Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.
Hermione's POV
We're starting work on the practical part of the Muggle Studies projects now and the classroom is buzzing as everyone is trying to figure out logistics and actually start all of their projects. Most groups are on track and on task and I feel proud to see them doing so well on something that I helped come up with. Some of the students are creating documentaries, while I know one group is creating an online educational video game.
Draco and I are spending most of our class time monitoring the class and dealing with the specifics of putting together our "transit trip". I'm personally spending a lot of time trying to convince companies and governments to let us buy equipment and vehicles from them at prices within our budget. It's quite difficult as many of them are reluctant to part with the stuff only to give them to a group of teenagers for a school project. It's also harder to buy the stuff individually as opposed to a bulk contract order. They're also quite skeptical of our ability to pay for all of it without grants or subsidies.
I call Draco over to look at what I have so far to make sure it fits in our budget. I pull up one of my spreadsheets to show an easy comparison of everything and our finances.
"So far I've managed to procure a set of subway cars from the city of Toronto in Canada. It isn't the fastest one out there, but it's still almost two times as fast as the Hogwarts Express. I've been talking to McGonagall about this project of ours and I asked if we could possibly use the train on the line from Hogsmeade to Kings Cross so we don't have to worry about making a new set of tracks. We can then arrange the trip to be from Hogsmeade on the train, to Kings Cross where we'll take a public bus to Diagon Alley, then apparate to your Manor where we can set up the simulators and create a course for everyone to try driving, biking, and skateboarding, as well as rollerblading and skating."
"That sounds like a good plan, but we'll need a teacher supervisor-"
"I've already asked McGonagall and she's agreed to do it." I cut in before I can stop myself.
"-and we'll also have to ask her if we're even allowed to do that by Ministry rules and regulations."
"McGonagall's already put in a formal request for this project to Kingsley, but he should approve it. Especially since I've planned it to be quite inconspicuous to any muggles we may run into." I say
"Alright then, I'll take your word for it. How much was the train anyway?" He asks
"It was about 3 million which is pretty cheap since the new ones are valued at 20 million. I was actually quite surprised at the price, but apparently it was headed for the landfill."
"As long as it doesn't mean it's in bad condition." He says a little skeptical.
"Even if it isn't in the best condition, we can always use charms and spells to help keep it together for the trip itself. After that we'll just have to find a way to dispose of it."
"That's true." He says. "By the way, class will be over soon so we should probably make an announcement for the class to start packing up their materials and equipment."
"Alright then, do you want to make the announcement or should I?" I ask.
"I'll do it, you just finish up what you're doing." He then turns to address the class and claps to get their attention. "It's about 7 minutes before class is dismissed, so if you're going to need some time to pack up your stuff I recommend starting now."
I smile to myself as he does this. He has a natural authority when he's speaking like this to the class. The major change is that he now has a certain humbleness that he didn't when we were younger. The whole class just listens and doesn't bother arguing with him. I think he'd make a good professor. In fact, I'd probably say that he could make a good Muggle Studies professor after we graduate. I love the idea of teaching, but I feel like I would bore the students to death and ruin any chance of them wanting to learn the stuff. Draco on the other hand has a creative flair and engaging attitude when he's doing stuff like this.
I start to close the programs and websites open on my computer after saving the necessary stuff while the rest of the class follows Draco's instructions. I put my laptop in it's bag before placing it and my binder in my purse. By this point almost everyone is packed up and we're just waiting for class to be officially over.
The rest of the day passes in a bit of a blur since its mostly just review work for the upcoming exams. We have a lot of homework which I know everyone else is quite irritated by since it's only the fourth day back after the break. Lunch and dinner are both quiet in the great hall since most students are in the library studying and doing research for all of their classes, including Ginny, Neville, and Blaise.
Draco and I head back to our room after dinner to relax a bit before cracking on with our homework. When we get up however, we find George standing at our portrait hole with two medium sized shoeboxes.
"Hello George, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence here?" I ask politely.
"Hello Hermione, Draco, I wanted to give you both your own 'pygmy puffs'. You know, the ones I was talking about the last time I was here?"
"Yes, that's right. The ones that were similar to ferrets right?" replies Draco.
"That's correct. Although I have finally found a suitable name for them. I call them Puff Pals, though they can also be named. These two are some of the first ones and I wanted you both to try them out to see if they work."
"That's great George. Thank you so much." I say.
"Here you go, one for Hermione, another for Draco. They don't need to be fed and anything they consume will be turned into energy, no waste. If you guys could send me an owl after about a week or so on how they've been that would be great. I have to go now, see you guys around." I carry Draco's for him so he still has his hands free to maneuver his crutches.
"Thanks again, have a great evening." I say as George leaves.
We enter our portrait hole and sit down on the couch so we can see what the 'Puff Pals' look like. Once we're settled down, we open the boxes to see a small ferret like animal. It has sleek fur that's a rich light brown in colour, but it also has a small streak of white between its shoulder blades. Mine is curled up in a little ball right now and it appears to be sleeping. I reach into the box to stroke it a bit but it wakes up. It yawns and then stretches a little before using its head to nuzzle against my hand. I smile and pick it up out of the box so I can place it on my lap. I stroke it a bit more before seeing how Draco is doing with his.
Draco is stroking his with two fingers on its head. His ferret on the other hand seems to want to climb up his shoulder. After a bit of squirming, it clambers up his arm and settles around Draco's neck. It then nuzzles his ear and makes a noise similar to a cat's purr.
We both sit for awhile and let the ferrets, since that's basically what they are, roam around and check out their surrounding. My ferret starts to sniff around on the couch while Draco's jumps off his shoulder and sniffs around on the carpet. Eventually they meet each other and play a little bit. They then cuddle and lie down next to each other, but slightly on top of each other as well.
"Hermione, would you mind if I go down to the Quidditch pitch for a little bit of flying before it gets too late?" says Draco after awhile.
"Um, sure. Are you confident you'll be okay to do it?"
"Yeah, I figure it doesn't really require much leg movement and I miss it quite a bit."
"In that case feel free to go. You don't really need my permission to do stuff like that, I'm not your mother. Oh, sorry." I say when I realize that I might have hit a nerve. However he brushes it off smoothly.
"Oh it's alright, don't worry about it. Anyway I'm just going to get my broom, I should be back within the next 2 hours or so."
"Okay, see you then."
Then he seems to think of something. "Hermione, do you want to come with me?"
"No thank you, I don't mean to be rude. I just feel nervous watching other people fly, I mean the sheer amount of incidents Harry got into while playing Quidditch was scary enough. Go have fun."
"Alright then. Bye." He then leaves and gets his broom before exiting the dorm entirely. During that time when Draco left, his ferret must have noticed that he was gone because it got up and ambled to the door before nudging it with his nose a bit. I guess they like following the people they first bond with, or their owners. I get up to grab his ferret and my ferret follows me too.
I do a decent portion of my homework on the couch and finish most of my assignments pretty quickly. At one point I start to feel really tired so I set an alarm for 10 minutes and take a short nap.
I'm sitting on a broomstick just over 3 feet from the ground in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, and the moon is shining like a beacon. There's a cold wind blowing and I lean slightly against it so I don't get knocked over or slip off. I'm mostly just slowly moving around a bit, but I still feel terrified to be here. I look down and it feels like I'm suddenly 10 feet up in the air. I start to panic, fear preventing me from remembering how to go lower and closer to the ground.
"Hermione don't worry, I'll come over to help you." Says what appears to be Draco. He's much higher than me and he dives down towards me. As he's doing so though, he's shot out of the sky with a flash of green light. The unmistakable colour of the killing curse. I look to see where it came from and I see Bellatrix standing on the pitch he wand aimed at where Draco had just been.
"Ickle little mudblood, come out to play! How about you try to catch your little precious Draco before he goes splat on the ground like a little egg?" she cackles. I start to panic even more. Then I realize that Draco is still falling since he was so high up.
I try to move my broom forward to catch him in time, but it moves so slowly. My wand isn't on me so I can't even cast a spell to halt his fall. I try to get off my broom since I know that technically I'm only about 3 feet from the ground. However I just land on the ground and get stuck instead, it's almost like quicksand. As Bellatrix's cackle grows louder as well as stranger and more warped, I'm suddenly falling only to be enveloped in complete darkness.
It presses in on me, the sound of her cackles and screeches like an ocean roaring in my ears. The scar on my arm begins to burn a bit, as if Bellatrix is carving into it once again. I shriek as the pain flows through me once again. Then I feel a weird cold pressure on my nose before...
I jolt awake with my chest heaving from the nightmare. My hair is a mess and I feel too hot. I then notice that my alarm is ringing and has been for almost 15 minutes. As I center myself with my surroundings I notice that my alarm noise is a quacking noise that seems weirdly similar to the cackles that Bellatrix was making in my dream and I have to laugh at the absurdity of it.
I look down to see that my ferret is lying on its back on the ground and is trying to get up again. My nose feels a little wet and I realize that it was probably trying to wake me up from my nightmare. I look at it gratefully and pick it up to sit next to me.
"I need to give you a name don't I? I can't just keep calling you 'my ferret', though I should probably remind Draco to give his a name as well. Hmm… how about Nat. From what I can tell you're a girl, but you guys may be unisex. I used to love this film where one of the main characters was called Natasha. Yeah I like the sound of that, what about you?"
Nat just leans on my leg and flops on her back for me to rub her belly. I gladly do so when I hear a voice right behind me.
"I've been gone for only an hour and a half and you're already talking to animals? What are you going to do next, serenade the giant squid?" Draco says in a teasing voice.
"You heard all of that?" I ask.
"Yep, and in case you were wondering I don't have a name yet for my ferret though I have been thinking about it."
"That's fine, I mean we only just got them right? How was it out there?"
"It was amazing." He replies. "The wind wasn't too strong but it was a little chilly. It was great to be flying again, I've missed it so much. No one was out there when I went so I had the whole pitch to myself. I haven't started doing any stunts yet, but I was nice to just be up in the air and have the wind flowing through my hair."
"That sounds pretty cool, though I'm glad I stayed on the ground." I say.
"One of these days I'm taking you up there, if only for the view. We'll get there someday." He says. Then realizes something. "Have you seen my ferret anywhere?"
"I think he's under the couch right now, I'll take a look."
I get up and lie down on the ground to look under the couch. He isn't there so I whistle for a bit to get his attention. Then I spot him, he's sleeping inside of Draco's bag with one paw sticking out. I go over and gently lift the bag up and bring it to Draco. He takes the bag and smiles as he looks at his ferret.
"These guys are so cute." He says after a while. "I must say, I'm glad Moody at least turned me into a cute animal back in fourth year. I can also see why you guys must have thought it would be funny to watch." His words remind me of a question I haven't really thought about much, but I know I wanted to ask him back in November.
"Draco, you've never learnt how to perform the Patronus charm right?"
"Yeah. I never had a chance to do it in class and its not like it would be something you'd learn as a Death Eater." He says in a slightly bitter tone.
"Right. Do you want to learn how to do it?" I ask. He looks a little surprised at first.
"I'd like to, but do we have any time for it?" He says.
"Well, we do have a bit of time this weekend. How about then?"
"Oh, um sure. I am quite curious to know what animal it'll be, if I can even make a corporeal Patronus."
"Great. I can't wait to teach you. I'm equally curious to know what your Patronus will be."
I check my clock and see that it's actually 10:00pm. I then check my email quickly on my phone and see that there isn't any other homework besides what we were given in class so I pack up my stuff.
"Are you going to stay and do homework now?" I ask Draco.
"Yeah, I still have to finish a couple assignments and it isn't too late yet. Are you going to bed now?"
"Yes, we've only been back for a couple of days but I'm already tired." I reply.
"Alright, good night then." He says.
"Good night, see you in the morning."
"See you then." He finishes.
I then walk up to my room and practically collapse on my bed to a relatively quiet night of dreams.
Author's Note: These numbers and costs in the chapter a based off of basic searches on the prices of Toronto's transit vehicles. It's been a weird week for me, but I'm just glad I managed to get the chapter up at all. For anyone doing exams right now, good luck but remember to plan your studying. Everyone else, thanks for the support but please review! Have a great week all of you, till next time!