Published Mar. 17, 2010. Happy St. Patty's All (totally didn't wear green...I forgot)
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Hermione threw the powder into the fire and watched it turn a brilliant green. Gathering Draco into her arms she cried out, "Malfoy Manor!" And stepped into the fire.
*~*~*~*~*
Hermione clutched Draco's limp body forcefully as the green fire whipped around the two, sending them through a whirlwind labyrinth of fireplaces flashing by.
She felt the first stings of the Malfoy wards as their exit came up. She was an unknown to the house, as well as a mudblood. She almost lost her grip on the unconscious Malfoy as the fireplace spat her out, onto a very luxurious shag carpet that covered the floor.
The wards began to attack her in earnest, and yet held back because of the Malfoy heir in her arms. It was this sight that Narcissa Malfoy walked into. She'd felt the wards going off as an unrecognized magical being tried to enter Malfoy Manor. They had fought against the entry of the being, but eventually receded to allow the being(s) in.
When she walked through the door way she came across a brown haired seductress holding her son while the wards alternately attacked and defended. Sparks and lightning were running across the young woman's skin as the semi-sentient wards attacked her. But she was also protected because of the Malfoy heir in her arms.
The girl seemed to realize that her holding him was causing the wards to attack him as well, adding to the pain he was already in; and struggled upright before hauling the heavier body to a waiting couch. As gently as she could while being attacked magically, she set him down and then crumpled as the full force of the attack hit her.
Narcissa walked in at that point. Elegant, black boots came into Hermione's blurred vision.
"Voldem...attack...Hogwarts…Draco…electric…blue...Malfoy….Manor… knew…what…was…"
She struggled to breathe, small cuts opening over her skin. Small dribbles of blood came out the corner of her mouth and her nose. Narcissa looked down at the girl, her form curled up in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid pain, her body breaking out into spasms every few seconds.
Glancing over at her son, she threw a pinch of floo powder into the still-burning fireplace and called out the name of the Malfoy family's Healer. He arrived soon after. Narcissa once again looked to young mudblood on her floor. She sighed and took a clean white handkerchief out of her pocket.
Dabbing it along the now unconscious witch's mouth, she pressed the bloodied section into a small engraving along the fireplace. The witch was temporarily allowed through their wards.
Waving her wand, the limp body floated up and followed the stately Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy as she made her way to a guest room, before going to see her son.
She passed along the information the witch had given her and then left so the Healer could work in peace.
*~*~*~*~*
Several hours passed before Hermione opened her eyes to a deep red, velvet canopy that was so high the peak fell into shadows.
'Or it could just be a spell since you are currently live in a magical society…' Her rational thought won out. Her memory of what transpired that evening came back and she realized she was in the Malfoy home.
'In which case, the ceiling really could be that high…' She shook her head and decided it didn't really matter at this point. Feeling around her skirt for her wand, she sat up and spoke at point-me charm to find Draco.
It took her several minutes and more than a few wrong turns before she finally came across his room. A healer was just packing up his things as she quietly opened the doors. A brown head turned to look at her and then dismissed her.
A quiet "Don't wake him." was the only direction aimed at her. She nodded and sat down in the chair beside the large bed. She observed the way his hair fell gently across his face; the sharp planes and angles softened in sleep. He didn't look angelic, nor like a god, as some of the older females of Hogwarts said.
She remembered that he had called her by her actual name, not Carmen, when he told her to take him to Malfoy Manor. As she sat and looked at him, she wondered how he could have known, and then proceeded to mentally go over each interaction they'd had the previous night, trying to find her mistake of letting herself be known.
She couldn't come up with anything resolute and decided to ask him when he was awake and feeling better. Sighing, Hermione stood up and made her way out of the room. Muttering another point-me charm to find Mrs. Malfoy, she wound her way throughout the manor until she came across the beautiful lady of the house.
Narcissa Malfoy was sitting in the very room Hermione herself had flooed into. She was sitting on a beautiful, mahogany red bench, ankles delicately crossed, a fine china teacup and saucer held in one hand and a clothing magazine in on her lap.
She didn't look up but tilted her head in acknowledgement of Hermione's presence. Hermione curtsied low.
"I thank you for allowing me rest Mrs. Malfoy and for allowing me into your beautiful home. I am well enough to travel now and should be getting back to Hogwarts to alert the professors of what has transpired. If I may take my leave, Lady?"
Narcissa was amused and vaguely impressed with the girl's manners. Since she didn't recognize the girl, she assumed she was a mudblo-muggleborn. And impossibly few of them knew proper etiquette; especially when it came to addressing a lord. Or a lady, in this situation.
Narcissa stood and looked at the girl. Her costume from the Hallowe'en dance was covered in soot from the floo system and had cuts all throughout from the wards' attack.
"You were hurt in your attempt to bring my son to a cure only our family knows. In thanks, I myself looked after your wounds and I now consider my debt to you repaid. If my son feels any debt toward you, he will speak to you about it and you will discuss with him.
Beyond that I feel no obligation towards you or your person. You may use some floo powder to return to Hogwarts." She brushed past the younger witch and moved into the hallway.
Hermione was slightly off-put by the brusque tone Mrs. Malfoy has addressed her with, but put it down to aristocracy and their mannerisms. Padding over to the fireplace she grabbed a pinch of floo powder and tossed it into the fire.
She eyed the green flames nervously, but calmly stepped forward and called out, "Hogwarts Hospital Wing!" Remembering her last tumble through the labyrinthine floo system, she kept her arms close to her sides and managed to stay up-right until the flames spat her back out into the Hospital Wing.
Madame Pomfrey looked up at the clatter that came from the fireplace in her office and made it to the door just in time to see a curly, dark haired witch tumble head over heels onto the stone floor. Recognizing her from Dumbledore's reports, Madame Pomfrey now knew it was Hermione Granger.
Muffling a chuckle, she stepped forward. "Dumbledore said to send you to his office when you arrived Ms. Granger." Hermione, despite the dazed look on her face, nodded and brushed excess soot off her ruined dress.
As she made her way to the Headmaster's office, she muttered a few cleaning and repairing charms and conjured a hair elastic and pulled her curly, dark tresses into a side pony.
The gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office jumped aside even before she could open her mouth to guess at the password. She made her way up the winding staircase and gently knocked on the door before entering.
"Ah! Ms. Granger! Please, have a seat." She nodded her greeting and sat down in the only empty chair. The rest were filled with the schools' professors.
Gentle blue eyes focused on her as she began telling her perspective of what had taken place the night before. She concluded by telling them that Draco Malfoy made it home and was stable the last she saw him.
The professors' faces were grave and several gave her pitying looks. Dumbledore nodded at the conclusion and told Hermione to take the rest of the day off in her rooms. She nodded and left the office.
Once in the Head tower, she stripped off her clothes on her way to the bathroom. After shutting the door she pulled on a soft, thin, milky white robe and turned on the taps for the bathtub. Said tub was big enough to accommodate several large people, and Hermione looked forward to being alone, with the jets turned on halfway.
A flick of her wand and gentle soothing music permeated the air. Dropping the robe, she slid into the tub; warm water and a soft vanilla scent rising up to meet her. Hermione closed her eyes and enjoyed the small waves gently crashing against her body. The small smile disappeared as the glare of the bright lights on shining white stone blinded her.
A hasty spell or five later, the lights had been dimmed almost to the point of non-existence and several white and sea green candles were placed around the edge. Some were transfigured into little flower shaped candles with a buoyancy charm added and placed on the water. Others were charmed to hover in the air and slowly move about.
Hermione sank until the water level came up to her nose and closed her eyes, allowing the calm and soothing atmosphere to work away any tensions from past 24 hours. As she soaked, Hermione thought about the two times she had danced with the heir to the Malfoy family.
Images of their bodies pressed against each other and their sensual dance of cat and mouse played across her mind's eye. The way they had waltzed in front of the entire school, bodies perfectly matched; every step in synch with the other. She marveled that two people who had never danced together before were able to look that good as a pair.
She had known who he was from the very start. She had seen him ducking away from Parkinson and bringing up a glamour. Even if she hadn't seen that, she'd accidentally come across his costume a few days prior.
And then, for the first time in her life, Hermione Granger decided to stop thinking. She pushed everything aside and focused on the sensations the water made against her skin, the smell that she breathed in every few seconds, the sounds softly filtering in and the gently lit surroundings.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and resolved to spend the next several hours in the bathroom.
*~*~*~*~*
Draco Malfoy was notably absent for the following few days. Many of the Gryffindors and some younger Hufflepuffs were also noticeably gleeful about that. Hermione felt more than a little angry that her housemates were rejoicing over the injury Malfoy had sustained in the Hogwarts attack.
She pointedly ignored any and all who gave voice to similar feelings and would frequently prop a book up so as to discourage any conversation. A tap on her shoulder Friday morning roused her from the intricate theories of Charms. Tilting her head, she looked into the mismatched eyes of Blaise Zambini.
The neutral look Hermione received gave her no misgivings; so when Blaise's head angled toward the Slytherin table she nodded and gathered her things. Silence reigned supreme until the two sat down amongst the Seventh Year Slytherins, and then wild whispering broke out in the hall.
"We wanted to know what happened to Malfoy." Hermione gazed at all the eyes focused on her. She pursed her lips.
"I don't know how close any of you are with Malfoy, and I like to think I know enough about Slytherin politics to know not to give out free information; especially considering the subject. And no matter what you say, I also have no way of confirming how close any of you actually are to the subject.
So the only thing I will say is that Malfoy is in stable condition. If you want to know more, owl him and ask him yourself. I'm not a public messaging board full of free information."
She stood and shouldered her bag. Snapping up a warm blueberry muffin she walked to her Ancient Runes class.
*~*~*~*~*
Draco looked blearily around the Head commons when he arrived, late Friday night. He had successfully managed to steer clear of any nosy, questioning people; though a fair number of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs saw him wandering through the halls.
The attack had made front page in The Daily Prophet and a few owls had been sent his way. He had received an owl around lunch from a nosy Slytherin by the name of Blaise Zambini. In it, Zambini outlined what little they had gleaned from Granger and what they wanted more details about.
Draco made a mental note to remember to thank the bushy-haired Gryffindor as he stumbled over to his room, thankful that no one could see him looking like a drunk.
"You alright Malfoy?"
He froze minutely at the soft voice that popped out of nowhere. Turning around he saw an equally bleary-eyed Granger stretched out on the chaise by the fire.
"Didn't know anyone was out here; wasn't trying to wake you." Granger nodded and stifled a yawn. Her eyes took a few minutes to focus of the figure to her left.
"S'okay. I didn't mean to fall asleep in front of the fire anyway. Tomorrow we have some Head duties to figure out and begin planning."
He dipped his head in acknowledgement and continued stumbling to his room. Granger muttered a charm to lower the fire, but keep it burning in a controlled manner, and departed to her room as well.
*~*~*~*~*
Saturday dawned bright, clear and cold enough to leave the first frost on the quidditch pitch. Not many people were awake for an early breakfast. Two such people were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy.
So while this normally wouldn't have been a big deal, the relatively recent scandal of them being together was still up in the air where people could latch on to the idea. So speculation began that the Head Boy and Girl had spent the night celebrating, in the most carnal of ways, the fact that the Malfoy heir was alive and well.
Word had spread like wildfire by the noon meal and when the two came down together, it only lent more fuel to the fire of Hogwarts' Rumor Mill.
Draco received a thick, cream envelope with his father's personal seal on it halfway through his lunch. Knowing several protection charms would be on the envelope, he didn't mind opening it with people around.
Silver eyes quickly scanned the writing, a scowl becoming more and more prominent on his features. Disregarding the signature at the bottom, he stood angrily and stormed out of the Great Hall.
Hermione pulled out her journal to jot a few notes down from the current book she was reading. At least, that's what it looked like to everyone else. Instead she jotted a line down and waited for a response.
A few minutes later the reply came in an angry, harsh scrawl; a far cry from his usual elegance. Glancing up at Ginny and Harry, she waited for another five minutes before snapped her book shut.
"Hey guys, I have to go to the library! I just found something crucial for my research! Well, really it's a link to something I was researching, but I found a mention of it in this book. And really it's not even a link, just a very brief reference to a similar ingredient that helps with my research and it also has-"
"Okay, have a good time Hermione!" Ginny cut of her mindless speech and she got an amused glance from Harry. She smiled at them and walked out of the hall, a bounce in her step.
As soon as Hermione knew that she was in the clear and no one would see her, she disillusioned herself and raced to a particular spot in the back of the library.
Her sacred spot, normally lit by dimly filtered golden light from the nearby stained glass window, was a black thundercloud of anger and rage. She was frightened by the look on Malfoy's face and almost didn't want to go up with him. She sucked in a breath, hoping to keep hold of her Gryffindor courage in that breath and stepped in.
The angry dragon vaguely registered the witch's presence and continued with his pacing. Muted words tumbled from his snarling mouth, his face set in a perpetual snarl. Moving as if the wizard in front of her was a dangerous, caged beast, Hermione slowly took small step after small step until she reached the table.
Before she could even think about what she was doing, or the consequences of her actions, she loudly plunked her bag on the table and sat down, heaving out a sigh. Feeling the force of Draco's glare on her form, she ignored him, tried not to shiver, and opened her book bag.
She had been reading her book for a good five minutes, Draco's eyes boring a hole into her skull, before he finally snapped.
"What the hell are you doing?" In exact contrast to his explosive anger, she was calm and quiet.
"I'm reading a book Malfoy. I would have thought that was obvious. And I'm going to assume you'll read it too, as it pertains to our potions project. Which needs the next ingredient by tomorrow at noon."
He glare had turned into a blank stare. "Right. Our potion. Okay." He shook his head
"What made you so angry as to storm out of the Great Hall in a snit?"
Draco hesitated before turning around and grabbed the letter he had thrown on the table. "Read it."
Hermione took it from his hand and skimmed her eyes over the fancy script.
Son,
I have received news of the attack on Hogwarts. It was smart pretending to be on the Muggle-loving Fool's side. However, I trust you will accept our Lord and Master's offer of joining his noble cause when it comes. If he has not done so as of yet, it will be soon, perhaps just after your Coming of Age.
You would do well to begin looking for your bride. Parkinson will suffice. Her father and I have been talking through the arrangement for the past several months. She has enough prestige to lend even more to the Malfoy name and her dowry won't hurt our coiffures any. Her looks are well enough to mix with the Malfoy genes and pass on to your offspring.
I had better hear news of your engagement soon Draconis, or there will be consequences to be paid!
Sincerely,
Lucius Malfoy
She placed the parchment on the table. 'Nice family.' Looking up at him Hermione wondered what the problem was. She, Ron and Harry, and pretty much every student in the entire bloody school, had thought that Malfoy would follow his father's footsteps as a member of Voldemort's Inner Circle.
"Not to be rude Malfoy, but why exactly does this bother you? The entire school thinks you're already a Death Eater and are working your way up the ranks to take your father's place."
"Of course that's not rude. Not at all." She gave him a weak sneer. "Pitiful Granger. Truly pitiful. My 'exact reason' as you say, for this bothering me, is because my father, the idiot who taught me to never bow down to someone, has dwindled our family fortune from an amount that would suffice for several generations of 'big-spenders', to an amount that is almost less than that of newly blooded families.
"And what has he spent it on? Absolutely demented plans that as of yet have not reaped any sufficient profits for our family, let alone their side. It was ingrained in me as a child, that if it the gains do no exceed the cost, it's not worth my attention.
And when the Dark Lord calls, my father comes, like a dog begging for a treat. A dog who loves his master even though he is starved and beaten. There is no free will in that, that cult! And I will not partake in such idiocy!
"He goes against everything that the Malfoy name stands for! And I cannot allow that any longer!
And while I don't exactly like the idea of consorting with mudbloods and half-bloods, I do realize that they are needed in a class society. If there are no peasants, how are the nobles differentiated?
"My father has been found a member of the Dark Lord's ranks, justly tried and put in Azkaban. My 17th birthday, the day I become a legal adult in the eyes of the Ministry and the magical community, is in just under two months. And because Gringotts does not formally recognize anyone in Azkaban as a Head of a family, I will assume that title upon my Coming of Age. Once a Malfoy becomes Head, no one can take it away for the first two years; as such my father cannot in any way wrest control back to himself. So long as I have married, or am engaged, by the end of the second year, the Malfoy Headship will remain mine."
Hermione translated nobles as purebloods, new blood as pureblooded families that weren't as old as the Malfoys; took slight offense to the peasant remark; and was more than slightly surprised, and a little confused, to hear his plans.
She muttered a passing thought out loud, "I wonder if any of his followers know he's half-blood..." Draco's head snapped around to look at her.
"What did you say?" Hermione, not realizing she's spoken loud enough for him to hear, gave him a blank look.
"I just said that Voldemort is a half-blood himself; leading a bunch of blood purists to destroy any human less than them. In which he's included. So if he did rid the world of all blood impurities, and then reigned supreme, if any of his followers truly believed in their theology, they would have to kill Voldemort as well.
"But no one seems to have realized that yet. I suppose Voldemort would kill anyone off if they did know." She thought for a moment.
"So you're going to accept Parkinson back, despite what she did, and get married soon after you both graduate?"
He sneered again. "Not hardly Granger. I will not tie myself to some boat-brained twit who can't think for herself and would like nothing more than to get her disgustingly grubby hands on my inheritance."
Hermione snickered at his lovely description of Pansy. "Alright-y chief. What's your plan then?" She was slightly giddy. She'd never have imagined Malfoy to be so…she couldn't even think of the word.
Draco looked at the bushy-haired witch before him and gave her an incredulous look. What exactly was so funny? And what the hell did she mean by alright-y chief? It had to be some muggle saying. No way anything that stupid could be anything but.
"What are your plans after graduating Granger?"
Hermione frowned. "Abrupt topic change much?" Sigh. "Despite what everyone thinks, I don't have my future planned and mapped out to precision. I'm interested in Healing, but I also love Charms and Transfiguration so I might go for Mastery in either, or possibly both, of those.
At the same time, I usually complete my year of muggle education in the summer and I'm set to graduate from high school in the fall. I've received several scholarships and offers from a variety of universities, so that's also an option I may look into.
"Beyond that, if I do decide to go for and receive Mastery, I may apply for one of the magical universities in Greece or Italy. They're very prestigious and have an amazing reputation for turning out extremely qualified workers.
I heard they just started a new program for those who have Mastery in a subject. You study for a few more years and once you graduate you can claim Wizardry in that subject; and I think there are future plans for developing a Sovereignty program, which would be a step above. Like a PhD in the muggle world.
"And they also have a Crafts program, similar to the muggle Trades system. It's where you apprentice and then apply for a Journeyman status. Except I think they call it a Craftsman instead of Journeyman. But I could be entirely wrong about that."
Draco was mystified by the witch in front of him. She had absolutely no life beyond education and furthering her knowledge. He checked himself as a thought floated across his mind. 'And knowledge is power.'
"Speaking of abrupt topic changes, you did one so it's my turn. How did you know it was me at the Hallowe'en Ball? I've been over every action I made that night, every gesture, every word I spelled out and I can't for the life of me figure out how you knew it was me!"
Draco was getting whiplash from switching from one topic to another so fast. Several ideas were colliding with words, phrases, future plans from the witch in front of him with his own plots and plans and it was all wrecking wonderful havoc in his mind.
He forcefully shoved everything to the side except for her last question/rant.
"You called out to me after I was hit. I had no idea it was you until then. But you have a very distinguishable voice so I knew it was you."
Hermione sighed. "Of course. The one option I didn't remember or consider is the answer. How utterly typical of my brain." She rolled her eyes.
Draco shook his head. 'Merlin I need to stop thinking. My head hurts.' Hermione noticed his pained grimace and uttered a quick pain relieving charm.
Draco nodded in appreciation. "Back to my original point of being here. I was angry and vengeful and quite happy in my black mood and now you've gone and ruined it. And we've gotten completely off topic-"
"You're fault Malfoy, not mine."
He shot her a baleful glance and ground his teeth. "As. I. Was. Saying. Going back to your original plan for revenge against the Weasel and the contract we made that we'd help each other out, I now need you to be my girlfriend."
Hermione looked at him. "The entire school already thinks we're dating. What more do you want?"
"Okay, yes, the majority thinks we're a couple, but several key people don't believe it. And we need to make sure they do. We need to make it real. So expect to be proposed to sometime between my Coming of Age and our graduation."
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AN: Haha! Love this chapter! Lemme know what y'all think!