A/N: Another week, another chapter! The mid-year certificates are coming up so I'm pretty busy and don't know when the next is going to be finished! So sorry if it takes a bit longer.
Did you know that my hero's (aka my beta MrBenzedrine's) story 'Squirm' is nominated at the Dramione awards for *Best WIP*? Now you do! If you're interested in voting for this -do it!
On another note, said beta wrote an absolutely hilarious and fantastic Dramione as a birthday gift for me, and it's called 'Murphy's Law'! SQUEAL!
"Arresto momentum!" Hermione yelled, steering the broom down as fast as she trusted herself with it. Harry, however, was the fastest of them all and was close to the plummeting mass. He frantically waved his wand, shouting Cushioning Charms, but Hermione knew that they would only soften the fall. Given the weight of the dragon and the two people involved, a heavy crash into the ground was unavoidable.
Her spell slowed them down at least, so Ron and Charlie, too, had nearly caught up, when with a loud and unearthly THUMP! the dragon hit a pasture.
Silence. At least for one second.
Hermione barely managed to concentrated on a rocky, but safe landing, when Ron already started to throw up Muggle Repelling and Disillusionment Charms. She loved him dearly for it, because now she could run over to those who needed help. Harry crouched next to the pilot, running a diagnosis with his wand to see if he was severely injured. In passing, he gave her a thumbs up to indicate no serious damage, a behaviour they had adopted on the battlefield and was easy to reproduce now.
Charlie approached Mellon, who roared and hissed in pain and panic. But Hermione's concern was the heap of clothes and blond hair lying crumpled on the ground -unmoving. Groaning or cursing was one thing, but unmoving meant he was unconscious. She knelt down beside him in a rush, not caring that her jeans were soaked with mud immediately. Like Harry, she first ran a diagnostic spell, afraid she might hurt him if she turned him on his back as she desired.
The soft red light surrounding his head indicated a mild concussion; it could be the reason why he fainted -no problem, she had potions to counter that in her backpack. Superficial wounds, nasty scratches, where Mellon's claws had ripped through his pale skin, some salves should do the job. Though the pulsating, crimson light beneath the left costal arch worried her a great deal. Carefully, she examined his upper body and felt that the abdomen was very hard.
"Shit!" Hermione cursed loudly, alerting Harry. He left the muggle with Ron and came over to her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"He has internal bleeding. I suspect a spleen rupture from the place of it," she tried to remain cool, but Harry recognized the fear in her voice. She had healed many injuries in the war, but this anxiety only befell her once: when Ron got splinched.
Harry placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Breath, Hermione. You will help him. Start with a simple thing."
"He could fall into a shock, with low blood pressure and unstable vital signs suggesting it. A shock could be deadly. I have to locate the rupture and mend it. We have to contain the blood loss and stabilise the circulation. But-" she hesitated, almost sobbing in desperation, "I haven't cured internal injuries like this one before!" With effort, she forced herself to close her eyes and go through the mental catalogue of her emergency kit. She needed something that would heal tissues. Once the spleen was healed, she could care for the rest. Her imaginary finger ran over the labels of the imaginary vials...no, wouldn't work, would make things worse….-there! That could work!
"Accio Draco's dittany!" she summoned a small vial from her rucksack.
"What's that?" Harry inquired, eying the purple liquid suspiciously.
Hermione's lips curled into a small smile, "Dittany's essence of Draco's very own concoction. He's worked on this for a while now, changing the recipe back and forth to adapt it for internal use. It hasn't been tested yet, but we've no choice but to go for it." With that, she finally turned him to his back, with Harry's help, and forced the potion down his throat, massaging his throat to make him swallow it.
Without risking a distraction by looking longer at his face, she lunged for her wand. She reran the diagnostic spell to monitor the reaction on the fluid, but the red flashing still appeared over his ribcage. What if it didn't help?
A mighty, anguished sound resonated from Mellon. "Hermione, hurry up!" Charlie shouted from the side. Harry and Hermione threw their heads around to see what was going on. The dragon tamer stood with his hands and wand raised, trying everything in his knowledge to calm the dragon down, which was stomping and swishing his deadly tail while he was still tangled in some lines and bleeding from several gashes.
"We need to get Malfoy on the road again soon, we're having a dragon throwing an epic tantrum here!"
"Not helping, Charlie!" Harry commented, but Hermione had returned her view back on the glow on Draco's body.
"Look, Harry!" she whispered excitedly, "It's fading!" And, true to her words, the diagnostic alert had became brighter every second, first a deep orange, then a sunny yellow, then it was wholly gone.
Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Brilliantly done! Do you need me? Because I think Ron could use some help with the muggle. He was waking when I came over, so-"
"-You'd better get your arse over there, Potter," she winked at her friend, imitating Draco, "before Weasley does something moronic. I can handle the rest alone." Hermione squeezed his hand back and earned a smile.
With the immediate danger gone, the witch easily healed the rest of Draco's injuries: she applied some dittany on the gashes, fed him a potion against the concussion, and added another one to numb any pain he might feel as soon-
"Hermione?" the blond devil croaked, his eyes squinting at the sudden brightness. Oh how relieved she was that she saw those silver orbs again. "What happened?"
"What happened? You mean before you catapulted yourself on death's doorstep and did 'knock, knock, Ginger'?" From one second to the other, the brunette witch was fuming.
"Do you know that the only thing that saved your precious prick and the ugly rest of you was your feeble try at an experimental potion? That- umph!"
Draco had pulled her into a passionate, tongue-filled kiss that took her breath away. Seconds later, they broke away from each other. She breathed heavily and was about to continue her rant when Draco opened his mouth, and admitted, "You bossy, fiery, unnerving nymph, if I died, you would have had my head and balls for it. And I love you for that!" Her brain needed exactly one and a half second to process what he had said. She felt her insides go to mush and her heart soar (and a mental reminder from her brain not to forget this stupid stunt because he was sweet talking).
"Doesn't mean I'm not angry, just because I love you back, you sorry excuse of a stuntman!" she balked, only to avenge on him with a soft kiss without giving him the opportunity to ask what a stuntman is.
"If you're quite done, love birds? You're needed here, blondie!" Charlie, clearly occupied, yelled. Still a little unsteady, Draco got to his feet and promptly walked over to Mellon.
"Hey hey, my friend. I'm fine, Hermione patched me up, see?" The dragon inspected him, sniffled like a dog to make sure that his companion was indeed alright. "But now it's time to let someone tend to you. You already know Charlie. He's going to help you, I promise." Draco's voice was gentle and soothing, coating the reptile in assurance and trust. The young wizard gave the tamer a subtle hand gesture to start.
Hermione remained standing in awe at the sight in front of her: Charlie healed the dragon with some well-placed charms she'd never heard, while Draco mumbled intelligible words to Mellon. The two of them should open a dragon-centric veterinary practice.
Half an hour later, things looked much brighter than from when they had arrived on the cow pasture. Mellon was healed and eyeing the unfazed cows with a mix of curiosity and hunger. The muggle was rambling confusing phrases about ears he shouldn't have flapped and A-lines when some Ministry caseworkers picked him up to obliviate him. Luckily, he got away with some scratches and a destroyed wing- and wouldn't be able to remember the most spectacular flight of his life (though Ron asked the Ministry workers to give him at least a cool memory).
Hermione had been afraid that the crash set Draco's flying issues back again, but that wasn't the case, as he was still a bit shaken but willing to mount Mellon again.
"I'm fine." he swore, and she was nearly convinced, had it not been for the slightly glazed expression in his eyes.
"I don't think so. You won't be able to steer him to the Manor," Hermione stated firmly, with the other three wizards nodding slightly amused, but supportive.
"And what shall I do instead? Put him on a leash and walk the rest, hoping a strong Confundus would be enough to make people believe he's just a overweight shepherd's dog?" His conviction to fulfill his task was resolute, as his posture conveyed.
The witch tried not to be distracted by his folded arms, where the muscles were prominent now. "More of a Great Dane, and no." She closed her eyes and asked her boyfriend, reluctance apparent, "Do you think he'd accept it if I rode with you?"
Draco's pale eyebrows didn't betray his surprise, "Really? You would -ride my dragon?" She appreciated how he overplayed her insecurity and broke out in soft laughter.
"Any day. Though, I don't think I could ever tame the beast." She added the last part because she knew the others were listening.
"Oh, Hermione!" Harry and Ron groaned simultaneously, which the witch in question ignored deliberately because Draco had grabbed her by the waist and sat her down on Mellon's upper back. The animal turned his head to examine what happened, but merely puffed out calming little clouds of smoke.
"He's laughing at me!" She scowled, though clearly amused.
"He's not laughing, he's honoring the beauty on his back," the blond whispered into her ear when he sat down himself and put his arms around her.
"Merlin, you're so full of yourself, aren't you?" she chuckled before breaking out in a very girlish squeal when Draco silently commanded the dragon to ascend, followed by Charlie, Harry, and Ron (who had taken upon himself the strenuous task to care for Draco's broom, thus shrinking his own).
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
They had another hour of flying to go, but after approximately the half, Hermione felt Draco breathing deep and snuggling against her. The exhaustion had taken over, and she wondered for a moment if him asleep would change Mellon's behaviour, but it didn't. He seemed to know exactly where the Manor was located. Riding a dragon was by no means a comfortable travelling device (but neither was a broom), and so she was pretty relieved when Malfoy Manor came into sight. She reminded herself that, while it was an ancient and impressive building, it was just that: a house. The people who tortured her, made her bleed and scream in pain, were no longer there -nor anywhere to be precise.
"Draco, wake up." she shook her shoulder gently to wake the man behind her.
"Mh," he mumbled sleepily, his nose nuzzling her neck as he always did when he woke up, "must have dozed off."
She chuckled, "You need your beauty sleep, after all. But we should prepare ourselves for the landing." The witch produced her wand and applied a Sticking Charm to Draco and her, because she didn't want to risk them falling from the dragon's back considering his special landings.
"Has your mother taken the wards down?" Charlie shouted from his broom.
"She has, otherwise you would all be cockroaches now," Draco managed to smirk.
The ground came nearer and nearer now, and while Mellon had slowed down, he wasn't exactly at what one would call a reasonable landing speed. In a blur, Hermione could see the flowers and plants in the Manor's garden passing, but a big, round patch appeared in front of them. She felt Draco's arms tightening around her, and then-
SWOOSH! Mellon touched the ground with his full weight, slithering over the crushed flower beets for some metres before coming to a halt.
They made it. The witch felt immeasurable relief flooding through her veins and couldn't get off the dragon's back fast enough when their companions landed their brooms in the vicinity. With a swish of her wrist, she released the Sticking Charm and climbed down. Alas, she had underestimated the slipperiness of a reptile's scales, her foot lost grip-
-and she promptly landed on her bum next to Mellon, decorated with destroyed flora.
"Are you quite done tearing the Malfoy crest into pieces?" came a cool voice from the direction of the manor.
Great. Just marvelous. Hermione raised her head only to see the formidable Narcissa Malfoy looking down on the miscellaneous anarchy four Gryffindors, a dragon, and her precious son had turned her garden into.
The older witch was dressed to the nines in her dark burgundy robes, no blonde hair out of place -the Queen herself would have been amused. Draco's mother, however, had her eyes set on two individuals: Mellon, who seemed to shrink under her unwavering gaze like a chastised puppy, and Hermione, who still sat in the remains of the flowery form of the ancient family crest, covered in dirt and mud.
'How ironic,' rushed through Hermione's head, when her and Narcissa's eyes met directly for the first time. She swore she saw an amused twinkle in the other witch's blue eyes before she turned and floated back to the building, no without commenting, "Please, try to make no mess when you finally decide to come in, yes?"
Harry, Ron, and Charlie stood in awe and watched Narcissa's retreating form, and Charlie even wolf-whistled. "Malfoy, your mother leaves quite an impression!"
"Weasley, what is wrong with you? First my girlfriend, then my mother. I can't shake the feeling that my fist is going to make an impression on your face some day," despite his words, Draco actually chuckled and glided gracefully from Mellon.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
After cleaning themselves up with a few spells, Draco sent Mellon to discover his new home. The dragon immediately set off into the direction of the forest behind the gardens.
"You okay, Hermione?" Harry asked his friend when she saw her hesitating at the Manor's threshold. Taking a deep breath and tightening the grip on Draco's hand, she answered, "It looks so different from back when… you know?"
And indeed, the ancient home had lost its gloomy and dark appearance, and the dining room they now entered was nothing but bright and friendly.
"I told you so. The historical structure is still intact, but Mother cleaned out all the rubbish from the past decades."
"And those snacks look delicious!" Ron commented, eyeing the sandwiches and tea that awaited them.
"Take some for the way, Ron. I'm afraid we have an appointment at the Ministry to do some paperwork for the incident today." Harry submitted.
Ron groaned loudly and helped himself to a sandwich. "Come with us, Charlie? We could need help with that," he asked his brother between munches.
A minute later, the three wizard had left Draco's home through the fireplace in the dining room, and he and Hermione were alone. The wizard lowered his hands on her waist and she felt nothing but calm and warmth in his embrace, no matter what happened in this very house. It was all in the past, and her future was right next to her.
"I think I promised you a trip to the library before we have dinner with my mother, didn't I?"
Hermione felt heat rush through all the right places at Draco's suggestive tone and knew he had more in mind than showing off his library. The remaining rational part of her brain nudged her to replay his words.
"Wait, we're having dinner with your mother?"
A/N: Thank you for your kind and funny reviews, I appreciate them so much! Special thanks to: Doll482223 (no, I'm never nice ;)); Mistress DragonFlame (I had to laugh so much at the 'one time thing'!); Slytherinvillain7 (did you really think I'd harm him seriously? noooo way;)); Queen Vulca (my husband is soooo afraid of heights, but in the harness beneath the wing it's no problem for people afraid of heights, you should really try it some day, it's awesome!); Nmcswain (duuuuude! sweeeeet! sorry, couldn't help myself!); Myrddin Emrys The Third (hope you're back on your seat now ;)); Melek62 (that's a huuuuge compliment you paid me, thanks a lot for that!); BoredRavenclaw620 (no, you're the only one who told me about the height. I'm so stuck to the metric system, I fucked up an experiment once because I messed up with Celsius and Fahrenheit...); Moon Stone Tiger Lily (see? that way!); Sam Wallflower (hehe, yes, Ron is on the good side of being hot-headed here, isn't he?); IGOTEAMEDWARD (*hands chapter* here's more!); pgoodrichboggs (oh, imagine the paraglider tell his friends about that -they'd think he hit his head!); clarkfan325 (I always felt that Ginny and Hermione never had a real friendship in the books, did you?); Bumbleforth (thanks for reading this!); Chester99 (nooo, that was enough drama!); lana . (it was a bird detecting spell, so as much as we like to think so, you're no bird as a paraglider ;)); trinka belle (thank you so much!); Hanable -13 (OF COURSE! lol); IrishPrincess1987 (action is so hard for me to write, so thank you!); Guest (no, it isn't, because he's so cute!); Kyonomiko (don't worry, be happy!); HarryPGinnyW4eva (I guess Ginny learned a bit from past experiences, lol); Lady ChocolateLover (knowledge is so sexy in men, isn't it?); Pensy Wensy05 (I gotta admit I copied some of Mellon's traits from my dog, the clumsiness for example); Grovek26 (yeah, I was born a Trekkie and still am!).