Author's Note: Thank you all for the lovely response to the first chapter of Winged! I'd love to hear your thoughts on part 2.
And since I like to keep you all updated, I've been quiet on the long story front while I've been committed to six fests/comps, and we'll be seeing three more of those on FFN very soon. In the next couple of months and into the new year I'll be taking a step back from short pieces to work on my next long WIP, which is currently around 50k (but just not ready for publishing yet). I'm excited to begin sharing it with you!
Thank you to my wonderful alpha and beta on this piece, Kyonomiko and LaBelladone x.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.
Hermione glanced up, catching sight of something in her peripheral vision, and nearly leapt from her seat. A large grey eye was blinking at her through the window of her office in the research annex.
She froze in her seat, hands splayed across the desk as the quill fell from her loose grip.
Malfoy's large, scaled face was staring at her – she hadn't realized a dragon could look so unimpressed.
Huffing, Hermione turned back to her work. There was more than enough food for him to find in the sanctuary, and if he truly thought she was going to cook him three meals a day like a house-elf –
She jumped at a loud tap, and looked up again to see a wicked claw pressed against her window. If it weren't for the fact that all the buildings within the sanctuary were reinforced by magic, she might have suspected he would be able to break the glass.
She stormed to the window and threw it open, glaring up at him as his large snout neared her face.
His claws reached through the open frame, and Hermione took a hasty step back.
"There is plenty of food for you to eat in the sanctuary, Malfoy!" she exclaimed, leveling him with a scowl. "The more you bother me, the less time I spend trying to find a fix for your situation!"
In all reality, her best bet would be to wait for the spell reversal specialist to arrive the following week. Or for Dean to catch the man who had cast the spell in the first place. Malfoy would have to survive without gourmet cooking until then.
He huffed a smoky breath from within his throat and blinked down at her, his face coming into alignment with the open window. Hermione folded her arms, resolute.
Malfoy's chin dropped and his head tilted to the side; his scaled brow furrowed and he blinked at her again, his eyes large and sad. He released a broken whimper.
"Really, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, one brow raised, even as she chuckled despite herself. He did a good puppy dog impression. "Those sad eyes aren't going to work on me."
With an exaggerated huff, Malfoy flung his head backwards, tossing himself off the deck from where he was perched high above the sanctuary floor.
On instinct, Hermione rushed to the window, peering out to see him in a freefall, his wings tucked and body limp. A sharp intake of breath escaped her lips, even as his wings opened with a flourish as he was about to plummet into the ground. Far below, she watched as he skulked away across the ground on all fours, his wings dragging and shoulders slumped.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione returned to her desk. She hadn't taken Malfoy to be such a drama queen.
The living quarters of the dragon sanctuary were housed in a building similar to the research annex, some distance away, and connected by a reinforced and magically protected bridge. The quarters contained dorms, common areas, and a kitchen for the researchers and handlers who chose to live at the sanctuary.
Hermione prepared her evening meal and was about to settle in her dorm with a good book when a thought niggled at her.
If she had been turned into a dragon, and thrown into such a strange and volatile environment as the depths of the sanctuary, she would have felt out of sorts too. Maybe a simple home comfort wouldn't be entirely amiss.
Cursing herself and knowing where it would lead, Hermione placed two raw steaks on a plate and carried it back to the ledge of the research annex.
Malfoy could have his damn steak – but she wasn't going to cook it for him, when he had his own built-in stove.
Then Hermione returned across the bridge to her own dorm and settled in for the night.
The following morning when she arrived at the deck of the research annex, she was met with an empty plate, and a crudely carved happy face etched into the wood.
Two days later Hermione walked out of her office to see Malfoy perched on the deck of the research annex, and before she could roll her eyes and walk back inside, she noticed Dean Thomas sitting on the ledge, explaining something with hand gestures.
Malfoy guffawed, his wings flaring behind him.
Hermione settled a plate with a few pieces of raw chicken some distance away and took a seat beside Dean.
It had been easier, she reasoned, to simply offer Malfoy food a couple times a day, and if he was still hungry he could learn to hunt for himself. But since she didn't anticipate him being there that long, maybe it was a futile effort.
Malfoy eyed the plate of chicken and snuffled at her – Hermione presumed it to be gratitude and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. With a gentle breath of fire, he cooked the chicken black and ate it. Hermione wondered if it was burnt to a crisp.
"Any news?" she asked, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself. It was a long drop to the ground and she had never been great with heights.
"I spent yesterday following a lead that went nowhere," Dean said with a frown. "But I have it on good authority he's still in England, and I'll be back at it this afternoon. Anything on your end?"
"The spell reversal specialist is coming on Monday," Hermione offered, and Malfoy's large gaze swivelled to assess her. "Hopefully he can get Malfoy out."
"Good," Dean said, nodding. "We'll have better luck catching The Warbler if it's the two of us." He gestured to the plate of food. "I see he hasn't learned to hunt on his own?"
"He refuses," Hermione said, with a furtive glance at Malfoy, who grumbled.
"Ironic, isn't it?" Dean asked, looking thoughtful. "That your name is Draco, and you've been turned into an actual dragon."
Malfoy rolled his eyes but released something that might have been a snicker.
"Do you think this Warbler knew?" Hermione asked, chewing her tongue. "Maybe it was his idea of a joke."
Dean's gaze flickered to settle on Malfoy's, and something unspoken seemed to pass between the two Aurors. Hermione's brow furrowed as the silence stretched on.
Finally Dean sighed with a bit of a shrug. "We can't presume to understand what goes on in The Warbler's mind. He's been behind almost every major incident of organized crime since the end of the war, but he's madder than a bloody hatter."
Malfoy cocked his head at the Muggle reference and Hermione exchanged a quick glance with Dean.
"Although," Dean continued, "it's an interesting consideration to keep in mind."
"Maybe he knew you were the ones tracking him," Hermione supplied, unnerved as Malfoy's grey reptilian eyes bore into hers. Feeling a flush creep to her cheeks, she turned to face Dean again. "Watch out for yourself."
"I will," Dean said with a chuckle. "I suspect if something happened to me before I figured out how to return Malfoy to human form he would bring me back just to kill me himself."
Hermione snickered, even as she caught her lower lip between her teeth.
"And on that note, I'd better return to the DMLE before Robards realizes I'm gone," Dean said with a grin, offering his clenched fist to Malfoy's long claw. "I'll see myself out. Later, Hermione. Malfoy."
With that Dean rose from his spot on the ledge and made his way to the entrance of the dragon sanctuary. Hermione turned to Malfoy, still perched on the ledge, eyeing her with a stoic gaze. He ruffled his wings but didn't fly off.
Folding her legs beneath her, she asked, "How are you finding the sanctuary?"
To her surprise, Malfoy nodded his approval. Although it had been nearly a week since he had arrived and his only issue had been with regards to the food. Maybe he truly was enjoying the depths of the wilderness which comprised the largest dragon sanctuary in the world.
"I haven't even seen the entire thing yet," Hermione admitted, gazing into the distance. "The handlers have told me about the different climates and regions, for different types of dragons, of course. I imagine it's very beautiful."
Malfoy snuffled and clawed at the deck. He nodded his head and quirked a brow. Then with a pointed look, he unfurled his wings.
Of course he didn't care to listen to her wax on about the place in which he was essentially trapped. She stood, expecting him to take off into the sky. But he simply stared at her, dropping one wing to the deck in her direction.
Hermione's eyes widened in comprehension and she shook her head, taking a step away. Malfoy huffed, rolling his eyes, but lowered his body to the deck.
His gaze seemed to say, I know you've done this before.
"No, thank you," Hermione responded, folding her arms across her front. "You carry on, though."
With a sort of amused snort, and an action faster than she could follow in the moment, Malfoy speared a long claw through the hood of her jumper and swung her over his wing and onto his back.
Hermione screamed, the sudden action taking her off guard, but before she could scramble he was rising into the air, powerful wingstrokes flapping and Hermione found herself clinging to his back, the scales surprisingly soft.
"Put me down!" she exclaimed, panic rising as derision in her veins. The thought of falling from this height raced through her mind, and her hands gripped his scales, white-knuckled, even as he snickered and rose higher.
Malfoy's head swung to look at her, her breathing heavy and eyes wide, and he blinked at her. His head tilted, one grey eye meeting hers and her brow furrowed at something reassuring in his gaze.
He shifted in the air and Hermione clenched her jaw but readjusted her grip.
Without warning, Malfoy spread his wings wide and dropped into a dive; Hermione felt a scream choke and die in her throat and she dropped her head low to the surface of his back.
The gentle, rhythmic flow of his wings as he steadied off infused her with a sense of ease, and when she forced herself to look up and watch in case he was about to drop her, the next breath she took caught in a different way.
A forest stretched out, endless, before her, and Hermione's eyes widened as she took it in. The trees in this part of the sanctuary grew thick and lush, patches of foliage visible through the tall, verdant canopy.
In the distance, as Malfoy carried on, the trees grew and changed, and the air grew moist with humidity as the biome of the reserve shifted. Through the gaps in the trees Hermione could see animals roaming far below.
A royal blue dragon whose breed she didn't recognize soared by, its wings spread as it vaulted past, and it turned a large, narrowed eye on Malfoy before carrying on. It tucked its wings and dropped into a spiral toward the ground; Hermione laughed and she could have sworn the dragon wore a grin as it fell.
Without entirely realizing it, Hermione shifted to a seated position atop Malfoy's back, and a belated thought occurred to her that nothing held her in place if he decided to throw her off or drop into a spin himself.
The jungle spread on before them, the air growing warmer and heavier as Malfoy carried on. His head swung back to face her, his large grey eyes blinking before refocusing on the sky ahead of him.
Less gradual than the entrance to the jungle biome came a barren, mountainous region, high grey cliffs and crags spread out as far as Hermione could see. Dragons played in the distance, chasing one another around, while others hunted and soared high through the air.
Malfoy carried on, dipping between mountains and rising up on the breeze, back into the air.
Despite herself and her general terror of such heights, Hermione grinned as he flew, even as her eyes leaked with moisture while the wind whipped past.
There was an ocean scattered with beaches and islands, and breeds Hermione had never seen outside of books were swimming and flying and feeding on reeds and rushes.
In fact, she only recognized a handful of the dragons and realized how extensive the sanctuary truly was. She didn't think he had even shown her half of it.
Winding rivers, deserts, and canyons stretched far below them – Malfoy flew on until he reached a tall limestone cliff, settling himself on the outcrop and ruffling his wings.
Taking his cue, Hermione climbed from his back onto the stone, stretching her legs and shoulders – it felt strange to stand on solid ground once more, and she tried to calculate how long she had been exploring with Malfoy.
He settled onto his haunches, and cast Hermione a pointed gaze as she came up alongside him.
"It's wonderful out here, isn't it?" she asked, her gaze flickering to him.
He didn't respond but simply turned to face the other way from the cliff upon which he had stopped. The sun was setting over the sanctuary, its brilliant rays of orange and red casting a vibrant light as far as Hermione could see. A breath caught in her throat and her eyes stung at the beauty of it.
"Thank you," Hermione sighed. The thought occurred to her that it wouldn't be so terrible to be a dragon out here.
Malfoy huffed a soft grumble beside her as he settled down, resting his face on his scaled forelegs, his eyes fixed on the sunset ahead of them.
Hermione settled to the ground beside him, folding her legs beneath her. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the watching-the-sunset type."
His brow furrowed, unimpressed, as he turned to stare at her. As if deciding he didn't care to mime his thoughts, he turned back, his large eyes blinking shut for a long moment.
Hermione realized he was basking in the last remnants of the sun like a cat. She snickered, shaking her head as she dropped her hands to the rough stone behind her.
She didn't know how long she sat there with her unlikely company, but as the last of the sun's light had set and dusk fell into the sky, Hermione turned to Malfoy. He gave a wide yawn as his eyes fluttered open.
"Were you planning on flying me back?" she asked, worrying her lip. "I'll give you a steak if you do."
Malfoy rolled his eyes, but shifted so she could climb atop his back again. He trekked to the top of the ledge some distance away, then cast a pointed glance behind him to meet her eyes.
His gaze flickered to her hands, and Hermione gripped harder to his scales on instinct.
Without any further warning, Malfoy leapt from the cliff, his silver wingspan wide as he fell into a steep dive. Hermione screamed, feeling the cool night breeze tear past her, and she clung to his body until he levelled off, tears streaming from her eyes at the speed.
Hermione pounded his back with a fist in frustration as he carried on flying and he huffed a smoky laugh. Cursing under her breath, she wished now she had simply Apparated back to the research annex and left him to sleep on his rock.
But he settled off, and Hermione readjusted to a seated position as the moon lit up the dark sky.
And there was a sort of peace to it that she wouldn't have expected – a peace on Malfoy's reptilian face as he glanced back to check on her. Or maybe he was hoping she had fallen off.
When he returned her to the ledge of the research annex, his grey eyes fixed on hers. He perched on the deck and waited until Hermione returned with a plate of raw steaks.
Malfoy gazed at her for a moment before offering her a nod.
"Thanks, for taking me with you," Hermione said and found she meant it. The experience of seeing the sanctuary from that perspective wasn't one she would forget anytime soon.
She could have sworn he gave her a smirk.
Then he speared the steaks with a long, curved claw, and flew off into the forest.
It was two days before Hermione saw Malfoy again. Dean had checked in, but his update had been less than fruitful. The Warbler was as elusive as ever, and Dean had lost the trail again.
Hermione hadn't been in a rush to inform Malfoy – and the spell reversal specialist had owled to reschedule his visit, citing a family emergency.
She had left food out for him and it had vanished, but she hadn't seen his great silver form since the day he had flown her through the sanctuary.
So when she walked out of the research annex to see him perched on the ledge, she had nearly jumped in fright. His large grey eyes caught hers, but he made no move and Hermione simply stared at him.
Malfoy gestured with a sharp jerk of his face into the sanctuary, in the opposite direction of the one in which he had taken her before.
Hermione blinked, her brow furrowed. "You want me to come with you again?"
He stared at her.
"I have work to do."
His eyes rolled.
"Fine," Hermione said, "but only for a short while."
Malfoy huffed but settled his body to the deck, and she climbed on, feeling more comfortable on his back than she had the time before, despite the death-defying dive he had taken her into.
With a glance behind him, he rose into the air and took off with great, powerful beats of his wings. He flew in the direction he had indicated and Hermione gazed out as he flew over a grassy plain, the air warm and vegetation growing sparse.
There was a series of small ponds as the grassland fed into a meadow, and a breath caught in Hermione's throat.
Malfoy settled down on a hill next to a pond, and Hermione dismounted from his back.
"This is stunning," she whispered, "did you just find this?"
With a nod, Malfoy settled into the grass beside the pond. There was a small beach of sandy clay and Hermione sat down, dipping her fingers into the pool. The water was warm.
His gaze fixed on her and he traced an idle DM into the clay with a claw.
"Don't tell me you go swimming here," Hermione said with a snicker. Malfoy shrugged his shoulders and rolled onto his side in the grass, eyeing her. "I'm not swimming, I haven't got a suit."
Malfoy snickered, spreading his wings out around him, his eyes fluttering shut.
Hermione slipped off her shoes and socks and rolled up her jeans, dipping her feet into the water.
He snorted and when she turned back to him, he was watching her through one eye, making that expression that Hermione suspected was meant to be a smirk.
Before she could comprehend what he was about to do, he reached out with a clawed leg and pushed her into the small pool. Malfoy guffawed as she broke the surface, gasping in anger and surprise.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Hermione hoisted herself out of the pool, her jeans and jumper soaked through. She threw her wand down on the bank, glaring at the dragon as he chuckled and rolled in the grass, clutching his stomach in a mockery of laughter.
"That wasn't funny!" Hermione hissed, tugging her jumper over her head and wringing the water from it.
Malfoy's grey eyes landed on the thin top she wore beneath her jumper and she realized too late it was soaked as well, her bra clearly visible through the drenched fabric. She exclaimed, "Filthy dragon!"
He snickered and rolled onto his stomach, reaching one clawed foot out to scratch something into the loose clay. Hermione stared in disbelief once he had finished, baffled to see he had drawn a crude winking face.
Huffing again, she turned away from him, clutching her wet jumper to her front. She walked some distance away, settling down on a large, flat rock, and clutched her knees to her chest, frowning. Hermione was of half a mind to simply Apparate away.
In her periphery she caught sight of Malfoy's glimmering silver scales, and she turned a stern gaze on him. His large grey eyes blinked at her, like they did when he wanted food.
He lifted a foot, two claws held out, and between them, a small, pale blue flower.
Hermione's brows shot up in surprise and she hesitantly took the flower from his claws. He swiped the claw near her hair and Hermione nearly recoiled until his claw snagged in one of her curls, tangled from the fly out.
Hermione sucked her teeth as she loosened his claw and he settled down on the large rock beside her, basking in the sun. She tucked the flower into her hair as he had inferred, and his gaze flickered to see once she was done.
"Thank you," she clipped, and he huffed a breath through his snout, eyes fluttering again.
The ire flowed out of her and Hermione leaned back on her elbows, imagining it would be a nice place to have a nap. She looked at Malfoy beside her, his face peaceful.
"It must be sort of nice," she said, her voice soft. "Being out here."
A grey eye cracked open. He released a sound of contentment.
"Is it strange that I wish you could talk?" Hermione carried on, shaking her head at herself. "Of course it's strange. We don't get along."
Malfoy turned to look at her, his chin resting on the flat expanse of the rock. His brow furrowed as he blinked at her.
"Sometimes," Hermione confessed, looking away from him, "I wonder if we might have, if we hadn't grown up on opposite sides of a brewing war. You seem to be close enough with Dean, and he's Muggle-born as well." She shrugged, forcing a casual smile. "You always seemed to be the only one nearly as studious as I was in school."
She cast Malfoy a sidelong glance, almost instantly wishing she hadn't said so much, but he was staring at her in a way that unnerved her. His brow was furrowed, his grey eyes upturned, and Hermione could see, deep within them, a sort of melancholy sadness.
"It doesn't matter now," Hermione said, shaking her head. "But for what it's worth, Malfoy, I'm sorry for the things you went through during the war. What I've heard, anyway. I know most of what you did wasn't your choice. I think it's really admirable that you chose to become an Auror."
Malfoy snuffled, his face moving closer to hers. His clawed foreleg shifted and pressed against her hand where it rested on the rock. Hermione gave him a wry smile as his claws curled around her wrist.
His face dropped near her hair, before resting on the rock again.
She breathed, "Thanks, Malfoy."
From the slump to his shoulders, Hermione suspected he knew how deep and convoluted the sentiment was, as it hung between them.
They fell into an unspoken pattern.
Once Hermione was done her research for the day, she would make her way to the kitchen in the living quarters and prepare a plate of raw meat, before returning to the deck of the research annex.
Malfoy would swoop in shortly after, inspecting her offerings for the day, although they both knew he would take whatever she gave him. With a quick breath, he would cook the food to its desired doneness and swallow it back in a handful of bites.
Then he would settle on the deck and allow Hermione to climb atop his back. They would explore the vast nature of the sanctuary, venturing into different biomes. Sometimes he would stop somewhere that caught his interest, or if Hermione gave him a nudge to the back.
Some days they returned to the pond in the meadow, and if they were close enough when the sun began to set, Malfoy would fly them to the limestone cliffs.
They visited the beaches of the ocean, swept deep into the rainforest, and one day Hermione brought a large bag of water and they trekked through the desert.
Hermione talked while he listened, and he expressed himself through gestures and rolled eyes. He made her smile and laugh, and if she didn't know better, she would have forgotten he was Draco Malfoy.
Often, other dragons glanced their way but simply carried on with whatever they had been doing before.
If she was a dragon, Hermione had decided, this was where she wanted to live. She suspected Malfoy felt the same way, because he didn't usually care to listen to her updates from Dean.
She wondered if maybe this was exactly what his soul needed.
One evening, they were nearing the limestone cliffs, Malfoy's favourite perch from which to watch the sunset, when the sky filled with angry, dark clouds. Within minutes, the clouds opened up and released a heavy downpour, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing near enough for Hermione to duck and clutch his back tighter.
Malfoy landed on a lower cliff, tucking them in beneath the protection of the mountains above.
Hermione caught his gaze and he clawed at her pocket where she kept her wand.
"I can't Apparate you with me!" she exclaimed over the roaring of the wind. A bright strike of lightning flashed, lighting up the silver of his scaled face.
He nudged her pocket again, shoving her away from him.
Hermione shook her head, pressing herself against the cliff again. "I'm not leaving you alone! If you try to fly anywhere you could get struck!"
Malfoy released a growl, turning away from her.
Firing him a scowl, Hermione dropped to the hard ground, pulling her hood over her hair. The cliffs protected them from the bulk of the storm, but if it shifted they would be right in the line of the thunder and lightning.
Malfoy tugged at her wrist with a clawed foreleg, and dragged her towards a shallow cave Hermione had never seen before. It was barely deep enough for his body and he had to curl up inside to fit. He dropped to the floor, pulling her along with him.
Hermione rolled onto her side, meeting the urgency in his large, grey eyes. She felt a shiver creep through her thin jumper in the rain and the cold, damp air. Malfoy blinked and draped a large, membranous wing on top of her, covering her from her neck to her trainers.
Hermione's brow knitted as she stared at him, and he tugged her closer still, until she could feel the heat emanating from his body.
"Thank you," she whispered, feeling the chill in her bones seep away.
Her eyes fluttered shut and Malfoy relaxed with a huff, his own sliding shut, and despite the raging storm outside, Hermione felt sleep claim her within moments.