A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter is a bit on the short side, but, hopefully, you're going to enjoy it anyways! Thanks to my supreme beta MrBenzedrine, she is the busiest of us all - which doesn't change a thing that I'm abysmally thankful that I met her!
"Draco, stop pacing. I can't concentrate." Hermione chastised the blond wizard. He was currently walking from the left to the right side of their library cubicle like a caged animal.
"Huh?" He stopped, trying hard to focus on her, clearly not aware of his restless movements. "Sorry. I didn't notice." The situation must be dire, because Draco Malfoy actually apologised.
"Maybe you should grab your broom and go flying for a while to clear your head," she suggested. And she would really like to see him racing his broom. Even when they despised each other, she recognised that he, like Harry, was a natural in it, and that his father had nothing to do with why he made it into the Slytherin Quidditch team.
"No." His reply was surprisingly firm.
"Oh, come on, I won't hex you off of it. I promise!" Her tone was teasing; Draco's reaction was not. He slammed his hand flat on the table, causing the parchment on it to shuffle. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. Hermione was mildly shocked to see him so aggressive, having very nearly repressed that he could be like this. The tension in the room was mounting, and neither of them spoke for a minute.
When the young wizard finally started talking, his voice was raw and almost pleading. "Something is going on, Hermione, and I can't explain it. But I feel it with every fibre of my body. Flying –isn't an option for me."
Admitting weakness, she knew, was far from easy for most people, but for a Malfoy it was damn near impossible. Draco was raised to believe he was perfect, while everyone else was not.
"Alright," she answered softly, "what can we do to release some of your stress?" His smirk told her that she had reached him. Feeling her cheeks blush, she specified, "Oh, not that. Maybe something else!" Honestly, the male brain consisted of two parts: one overactive sphere that constantly thought about sex, and the other was responsible for everything else (breathing, eating, Quidditch and, if you were lucky, there was a small nucleus labelled 'intellect').
He tsked, suddenly in a much lighter mood. "I don't know what you were thinking about, my corrupted princess, but I wanted to suggest a stroll to the dungeons."
Her instinct told Hermione that going down would be a bad idea (like spending-Halloween-crying-in-a-troll-infested-washroom-bad, or having-an-unguided-tour-through-the-Department-of-Mysteries-bad), but, for once, her heart overruled her brain. She simply knew Draco would do anything to protect her as she would, if the tables were turned. Rationally, she was aware it was much too early to have a relationship this deep with the Malfoy scion, especially given their history. But, if fighting alongside Harry had taught her something, it was that sometimes you had to screw all rational thoughts and do what your heart told you (after all, he won a war with the tactic – and earned himself more smacks over the head by Hermione than he could count).
"The Slytherin prince convincing me to walk around the dark dungeons with me, an innocent Gryffindor girl, while we know that there's a dragon sleeping there." She paused and adored the twinkle in his grey orbs at her words, "Sounds like fun."
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The air beneath the grand castle was as humid and stale as always, though this time, there was a certain –anticipation in the air. Hermione couldn't pinpoint it, but she instinctively identified the reason as magical. The closer they got to the crack in the wall, the more intense it became.
"You can feel it, too." Draco stated, eyeing her closely.
"Yes. Something is different from the last time we were here."
He answered gravely, "And we both know what it is. The dragon is stirring and going to be fully awake soon."
"We should alert the Headmistress." Hermione waved her wand to produce her patronus –but nothing happened. Flabbergasted, she tried again. Next, she tried a simpler charm. Nothing. A wandless charm –nope.
"It doesn't work! Not even sparks!" Panic began to rise in her. After all, magic had been her only reliable companion for the last eight years -that and Harry. Both had saved their lives over the course of the years. Having her magic taken away from her -she hadn't felt this helpless since she lay crumbled and bloodied on the Malfoy's floor, and Draco's aunt had used her to release some of her pent up (most probably sexual) energy. The sick bitch. And yes, Hermione Granger cussed when it came to Bellatrix Lestrange.
Draco must have sensed her unsettlement, for he grabbed her shoulder and put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. A year ago, she'd declare anyone insane who told her Draco Malfoy would be the one to pull her back from the verge of a post-traumatic panic attack. But here she was.
"Hermione, think rationally. What's the next step to solve this riddle?" She concentrated on his calm words and got her act together.
"You try to test if it's just me or a general problem."
He pointed his hawthorn wand at a stone on the top of a pile of rubble. "Wingardium Leviosa!" It floated some inches into the air.
"Deduction?" Hermione couldn't help but think about how good he'd be as a teacher if he wanted. Sadly, a war must have happened to uncover this talent of his.
"It's just me who can't perform magic. Or, rather, it's just you who is able to." She had gained the regiment over her wits again. It made so much sense, obviously.
"What do you mean, I'm the only one being able to perform magic?" Draco raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows questioningly.
She had gained full control over herself by now, and the puzzle pieces finally fit together.
"Flitwick reported that one layer of the wards is probably keyed to a magical signature or blood, and it was your ancestor who was in possession of certain abilities to finally settle the dragon down. The wards are probably sensitive to your blood and to a trait you inherited. But, for whatever reason, they suppress any other wizard's or witch's capability to cast magic."
"I only hope it's not one of the usual nefarious plans my family tends to pursue." He expressed his worry while he cast his own patronus to alert McGonagall that the dragon was close to waking. Hermione gasped surprised when a huge common raven emerged from the tip of his wand. Draco shrugged his shoulders at her reaction. "Did you honestly expect a ferret? Seems instead of a rodent, my corporeal patronus had to be an ambassador of death. How telling."
"I expected a dragon, given your name and your apparent familial connection to them. But a raven fits, too. Though, it's a broad misconception in the wizarding world a raven is only a symbol of death; instead, it stands for wisdom and intelligence. Biological research identify ravens as very intelligent birds which are able to plan ahead, recognise themselves ,and possess even something alike cunning. Furthermore, they are very playful, and there are many documented cases where ravens engage in catch-me-if-you-can with other species –otters for example." Hermione finished her spontaneous lecture, only to find herself enveloped in Draco's arms and his lips pressed on hers. "Huh, what was that for? If it's about me lecturing, I'm doing that fairly often, as you know."
He placed another sweet kiss on the tip of her nose. "I'm afraid I'll need some more appointment with the therapist to tell you properly, but for now, just accept it was because you were so you, yes?"
She nodded, her heart warmed despite the less than cozy environment. They resumed their paths, silence falling comfortably between them. Some minutes later they arrived at the crack in the wall, and Draco began to fidget nervously. "We've got to climb through the hole. The wards are close, I can feel it."
One had to be born totally devoid of magic as not to feel it, Hermione presumed. The air was nearly crackling from all the magical energy in it. She wondered, not for the first time, if this energy was measurable with muggle methods, in volt and ampere. Draco lit his wand to provide some sight. Soon, it was entirely dark around them, ancient stone walls to their left and right.
"This is a path of some sorts, I wonder why Flitwick and Diggle didn't report it to McGonagall." Draco said, his voice swallowed by the silence. Hermione didn't expect it to be so quiet with a dragon awakening in close distance. On the other hand, it was always eerily quiet before the storm, wasn't it?
"Maybe they couldn't see it, and it's part of the protective wards your ancestor erected. Nobody but a Malfoy should be able to meddle with them." Hermione suggested.
"But why now? We've been down here before, and it's the first time you aren't able to perform magic."
She thought about it for a moment. "It could be a security mechanism that kicks in when the dragon reaches a certain activity level. We've to check the historical documents, but my guess it that the Founders erected the other layer of wards, binding the sleeping dragon's magic to the school's foundations to strengthen the protection. Then Severin Malfoy added the second layer, including several security measurements. When-" She stopped dead in her tracks, gripping the front of Draco's robes excitedly. "That's it, Draco!"
"Care to indulge me? I can't possibly keep up with that brilliant mind of yours." He smiled, but even in the low light, Hermione could see his grey orbs sparkle with curiosity. He might not be able to keep up all the time, but he was definitely close behind her in wits.
"When Voldemort blasted the front door with the Elder wand, he damaged the deepest protection of Hogwarts, because this powerful magic was nothing the Founders had encountered and therefore weren't prepared for." The Elder Wand was a spawn of slightly more modern times while the Founders were children of the darker medieval times, and even magic changed.
"But Flitwick said the outer layer of wards was mostly intact," Draco countered, and paused, only to continue, "But only mostly… the damage was big enough to dissolve the dragon's binding a tad. One could say the dragon was tickled enough to wake." Realisation dawned on the Malfoy heir's face. "Flitwick was wrong. The keyed wards weren't broken, they were set off by the breach of the other." It was like intellectual Ping-Pong for Hermione, and she loved it; she was tired of playing alone.
"And they are designed to ascertain that only someone of Malfoy blood with particular magical markers could approach the animal," she said, not daring to say aloud that some recessive genetic alleles could be involved, as genetics was common for wizards like a credit card. "Though, the question is, what are you to do now? Repair the wards and send the dragon asleep again?"
The blond closed his eyes, concentrated as if he listened to something only he could hear. When he opened them again, a genuine smile appeared on his lips.
"No. He- the dragon- would wreak havoc once he's awake enough to move freely, what will be the case in some minutes. He'd send the whole building into shambles. I can't explain how yet, but I know we have to set him free." Hermione didn't asked how he knew the dragon was male, but she noticed the conviction in the young wizard's words. Draco turned to walk further into the darkness, and she groaned inwardly, with a tingle of mischief coursing through her veins.
She really had a thing for dragons. That was the only explanation why she was always involved when there was one to be freed from deep beneath a building, right?
A/N: You're all so great, do you know that? I'm deeply touched by all your well-wishes. Won't make my problems go away, sure, but makes me really feel better! Thank you: Mistress DragonFlame (totally okay that you don't like the conversations between Hermione and Ginny as long as you like the story overall); Myrddin Emrys The Third (Thanks so much!); HarryPGinnyW4eva (I guess she got an 'Outstanding'!); BoredRavenclaw620 (things are not looking up, but Hell, life is no ponyride, is it?); Kyonomiko (I'm soooo enjoying our conversations!); IrishPrincess1987 (looking forward to read your story!); Melek62 (fanfiction is great, I just learned some days ago that an 'Adventskranz' is 'advent wreath'! Just wanted to tell you.); Sam Wallflower (thankfully you only deafened me - which made absolutely no difference for my pupils as I ususally ignore them lol!*lifts sarcasm sign*); pgoodrichboggs (I'm a bit embarrassed to say that it took me about five minutes to discover that bj was no typo...); LadyChocolateLover (glad to hear you liked the duel as I had so much fun to write it!); Grovek26 (you're welcome!); Hanable-13 (well, being a bookworm has its perks, hasn't it? lol); booklover19a (thank you for hopping on board!); jperks (I actually blushed at your review, thank you so much for your kind words!); sed418 (thank you, you're totally welcome!); clarkfan325 (I'm glad for the apology, too. Couldn't stand her any longer this way); Guest (Thanks!); Frozen Darkness 88 (*opens the cookie jar* sorry, they ate them ALL!); thehoneytheory (your review is one giant compliment for me! Thanks so much!). Just wanted to add: 344 followers, SQUEAL!