Ginny pulled Hermione towards the great hall on Halloween night. She was humming with excitement that had nothing to do with the prospect of the annual feast. "Ginny, just what mischief are you up to? You're buzzing like a flock of Nargles around Luna Lovegood's head."
She waggled her eyebrows suggestively towards Hermione. "Oh, you know- Halloween… spooky nightmare houses… it's full of opportunities."
Hermione snorted. "Opportunity for what? Staring at dilapidated houses that lost their ghosts decades ago when Lupin left school?"
Ginny clucked her tongue and shook her head admonishingly. "No, no, no. Opportunities to hide my face in Harry's very firm set of shoulders. Honestly, Hermione, have you no imagination?"
Theo Nott suddenly joined the girls before they entered the hall. "Really, Ginny, have you no shame? I thought we were an 'us'. Now I hear that you're planning to run out on me for that lightening-faced prat? I'll have you know; my shoulders will also be available for your manufactured fear."
Ginny just rolled her eyes. "You know when I flirt with you, I don't mean it that way. You're just too much fun to tackle."
"Funny you should say that. If that were true, how come Minnie's not all up in my personal space?"
"Probably because unlike Ginny, I am not an insatiable flirt nor am I a universal toucher. Don't worry, Theo- no matter what happens, I'm sure you'll always hold a special place in Ginny's headlock."
As the trio neared where Harry and Ron were seated at the Gryffindor table, Theo gave the girls a small salute and headed over to sit next to Malfoy. Ginny slid into the seat next to Harry, leaving Hermione to sit by Ron.
As she settled into her chair, she quickly looked over the Halloween feast selection and licked her lips. She was just about to reach for a cauldron cake with purple steam rising from its top when Ron reached forward to grab one of her wayward curls.
"Hang on, I think you have a bit of something in your hair." Ron frowned as he tried to untangle the unidentified foreign object from her locks. After several moments of frustrated picking, he started to reach for his wand. Sensing impending disaster, Hermione grabbed her own and cast a quick 'Reneo'. Her hair unfurled from a small pendant the size of a Galleon.
"Looks like one of the communication devices Theo and I are trying to charm for our project. We got the idea from the DA galleons we used last year- only we want to make it possible for wizards to be able to use them with their familiars. The only trouble is, I can't figure how to get the less intelligent animals to send any sort of coherent message back through them."
Harry looked thoughtful. "Maybe you can tune them to get in touch with the creatures' magical signatures. You know, dig deep to brush up with their core magic. Core magic has a way of communicating on a baser level- like when I speak Parseltongue. It's an instinctual thing."
Hermione gave a small start at Harry's mention of core magic. She did not wish to be reminded of the intense incident she'd had with her essence last month, but she just couldn't keep it out of her mind. Every little glance she shared with Draco; every time he sent her "anonymous" mail raving about themes in the latest muggle classic he had finished… he was everywhere in her mind, drowning out the very reasonable voice admonishing her to keep him at arm's length.
"Are you ready to head out?" The sound of Harry's voice broke Hermione out of her reverie. The four friends left the remains of their dinner behind and collected Theo before they headed out into the foggy night air.
Despite Hermione's knowledge to the contrary, she had to admit- there was something ghostly about the shrieking shack on Halloween night. Dark and foreboding, it stood in sharp contrast against the subtle greys of the mist surrounding the Scottish landscape.
Ginny shuddered forcefully and leaned a little closer to Harry as they approached the abandoned ramshackle building.
"Alright, Ginny?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Oh, you know… just feeling a bit… nippy."
Harry drew his eyebrows together and cast a warming charm over her. Theo chuckled heartily at her failed attempt to gain Harry's attention.
"Did you need some extra body warmth, Ginny?" he proclaimed obnoxiously. "Don't worry; Captain Hammer's here. I'll lend my warming expertise."
Ginny sent a glare in his direction, which he cheerfully ignored, opting instead to sweep her into a big bear hug. "Apparently Potter needs a little bit of education on how to properly care for his female friends," he declared.
Harry scratched his head nervously. "Right, then." He said awkwardly, as Theo deposited Ginny back on the ground next to him.
The group went quiet again as a howl sounded nearby, possibly from the bushes to the left of the house.
Slightly spooked, Hermione turned to Ginny. "What do you suppose-AAAIEEEEEK!"
A warm pair of arms had wrapped abruptly around her waist and startled the dickens out of her. As if on cue, Ginny threw her arms around the wizard closest to her- who, by design, was Harry. He wrapped his arms protectively around her as she buried her face in his chest.
Hermione felt, rather than heard, Draco's warm chuckle resonating from deep in his torso and into her upper back he observed the scene his antics had caused.
She spun around in his arms and pushed her hands against his surprisingly firm chest with a loud smack. "What was that for? Are you out of your mind?"
He peered down at her and smirked at the sight of the feisty little witch encircled in his hold.
"Theo put me up to it. After the operation you pulled the other day, he said you deserved a little bit of payback." He leaned in a little closer and dropped his voice down for only her to hear. "Besides, it looks like my little stunt got your ginger friend exactly what she wanted."
Sure enough, Ginny was playing up her fear, shivering in Potter's arms as he patted her consolingly on the back, looking slightly flattered.
"Are you sure she didn't put you up to this?" Hermione accused.
"Well, let's just say I might have been presented with multiple offers. I have to say, I don't much mind how nicely this is shaping up for myself." Hermione scowled, her heart breaking slightly as pushed off his chest with her palms and out of his warm embrace.
"And just what do you plan to do now? Your mission has apparently been accomplished."
"On the contrary- it's not every day I find myself together with you away from the public eye. I intend to make the most of my circumstances."
"Oh, so you'd like to review some Dickens together? Perhaps muse over the very idea that Moby Dick ever became a classic? If only Herman Melville had a proper editor…"
Draco scoffed. "Granger, if you ever wrote a novel I have a feeling it would end up sounding very much like the one you so despise. You'd rant on for pages about the magical theory and precise application of "Wingardium Leviosa" before you ever got to the meat of anything. And don't even get me started on the tangents you'd go off on regarding the rights of magical creatures."
She scoffed. "How very dare you! Like you'd be much better- your novel would be full of dreary moping and bored aristocrats looking loftily down upon the filthy commoners."
Draco frowned and clutched his hand over his heart. "Ouch, Granger. I like to think I'm slightly better company than that."
Hermione sighed, "Of course you are, Draco. I was only teasing."
Suddenly Ron broke away from where he was standing next to Harry and started rallying the group to make a move to the media room to finish up the evening with a scary film.
Draco's lips pulled up at the corners, his eyes filled with wistful longing. "I really don't want to say goodnight. But with the current political state, I won't risk your safety by being seen publicly with you. May I meet back up with you in the library?"
Not trusting her voice, Hermione simply nodded.
"Why is everything all gray?" Ron complained loudly as he moved towards the tv in the media room. "It's hard to tell what's going on with no colors,"
"There's nothing wrong with the set, Ronald, so don't you dare try to fiddle with the TV. Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic muggle film. When movies were first being produced, they didn't quite have the technology to make them in color."
Ron grumbled. "I wanted to watch The Shining, but no, 'we have to broaden our horizons and experience classic theatre' she says."
As he ambled back over to the sectional sofa, he began to angle himself to drop between Draco and Hermione. Not willing to give up the valuable real estate, Malfoy shifted closer to the curly-haired witch and draped his arm casually over the couch behind her.
Hermione noticed Ginny had positioned herself rather close to Harry on the other end of the expansive sofa, while Nott had nestled into her other side, "Just in case Potter's not doing his job properly."
Hermione snorted and whispered to Draco, "It's not as if this is a properly 'scary' movie. More of a comedy, actually."
"Hmmmm. And I was so hoping to take advantage of your terror."
"Sorry, Malfoy, it looks as though you'll have to keep your hands to yourself this time."
Draco sighed as though he'd just been asked to write a 3-foot essay on Flobberworms.
One hour and fifty-eight minutes later, Ron stared at the closing credits in bewildered disbelief. "Well, that was… huh. Really something."
Harry laughed. "Next year it's back to The Shining, I think."
It being rather late, the group began to filter out of the room to turn in for the night as Draco and Hermione found themselves swept up in a discussion of the film.
"I think I understand your master plan," Draco said. "You're trying to show me an example of how each House handles murder. I never imagined I'd see a homicidal Hufflepuff duo represented in theatre. So, thank you for that."
Hermione snickered. "You're righter than you know. This movie was originally written as a play and was performed in live theatre for years before it was ever translated to film."
Hours later, Hermione found herself still planted on the couch, her bare foot in Draco's lap as he had somehow convinced her to allow him to massage the kinks out of it after all the walking she had done down to the shrieking shack earlier.
"...of course, it didn't take me long to see that everything my father had taught me about blood prejudice was wrong. I have Theo to thank partially for that. And, of course, the wondrous specimen of a witch sitting before me." Draco gave a shy smile and looked warmly up at Hermione, then sobered suddenly.
"Unfortunately, the downside to my enlightenment is that I now fully recognize the Fiendfyre I find myself in now for what it is, yet I have no idea how to escape it."
Hermione noted sadly that the haunted look she had observed at the beginning of the school year had resurfaced in his eyes. "You know you can talk to me, Draco. You know I won't think any less of you for whatever it is you're obviously suffering through."
"Funny. That's what Theo said."
"And it was true, was it not?"
His attention dropped down to his right hand. He twirled his signet ring around his finger with his left. After a moment of silence, he lifted his chin and gave her a long look. "I'm afraid the stakes are slightly different in your case. And yet; I've run every scenario possible through my head; every different future I can imagine. It always circles back to the same conclusion: without this conversation, I'm ruined."
Draco grimaced and visibly steeled himself for what he was about to do. Painstakingly slowly, he began to roll up the sleeve of his Oxford to reveal the evil symbol hidden beneath.
AN: Reviews make my day! Updated Mondays and Fridays.
A special thank you to my beta readers who helped with this chapter, BuddingWriter101 and Macytayyy. You ladies are the best!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the other intellectual properties reference in this work.