A/N: It's finally time to see what Harry, Ron and the rest of them are up to – but only briefly, because they're not the main characters of the story.
This chapter turned out a bit longer than initially planned, but where's the surprise in that, right? I'm just glad I managed to finish it and post it today.
Look forward to Draco's second transformation, it's going to be nice to have him human for a chapter or two (maybe even three if I feel generous :D).
Thanks for the reviews, follows and for adding the story to favorites!
Enjoy the read!
Chapter 9 The mirror and the arrival
Breakfast went by relatively fast – Hermione thought that both she and Draco focused on their food, so as not to have to talk to each other for a while. In retrospect, their confessions had been sort of … embarrassing somehow, and agreeing to call each other by their given names was also a source of discomfort.
They headed to the library in silence, and Hermione started browsing the bookshelves for books on the Malfoy and Rosier families. Half an hour flew by and she didn't find anything interesting. She decided to ask Draco.
She turned around and found him looking at her.
"What?" she asked defensively.
"Nothing, it's just that you look nice, pink suits you…"
There was that blush again, Hermione thought. But he was not being completely truthful with her, she could feel it.
"Thanks, but I don't think that's it. What are you hiding?"
"I'm not exactly hiding anything, I was wondering about what has you so distracted that you didn't ask me about this first thing this morning", he said, and he pulled out a small compact mirror from his coat pocket.
"The mirror!" she exclaimed. How could she have forgotten about it?
Hermione had expected it to be a hand held pocket mirror, but then again, she was biased from the fairy tale. This is reality, she told herself, stop thinking about that story!
"So how does it work, do I just speak out loud the name of the person I want to see?"
"Pretty much, but you have to have your wand in hand when you speak it."
"Can I do it now?" Hermione was anxious to see what her friends were up to, she hoped they were all OK and not worrying sick about her.
"By all means, if it'll get your mind off your worries for your friends, and back to focusing on finding a way to break my curse."
"How very selfish of you", she said, but the reply wasn't exactly biting. More like… teasing.
"OK, then", wand in one hand and the mirror in another, Hermione said very clearly, "Show me my parents".
The mirror came to life and she saw her parents: they were in their living room, Crookshanks curled on the sofa between them. Her parents were looking through photo albums, probably still remembering all those memories they had of her. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, they were laughing, and she felt happy too, knowing they were OK. Time to move on.
"Show me Harry Potter", Hermione said.
The mirror came to life once more and inside it she could see Harry – he was walking with Ginny, hand in hand, and they seemed to be whispering, heads close together. No sound came out of the mirror though. They seemed to be walking in a garden – probably still touring castles, which was a great relief. They were clearly more than OK, so feeling like she was intruding on their privacy, Hermione felt it was time to change the scene.
"Show me Ron Weasley."
And sure enough, there was Ron, walking in the same garden as Harry and Ginny – only he was in the company of Padma Patil. They weren't holding hands, but they walked pretty close to each other, Padma's arm brushing against Ron's every now and then. The mood felt quite intimate, Hermione noticed. They were talking animatedly, Ron was all smiles, not that Padma seemed any less cheerful, and she wandered what they were saying… Interesting that Parvati was nowhere in sight, she was probably with Bill and Fleur, a fifth wheel of sorts, poor girl.
But was it any of her business? They were clearly fine too, so it was time to leave them to it.
"How do I make it stop showing images?" Hermione asked.
"Use Nox."
She did, and the image disappeared – the mirror, once more, showed only her face.
Trying to seem nonchalant about what she had just seen, she decided to focus on the magic of the mirror – it was, after all, a fascinating object.
"This is more like a pensieve than the Mirror of Erised… perhaps someone combined the magic of those two objects in order to obtain this mirror. Initially I thought it was like the mirror Harry had from Sirius – there were two of them actually, and they could be used to communicate through them. On the other hand, while this mirror allows one to see anyone they want, it doesn't transmit sound - only image, so it's clearly not a communication device."
"I only know it's been in my family for generations, I have no idea how it works", Draco replied, and Hermione wanted to kick him for his lack of curiosity. His was one of the oldest wizarding families, and there were probably dozens of equally fascinating objects throughout the castle, and he didn't seem the least bit curious about them.
"In any case", she said, making a real effort to not let her voice betray her annoyance, "now that I know they're all OK, I won't be asking you for the mirror again. It's a pretty invasive object, you should lock it up and never use it, unless there's an emergency of sorts", she said, wondering whether he'd agree to do so.
"Of course it's an invasive object if it's in my family, we're Slytherins, remember?" he said, but she thought he was teasing, not really talking seriously.
"And I never used it before anyway – there were moments when I missed my mother and wanted to see her, but I, too, felt like I would be intruding, so I never did."
"Were you never tempted to use it to see your dad in Azkaban?" Hermione added in a careful voice.
She knew that was a touchy subject, but she really wanted to know how Draco felt about his father… Lucius Malfoy was never going to win the best father award, but he was still family for Draco… it was a very complicated situation.
"I was… still am tempted to check on my father… but I'm also afraid."
Seeing this vulnerable part of Draco made Hermione's heart ache.
"I could do it for you, you know."
"You'd really do that for me?"
"Of course, Draco, we're friends, right?" she forced his name out of her lips.
"Well, had I known having you for a friend would yield immediate benefits, I would have befriended you long ago."
He was trying to lighten up the conversation, so she played along.
"At least you wouldn't have asked me to check your homework every single day. Honestly now, Harry and Ron would have obtained a lot more Outstanding O.W.L.s had they not emotionally blackmailed me into going over their homework."
"Incidentally, how did you fare on your O.W.L.s?" Draco asked her.
"Oh, comparing grades, are we?" she teased. "Let's see then... I did OK – ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations. What about you?" Hermione asked, now very curious.
"That's more than OK, and you know it. I didn't do too bad either, nine Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations – see, I didn't take on as many subjects as you did, I was quite satisfied with the two mandatory electives and one more subject that my parents thought would be useful at some point. What subject did you get an Exceeds Expectations on?"
Hermione didn't really want to admit it, but they were friends now, plus she loathed dishonesty.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts. What about you?"
"Care of Magical Creatures, what else? With Hagrid for a teacher, it was to be expected".
"There you go again – blaming others and talking like that about a professor, no less!" Hermione chided him. "If we're to be completely truthful, I wasn't very happy with Hagrid's teaching methods either, but I got an Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures, so you see, you could have done it too."
"Rub it in my face, why don't you, Granger."
"I thought we were on first name basis, Malfoy?" she retorted.
They looked at each other and then burst into laughter at the same time.
"It's good that despite our new friendship we can still have these delightful little arguments", Draco said, and Hermione couldn't have agreed more. "And don't think I didn't see what you did there, Hermione – you were trying to distract me from thinking about my father."
"That was my intention, yes", Hermione admitted.
"You needn't have done so – my relationship with my father is complicated at the moment, but I would like to see him at some point, even if it is just through the mirror, so when I'm ready to do that, I'll let you know and you can look at him for me, how about it?"
"Sounds about right", Hermione agreed.
"So anyway, how come you, of all people, failed to get an Outstanding on Defense Against the Dark Arts? You were even in that Dumbledore's Army group, weren't you?"
He seemed genuinely curious, so she told him as a sign of her faith in him.
"I pretty much founded Dumbledore's army, but unfortunately I had the same problem during the O.W.L. exam that I had in Professor Lupin's Defense Against the Dark Arts exam in third year - defeating a Boggart."
"Really? Interesting! What did it turn into? Someone taking your place as top of the year?" he seemed amused, but for Hermione it wasn't really funny.
"Something like that. My fear is failure, and I probably still haven't gotten over it, which is why I'm so determined to find a way to break your curse."
"Admirable sentiments. I had something of a problem with my Boggart too - only in my case, it changed from third year to the fifth.
Hermione made a note to self to ask him sometime what his third year Boggart had been.
"During the O.W.L. exam the Boggart changed into Voldemort, telling me he had killed my parents, killed my colleagues...killed everyone, and that I was next. " Draco continued. "That wasn't even remotely funny, so it was an effort to picture him in a way that would cause laughter, but I managed. I pictured his lips falling while he talked... his ears, his hands and arms, his legs, until he was nothing more than a pile of mismatched pieces, his eyes darting around wildly, clearly disbelieving what he had been reduced to."
"Well done", Hermione said, impressed. "However, let's get back to work now, we wasted enough time talking, and we really need to break your curse as soon as possible, wouldn't you say?" Hermione asked.
"It wasn't wasted time, but fine, let's continue the research. Oh, you never did tell me what you were so distracted about and what you were looking for in all those shelves. Perhaps I can help – it is my castle, after all".
"Could you sound any more smug, Draco?" Hermione teased, but she kind of liked that part of him. "If you must know, I was looking for a book about the Rosier family."
"Whatever for?" he sounded completely puzzled.
"It's part of my new theory – I think an ancestor of Rosier's came up with the curse that transformed you into a beast, so I'm thinking I might find information about the curse and the way to reverse it in one of the family books."
She let it sink in.
"That's quite a theory you have there – I wonder why I didn't think of it before."
"Well, you're not the brightest wizard of our age, are you now?" she teased.
"Nice, and you were saying I was smug?"
"Just taking a page out of your book", Hermione replied. She discovered she liked teasing him, and he seemed to enjoy it too.
"In any case, if you're looking for information about family trees and similar stuff, then you have to look in this section", he said and led her to a part of the library she hadn't really looked in before. "And here's the biggest book on the Malfoy family – if there is information about the Rosiers anywhere in this library, you'll find it in here. But you won't be able to read it unless you know French – it's written in that language."
Hermione took the tome from him, and read the title – "Une histoire complète de la famille Malfoi" by Altair Malfoi.
"That won't be a problem, as I'm fluent in French", she said in a matter-of-fact manner.
She thought she heard him mutter something along the lines of "should have known", but ignored it.
"This Altair Malfoi, is he a French relative or something?"
"Yes, though don't ask me exactly how I am related to him – he's an ancestor who was also a historian. My family has French roots, as you might have guessed. Malfoi with an 'i' at the end is the French version of our name, but once we settled in the UK, we changed it to Malfoy with a 'y'."
Hermione sat down with the tome, and started reading. Time flew by, but unfortunately she didn't find anything interesting about the Rosier family, nor about any curses they may have come up with.
She barely paid attention to lunch, eating mechanically, and not even the afternoon walk in the garden managed to help her relax and forget for a while about the nagging thought that no matter what other remedies she might look for, the answer was in finding the source of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.
Draco didn't like to see Hermione so preoccupied – he, too, wanted to find a way to break the curse, and with more cause than Hermione… but that didn't mean she had to think of a solution and nothing else, poring over books at all times.
The only moment when she relaxed was during the piano recital before dinner. Actually, even then she was focused on playing, so not exactly relaxed, but at least this was a pleasant activity for her, much more than continuous research with very unsatisfying results.
At dinner he finally breached the subject of the sleeping arrangements.
"So, do you plan on joining me in bed tonight?" he asked and when she made a face, he realized he hadn't phrased that right.
"You know what I mean, so don't give me that look", he said warily.
"I know, but I still don't think it's a good idea."
"Look, today you did more intense research than I've seen anyone do – I kind of want to make sure you get a good night's sleep before you start again in the morning". He waited anxiously for her answer.
She considered for a long while, before she sighed and finally replied.
"You know what? I'm too tired to argue why I shouldn't… so sure, why not?"
"Splendid", Draco said, "then there's one more thing I want you to do." He had to get her to dial down her intensity when it came to research, it wouldn't do to have her overwork and become exhausted and moody.
"I wouldn't test my limits if I were you, but try and see what happens".
She sounded mildly pissed off, to put it simply, but Draco preferred her annoyed than apathetic.
"I want you to take it a bit easier with your research starting tomorrow – and no, don't protest, because if you faint from exhaustion it'll defeat the purpose."
"All right. I know I've been a bit on edge today. It's just that once I am presented with a problem, I usually find a solution quickly – the idea that I might fail in finding a way to break your curse for weeks or months even is taking its toll on my morale. Plus I'm a bit fixated on finding whether the Rosier family did come up with the curse or they just picked it up from somewhere else, though that's highly unlikely, I've never come across anything like it in any book I've read so far."
"You do realize though that getting sick with worry won't get you anywhere though, right?" Draco asked, wanting to make sure she understood she needed to pace herself.
"Merlin, you're worse than Harry and Ron – they usually just let me be when it comes to studying or researching, or anything related to books, really".
"Some friends they are", Draco muttered, all of a sudden irked, as jealousy ate at him.
"Hey, they're my best friends, so try not to pick on them".
Draco grunted an assent, but he noticed Hermione was smiling. She probably found his annoyance at Potter and the Weasel funny. Still, she called Weaselbee her best friend, so that was encouraging.
They finished their meal in silence, but Draco was glad that the mood was peaceful, instead of heavy, loaded, like it was before.
Although both of them got more reading done after dinner, Draco was pleased that Hermione was much calmer now – she turned the pages slower, she didn't fidget, all good signs. But he was still the first to retire for the evening.
"Don't stay long, I'll be waiting", he said before leaving the library and heading to his bedroom.
And indeed, soon enough she joined him, and this time there wasn't any awkwardness, and Draco fell asleep content.
Hermione was more or less pleased with her new routine.
She'd usually wake up in Draco's arms, but it didn't really feel wrong, if felt more like she had a big, fluffy hugging pillow – a clingy one. She'd extract herself from said 'pillow', then go to her room to take a shower, after which she would dress in one of Narcissa Malfoy's extravagant dresses (having given up the hope that Draco might bring her normal clothes for a change). She and Draco would have breakfast and then they'd research books, side by side, until it was time for lunch.
After lunch they took a walk in the garden, then went back to the library for more research. Only after 6 – 7 PM each evening did they stop their reading, and then they'd move to the music room, where Hermione would play two, maybe three classical pieces, to Draco's enthusiastic applause. After her recital, they'd have dinner and then do more research in the library, and finally it was time for sleep.
The only problem with this routine was that she felt time was wasting: she made no progress on how to break Draco's curse.
Hermione continued her search for information about the Rosiers, but at the same time she kept on looking for any spell or potion that might turn Draco back into a human. She had tried a variation of a simple reversal spell, "Homenum reverto", but it hadn't worked.
Despite Draco's annoyance and reluctance to lower the wards around the castle, Hermione had also sent Emerald to Viktor Krum, asking him to give her more information about that time during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament when he had partially transfigured himself into a shark. She hoped that the reversal transfiguration might help Draco with his condition, though chances were slim at best – Viktor had transformed himself intentionally, he hadn't been cursed…
The Bulgarian had replied quite fast, but to her disappointment, Hermione didn't find anything useful in his detailed description of the transformation and its reversal – and Draco was doubly annoyed that Viktor had asked Hermione whether she had a boyfriend and if not, whether she'd consider him for that role.
She had told Draco that he wasn't even supposed to see that letter, but apparently Emerald's loyalty overcame, time and time again, her duties as a letter delivering owl. Hermione was ever more upset with Draco when he flatly refused to let her send a reply to Viktor.
As time passed by, Hermione started having a new reason to worry other than, well, time passing. The enhanced Potion nr. 220 was almost done, which meant that Draco would soon resume human form – for several days. While she got along with Beast Draco just fine, she wasn't sure she'd get along with human Draco equally well.
Plus, there was also the complication – Narcissa Malfoy would soon arrive.
Draco was really happy with his new routine. Each morning he woke up with Hermione in his arms. He usually pretended to be asleep and let her retreat to her room, but every now and then he'd keep a secure arm around her, making her work for her freedom. He very much enjoyed her squirming.
Once she cleared the room, he'd pop into the shower, get dressed, then meet her for breakfast. They'd spend hours researching ways to break the curse before they had any lunch, but at least after that they could relax in the garden for a while, before returning to the their research.
Draco had the impression that as taken as Hermione was with the castle's library, even she was sick of it sometimes.
His favorite part of the day was her piano recital. She played something different every day, which was impressive, and all those classical pieces sounded amazing. He had asked Mopsy to bring one of the armchairs from the library to the music room, so that he could sit closer to her while she played. He loved the music, but he also loved watching emotions play on her face as her fingers moved dexterously over the piano keys.
Once she was done playing, they'd have dinner and then do some more research. So far, however, they hadn't advanced much, if at all. The reverting spell Hermione had tried had failed completely, and apparently she hadn't made much progress in her quest for information about the Rosier family either.
Time passed and then it was almost time for him to take the potion that would turn him back into a human. Draco had great expectations for those couple of days – still, his biggest worry was his mother. She would arrive some time the following day. He just hoped he'd have time to take the potion and resume his original form before she came.
Despite his worries, he fell asleep thinking about how the following night he'd share the bed with Hermione, only this time he'd be his normal, handsome, human self. An intriguing thought, filled with possibilities.
Silence reigned the following morning at breakfast. Hermione was quite nervous because she could just feel something would go wrong and Narcissa Malfoy would find out about her continued presence in Chateau Malfoy. Just like Mopsy had slipped up about Draco's birthday to her, wasn't it likely that she'd also tell Mrs. Malfoy about Hermione? Not intentionally, of course, but then again, Hagrid never intentionally told Quirrell/Voldemort about how to put Fluffy to sleep either – it just happened…
She imagined Draco was nervous about the same thing – or perhaps he was more worried about the potion and whether it'd work as expected or not. Hermione was a bit concerned too, after all, she didn't think anyone had ever mixed Potion no. 220 with an Everlasting Elixir before, but she'd done everything by the book, so there was no reason to think something would go wrong.
"Are you done?" Draco was asking, and Hermione realized she hadn't eaten anything off her plate for several minutes.
"Yes, let's get that potion and make you human again", she said reassuringly.
They went to the underground room where they had left the potion, and brought it up to the library.
Draco uncorked the jar, then drank deep of it. Just like last time, she saw him grimace as if in great pain and soon the transformation was under way – little by little he became less beast and more human until he was completely transformed, and even more handsome than she remembered, Hermione thought wryly.
"It worked", he said, and she just couldn't stop her automatic response.
"Always that tone of surprise…"
But that's all she got to say because, like the previous time, he lifted her off her feet, only this time he spun her just once before kissing her full on the mouth. And yet Hermione hadn't seen it coming.
With the last remnants of reason, she wondered how she could be the smartest witch her age if she kept on doing the same things, yet expected different results. She knew how exuberant he became when he was back in human form, yet she hadn't prepared for it and now he was kissing her and she was, once more, melting.
At least now she finally had no choice but to admit to herself that yes, she was attracted to Draco Malfoy – otherwise she wouldn't have felt sparks flying as if she were back at Ollivander's when her wand had chosen her.
No time to try and make sense of that attraction though, because Draco's hands were busy going up and down her back, pulling her ever closer, so her eyelids fluttered close, and she gave in to the wonderful feelings that were assaulting her senses.
It was amazing to be human again, and Draco couldn't help it: he grabbed Hermione, spun her once and then kissed her for all he was worth.
Initially she seemed to be melting in his arms just like before, but apparently she wasn't to be 'fooled' twice. He felt her start to struggle against him, so he had no choice, he reluctantly let her go.
"I thought we were friends, Draco, so how is this OK?" she was asking, and although she sounded out of breath, there was fire in her eyes – and Draco wasn't sure it was due to passion, it could very well be due to anger.
Now that she mentioned it, yes, they were supposed to be friends, so his behavior hadn't been quite appropriate. The problem was that Draco only wanted to become Hermione's friend as a stepping stone to becoming more – while she probably wanted to stop there.
So maybe proposing friendship hadn't been the best way to go about things? Well, it probably wasn't the time to tell her of his intentions so he had to salvage what he could of the situation.
"We are friends, it's just that I was worried that the potion might not work and then I felt so relieved, I had to express it somehow." He wondered whether she'd believe it – his excuse sounded exactly as that, an excuse, nothing more.
"Not one minute into being human and you're behaving more beastly than when you were a beast", she was saying, "how is that possible?"
"Sometimes I think you like me better as a Beast."
"Sometimes I do. It probably has something to do with the way you don't jump me."
He was guilty, so he didn't try to defend himself. Draco just hoped he'd eventually change her mind and make her like him more as a human – the final goal, being, of course, to make her love him, as he loved her.
"Careful or I might start thinking it's in my best interest you remain a beast."
"Too late, darling", he drawled, "you already made the Unbreakable Vow to do your best to break the curse."
"Urgh…that's right, why did I ever do that?!"
She seemed quite upset with herself, but Draco preferred her anger directed somewhere other than at him, for a change.
Before either of them could say anything else, Mopsy apparated in the room, and they jumped away from each other. In the heat of the argument, they'd been standing way too close, faces almost touching.
"Mopsy apologizes for interrupting Master and Miss, but Mopsy wanted to ask Master what room she should prepare for Mistress."
"My mother will use her room, of course", Draco said.
"But Master, isn't Miss using that room…" the elf tried to say, but Draco cut her off.
"Hermione will be sharing my room for the duration of my mother's visit – she's been using the bed as it is, might as well use the bathroom and whatever else she needs."
"Wait just a second", Hermione protested, as Draco knew she would. "It was one thing to sleep in your bed while you were in beast form - you were like a large pet". Excuse me? Draco thought, offended. "But don't think for a second that I'll continue to do so while you're human, that would be so wrong I wouldn't even know where to begin describing it."
He didn't know exactly how he was going to make her change her mind, but he had to try.
"Oh, so on the surface you advocate house elves' welfare, but when it comes down to it, you'd put Mopsy to all the extra work of preparing an extra bedroom, is that it?" he asked, hoping the low blow would have the desired effect.
"Mopsy doesn't mind…" the elf started to say, but once again, Draco stopped her.
"Mopsy, go get my mother's bedroom ready". His tone was calm, but firm.
"Yes, Master", squeaked the elf and disapparated.
"You heard her", Hermione was saying, "she doesn't mind preparing another bedroom, plus she's being paid for her work, so it's not like I'm exploiting her or anything."
"It's still a waste of time and resources", Draco argued.
"Then why on earth have so many bedrooms in this big castle anyway, if you're not going to use them?" she sounded exasperated.
"There used to be big parties and balles masquées here, Granger", Draco told her, "and there would be dozens of guests – that's what all the bedrooms are for."
"And didn't you say I'm a guest here too, so why can't I have my own bedroom? I had one for the first few days when I came to this castle, why is it impossible all of a sudden?"
She made a good point, but Draco wasn't about to give up.
"No one said it was impossible, just wasteful, and you don't seem like the type of person to waste resources if you can help it."
"But don't I seem the type of person who cares about what's appropriate and what isn't? And sharing a bed is NOT appropriate!" she was raising her voice now, not a good sign, Draco thought.
Fine, it was time for a last gambit – she was a Gryffindor, which meant she was brave, and the Gryffindor symbol was a lion, which also meant that she was proud, so he wanted to see if she could refuse a challenge.
"You talk about me and how I haven't changed – what about you? You hide behind rules of propriety, but isn't that just to hide the fact that you're scared?"
She closed her mouth with an audible click, so Draco knew he had scored points. He pressed his advantage.
"So tell me the real reason you don't want to share a bed with me while I'm in human form. What are you afraid of? That you'll like it? That you'll want more?" he teased.
He was a bit worried he might have pushed too far – her face was bright red and she had clenched her hands into fists.
"I'm not afraid of you, Malfoy. Fine, we'll continue with our sleeping arrangements."
Victory was sweet, Draco thought, with a trademark smirk on his face. Gryffindors were brave, but sometimes that was their downfall – they couldn't resist a challenge, and the cunning Slytherins knew that all too well, and knew how to use it to their advantage.
Just then he felt a push on the castle wards. His mother had arrived.
Hermione knew when to admit defeat. He had challenged her bravery, and that was something she couldn't take quietly. So they'd share a bed, it wasn't the end of the world – she'd just assume the attitude of that very first night: she'd turn her back on him, and try to fall asleep as fast as possible.
Sure, she was attracted to Draco, so trying to ignore him while he was so close might prove difficult, but it was not impossible. Hermione had had to do more difficult things – probably.
"My mother is here", Draco told her, and she instantly panicked.
"I'll stay here, in the library, for the rest of the day – researching. Just don't forget to send Mopsy with food for lunch and dinner, I'd rather not starve."
"Of course I won't forget about you, and if I can I'll also sneak in to see you every now and then – but we'll do the catching up at night."
"Yes, just don't let your mother come in here, OK?"
"I won't".
With that, he disapparated.
Hermione thought there was one good thing about sharing the room at night – they'd get the chance to talk about their days, now that they wouldn't be spending them together.
She sat down on her armchair and resumed reading.
Draco apparated at the castle gates, to see his mother waiting patiently – but there was a calculated expression on her face that he thought meant trouble.
When she saw him, though, her mask fell for a few seconds, and she seemed genuinely happy to see him human.
"Draco, is the curse…"
"It's not broken, at least, not permanently. I get to be human for a couple of days, which is why I invited you here now, instead of on my birthday."
He let her take that in.
"I'm so glad you could make it", he said, as he kissed her hand.
She kissed him on both cheeks.
"While I'm glad to see you like this, dear, tell me - why are you the only one greeting me?"
Draco was puzzled – as far as he knew, his mother wasn't on such good terms with house-elves...
"Mopsy is probably busy getting your bedroom ready, mother, I told her to do that just moments before you arrived."
"I didn't mean Mopsy, Draco, don't play daft with me, it doesn't suit you. I meant Miss Granger."
How on earth did she know?! Draco was shocked. She hadn't even entered the castle yet! So how…?
"What…? Why would Hermione Gra…" he tried to evade answering, but his mother wouldn't have it.
"Don't insult my intelligence either, dear. If you're curious about how I know – and I can see that you are – here is your answer", she said, and she handed him two letters, the Hogwarts crest visible on the envelopes.