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Daylight	By : pepperdoc Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13124 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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She ate alone in a mostly empty cafeteria. Malfoy had quickly directed her to the line to get her food, and excused himself, telling her he had much to do that day. She had seen Luis in the back of the kitchen having a tense conversation with a fellow employee. From her vantage point, she could see Luis was frowning in displeasure at whatever was happening. Surprisingly, she saw very few elves working in the back.

Once she got over the initial amazement at the openness of the serving line- she could see the entire kitchen, it seemed- she had gotten some different types of barbeque to test, fried potatoes and a salad for her lunch. She sat down at an empty table and ate her food while looking at the paintings all around the room. Of course they moved, and she was in the process of watching a battle take place in one large frame when she saw Luis coming from the kitchen door. He caught her eyes as the door closed and gave her a wave. She waved back and he turned in her direction.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked as he approached.

“This food is amazing, Luis. Do you cook everything by hand?” She asked, watching him sit in front of her.

“Yeah. No magic can replicate the flavors. Even elves can’t do it. So we barbeque for the lunch menu and smoke foods for the dinner service. The smoking takes about 14 hours, so that’s the first thing we prep in the morning.”

“Oh, I never knew it takes so long. It’s a little weird to see you here though. I thought maybe you had the day off?” She asked.

He smiled thinly, “Yeah I was supposed to be spending the day with Rose. There were some problems, so I had to come clear it up. What did the Headmaster tell you? Can you go back?”

She sighed, putting down her fork. “Well, it will take at least a week. There’s this whole process of getting the Apparition authorization. I have a nice room though,” She answered.

“Well, if you want we can have you over for dinner tomorrow. Rose can cook,” He stretched his hands over his head, “I do it enough I think.”

She laughed, “That sounds nice.”

He jumped as though remembering something, “Oh, I forgot, Draco’s supposed to be coming by tomorrow. Did you meet him while you were downstairs?”

Hermione raised her eyebrow. She realized that Luis didn’t know that she knew Draco from school. Only Rose did. So she told him about knowing Draco as a boy. “It was quite a shock to see him again, actually. We didn’t get along while in school.”

“Oh, well we can have you over another night if you’d prefer it.”

She thought about it for a moment, weighing the positives of finding out firsthand what kind of person he was with the negative possibility of being proved right. “Let’s do another night. It might feel like a double date. Malfoy is not the kind of person I want to date.”

He gave her a strange look, “He seems like he might- no, never mind. Ok, we can try for Wednesday instead.” He stood. “I’ll go let Rose know. If I’m lucky she might make some of her pumpkin bread for you. I love it,” He said, finishing it with a laugh.

She grinned and bid him goodbye.

She finished her salad and her tea and stood to go back to her room or maybe find the library, when she caught a flash of white-blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw Malfoy headed her way with a scowl on his face. He was wearing jeans now and a T-shirt with the Beatles on the front. She tried not to think about the Pureblood’s Muggle clothing choices, and especially how good he looked wearing them.

She paused, halfway through standing from the bench style seat she had been sitting on, focusing instead on how startled she felt at the familiarity of his expression. That was the face she expected to see when she had turned the corner earlier. He quickly reconstructed his expression to a blank mask, but she already knew he was angry about something. She finished standing and turned back to gather her trash from the table.

“Granger, I’ve been instructed to take you to town. Do you feel up to it?” He asked, his tone one of boredom. She noticed that his sentences were clipped, though, a confirmation of his anger. She didn’t look at him right away, she was debating if he was angry at having to take her or something else.

“You’ve been instructed? Does that mean it might be better for me to find someone else to take me?” She asked, avoiding looking at him.

He sighed and she peeked at him over her shoulder to find him pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed in irritation. “I’ll go tell Mr. Greene that you don’t want me to take you. I told him we didn’t get along, and he ignored me,” He muttered. She turned back to her table to lift the dishes and take them to the trash wondering what in the world he meant. “Have a pleasant trip with whoever takes you anyway, Miss Granger,” He told her in a polite tone.

She frowned and turned to look at him. He had lowered his hand and was looking at her blandly. She decided she may have misunderstood him. His polite comment was not what she would have expected if he were trying to pick a fight with her. Screwing up her courage, she asked him, “Well, before you go, why were you angry at having to take me?”

His eyebrow rose, he answered, “I wasn’t. I expected you to reject it, given our history. Mr. Greene would not listen when I tried to tell him that would probably be your reaction. We have just finished arguing. Oh, I see now,” He said, smiling slightly and looking at her like she were a small child, “You think it impossible for a Death Eater to be nice, right? Like your precious Weasley. Have you discovered my nefarious plot to kill the Headmaster and somehow resurrect Voldemort yet?” His tone became steadily more sarcastic as he spoke.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, I have now. Honestly, you must be the worst villain imaginable if you tell me your assassination plot before I have the chance to be captured and on the verge of a horrific death at your hand,” She answered, matching his sarcasm. She was about to tell him off for his Weasley comment too, but he surprised her by laughing. She had never heard him laugh without cruelty behind it, and was so shocked that she started laughing with him.

His laughs dissolved into chuckles and he looked at her with a smile on his face, “Did we really just both expect the other to be rude about the situation?”

She was smiling up at him, “Yes, I believe we did. I’m sorry for expecting it and responding rudely. If you really don’t mind taking me to town, then yes, I’m up for it. As long as you can promise to not make fun of me or my friends.”

He nodded, and then told her, “I really don’t mind, as long as you don’t mind riding on horseback. Mr. Greene decided it would give us time to ‘catch up’. I’ll try not to make fun of your friends, and why would I want to make fun of you? There’s no point to it.”

She scoffed as he followed her to the trash bin. “Oh please, you seemed to enjoy it enough in school.”

“That was a long time ago, Granger,” He answered quietly. She turned and saw him examining his nails as though the conversation bored him. He looked at her without lifting his head, giving him a strange boyish charm.

She didn’t answer for a moment. She was thinking about what had just happened. “Well, come on then. I need clothes for the week. How’s the library here? Should I find books while I’m at it?”

He led her out of the cafeteria while telling her, “The library is bigger than at Hogwarts. I have a personal library also, which I’m willing to let you borrow from if you’d like,” He offered.

She was surprised at his niceness. She considered what Primrose had told her earlier in the day about Malfoy. He climbed the stairs before her and she could feel the heat increasing as the came closer to the surface. She took the sweater back off as they climbed and tied it around her waist.

“You know, I just realized, how… er, how are you going to pay for your things?” He asked awkwardly over his shoulder.

She felt her pocket and felt the outline of her Galleons and reached around to her back pocket feeling a lump in her back pocket. She pulled it out and saw her small card holder she hadn’t realized she had. Inside she remembered she had her passport and a credit card or two. She opened it and held her Visa in her hand with mild reverence. She asked him, “Know any Muggle places?”

“Yes. The town is all Muggle.” He answered, as he stepped onto the landing of the first floor below the Mission itself. He glanced at her over his shoulder and saw the piece of plastic she held in her hand. “Oh, good. I was afraid I would have to run all the way back down to grab my wallet,” He said with a smirk.

She looked at him quizzically but he had already turned around and was leading her to the last stairwell to the surface. She decided he must have been joking after a moment of thinking about it. Funny enough, she had never thought about Malfoy having a sense of humor which didn’t revolve around the pain of others, and today he had proved her wrong twice already. He seemed to have a dry wit, an attractive quality in a person. Not that she was thinking of Malfoy as attractive or anything, she thought to herself hurriedly.

The shady Mission was empty and so was the courtyard. Malfoy lead her around to the back of the building and Hermione could hear the soft nicker of horses as they rounded the corner. The stable was attached to the back of the building. There was a boy hard at work mucking out a stall. After a moment, Hermione recognized his sweaty and flushed face as the boy Primrose caught snogging a much younger girl. Draco looked hard at the boy as they passed, Hermione wondered if he knew what had happened as she and Primrose came to the floor above his office.

Anthony came riding around the corner on a roan mare with high spirits. She was prancing when he pulled her reigns to a stop and chewing her bit. “Afternoon Draco, Miss,” He said raising his hat as he greeted her.

She had a second to look at him as he spoke and decided she liked his tanned skin, his eyes crinkled at the corners and he had brilliantly white teeth showing when he smiled. He was a handsome man. Hermione had never been too attracted to rough kinds of guys, but he seemed so polite, she could imagine why some women would be attracted to cowboys. She answered, “Good afternoon, sir.” And mentally begged her face not to flush under his green eyed gaze.

“Afternoon, Anthony. This is Hermione Granger,” Draco informed the cowboy. Hermione mimed a curtsy to which Anthony chuckled. “Did you get the horses ready for us?” Draco asked.

“I did. I’ve got the sisters waitin’ ‘round the corner for ya,” He answered.

“Oh the sisters? Trying to impress the lady, are you?” Draco said with a smile up to the man.

Anthony smiled back, “Nosir. Still tryin’ to get you in my bed though.” He winked at Draco.

Hermione felt sad to figure out that the handsome cowboy was probably gay. She cursed her luck, she could have pretended to not know how to ride and had him help her. A cheap trick, perhaps, but Hermione’s bed had been empty save for herself over the last year.

Malfoy chuckled, “You can try, Anthony. It’ll never happen.”

“Well, maybe the sisters’ll change your mind. A man can dream.” He winked and then clicked his tongue to the mare and turned her to the side of the building they had not come around. “I went to get some of this girl’s spirit out, ‘n’ saw ya’ll goin’ around the other way.” He rode easily before Hermione and Draco, Hermione admired his backside in his jeans as he lifted himself out of the saddle when his mare kicked her back legs out.

They came around the corner and saw two massive grey mares tied to a post. “Afternoon, ladies,” Anthony told the beautiful mares with a chuckle. They looked toward the corner at the sound of the cowboy’s voice, one whinnied in greeting and the other stamped a foot and nodded her head. They both had white marks on their foreheads and white fetlocks, but were otherwise a uniform dark grey. They were saddled already and swishing their tails at flies in the sun.

Hermione was in awe. She had never seen such tall horses in her life, and asked breathlessly, “Are these Clydesdales?”

“No ma’am. These girls are Shires. Don’t worry though, Miss, they’re gentle as the day is long,” Anthony answered with another smile.

Hermione shyly approached the horses who watched her with interested eyes. “Hello, lady,” she whispered as she approached the closer of the two horses. The horse nickered and Hermione reached up to stroke her velvety nose. She felt like a small child both in size and mentality. She was not unfamiliar with horses, but hadn’t ridden in a few years, and she could not get over how the horses were so tall they dwarfed even Anthony’s mare.

She tucked her jumper into one of the saddlebags because she was sick of holding it. The saddle was almost even with her head, but there was a strange contraption added to the stirrups, which looked like an extra step for short people. She would have to lift her leg higher than she was used to, but she was sure that she could manage getting up on her own.

She glanced back at Draco who was sharing a silent conversation with Anthony. He was in the process of shrugging and Anthony was smiling with a knowing expression on his face. Anthony noticed her looking and raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a wink. Draco saw and turned to Hermione, without missing a beat he asked, “Do you need help up?” With a smirk.

Hermione’s temper flared and without answering untied the mare’s reigns, walked to her side, hooked her foot into the lower stirrup and jumped onto the horse. She regretted her anger nearly immediately and wished she had asked for a stool as her hip flared in agony, but she managed to lift herself into the saddle without showing her discomfort, or so she hoped. She directed the horse to turn toward the men and held her still. “Shall we?” She asked haughtily.

Anthony was grinning at her and Draco had a brow raised in what she thought was interest. He followed suit and climbed onto his own horse behind her. “Thanks Anthony,” Draco called and nudged his horse toward the front of the mission without looking back at Hermione.

She nodded to Anthony and gave him a little wave as she followed. Anthony gave her a smile and nudged his own mare back toward the stables.

She turned the mare and followed Draco through the gate. There was a distant buzzing rising and falling in cycles, but otherwise the valley was silent. “What’s that noise?” She asked when she had caught up with him.

“Cicadas. Nasty looking bugs. You get used to them after a few minutes,” He answered blandly.

She was unsure of what to say so she stayed silent. They were following a beaten path through the tall grass. After a few minutes, Draco pulled his mare to a slower pace and had her match her sister’s pace next to Hermione. He pulled a piece of grass from his side of the path and pulled out his wand. Touching it with the tip of his wand and muttering an incantation, it transfigured into a wide brimmed hat. “Here,” He told her as he passed it to her. He did the same to another piece, making a slightly different hat for himself and placing it atop his head. “You wouldn’t want to get a burn on your face, would you?” He asked her after a few seconds of her staring at the hat.

“Thank you,” She said quietly and placed her hat on her head.

He glanced over at her as she spoke and nodded his acknowledgement.

“How far is it to town?” She asked.

“About ten miles. It’ll take us about two hours at a walk.” He readjusted himself in his saddle. “We could do a trot and get there in an hour, if you want.” He added.

She urged her horse into a trot and he followed suit. She tried figuring out how far that was in kilometers, which she was more used to using, but quickly got bored trying to remember the formula for it. Her curiosity about what he was doing in Texas sparked again when she glanced over at him. “So, how did you end up here?”

He looked off into the distance for a few seconds, then answered, “Almost the same way as you. Primrose and Luis were not there though. I found my way to the Mission’s front gate and Anthony came galloping up wondering what I was doing there. This was about three months after… My parents were put on trial.” He paused for a second, and then cleared his throat. He continued, “I had nothing, no money, identification, even any clothing, other than the robes I was wearing. They told me I could go back to England, but… There was nothing there for me. Mr. Greene offered me a limited contract as his assistant. That turned into various positions and now I’m his second-in-command.” He shrugged as though it was no matter to him. “He’s a good man.” He said.

“But you still keep in contact with Zabini?” She asked.

“Yes. He’s…. well in control of my assets is the easiest way to put it.” He seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it so she did not ask about it anymore. They rode the path in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly he asked, “What about you? Is the Golden Trio still together?” He sounded sarcastic at the mention of ‘Golden Trio’ but otherwise sounded like it was a genuine question.

She felt slightly uncomfortable answering, but she did anyway. It was only fair he would have questions for her, too. “Not really. Ron joined a Quiddich team and doesn’t really keep in contact. Harry’s married to Ginny and they live in a Muggle neighborhood. They’re on their third child, to be born at the end of the year.”

“And you?” He asked quietly when it became clear she was finished speaking.

She thought about how to sum up her life in a few sentences without giving too much away. He was a Slytherin, there was always the chance that all of this was a devious plot to annoy her or something. She grimaced at how childish her own thoughts were. “I work as a researcher for Cho Chang, do you remember her?” He nodded, looking at the path instead of her. “Went to Uni and I just finished my Doctoral last year.”

“So should I be calling you Dr. Granger?” He asked with some sarcasm in his voice.

She smiled, “No, I hate that.”

“That’s it? No mini-Grangers running around? No deranged husband going to come rescue you?”

“Why do you say deranged? Only mentally unstable people could be with me? Is that what you are saying?” Her voice was harsh and she was extremely angry at his insinuation. How dare he? Acting as though he knew anything about her regardless of-

“I meant insanely worried for your safety, a normal reaction to someone you care about disappearing. Merlin, Granger, I’m not trying to insult you.” He honestly looked confused when she looked at him.

Already angry, she asked harshly, “Who are you? What game are you playing?”

He sighed and rubbed his face in irritation. “Can’t we just skip all this shit? Do you really fucking think I have an entire school fooled and the great Doctor Granger is the only one who can see through my nefarious plot?” He sounded weary and angry in equal measure. “I know you think highly of your detective skills, but this is going to turn into a witch hunt if you’re anything like Weasel and Potter. I’m guilty of a lot of things in my past, Granger, and trust me, as high as your pedestal is it is still fucking based on childish assumptions.” His face was hard as stone and he glared at her from under the brim of his hat.

He looked as though he would continue, but a loud bang echoed through the valley. He grabbed the reigns to her horse from Hermione’s surprised hand and reigned in the sisters while he looked around them with wide eyes. Another bang and then yelling in the distance before them. “What is that?” She whispered, trying to ignore her anger for the time being.

“Not sure,” He answered quietly. “But it seems like it might be coming from the town. Let’s go.” He handed her back the reigns and kicked his horse into a gallop.

She didn’t think, she just kicked her own mare to match his breakneck pace. The path was rising along with the surrounding terrain, and she could not see over the mild incline of the hill. She noticed that he had raised himself into the same position as her, and absently noted the absurdity of thinking it strange. Of course he would have lifted himself out of the saddle and was bent toward the horse’s neck, it was the first thing one learned when graduating into riding at a gallop. She made a mental note to forget the image of his firm jean-clad rear in front of her when this day was over.

There was another bang, louder now that they were coming closer to the source. There was a feeling of movement past the point where she could see which she would try to explain later, but could never quite explain how she knew there were about to be people in her way. She pulled back the reigns and saw Malfoy direct his horse to a trot at about the same time.

The path gave the illusion of ending in about ten meters and she urged her horse to one side. Suddenly a young man came over his side of the hill and into their vision. His face was absolutely terrified and pale under his tan, he had blood running from a wound under his hair it seemed. A woman was following him, looking over her shoulder at the town as she ran. Her bare legs were spotted with blood also and her long black hair was flowing over her shoulders.

Neither of them stopped, even though Hermione called out, “What’s happening?” In a tense voice. They simply ran down the unoccupied side of the path, without seeing them.

They began to see smoke as they came yet closer. Finally, Hermione saw Malfoy stop at the highest point and he raised his hand to cover his lips in shock at what he was seeing. Hermione came next to him and looked into the valley below. The small town was quickly being emptied of its’ residents. Most were running, but there were a few cars being driven through the greenish-yellow grass jerkily. There were a few buildings on fire, burning brightly even in the afternoon sun. Most of the people seemed to be headed away from where Hermione and Malfoy had entered the valley.

Another explosion sounded through the valley and Hermione jumped at the volume of it. The new plume of smoke coming from the explosion’s epicenter blocked their view of whatever was causing the situation.

Malfoy looked at her and unsheathed his wand with a nod. His face was hard and even paler than it normally was under his hat. She removed her wand and nodded back to him, silently agreeing to follow his lead. He turned and urged his horse down the hill at a trot toward the town and looked tense in the saddle.

Hermione was wishing she could get down from the mare to approach the situation silently, but she understood that Malfoy probably wanted a quicker escape if it was necessary and until they knew if it was a Magical problem or a Muggle one, it was a wise choice to remain on horseback.

The smell of burning wood and chemicals increased as they got closer. There was no cover for them to take advantage of, they were essentially open targets if the explosions and terror on the Muggles’ faces were caused by a person. Hermione’s horse was trying to slow down from her trot, obviously she didn’t want to enter the town either. She tightened the reigns and gripped her body tighter with her legs. She patted the huge horse on the neck reassuringly.

The path seemed to be the continuation of a side street perpendicular to the main road. They had a very limited view as they entered the town proper, but the now paved road made the horses’ footsteps echo off the walls. There was more noise now, mostly coming from the popping of flames as they devoured buildings. The heat was unbearable and steadily increasing as they approached the main road. Malfoy was in front of her with his wand in one hand and his reigns in the other.

Just before his horse stepped into the main road, he stopped Hermione from following with an impatient hand gesture ordering her to wait. She did not allow her anger to come into play, You agreed to follow his lead, She reminded herself.

He looked quickly both ways down the street and then gave her a quick thumbs down and gestured for her to come forward. She urged her horse forward and felt the horse’s rising anxiety in her hesitation to comply. As she approached him, the various sounds of the town’s destruction increased. It was deafening as soon as she came from behind the makeshift sound barriers of the buildings on either side of the path.

There were a few people lying either unconscious or dead on the road and sidewalk. She frowned, but looked for a person who could possibly be the cause of all this. She realized that Malfoy had tried to warn her probably with his thumbs down.

A building behind her had caught fire also, she noticed. There was a strange groaning thump from the building next to it and her horse nearly bolted as the front part of the building came falling into the street. She reigned her in, trying to keep her prancing under control. Malfoy was watching silently. When Hermione finally relaxed, he cast a spell on her and the horse, filtering out the smell of the fire for both of them and then turned his wand to his own horse and himself. The horse calmed down slowly.

She nodded her thanks, knowing her voice was useless in the din of the fires and falling debris around them. She pointed her wand at the closest person to her and checked for life signs. Malfoy took his cue and began doing the same to each person he came across in the other direction. They had both been through enough battles to know the spells to check for life in apparent lifeless bodies.

After a few minutes, there were two people out of about twenty who were alive and hovering above the ground on stretchers controlled by Draco. Hermione had not found a single person alive. She was trying not to let the emotions of the scene overwhelm her. They had not seen anyone else moving in the town.

In the distance she began to hear sirens, she glanced at Malfoy. His face was covered in soot and he had marks from sweat dripping down his face. She was sure she looked worse, but could find no part of herself to care about it. Draco jerked his head toward the path they had taken into town and she followed him down the main street back to how they had entered.

She turned in her saddle, thinking she had just heard a whisper. Behind her silhouetted against the flames of a storefront was a person wearing robes and raising their hand. A jet of purple light headed directly at her but the horse jumped over something in the road causing her to jerk forward in the saddle, and the light hit the wall behind her instead of her face. The bricks of the wall exploded outward before she could even call out to Malfoy. In the split second it took for the wall to collapse onto her and her horse and before she was knocked unconscious she thought, This seems familiar.

A/N: I’ve gotten some great reviews and comments on this story, so I decided to make a forum post to answer any questions you guys leave in your reviews. Thanks so much for reading! Thanks especially to those who have left me a review and/or a rating!

Speaking of, I love me some ratings/reviews. If you guys particularly love this chapter- let me know! Got a theory about any part of the plot? I love those! Tell me about it! Just like it in general? Cool! Confused about a plot point? Ask and I will respond in the forum! (As long as it isn’t a spoiler!!)

http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/51078-daylight-review-replies-n-discussion-thread/#entry333367
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Daylight