so here we are at the chapter that sent me home, but i truly enjoyed this, my first comp! I have one more chapter to share as well. it was my first idea for protea but I chickened out on doing something different lol... it will be the last chapter in this colleaction.

This coming wednesday, I submit my first entry in the next comp: constellations. provided I make it a few weeks, I'll have a new collection to post later :)

thank you for reading!

"What is it?" she asks, eyeing the small creature in the DMLE holding cells.

A snicker comes from behind her (Theo) followed by a sigh (Harry). "It's Malfoy," her friend says, and she looks the thing up and down.

"How on earth did he end up like this?"

Harry steps forward and flicks his wand at the lock of the door. "Transformation experiments in the DoM. Trying to 'unlock the mysteries of creature transformation' or some such."

Hermione nods, but keeps her eyes trained on her partner. "And he's in lock up because..."

"Tosser tried to scratch an Unspeakable's eyes out," Theo says helpfully, a bit too much delight in his voice.

Hermione grimaces and addresses Draco. "And just what were you doing in Mysteries by yourself on a Tuesday?"

"Oh, I can answer that," Harry says as he swings open the door. "Kingsley wants more oversight on the one department who has none. He asked me to go, but Malfoy insisted he take this one. He was supposed to be observing their creature trials."

"Wrong place, wrong time then," She muses and reaches down to scoop up the thing that appears to be an albino niffler with a wand in its teeth. "Are they going to reverse it?"

Harry waves his hand around, showing just how concerned he is. "It's supposed to wear off in, I don't know, an hour? A day? I don't really remember." There is a gleam in his eye and, if she wasn't sure before, Hermione knows Harry is enjoying this desperately.

She cradles the wizard turned niffler as she makes her way to the floo system, telling him along the way that perhaps if he had let Harry take the case this would not have happened. Their rivalry, she would like him to know, is bound to cause more trouble in the future, and why can't he just get along? Is this about Theo? Hermione thinks that perhaps Draco is jealous that his closest friend is spending more time with someone else these days, and maybe he's a bit jealous...

She talks all the way through their journey until they are in his posh apartment just on the outskirts of Muggle London. She's only been once, for the house warming party planned by Theo, attended by Harry, and demanded that she also be a part of to save Harry from the 'den of snakes' or whatever dramatics he had mentioned.

"Can I... get you anything? A drink? I can put water in a dish..." The niffler levels her with a look and she thinks she knows her partner well enough at this point to read it. "No, I'm not pouring Firewhiskey in it, either."

She looks around, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Transformed though he might be, she's still alone with Draco Malfoy in his flat. Certainly not a position she ever expected to land in, regardless that she might have imagined it once or twice. Those late nights in the office, his hair mussed, looking at her with his intense gray eyes through the fringe.

She shakes herself out of that little self-torture and takes a seat on the sofa. "I hope you don't mind. I think I should stay though, in case you need anything. I can sleep on the sofa if that's alright?"

To her surprise, the niffler pops up beside her and settles against her thigh. "A-alright then," she manages. When it snuggles closer, she can't help but lay a hand on it's white fur, smiling when it seems to deflate with a contented sigh.

She must fall asleep because Hermione's next conscious moment includes an irate Draco storming into his apartment. "Get off my sofa you disgusting ball of fuzz."

Well… that's a fairly shite response since she was only trying to help, but her mouth snaps shut on any retort when she sees a white niffler running for its life. "And give me back my wand, you little monster!"

He stops in his tracks, seeming to notice her for the first time. "Sorry, Granger, I'll be just a tick. Fancy a drink? My treat."

She nods, eyes wide, and watches the chase resume with a slow smile crawling across her lips.