Back in Time

Chapter ten

Hermione followed Ismay as he walked out of the dining area. He walked onto the deck and took one of the stairs Hermione had not used before and when they got up the stairs, one of the staff members quickly walked up to them.

'Hello sir, miss,' he said with a nod of his head. 'How can I help you?' The amount of staff members walking around this part of the ship made it quiet obvious that they didn't want passengers wandering here.

'We would like an appointment with the captain,' said Ismay and he already moved to walk past the staff member, but the boy quickly went to stand in front of him.

'I'm afraid that's not possible right now, the captain is in a meeting right now.'

'Oh,' Ismay said with a smirk. 'I'm sure if you tell him that Bruce Ismay would like to talk to him, he won't mind.' The boy shook his head.

'No sir, I'm sorry but he is not receiving anyone right now.'

Hermione frowned. What was the meeting about? Surely, they must have gotten the iceberg warnings, so maybe they were discussing them? If only they could have come to the conclusion that it's far too dangerous to be going full speed with all the iceberg warnings themselves, Hermione thought. She shook her head, thinking it was quiet obvious and that they were stupid to ignore the warnings.

Ismay turned around, looking rather annoyed about the fact that he was denied entrance. He shook his head.

'Alright then,' he said and led Hermione back down the stairs onto the deck. A couple of other first class passengers were taking a stroll around the deck. Hermione and Ismay went to stand against the rail.

'I'm sorry, miss Malfoy. I did not know the captain was in a meeting. If he wasn't, I'm sure he would have taken the time to talk to us,' Ismay said, frowning a bit.

'Please call me Hermione,' Hermione smiled, trying not to show how desperate she felt.
'It's not that important.' Oh, if only he knew.

Ismay nodded at her and they walked back inside. When they got into the dining area, Ismay excused himself and went to the smoking room. Hermione saw Malfoy and the girl still sitting at the table and she sighed and turned around.

Oh yes. This ship is about to sink and instead of trying to prevent it, and you know, stay alive, Malfoy is flirting with a random girl he just met. That is just the best plan he's ever had. What a genius- Hermione is pulled out her her thoughts when she almost stumbles on her way to the deck. She didn't exactly know where she was going, she just knew she didn't enjoy watching Malfoy and the girl.

Hermione kept walking until she was at a deserted part of the ship and sat down against the rail, looking out at the ocean. She bit her lip when she thought about how cold the water was, how so many people had died because of it when the ship had sunk.

'That must be a horrible way to die,' she muttered to herself, hugging her knees to her chest.

'Are you talking to yourself now?'

Hermione jumped when she heard the voice, placing a hand over her heart. She hadn't heard anyone coming towards her. She turned her head to see Malfoy leaning against the rail a bit further away, an amused look on his face. The look on his face just irritated her more and she decided to ignore him.

She could hear his footsteps as he approached her and stopped just behind her.
'Well?' He asked.
'What?' She snapped, turning her head.
He raised an eyebrow and she could see the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.
'How did it go with Ismay?'
'Oh,' Hermione mumbled, looking away again. 'The captain was in a meeting.'
'Oh,' Malfoy mimicked her, sitting down against the rail next to her. Hermione refused to look at him, still annoyed because of the fact that he would rather flirt with a random girl instead of helping her. Not because she was jealous. Not. At. All.

'We only have one day left before the ship sinks,' Malfoy said.

'Oh, now you're getting worried? You didn't look so bothered by the fact that this ship is going to sink at lunch,' Hermione snapped, still not looking at him.

Malfoy turned to face her, a look of surprise on his face.

'What?  What are you even- wait...' Hermione met his eyes just in time to see the disbelieving look on his face disappear.

'Are you jealous?'  He smirked at her. 'Because there is absolutely no other reason for you to be angry with me for talking to someone.'

'Of course not! Why on earth would I be jealous? I just found it disrespectful of you to be flirting with some girl, when everyone at that table believes me to be your wife! And for some reason you would rather flirt with a random girl than help me find a way to prevent this ship from sinking!' Hermione stopped ranting, out of breath. Malfoy hadn't said a word during her rant, the smirk on his face only becoming wider and wider until he was full on laughing at her. Hermione glared at him.

'You and Ismay were literally gone for ten minutes, and you said the captain was in a meeting. I don't think it's such a disaster that I wasn't there,' he said after he had finally stopped laughing, an amused expression still evident on his face.

'It's not about that, it's about you not trying to help for a really stupid reason,' Hermione argued.

Malfoy shook his head. 'Granger, we've done everything together to stop this ship from sinking so far. You were gone for ten minutes. Stop being so dramatic about it.'

'I'm not being dramatic,' Hermione huffed. Malfoy rolled his eyes and sighed.

'Whatever,' he said, leaning his head against the rail again. She knew she was overreacting, but she would not admit that to him.

She had not liked seeing him flirting with that girl, but she didn't even admit that to herself, her pride wouldn't allow it. After a while, Malfoy broke the silence.

'She's the captain's niece.'

Hermione looked at him, confused. 'What?'

'The girl at lunch. She's the captain's niece. She said she could try and talk to her uncle, the captain, and get us an appointment. She said she'll let me know at dinner,' the hint of a smirk on his face again.

'Oh, right... I mean, that's great,' Hermione said, surprised. She had definitely not expected that. So that's why he was acting like that at lunch, Hermione thought, strangely relieved.

He wasn't looking at her, but Hermione could see the smug expression on his face. She rolled her eyes and turned to face the ocean again, her lips forming into a small smile.