Rescue Arrives.
With the storm having passed enough to establish a floo connection with Hogwarts, Dumbledore immediately set about gathering the parents and rescuing his stuck students. All over the holidays the Headmaster had been full of guilt at leaving six students behind. When it had happened he tried to underplay the situation and make light of it, but deep down he was kicking himself for his foolishness.
Dumbledore knew that it could be argued that Harry, Ron, Blaise and Theo only had themselves to blame for being left behind. If they'd followed instructions and gone straight to the carriages they would never have been left in school. However, he could place no blame on the head students. Until it emerged on the train that they'd been left behind, Dumbledore hadn't given one thought to Draco and Hermione. He'd ensured the four Heads of Houses informed all their students to vacate the castle, but he'd totally forgotten that as Head Boy and Girl, Draco and Hermione had their own private rooms and therefore weren't guaranteed to be in their house common rooms. So far Dumbledore had failed to mention the fact he'd forgotten about Draco and Hermione, but with the rescue imminent he knew there was a strong possibility his indiscretion would come to light, and he doubted Lucius Malfoy would be too impressed with his actions.
Trying not to worry about what may or may not happen, Dumbledore focused his energies on making sure the floo connection to Hogwarts was stable. Since there were so many students to bring home and they were from two different houses, Dumbledore had gathered the families at The Leaky Cauldron. Tom had been kind enough to let them use one of the private back rooms and it was there that the reunions would be taking place.
Molly and Arthur were both present to pick up Harry, Ron and Hermione, and they'd brought Ginny along with them. Lucius and Narcissa had arrived to pick up Draco and Blaise, and seconds ago the Notts had arrived to take Theo home.
"Is the connection secure yet?" Lucius demanded as he grew increasingly impatient. His son had been stuck up at Hogwarts all over Christmas and it would be nice to have him home for New Year, however at this rate they'd still be in London waiting for Dumbledore to fix things.
"A few more minutes, I think," Dumbledore muttered, not looking up from where he was tinkering with the fire.
"Take your time Albus, we don't want any unfortunate accidents," Arthur told the Headmaster as he shot Lucius a stony glare for being so impatient.
"No we don't," Lucius agreed. "There'll be serious trouble if my son loses any body parts traveling by floo."
"No-one will lose any body parts," Dumbledore told the gathered parents. "At least I hope they won't," He whispered under his breath. To be honest he wouldn't know if the connection was completely secure until he headed through to Hogwarts himself.
After five more minutes Dumbledore was convinced the connection was strong enough to use. However, he was very aware that the storm was worse up in Scotland and he had a limited time window in which to reach the stranded students and bring them home. According to the forecast it was due to begin snowing again up in the highlands that night, before the snow passed fully in two days' time.
"I'll go through and usher the students back," Dumbledore announced. "We want to do this as swiftly as possible, so please make sure the students alight from the fire quickly."
Bracing himself for who knows what on the other end, Dumbledore took a deep breath and stepped into the emerald flames. According to his calculations he'd connected directly to the fire in the head dorms, but he wasn't sure if the storm would have interfered with his connection. In reality he knew he might emerge from any fire in the vast school.
Luckily for Dumbledore when he emerged from the fire on the other side, he was in the head dorms. Stepping out of the fire, he gaped in amazement at the scene before him. Given that three Gryffindors and three Slytherins had been stuck together for almost two weeks he expected to find moody students who'd been bickering the entire time, what he found was six students that all looked fairly happy. When he first emerged from the flames, Ron and Theo were playing exploding snap while Blaise and Harry were discussing quidditch. However the most surprising pair were the head students themselves. Draco was sitting on one of the chairs and Hermione was quite happily curled up on his lap. Even though Dumbledore knew the pair had learnt to tolerate each other since becoming head students, he'd had no idea romance had blossomed between them.
"Professor Dumbledore, you're here," Harry cried, jumping up and interrupting the Headmaster's curious thoughts about the head students.
"I am, and we need to get back to London as soon as possible," Dumbledore explained. "This is just a break in the storm. By tonight it will be snowing again, and it's expected to last a few more days."
"Let's get going then," Theo said, grabbing his bag.
Everyone followed Theo's lead, jumping up and grabbing their own bags. As they did so Dumbledore announced everyone was gathered at The Leaky Cauldron, and that was where they were going to floo to. One at a time, Dumbledore sent the students through the floo network, hoping that they each arrived safely. Finally it was just the Headmaster and the two head students, and Dumbledore turned to the couple, knowing he owed them an apology.
"I would like to sincerely apologise for this oversight," Dumbledore said to the two teenagers. "I completely forgot to send you two a message about the train leaving early. I can't apologise enough."
"It was a mistake, they happen," Hermione shrugged. "Besides, we coped perfectly fine."
"If you don't count the arguments, the burnt meals and the boredom," Draco added sarcastically.
"I'm very sorry," Dumbledore said. "But let's finally fix this and get the pair of you home for the New Year."
Handing both the head students some floo powder, Dumbledore watched as they disappeared one by one. Once he'd given Draco enough time to step from the fire at the other end, Dumbledore stepped into the fireplace and disappeared from Hogwarts. When he arrived back at The Leaky Cauldron, he was relieved to find everyone had made it home safely. Molly and Arthur were fussing over Harry and Ron, Ginny was welcoming Hermione back while the same thing was happening over the other side of the room with the Slytherins.
"Will school be open as normal in the New Year?" Arthur asked Dumbledore, once he spotted the Headmaster was back with them.
"We're going to have to wait and see," Dumbledore replied. "Hopefully once the storm has fully passed the staff can get up to Hogwarts. I'm confident if we all work together the place can be up and running sometime within the first couple of weeks of the New Year. Don't worry, I'll send owls informing parents of the relevant information."
After double checking that all six students were okay, Dumbledore left the back room of the London pub before his forgetfulness regarding the had students came to light. Once Dumbledore was gone, the Notts were the first to exit with a promise to attend the Malfoys New Year party the following evening.
"We should be going as well," Narcissa announced.
"Not yet," Draco told his mother. "Give me two minutes."
Leaving his parents, Draco made his way over to Hermione and quietly spoke to his girlfriend.
"What is going on there?" Ginny hissed to Harry and Ron as she watched Hermione smiling at the blond Slytherin.
"Hermione and Malfoy are together," Harry answered. "We found out over the holidays."
"Whoa, I never saw that one coming," Ginny said, watching wide-eyed as Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and led her over to where his parents were standing.
"Mother, Father, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Hermione," Draco said, aware that Harry and the Weasleys were watching their every move, as well as a smirking Blaise who was standing beside Narcissa.
"It's nice to meet you, Hermione," Narcissa smiled at the young girl who'd captured her son's heart. While she would have preferred her son to get involved with a pureblood, she was going to give Hermione a chance since Draco so clearly thought the world of her.
"You too, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione smiled back at the witch. "It's nice to meet you too, Mr Malfoy," She said, turning her attention to Lucius.
"I'm sure the pleasure is all ours Miss Granger," Lucius replied formally.
"Are you returning to the Manor with us?" Narcissa asked Hermione. "After all, you were invited for New Year and since that's tomorrow it seems pointless for you to leave and then have to arrange to come to us."
"I'd love to come back with you," Hermione said, breathing a huge sigh of relief that so far Draco's parents were been very welcoming.
"Hermione, you can't," Ron suddenly cried. "You're supposed to be coming back with us."
"I'm sorry Ron, but I was always going to spend New Year with Draco," Hermione told her friend as she turned round to gather her bag. "I'll see you all on the train back to Hogwarts."
"We'll just be a floo call away if you need us," Molly told Hermione. She wasn't sure about Hermione getting involved with a Malfoy, but it wasn't really her place to interfere in the young witch's life.
"I want all the details when we go back to school," Ginny whispered to Hermione as the two girls said goodbye.
"As long as we're not around," Harry chuckled, overhearing the pair as he moved to say his own goodbyes to Hermione. "We've seen and heard more than we ever needed to know over the last few weeks."
"Ooh, I sense juicy gossip," Ginny grinned.
Laughing at her friend's need for gossip, Hermione finished saying her goodbyes and turned back to her boyfriend and his family. Lucius explained that she could only enter the manor's boundaries alongside a Malfoy, and he offered his services to escort her to the manor. Hermione knew that Draco could have apparated her to his home, but not wanting to be rude she accepted Lucius's offer and tentatively took hold of his arm. As Lucius's hand closed over hers and gripped her firmly, she spotted Blaise taking hold of Narcissa's arm while Draco pulled out his wand. With a loud crack the three Malfoys disappeared simultaneously and seconds later they landed in the front hallway of the manor with their two guests in tow.
Narcissa immediately called for a House Elf and began issuing orders to the tiny creature. Hermione was surprised to find that even though Narcissa was issuing orders, she was still polite to the elf and several times she said please and thank you to the elf. Narcissa's orders consisted of telling the elf to make sure Blaise's guest room was ready, as well as sorting a guest room for Hermione.
"You don't need to do that," Draco told his mother as the elf disappeared with the bags. "Hermione can share with me, we're used to it."
"I don't care what you're used to at Hogwarts, under my room you'll not be sharing a room," Narcissa told her son, before she turned and headed towards the living room.
"As if that's going to stop me," Draco snorted, taking hold of Hermione's hand. "Just because you've got a guest room, doesn't mean you have to stay there all night."
"Maybe you should leave your plotting for later," Lucius suggested to his son. "If your Mother overhears you, she'll be charming the doors or something."
"Shouldn't you be charming the doors as well?" Blaise asked with a cheeky grin. "You're supposed to be a responsible adult, Lucius."
"I am," Lucius replied with a smirk. "I can also remember what it's like to be a seventeen year old boy with a beautiful girlfriend. And I know that separate rooms isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference to what shenanigans happen overnight."
Hermione was rather taken aback by the whole conversation that was going on around her. She was shocked by the change in Lucius now they were at the manor, in the privacy of his own home he was much more light-hearted and wasn't half as formidable as he usually was. Secondly, she was surprised by the joking way in which Blaise addressed Draco's father, it was obvious her boyfriend's best friend knew the Malfoys well and was completely at home around them. And thirdly, she was stunned that Lucius had implied she was beautiful and seemed to have no problems with his son sleeping with a muggleborn. Of course that might change once he realised how serious they were about each other, but for now he seemed rather accepting.
"I think we better head on into the living room before Narcissa comes calling for us," Lucius said. "I think it's time we got to know Hermione a bit better. And I want to know all about your adventures at Hogwarts. For a start, how did you all end up missing the train?"
"That's a good story," Blaise laughed, heading into the living room at Lucius's side.
Draco checked Hermione was alright and wasn't too overwhelmed, before the couple headed into the living room so they could try and keep Blaise from revealing too much about their experiences at Hogwarts, as well as Hermione getting to know Draco's parents a bit better.
