needed no incentive to go. He wanted to keep a close eye on Hermione.
As they exited the elevators they found six pairs of angry eyes and one pair of sympathetic eyes on them. All three men gulped.
"Care to explain why we have been waiting for twenty?" Ginny demanded as she glared at Draco. Her whole posture told Draco he was in for a heap of trouble, again. Her hands were crossed against her chest and she had all her weight on her right foot, as she tapped her left foot a mile a minute. But the most disturbing sign were her eyes. Her brown eyes had a fire to them and he was just hoping that he had gotten back on her good side.
"We got lost." Draco said blurting out the first thing that got into his mind. The most important thing was to survive the encounter with his girlfriend.
Danny really didn't want to say anything. He just got through with the girls grilling him, about his tardiness. He didn't need to be on the receiving end of that lecture again. Though he had to admit Draco had one hell of a red head there. He heard that Delinda had been trying to put some moves on Draco. If he were Delinda he would think twice about crossing that red head.
Danny let his gaze drift to Hermione. Her eyes were slowly going from anger to humour. He watched as her lips slowly tugged into a smile. Her gaze seemed fixed on the three men who had just exited from the elevator. Danny wondered how one torturous shopping trip was supposed to restart his relationship with Mary. He slowly let his gaze drift over to her. She was looking gorgeous today. But then there was never a day that Danny didn't think she wasn't gorgeous. She was gazing intently in the direction of Harry which annoyed him. He was beginning to get a very strong dislike for Harry and he was yet to find out why Mary was on the roof with him last night. He would have to trick Delinda into telling him.
Danny felt a hand on his arm jerking him out of his thoughts. It was Delinda she had looped her arms through his and was idly chatting that she and Draco were going in his car. Danny hadn't been paying attention and wondered how Delinda managed to swing that. He shifted his gaze to check on the red head and she seemed to be happily in conversation with Sam. It looked as though Sam would be carrying Harry, Ron and Ginny. Mary was taking Luna and Hermione.
Danny had to admire Hermione. She really was trying her best to swing things in his favour. Not only did she make sure she was with Mary but she also got Harry into a separate car. She really was determined.
The group separated and headed off in different directions towards the cars. They would all meet up at the mall. They were in for one hell of a roller coaster ride!
-*-
Mary's Car
Mary had a sly smile on her face as she drove through the afternoon traffic. She had successfully managed to keep Hermione out of Danny's car. Though, she was a bit worried about what Delinda might be up to. From her short conversations with Ginny, she realised Ginny wouldn't take any threat to her relationship with Draco lying down. Ginny was one determined woman. She did find out about an interesting bit of information though. Ginny had once dated Harry. The fact that, Ginny was now with Draco, didn't even seem to be a sore point for Harry though.
Hermione was busy listing off the facts about every building they passed. Luna appeared to be taking it all in, though her face had a sort of dazed look on it. Mary wondered if Luna was really listening or just being a friend and humouring Hermione. She even heard Hermione tell Luna some thing that could only have come from Danny.
Mary was beginning to get very agitated every time she thought of Danny spending time with Hermione. It wasn't that she didn't like Hermione. There was nothing wrong with Hermione. She seemed to be kind and compassionate. Sort of like herself. Maybe that was what Danny saw in her. Again, Mary felt unsettled as the thought of Danny and Hermione passed through her mind. She began to grip the steering wheel harder and her foot seemed to get a bit heavier on the gas pedal.
"Uhm Mary, isn't that the mall we just passed?" Hermione asked as she watched them go passed the entrance.
Mary looked around and realised that they had indeed passed the entrance. Mary just got a bit more pissed off at Hermione. She just had to notice that they passed the mall.
"Uh we are going to the back entrance. Best place to park." Mary said trying to cover her irritation and her mistake.
Mary turned down a side street that ran along the side of the mall and used the side entrance. She couldn't find a park near the actual entrance into the mall so she parked near the side entrance from the street. Mary made the mistake of parking next to a palm. She was hoping the shade from the palm tree would keep her car cool but the minute Hermione got out of the car she started going on and on about the palm to Luna. Mary just sighed and leaned up against the car as she waited for the others. She was pretty sure Sam was already here and Danny was somewhere behind her. She was about to pull out her cell phone to give them a call when she caught sight of Danny's car.
Danny's Car
Danny was panicking as he drove. Delinda was laying it on pretty thick for Draco. The last thing he wanted was a catfight at the mall. Why did he have to get stuck with Delinda and Draco? He would have preferred to have Hermione and Luna to this mess. As he thought about Hermione, his mind drifted to Mary. He was hoping Hermione would really be able to help sort out this mess with Mary. He really missed her. Sure he saw her everyday at work but they weren't like they were before. The connection they used to have seemed to vanish. The thought that they might never reconnect like they were before was painful for Danny. He had lost so much in his life, he really didn't want to lose Mary.
Danny glanced to his side to check on Delinda and found her sitting in the blonde's lap.He shook his head. This was going to be a very long trip to the mall. Danny was thankful that Sam was a speedaholic and had probably reached the mall by now. He didn't need Ginny seeing what he was seeing. He had to admire Draco though. He was holding out pretty good under Delinda's advances. Everyone he knew, normally caved right away, including him.
Danny let out a sigh of relief as the mall came into sight. He took the main entrance and glanced around. It was fairly crowded and he decided it might be best to try the back entrance. He was completely surprised to spot Mary standing outside her car with Hermione and Luna, near the side entrance.
Mary was leaning up against her car and Hermione and Luna were on the other side. Hermione appeared to be pointing out something to Luna. Danny didn't know what they were talking about, but he was sure Hermione was lecturing Luna on something related to Vegas. He parked next to them.
"Hey seen Sam yet?" Danny asked as he turned off the ignition and jumped out of his car. He briefly glanced at Delinda and Draco and was happy to see she had disengaged herself from him.
"Nope not yet?" Mary replied as she gave Delinda a questioning glance. Mary obviously didn't miss Delinda position when Danny pulled up.
"Where's Sam? She is usually here first." Danny asked curiously.
Mary shrugged her shoulders at him.
Draco decided to take advantage of the situation. "Uh Mary was it right?" Draco asked her.
"Yes."
"Since the others aren't here yet, maybe Danny and I could head in and you girls could wait out here for them?" Draco said, trying to put his most charming smile on.
Draco was being his usual Slytherin self. He was cunningly trying to go shopping by himself. His list of stuff was private and the last thing he needed was for Hermione or Luna to know what he was up to. If he went into the mall ahead of everyone else, then he could shop in peace and he was pretty sure that Danny would be grateful for the chance to ditch the girls. He could ditch Danny once they got inside the mall.
As he anticipated Hermione protested them going into the mall stating that they would get lost. Draco replied that he was going with Danny who was a native, how could he get lost? He did not however count on Mary's response.
"No, Danny only knows one store in this mall and he would get lost, if he attempted to get to it from this side!" Mary replied
"Hey, I'm a Marine. Marine's don't get lost!" Danny protested.
"Marine's also don't fight in malls!" Mary pointed out.
Danny really didn't have a retort for that.
"You know maybe that isn't really a bad idea. Sam has a cell phone. She can call when she gets here. We can go in and enjoy ourselves." Hermione said surprising Draco.
In truth, Hermione thought the less people the more effective her plan for Danny and Mary would be.
"Sam won't like that." Mary stated
"Who cares what Sam likes? It serves her right for being late. She always tells us we're too slow. Now it's her turn to be the slow one. Lets go!" Delinda said as she grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him into the mall.
Luna looked worriedly at Draco as he disappeared behind the mall's doors. "That's not good." She whispered to Hermione.
"I know but Draco's a big boy. I'm sure he can get rid of her some how." Hermione said as she too, had watched the blonde drag Draco away. She was thankful Ginny wasn't there to see that. She would have to keep a careful eye on what was going on there. She knew Draco could be trusted but she wasn't so sure about the blonde. She didn't know what she was capable of.
"I think we better follow them." Luna said to Mary.
Mary nodded and the four of them headed up into the mall.
Sam's Car
Sam was pleasantly surprised to find that the Weasley siblings were quite fun to be around. Ginny sat in the front with her, while Harry and Ron were ordered to the back seat. Ron had cracked several jokes that left Sam struggling to breathe. Harry had to remind her several times to pay attention to the road. Sam was so distracted that she took a wrong turn and they were currently way off track.
After turning around and getting back on course, she figured they had to be at least ten minutes behind everyone else. That would hold assuming she didn't make any more wrong turns. Danny was definitely going to rib her about reaching to the mall before her. She was usually the speeder that got there before everyone else. Oh how she regretted calling them slow pokes now. She could only imagine the comments they had in store for her. She knew Delinda definitely wouldn't let this slide.
"Sam, is Danny seeing anyone right now?" Harry asked her. He was hoping Danny had a girlfriend. Harry didn't stop to think how the question sounded.
Sam froze for a minute when Harry asked her that question. She did a mental check to see if she could determine why Harry would be asking if Danny were single. Could Harry possible have a crush on Danny? Sam knew for a fact that Danny didn't swing that way, but did Harry? From what she could tell Harry didn't have a girlfriend. Was that because he was gay? Sam briefly wondered what Danny would do if Harry hit on him. A mischievous smile played across her face.
"No Harry. He is quite available and I believe he is looking for someone new!" Sam said nicely.
Harry of course didn't like this news. He sure as hell didn't want Hermione to be Danny's someone new. Harry plastered a smile on his face and thanked Sam for her response. As Harry's gaze shifted to Ron, he was met with questioning glance. Ron also seemed to have put a little more space between them. It suddenly struck Harry exactly how the questioned sounded. Harry shifted uncomfortably.
"Uhm Sam" Harry started
"Don't worry Harry; I'll see if I can talk to Danny for you." Sam said with a wicked grin. She definitely was going to enjoy this.
"But Sam you don't understand, I'm not." Harry tried to say before Sam cut him off again.
"I understand completely. Relax everything will work out just fine. Your secret is safe with me." Sam assured him.
Ginny was snickering in the front seat. She knew bloody well that Harry wasn't gay and she had noticed the killer glances he had been directed at Danny when he was talking to Hermione. She was curious to see what Sam had planned.
"Here we are. This is the side entrance. The others should be round front." Sam said as she came through the entrance. Since Sam had gone off course, the easiest entrance to the mall happened to be the same entrance that Mary had used earlier.
"Wait that's Mary's car over there" Harry said pointing to his left. Harry and his seeker instincts had spotted it easily. He had noted every single detail about the car Hermione had got in. It was an ordinary car but Harry had checked out every car like it that they passed on the road, looking for Hermione.
Sam swerved suddenly and headed towards the cars. They were empty. Sam frowned. They wouldn't have gone in without her would they? One time late and this is how they treat her?
"There're not here!" Harry said in a slightly panic tone.
"Relax Harry, they probably went inside." Ginny said as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Let's head in. I would like to give that good for nothing boyfriend of mine a word or two for not waiting on me." Ginny huffed as she marched towards the mall entrance.
Ron briefly stopped to wonder how they were going to find everybody in the big mall but then decided not to voice his opinion as it would probably be better not to find anyone. His sister, the heavy shopper, had just gone off in search of Draco and that left him with Harry and Sam. How bad a shopper could Sam be?
"We can't stand up here all day. I need some new thongs! Victoria Secret here we come." Sam said as she dragged Harry and Ron with her.
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