Ever so slowly, Hermione reached into her back pocket for her wand. She stared intensely at the creature as she waved it wordlessly behind her back. A soft glow emitted from the deer. It widened its eyes and looked around frantically.
With a panicked beating sound, it turned tail and bolted from the clearing. Fireflies stirred as it went, lighting the air again.
"Oh, no!" Draco reached out a hand in a vain attempt to stop the creature. "Ugh!" He turned to Hermione. "We could've had it!"
She smiled wickedly. "We do."
Minutes later they burst through the tent flap. Draco trailed behind Hermione as she beamed and went on about her first sighting.
She spoke so fast, he could hardly keep up.
She went straight into her bedroom, muttering away. Draco plopped down onto a couch and leaned his head back. His eyes grew heavy. He let them slide shut.
"- if I could just-"
He started at the suddenness of her voice. She looked over sheepishly, her arm shoulder-deep in her hand bag.
"Sorry. I hadn't realized you were sleeping." She rummaged around the bag.
Draco rolled his shoulders and sat up.
"No, go on."
Hermione came to sit opposite him, much like the previous night. Except this time they were not at each other's throats.
"I was just saying that I need to find my- ah ha!" She gave a yank and her arm flung unceremoniously out of the bag. She straightened up. In her hand was a plain silver sphere, about the size of a snitch. "Here it is."
Hermione placed it in the middle of the table. They watched as the sphere hovered an inch above the wood and slowly expanded. The solid form stretched into a web of silver, covering a haze of blue mist. Inside the mist, their deer trotted through the woods.
Draco leaned in for a better look. "What is this?"
Hermione smiled. "A magical tracker for unsustainable creatures. I got the idea from radio trackers used by muggles for ceritan species. The spell sends signals back to the sphere, much like radio waves sending to computers. This way we can monitor the creature without disturbing it."
Draco was not sure what radio waves did or how they sent things to computers, but the aspect of having a way to gather information without trampling through the woods definitely appealed to him.
Hermione pulled out some parchment and two quills. "Now we watch."
They settled in and spent the next several hours taking notes. The task quickly wore on Draco's mind. All the creature did was walk and eat. It did not seem to have any notion of where it wandered or any sense of time. Its whole existence seemed to be one lazy stroll.
Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to thrive with the quill and parchment in her hand. Draco found himself watching her. If the deer did anything unexpected, her eyebrows knitted together. If it happened to interact with another creature (there were more of these than Draco knew lived on the estate), her face would scrunch up with a slight smile to the left side of her mouth. Her eyes never seemed to leave the mist even as her quill scribbled away.
Hermione's eyes flickered up to him for a second before she looked up completely. "What?"
He quickly looked back to his parchment. "Nothing." He mumbled. "Just thought I saw something in your hair...it was nothing."
Hermione was not convinced but let the issue go as her eyes dropped to his page. "Is that all you've written?"
Draco's ears burned in shame but he kept his face impassive. He leaned back. "It's just so boring," he drawled. "All it does is walk about."
Hermione's face grew hard instantly. He knew he had misspoke. Shit.
"You mean to tell me that after all that complaining about the woods, all the dead ends in the library, all the wrong turns that this case has taken - we've finally got something stable and you find it boring?"
Draco searched his mind for a response that would not send her off the deep end.
"Aren't you hungry? Don't you want to eat something?"
Her eyes did not loose any heat. "No." She picked up her quill. "I want to take notes. I want to learn about this creature. I want to actually get somewhere with this case."
Without giving him a sideways glance, she went back to work. Feeling utterly dismissed, Draco stood. He was not really hungry but, seeing as he had used that as an excuse, decided to go through with ordering supper anyways. He went to his room.
The mirror he had gotten from the attic was still sitting on his dresser where he had placed it the night before. He picked it up.
"Dotty."
The house-elf's reflection appeared almost instantly.
"Yes, Master Draco?"
"I want you to bring us Chickpea and mushroom soup with a bottle of white wine. And make some cheese scones to go with it."
The house-elf nodded. "Yes, sir. Right away." Her image vanished.
Draco tossed the mirror back onto the dresser. He looked around for a moment, unsure what to do next. His bed looked very inviting, but he knew Hermione would have another fit if he did not join her soon. He sighed. Leaving the thoughts of sleep behind, he headed back into the living area.
Hermione almost jumped off the couch at the sound of a loud crack. Draco simply looked up from his work.
"Finally." He muttered, putting his quill down to stretch his fingers over his head. Hermione turned around to find a tiny house-elf scurrying about the kitchen. She wore a black dress with silver buttons and white frills under a bleached white apron. She even had tiny polished black shoes. Hermione looked over inquisitively to Draco.
He shrugged. "Mother said if the help has to be dressed, then they will be dressed properly."
Hermione did not know how to respond to this. She thought the outfit absurd but knew that it was not uncommon for people with money to require a specific dress code for their servants. Besides, she also knew this was the best she would get from the Malfoys.
At least they had taken notice to the law instead of ignoring it all together.
Draco made his way to a giant silver pot with claw feet. He lifted the lid. Steam poured out along with a very appealing aroma.
Hermione found herself wandering over. With the pot of soup, the house-elf had brought a tray of scones and bottle of wine.
Hermione took it all in, realizing just how ravenous she was.
"It smells delicious," she said, smiling. "Thank you."
The house-elf rung her hands together and looked away quickly. She did not respond to Hermione. Her giant eyes turned to Draco instead.
"It is to Master's liking?" She squeaked.
Draco picked up the bottle of wine for inspection.
"Yes, Dotty. This will do."
Hermione caught his eyes. Really, was that the best he could do?
He cleared his throat and looked down at the house-elf. "Thank you."
Dotty's eyes grew to the size of saucers and she pulled at her ears.
"Master...Master is welcome."
"You can go." Draco dismissed her. With another crack, she vanished.
Draco waved his wand and walked out of the kitchen. The platter, pot, and wine followed him along with two glasses, bowls, silverware, and two cloth napkins. He settled himself at the head of the dark kitchen table and lit the tall black candle at its core.
The food and dishes floated over, where they laid out in proper etiquette.
Hermione stood awkwardly by the counter. She had intended on fixing a bowl and returning to her work.
"Are you going to make me celebrate alone?" Draco called over his shoulder.
Hermione gave the back of his head a quizzical look. "What are we celebrating?"
He turned around in his chair with a sly smile.
"Finding the creature, of course. As you stated earlier, we are finally getting somewhere with this case and should celebrate appropriately."
She could not believe it. For some profound reason, he was actually enjoying the idea of keeping her from her notes. She almost groaned, but the smell of the soup and scones abated her temper.
She gave in with a quiet sigh. "Just a second."
She walked over to the coffee table, where the deer drifted through the underbrush, and waved her wand over her quill and ink bottle. The quill came to life and began taking notes from where Hermione had left off.
Then she joined Draco at the dinner table.
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter series. Those rights belong to JK Rowling. I am only borrowing her beautiful creations.
Yes, Hermione could have had her quill taking notes for her, but where is the fun in that? I hope ya'll enjoy!