School: Mahoutokoro
Year: 7
Theme: Hiding (Write about a character hiding a secret about themselves.)
Main Prompt: [Event] Meeting a sad frog
Additional Prompt: [Creature] Knarl, [Occupation] Potioneer
Special Rule: A Muggle-born
Word Count: 3261
A/N: This is an established married dramione and the Malfoys are redeemed. Beta credit to the amazing NinjaDevil!
Hermione pressed her left hip against the closed door, and pushed her elbow down on the lever of the handle. The cage in her hands rattled when she placed it down inside the room.
None of the lamps were burning, but there was enough moonlight to see in the Solarium.
She checked once more on the Knarl resting inside. "There you go. You can rest here for the weekend, before we hand you over." It looked up at her and made a mournful noise.
Feeling sorry for the abused animal, Hermione opened the cage so that he would have freedom to roam around. He had already been subjected to enough cruelty from its previous owner.
Giving the Knarl one last glance, Hermione left for her bedroom. After sending an owl to Draco, who was away at a Potions convention in Thailand, she retired for bed.
It had been a long day at the Ministry, and she had been unable to complete her paperwork to transfer the rescued animal to a shelter. Thus she decided on bringing him to the Manor for the weekend. What could happen in a worse case scenario? Knarls were harmless after all.
Little did she know, because when she went to check on him the next morning, she received the shock of her life.
The Knarl himself was alright, relaxing under a spot of sunlight. But sitting just a few paces away from him was the ugliest creature Hermione had ever seen (and mind you, given that she worked for The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, she had seen enough ugly animals).
With one hand pressed against her chest and other hand clutching her wand tightly, Hermione kept her distance and squinted her eyes to understand just what was lying on the plush carpet.
And then it clicked. It was Lucius' pet frog. Only now it sported a vibrant purple colour, with purple hair sprouting out from its slimy body.
Dear Lord.
Hermione managed to sneak the frog into her quarters without Lucius or Narcissa catching her. She placed him inside a cage, and pushed it under the bed. It wouldn't do to be busted by the House-elves. After Njord, the frog, was hidden and safe from prying eyes, Hermione quickly made her way back to the crime scene to understand what exactly had happened.
Looking at a few broken pieces of Knarl spines on the floor, Hermione summarized that some of the weakened spines of the Knarl must have snapped last night, only to be ingested by Njord. The spines held magical properties after all, and it must have impacted negatively on the frog.
Picking up the Knarl and shutting herself in her room, Hermione thought of a plan to get out of this mess. She tried every spell she could think of, but Njord's new complexion remained unchanged, while he stared at her morosely.
"Stupid frog," Hermione muttered under her breath. She thought back to the first time she had encountered him.
It had been her first month at the Manor, and the shift hadn't been easy. One night, towards the end of her first month, sleep eluded her. With Draco fast asleep beside her, she decided it would be best if she had a little walk. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the kitchen.
Filling one of the glasses with water, Hermione leaned against the counter, drinking slowly and staring at the full moon through the french windows in the kitchen. Yes, the kitchen was big enough to have a set of french windows.
Ribbit. Ribbit.
Hermione gasped and the glass almost slipped from her hands. Looking around, she tried to find a source for the noise, cursing at herself for not bringing her wand.
But there was no need for her wand, for sitting on the counter, was the most miserable looking frog she had ever seen.
"What..." Hermione breathed out a laugh. How on earth did a frog enter the Manor? With it's saggy slimy skin, dull mucky olive colouring and haunted eyes, Hermione felt a bit repulsed to even touch him.
"Poor you. I'm surprised those demon peacocks didn't eat you up."
She thought back to her conversation with Lucius last week. It had been a warm, humid evening and she had closed all the windows of the Manor. When Lucius had enquired why she was doing so, she had shrugged and said to avoid mosquitoes. Lucius had sneered and replied that there were no bugs, insects or mosquitoes at the Manor. Then he had sniffed, as if the mere thought had offended him, and walked out of the room.
Looking down at the frog, she said, "Lucius will lose it when he realises you managed to enter the Manor." The frog croaked several times, probably fearing for his life.
He was lucky that she had found him, and not Lucius. Hermione giggled at the thought of Lucius screaming at an ugly frog in his house and trying to shoo it away.
Finding it too funny to keep to herself, she sent a Patronus to call Draco, afraid that the frog would escape if she left. "Draco, come to the kitchen quickly!"
Barely a minute later, Draco burst into the kitchen with his wand clutched in his hand. "What? What happened?"
She beckoned him to come closer.
"What?" He asked as he stood next to her, his voice thick with sleep and irritation bleeding in when he realised there was no threat.
"Look, we have a guest."
Draco looked towards the frog and lowered his wand. "Oh, you finally met Njord."
It was her turn to look at him in confusion. "Njord?"
"That's Father's frog." He held out his hand, and the frog—Njord, jumped onto his palm.
"You're telling me that's Lucius' pet?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Yes," Draco said, as he patted the frog on the head.
"And this despondent frog is named Njord?" She asked with disbelief.
"Yes." Draco chuckled. "Don't let Father hear you say that though. He is named after the God of Seas."
Hermione raised her eyebrows and stared at the frog that was now climbing his way up to Draco's elbow.
"Why does Lucius have a frog of all the animals?"
Draco shrugged. "Few years ago, Father found him outside our property and mistook him for the toad he had as a pet at Hogwarts. He—"
Hermione let out a laugh. "He what? He had a toad as a pet! Lucius Malfoy? Just wait till I tell Harry and Ron."
Draco snickered. "Yes. Toads were in rage back then. He wanted me to take a toad to Hogwarts as well, but my Mother wouldn't stand for it."
Draco leaned away from the counter, and started to make his way out of the room. Hermione followed him till they reached the living room, and he placed Njord on one of the sofas.
Hermione felt pity for the frog. He was Lucius' pet, no wonder he looked so sad.
By evening, after a dozen spells, Njord observed no changes. Defeated, Hermione decided to take a break.
That was not a good decision because Lucius accosted her in the gardens. "Hermione, have you seen Njord?"
"Uh...no. Why?"
"I can't find him since this morning. I have checked almost every room in the Manor." Lucius frowned.
"I'm sure he will be around somewhere, Lucius."
He nodded at her words, but his eyes darted around the garden. It was not uncommon for Njord to hide under a bush or some corner of the house for more than a day.
"It's almost seven, Shark Tank* will be airing now," Hermione said, in hopes to distract him. And it worked. Lucius was a very predictable man. Shark Tank and golf had held his interest ever since Hermione had installed the telly and a few other Muggle appliances around the house. Lee Jordan had become a whizz at merging magic and technology, and he had helped her with the installation.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief for the rest of the evening. But she knew she'd have to keep him distracted till she found a solution.
If there was something Lucius loved more than terrorizing people, and his daily dose of golf and Shark Tank, then that was waffles. Every Sunday for breakfast, Lucius would eat a plate full of waffles with powdered sugar and rainbow sprinkles sprinkled on top. It was a ritual that had shocked Hermione when she had sat down for breakfast with him for the first time. The man was an anomaly
"Lucius." She beamed at him. Lowering his newspaper, he stared at her, and then at the cardboard box in her hands.
"Yes, Hermione?"
"For you." She thrusted the present in his direction.
"Me?" he asked with skepticism.
"Yes, Lucius," she said, trying not to grit her teeth. The man was a pain in the arse.
"It's not my birthday today. And I don't recall helping you pass any new laws recently." He raised his eyebrows.
Ugh, Slytherins. They needed to see a motive in every action. Not that there wasn't a motive in hers. She supposed he was right in regards to questioning her, especially now. But it would have been easier if he got excited at the prospect of gifts, like any other average human on the planet. Hermione held in a snort. On second thought, Lucius Malfoy would rather die than be average.
"I'm aware of that." Hermione kept her smile pasted on. "But I saw this, and I couldn't wait for an occasion. You'll understand when you open it, you old codger. Besides, my arms are hurting now. Be a gentleman and accept the gift."
That got him riled up and he scowled. If she was too nice to him, he would suspect foul play.
"Don't question my impeccable manners." Lucius took the box from her hands, and placed it on the coffee table.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
He took out his wand and slashed the tape wrapped around the edges (how boring). When he opened the lid, his eyebrows shot up so high, she was sure he would complain of wrinkles tomorrow.
"What is that?" His voice was equal parts awe and confusion.
"A waffle maker."
"I can read." He sneered. "What I meant was how? How can it be easier than magic?"
"Oh Lucius, you have no idea." She grabbed his hand, picked up the box and then dragged him to the kitchen.
The elves looked at them in shock, and scattered away. Plugging the machine to a socket point, she explained its working to Lucius.
He was fascinated. And she understood, because making things like waffles, or even baking with magic, took a lot of focus and concentration. Controlled temperature charms were very tricky. The charm had to be checked every three minutes to make sure the temperature didn't rise or fall. It was tiresome and negligence could ruin a good batter. And so the Malfoys left tasks like baking for the elves.
"See!" she said after a live demonstration with the batter. "It's so easy. You won't have to rely on House-elves, and if you are hit with a craving in the middle of the night, then you don't have to worry." All house-elves now had to be officially employed and had reasonable working hours, all thanks to her.
Lucius took a bite of the waffle and his face showed reluctant appreciation. "That's… wonderful."
"It is, isn't it? I'll leave you with this then."
"Thank you for the gift, Hermione," he said distractedly, as he poured batter into the mould, to make another batch.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she left the kitchen. Thank God, for her muggle heritage.
Hermione's eyes swivelled between the grandfather clock and Njord every two minutes. If she had thought the frog had looked sad when she had first met him, then he looked downright pitiful now. Maybe it was because of his separation with Lucius, or perhaps because she was keeping him imprisoned in her room.
Shouldn't have moved to the Manor in the first place, she thought to herself. If her building wouldn't have gone under redevelopment, she wouldn't have been in this mess.
"I'm sorry, Njord. I derive no pleasure in trapping animals. Once Draco is back, he might know what went wrong. I bet there is a potion to reverse the effects."
If she sat down with a few books from the library, and tried to experiment herself, she was sure she would have come up with something. But half of her time had been spent in distracting Lucius and making sure Njord didn't escape. She was also not very keen on trying an experimental potion on Lucius' beloved pet. After all their years together, Hermione had come to accept that Draco was a better potioneer than her.
She heard the door to the suite open, and scrambled off the floor to check if it was Draco.
"Draco!" she sighed with relief. He raised an eyebrow at her exclamation, his lips turned up in amusement.
"I didn't expect you'd miss me tha—oof."
"Oh, thank god," she said as she tackled him.
She felt his chest shake with laughter. "I recall you telling me that a brief separation wouldn't turn you into a lovesick—"
"Oh no, I didn't miss you," she said as she stepped away. He gave her a disbelieving look. "I mean I did miss you, of course, but what I meant was...uh–– never mind I'll show you."
"What happened? What did Potter do?"
"Nothing. Harry isn't the perpetrator of all problems in the world, Draco."
"I disagree with that."
She held his wrist and dragged him towards their bedroom. Draco mistook the action for something else, and pulled her towards him as they crossed the threshold of the door.
"I missed you too," he said between peppering kisses across her face.
"Draco," she placed her hands on his shoulders and debated between pulling him closer or pushing him away, "you—"
He cut her off with a kiss and Hermione melted into him. She, after all, had missed him.
"Draco..." she protested as he held her tighter and now kissed her neck. She breathed him in... God, he smelled delicious.
Ribbit.
Draco jerked and pulled away. "What was that?" he asked as he looked around the room.
Right, she had gotten distracted.
"That's what I needed your help with." Hermione tried not to cringe as she went to the other side of the bedroom and picked up the cage.
"What in the name of Merlin..." Draco stared at the cage in her hands with wide eyes.
"Yesss," Hermione agreed with guilt.
"Is that… is that Njord?"
"It is. He had a little accident, but I'm confident you can rectify it."
"Oh, hell no." Draco started backing away towards the door.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not getting in the middle of this. That's Father's frog! He loves him more than anyone in this house. I can't even imagine what he'll do once he finds out about this accident."
"All the more reason you should help me!"
"No, no. That's all on you. Ask me for anything, Hermione. I'm ready to hug a Weasley, call Potter my mate, or let our future child get sorted into Hufflepuff. I'm ready to give up our remaining house-elves and do all my chores myself like a pedestrian. Hell, I'll even change my name to Draco Granger, but I won't take responsibility for that." He pointed towards Njord.
The frog let out a pitiful ribbit.
"First of all," Hermione said with rising irritation, "you would have no control over our future child's Hogwarts house. And second, you married me!" she said, her voice shrilly. "You made a vow and now you have to help!"
She strode towards his backed up form against the door, and pressed the cage to his chest. Draco gulped as he took the cage in his hands and stared down at the purple frog. Njord looked up at him with sad eyes and croaked.
"How did this even happen?"
Hermione explained the entire situation in detail.
"So where's the Knarl?" Draco asked.
"He's still in the Solarium."
"Merlin, how many times have I told you not to bring over injured creatures. One day this Manor will become a Menagerie."
Hermione pouted at him. She knew she was at fault, and neither was this the first time. She had once brought a rescued Demiguise to the Manor, who had wrecked Narcissa's garden and had taken them a week to catch. And there was that one time with a Fire Crab that she didn't even want to think about.
"No, don't look at me that way. I'm afraid you'll bring an injured Vampire home one day," Draco said.
"We'll think about that when we cross that bridge, Draco. Now you better help me with Njord. He has been miserable since yesterday."
Draco sighed. "Right, hopefully this can be rectified with a potion."
They both made their way to the potions lab in the Manor and got started. Hermione assisted Draco however she could. The portion was experimental, and they had already discarded two batches when Narcissa sent a house-elf to summon them for dinner.
Dinner turned out to be a massive surprise to everyone, because Lucius relieved the house-elves from cooking, and prepared a meal himself. A meal of waffles.
"Looks excellent, darling," Narcissa complimented Lucius, but shot Hermione a disapproving glare when he wasn't looking.
"I… agree with Mother." Draco's words sounded more forced, but Lucius was too happy to notice.
Everyone ate their sad meal of waffles in silence, except Lucius, who didn't have enough praises for the waffle machine.
"Can't get a moment's peace in this home," Draco grumbled under his breath.
After excusing themselves, Draco and Hermione went back to the laboratory and got back to work. They had made a list of ingredients which could potentially reverse the effects of the Knarl spines, but almost every element was crossed out, leaving them with scarce options.
"Wait a minute." Draco tapped a page of a Potions book they were scrolling through. After their fifth failure, they had decided to take a break and go through some texts for a hint. "How to make a potion to clean stubborn Knarl quill stains," Draco recited. "The book says that Knarl nails are an important ingredient to reverse the magical effect of the spines."
Hermione rushed to the Solarium, and clipped a few of the Knarl nails.
By two in the morning they succeeded in making a batch which did not explode, and ticked all criterias of being a safe potion for consumption.
With a racing heart, Hermione squeezed two drops from a dropper into Njord's mouth, and both her and Draco waited with baited breath.
Slowly, Njord's purple colour started to fade and the hair on his skin began to shed. Within the next five minutes, he was back to normal and still alive.
Grinning from ear to ear, Hermione kissed Draco thoroughly, and promised him with a wink that she would properly thank him later.
She took Njord and left him near Narcissa and Lucius' quarters, knowing that he would make his way to Lucius himself. It had been a stressful weekend. Her stomach complained of the nutritive meal that it was robbed off, but it was okay.
She learnt her lesson and vowed that she would be more careful when she brought another magical creature back home.
A/N:
*Shark Tank: A show where aspiring entrepreneurs from around the world pitch their business models to a panel of investors and persuade them to invest money in their idea.
The Malfoy family dynamics in my story were inspired by Shadukiam's The Alkahest. Every Dramione shipper must read that fic! It's amazing.
Thank you for reading my fic. I'd love to know your thoughts!