Story Title: Lift to Understanding

School and Theme: Durmstrang - Prejudice

Mandatory Prompt: [Action] Dancing

Additional Prompt: [Event] Elevator Ride

Year: 4

Word count: 2937

AN Alternate Universe, Dramione, movie is a fictional piece based off of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline"; referenced song is "Everything I Do, I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams


Draco Malfoy walked towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom one evening just as detentions were ending. "Professor Potter, a word?" he asked, seeing Sally Finnegan blasting away at a practice dummy. Really, Potter assigned the strangest detentions.

"Certainly, Professor Malfoy. Sally, you may head back to the Ravenclaw dorms. Mind, I don't want to catch you out after curfew again." His smile belied his stern words.

After the student left, Potter turned to Draco, popping his back as he did so. "What's wrong, Malfoy? You look troubled by something."

"How can you-no, nevermind," Draco needed Potter's help. Critiquing his disciplinary methods would not help. He just needed to remember his end goal.

Emerald-green eyes shone up at him, seemingly with all the patience in the world. Draco was man enough to admit that Potter had an easier time than he at putting aside their differences to keep their mutual acquaintance, Hermione Granger-Malfoy, happy.

Speaking of his lovely Mia…

"Listen, Potter, I-I needyourhelp." There, he said it!

"What now? Sorry, Draco, but I'm afraid I don't speak Gobbledegook. Care to try again, a little slower?"

Draco's pale face became flushed at the insult. He breathed in once. Twice. It's for Mia. It's for Mia.

"I overheard Mia talking to the new Muggle Studies Professor, Jen Perkins. They were discussing something that had Mia suggesting that even the Malfoy fortune could not make seeing Evangeline's something or other a reality in time for her birthday. As if.

"I'd appreciate your help in proving her wrong. As you know, my familiarity with the Muggle world is rather limited for such a task, and surely you'll agree that Hermione Malfoy deserves the best, even when her taste in what constitutes the best is somewhat suspect?" The last was mumbled but nonetheless conveyed Draco's true feelings on the matter.

Potter slapped him on the shoulder in a friendly way. The implied familiarity behind the interaction made the Potions Master wince.

"Pretty sure she's Hermione Granger-Malfoy, mate, and don't let her hear you talking poorly about The Travails of Evangeline. It's apparently all the rage in that Muggle Culture Club she hosts. That being said, I'll definitely help you smooth the way, as it were. She deserves it. You sure you'll be able to handle the intricacies of Muggle entertainment though? Muggle inventions have gotten significantly more advanced than the wheel you know."

Draco puffed up at the implication that he couldn't handle something Muggle. Just because he needed Potter's help to set up his grand birthday surprise for Hermione did not mean he couldn't handle actually accompanying her to the event, Muggle-based or no!


"Draco Lucius Malfoy, if you don't tell me what you're up to right now…" Hermione trailed off warningly, hands on her hips. There wasn't a student around who would ignore Professor Granger-Malfoy when she used that tone.

Draco just laughed. The Potions professor caressed her face lovingly and moved into her space. "You'll see, Darling. But first, might I have this dance, milady?" he asked, having moved into position for the waltz they'd danced to at their wedding.

Hermione tried to stay firm but couldn't help the slightest giggle from slipping out at Draco's over-the-top chivalry. "But Dray, there isn't any—"

A wave of the wand caused the opening notes of their favourite piece to be heard.

Swept up into the arms of her beloved as the early morning light lit up their quarters, Hermione quickly forgot all about being annoyed with her Dragon and his hoard of secrets.

Just as the song came to a close, Hermione felt a strange bit of cloth wrap around her closed eyes. Funny, she hadn't even remembered closing them, but the pale blue silky material could not be frightening in the least. Hermione merely held on closer to her husband before inquiring, "Dray, what's going on?"

Draco's voice sounded strangely hesitant and muffled; it was difficult to resist the urge to pull off the mask to see him more clearly. "I-I've a surprise for you, Mia. For your birthday. Trust me?"

Mia took a deep breath.

"Always"

"Hold on tight!"

With that as her only warning, Hermione felt the telltale squeezing sensation associated with apparition.

The next thing she knew, Hermione could hear car horns? Being married to a Pureblood who generally disdained all things Muggle and only reluctantly joined in on trips to see her parents had meant trips taken to the Muggle establishments were few and far between, often with much whining on Draco's part. It seemed strange that he would take her somewhere, especially considering how many places were closed or at limited capacity in the Muggle world due to a novel virus.

"You can take the blindfold off," Draco's voice interrupted her musings.

Hermione slowly reached up to take off the blindfold… only to realize that it was actually a mask instead. She hadn't realized that her husband knew about the use of masks in the Muggle world. The mask was obviously customized with Birthday Girl written in script on a pale blue background. Draco was wearing a matching mask that read Enchanted Husband. A giggle slipped out before Hermione could stop herself, and she quickly put hers on before the two exited the deserted alleyway in which Draco had apparated them.

Hermione found herself staring at the entrance of a mega-cinema, the type that would have been packed on a pleasant Saturday like this before the pandemic. Instead, the parking lot was empty, save for three cars near the entrance.

Hermione hung back unsurely. "Dray, I love the thought, but are you sure they're open? A lot of places have closed down due to this virus."

Draco just looped his arm confidently in hers. "Of course, Milady. I talked to the owner of this moo-vee place just last week, with Potter's help." The last part was grumbled somewhat sullenly. Hermione's smile returned his own grin, however.

"Which movie are we seeing?"

"I overheard you talking to Professor Perkins about The Travails of Evangeline and what a shame it was that the Muggle pandemic had made it so difficult to see it in person. Potter helped me to call around. Some places offer the chance to rent a theater to see moo-vees, but this was the only place that had it as an option today. Is this an acceptable gift?"

Hermione laughed delightedly. Was seeing the most romantic movie of the year with her largely Muggle-illiterate husband an acceptable gift? As if there could be any doubt!

The idea of renting a whole space for just the two of them seemed a little extravagant, but Hermione had known her husband long enough to know that extravagance came par for the course with him. Malfoys truly didn't know the definition of moderation, after all.

The man at the ticket counter did have a reservation for Malfoy but was surprised to see that Draco expected to pay with cash rather than a card; thankfully, Hermione happened to have her Muggle debit card on her. Gringotts offered the service for those who interacted in both worlds, but Draco had always been behind the times. Hermione was fairly sure that only the inquiring eyes of the man at the ticket booth stopped him from ranting about the 'backward' ways of the Muggle monetary system.

After a visit to the concession stand where Draco was again confounded by the automated payment options as well as the size of the drinks and snacks on offer, they went off in search of Theater #13 on the second floor. Rather than take the stairs, the two elected to use the elevator.

While Draco was by no means a Muggle enthusiast like Arthur Weasley, he couldn't help but be surprised at the ways Muggles got along without magic. Oh, no doubt about it, magical elevators were vastly superior to these metal boxes that were limited to only going up or down, but they were adequate for their needs, if only barely.

The great steel doors closing in on them without any visible indication of what caused them to do so (not even a spark of light), were slightly disconcerting. Draco could admit that—if only to himself—as he held onto Mia's hand tightly. Feeling a change in pressure not unlike the pressure felt while riding his broom at great speeds caused him to look worriedly at his love. Mia had never been a fan of brooms, after all. Strangely, she seemed utterly at peace in this tin can and merely watched calmly as green numbers flickered on the wall. Before he could inquire about his wife's state of mind in such an unnatural device, the doors opened, and it was time to find Theater #13 for the moo-vee.

The giant auditorium felt strange, and Draco found himself wondering what the appeal could possibly be. Mia had never demonstrated a particular interest in bovines before, so he could only assume that cows were not actually a part of the experience despite the name. Before him was a blank screen, large enough to take up an entire wall. 'At least the snacks are good,' he thought looking towards his wife. 'And Mia certainly seems to be enjoying herself.'

Suddenly, the entire room seemed to be hit with a powerful Nox. Draco jumped up, trying to peer into the darkness for any threats. How could he have been so stupid? While years had passed since any had last attempted an attack on himself or Hermione, he knew well that theirs were not faces that went unnoticed. Here in this anonymous Muggle cinema, any could attack, and they would be without any hope of reinforcements. Before he could use Lumos to look around, Mia grabbed his hand.

"Don't worry, this is normal," she reassured as the screen suddenly lit up. A pink rabbit holding a drum marched across the screen, banging a staccato beat. It was almost as disconcerting as the lights turning off. After the rabbit came a suggestion to go back to the concession stand for snacks. One would think that the creator of these illusions would be able to see the giant containers in front of them. Nonetheless, whoever was behind this was no doubt an expert. Before he could rise in order to get more popcorn, however, Hermione stopped him. "We're good," she whispered with a giggle. Draco supposed that the darkness did give a certain aura to the place that demanded quiet.

After this came a flurry of "tray-lers" in which he and Mia could watch snippets of moo-vees other than the ones they would get to see today. It was a strangely effective advertising method, and Draco could almost imagine willingly seeing another moo-vee after today.

The moo-vee began with a quote from a bloke called Henry Longfellow. "And, as she looked around, she saw how Death, the consoler, Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it forever." The disturbing quote seemed out of place when the last tray-ler had had the two laughing heartily at the hijinxes of Muggle teenagers, but Draco tried his best to put it out of his mind. Surely, he was just being paranoid. He didn't take Mia to a moo-vee about death on her birthday!

Soon enough, Draco found himself swept away in the delights of a wedding party horribly interrupted by invaders from a distant land. Draco watched as the title character, a young woman named Evangeline, went to great lengths to be reunited with her husband, only for fate to prove cruel at every turn.

Draco was impressed that Evangeline was able to continue on her search for so many years as her body grew older and more wrinkled with every scene. Without the invention of Aging potions, the moo-vee must have taken over a century to create; the ending, in which the two were reunited just in time for Death to separate them once again, seemed at once too cruel and inevitable, Evangeline's lover being a shadow of what he once was.

Draco turned to see Mia's eyes glimmering with tears at the conclusion. "I'm sorry. Had I known the moo-vee would be so distressing, I never would have brought you here. Forgive me, Mia?"

The lights turned on, and Mia surprised Draco with a gentle kiss. "Dray, I knew the ending before we came. This is based off of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that I read once in school. Don't be sorry. Yes, the ending is tragic, but my tears are not only for the tragedy of it. Theirs was a beautiful, sustaining love. Decades apart could not destroy it, just as our pasts and different backgrounds cannot destroy us. There's something to celebrate in that, no matter what life throws at a person, true love can prevail. Don't you agree?"

Draco looked wonderingly at Mia. He wanted to believe that their love was as strong as the couple they'd just watched, but he'd truly been a poor sport for proving it. Hermione, for all that she opposed cruelty to house-elves and forced some change on what it meant to be a Malfoy, had embraced magic wholeheartedly while Draco often complained about family dinners at the Grangers and hadn't even taken the time to know what a moo-vee was until he felt practically dared to take Mia to one. This wasn't so bad, and even if it were, he ought to be more willing to visit and learn about the world from whence Mia came.

The moo-vee transitioned to a dark screen listing the names of everyone involved in making the moo-vee, and a song Draco had never heard before came on.

"Oh Dray, I love this song! Dance with me!" commanded Draco's queen.

"I don't know how to," Draco struggled to explain as he nonetheless stood. Nearly all the dances he had learned growing up at Malfoy Manor had had very specific steps.

In a distinct reversal to the morning, Hermione invaded his space in a way that would have been utterly indecent had any other person been in the area. She purred into his ear, "Hear the music? Listen to it. Sway to it. Do what feels right in the moment. There is no wrong way, so long as we do it together." Draco's arms found themselves wrapped around his love. The beat was totally foreign, but slowly, Draco found himself moving almost unconsciously along to the music with Mia. As the singer talked of a willingness to sacrifice all for his love, Draco found himself drawn to Mia's eyes. What sacrifices had he unknowingly caused her to make in the name of love? With every beat of the refrain, he found in himself another ounce of courage and of love, a wish to be worthy of her, to give more of himself than that which filled his vault.

Oh, Draco knew well that what they had was not based upon the number of galleons he had to his name. One of the most precious aspects of his Mia was how little that did factor into their relationship. After the war, Hermione had been the one to put him back together in the wake of the destruction brought upon his family for their choices. She and Potter had been the ones to advocate leniency for the crimes he had done under the Dark Lord's orders. He'd had a hard time understanding her concern. Months of conversations as they both transitioned to a life as teachers had helped to heal the wounds of childhood cruelty and forced him to see Hermione as the beauty she'd always been. Somehow, affection that was not deserved bloomed into the love that brought them here now. But he knew just how unworthy he was. The movie and song just served as a reminder that changes were necessary.

As the song came to a close, Draco took Mia's advice to heart and dramatically dipped her almost to the floor before pulling his love back into his arms for a heart-stopping kiss. An eternity passed. The credits came to a close, and the lights were back on long before the two returned to their bodies. Mia blinked her eyes cutely, just now remembering where they were. Together, the two grabbed the remains of their popcorn and drinks to throw away in the conveniently located trash dispensers.

Before Hermione could summon the elevator to take them back downstairs where they would return to reality, Draco grabbed her hand.

"Mia, Muggle elevators only go up or down. They don't have the options or versatility of magical ones—" he held up a finger to stop Hermione's natural protest to what seemed to be a put down on Muggle technology. "When I came here with you today, I was excited. Not to see a moo-vee or eat popcorn. No, I expected them to be substandard at best. I was excited that I could do something special for you even if the objects of your interest were boring to me. I've never been so wrong in my life. This elevator," for now the elevator had been summoned and was patiently waiting for them to enter, "It brought me up, up to a place where I could experience a beautiful part of your world, of our world, though I am ignorant of it. Before we take it back down to Earth, might you consent to return here with me to teach me of the joys I've always before called inferior?"

The doors to the elevator closed before any answer could be spoken, but the way their lips touched said much.