I sighed deeply, feeling exhausted. The day had been long, not to mention irritating with the fact that I had to do Darcy’s work; for example, going to a creepy old orphanage only to find that a little old and friendly woman owned the place.
Thomas, my pet orange and white cat, was fast asleep in my lap as I lounged on the couch, dressed in my pajamas with a roaring fire beside me. His purring was remarkably loud, and his tail twitched every few seconds, as if he were having nightmares. I had the urge to wake him up and tell him it was only a dream, then realized that it might just be a good dream that he was having.
I nearly fell asleep myself when a sudden hoot interrupted my doze, and I jumped out of my skin. Thomas leapt from my lap, his hair on end, ready to take on whatever it was he thought had startled him.
“Take it easy, Thomas,” I soothed. “You were having a nightmare.”
He gave me a no-for-your-information-I-was-sleeping-good-dreams-and-you-woke-me-up look and turned on his heal, his striped tail in the air.
I smirked at him, then looked up at a familiar, slightly fat, gray owl with narrowed green eyes who was perched on the headrest of the couch. He stuck out his leg for me, then eyed my own owl, Ginger, a tawny tan colored owl, who sat across the room. She turned her back to him, giving a dignified hoot with a yellow eyed don’t-bother-I’m-not-interested look.
I didn’t blame her for rejecting this old, plump gray owl. Not only was he plump and old, but he also seemed to have the same attitude as Patrick, since he was Patrick’s owl.
“What does he want now?” I snorted, removing the letter from the gray owl.
The owl hooted, his eyes glaring at me, then swooped out the open window. Ginger glanced at me, giving me a how-can-you-deal-with-him? look.
I recognized Patrick’s choppy handwriting when he had written my name on the front of the letter. I sighed, opening it, expecting the worse.
I need you to go to Malfoy’s at 11:45 tomorrow morning and finish up with that interview. You’ve been taking forever with that, Naomi. I’ll need it by the end of the month at the latest.
The end of the month was a few weeks away. I could handle it. But at 11:45 tomorrow morning?
Won’t Malfoy be on his lunch break at that time? It won’t work out.
I sent Ginger off, who returned within a few minutes, a disgruntled look on her face.
No buts, Naomi. I want that article done as soon as possible. So you will visit Malfoy at 11:45. I have a meeting that morning at ten o’clock. End of discussion.
~*~*~*~
I tossed the pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace and croaked for Malfoy’s office. I stepped out of his fireplace after spinning and whirling, hoping that I wouldn’t see my breakfast again.
I was surprised again to find Malfoy standing there again by the fireplace.
“Naomi?” he asked in confusion.
“Hello, Draco,” I greeted, brushing a bit of soot off my arm. A sparkle from his desk caught my eye. From the distance I examined it; it was a silver necklace, an expensive looking one… it was Darcy’s necklace.
“What’s Darcy’s necklace doing there?” I asked suspiciously. “Did she come and interview you?”
“Well…” Draco murmured. “What are you doing here?”
I was oblivious to him sidestepping the question. “Huh? Didn’t Patrick tell you that I’d be coming at 11:45?”
Draco shook his head. “I was actually just leaving for lunch.”
“Oh, sorry. I’ll just go and come back later. I told Patrick that he shouldn’t have made me-”
“Why don’t you join me?” Draco asked. “You could do the interview over lunch.”
I blinked, not expecting an invitation to attend. “Are you sure you want me to come? I mean… I don’t want to invade or anything-”
“I’m absolutely fine with it,” Draco smiled.
I nodded in reply after making up my mind. “Okay, I guess.”
I stiffened again when he hooked his arm with mine. Pulling out his wand and turning on the spot, he Disapparated us in front of a small restaurant. Few people were dining at it, and in gold letters above the double door entrance was the word Hecate’s.
“Have you been here before?” Draco asked.
“No. I haven’t,” I explained. I looked around, finding us to be on a cobbled street, surrounded by small white buildings. Nearby there was a beach; a beautiful beach. The most gorgeous beach I ever saw with cerulean blue waters that were just as colorful as the blue sky. A cool sea breeze ruffled my hair, and I could practically taste the seawater on my tongue. The scent of food and fish was in the air, and I recognized the boats in doc, carrying in different types of fish. It was a warm day, and I pulled off my cloak, letting my light blouse ruffle in the breeze. I listened to the sound of the water crashing into the partially rocky and sandy shoreline, overwhelmed by everything. “It doesn’t look like we’re anywhere near London,” I explained stupidly, slightly under the influence from the panorama I was taking in.
“We aren’t. We’re in Elafonissi, Crete.”
I blinked, then gawked. “Wait a minute… you mean… Greece?!” I barked, my eyes bugging outward. “You took me to Greece?”
“Yes,” Draco smiled. “We’re in a wizarding area of Elafonissi. See that? That’s the Mediterranean Sea over there.” He pointed towards the dazzling blue waters which crashed into light waves at the beachy sands.
“Huh…” was all I could say.
“Are you upset that I brought you here?” Draco asked, sounding concerned.
“No. Absolutely not,” I answered quickly. “I’ve always wanted to visit Greece. It looks so beautiful.”
“So you’ve never been here?”
I shook my head. “I’ve only seen photographs.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the sculptures of homes and the gorgeous beach. The orange ball of fire in the sky was bright, making the water glisten like diamonds, my eyes drowning in the scenery.
“Let’s head inside,” explained Draco.
He placed his hand at the small of my back, which caused my ears to turn pink, and led me inside the restaurant. There was barely anyone in it except for a couple, a pair of older women in the far corner, and a gray looking man who had his head buried in the paper.
“The food here is delicious,” Draco commented, leading me to a table near the window. “And they’ve got an incredible view.”
He wasn’t lying. The spot that he picked gave a view of the beach and the sandy and rocky shoreline. The view of the sea was amazing. It looked as if the waves met the sky in the distance.
It was hard to look away from the menu I was looking through and take in the elegant sea beside my window. Finally focusing on my menu, I felt my lips purse, unable to read what it said.
“Erm…” was all I could mumble.
“How about I order for you?” Draco asked me, a smile on his face. I just nodded in reply, trying to hide the redness of embarrassment on my cheeks. I leaned on my fists, a dreamy look on my face as I stared back out the window.
“You like it here,” Draco explained.
“Of course I do,” I answered. “Look at it here. It’s beautiful, it’s warm, it’s so wonderful.”
Draco smiled at me again--I didn’t know why.
A waiter soon met up with us and took our orders, and soon I felt my eyes bugging from my head as I stared at Draco, who spoke quickly and fluently in the Greek language.
“You can speak Greek?” I asked, astonished and impressed. “How many times have you been here, again?”
Draco chuckled. “Several times.”
“How’d you come across this place anyways?” I asked, watching the water pitcher pour water into our glasses itself. It slowly floated away when it was done.
“I took a vacation here once,” Draco explained, taking a sip from his glass. “I needed to get away from work for a couple of days. So I did.”
I snorted. “I wish it was that easy for me. You’re your own boss.”
“Maybe when you’re tired with the Daily Prophet, then you can come and work with me,” Draco explained.
I choked on my water. “Uh huh,” I laughed. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”
“I’m serious,” he explained. “I need a new assistant. I don’t even have an assistant, but I need one.”
“And my lifelong dream has always been to become your assistant,” I replied with heavy sarcasm.
“You don’t sound like you like you’re job at the Daily Prophet very much,” said Draco skeptically.
“I don’t? Well… it can be very stressful at times. Everyone has their complaints. What about when you’re a wandmaker? Is that stressful?”
“It doesn’t sound like it, but believe me. I get requests from all over the world, so I’m up to my throat in work.”
I leaned on my fist, trying to fit his sentences in the “cocky” area or the “stress” area.
“Do you come down here for lunch all the time?” I asked him. “Heck, I wouldn’t even be able to Disapparate a couple of miles away from home.”
“I don’t come here all the time, but I have been here a lot,” Draco explained. “That’s why I was able to Disapparate the two of us here so easily.”
“So you planned on coming here today?”
“No. I just thought that you might like it.” Draco smiled at me, then moved his eyes towards the view out the window. I didn’t know what to make of it…
“Do you know who Hecate is?” Draco asked.
I shook my head. “Does she have to do with Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses?”
Draco nodded. “She’s the one who awakens ghosts so that they can haunt the living. She’s Queen of all the Witches.”
“As in me?” I asked.
“Sure. And she’s Goddess of the Underworld.”
“I thought that Persephone was.” I picked up a piece of the bread that the waiter had given us before our meals arrived. “Mmm…” I said in content. “What kind of bread is this?”
“Psomi sta karvouna,” Draco answered.
“Come again?”
“Toasted bread,” he said. “Do you know your Greek Mythology?”
“Sure. I love learning about Greek Mythology,” I explained. “You were talking about Hecate?”
“That’s right,” said Draco, now remembering. “She’s like a three-in-one goddess--three faces. One young, one middle aged, and one old. And then she’ll have three joined bodies. There are other things about her having one normal face, one face of a horse, and one face of a dog.”
“And you believe all this stuff?”
“Do you believe all the Greek Mythology you’ve learned?” he asked. My cheeks turned pink.
The waiter returned with our food, and I couldn’t help but feel my mouth water at the looks of the dish in front of me. “What’s this?” I asked him. It looked to be a mixture of onions, tomatoes, green peppers, and other strange looking things that I couldn’t name, all of them looking very delectable.
“Horiatiki Salata.”
“In English.”
“Greek Village Salad.”
“Huh…” I poked at the salad, examining it. I stabbed a piece with my fork, placed it in my mouth, and chewed. I took another bite, wanting more and more. “It’s delicious!”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
“What did you get?”
“Fried Calamari.”
I stared at it as he began to eat it. It looked like onion rings, but I knew better than that. It looked like some sort of sea food dish, but I could be very wrong.
“So why did you donate money to that orphanage in particular?” I asked.
“Are we getting into the interview now?” said Draco as he took another bite of his Calamari.
“Maybe. I’m just kind of curious, too, though,” I answered shyly.
“I knew Ms. Crandall because she was one of our only witch maids at home during the time that we went to Hogwarts. Even though I treated her unfairly and poorly, she still treated me with respect.”
“But… didn’t she have to?” I asked.
“I could tell that it was genuine. You can always hear those ruddy house elves mumbling to themselves about how horrible you are to them afterwards.”
But it’s true. You are horrible to them, I thought, holding my tongue. “Do you have any house elves nowadays?”
“No. I don’t really fancy slavery anymore,” Draco explained casually. I tried to not stare at him with hostility when he said that. “Anyways, she eventually quit, because she has the right to, unlike the house elves.”
“You have to give them a piece of clothing to set them free, don’t you?” I asked.
Draco nodded. “After the few years during the War, and once I had pulled myself together, I started the wandmaking business. I found out a couple of months later that Ms. Crandall now owned the Oberon Orphanage at the edge of town.” Draco took a bite of his food as he continued, his face in thought. “I thought that it was very kind of her to be taking care of all those children. She’s nearly doing it by herself, too. I wanted to pay my respects to her by having a monthly donation to the orphanage.”
I smiled at him, finding that not only was he good looking, but very generous, too. “That’s quite munificent of you, Draco. Ms. Crandall seems like she was very nice.”
“Oh, yes. She was. Almost too nice. Funny how she thought you were my ‘girl.’”
I bit down on my green pepper hard, slightly taken aback. He found it funny if I were to be his girl? What was funny about it?
I chewed on my food, feeling a bit offended, and wanting to offend him back… playfully.
“So what’s going on with you and Pansy Parkinson then, Draco?” I remarked, my tone somewhat icy. “Is she still your ‘girl?’”
Draco chuckled. “I don’t really like to consider that she was,” he laughed again. “No. Things ended by the time the War was over.”
“But you are dating someone now, aren’t you?”
“You think I’m that low?” Draco asked. “That I’d be sleeping with other woman while dating a certain girl?”
“Well, you are pretty low with going through women like they’re tissues,” I shot back. I expected him to become angry, that maybe I had started an old flame inside of him. But he just chortled.
“You have got a point,” he answered.
A silence that was too awkward to take fell between us. I instantly reached for my bag, summoning my quick-quotes-quill. “Let’s start the interview, shall we?” I said quickly.
Author’s Note: Aggh! Don’t you all wanna go to Greece? Was reading through the same book that I found Oberon in and found Hecate in there too, lol. :D
Printer Friendly Version
