5th June 1998, 21:18
Draco was thoroughly relaxed and happy. His friends were the most amazing people in the world, putting together the best birthday party ever (and that included the one when he turned eleven and got his first real broom). After they had eaten the ice cream and started on the snacks the conversation had become less stilted and moments of silence were few and far in between.
Luna was chatting animatedly with Charlie about a tiny dragon species that had recently been discovered in the swamps of Louisiana. Pansy, Daphne and Blaise were discussing muggle fashion while Tracey and Ginny were talking about Quidditch.
"Draco, are you coming or what?" Thomas called, already halfway down the path to the lake.
"Coming," Draco called, following his brother – and wasn't that a strange concept – and the others down to the shore.
Hermione had settled down on one of the cushions by the wood piles. George and Percy were already in the water, while Theo and Thomas were apparently waiting for him.
"Come on, old man," Thomas whined. "I don't want to wait all day!"
"Are you even allowed into the water with your tattoo?" Draco asked, suddenly concerned.
Thomas eyes became big. "Damn, I didn't think of that!"
Hermione stood up from her cushion and came over to them. "Where'd you get it?"
Thomas turned around to show her his shoulder. "This afternoon, I don't know how I could forget, especially since it still stings."
"I think I can put a water-repellent charm on that area," Hermione said contemplatively. "It shouldn't damage the ink and you don't have to worry about it in the water."
Theo stepped closer. "Maybe you could attach the charm to the wrapping? It would probably hold better than on skin."
Hermione nodded. "If that's okay with you Thomas? I know not everyone is comfortable with being subjected to magic."
Thomas gave his okay and Hermione got to work. To finish the charm she levitated some water from the lake and smiled brightly when it rolled straight of the wrapping without leaving a drop behind. "You're all set!"
Thomas thanked her and set off into the lake, followed by Theo.
"Won't you go in with them?" Hermione asked, turning to Draco.
He shrugged. "I don't feel that comfortable about it."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Is it about your scars?"
"Partially," Draco nodded. "Mostly the one from the Mark. You know, Thomas gave me a gift card for the tattoo I want to cover the scar."
"That's a nice gesture," Hermione smiled, looking out to the boys playing in the water. Theo, George and Percy all wore their wands in sheaths on their arms but they didn't seem to be using magic to splash the water. "I'm glad everyone is at least civil to him."
Draco shrugged again. "He's easy to like and the only real question was whether Daphne and Millicent would say something." He wondered whether it would be rude to ask, but finally his curiosity won. "Why are you not going into the water? I mean, I understand why you didn't stay at the clearing…" he trailed off and looked over to Hermione.
"Scars," Hermione said without any inflection. "I don't feel too comfortable either."
"That bad?" Draco was surprised. Of course he knew of the scar on her forearm and her neck, but he had thought those were the only ones.
Hermione looked at him for a moment, then she turned back to face the lake. "The Battle of the Ministry at the end of the fifth year. Dolohov got me with a dark curse. Madam Pomfrey said I was lucky that he was silenced, otherwise I could have died."
"Oh," Draco didn't know what to say. "For what it's worth I'm sorry that happened."
Hermione looked over to him, her curls bouncing with the abrupt movement. "It's not your fault! We were foolhardy enough to think that no adult would be there fast enough and that we should go ourselves. If anyone is to blame then it would be Voldemort for sending Harry that vision of Sirius!"
Draco chuckled darkly. "Well, he certainly paid for it, just like Dolohov."
"Yeah," Hermione said quietly. "Although I'm still not comfortable with the Ministry's actions that day."
"At least they'll never again cause damage that way," Draco crossed his arms in front of his chest. He caught her raised eyebrow out of the corner of his eye. "Don't look at me like that. After I heard what happened to Sirius I would have preferred they got a fair trial as well."
"Who would have thought?" Hermione teased. She frowned, looking down on her forearm. "You know what? Let's be proud of our scars, because they mean that we survived."
Now it was Draco's turn to look at her with surprise. "What do you mean?"
Hermione pulled her loose shirt over her head. "I'm saying we shouldn't be ashamed of them, wear them with pride." She shimmied out of her skirt. "And those who judge us negatively because of them don't deserve our attention anyway."
Draco was left gaping as Hermione walked into the lake in a bikini. Had Thomas not explained to him that muggle swimwear differed a lot from wizarding wear he certainly would have been shocked. No, what really had him rooted to the spot was the realisation that Hermione Granger was hot!
She didn't look like those models in the wizarding fashion magazines, tall and willowy. She wasn't petite either. She had curves and if that butt wasn't to die for!
Draco had to tear his gaze away when she turned around. But his eyes only landed on the thick, purple scar that started between her breasts and ran down to the right side of her stomach.
"That bad?" she echoed his own words back at him with a sad smile.
"No," Draco shook his head. "Not really."
He finally found the determination to pull his own shirt over his head. He saw Hermione's eyes widen in surprise for a moment before they softened into something too close to pity for his liking. He turned to getting rid of his trousers and transfiguring his pants into bathing trunks so he wouldn't have to deal with that.
"Not that bad either," Hermione said softly when he joined her in the lake.
Splashing the cool water on his limbs to acquaint them with the temperature, he hid his face in his hands. "If you say so."
"Finally, we were wondering whether you'd chickened out!" Theo called effectively cutting off whatever Hermione had wanted to say. "Whose team will you be on?"
Draco looked up in surprise. "There are teams?"
"Obviously," Thomas said with sparkling eyes. "And you'll be on mine, brother dearest!"
"If you say so," Draco laughed, his dark thoughts about scars and pity vanishing. "Three on three?"
"Yep," George confirmed and threw a freshly summoned ball at Hermione. "You'll be with me and Perce, Mione."
"Percy and me," Hermione corrected with a sweet smile, but she swam over to them without protest.
"Alright, for fairness reasons there is no magic allowed," George said as soon as he had the ball in his hands again.
"You don't have to, you know," Thomas shrugged. "I think it would be interesting to see that."
"Nah, it'll be more fun that way," George said. "We really shouldn't rely on magic that much anyway."
"Also that amount of magic would make the nøkken nervous," Theo added casually.
"The what now?" George asked with big eyes.
"Norse merfolk," Theo explained. "My folks brought them with them to protect the waterway into the grounds. They quite pleasant unless you use magic around them, bad experiences I guess."
"Alright, no magic in these waters, understood," George nodded, throwing the ball from hand to hand.
Draco had known there were merpeople in the waters on the grounds, and he had known that he wasn't supposed to use magic while in the water. But nobody had ever told him that it was connected.
They played until it got too dark to properly see the ball. But Hermione grabbed Draco's hand before he could follow the others to the shore where the rest of their group was now sitting around the two campfires.
"You know, I wish I had been there when Harry went after you," Hermione said when he turned to her. Her eyes were big and sad. "Maybe I could have stopped him from attacking you."
Draco smiled ruefully. "I don't think anyone could stop Potter when he is in a mood."
Hermione chuckled. "Maybe. I still am angry with him for using a spell that he didn't know."
"How would he have known what it does without trying it?" Draco asked, his tone teasing.
"He could have tried on one of the dummies we had for the DA," Hermione replied tartly. "But no, he had to go and throw it at an unsuspecting victim."
"I think I was pretty suspecting after he had thrown everything else at me already," Draco laughed, winking at her. To his surprise she blushed.
"Still, had he even taken a moment to translate the spell he would have known not to use it," Hermione replied, flicking Draco against his chest.
"Why? We use Cutting Spells all the time while duelling," Draco said, gently batting her hand away. "He couldn't have known from the translation that Sectumsempra is designed to resist healing."
Hermione heaved a sigh. "He also wouldn't have known had he used it on a dummy, I know. Ron and I had a lengthy debate about it."
"The Weasel King?" Draco asked in surprise.
Hermione glowered at him, but it lacked real heat. "Yes, Ron is quite good at predicting moves and their outcomes. He's actually a brilliant chess player. He said unless Harry had shown that spell to Snape and specifically asked about it he couldn't have known what it did without casting it."
"Weaslebee is a brilliant chess player?" Draco echoed, now downright baffled. "I mean, he is right about the spell, don't tell him I said that!" Hermione laughed. "But I really didn't know!"
"Well, he beat McGonagall's giant chess in first year" Hermione told him proudly. "She was really impressed when she heard that."
"He beat McGonagall?! In first year?" Draco would sit down if he could. "Why does nobody tell me things like that?"
"Maybe because you hated his guts from the moment you laid eyes on him and wouldn't have believed it anyway?" Hermione asked, her tone teasing and her eyes sparkling.
Draco huffed. "It's not like he acted any better!"
Hermione outright laughed at him for that, so he had to retaliate by shoving quite a large amount of water into her face. As soon as she could open her eyes again she lunged for him, but he easily dodged her attack and threw himself into the water to swim away.
As soon as he had ground under his feet he started to run, laughing freely. He just made it onto dry ground when a Tripping Jinx did its work and he fell on his face.
When he turned to push himself up, Hermione was standing over him, hair loose and dripping on her shoulders, wand held to her side, eyes glinting with victory.
"All right, all right, I yield!" Draco panted. "Can you please help me up?"
Hermione took her wand between her teeth while doing up her hair again, finally fixing it with a quick spell and the wand shoved through. Only then she grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him up.
They were standing chest to chest, Draco looking down into her chocolate brown eyes, illuminated by the fires behind them. She grinned up at him. "I won."
"But only through witchcraft and trickery!" Draco said with faux-mockery.
"Says the Slytherin," Hermione shook her head at him and turned to join their friends at the campfires. "Now if you'll excuse me, I want to talk to people who appreciate that."
"Insufferable witch," Draco called after her, but he was afraid that the grin on his face betrayed his true thoughts entirely.
He summoned his clothes from where he had put them on one of the blankets and cast a quick Drying Charm on himself before he put them on. As pleasant as the cold water had been after a hot summer day and while playing games, he started to feel cold now that the sun was completely gone.
The campfires burned brightly and their heat was most welcome to his frozen toes. He sat down between Theo and Hermione and gladly accepted the beer the former offered him. It was a muggle brand Blaise had recommended and after he had gotten used to the strong flavour he certainly could see why. Butterbeer got too sweet if you had more than two or three.
"So, what's the plan now?" Draco asked, using the lull in the conversation around him. Daphne, Tracey and Thomas had been talking about the difference between muggle and wizarding sweets.
George perked up from Theo's other side. (Apparently they had decided to remove the cushion that would have separated the two groups.) "Well, we've got marshmallows, on Blaise's suggestion, which one roasts on a stick in the campfire. But somebody has to keep an eye on the time, at midnight there will be a surprise!"
Draco raised an eyebrow, he remembered the twins' 'surprises' for the Slytherin student body very vividly.
"Don't worry, Draco, I made sure it's a good one," Theo said with a grin.
Draco only relaxed marginally, Theo had a wicked sense for humour and always grudgingly respected the twins for their ideas and the charmwork behind them.
"If the surprise is anything like your surprise on Yule in our third year I'm not surprised that Draco is apprehensive," Tracey said quietly, with a small smile.
Theo stuck out his tongue at her. "I thought it was very funny!"
"Yes, you didn't have to sing Christmas carols whenever you said the word 'present' or 'gift'," Daphne reminded him, her scowl only softened by the twinkling in her eyes.
George gasped audibly. "That is an amazing idea! How did you do that?"
"I charmed the chocolate I gave everyone," Theo explained proudly. Draco nearly didn't notice his flaming red ears; Theo blushing because somebody appreciate his prank? That was a new one!
"Oh, you'll have to teach me that!" George exclaimed and Draco felt Hermione stiffen next to him.
"Well, you've heard it," Percy said drily. "Better not accept anything to eat or drink from either of them anytime soon."
The group laughed. Then George called Cinny to bring the sticks with the marshmallows and Blaise proceeded to teach everyone how to roast marshmallows to perfection.
On the stroke of midnight George released a spark from his wand that ignited the fireworks which previously had been hidden by the bushes. Draco studiously ignored how everyone but Thomas flinched and grabbed for their wands when the first rocket went off.
Colourful streaks flew across the sky and exploded into wheels of Slytherin green and silver, followed by Gryffindor red and gold, Ravenclaw blue and bronze and finally Hufflepuff yellow and black.
Then a giant snake appeared on the sky hissing at the lion that had exploded next to her immediately after. They circled each other for a moment before they turned into silver and golden shower of sparks, intermingling until they hit the surface of the lake.
The next barrage of explosions turned into the words 'Happy Birthday Draco' and a silvery-white ferret that ran across the sky towards Draco.
Hermione laughed loudly and leant over to whisper into his ear. "Harry and Ron would have loved that."
Draco snorted. "I know, Granger."
She looked startled at his use of her last name, but then she smiled wickedly. "If you say so, Malfoy."
The firework lasted for about half an hour and when it was over Draco stood up, went over to George and hugged him. "That was bloody brilliant, Weasley!"
"I'm glad you think so," the redhead grinned from ear to ear. "I wasn't quite whether I'd get it all done in one week, you know."
"You really outdid yourself, little brother," Charlie said, joining them. "Flitwick would be so proud of you!"
"Yes, he would, wouldn't he?" George sounded downright melancholic, looking out on the lake as if he still could see the colourful explosions.
"Fred would be proud too," Charlie said quietly and Draco realised why George looked so broken.
"Hey, George," Theo called from the bushes, where he just vanished the last traces of the fireworks. "Can you take a look whether I found everything?"
George nodded and went over to the treeline, leaving Charlie and Draco to stand next to each other.
"Thank you for coming, by the way," Draco finally said. "I wasn't sure if you could leave work after returning so recently."
Charlie waved his concerns away. "They told me I could return to Great Britain whenever I wished. But only because I insisted on returning to Romania already."
They watched as Theo pulled George into a brief hug before the two of them turned to re-join the group. Draco tried to comprehend the look on Theo's face when Charlie sighed softly next to him.
"How long have they lived together now?" he asked quietly.
"George moved in on Sunday," Draco answered. "Why?"
Charlie shrugged. "They seem comfortable with each other."
"They're both pranksters," Draco pointed out. "Maybe that's what's connecting them."
"Maybe," Charlie nodded and walked back to his place at the fire.
Draco followed him, mulling over what he had seen of Theo's and George's interactions that evening. They both seemed to be in better spirits than they had been on the night in the cabin. Draco had chalked it up to the time that had passed. But maybe it was more? A friendship that gave both of them strength to face life?
Like his own friendship with Hermione, knowing that at least one person was able to see past his mistakes and failures, past the mask of indifference, certainly helped him to leave the bed every morning. His family and his friends from before of course liked him, but he would never take Hermione's friendship for granted. Half of the time he didn't even think he deserved it.
The fires were mostly burned down by now and they were just readying themselves to go into the clearing or even the cabin when the first faint sounds of a violin reached their ears. Their gazes were drawn out on the water where, on a rock in front of the small island, a young man was playing. The moon was not yet full but its light was enough to make out his near ethereal beauty.
They sat down on the lakefront, caught up in the beauty of the music. Draco wasn't sure how much time passed, but as soon as the fiddler looked up and noticed them the spell was broken. While Draco's limbs felt stiff and cold, his heart was all the richer with the otherworldly sounds.
Theo said something in Norwegian that Draco didn't understand, but the fiddler bowed and jumped into the water.
"I guess that was one of those Norwegian merfolk?" George asked, his voice still had a dream-like quality.
"Yes," Theo replied quietly. "I thanked him for the concert. You're very lucky to have heard one. I only heard them play twice before."
"I wonder how they enchant their songs," Luna said, still gazing out over the lake. "I wish I could ask him."
"I don't know much about Norwegian merfolk," Charlie spoke up. "But what I heard is that you should better avoid actually talking to them. It's somewhat safe to listen to their music, but if you speak to them they're very likely to try and drown you."
"Charlie is right." Theo pulled George up. "They are very easily insulted. They know I'm a Nott, therefore they tolerate me talking to them, to a point."
The concert had moved all of them quite deeply and Draco wasn't too surprised when Thomas came over to him while they were walking back to the clearing.
"It felt like I was back in the wards," he said quietly. "Is that how magic always feels?"
Draco shook his head. "No, only the old and primal kind. Did you feel the charm Hermione put on the cling film?"
Thomas cocked his head to the side. "Not really, just a slight tingling."
"That's how most everyday magic feels," Draco explained. "Stronger magic tingles more and dark magic is more like pinpricks, it hurts a bit."
Thomas was quiet for a moment. "You did a lot of dark magic in the last year, right?"
Draco nodded tightly. There was no sense in denying it.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Thomas said, putting a hand on Draco's shoulder. "I mean you told me how those curses give you a powerful feeling. But having the magic itself hurt can't be pleasant."
"Thank you, Thomas," Draco said, a small smile playing at the corner of his lips.
a/n2: I would love to have a party in a forest at a lakefront! What did you think of the presents? I'm combining movie and book canon on Hermione's and Draco's scars, because I think that the Battle of the Ministry and her ensuing scar probably influenced Hermione quite a lot. I hope you liked the chapters and weren't too concerned about the delay! I'm looking forward to your reviews! :)