I couldn't wait to update this. So there... 😜
The explanation or the flow of the story might feel a bit rushed or chunky. I guess I don't have it in me to add more depth to this old piece. Maybe, in other chapters I might add even more details or other things. I don't know. I am being lazy, I can feel that but... I just wanted you all to have nearly OOC fun. If that makes any sense to y'all.
You can comment on anything you feel like. I'll try to keep them in mind.
And a very special thanks to guest reader, K. You have been a sweetheart. Your words lifted me up through a bad patch in this week. Thank you so so much. I'll try to keep up my imagination and all wild plunnies up. Thanks again!
The chirping began just like clockwork as the sunlight filtered in through the lacy curtains. One wasn't supposed to have such a flimsy curtain, after all who liked to wake up at the break of dawn?
Well, she did. Hermione had almost forgotten what an alarm sounded like given how this guy always came to her quaint little cottage to sing her to wakefulness. Yes, he was a Fwooper but he hadn't driven her crazy with his trills and tweets yet. His dad was one of those super rare Cliodna's birds. So instead of driving anyone crazy, his song's cured mild illnesses — he was her Redbull charged coffee.
"Good morning, Alan," Hermione said to the unique bird.
Alan trilled back in reply.
Hermione laughed. "Yes, yes. Breakfast coming up in half an hour. Works for you?"
A responding tweet had Hermione laughing again. "Hungry chick."
She sat up, rubbing her eyes when Crooks jumped on the bed meowing softly.
"My baby! Come here!"
Crooks padded over to her to get exactly five and a half belly rubs. No more. No less.
It was barely five thirty and Hermione's day was looking bright and busy and.. just a tad bit boring. Just a itsy bitsy teeny tiny bit.
Oh, she wasn't complaining; she had chosen this life after all. A couple years after doing "mindless" paperwork that resulted in almost nothing in The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
She wanted to make a difference. There were so many exceptions to the rigid definitions people had set ages ago. All the protections prepared for the good of these creatures and beings basically failed because of those definitions. That wasn't what she had wanted to do.
So she did what she thought was best. Create the exception department. She had had the backing of the Ministry (she might have pulled the I-Saved-The-Wizarding-World card and Harry had openly proclaimed that it was Hermione who kept him alive).
She had a comfortable amount of land that had a generous water body, rolling grassy plains and even small caves in the hill in the distance. She devoted all her time to help these creatures who didn't know how to fit, to fit in.
She had quite some house guests- a nundu called Jeff, a prehistoric crocodile named Steve, Roman and Dahlia the turtle doves with phoenix blood (their dad is a phoenix), Alan her personal alarm clock Fwooper and Cliodna's bird hybrid, Scott the Niffler and his family to name a few.
Oh, did she mention she's getting visited by a dragon as well? Apparently, his other dragon friend had told him she's a nice itch reliever. Some of the wild dragon's came to get the anti-itch balm rubbed all over them when they shed. As a result, free dragonhide of a quality unlike any sold in stores. He was supposed to come back in few days. He had just one stubborn patch of skin that was left to be removed. Then the job is done.
Yes, there were dragon sanctuaries, but the wild ones liked to be wild and get help only when absolutely needed. Like getting their anti-pests rubs and the very popular anti-itching balms.
She went about her day, filling everyone's feeding bowl. Carrying a big pail of tuna for the kelpies down in the artificial lake. There were some rare turtles there too and of course, Steve and his crowd.
Some deer and a couple zebra deer hybrids ran by her and she walked towards the lake. She had free house elves to help her. A small squad of them...okay, a battalion. The sensitive creatures hated other human presence- magical or otherwise. They'd had bad experiences with every human they've met. Except her.
Somewhere along the line, she had discovered she was good with creatures. Or as Harry said, an understatement; she was great with animals. Her empathy for these poor creatures had manifested into something she can called 'Dr Dolittle Condition'. She could clearly understand the creatures — maybe not understand their speech. She felt what they felt — their discomfort, their pain, their sorrow, their hunger.
It was Ginny who first realised that Crook and she had a very synchronized routine. But when she hissed at Ron for trying to sit in her spot at the same time as Crooks hissed, Ginny was confirmed. Hermione was a creature empath. Ginny's conclusion, not hers. Not anyone else's.
It has been a long time since there had been a known creature empath. Scamander had been good with creatures. But he hadn't been a creature empath. Hermione would probably die if a creature was killed in front of her now. Because she would feel them die, she'd die alongside it.
So it had been an obvious decision to live like a hermit in the wilderness of Iceland. Living with her battalion of house elves and creatures who needed endless love and a bit of firm love. It was lovely. It was lonely. There was only so much she can talk about to her pals. Letters came almost every week. A visit every two to three weeks. Everyone loved coming to Aunt Mione's sanctuary. Hermione concluded it was a much better life she was leading right now as compared to before.
Hermione expected Tony to arrive in the evening. He was one of the regular dragons who came to get his balm of the season. Hermione supervised the on goings like the supervisor she was.
So it was a surprise when the Common Welsh Green arrived far earlier than usual. As soon as Hermione approached him, she felt another being in the area. Another dragon had accompanied Tony.
An Antipodean Opaleye!
That was Tony's new friend. Her grumpy, snarky visitor has brought a friend.
"Hello! Hi there! Welcome to my sanctuary. I can't believe Tony brought a friend," Hermione began as she approached the dragons. She walked towards Tony and extended her hand. Tony placed his snout on her palm. "Such a good boy. Taking his medicines on time. Coming to the sanctuary regularly," Hermione cooed as he leant down to allow her to give him neck rubs and some behind the "ear" scratches.
Hermione noticed the Opaleye hadn't moved an inch. To be honest, it felt as if he was staring at her with his mouth open. Hermione gave Tony a final pat and moved towards the Opaleye, cautiously. Empath or not, it is still a wild animal.
"Hello, my name is Hermione. I take care of this sanctuary," the words seemed to jolt the dragon out of his thoughts. He snorted and wheezed and snorted again before Tony let out a small snort that sounded surprisingly like a laugh. Hermione could feel the amusement rolling off Tony in waves. The Opaleye huffed in annoyance and shuffled towards Hermione, placing his snout at a pat-able distance.
Hermione smiled brightly. "You are so beautiful. Like a vision in white." Hermione continued patting him when she noticed scratches on his neck and behind his head along with flakes of dry skin matted with blood. "Oh my, you scratched yourself to get rid of the moulting skin. You poor thing."
The Opaleye nodded at her concern.
"I got you name you something. I can't keep calling you the Opaleye in my head."
The Opaleye stiffen a bit, his eyes getting a wary look.
Hermione sighed. "You remind me of someone. He is just as pale as you. Eyes like the colour of the sky right before a storm."
The Opaleye stiffened even more if that was possible. Tony growled low in his throat.
Hermione absent-mindedly kept petting his snout. "I was supposed to meet him after graduation, you know. But I found out he was betrothed to a very pretty and sweet girl. That was about three years back." She sighed. "He is my one that got away."
The Opaleye didn't dare to move as he stared at her with a hungry curiosity.
"I am going to call you Draco."
The Opaleye gasped if dragon's could grasp. Because that's what it felt like. Catching a breath with an open mouth.
"I am sure he has a wonderful family now with two and a half kids. He always wanted a big family. I hope he is happy," Hermione raised her head to look straight into the Opaleye's eyes, "I know he is happy."
The Opaleye jumped out of her reach and furiously started clawing at the ground under his feet. Hermione could feel the disbelief, frustration and helplessness coming from him in waves. She was taken aback for more than a moment.
Tony bared his teeth and snarled at Draco. Draco whined in pain and whimpered, flopping down to completely lie on the ground on his stomach. Tony nudged him with his snout and snorted. Amusement, smugness, sadness, more disbelief, some more despair…
Hermione was getting a headache.
Draco was a good house guest. While Tony had flown away to wherever he lives, Draco stayed behind. At first, he refused to be away from her. But seeing that he couldn't really follow her around, he curled into a ball and settled by the lake — his milky white eyes with red pupils following every movement by Hermione.
"Why are you in my favorite sunspot?" Steve, the prehistoric crocodile, asked Draco.
The Opaleye did a double take.
"Yeah, yeah. We can all talk basic animal. So why are you in my spot?"
"So that I can keep an eye on her," the dragon gurgled.
"Eh? She's a good scale-less one. You should keep two eyes on her."
The Opaleye turned his snout to face the crocodile.
"She's a good being. She feeds us on time. She protects us from the ones who try to hunt us. I mean," Steve scoffed, "who would try to hunt a hunk like me?"
"I would," another crocodile crawled in.
"Ah, Maria! Come here, come here. Meet a scaled one who stole my sun spot."
Maria, the Nile crocodile, crawled towards Draco. "Hi, welcome to the safe place."
"Hi," Draco murmured.
"Shy one, are you?" Maria teased.
"I'm not a dragon," Draco grumbled.
"Oh dear, a dragon with an identity crisis. Don't worry, sweet legs will surely cure you. She's good," Steve assured.
Maria agreed.
"Okay, buddy. I'm going into the water. Take care of my sunspot," Steve bid him farewell as he slid into the water.
"Bye, sweetie," Maria said as she too went into her habitat.
Draco huffed out smoke.
"Hey there. You okay?" Somehow, Hermione had managed to creep up on him despite his better hearing. More like, better sense of vibrations around him but who's checking?
Draco whined a little as he stared at her. The love of his life living the life of a hermit while he was a 'resident' at her sanctuary.
"Why are you here? In this wilderness?" he asked her. "And why did he call you sweet legs?"
"I know you are asking me questions but all I am hearing are grunts and small roars, buddy. I'm sorry I don't speak dragon."
"Fuck my life."
"Why do you sound...dejected?" Hermione asked as she approached the sad dragon.
" I was cursed, I turned into a dragon. Literally. And after three months, I find this dragon who's a real born dragon in the mountains. He saw me struggling with my shedding skin and suggested that I come here and here I am. But you can't understand me and I'm still cursed, I don't know what is going on. Mum must be going crazy with worry and I think- "
Small, soft hands stroked his head soothingly, "Calm down, Draco. Everything will be alright. I know you are panicking. I know you are sad. But it will all be alright. I know it will. Sadness like happiness will soon pass. Don't fret."
The Opaleye looked at her with teary eyes.
"We will fix whatever happened to you, big guy. Don't worry," Hermione said as she hugged his huge head, mindful of his spiky outgrowths.
It sounded like the dragon sobbed softly as the tiny human hugged him and murmured soothing words to him.
"That poor boy. He's so sad," Louis, the female turtle dove, cooed.
"You think he is a cursed human?" Clark, her mate, asked doubtfully.
"It's his tears that make me trust his words. Those sad words…"
Clark cooed softly to comfort his kind mate.
The Opaleye was with her for the next three days. They weren't exactly uneventful. Draco was moody, snappish and sometimes, downright rude to her. Just like his namesake.
It was a terse day, though it hadn't started off like that.
Steve was getting a back scratch from Hermione, when the alligator snapping turtle came there for some of that pampering. He could snap her finger into two but he liked those fingers itching just...just...right there…
Soon everyone followed in. The house elves were made to leave their respective work to pamper the creatures with belly rubs, under chin scratches, between ear scratches… you name a scratch, it was getting scratched.
The resident dragon joined too. He was getting behind the 'ear' scratches when Hermione came to scratch him under his chin. He wagged his tail like a dog, raising a dust storm with his thumping. Soon he laid back and showed his belly. Hermione's bell like laughter filled the air and she willingly scratched his belly.
Suddenly Draco tensed and let out a growl. Hermione immediately backed away from him. He showed her a fangfull snarl and flew away.
Hermione was scared. For the first time while maintaining the sanctuary, she was scared. It simply reminded her that the creatures there might be enjoying their lives but at the end of the day, they are just that — creatures.
All the other creatures understood the tension that was suddenly there was caused by the newcomer. It was not done. No one dares to shit on their furless, clawless, fangless, scale-less one's hospitality.
Draco came back before nightfall only to slowly be surrounded by the creatures of the sanctuary. The nundu, the crocodile family — Steve, Maria and their not so small kids, Hermione's demon cat, was that a demiguise?, an Occamy! (What the fuck?! ), a small herd of Thestral, (holy shit! ) a small family of unicorn...
Draco kept whipping left and right to check who else had surrounded him.
"How dare you make our caretaker feel fear?" The nundu, Jeff, hissed, a toxic green vapour coming out of his nostril slowly.
"Do you know what she did to make this place safe for us?" Maria shouted.
"Man, I let you sit in my favourite sun spot and this is how you repay? By scaring that scale-less one?" Steve sounded so upset.
"I'll chew and spit out your manhood," Crooks promised as he licked his paw, not even looking at Draco.
Draco felt a slap on his nose.
"Get out of here. You don't deserve to be here," the demiguise said as he disappeared somewhere.
The Occamy hissed at him, calling him an egg stealer- a severe insult in Occamy-ese.
"She's pure. You don't deserve her!" The male unicorn said.
Draco roared, "Damn right I don't deserve. I don't deserve to be touched by her. Have you seen me? I am NOT human! And I am not a dragon! How do you think it works for me?! I want her touch but not like this! Not when I am a monster." Draco's tone winded down, ending with a sob at the end.
The Thestral leader came forward, "Affection doesn't see the skin. It sees the intention, the emotions. Your emotions are of true affection. I am sure she will understand this too."
Draco sniffed loudly. "I tried to write in the dust but these claws are not equipped to write words. Useless scribbles. She didn't know what I wrote."
Tears rolled down his scaly face.
"Draco, are you okay? Why's everyone here?"
Roars, squeaks, screeches, grunts, snorts and coos were the answer to her question.
Crooks maowed and meowed and pointed to Draco and maowed some more, chattered his teeth, ending with a I'm-batting-enemy-to-death paw move.
"Oh. That's a lot to think about," Hermione replied. "Anyways, some other time. It's time for Draco's hide balm. Come on, everyone, get busy."
The demiguise slapped Draco's rump this time.
Hermione was sitting in her plush cushy chair with a book in her hand and Crooks in her lap, all done for the day when she heard a loud thud. Did any creature get into mischief? They could really give Fred and George a run for their money.
Hermione got up when she heard knocks on the door. If this is Shenzi and her hyena gang knocking on the door and running away, she'll stop getting them the buffalo chew bone this week.
She didn't bother wrapping her robe on herself and picked Crooks up and marched towards the door.
She opened it with an angry jerk, only to find naked Draco Lucius Malfoy on her doorstep.
"Hi," he managed to murmur before he swayed dangerously on his feet.
Hermione rushed to hold him, Crooks jumping out of her arms. Hermione managed to hold him to her. She let out a sigh of relief only to realize she's holding a naked Draco in her arms while she was in a ratty nightwear.
Hermione gulped loudly. Talk about wishing for an interesting life.
To Be Continued...