Chapter 16- The Aging Dragon's Own Place
Hermione did not miss the haste in the way Harry and Ron pulled apart when she entered the common room. *Maybe I should tell them. It's not fair to have them sneaking around when they don't have to.* She smiled ever so faintly as the portrait hole closed behind her.
"So you're back, eh?" Ron said. He sounded thoroughly disappointed.
"Yes. Am I that bad?"
Harry pinched Ron in annoyance. "See? Now look what's happening."
"What's happening?"
"You, being insulted by Ron."
"I was not insulting anybody!"
"Well, I am insulted," Hermione said. They both stared at her for a moment. She knew she did not sound offended in the least. "I am insulted that you two don't think I'm smart."
"Of course we do, Hermione, you're the smartest-"
"Witch in the year," she finished. She turned and headed to the dorm. "Well, don't let me interrupt your little makeout session."
She grinned at their shocked looks. Ron was gaping soundlessly, and Harry stuttered, "But how…how did you know?"
"You two just aren't very good at hiding things. Oh, come on. I see you every day. You guys have been throwing each other suggestive and affectionate looks for a month. I'm surprised Professor Binns hasn't noticed."
"That would be something," Ron said. "We don't even take History of Magic anymore."
"You won't tell anyone, will you, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Not if you don't want me to… Ginny knows, doesn't she?"
"Yes. Figures, huh? She knew almost right away. We aren't really ready to -come out- to the entire school yet. Ron's still trying to figure out a way to tell his family and not have the twins find out."
Hermione nodded. "I can see what you mean. All right, well, I'll be in my room."
"Wait. Um, Hermione, where have you been this whole vacation?"
She turned around, raising her eyebrows. "So you *did* notice I was gone?"
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Draco entered the ror on January seventeenth and was met with a rather surprising sight. Silver and gold silk streamers hung from the ceiling, white balloons floated in the air, and a *very* romantic candlelit dinner was set up on a two-person table in the center of the room. Hermione was seated at this table, but when she saw him enter, she rose with a smile.
"Happy seventeenth birthday, Draco." She gave him a quick kiss and gestured to the table.
"You remembered," he said in amazement.
"Of course I remembered. This is an important day, you know." They sat opposite one another. The main course was something Italian that Draco had never heard of, involving chicken and vegetables and angel hair pasta. He barely noticed that it was delicious, being too busy staring at Hermione's face in the candlelight.
When they had finished, a plate of rich fudge appeared before them. On each square was written "Happy Birthday, Draco" in white frosting. "You're wonderful," he said. He bit into the chocolate, sighing with contentment. "I've never had a birthday celebration like this."
"I'm sure the ones when you were little-"
"I didn't have any real friends when I was little. And nobody ever made any effort to make an party enjoyable for me. That's why this is so amazing. It's all for me." He smiled lovingly at her.
"Well, that's not all," she said. "I have another present for you."
"I can honestly say that after this, anything else is extravagant."
Hermione blushed, and the roses in her cheeks lingered. He tried to take his eyes off her, but it was hopeless. She was a magnet for his gaze. He did look down, however, when she put something into his hand.
"Keys?" three keys with different color heads hung on a small ring. He glanced up at her again, waiting for an explanation.
"I looked around for vacant flats in London," she mumbled. She would not meet his eyes, but she blushed deeply. "I found a very nice one close to Diagon Alley. I paid the rent for it up through April, so you won't have to worry about it for a while, but I leased it under your name. I knew you wanted your own place, away from your father…"
She chanced a look at him. He was gazing raptly at the gift in his hand, but he saw her look up and met her eyes. "This…Hermione," he breathed. He did not know what to say. She saw this, and stood with him. They stood for a long time, wrapped in each other's arms.
"This means more to me than you could possibly know," he said. He cupped her cheek in one hand, and held the keys in the other. "I'm of age, *and* I have a guaranteed home when I leave my father's house. This is- more than I would have thought to ask from you."
What he did not say, but he thought, was, *You love me, I know you love me. If you didn't you wouldn't have done this for me. You may not admit it to yourself for a while now, nor to me for even longer, but I know you love me.* He would never say this to her.
"So now dinner's over, desert's over, and you've given me my present," he said, counting off on his fingers. "What do you want to do?"
"Can we just cuddle?"
"I would love to." They sat in an armchair that had just appeared. As they shifted into comfortable positions, the structure seemed to change to accommodate them. "I could get used to chairs like this," Draco remarked.
"You mean chairs with me in them?" Hermione said sweetly.
He laughed. "Yeah. That's exactly what I mean." He leaned down to kiss her. "Thank you."
"You have to promise you'll invite me over once in a while."
"Are you kidding? I'd let you live there. I'll make an extra set of keys, and you can have them. Come to my flat whenever you want."
She stretched her back slightly, resting his hand over hers. "It sounds wonderful." She was silent for a while, as though debating with herself. Finally, she sighed. "Draco, you remember the talk about the essence of Magic. And of course you know that your Patronus takes the shape of a dragon. I found it…unusual how much your name connects to your essence. How did your mother come up with it?"
"I've been waiting for someone to ask me that," he said. "It seems only natural that someone would notice. She told me once that she had a dream while she was pregnant with me. She was giving birth to a baby dragon. Oh, not in a creepy nightmare way," he added quickly. "It was more of a natural, symbolic sort of human-giving-birth-to-dragon dream. You know the type."
"Oh, sure. I have those all the time."
"The sarcasm is not helping. She realized what the dream meant the moment she woke up- I still don't know how. And so she named me Draco. Now, I'd like to ask you something. How *ever* did you get a name like Hermione?"
She rolled her eyes. "My mother liked the name, I suppose. She wanted to name me Desdemona, but my father said, 'We don't want to torture the poor girl'. So they settled on Hermione."
"Well, you make it beautiful." He leaned close to her. He could smell her hair now. The scent of lavender and eucalyptus intoxicated him. Strange, he had never thought much of the combination, but it smelled so good when it was part of Hermione.
"We should go now," she said. Neither of them moved. It had to be after nine o'clock.
"No," Draco murmured. He did not ever want to leave, to have this perfect night end. "Stay here."
"Draco, we have to go. Really."
He felt suddenly cold when she left his arms. "Hey, Hermione. What's the address for the flat?"
"Oh! I had forgotten. Here, I'll write it on this napkin." She did, and handed it to him. "Have a good night, Draco."
With one last kiss she departed. Draco looked down at the napkin, reading the address of his new flat, but he did not truly comprehend it at that moment. He was still too stunned by what Hermione had done for him to actually think.
End Chapter 16
To some of you: I'm sorry this took so long, I don't know why reviews have recently gotten kind of slow. Plus DSL sucks so getting online is iffy. But I'm glad you like my story (still) the good news is, I got to catch up on my writing. Guess for which story!
Ok, to my reviewers, the ones who are going to review as soon as they finish this sentence, red star-shaped confetti!!
Hermione did not miss the haste in the way Harry and Ron pulled apart when she entered the common room. *Maybe I should tell them. It's not fair to have them sneaking around when they don't have to.* She smiled ever so faintly as the portrait hole closed behind her.
"So you're back, eh?" Ron said. He sounded thoroughly disappointed.
"Yes. Am I that bad?"
Harry pinched Ron in annoyance. "See? Now look what's happening."
"What's happening?"
"You, being insulted by Ron."
"I was not insulting anybody!"
"Well, I am insulted," Hermione said. They both stared at her for a moment. She knew she did not sound offended in the least. "I am insulted that you two don't think I'm smart."
"Of course we do, Hermione, you're the smartest-"
"Witch in the year," she finished. She turned and headed to the dorm. "Well, don't let me interrupt your little makeout session."
She grinned at their shocked looks. Ron was gaping soundlessly, and Harry stuttered, "But how…how did you know?"
"You two just aren't very good at hiding things. Oh, come on. I see you every day. You guys have been throwing each other suggestive and affectionate looks for a month. I'm surprised Professor Binns hasn't noticed."
"That would be something," Ron said. "We don't even take History of Magic anymore."
"You won't tell anyone, will you, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Not if you don't want me to… Ginny knows, doesn't she?"
"Yes. Figures, huh? She knew almost right away. We aren't really ready to -come out- to the entire school yet. Ron's still trying to figure out a way to tell his family and not have the twins find out."
Hermione nodded. "I can see what you mean. All right, well, I'll be in my room."
"Wait. Um, Hermione, where have you been this whole vacation?"
She turned around, raising her eyebrows. "So you *did* notice I was gone?"
************************************************************************
Draco entered the ror on January seventeenth and was met with a rather surprising sight. Silver and gold silk streamers hung from the ceiling, white balloons floated in the air, and a *very* romantic candlelit dinner was set up on a two-person table in the center of the room. Hermione was seated at this table, but when she saw him enter, she rose with a smile.
"Happy seventeenth birthday, Draco." She gave him a quick kiss and gestured to the table.
"You remembered," he said in amazement.
"Of course I remembered. This is an important day, you know." They sat opposite one another. The main course was something Italian that Draco had never heard of, involving chicken and vegetables and angel hair pasta. He barely noticed that it was delicious, being too busy staring at Hermione's face in the candlelight.
When they had finished, a plate of rich fudge appeared before them. On each square was written "Happy Birthday, Draco" in white frosting. "You're wonderful," he said. He bit into the chocolate, sighing with contentment. "I've never had a birthday celebration like this."
"I'm sure the ones when you were little-"
"I didn't have any real friends when I was little. And nobody ever made any effort to make an party enjoyable for me. That's why this is so amazing. It's all for me." He smiled lovingly at her.
"Well, that's not all," she said. "I have another present for you."
"I can honestly say that after this, anything else is extravagant."
Hermione blushed, and the roses in her cheeks lingered. He tried to take his eyes off her, but it was hopeless. She was a magnet for his gaze. He did look down, however, when she put something into his hand.
"Keys?" three keys with different color heads hung on a small ring. He glanced up at her again, waiting for an explanation.
"I looked around for vacant flats in London," she mumbled. She would not meet his eyes, but she blushed deeply. "I found a very nice one close to Diagon Alley. I paid the rent for it up through April, so you won't have to worry about it for a while, but I leased it under your name. I knew you wanted your own place, away from your father…"
She chanced a look at him. He was gazing raptly at the gift in his hand, but he saw her look up and met her eyes. "This…Hermione," he breathed. He did not know what to say. She saw this, and stood with him. They stood for a long time, wrapped in each other's arms.
"This means more to me than you could possibly know," he said. He cupped her cheek in one hand, and held the keys in the other. "I'm of age, *and* I have a guaranteed home when I leave my father's house. This is- more than I would have thought to ask from you."
What he did not say, but he thought, was, *You love me, I know you love me. If you didn't you wouldn't have done this for me. You may not admit it to yourself for a while now, nor to me for even longer, but I know you love me.* He would never say this to her.
"So now dinner's over, desert's over, and you've given me my present," he said, counting off on his fingers. "What do you want to do?"
"Can we just cuddle?"
"I would love to." They sat in an armchair that had just appeared. As they shifted into comfortable positions, the structure seemed to change to accommodate them. "I could get used to chairs like this," Draco remarked.
"You mean chairs with me in them?" Hermione said sweetly.
He laughed. "Yeah. That's exactly what I mean." He leaned down to kiss her. "Thank you."
"You have to promise you'll invite me over once in a while."
"Are you kidding? I'd let you live there. I'll make an extra set of keys, and you can have them. Come to my flat whenever you want."
She stretched her back slightly, resting his hand over hers. "It sounds wonderful." She was silent for a while, as though debating with herself. Finally, she sighed. "Draco, you remember the talk about the essence of Magic. And of course you know that your Patronus takes the shape of a dragon. I found it…unusual how much your name connects to your essence. How did your mother come up with it?"
"I've been waiting for someone to ask me that," he said. "It seems only natural that someone would notice. She told me once that she had a dream while she was pregnant with me. She was giving birth to a baby dragon. Oh, not in a creepy nightmare way," he added quickly. "It was more of a natural, symbolic sort of human-giving-birth-to-dragon dream. You know the type."
"Oh, sure. I have those all the time."
"The sarcasm is not helping. She realized what the dream meant the moment she woke up- I still don't know how. And so she named me Draco. Now, I'd like to ask you something. How *ever* did you get a name like Hermione?"
She rolled her eyes. "My mother liked the name, I suppose. She wanted to name me Desdemona, but my father said, 'We don't want to torture the poor girl'. So they settled on Hermione."
"Well, you make it beautiful." He leaned close to her. He could smell her hair now. The scent of lavender and eucalyptus intoxicated him. Strange, he had never thought much of the combination, but it smelled so good when it was part of Hermione.
"We should go now," she said. Neither of them moved. It had to be after nine o'clock.
"No," Draco murmured. He did not ever want to leave, to have this perfect night end. "Stay here."
"Draco, we have to go. Really."
He felt suddenly cold when she left his arms. "Hey, Hermione. What's the address for the flat?"
"Oh! I had forgotten. Here, I'll write it on this napkin." She did, and handed it to him. "Have a good night, Draco."
With one last kiss she departed. Draco looked down at the napkin, reading the address of his new flat, but he did not truly comprehend it at that moment. He was still too stunned by what Hermione had done for him to actually think.
End Chapter 16
To some of you: I'm sorry this took so long, I don't know why reviews have recently gotten kind of slow. Plus DSL sucks so getting online is iffy. But I'm glad you like my story (still) the good news is, I got to catch up on my writing. Guess for which story!
Ok, to my reviewers, the ones who are going to review as soon as they finish this sentence, red star-shaped confetti!!