hand in hand; dramione

14

The sweet smell of pancakes wafted through my nose. Mrs. Weasley was making pancakes! Neglecting to change out of my sleep wear, I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen. The small woman was standing over the counter where three stacks of pancakes were sitting. They had to have each piled on 15 pancakes. I didn't know how they weren't falling.

I looked around and realized that I was the only other person awake. I hadn't noticed that Ginny was probably still in bed asleep when I pounced awake.

"Hermione dear, would you mind giving me a hand?" Mrs. Weasley asked, pausing her pancake flipping to turn around and give me a sweet smile. How could I say no?

I grabbed a bowl and began mixing ingredients, as she told me to.

We conversed and cooked for about half an hour until we concluded we'd made enough breakfast to sustain the circus that was the Weasley family.

"BREAKFAST!" She shouted up towards the stairs where everyone was most likely still asleep. A few seconds passed and the house began to shake. Pounding down the steps came a herd of ginger, one brunette and one noirette.

Eight people squashed around a rectangular dining table, all groggily eating breakfast. It was quite funny. I was able to eat about two before I was stuffed. Waiting for everyone else to finish before I announced today was my last day with the family before I departed to the Malfoys, I was able to count the amount of pancakes Ron was able to consume. Currently he was on number nine, and counting.

Speaking of Ron, many of you are probably wondering what happened after the kiss in the Chamber of Secrets. It was really a heat of the moment decision, that and our childhood infatuation, mixed in with the adrenaline of a near death experience. I hadn't felt any kind of emotion from it, other than mild disgust. No offense, but Ronald is a lousy kisser.

We had a silent agreement not to ever speak of it again and to continue our lives as we had always been, best friends. Plus, even if we had developed romantic feelings, this whole soulmate thing would have completely trashed any kind of relationship we'd create. So I suppose it all worked out for the best.

After helping clean up for breakfast, I headed upstairs to pack up my belongings. It didn't take very long because I hadn't brought much. I bid goodbye to the Weasleys and Harry and provided them with hope that I may be back soon. Hugging everyone in the house, except for Angelina. Before I knew it I was flooing into the Malfoy Mansion for the first time since I was tortured here.

I was greeted immediately by Draco who enveloped me in a hug. I had owled him a letter last night, promising to arrive at 10 AM sharp the next morning. So it was no surprise that he was waiting for me here. When we made these plans it was him who suggested I floo there from the Burrow. This confused me greatly because I expected a great number of charms or hexes to be guarding the house.

He dismissed the idea and told me they had gotten rid of them because there was no need. Voldemort was dead. No one else was a threat to their safety.

"I missed you," he murmured softly into my ear. My skin felt hot as I hugged him back. I was grinning like an idiot.

"I missed you too." I looked around and noticed a lack of Malfoy parents. I questioned their whereabouts, usually when you meet someone, they're there to meet you back,

"They went to run some errands this morning. They promised to be back around noon, so I suppose we have some free time to kill until they return." Je flashed me his famous smirk and I scoffed. Typical.

"Come on, I'll give you the official tour." I agreed and we began wandering around. I was so focused on looking at the paintings around the walls I hadn't realized we'd ended up in the drawing room. Suddenly my chest felt tight and it was hard to breathe.

'Filthy little mudblood! Where is it?'

Tears were streaming down my face and I was gasping for air. I doubled over and searched for something, anything to keep myself grounded. What was happening?