Chapter 56- Inter-House Unity
or
In Which Our Leading Lady Cries Profusely
Draco and Hermione were sitting in the corner of the library. She had dragged him there a few hours before, early that day. It was her last day at Hogwarts, the last chance she would have to just sit in the library and enjoy the books around her- at least, as a student. She wasn't reading, just sitting. Draco, she knew, was staring at her.
Her hand sat comfortably in his, resting on the table. Once in a while a student or two would walk past, then begin to whisper excitedly. Everyone knew they had disappeared a week ago, along with Ron and Harry, for half a night. There was much speculation as to what had happened.
"Hermione!" someone called loudly as they made their way over. She looked up to see Harry and Ron nearly running, and they reached the table breathlessly.
"Boys, please conduct yourselves appropriately. This is a library," Madame Pince rebuked them, but she was smiling. Hermione had talked to her earlier, and the woman had told her that she was going to miss her and her friends.
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, and she left them alone. "We were just at the hospital wing."
"Madame Pomfrey told us you woke up last night," Ron added. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," she replied. "How are you two?"
"We're all right." Harry glanced at Ron and Draco, then stared at a point over her head. "Has… has Draco told you what happened that night, after…you know."
One of her eyebrows arched up in surprise. "No, *Draco* has not told me yet. Only of his part. Why?"
"Well, I thought you should hear from me…" Harry took a seat close to her at the table, and leaned in to tell her quietly that Voldemort was dead.
"Really?!" She squealed, then glanced toward Madame Pince's desk. When next she spoke, her voice was lowered. "I mean, really? Harry, you mean it? He's actually dead?"
"Yes," he said firmly. "I killed him myself."
"Oh, Harry. You didn't-"
"No, I used Interficus Maleficum."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Has the Minister been told yet?"
"Fudge? Who knows. It's possible. But it doesn't matter much, because I think Dumbledore is planning to tell all the students at the leaving feast. The teachers already know- what?"
Hermione's eyes had begun to brim with tears at the words "leaving feast". "I can't believe this is our last day at Hogwarts!"
"Hermione, it's not that bad. We'll be able to come back and visit. And we'll be sure to see each other as often as we can, you know?" Harry attempted to cheer her up.
"But it's our last day!" She bawled. Apparently the three boys gave up, because they did not speak for a while. Draco's arm went around her shoulders, and she was glad for the comfort.
"It's okay, Hermione," Ron assured her. "It's only natural to be kind of emotional right now. You had a very traumatic experience, after all- even though you were unconscious during some of it. Almost being carried off to who knows where in the forest-"
"What do you mean almost carried off?" she sniffed curiously.
Ron was looking at Draco, who was making some kind of gesture that she couldn't see. "Oh…nothing."
Harry was not so easily swayed. "You mean you didn't tell her yet?"
"Tell me what?" She turned to look Draco in the eye. He regarded her for a moment, then sighed in resignation.
"Well, after Lucius and Voldemort were killed, we… we thought you weren't going to make it, and we kind of stood around talking for a while. Centaurs surrounded us, tied us to a tree and intended to take you away with them. That's when Hagrid and the rest showed up."
"Wait a minute," she said, recovering her composure in the face of irritation. "I was almost carried off by *centaurs*, and you weren't going to tell me?"
"Well, I didn't think it was the right time, you know-"
"Bollocks! What were you thinking, Draco! We're about to go live together, and you're already keeping secrets from me!" She started to cry again.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, really. I really was going to tell you, just not now. Don't cry."
She waved off Draco's concern. "It's not that, it's just… *sob* I'm going to miss my parents!" She fell into his arms.
Hearing a whisper close by, she turned her head to the side and objected, "Excuse me, Ron, but I am not emotional."
"Denial. Another sure sign of trauma."
There was silence for a few seconds. "All right, maybe I'm a little emotional…"
"Well, look at that! She's starting to come around," Ron said proudly. "Our Hermione can weather any storm." He applauded politely. The rest of them laughed, Hermione still in the midst of tears.
Not an hour later, she found herself in her dormitory, packing her belongings into her trunk- aside from the clothes she would wear on the following day, and her wand. A tear dropped at each item she laid carefully on top of the pile. Now that it was so close to leaving time, she realized just how much she would miss the school.
Someone knocked on her door, which she had closed to give herself more privacy. "Who is it?" she sniffed. It could not be Draco- he couldn't get that close to her room.
"It's Parvati and Lavender," the visitors replied. Hermione went to the door and opened it quickly, to find her former dorm-mates wiping tears away as well.
"We just wanted to say goodbye," Lavender explained. "We didn't want to do it at the train station and make a scene, you know."
They all stood hugging and crying for the next half hour. They might gossip and whine a lot, but really, Lavender and Parvati weren't that bad, Hermione thought as she clung to them.
"We'll see each other again. Let's all make sure we keep in contact, okay?" Hermione sniffled.
"Definitely," Parvati sobbed. Lavender simply blubbered even more. They stayed in Hermione's room, talking, for so long, that they ended up going down to the leaving feast together.
************************************************************************
It was a feast quite unlike any Hogwarts had ever given. They were at last sending off the hero of the wizarding world. There was a large 'Goodbye, Harry Potter' banner hanging over the tables.
Draco thought he looked rather embarrassed about it.
He was sitting at the Gryffindor table because Hermione had asked him to. He was squeezed between her and Ginny, who had been one of the quickest to accept him. Across from them sat Ron and Harry, passing each other meaningful glances about every five seconds.
The food was of such a marvelous variety that Draco hardly knew what to choose. In the end, he had a little bit of everything he could reach. To no one's surprise, Ron continued to eat long past the point when the rest of them were full to bursting. Harry tried to get him to take his face out of his plate, but Ron was stuck on the food.
Giving them time to digest their dinner, Dumbledore stood to make his end of year speech.
"Well, boys and girls, it has been quite a year. Quidditch came with some surprises-" Draco raised his eyebrow smugly at the Gryffindors- "…we were given surpassing dances and decorations by our Head Boy and Girl, and too many other things to name."
"Now, comes the biggest and happiest news I think any of us have heard in a long time. Since he came here, Harry Potter has seemed to get into some kind of trouble every year." The entire hall craned their necks to see the mentioned student, who proceeded to sink under the table. "This year, his predicament was easily one of the worst, for he came face to face with Voldemort. It is likely that he could have died. Yet he came out of it more than the victor. I had hardly hoped that I might see the day when the Dark wizard's shadow would be lifted from us. Finally it has, for Harry Potter finally, truly defeated Voldemort."
He let this sink in for a moment. Murmurs were heard all around. Just as the news that he had returned, the report of Voldemort's death would take a while to truly grasp.
"No amount of House points could express the world's gratitude for what he has done, but for his courage, I award Mister Potter one hundred points." Ron was now holding Harry in his seat, grinning widely. "To Mister Ronald Weasley, Mister Draco Malfoy, and Miss Hermione Granger, I award each fifty points in their help to bring down Voldemort's forces."
"Now I am brought to another matter, one perhaps even more important. This is the matter of two students who formed an unexpected alliance against all they had known. Since first they met, they shared an agreed enmity, an opposition most never would have thought them to overcome. One Slytherin, one Gryffindor, two top students, one Muggle-born, one from long lines of wizards… two students who could not be more different. They overcame this, and a love grew between them, and much more, something no one could have predicted. I am speaking, of course, of the Head Boy and Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."
Draco felt as though he wanted to do a Harry and sink under the table, until he looked at Hermione. While usually she would be straight-backed and attentive of the Headmaster's speech, now she stared raptly at Draco, locking his gaze with hers when he caught it. She did not have her typical mushy-love look, either, but an expression of somber devotion and pride. Her look said something to him that the words "We did it" could not. From that point, he barely heard what Dumbledore was saying.
"Those of you who have been here for at least three years will remember the Sorting Hat speaking of unity between the Houses. Of anything we could take that to have meant, Hermione and Draco's example is the paradigm. No unity could be more surprising, or more beneficial, than that which they share. Let their love be an example to all of us, to embrace each other, figuratively at the least, and forget past wrongs."
"For their outstanding courage to follow their hearts, and their perfect unity between houses, I award Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy each one hundred points."
Draco's one hundred points did not change the fact that Gryffindor won the House Cup by a landslide, but that did not matter anymore. He almost felt like a part of Gryffindor, anyway, though he never would have chosen that house. It was not the house points that meant a lick to Draco, but the woman sitting next to him.
The hand that had held hers slid around her waist, drawing her closer to him, and she nestled into his chest. She reached over and drew his other hand into both of hers. "I love you," she said, though it was barely audible.
He kissed the top of her head. "I love you more."
Not having expected that exact response, Hermione's head tilted up, a tiny grin splitting her lips… which Draco found so irresistible that he kissed her right there.
Neither of them noticed that the entire hall, including all the Slytherins *and* Professor Snape, was applauding.
When this had ceased, Dumbledore had three last words. "And now, dessert."
Across the table, after the vast array of sweets had appeared, Ron could be witnessed sending thanks to any god he could think of. Harry merely shook his head, kissing Ron's cheek as he served himself some treacle tart.
And still, neither Draco nor Hermione moved an inch. They sat in each other's embrace, almost oblivious to the dessert, simply feeling the love radiate from one heart to the other. As Harry and Ginny- who had both played Seeker for the Gryffindor team- would later tell them, their promise rings were fairly glowing that night.
End Chapter 56
Aww… it's so cute and mushy, I almost made myself cry when I was reading it over. I'm so jealous of them. Especially Hermione… hehe.
Um, sorry for the delay, however long it was, though I think it's only been about a week since my last post. Well, I wasn't at home for most of the week anyway.
"Goodbye, Harry Potter" confetti. Or some Draco-shaped confetti. Take your pick.
or
In Which Our Leading Lady Cries Profusely
Draco and Hermione were sitting in the corner of the library. She had dragged him there a few hours before, early that day. It was her last day at Hogwarts, the last chance she would have to just sit in the library and enjoy the books around her- at least, as a student. She wasn't reading, just sitting. Draco, she knew, was staring at her.
Her hand sat comfortably in his, resting on the table. Once in a while a student or two would walk past, then begin to whisper excitedly. Everyone knew they had disappeared a week ago, along with Ron and Harry, for half a night. There was much speculation as to what had happened.
"Hermione!" someone called loudly as they made their way over. She looked up to see Harry and Ron nearly running, and they reached the table breathlessly.
"Boys, please conduct yourselves appropriately. This is a library," Madame Pince rebuked them, but she was smiling. Hermione had talked to her earlier, and the woman had told her that she was going to miss her and her friends.
"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly, and she left them alone. "We were just at the hospital wing."
"Madame Pomfrey told us you woke up last night," Ron added. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," she replied. "How are you two?"
"We're all right." Harry glanced at Ron and Draco, then stared at a point over her head. "Has… has Draco told you what happened that night, after…you know."
One of her eyebrows arched up in surprise. "No, *Draco* has not told me yet. Only of his part. Why?"
"Well, I thought you should hear from me…" Harry took a seat close to her at the table, and leaned in to tell her quietly that Voldemort was dead.
"Really?!" She squealed, then glanced toward Madame Pince's desk. When next she spoke, her voice was lowered. "I mean, really? Harry, you mean it? He's actually dead?"
"Yes," he said firmly. "I killed him myself."
"Oh, Harry. You didn't-"
"No, I used Interficus Maleficum."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Has the Minister been told yet?"
"Fudge? Who knows. It's possible. But it doesn't matter much, because I think Dumbledore is planning to tell all the students at the leaving feast. The teachers already know- what?"
Hermione's eyes had begun to brim with tears at the words "leaving feast". "I can't believe this is our last day at Hogwarts!"
"Hermione, it's not that bad. We'll be able to come back and visit. And we'll be sure to see each other as often as we can, you know?" Harry attempted to cheer her up.
"But it's our last day!" She bawled. Apparently the three boys gave up, because they did not speak for a while. Draco's arm went around her shoulders, and she was glad for the comfort.
"It's okay, Hermione," Ron assured her. "It's only natural to be kind of emotional right now. You had a very traumatic experience, after all- even though you were unconscious during some of it. Almost being carried off to who knows where in the forest-"
"What do you mean almost carried off?" she sniffed curiously.
Ron was looking at Draco, who was making some kind of gesture that she couldn't see. "Oh…nothing."
Harry was not so easily swayed. "You mean you didn't tell her yet?"
"Tell me what?" She turned to look Draco in the eye. He regarded her for a moment, then sighed in resignation.
"Well, after Lucius and Voldemort were killed, we… we thought you weren't going to make it, and we kind of stood around talking for a while. Centaurs surrounded us, tied us to a tree and intended to take you away with them. That's when Hagrid and the rest showed up."
"Wait a minute," she said, recovering her composure in the face of irritation. "I was almost carried off by *centaurs*, and you weren't going to tell me?"
"Well, I didn't think it was the right time, you know-"
"Bollocks! What were you thinking, Draco! We're about to go live together, and you're already keeping secrets from me!" She started to cry again.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, really. I really was going to tell you, just not now. Don't cry."
She waved off Draco's concern. "It's not that, it's just… *sob* I'm going to miss my parents!" She fell into his arms.
Hearing a whisper close by, she turned her head to the side and objected, "Excuse me, Ron, but I am not emotional."
"Denial. Another sure sign of trauma."
There was silence for a few seconds. "All right, maybe I'm a little emotional…"
"Well, look at that! She's starting to come around," Ron said proudly. "Our Hermione can weather any storm." He applauded politely. The rest of them laughed, Hermione still in the midst of tears.
Not an hour later, she found herself in her dormitory, packing her belongings into her trunk- aside from the clothes she would wear on the following day, and her wand. A tear dropped at each item she laid carefully on top of the pile. Now that it was so close to leaving time, she realized just how much she would miss the school.
Someone knocked on her door, which she had closed to give herself more privacy. "Who is it?" she sniffed. It could not be Draco- he couldn't get that close to her room.
"It's Parvati and Lavender," the visitors replied. Hermione went to the door and opened it quickly, to find her former dorm-mates wiping tears away as well.
"We just wanted to say goodbye," Lavender explained. "We didn't want to do it at the train station and make a scene, you know."
They all stood hugging and crying for the next half hour. They might gossip and whine a lot, but really, Lavender and Parvati weren't that bad, Hermione thought as she clung to them.
"We'll see each other again. Let's all make sure we keep in contact, okay?" Hermione sniffled.
"Definitely," Parvati sobbed. Lavender simply blubbered even more. They stayed in Hermione's room, talking, for so long, that they ended up going down to the leaving feast together.
************************************************************************
It was a feast quite unlike any Hogwarts had ever given. They were at last sending off the hero of the wizarding world. There was a large 'Goodbye, Harry Potter' banner hanging over the tables.
Draco thought he looked rather embarrassed about it.
He was sitting at the Gryffindor table because Hermione had asked him to. He was squeezed between her and Ginny, who had been one of the quickest to accept him. Across from them sat Ron and Harry, passing each other meaningful glances about every five seconds.
The food was of such a marvelous variety that Draco hardly knew what to choose. In the end, he had a little bit of everything he could reach. To no one's surprise, Ron continued to eat long past the point when the rest of them were full to bursting. Harry tried to get him to take his face out of his plate, but Ron was stuck on the food.
Giving them time to digest their dinner, Dumbledore stood to make his end of year speech.
"Well, boys and girls, it has been quite a year. Quidditch came with some surprises-" Draco raised his eyebrow smugly at the Gryffindors- "…we were given surpassing dances and decorations by our Head Boy and Girl, and too many other things to name."
"Now, comes the biggest and happiest news I think any of us have heard in a long time. Since he came here, Harry Potter has seemed to get into some kind of trouble every year." The entire hall craned their necks to see the mentioned student, who proceeded to sink under the table. "This year, his predicament was easily one of the worst, for he came face to face with Voldemort. It is likely that he could have died. Yet he came out of it more than the victor. I had hardly hoped that I might see the day when the Dark wizard's shadow would be lifted from us. Finally it has, for Harry Potter finally, truly defeated Voldemort."
He let this sink in for a moment. Murmurs were heard all around. Just as the news that he had returned, the report of Voldemort's death would take a while to truly grasp.
"No amount of House points could express the world's gratitude for what he has done, but for his courage, I award Mister Potter one hundred points." Ron was now holding Harry in his seat, grinning widely. "To Mister Ronald Weasley, Mister Draco Malfoy, and Miss Hermione Granger, I award each fifty points in their help to bring down Voldemort's forces."
"Now I am brought to another matter, one perhaps even more important. This is the matter of two students who formed an unexpected alliance against all they had known. Since first they met, they shared an agreed enmity, an opposition most never would have thought them to overcome. One Slytherin, one Gryffindor, two top students, one Muggle-born, one from long lines of wizards… two students who could not be more different. They overcame this, and a love grew between them, and much more, something no one could have predicted. I am speaking, of course, of the Head Boy and Girl, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."
Draco felt as though he wanted to do a Harry and sink under the table, until he looked at Hermione. While usually she would be straight-backed and attentive of the Headmaster's speech, now she stared raptly at Draco, locking his gaze with hers when he caught it. She did not have her typical mushy-love look, either, but an expression of somber devotion and pride. Her look said something to him that the words "We did it" could not. From that point, he barely heard what Dumbledore was saying.
"Those of you who have been here for at least three years will remember the Sorting Hat speaking of unity between the Houses. Of anything we could take that to have meant, Hermione and Draco's example is the paradigm. No unity could be more surprising, or more beneficial, than that which they share. Let their love be an example to all of us, to embrace each other, figuratively at the least, and forget past wrongs."
"For their outstanding courage to follow their hearts, and their perfect unity between houses, I award Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy each one hundred points."
Draco's one hundred points did not change the fact that Gryffindor won the House Cup by a landslide, but that did not matter anymore. He almost felt like a part of Gryffindor, anyway, though he never would have chosen that house. It was not the house points that meant a lick to Draco, but the woman sitting next to him.
The hand that had held hers slid around her waist, drawing her closer to him, and she nestled into his chest. She reached over and drew his other hand into both of hers. "I love you," she said, though it was barely audible.
He kissed the top of her head. "I love you more."
Not having expected that exact response, Hermione's head tilted up, a tiny grin splitting her lips… which Draco found so irresistible that he kissed her right there.
Neither of them noticed that the entire hall, including all the Slytherins *and* Professor Snape, was applauding.
When this had ceased, Dumbledore had three last words. "And now, dessert."
Across the table, after the vast array of sweets had appeared, Ron could be witnessed sending thanks to any god he could think of. Harry merely shook his head, kissing Ron's cheek as he served himself some treacle tart.
And still, neither Draco nor Hermione moved an inch. They sat in each other's embrace, almost oblivious to the dessert, simply feeling the love radiate from one heart to the other. As Harry and Ginny- who had both played Seeker for the Gryffindor team- would later tell them, their promise rings were fairly glowing that night.
End Chapter 56
Aww… it's so cute and mushy, I almost made myself cry when I was reading it over. I'm so jealous of them. Especially Hermione… hehe.
Um, sorry for the delay, however long it was, though I think it's only been about a week since my last post. Well, I wasn't at home for most of the week anyway.
"Goodbye, Harry Potter" confetti. Or some Draco-shaped confetti. Take your pick.