May 2003—
Draco awoke to bright lights and an empty cave. Judging by the amount of sunshine outside, it must have been approaching midday. How long had he been asleep? He sat up and coughed; his shoulder and neck protested loudly. Voices echoed out towards him from deeper in the cave, and Draco groaned, holding his head. With effort, he rose and braced himself on the side of the cave with his good arm. He lit his wand and followed the voices.
About 50 feet in, Draco came upon his companions. He heard Hermione first.
"What part of a circle don't you understand?" Her voice had a shrill edge to it, which made Draco smirk. It was nice to hear her focusing her attacks on someone besides him.
"I'm sure we'll find a nice, circular area in this cave, Hermione. This is exactly like a cave Daddy and I stayed in once when we were studying woovles, and it had a large, circular cavern right at its heart, just like you want."
Draco rounded the corner and could see Hermione rubbing her temples. "Luna," she said through gritted teeth, "caves are not like flats. One cave reminding you of another does not mean they'll have similar floor plans. This is madness! I've already laid protection in the main cavern, so its safe there—where Draco is. Now please, let's get back to him before he wakes."
"Ooh, Hermione, just a bit further. I know it's up ahead."
"Luna, it doesn't matter! Leave it!"
"Draco will be fine. I know you're worried about him, but he'll wake in no time. He didn't have a single wrackspurt around him."
"Blaise! Deal with her. I'm going back." Hermione turned abruptly and stormed in his direction. She was muttering to herself and had murder in her eyes. Draco couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. At that exact moment, Hermione looked up and locked eyes with him.
"Something funny?!" she practically screamed at him.
Draco did his best to stand completely still as the smile slid off his face. It took a bit of effort, since his balance hadn't yet returned to him, though he doubted she'd appreciate that.
"Well," she continued without waiting for an answer, "clearly you're just fine, and I'm wasting my breath over nothing." She scowled. "I'm still going back," she called over her shoulder and continued down the path he'd just come from. Draco watched her until she turned the corner out of sight.
Blaise and Luna were talking softly at the other end of the cave. Luna had an open smile on her face, and Blaise held a sly grin as he traced patterns on the cave wall. Their heads were close together, and their voices were too low to carry to Draco's ears. Their tone and body language was enough. Draco rolled his eyes and decided that, between that sickening duo and a fire-breathing dragon, he'd take the wyrm any day. He aboutfaced and made his way back out after Hermione.
Walking as slowly as he was to keep his arm and shoulder steady, it took Draco several minutes to get back to the entrance. Hermione had already conjured up a pile of blue flames and a stack of books from somewhere. She was reading intently and ignoring the world. He took a seat across from her wordlessly.
"What do you want?" She asked without looking up.
"A place to sit and distance from twit and twat in there. Same as you, I reckon."
"Luna's my friend," she said icily.
"And?"
"You could show some respect."
Draco scoffed.
"You know, I'm sick of your shit. Someone has to figure out a plan. If you're not here to help, then leave."
"Relax," he said. He couldn't help his jaw tightening, but he kept his tone steady. "We have a plan already."
"Clearly not," she spat back. "If we were found that easily, then the plan isn't good enough."
"No plan is good enough," he said evenly.
"No plan of yours, maybe."
"My plans are just fine!" Draco knew he shouldn't let her get a rise out of him, but he couldn't help it. She knew all the right buttons to push.
"Oh yeah? Then explain all of this to me," her voice was shrill, and she gestured at the cave entrance, "if your plans are so good!"
"Obviously, it's a trace!" he shouted back at her. "They've locked onto one of us, and three guesses which one."
"This isn't Luna's fault!"
"I'm not blaming your batty friend!"
"She's your friend, too!"
"She was!" Draco shouted then balked, every bit as startled by his words as was Hermione. When he began again, his voice was soft. "I mean—it's been a long time."
"Time doesn't change friendship, Draco," Hermione said quietly, with an understanding in her voice that grated his nerves.
"Doesn't it?" he asked.
Hermione looked at him, eyes wide. She opened her mouth to reply when laughter echoed from the cave behind her. She shut her mouth and closed her eyes as Blaise and Luna erupted into the room in a fit of giggles.
"Draco," Blaise gasped, out of breath, "you've got to hear this story Luna tells about—"
"I don't care," Draco cut in. His tone was ice. "If you two are done playing fools, there's work to be done. Or perhaps Hermione and my near death this morning wasn't enough for you to take things seriously yet."
Blaise looked completely taken aback. "No, mate, we're here to help," he said slowly. "What can we do?"
"Prepare the brooms," Draco commanded as he got to his feet, then added in an undertone. "And keep your idiot girlfriend quiet."
"That's out of line," Blaise hissed at him, grabbing him by the arm as he passed. "What's gotten into you?" he asked so that only Draco could hear.
"Leave it," Draco hissed in reply.
"Fat chance, after a comment like that."
"I said, leave it!" Draco raised his voice causing both Hermione and Luna to look up. Luna had joined Hermione by the fire and was humming to herself. He cleared his throat and stalked off to prepare his broom. Blaise stormed off in the other direction. Draco's shoulder still ached, so he tested it while he worked. They had to be ready to fly soon, or they'd never stay on schedule. The sooner this trip was over, the better.
"Give me a minute," Hermione said, rummaging through her backpack.
"Granger, it's time to go," Draco replied with every ounce of patience he could muster.
"Just one more minute!" she called over her shoulder. She was now arms-deep in her backpack pretending to search for something. Draco sighed through his teeth. She'd already delayed them looking for a hat, then mittens, then switched them to gloves, then searched for a scarf, then changed to a warmer scarf, and now was looking for something Draco didn't bother to track.
"Why don't you do a lap," he instructed Blaise, who nodded.
"Ready, Luna?" Blaise asked as he kicked them lightly off the ground. She cooed appreciatively, and a chuckle escaped Draco's unwilling lips. "Hold tight, but pay attention to my body weight. You'll want to shift—" The last bit of Blaise's instructions were lost to the wind as he and Luna rose out of Draco's earshot.
"Granger," he called again. He saw her head twitch, but she didn't reply. He sighed again and dismounted his own broom, then approached and crouched in front of her. "Hermione," he tried again, and she looked up. "It's time."
Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. She tied her bag and held it against her chest, looping the straps over her shoulders like a baby carrier.
Draco nodded to her and guided her over to the broom. He saw her shaking ever so slightly as she mounted, then he slid in place behind her.
"I wasn't delaying," she mumbled. "Proper attire is important in the air. We'll be traveling a long distance, and there's nothing but windchill at that height."
Draco hummed his agreement and kicked off from the ground. He pretended to ignore her little squeal and hovered a couple of yards up. "You'll need to use your body weight—" he began, but she cut him off.
"I know how to fly," Hermione said with a huff.
"Of course you do," he scoffed, about to lose the little patience he had. "But you haven't flown with me, so you'll follow my instructions anyway. Any more interruptions?" Draco could feel her roll her eyes. "Good. You'll need to use your body weight in mirror to mine so there's no resistance. I fly for speed and agility, even on a travel broom, which will feel different than recreational flying. Pay attention and go with any direction I give, even if you're uncomfortable. Understood?"
"I'm not a child, Malfoy. Stop treating me like one."
"I'm not."
Hermione laughed sardonically, so Draco talked right over her. "In this situation, you're a novice. You may be brilliant at everything else, but this is not your area of expertise."
"Oh, and it's yours?"
"Yes. And you know it."
It took a few seconds for Hermione to respond, but she finally mustered up a curt, "Fine," and let Draco continue. He took them higher in stages and had her practice leaning with him into left and right turns, then basic dips and climbs. He continued this until he felt her body relax and settle into his by a small fraction, which he figured was phenomenal progress for her first flight in half a decade.
Draco swerved and signaled to Blaise, who had gotten the picture and was giving them a wide berth while distracting Luna. (Her coos floated back to them every so often when the wind blew just right.) Then, they were off.
The first several minutes of the journey was extremely tense, even after the practice maneuvers. Draco could feel the stiffness in every inch of Hermione's body, which he knew she'd regret later. She'd have to relax, or they'd never make it the whole distance he'd charted for the day.
"Tell me about this spell," Draco asked with no preamble. Fortunately, Hermione needed none when it came to giving instruction.
"It's fairly basic, actually," she began. "I spent time studying protection and deflection spells years ago during the war. I, er—" Hermione hesitated but forged on, "—I think I told you about how we used them when we were on the run."
"You did."
"Yes, well, it occurred to me that recasting the spells constantly in every new location was tedious, and it would be so convenient to attach the spell to an object, like a house or a tent. There are spells with similar properties, like the Secret Keeper spells."
Draco smiled to himself as she prattled on. It really was a complex bit of magic, tying protection and deflection spells to their broomsticks so they could fly undetected, but he'd perfectly understood it when they discussed the idea earlier in the cave. Nothing put Hermione at ease like lecturing, though. He devoted half of his mind to following her tirade of knowledge, but he split off the other half and let it soar with the winds. There was little else in this world Draco had found as exhilarating as flying. The eddies in the air whipped about them, tussling his usually immaculate hair. They'd dressed in Muggle clothes, since the towns they'd planned to touch down in were Muggle towns, but he still enjoyed the way the wind whipped through his jacket. Hermione had tied back her hair as tightly as was possible, but even her stray curls whipping his face were enjoyable. Yes, Draco was perfectly happy in the air.
As they flew, Draco and Blaise rotated positions every quarter hour. Their method was so well-practiced that neither had to think about the action. After the tenth rotation, Blaise waived back to Draco, then motioned two signals to him: descend and food. It was time for lunch. He snaked his arm around Hermione's waist and held her firmly against him so that she could feel him shifting. In truth, he'd expected her to protest (he wasn't wrong), but it was the easiest way he knew to help them move as one and land with some measure of grace. It wasn't until they touched ground and he heard Hermione gasp that he realized she'd been trying to hold her breath. He made a mental note to remind her to breathe on their next landing.
Lunch for the foursome was short and uneventful. Luna talked about birds and imaginary insects while Blaise and Hermione feigned interest. (Though, Draco was fairly sure Blaise was sincere more than half the time.) Draco ate his meal in agreeable silence. They flew for a few more hours, stopped to stretch, then finished their trek for the day.
On the last leg, Hermione talked casually about the different spells she was working on, the cases she'd handled recently, and her theories on the different magical cultures throughout Europe. Draco did his best to be an engaging partner in the conversation, but mostly, he flew, chasing the horizon.
It was dusk when they touched down for the night, opting not to fly without natural light. They found rooms in the Muggle town of Saarbrucken and settled in—Luna and Hermione in one room and Blaise and Draco in an adjoining one. At about nine o'clock, Draco heard a knock on their inner door.
"Yes, m'lady?" Blaise asked, swooping a ridiculous bow as he answered their adjoining door.
Luna giggled. "Would you two like to join Hermione and me for a round of drinks in the hotel bar? We may be stuck in this Muggle hotel, but Hermione tells me that Muggle alcohol is quite good."
"An adventure worthy of royalty!" Blaise exclaimed. "Come, Draco, our services are required."
"No," Draco said flatly.
"But, my liege!" Blaise cried, waiving his arms towards Luna. "She insists!"
Draco scowled, and at that moment, Hermione peaked through the doorway. She was dressed in jeans and a maroon jumper, and she'd let her hair down but tamed it a bit after their long flight. It fell around her face and shoulders in honey-brown curls.
Hermione cocked her head and grinned at Draco. "Don't worry about him, Blaise. If he wants to come, he will. If he doesn't, we probably wouldn't want him either." She winked at Blaise and threw her arm around Luna's shoulders. She looked back at Draco and just waited.
Blaise looked between Draco and Hermione with a slack jaw. Apparently, he'd never seen anyone treat his friend's will so causally. Luna was inspecting her necklace, which Draco was fairly sure she'd strung out of dried radishes.
"Fine," he gave in and summoned a blazer from across the room. "One drink."
Hermione chuckled and lead the way. After all, what harm could come of one drink?
What harm, indeed.