In case it bears repeating; all characters from the HP 'verse belong to the amazing JKR. Everyone else is mine. Some similarities to anything with the HP verse it borrowed, and I make no money from this story.

Also; errors are all on me. My bad.

Chapter 43

Ursa's brow was still furrowed intensely while she read over the last weeks accounts, store volumes and completed building report from the nursery. An otherwise bore some day-to-day event that would normally see the woman sipping her warmed daily elderberry and comfrey tea without care nor concern, but after 11 days with no word from her children, and their wards; her worries had begun to take hold of her.

She inhaled deeply over the steam from the earthen-ware mug. The sweet and crisp aroma had the slightest earthy back-tone to it from the burdock she had added just specially this morning. The primrose and raspberry leaf were a subtle touch to it as well, but ones purely for necessity and not

Her lower belly turned over slightly with an accompanying groan and she adjusted in her seat. Was the stress and worry was beginning to take a toll on her, she asked silently and turned her parchment to continue her review.

The gentle tinkling of metal on pewter sounded and Ursa glanced up at the rest of the table to discover that the Lady Narcissa had joined her at some point during her glazed over ponderings. She smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry, my Lady, I didn't hear you enter." She shuffled away her work and opened her posture more invitingly. The Lady-guest to her House smiled, and waved her hand slightly.

"No need for amends, Lady. I confess I entered rather quietly myself, intent to remain subdued. From the look of it, you seemed immersed quite well in your Household duties. It is not my place to disturb."

Ursa gave a small smile and looked down at her own place setting to be greeted with a now-cold porridge that had been set there some time prior by a domestic. Though, she had, too, ignored it utterly. She gave a resigned sigh.

From down the table Narcissa chuckled. "I see you are as hungry as I." She said with a tone laced in melancholy. When Ursa looked at her again, she noted that while her fellow Lady was dressed and her hair back, that the style was neither elaborate, nor meticulous as it should be. Her blue eyes carried weight under them that, like her own, had not been there a mere fortnight prior.

She shook her head and leaned back and away from the table. Through the small stained windows the diffused light outside belied the grim and gray clouds in the sky, further adding to the somber feel of the day. Her own despondence so dominating, she further failed to hear the other occupied chair creak against the stone of the floor as it was pushed back, and the sole presence in the room approach her.

When Ursa came back to herself once more, she found that Narcissa had joined her at her lonely end of the table. Her lips turned down in an expression that matched what Ursa assumed she herself must wear as well.

The two women sat in silence before Ursa sensed a shuffle of position in her companion, drawing her eyes away from the empty gaze she was consumed in. Narcissa had gentle dabbed at her eyes and the moisture that had encroached on her usual veneer of indifference, and Ursa felt herself soften suddenly at the mirror of the other woman she witnessed now. A mother, like herself, and a Lady of a great House. And though they were not exactly friends, they had become sorrowful companions in their arduously enduring task of awaiting the return of their children. Their only children, at that.

A feeling of great sympathy overwhelmed Ursa just then, and without thought to the consequence or the meaning of it, she lay her hand upon Narcissa's and offered a weak, yet warm smile. The first, she thought, in some length of time she could not yet imagine, it seemed. For all thoughts of warmth and happiness had all but evaporated from her since she watched her children ride off from the safety of their castle-home in the mountains, and into the unknown journey beyond.

No matter how many nights she had sought her husband's embrace, and how many times he had further kissed away her tears as he reverently stripped her down to the bare of her flesh in the privacy of their rooms to share in worship of the other, it had not been able to lift her spirits. For whenever sleep finally claimed her, it was with a worried heart and mind she rested. And with each waking morning she felt an emptiness in her chest where it seemed all of her happiness had been cleaved from it.

Even without the presence of their wards, Theo and Draco, the interior of the House was somber and silent in an eerie quiet that unnerved her. Such a large castle should never be forced to suffer the lack of laughter and love within it, she had resolved.

Joining her in this show of candor over her own sorrow, Ursa was at least comforted that, like her fellow Lady, she was not the only one who worried day and night over the outcome of what their offspring faced now.

"I, I don't know what's come over me." Narcissa managed to stammer, awkwardly patting Ursa's proffered hand over her own.

"You needn't hide your worry, Lady." Ursa said supportively. "I too, am stricken by the worries of what will befall our children in the mountains. Your tears are not the only ones to wet these floors." Narcissa managed a chuckle at that.

"I imagine not." She conceded and produced a good-natured smile then. She couldn't have explained what had come over her to cause her to join Ursa at the end of the table like this. To expose herself so utterly, and to a stranger in a House that would most certainly take up enmity to her purposes. For the House of Black had never before allied to any of the Houses of the Guild; most of the families within them had been deemed "too poor" or perhaps even "not of noble enough lineage to hold the titles they had." Such were the words of her father, and grandfather, this she knew as much.

But as they sat together in their mutual emotional devastations, she reasoned that it would be of benefit to forge new ground before she moved forward to her own establishments. The Lady nodded absentmindedly and looked again at Ursa. Her face, though much different than her own, what because of lineage, upbringing, as it all were. How different were they, truly? Did they not share the same goals of prosperity for their Houses? Did they not share a love of the children that had grown and sprung forth from their wombs? Were there not joys in life they did not seek to more-enhance their everyday lives?

Her palm atop Ursa's gave a little squeeze, and Ursa returned in kind.

Through this clandestine maelstrom of political backbiting that would unfold over the next months and years, it was odd that Narcissa found herself wondering if she could yet call this woman before her by a moniker she had never yet experienced: Friend.

From the smile that had graced Ursa's mouth, and the surety of which she held her, it seemed, strangely, that she could.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the first time in nearly a fortnight, Draco of House Malfoy felt comfortable, warm, and safe. The cushioning beneath him was warmed by a night of collected body heat, and all around him was an encasement of blankets which warmed him. In the fog of early morning thinking, he didn't question or ponder it, or anything else. He just breathed deeply and hugged closer to him the slightly-stirring body in his arms.

Soft strands were tickling his cheek when he dared to open his eyes finally. The light around was dim, but his eyes adjusted enough that he could see the rounded top of brown waves just near his chin. The scent in his nose was familiar, but distinct. A smell he knew, even. He tilted his chin to look down to discover that wound as tightly into his embrace as her own, was Hermione.

For a few heartbeats he was frozen still. Instinctually he knew he had to move, and immediately. Such a position was, well, deliciously intoxicating. For the familiar dull throb between his legs had responded instantly, bringing with it a not-unpleasant sting that demanded attention to it.

Though he had dreamed and longed for many nights, and many more mornings to find his arms filled with this specific female, he was more so concerned as to why she lay here in his arms. He had no prior memory of getting here, nor taking her into his bed. He covertly peeked around at their surroundings to see that they were in a vast indentation, like a bowl or sorts, filled with a bedding of leaves, and something fluffy he couldn't identify.

The sounds of sighs and breathing then filled his ears, and his eyes followed the noises to see that both Theo and Tyt'o were there too, and he exhaled his relief in seeing his compatriots alive and unharmed as they were. Though, neither of them had their arms filled with a woman, either. His cheeks felt hot suddenly, and the pull in his nether area compelled him with its desperation to seek some soft attentions against the form of his slumbering maiden.

Draco stifled a groan of longing to succumb to the craving in his loins, and detested mildly that in doing so he might firstly, terrify and humiliate his maiden and drive her to withdrawal of him, and secondly, they might be discovered. As painful as denying himself was, acceding to this itch had no fit in his stratagem. Instead, he distracted himself by touching the top of Hermione's fuzzy locks gently, familiarizing himself with the texture and feel. Using this opportunity to, instead of kissing and groping at the other frantically with uncertainty of how many moments they could afford to steal, to memorize every angle of her he could see. How her nose sloped perfectly into a dainty end, how the glow of the summer sun still kissed her cheeks and brow, and beneath it how faint little freckles existed on the crest, splattered here and there carelessly.

Her eyelashes were as thick and dark as they were long, as was her mane of hair which manages to appear both wavy in some places and curly in others. Though bound unrelentingly, and regularly, he blinked for a long moment imagining what it would feel like as the tresses poured over her shoulders as she leaned over him, and how the sensation would tickle his bare shoulders.

Even the minute vision in his mind's eye caused his flagging and ignored appendage to snap to life ruthlessly as it raged once more in demand that it be introduced more directly to some part of his lady. Draco squeezed his eyes shut, desperate to keep himself from rocking bodily against Hermione's sleeping, limp body, but in his stressful attempt to maintain some dignity through this uncontrollable physical reaction, his arms wrapped around her all the tighter. And, to his absolute horror, she began to stir in his arms in response.

As she took a deep breath in, her spine arched and her arms raised as her entire body grew taut in its action. The young man froze utterly as he willed over and over silently to roll back over and return to her slumber, when instead a slow and sleepy smile appeared on her face as she gently rolled over to face him. He felt a wash of cold panic flow over him, like the cracking of an egg over the top of his head.

Her copper colored eyes blinked open slowly as they adjusted to the light, and a warm and soft hand cupped his cheek tenderly. Her eyes betraying the vulnerability of her heart so much that it made him want to take her lips with hers.

"I am so sorry." She whispered immediately, and he felt his insides tighten as she spoke. "I should have spoken to you sooner about the Dragons." He returned her affectionate ministrations by peppering a kiss to her brow, and she continued. "I need to explain more to you. About the magic, and how it has changed you. It was not my will to open a chasm so great between the two of us…." Her words drifted off and he nodded his agreement.

"And I was too hasty with my frustration, and pettiness to listen to you. To beg clarification." He conceded.

"This journey has made weary travelers of us." She said in agreeance, and he touched her hair with his hand in a tender manner. She smiled and cautiously met his gaze, suddenly aware of how intimately close they were situated, and a little color of pink appeared on her face.

Before he could conjure words to speak to her, a very light purring rumble sounded nearby and the pair turned in search of it. From under the edge of the canopy, and just above their heads, the long scaled snout of a golden Dragon moved slowly, turning towards them but a little.

The large lids of the eyes pulled open lazily unveiling dark golden orbs surrounding the widened black vertical slit of black pupil, of which was already looking at the pair of clandestine young lovers.

The duo had frozen in their position; their arms circling the other, chests mere and scandalous inches apart, and legs entwining comfortably. Both sets of eyes were wide with fear of the fierce castigation that was certain to be dealt at any second. But instead, a chuckle so soft sounded, that it seemed impossible to come from such a large creature. As though that kind of noise would be impossible.

Hush now young ones. She said affectionately. Make no fracas that will wake the others. She breathed her own deep sigh, and from all around them the shift of a Dragons body moved in tandem as they came to realize they were, in fact, being cocooned by her body. A nest made by the curled length of her.

The awning over top of them moved similarly to reveal it to be the membrane of her wing that had been folded over the top of them, which occasionally alighted upward, so as to allow fresher air within. And not only were there the four weary and exhausted travelers in this protected truss, but four burnished and buttery yellow eggs in their midst.

Even though Hermione and Draco were the only pair currently cuddled together in their affections, the four wondrous eggs –nearly half as long as each of them- were lain there among them intermingled. There were as well, one egg on either side of the joined duo and Draco leaned back to look closer at the ecru colored ovum with more speculation.

The shell of it was polished brightly and almost luminous despite the lack of direct light in the nest. And the warmth that radiated from it was noticeable as well. He made to touch it gingerly with his fingers, but hesitated when a light jet of breath blew across his face, and he looked back at the Dragon sire who eyes him carefully. As he retracted his curious touches, she blinked slowly and without objection.

Her eyes, though the same dark golden as her mates, were speckled here and there with a green that reminded him of the leaves of the forest when they had first ride through it on horseback, and seemed to add a glimmering gem-like quality to her. They were, in a word, stunning to look at.

Understanding her compliance, Draco reached out and touched the smooth side of the egg in his exploration, and curiosity. Immediately from within a welcoming warmth and a deep purring connected with him, down to the very core of his bones where the recesses of his magic welled from him. The sensation was as dazzling as much as it was foreign and in equal measure. As he pulled away it ceased as the connection was severed.

From beside him, Hermione leaned herself up on her elbows and out of the tangle of their clothed bodies to peek at their surroundings, and absentmindedly stroke on a section of scales that rested at the tops of their heads. In response to the show of affection, the great Dragon nestled her jaw further downward as she hummed her pleasure in the connection. The very tip of her tail – tapering much like that of a snake, with no barbs nor frill as the spines down her back all but dwindled in size to pebble-like nubs by that point, wriggled slowly at the very tip in an automatic response.

"Oh! The nest." Hermione exclaimed reverently in a hushed tone. Her hand still stroking as she sat up fully. Her head was only inches below the leathery skin of the wing-top above them. The girl smiled happily, though the weariness around her eyes had receded somewhat, it was still present when she expressed her gladness. She looked up and behind her, craning her neck, and continued to look around her at where they were.

Amused by her excitement, the Dragon purred gently as she chuckled. She watched as Hermione gently arranged herself to see everything around her; Theo curled up on his side, his breath moving his body peacefully. Her brother, Tyt'o, as his occasional inward breath created a light snore, his face at ease in his sleeping repose. Her attention turned then to the eggs, as there were four of them. One particularly close to her, she reached out hesitantly before turning to Imri to beg permission. Her head had nary moved much since they had awoken, and the slow blink was the only sign she gave her.

Jubilantly, Hermione placed her hands on the smooth surface of the egg and her copper color eyes lit up with wonder as Draco shifted his legs around to sit behind her, leaning to his side so he could spy over her shoulder what she was doing. Her smile was totally unbridled as she stroked the silken sides in a loving gesture.

From behind her, Draco stroked her shoulder over her tunic and absentmindedly kissed her as he did. In witness to the young affections, the Dragon watching over them benevolently simply watched and hummed a gentle tune of approval.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX