~ Chapter 10 : Hermione ~
Halfway down the corridor towards the Slytherin dorms, Draco stopped suddenly. Harry kept walking, but stopped when he realised Draco wasn't beside him any more.
"Draco?" Harry asked, turning to stare at the Slytherin standing five feet behind him.
"I have something to take care of. I'll see you back at the common room later," Draco said distantly as he turned to stalk down the corridor in the opposite direction before Harry could reply.
Draco headed straight for the library. The most obvious place to find Hermione. Luckily she was studying alone this time.
"Granger," Draco said curtly as he sat down at the table opposite her.
"Malfoy," Hermione replied warily. She placed her quill down on top of her parchment and looked at him speculatively.
"You know something," Draco said, his gaze direct and unwavering.
"I know a lot of things," Hermione said with a self-deprecating smile.
"I know you know something. Something about me…and Harry," Draco said softly. "Tell me."
"I don't think I should," replied Hermione, becoming serious again.
"Oh but you should," Draco said threateningly.
"I really do think it's for the best-" Hermione started to say before she was brutally cut off. Draco stood up and leant across the desk, his face darkening with anger.
"Don't give me that crap. I'm sick of seeing that annoying expression on your face whenever Harry and I are around, like your just waiting for something to happen. Tell. Me. Now."
Hermione pursed her lips and glared defiantly up at him. "No."
Draco looked shocked but he quickly masked it with his usual contemptuous glare. "Don't make me threaten you."
"As opposed to what you've already been doing?" Her tone was mocking but he could see a tinge of fear creeping into her eyes.
"Let's deal," Draco suddenly suggested, sitting back down. He knew he couldn't really threaten her. Not if he wanted Harry to…well, not if he wanted Harry.
Hermione was once again wary. "What?"
"Let's deal," Draco repeated, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Bloody Grif- Damn Dumbledore and his bloody re-sorting. Couldn't even fucking insult anyone anymore.
Hermione appeared to consider the suggestion. Her expression changed from contemplative to calculating in the matter of a second. Draco began to feel afraid, very afraid.
"Alright," Hermione said, leaning forward. "I want you to stop insulting Ron."
Draco grimaced. This had better be good information. "Fine."
"I want you to call Ron and I by our given names," Hermione continued, smirking.
"What? But I already gave you something. You need to tell me something now," Draco protested. He wasn't used to being the one who was being screwed.
"You need to ask yourself, is my information really that good. I assure you it is, but you need to decide what it's worth to you," Hermione said smugly.
Draco had never hated her more than at that moment. He swore profanely, causing some nearby first years to stare at him in shocked silence. He glared at them and they hurriedly returned to their study. They'd heard all about Draco Malfoy and his family.
The trouble was, Draco knew she wasn't lying. The information really was that good and he just knew she was going to take him for all he was worth. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He sighed deeply and glanced around the library. No one was looking anymore. "Fine, you win," he said quietly.
"What was that?" Hermione asked, grinning as she cupped her hand around her ear. "I didn't hear you."
"Fuck off, Granger," Draco drawled, glaring at her again.
"Oh, no, that's not part of our deal," Hermione reminded him.
"Fuck off, Hermione," Draco said, as he sat back in his chair, leg crossed, looking relaxed and in control, as always. Unfortunately, appearances could be deceiving.
"I think you're a bit confused as to who has the power here," Hermione said, relishing every minute of it.
Draco didn't reply.
"Now, I want you to stop tormenting Ron, to call Ron and I by our first names and I want you to…" Hermione paused. She wanted to make this last request really, really good. She knew she could only push Draco so far before he snapped so three things was probably as much as she could get. Suddenly she realised something more important than revenge. "I want you to promise me that you'll tell Harry about this as soon as you see him tonight."
Draco looked surprised. He'd expected her to ask for his first born child. "Okay."
"I'm going to hold you to that," Hermione warned. "I'm going to quiz Harry about this at breakfast tomorrow."
"I already said, okay," Draco said, looking confused.
"Yeah, well you just remember that," Hermione said again. "Alright, here it is. Ginny filled me in on what the golden sparks mean. Apparently her parents went through the same thing. If the sparks appear the first time two people touch…well, it means that they are…soulmates."
"WHAT?" Draco exploded, shooting out of his chair. He started pacing around the table, glancing at Hermione every now and again. "Surely you don't believe this crap?"
"I admit I was sceptical at first but then I did some research and I discovered…" Hermione paused again. Perhaps she'd already said enough.
"What? What did you discover?" Draco demanded roughly. He raked a hand through his hair. This was unbelievable.
"Well, I found a reference to it in a book about Salazar Slytherin. Apparently he and Rowena Ravenclaw experienced these sparks themselves. Anyway, in this book, there were extracts from his journal and although they had some ferocious fights, there was also an amazing passion there too," Hermione explained quietly.
Draco was silent. His mind was swirling with all manner of thoughts. "I…I have to go."
"Remember your promise," Hermione said firmly.
Draco just stared at her blankly.
"You promised that you would tell Harry about this tonight," Hermione reminded him.
Oh, shit. Harry. "You tell him," Draco said desperately.
"No. You tell him," Hermione said decisively.
Slytherin Common Room
Harry sat playing Exploding Snap with Fred and Seamus. He was losing horribly, mainly because his mind was elsewhere. Where the fuck was Draco?
"Aha!" Fred crowed as he won the next hand. "You owe me 5 galleons, Seamus."
"Five? It was only four!" Seamus insisted.
"I think you will find, Seamus, that it was in fact five," Fred countered with a smirk.
Harry lost what little interest he had held in the argument when Draco stepped into the common room. Harry's eyes narrowed. The blonde looked seriously rattled. For someone who was normally so contained, it was strange to see him actually reacting to something.
Draco glanced at Harry once and headed up the stairs to the dormitory. Harry threw down his cards and followed him up into the dormitory.
Harry entered their bedroom to find Draco pacing around the room like a caged animal.
"What's up?" Harry asked curiously. It had to be something serious.
Draco didn't answer. His gaze flickered over to Harry and then flitted around the room.
"Drac, tell me what's going on," Harry said, his voice firmer this time. "Tell me!"
"Oh don't worry, I'll tell you, she made sure of that," Draco laughed bitterly.
"What? Who?" Harry asked, he was getting confused.
"Hermione. I have to fucking call her by her first name now. Ron too," Draco said angrily.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Harry asked exasperatedly.
"Hermione. I could tell she knew something about us. She always gets this look in her eyes when she's around us. So I went to talk to her," Draco said.
"What did she say?" Harry asked, sitting down on his bed and staring up at Draco expectantly.
"She fucking blackmailed me or manipulated me or something. She fucking screwed me!" Draco snarled. He snatched up a book and waved it around, as if he might throw it.
Harry frowned. "Hermione wouldn't do something like that."
"Oh yes. Saint Hermione. Angel Hermione. Of course she wouldn't do something like that," Draco spat out angrily. "Do you know what she fucking did? She made me promise to not fight with Ron anymore and I have to call then Ron and Hermione."
Harry burst out laughing. "Good for her!"
Draco froze. "What?" he asked icily.
Harry stopped laughing abruptly. "What? She only made you promise to do things that you should be doing anyway."
Draco glared at him.
"So what did she say – after she made you promise all this stuff?" Harry persisted. It must have been good for her to be able to drag all that out of Draco.
"She said that Ginny knew what the sparks were. She knew instantly from the sounds of things," Draco said simply.
"But she never said," Harry said, stunned.
"There's a lot she hasn't said," Draco said dryly.
"So what's the deal with these spark things?" Harry asked, eager once again.
Harry was surprised to see Draco looking cagey.
"Oh fuck. I have to tell you. That was the third thing she made me promise. That I would tell you," Draco swore again. Bloody Gr-Hermione.
"So just fucking tell me already!" Harry bellowed.
"Fine!" Draco bellowed back. "It means we're soulmates. Alright? It means we're fucking soulmates."
Harry's eyes widened in shock. He'd never expected an answer like that.
Draco gazed at him for a moment before storming out of the room.
Harry stared blankly at the door. "We're what?"
He barely had a chance to process this information before Seamus and Justin entered the room. Harry got ready for bed, ignoring the other two. The routine comforting as he didn't even have to think about it.
Finally he lay under his covers, the curtains pulled around his bed giving him the illusion of privacy. Draco wasn't back yet. God knows where he'd gone.
Soulmates. God. Harry felt a grin spread across his face. He had been enjoying flirting with Draco and imagining a relationship between them but this was an unexpected delight. They were soulmates, meant to be. Family….forever.
Great Hall
Harry was sitting at the Slytherin table helping himself to some toast when Draco dropped into the seat next to him. Draco hadn't returned to the dormitory last night and this was the first time Harry had seen Draco since he'd dropped the bombshell.
"How're you doing?" Harry asked him quietly.
"Fine," he replied shortly. His gaze darkened as he noticed a particular Ravenclaw student hovering over them.
"Harry, how are you this morning?" Hermione asked anxiously, her gaze flitting from Harry to Draco.
"I'm fine. I know, if that's your next question," Harry said dryly.
"I'm glad to hear Malfoy kept one of his promises," Hermione replied lightly.
Drac shot straight up and glared at her. "If we are going to be on a fucking first name basis, Hermione, then you could at least return the courtesy by calling me by my first name."
Hermione glanced down at Harry but he was nodding in agreement with Draco.
"Fine. Draco," she said before turning to return to the Ravenclaw table.
"Bitch," Draco muttered under his breath as he sat back down.
Harry didn't reply. He glanced up as Sirius joined them again.
"Sirius, you know a lot about magic," Harry said.
"This sounds ominous," Sirius said with a grin. The grin faded as Harry and Draco stared back with grave faces. "What?"
"Have you ever heard of gold sparks appearing when two people touch for the first time?" Harry asked, trying to make it sound like he was merely curious.
Sirius instantly looked excited. "Who is she?"
"What? No one. I just want to know. You know, for…uh…Divination," Harry said quickly. It sounded like something they might learn about in Divination.
"Oh," Sirius looked slightly disappointed. "Well, they mean that the two people are soulmates. They are perfectly complemented by the other. Like your mum and dad. Boy, I remember the first time they actually touched." Sirius became nostalgic as he stared into the distance. "It was third year and Lily and James were fighting, as they usually did. But this time Lily slapped Prongs across the cheek. Sparks flew everywhere. Of course it didn't stop them fighting. They were in denial for a while after that but obviously it worked out for the best."
"Are there any…benefits to this?" Draco asked.
"Benefits?" Sirius thought for a moment. "I think it depends on the couple. I know Lily and James could communicate almost telepathically. I mean, they couldn't actually speak to each other in their minds but it was freaky the way they just knew what the other person was thinking."
"How long did it take them to develop that?" Harry asked, reaching for another bit of toast.
"Well, they became aware of the sparks in third year…I think it wasn't until sixth year that we began to notice it but it didn't really start until after Hogwarts. It reached full strength when they were married," Sirius said.
"Are there any bad thi-" Draco began before he was cut off by a lot of shrieking and a load of giggles coming from the Gryffindor table.
The Slytherins all glanced around the hall to see what all the fuss was about. Harry and Draco were instantly aware that all eyes were on them. Suddenly, Alex Bones and Michael Abbot stood up on their chairs. The hall fell silent, just waiting to see what the boys were going to do.
"Professor Dumbledore told you last night about Potter and Malfoy going to the Death Eater meeting to capture a criminal. What he didn't tell you was that they used Polyjuice Potion so no one would know it was them," Michael said angrily.
"They used our hair so they would look like us!" Alex said, glaring over at the two Slytherins. "Then they came back to Hogwarts and skipped down the hall hand in hand!"
TBC
A.N. Here are the lyrics for the song 'On A Clear Day' which is obviously where I got the title from. I was stuck for a title for this fic and this popped into my head. I thought I'd share it with you because it isn't a very good name really.
On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you'll see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being
Outshines every star
You'll feel part of every mountain sea and shore
You can hear
From far and near
A word you've never, never heard before...
And on a clear day...On a clear day...
You can see forever...
And ever...
And ever...
And ever more. . .