TW: Suicide attempt mention.
A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or Dramione would be canon.
Draco Malfoy flew around the quidditch field with one eye on Harry and the other on the field. Gryffindor was currently in the lead with thirty points- the points were gained due to penalties they were awarded thanks to the Slytherin beaters, Derrick and Bole. The two gigantic beaters had repeatedly targeted the Gryffindor chasers which wouldn't of had been an issue, of course, if they were actually using the Bludgers to hit the opposing players. Instead, they had been grabbing their heads or throwing the Beater's club at them.
Draco was upset at his teammates for being too blatant in what they were doing, and allowing Gryffindor to have an early lead in the game. If he was in any other house, he may have even been embarrassed, but Slytherin house was known to be the 'by-any-means-necessary' house and was already looked down on by the rest of Hogwarts. As proof of this, nearly three quarters of Hogwarts were wearing scarlet rosettes, waving blood red flags or brandishing banners with supportive slogans for the Gryffindor team. The last quarter of Hogwarts, which was almost completely Slytherin save for a handful of Hufflepuffs and a couple of Ravenclaws, were all wearing green and silver- including Snape. A few of the Hufflepuffs had made signs, but the Slytherins who did bring house merch had flags with a glittering serpent on it.
Looking at the flags, Draco allowed his eyes to glance at Hermione who was sitting in the front row between Lee Jordan, the announcer for the quidditch games, and Ronald Weasley. Earlier, Draco had woke up to Crookshanks in his room again, but while he was searching through his drawer for a treat to give the cat, he found a small silver Slytherin serpent pin. An idea popped into his head and he had Crookshanks deliver the pin to Hermione to wear. During breakfast, when she was able to catch his attention after the Gryffindor team left the Great Hall, she lifted one side of her collar revealing the pin. If he hadn't had the trained eyes of a seeker or knew what he was looking for, he wouldn't have been able to spot the silver glint. A part of him genuinely wanted her to wear something in support of him, but another part simply liked the idea that she would be wearing something for him that would drive her best friends mad. Draco didn't mind she hid it from plain sight as she is in his rival house, but knowing she was wearing it meant just as much as the two hundred Slytherin fans showing their support.
"...- THAT WAS DELIBERATE!" Lee Jordan shouted into the magical microphone.
Draco looked down at the players to see Katie Bell, a Gryffindor Chaser, rubbing her head. From Draco's guess, he inferred that one of his teammates had grabbed her head while she had the Quaffle. Madam Hooch had already blown her whistle and was shouting at Montague for such a dirty move. When Madam Hooch was done, Angelina Johnson, a second Gryffindor chaser, took the penalty and scored ten points.
"FORTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING-"
"Jordan," Professor McGonagall's could be heard in the background of Jordan's microphone loud and clear. "If you can't commentate in an unbiased way-!"
"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"
Draco gave a small laugh at that, but searched the sky for Harry. He found the dark haired Gryffindor looking at the Slytherin goalposts, getting ready to dive. Draco dove with Harry at the same time, frantically searching for the snitch Harry apparently saw. Draco saw a Bludger fly by, hit by Derrick who tried aiming at Harry. Another Bludger, hit by Bole, came a lot closer to Draco.
WHOOSH.
Draco was disappointed when the second Bludger simply grazed Harry's elbow. Damn, that would have been an excellent blow. If it would have hit the his elbow just right he might have had to be pulled from the game... Draco turned to say something to Bole, but he and Derrick were coming in fast. Draco automatically dipped his broom lower to zoom out of their way as they zeroed in on Harry. Draco was disappointed for the second time when Harry pulled his broom up at the last second, allowing the two beaters to collide with a crunch. Harry gave a small laugh before heading in the opposite direction, without another glance to the goalposts he was rushing towards before.
Draco grit his teeth before following the other seeker. Harry was known for bluffing seekers and when Draco registered that Harry had not even attempted to use the top speed of the Firebolt when diving, had his annoyance turn into anger realizing he fell for Harry's trick. "Trying to fake me out, Potter?" Harry glanced over his shoulder before stopping, one hand on his broom with the other resting on his thigh.
"How badly did you have to beg your father to send you that Firebolt, Malfoy?"
Draco's face split into a nasty sneer. When Draco initially went out on to the quidditch field today, he didn't miss the shocked looks that the Gryffindor house had when they realized he was holding a Firebolt of his own. Almost everyone in the stands shared their concerned whispers with one another, except from Ron, who started shouting. Draco guessed Ron had asked Hermione mid-tirade if she knew about the broom because the next moment she was shaking her exuberant mass of hair as if to say 'no.'
"Jealous my father is still around, Potter?"
Harry's hands curled into fists and Draco gave a haughty laugh as he flew past him. Flint had scored a point, but while Draco kept both ears listening to the commentary, he now focused both eyes on the field, determined to spot the Snitch before Harry. I need to catch the Snitch. If they score two more times they'll be able to catch the Snitch and win the cup. Draco repeated this to himself several times, willing himself to stay focused on his task. Unlike Gryffindor, Draco was eligible to catch the snitch at any point in time to win the cup. It was his only task, but it was the most important task.
After the faux snitch sighting, the game had gotten even more dirty. While Slytherin had came into the game with their underhanded tricks, Gryffindor was starting to retaliate just as hard. The match had become the most dirtiest game Draco had ever played in, and perhaps even dirtier than any game he had witnessed. Both teams had just been awarded penalties for their actions just now, but unfortunately, Gryffindor's keeper was much better at blocking than the Slytherin keeper.
When the score was fifty to ten after Katie scored, Fred and George Weasley swooped around her, their Beater clubs raised to protect her. Derrick and Bole took advantage of the Weasleys leaving the rest of their team open and aimed both Bludgers at Wood who was the Gryffindor Keeper. Both caught Wood in the stomach and Draco groaned as Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor with another penalty as the Quaffle was not within their scoring area, deeming the attack dishonorable. He admitted, to himself, that he agreed the move to be unnecessary.
Draco wasn't surprised when Angelina scored again putting the Gryffindor team exactly sixty points in the lead. Shortly after, Fred Wesley pelted a Bludger at a Slytherin chaser, Crabbe, who was holding the Quaffle. The Quaffle fell out of his hands, allowing Alicia to seize it and quickly score another ten points. Within minutes, Gryffindor was now seventy points in the lead and their house was screaming themselves hoarse.
The stakes had never been higher in the game, and Draco could feel the pressure as hundreds of eyes started to pay more attention to the two seekers. So long as Gryffindor kept their lead, they now had a fifty-fifty chance of winning. Draco decided his best tactic was to continue staying close to Harry as they scanned the field for the Snitch, making sure that when the boys did race for the coveted tiny ball, they would be starting from the same point.
However, the Snitch appeared again before Draco could get close to Harry, and it just so happened that Harry was the one who saw it seconds before Draco did. With the fastest broom in the world those seconds could have easily put miles between them- especially when the snitch was only twenty feet above Harry. Draco immediately shot after him, but could already see it would be of no use.
So Draco did the only thing he could do: He weaved his fingers into the stiff bristles of Harry's Firebolt and pulled back. He hoped the Snitch would fly off before Harry could catch it or else his effort would be in vain. Harry's Firebolt started to slow down, and when the dark haired boy looked back to see why that was, his broom slowed down even more due to his concentration waning.
"You-!" Harry looked like he wanted to hit Draco, but didn't, knowing he could not reach. Draco's arm ached at the effort, and strength it took to hold on to the Firebolt, but he was able to achieve what he intended. Finally letting go, he sneered as Harry realized that the Snitch had disappeared while he was looking back at Draco.
"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics!" Madam Hooch screeched as she flew up to Draco, reminding him of the rules of quidditch players and their brooms. Draco, of course, already knew the rules and was aware that the move would result in another penalty. While pretending to be hanging his head in an attempt to be apologetic, he looked at the Gryffindor goalpost for Hermione. Lee Jordan was screaming into the mic in a biased manner again, but Professor McGonagall seemed too busy to be shouting and wagging a finger at Draco to care. Between the Professors deep red robes and Ron's fiery red hair, he could make out Hermione's brunette head. He squinted and thought he had caught a smile while she was shaking her head.
"Malfoy, do I make myself clear?"
Draco's head snapped up, aware he needed to come back to the playing field. "Yes, Ma'am." Madam Hooch huffed, then flew off as she blew her whistle, signaling for Alicia to take the penalty. Alicia, so angry about Draco's foul on Harry, missed the goal by several feet. All of the Slytherin team laughed and their supporters gave a small cheer.
Draco resumed flying around the field, but Harry was marking Malfoy so closely their knees kept hitting each other.
"Slytherin in possession, Slytherin heading for the goal aaannnddd Montague scores-" Lee groaned. "Which makes the score Seventy-Twenty."
Draco started to smile hearing the news, but Harry's knee bumped into him again making the almost smile disappear. "Get out of it, Potter!
Harry started to reply, but Lee's voice drowned out most of what Harry was saying, "Angelina Johnson gets the Quaffle for Gryffindor, come on Angelina, COME ON!"
Harry and Draco both looked down to see every single Slytherin player, aside from Draco, streaking down the pitch in an attempt to block Alicia from scoring. Draco barely had enough time to blink while Harry soared lower in an attempt to intervene with the play so his chaser could score. Draco recognized the play for what it actually was though: a distraction. Flint had created this play, one that included every team member, including the keeper, to approach the chaser trying to score as a mass distraction so the Seeker could locate the what Flint had spotted. Draco looked down to see Flint pointing ever so slightly to his right and Draco saw it. The golden Snitch.
Without hesitation, Draco dived at a speed so fast, free-falling would have been a slower pace.
"SHE SCORES! SHE SCORES! Gryffindor's in the lead, eighty points to twenty!" Whatever Harry had done must have worked as Lee shouted into the mic, but Draco didn't care. This was one of those scenarios where Lucius would have been right: the Seeker determined who won the game. The distraction was over and even though Draco knew he had to be flying at breakneck speed, he felt he wasn't flying fast enough. Go, go, go! The Firebolt seemed to obey his silent command and nearly everything, but the Snitch that he had his full attention on, turned into a blur.
Draco faintly processed Harry flying towards him as Draco took his right hand off the broom, stretched out to grab the Snitch. In two seconds, Draco would have been able to close his fist around the Snitch, but Harry smacked Draco's hand away to replace it with his own. No!-
Right before Harry would have closed his fingers around the Snitch though, Draco had released his left hand from his broom and snaked it beneath Harry's gloved hand. Draco felt his slender fingers close around the gold ball in the very last fraction of a second before Harry's would have and he wanted to cry from the feeling that erupted in his chest.
We won the house cup! We won- Draco's eyes widened as his stomach fluttered when he processed he was starting to slip off the broom. Draco hastily put his right hand back on the broom and used everything he had to try and pull up from his dive. Draco could feel his Firebolt actually shudder from gravity and magic fighting each other, but he managed not to crash after pulling his legs in, stopping inches form the ground.
Draco's heart was pounding almost painfully in his ears from the adrenaline of almost crashing and from catching the snitch. He hovered there for a few seconds, holding the snitch so close to his chest that he could feel the breeze from the wings under his chin. When Draco looked up, his team was just landing next to him, huge smiles on all of their faces- including Crabbe's. Draco put his walls back up to hide his shock from almost dying and thrust the fist clutching the snitch into the air. He felt completely elated as everyone cheered around him, enjoying being in the spotlight. Derrick and Bole lifted him into the air as the students who supported the Slytherin team flooded the fields. Flint had retrieved the house cup from Dumbledore and was holding it above his head as he cheered. Draco looked over the surrounding sea of green and silver to look for Harry. Draco reckoned that he would find Hermione with him, and he was right.
Harry had his broom clutched in one hand and was awkwardly patting the shoulder of a weeping Oliver Wood. Draco hoped he could catch Hermione's eye before being carried off, but Wood decided to turn his angst on her. "You knew, didn't you? You knew he had a bloody Firebolt and didn't say anything!"
Draco barely caught the brief flash of guilt on her face before she took her defensive stance. She crossed her arms over her chest, ready to let the Gryffindor captain have a piece of her mind, but Ron stood in front of her. Ron was completely blocking Wood from coming any closer to her as he made to step away from Harry's comforting hand. "She didn't. I already asked her about it."
"She's lying! There is no way she lives with Malfoy and doesn't know-"
The crowd between Draco and Hermione thickened and he could no longer hear the rest of the conversation as the beaters carried him off with the Slytherin fans cheering behind them. Draco reluctantly turned his attention back to the crowd just as Marcus Flint started to yell about the party in the Slytherin common room. The beaters placed Draco back down and Pansy threw her arms around him. He allowed it for a few seconds before pulling her off as it was too uncomfortable in the heat of the crowd.
Draco tried not to think about the worry that prickled in his head about Hermione being left with an angry Wood or if she was going to be upset about the cheating Slytherin did to win. He instead shifted his focus on the long night his common room would be having as they celebrated being the Hogwarts Quidditch Champions of 1994.
Its not that bad. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in the window pane she transfigured into a mirror again, turning her head to the left, then to the right before making her eyebrows arch. Hermione had never paid much attention to her looks, but the cut in her eyebrow had started to change that. She thought Lavender would cry tears of joy if she saw Hermione spending this much time looking in a mirror- even if she wasn't doing it to put on make up.
"You should pick up Divination again." Hermione jumped in her seat and whipped around to see Draco. "Your prediction on the scarf came true."
Hermione clutched her chest and closed her eyes, immediately trying to calm herself from the scare. After a few deep breaths, she spoke. "Another cellist, Devil's Snare, a three headed dog, a basilisk, and two dementors. All of these things have tried to kill me yet, you are the only one who has come close to succeeding." Hermione looked at him with watery eyes as she tried to will her heart to stay in her chest. The jest was a bit tasteless, but Hermione's mood started to darken with the end of the school year coming to a close. In a little over a month, it would be the one year anniversary of her parent's death. "How was the party? I was worried about you almost crashing but..."
Draco gave a soft chuckle as he sat in to the chair opposite hers in the alcove of the library. The game was two days ago and it was the first time that Draco was able to break free of an entourage- always led by Pansy- to have some privacy. Neither he nor Hermione tried to contact each other, with so many eyes on Draco, Hermione was unsure if it was safe to send Crookshanks a second time to the dungeons. Draco didn't try reach out to her as he was unsure if she would be upset about Slytherin's tactics in the game. "I'll never look at Hufflepuffs the same way again, they know how to party too well. I was fine, but I heard that Wood tried to pin the loss on you?" Draco looked down at his nail beds so he did not have to see Hermione angry at him again if she tried to lecture him about the game.
Hermione snorted and he looked up at the noise to see she had pulled out her wand. He eyed her suspiciously until he saw that she was casting the Notice-Me-Not charm. "He did. Try, I mean." Draco was impressed that she had cast the charm sufficiently. It was difficult for third years, as proven by Theo in the second game Gryffindor played, and was nearly N.E.W.T level magic. "Ron stood up for me though, which in turn caused Harry and the twins to back me up. Muffliato. And there was also the small fact of Slytherin cheating." Hermione looked at Draco then with a stern look, but her eyes were playful.
Draco wanted to make a comment on how the twins were the only Weasley's that were worth more than a Knut, but restrained himself. He scratched his cheek with an index finger to buy time before asking the question he really wanted an answer to. "So, you're not mad?"
Hermione looked at him with an amused expression. "Mad? Contrary to popular belief, quidditch is not the biggest thing in the world." Draco gave her a disbelieving look. "I may have also convinced myself that your win was the last piece in my revenge so I am no longer mad at Harry or Ron." Draco burst out laughing at that and she smiled. "It was an interesting match, comical even." Hermione's smile started to dim as she continued. "I almost feel a bit bad for Wood- apparently his parents made an arrangement with Dumbledore for a scout to watch the game and he's sure he won't hear back from him." Hermione looked depressed and a hundred kilometres away when she finished speaking. Draco didn't like seeing her like that, but was aware that the anniversary of her parents' death was coming soon. He expected to see more of her depressed side as each day passed, but for the moment, Draco was set on keeping up a conversation with her to stop her from wallowing in her despair for too long.
"I was, ah, enthused to see you wearing the pin." Draco rubbed the back of his neck. He did not want to sound like a complete sap saying he was happy to see her support, but he didn't enjoy that he sounded like one of the old wizards his father occasionally signed contracts with.
Hermione half-smiled as she remembered the look on Draco's face when he saw the pin. He had quickly turned away so no one caught them communicating in the great hall, but not before she saw recognition appear on his face followed by a real smile. It wasn't a smirk, a sneer, or a calculated grin, but it was a honest-to-Godric smile. The kind that made the corners of your eyes crinkle because it was so pure. "I'm happy you were so enthused, Mr. Malfoy." She teased. Draco leaned over and flipped her book closed in response to her teasing, "Hey!"
He laughed at her expression before leaning back into the chair, Narcissa would have chastised him for the poor posture he had at Hogwarts, but he hardly worried about it. "Relax, you were on page one hundred and ninety-two."
Hermione glared at him before flipping the book open to the page he stated. Satisfied that it was the right page, she eased the tension in her face as she no longer had a reason to be upset. "You're a menace to society, Draco Malfoy." Hermione picked up her quill and positioned her hand so she could resume taking notes.
Draco watched her for a moment and wished he had his art supplies with him. The sun was hitting her face so perfectly that her cheekbones and freckles were highlighted in a flattering way. She had her hair down for the first time in ages and with her taking notes from her textbook, she looked so Granger. The thought struck a chord within Draco as he fully digested that if her parents hadn't died, she wouldn't be Hermione to him. She would still be Granger or mudblood. He cleared his throat not wanting to settle into his own pit of despair. "Where did you run into Devil's Snare or a three-headed dog?"
Hermione froze for a second, but resumed her writing hoping her pause went unnoticed. She needed to buy herself time to think of a lie. "What?" Why did I say that earlier?
"On the list of things you mentioned that threatened to kill you- you had mentioned Devil's Snare and a Three-Headed dog." Draco watched her carefully. Her voice had raised a pitch and he knew whatever she had to say was going to be interesting. "Neither are common things to come across."
"You're not going to ask about the other cellist? That's much more riveting, I think." Hermione glanced up at Draco and wished she hadn't spoken in the first place. She knew from how he was starting to lean in that she had completely piqued his interest and he was not going to let it go.
"You're terribly good, I'm sure they just threatened you after you had embarrassed them or they threatened you to withdraw from a competition so they had a chance to take home the prize."
Hermione blinked as the second guess was exactly what happened. When she decided to speak, she pointed her special quill at him with a smile, "That was definitely a compliment. Admit it, you like my playing."
"Stop trying to change the subject as I will admit to nothing other wise." Hermione frowned that her attempt at distracting him did not work. She looked outside the window weighing the pros and cons of telling Draco about her, Harry, and Ron's adventure on trying to get the sorcerer's stone before Snape- or rather, Professor Quill- could get to it. Hermione involuntarily shivered as she thought of Voldemort possessing someone's body. "You all right? You know, if I have to take you to the infirmary I'm still going to make you tell me your story." He half teased as he looked her over, concerned about her mental state again.
She glanced at him and flashed a small smile. "I'm fine." Hermione took a deep breath and leaned in, glancing at the Library hall to make sure no one was there. She knew with the charms up that she didn't need to worry, however, eleven years of living without magic made her rely on her first six senses for reassurance. "You can not tell anyone." Hermione stuck out her pinky finger, but Draco just stared at her with one eyebrow raised.
"What are you doing?"
"You don't know what a pinky promise is?"
"A what?" Draco wanted to laugh at the name, but Hermione was too serious for him to allow the laugh to happen.
"It's..." Hermione thought about the best way to explain it. "It's the muggle version of the Unbreakable Vow. Instead we won't die, but we'll cut our pinkys off if the promise is broken."
"What?" He repeated, slightly horrified that muggles would think of such a thing. "No, I will not do a Pinky Promise." He said the name with disgust as he shook his head.
Hermione was slightly affronted as she assumed it was due to it being a muggle thing, but decided to use his disgust to her advantage. "Fine." She leaned back and resumed her previous posture so she could continue taking notes. "No pinky promise, no story. Now are you going to study with me or not?" Draco glared at her before picking up another Arithmancy book she had by her and opened it. Hermione grinned at being able to keep her adventure a secret and continued studying.
Draco could not focus on the textbook he had in front of him, though. His prying nature screamed at him to just make the promise, but he argued that the idea behind it was too creepy for his comfort. He eyed her as she took notes and even minutes later, she still had faint traces of a grin on her face. She's laughing at me. Seeing that, he grit his teeth and stuck his own pinky out.
Hermione looked up from her parchment to see Draco with a more than determined look on his face as he held out his fist, pinky raised. She hoped that he would never bring it up again after calling his bluff, but she felt like she should have known better than to hope for so much with him. Draco had always been eager for information, constantly sticking his nose where it had no place being. "What are you doing?"
"Come off it." He extended his arm fully so it was now on her side of the table, waiting for her to grab it.
Hermione rolled her eyes before linking her pinky with his and kissing her hand. He was completely surprised at the kiss, but was even more surprised when Hermione extended her arm, pinkies still tied together, so he could do the same. "Go on, then."
He was completely bewildered at the gesture and shook his head. "No."
Hermione did her best imitation of a smirk he had given to her many times. "You're going to let a kiss on your own hand stop you from hearing about my completely mundane tale of my encounters with-"
"It's embarrassing." He hissed. Draco could feel his cheeks turn a light pink. If Theo or Blaise saw me they'd never stop having a laugh. "You're just trying to humiliate me into not doing it so you can avoid telling me what happened."
Hermione opened her mouth to deny it, but gave an expression that was both unsure and amused, hoping he would back out. "Is it working?"
Draco's look before he gave his own hand a chaste peck was one that would have killed her if looks had the strength. "No."
Hermione wanted to say she was disappointed, but was surprisingly indifferent to telling Draco what happened. Her heart no longer clenched at the idea of trusting him although her stomach did flutter with the caution that she felt. Obviously I can't tell him every detail. I'll have to omit quite a bit. "Do you remember when Dumbledore said we couldn't go to the south wing of the second floor corridor first year?" Draco nodded. He remembered all too well as it was common practice for the older Slytherins to threaten the younger students by forcing them to go down the corridor. Draco had even been brought up there once by a seventh year boy, but Filch had been patrolling the hall that afternoon so the boy let Draco go, promising to bring him to the hall another time. Draco immediately ran to write a letter to his father about the event and the seventh year boy didn't even look in Draco's direction for he rest of the year. "Well, we did. Harry, Ron and I."
Hermione was suddenly fixated at a smudge stain in her parchment, waiting for Draco to reply. "I don't know how you Gryffindors manage to stay alive, honestly." She glared at him but he waved a hand for her to continue.
"Behind one of the doors was a three-headed dog. He was, ah, a pet." Hermione thought about how Hagrid had the oddest obsession with collecting creatures who were predators by nature and made a face. "We were running from Filch- we weren't exactly looking for anything-"
"Why were you running from Filch?"
Hermione's face bunched up, trying to remember. "I reckon we were out past curfew."
"Woah, Hermione Granger, Swot Extraordinaire, would break curfew?" Draco was completely amused at her tale already.
"We broke curfew the other day." Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco. "It's not that big of a deal-"
"Who are you and what have you done with the real, Hermione?" Draco laughed as she bunched up blank parchment and threw it at him.
"You are a git!" She was smiling at his dramatics though. "Do you want to hear the rest of it or not?"
"Yes, yes, I'll stop." He stopped laughing and smiled lazily at her, resting his chin on his hand.
"No more interruptions." She pointed a finger at him as a warning before continuing. "Well, we had backed up into the room so far that Fluffy," Hermione wanted to kick herself for telling him the name of Hagrid's pet, "Had put himself between us and the door to get back into the hallway. So..." Don't tell him about playing music. "There was a trap door in the room and we escaped through that. Except it landed us in a pit of Devil's Snare."
"In the castle-"
"No interruptions."
Draco couldn't help, but feel there were holes in her story. "But how did you get out? Why is there Devil's Snare inside the castle?"
Hermione paused. Think, Hermione, think! "After Ron and I thought of a way to be released from the Devil's Snare, we followed the tunnel the trap door left us in. It brought us to another door in the entrance hall." Hermione ignored the second question as she looked out the window again..
Draco was confused by her story, though. "That doesn't make sense. Why have the corridor blocked off to hide a three-headed dog and some Devil's Snare? I would imagine it would be guarding something at least."
"Maybe the dog was guarding the Devil's Snare?" Hermione tried, but even to her ears, her voice did not sound convincing.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "You're hiding something. There is no way that there was a three headed dog guarding the Devil's Snare, nor would you accept that without finding out the answer yourself."
Hermione was completely taken aback with how perceptive Draco was shrugged one shoulder trying to seem nonchalant. "I can't exactly ask Dumbledore, you know."
Draco opened his mouth to point something else out, but he and Hermione both heard something- or rather someone- who reminded him on why he ran to the library in the first place. "Drakey!"
Hermione looked over her shoulder towards the noise then looked at Draco, a smile creeping on her face. "Drakey?"
"Don't you ever-"
"Drakey, where arrre youuuuuu?" Pansy half whispered in a sing-song cadence, her voice already sounding much closer than it initially had. Pansy seemed to be getting more and more brave with each passing day when it came to Draco, and was no longer hesitant to follow him into a library.
Draco cursed before standing. "I want the truth next time, Granger." He started to walk towards the end of the book case, glancing up and down the hall before attempting to slip out.
"Whatever you say, Drakey." Draco glared at her before gritting his teeth and disappearing down the hall, not wanting to risk even a few seconds with banter in case Pansy found them together.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. Not once did she ever think she would be grateful for Pansy's existence, but Hermione appreciated the time the Slytherin girl bought her to straighten out a story that would satisfy any questions Draco had if he remembered to bring the story up again.
"Have either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Grammatica?"
"Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading." Said Ron, earning him a glare from Hermione. She chose to continue looking around her regular place of study in the common room instead of replying. She was shifting parchment and other books around on the table when Hedwig fluttered in the room and on to Harry's lap.
Harry removed the note from Hedwig's beak. "It's from Hagrid. Buckbeak's appeal is set for the sixth of June."
"That's the day we finish our exams." Hermione said almost absentmindedly.
"And they're coming here to do it." He said still reading from the letter. "Someone from the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy," Hermione looked back at Harry hearing that. "and-"
"And an executioner?" Ron finished, who was reading over Harry's shoulder.
"They're bringing the executioner to the appeal? That sounds as though they've already decided!" Hermione waved her hands in the air, completely agitated at the Ministry's decision.
"Yeah, it does." Harry replied grimly.
"They can't! You spent ages reading up on stuff for him; they can't just ignore it all!" Ron motioned to Hermione who was taken surprised for a moment on his acknowledgement. What was left of her honest nature urged her to tell them she didn't do it by herself, but she knew now was definitely not the right time to mention Draco, let alone say they were friends.
"This has to be all Lucius Malfoy's doing." Ron said scowling. "Him and his son are the biggest ass-"
"Ron!" Hermione said, slightly pink in the face. "Language, please." Hermione turned back to looking for her book, ignoring all the snide comments Ron and Harry were making about Lucius and Draco. She could agree with most of their statements about Lucius, but she couldn't stand the fact that she couldn't defend Draco like she would defend Harry and Ron if it was Draco speaking ill of them.
When she finally found her copy of Numerology and Grammatica, she grabbed the note that Harry had left on the seat next to him and Ron. Hermione did not bother to hide her duplicating the letter from her friends as they would assume she was using the letter to keep track of the events regarding Buckbeak for his appeal. She slipped the copy of the letter into her book before heading up to the girls dorm and sending Crookshanks off to deliver the copy to Draco.
"They can't kill Buckbeak, we worked too hard on building that case." Draco hissed under his breath. Draco had somehow managed to get Hermione partnered with him and Blaise in potions two days later. She and Blaise prepped the ingredients for their Pepper-Up potion while Draco worked on stirring the ingredients. "I even asked father for what he had built his case on, so I could come up with a rebuttal for every argument he would have tried to make."
"You did?" Hermione looked up at Draco to see him nodding. "That's brilliant, really." Hermione was caught off guard by how thorough he had tried to be and Draco had been surprised that she complimented him. "I've already asked Lucius to drop the case before we came back from Christmas holiday, but he refused, of course." Hermione was chopping up the thyme for the potion a bit to quickly from her discontent and Draco nearly grabbed the knife from her.
"Watch the sizing on the Dandelion. It'll mess with the effectiveness of the potion."
Hermione looked up at him, completely stopping what she was doing as she thought of why she never heard that before. She looked at her potions textbook, wondering if she missed anything about the Dandelion's properties. "It doesn't say that anywhere." Hermione racked her brain, thinking about the different potions she learned about over the years, then thinking about the individual plants before finally remembering that Dandelions wasn't just a filler ingredient like she initially thought. "I knew that."
"Did you?" Blaise teased and Hermione's playfully turned the knife towards him.
"Watch it, Zabini."
"It's Blaise to you, Witch." Blaise said as he passed Draco the ground Cayenne Pepper he had been crushing for the past ten minutes.
"Sure." She said as she took the time to carefully portion out the flower, allowing herself to grow somber with the realization of the appeal. "There's nothing we can do about Buckbeak." It was said in a tone that sounded as if she was convincing herself along with Draco that they did their best.
Draco set his jaw, staring at the pewter cauldron so intensely that the areas around his center of vision had turned gray. He hated failing, but felt he should have known that going against his father had always been a losing battle. He gripped the table tighter as he thought this, and Hermione bumped his tense arm with her elbow, and raised her eyebrows. The gesture was a silent question asking if he was OK and he gave a terse nod. Looking back now, though, he still would have tried to stand up to his father if given a second chance. Even if Lucius was completely unaware who was creating Hagrid's appeals, it had helped him to be comfortable with the fact that the two Malfoys were not always bound to see eye to eye, and that it may cause issues if Draco decided to voice his own view against Lucius in the future.
Hermione looked over her shoulder to Harry and Ron, who got stuck with Pansy, and they seemed to still be arguing on who was going to do what for the potion. She smiled, slightly amused, before turning her attention back to her ingredients. Draco watched the one sided exchange as he stirred, grateful that his first time rebelling against Lucius was with her, as would have never done it alone otherwise.
-
Exam week began and an unnatural hush fell over the castle. Everyone was terrified of their exams and always came out of the classrooms worrying how their nerves had affected their performance. Hermione was as much of a wreck as the fifth and the seventh years who were taking much more serious tests and she seemed to irritate everyone else around her. She had the habit of recounting the exam and asking whomever was around her what they did for the questions she was anxious about. It was a nervous habit Hermione she unknowingly shared with Draco.
"My rabbit looked more like a hare. Don't you think it looked more like a hare, Theo?" Draco said after they had left their transfiguration class.
Theo groaned. "Draco, stop. They're the same animal."
"They're not!"
"My rabbit didn't even have fur and was still metal from the cup it was supposed to be transfigured from! I'm sure you did better than almost anyone else in the classroom!" Blaise exclaimed, his nerves breaking his usually suave demeanor. The Italian stormed off leaving Theo and Draco to walk together to their next exam.
The days seemed to crawl with students cramming in every free moment they had. On their second to last exam Thursday morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco had Defense Against the Dark Arts. The exam they had to take was an obstacle course outside in the sun; the students had to wade across a pond that had Grindylows, then cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, followed up by squishing their way across a marsh as they ignored misleading directions from a Hinkypunk. In the very last part of the exam, they had to climb into a large trunk that had no doubt been magicked to expand once inside so they could battle a new boggart.
Harry received full marks as he climbed out of the trunk grinning. Ron did well until he reached the Hinkypunk, which ended up confusing him into sinking into a waist-high quagmire.
When Draco, who was after Ron, climbed into the trunk after he had navigated the rest of the course perfectly, the boggart didn't appear until a moment later. When it did, it was the portrait of Lucius and Narcissa above the fire place- except Hermione was now a part of the painting.
"Ugh, I can't even stand to look at him." Lucius turned away, looking to where the portrait dropped off. Narcissa shook her head at Draco when he raised his wand, his hand shaking from nerves. He never faced the boggart in class so this was completely new to him. Draco thought of several things the boggart could have manifested to, even entertained his father being the form the boggart would take, but did not imagine this. "What are you doing?" Lucius had turned back to Draco and took a step closer to the front of the portrait. "You're pitiful, you know. Quaking like a damned autumn leaf- do you even know what spell you're trying to cast boy? Get that wand out of my face!"
Draco opened his mouth, but nothing came out as panic seemed to trickle in, the fear drying up his throat. What spell am I supposed to cast?
Portrait Hermione giggled and his wand dipped in the air before him he was shaking so bad. The painting of Lucius scoffed at the sight. "They say mudbloods get their power from stealing a wizard's magic, you know." Draco didn't answer so Hermione continued as she cocked her head to the side. "I'm going to steal what little love your parents have for you, then I'm going to steal your magic." Hermione removed her wand from her dress sleeve and Draco took a step back. "Not because I'll need it, but because I can." Narcissa placed a delicate hand on Hermione's shoulder as she looked down at the girl lovingly. It was too much for Draco to watch, and he took a few steps back causing the boggart to shift again.
This time, the boggart turned into Buckbeak who who had several bald spots from where his feathers had been. Draco thought some of his feathers were darkened, but as the beast got closer, he saw that it was actually matted blood. Draco screamed and turned away, running as fast as he could.
Suddenly there was a burst of light and he was on the ground, with Lupin looking down on him. "Are you all right?" Draco didn't answer and quickly stood, ignoring Lupins hand and the laughter from his other classmates. He didn't miss that Harry and Ron were bent over laughing as Draco walked over to the other Slytherins who already completed the obstacle course.
When Hermione got to the trunk after doing everything else in the course perfectly herself, Lupin stopped her before she climbed in. He leaned in close to her so none of the other students could hear. "You don't have to do this, Dumbledore and I had arranged an alternative for you if you feel like you can't handle the boggart."
Hermione looked up at him, dismay from his offer filling her features. "What?"
Lupin had a look that she recognized as pity before pointing off to the side of the forbidden forest where she saw Professor Sinastra waiting. "If you head over to that professor, there is-" Lupin stopped, hearing the trunk's lid flop closed. Lupin gave a small smile at Harry's friend choosing to complete the original course, but got closer to the trunk in the event her fears proved to be too much for her.
Hermione cast lumos as soon as her feet hit the ground. She turned around slowly, trying to find the boggart. When she did a complete one-eighty, she jumped back coming face to face with herself.
Hermione lifted her wand at the same time the boggart raised it's gun. Being caught off guard by Lupin made her forget what she wanted to turn the boggart into, but the sight of the firearm made her freeze with the spell on the tip of her tongue.
"You could have saved them, you know." The boggart slowly took a step to circle Hermione, but Hermione followed with her wand, refusing to lower it. "But you had to leave your wand. What kind of witch are you?"
Hermione's eyes watered as the boggart took another step, it's question ringing in her ears. The spell! Cast the spell! But Hermione fell for it's trap. "I wasn't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts. I had no reason-"
"But you must know that you would have been pardoned. The Ministry has a clause to protect students using magic in life or death situations. You failed them- and after all they did for you."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek. Ground yourself. "Ri-Riddikulus." Hermione nearly lowered her wand, but the boggart did not disappear and simply changed it's form.
The next figure was Dr. Augsen holding the gun in her face. "You haven't been working on clearing your mind. You're going to live the rest of your life as a muggle-"
Hermione started to shake. "Riddikulus."
The boggart morphed into Harry, his voice sad and his eyes wide. "Would you let me die, too?"
"Riddikulus." Hermione felt her own voice tremble and her free hand tightened into a fist, trying to ground her. It's just a boggart, it's not real.
Ron's blue eyes were staring back at her now instead of Harry's green ones on the other side of the revolver. "You can barely function on your own, how do you expect to protect anyone else?"
"Riddikulus."
Draco ran his free hand through his lightly curled hair. "You aren't serious, mudblood." The gun bounced in her vision as he started to laugh.
Hermione's resolve seemed to awaken at the slur. She learned to understand why the word was so dirty after her almost suicide attempt on Astronomy tower and she learned to hate it. She put both of her hands on her wand.
Think of what you want it to turn into and focus your intent as you speak the spell. "Riddik-"before the spell could be finished, her wand's light went out. She couldn't see the boggart and she had no clue where it was until it spoke again,. This time, directly behind her.
The voice seemed to tickle the back of her mind in an area that seemed almost buried. She knew the voice, but it almost hurt trying to pinpoint who it was. "Your time is up, Crumpet." The voice was silky in the worst ways and the breath that landed on the back of her neck felt like an intimate violation.
She felt something grab the front of her shirt and pull her out of the trunk, but she sank into the grass as the fresh hair hit her lungs. Hermione didn't speak for a long moment and Professor Lupin crouched beside her, worry etched dee into his face. She felt angry again and stood even when her legs shook. "I told you at the beginning of the year boggarts were dangerous. That creature had a gun in my face." Hermione was breathing hard and Lupin slowly stood, his eyes never leaving his face, even when it changed from worry to a stern look. "Some of us have real fears, you know. Not jack-in-the-boxes or other professors." Hermione kept her voice low so the other students, specifically Parvati and Neville as she spoke about their fears, could not hear her.
"You knew this and you still chose to go into the trunk." He retorted, "I know you're trying to be brave, but you need to remember to be smart." Hermione was taken aback by his response as she thought he always tried to coddle her, but his words revealed he could be as brash as Snape when he wanted to be. "Be careful what you try to prove to yourself, Hermione. If you had met this boggart in your home, without me- or someone else for that matter- watching over you and you happened to fear death over anything else, do you think the boggart would have hesitated to pull the trigger?"
Hermione's eyes widened and in an instant, Harry and Ron were by her side. Harry put an arm around her shoulders steering her off to where the rest of the students sat, while Ron glared at Lupin. "C'mon, 'Mione."
After they were a safe enough distance away for them to not be overheard, Ron started to question her. "What did he say? You had already looked pale when he pulled you out, but whatever he said made you go completely white."
Hermione glanced at Ron then down at her hands. She was still gripping her wand as if it was a life line and she closed her eyes. Professor Lupin's words ran through her head again as images of the boggart flashed behind her closed eyelids. I need to do better. I need to be stronger, if not for myself, for the ones that are alive that I need to protect. "Nothing. It was a critique on my encounter with the boggart." Hermione looked at the Defense Against their Dark Arts teacher as he watched the next student run through the obstacle course.
Harry and Ron, deciding not to push Hermione, started their own conversation. She allowed them to distract each other as she let her eyes drift over to Draco, who was camping with a group of Slytherin's laughing at their classmates attempts to get through the course. As if feeling her gaze, he looked back at her and raised his blonde eyebrows- asking the same question she had silently last week in potions. She gave a quick thumbs up and he turned back to Millicent and Pansy, just in time to watch Crabbe also get confused by the Hinkypunk.
After a while, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed back to the castle where they almost literally ran into a rushing Cornelius Fudge in the entrance hall.
"Hello there, Harry! Hermione." He nodded at Hermione when greeting her, and completely ignored Ron. "Just finished an exam, I expect?" He had turned his full attention to Harry, but Hermione was the one who answered.
"Yes, sir." Hermione faintly felt the hair raise on the back of her neck as if the boggart was breathing on her neck again.
Fudge continued to stare down at Harry, waiting for a reply. Harry, taking a moment to catch on, gave an awkward reply so Fudge would continue. "Er, Yes."
The minister nodded once. "It's a lovely day," Fudge looked above the three of them and down the hall before looking back at Harry. "What a shame I'm here on an unpleasant mission, Harry. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures required a witness to the execution of the mad Hippogriff. I was coming to check on the Black situation anyway so I was asked to step in."
"Does that mean the appeal's already happened?" Hermione interrupted. She would have taken a step forward but her head started to ache as if she was going to have another flashback.
Fudge gave Hermione a once over and set his lips into a slight frown. "No, it's scheduled for this afternoon."
"Then you might not have to witness an execution at all!" Ron said indignantly, "The hippogriff might get off!"
Before Fudge could reply to Ron, two wizards joined them. One was Lucius Malfoy, who raised an eyebrow seeing Hermione's eyebrow and another wizard who Hermione would have imagined Virginia Woolf would have described him as 'Tall and Strapping'. The man had a thin mustache and black hair that looked as tousled as Harry's. He seemed to almost be absentmindedly running his thumb along the axe in his belt, as if he was itching to use it. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione stepped on his foot, never taking her eyes off of Lucius. This is your fault, Lucius.
The executioner looked down at his watch before looking back up at Fudge. "It's nearly two o'clock Minister. Should we be heading over now?"
"No. No, I still have to meet with Dumbledore... talk over details..." Fudge removed his hat and ran his palm over his sweaty head before putting the green hat back on.
"We'll be heading to lunch then." Hermione grabbed the sleeves of Harry and Ron's robes, dragging them away but not before she heard Fudge make a comment to Lucius about her.
"You should have Narcissa teach her that a lady is to speak when spoken to." Hermione walked faster, afraid she would give in to her temptation of telling the Minister and Lucius about what she thought of both of them- which would not have gone well if she did have a flashback in front of them.
When they could no longer see the three men, Ron pulled his sleeve free of her grasp. "Why'd you stop me? They've got the ax ready- This isn't justice!"
"Your dad works for the Ministry, you can't go saying what ever you like to his boss!" Hermione knew Ron was upset, and tried not to let her own stress or anger dictate her actions. "As long as Hagrid keeps his head this time, and argues his case properly, they won't execute Buckbeak."
Hermione wasn't sure if she convinced either of them as she wasn't convinced herself that was true. It was more than obvious the Ministry's mind was made up and Buckbeak was going to die.
Lost appeal. They're going to execute at Sunset. Nothing you can do. Don't come down. I don't want you to see it.
-Hagrid
"We've got to go," Harry said at once, Hermione opened her mouth to ask what for, but he spoke before her, knowing she would argue. "He can't just sit there on his own, waiting for the executioner! He loves Buckbeak!"
Hermione thought about the days where Hagrid let her find solace in his hut when she had no where else to go. He tried to help her in the best ways he could, even when he didn't know how. She stood up from where she was sitting next to Ron and nodded.
"Sunset, though." Ron reminded. "We'd never be allowed, especially you, Harry. If only we still had the invisibility cloak..."
Hermione's eyebrows raised. "You lost it, again? Where is it?"
Harry's eyebrows came together. "You were there when I lost it the first time so it's not all my fault." He referred to the time they had smuggled Hagrid's Dragon First Year to be looked after Ron's older brother, Charlie. "I left it in the passageway leading to Honeydukes. When I was climbing out of the one-eyed witch statue, Snape caught me. Ron was able to cover for me, but Lupin got involved and took the Marauder's map..." Harry went into detail on how after Crabbe ran to Snape after seeing Harry in Hogsmeade, he had to race back to Hogwarts to pretend he had never left. Harry had climbed out of the statue, but the cloak fell out of his pocket and Snape had appeared right has the passageway closed. He was taken to the Potion Master's office who found the Marauder's map, but could not find how it worked as Harry had made sure the map was blank. However, the Marauder's decided to insult Snape when he tried to have the map appear for him and whatever the Marauders said, caused Snape to call Lupin who ended up confiscating the map from Harry. "... if Snape sees me anywhere near there again, I'm in serious trouble," He finished.
Hermione breathed deeply when Harry was done, closing her eyes, and started counting back from ten. When she was done she opened her eyes and put her hands in the air. "I'm not mad."
"You're mad." Ron said immediately, glancing at Harry.
"I'm not." She insisted. "How do you open the one-eyed witch again?"
Harry was slightly confused by the question. "You- you tap it and say, 'Dissendium'. But-"
Hermione didn't wait for the rest of what he was going to say. She pushed open the Fat Lady portrait and strode down the hallways and stairs, determined to get the cloak so they could provide any comfort they could to Hagrid.
A/N: Ok so, I might have fibbed- the next couple of chapters are going to take a while for me to post.
MotekElm: Thank you, as always :3
InsideTheFridge: Me too! I hate it when they fight.
Alice Helena: THANK YOU, LOVE! I think it's obvious at this point how much I love writing Narcissa and Lucius, lol. They're just so much fun. Thank you so much for feeling that they're perfect, I really do try to publish only the best versions of my writing.
Erythra-Selena: Ahhh! Thank you, and welcome! I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Guest: SAME.
CharmedMistletoe: I hope you enjoyed the match bit!
