AN: First of all, I am sorry for the late update. This chapter was a bit difficult to write, because I had little time with studying for finals and everything. It is longer, though, so I hope that makes up for the long update time.
Second, I need to warn you in advance that I twisted some more of Greek mythology and star alignment for this story. In The Dragon and The Bear Universe (or DBU, as I will be reffering to it in the future), Ursa Major does not exist. Also, the story of the Jason and the Argonauts is sort of different in DBU, manipulated to fit the Wizarding World. The animal Lynceus slaughtered was actually a boar, but as you can see, a bear fit my story better. Plus, I would never dream of making Hermione a boar. She is too pretty for that. :)
Third, a big thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed this story. You make my heart beat faster!
Not to be a bore, here we go! See you at the bottom!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. I do this for fun, not for any kind of profit. I just love Draco and Hermione!
Chapter Four
***DaB***
November 6th, 1994
Hermione looked around the classroom, noting how little progress her classmates made with the summoning spell. Most of them did not even make the desired object move from its place, and were it not for the major distraction that occupied her thoughts for most of the time, Hermione would have felt much prouder of herself.
The past week has been hell, to put it mildly. Ever since the Room of Need Incident, as she dubbed it in her mind, it seemed as if she could not catch a break. There was always this thing or another to do, and given that Harry and Ron were still not speaking to each other, she found herself in the unenviable position of an intercessor. It was exhausting and bothersome at the same time, and it only served to make her more exasperated than she already was.
Her mind wandered off, using the moment of calm to recall some of the events that took place that night.
She had barely escaped Filch and Mrs. Norris as she made her way through the 7th floor towards Gryffindor Common Room, and she had to hide in the disused bathroom to avoid being discovered out of bed at the ungodly hours of Sunday late night (or Monday early morning – her Mother always said 'it is all just a matter of perspective'). Hermione's heart was thumping wildly as she kneeled behind the closed bathroom door and waited for the footsteps to fade away, but she could not keep the small smile off her face. The adrenaline rush she felt made her feel alive.
The remainder of the trip to the Common Room was uneventful, and when she was finally lying in her warm, soft bed, she thanked any potential deity out there for the fact that both the Room of Need and Gryffindor Tower were located on the 7th floor. Had she known that it was going to be the last moment of calm she would have in a long time, Hermione would probably approach all her issues logically at that time and tried to find a solution to her problems. However, she had no way of knowing what next week had in store for her.
News of Harry being the fourth Triwizard Champion shook the whole school. Students from other Houses started acting strangely, not just towards Harry (and she could see how much that affected him) but also towards everybody from Gryffindor. She expected such behaviour from Slytherins and understood where it came from for Hufflepuffs, but she did not expect Ravenclaws to side so openly with the rest of the school on this matter. It made her heart ache for Harry, because she could see the imaginary burden on his shoulders become heavier with every day that passed.
It is all too much to handle for a fourteen year old boy.
Much as the school was divided into two camps, she also found herself being torn between her two best friends, and she balanced on the thin line the whole week. On top of it all, teachers seemed to be slightly irritated with the amount of students from other schools wandering the corridors and the increasing number of absence in their classes, so they decided to give extra homework at the end of every lesson. Hermione remembered the amount of work she had in her third year when she needed the Time-turner to get to all her classes, and realized it came dangerously close to this year's amount of assignments.
She was not sleeping well. The fight and the strange events of that night left her baffled and disoriented, and all she wanted was to sleep, sleep and make it all go away.
Hermione hadn't realized it then, but the strange bursting of energy between her and Malfoy drained some of her energy. She felt it when she first tried to perform the Summoning spell. Given that she had practiced it in advance, in her first weeks at Hogwarts, she should have performed it perfectly in her first try.
It took her seven tries to make the Charms book fly to her hand.
She was baffled at first, uncertain about why she had such issues with a spell she had already mastered. Then, after some consideration, it dawned on her that the cause may be the Need Room Incident. The thing that amused and intrigued her at the same time was the possibility that the same thing happened to Malfoy.
Before she knew it, the Charms class was over, and after giving them tons of homework, Professor Flitwick sent them on their way to double Potions. Or 'Harry's personal hell', as he took up calling it since the last Friday. She spent the whole class whispering 'ignore them' under her breath to Harry, like a mantra devised to keep them both under control. The taunts were getting more vicious as time passed, and Snape did nothing to discourage it. The old bat just ignored all the jaunts, and seemed to enjoy them on some level. She knew this Friday would be as bad, maybe even worse.
Hermione shook her head, trying to banish the unpleasant thoughts as she waited for Harry to collect his books, and they hurriedly made their way to the dungeons. Harry didn't say anything, but Hermione could feel his anxiety wash over her in waves. She ached to comfort him, but she knew that direct approach would just cause Harry to back off and cocoon himself further in his shell. So she kept quiet, and made a mental note to talk to him later.
When she and Harry arrived to the dungeons, the Slytherins were already there, waiting. They were all wearing badges, and for a moment Hermione foolishly thought they had put her S.P.E.W badges on. Then she took a closer look, and the bright red light spelled the words SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY – THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
Hermione felt Harry shiver next to her, but before she could say anything, Draco Malfoy stepped from the shadows, proudly showing off his badge.
"Like them, Potter?" His cold voice rang loudly in the small passage. "And this isn't all they do –look!"
Malfoy pressed the badge into his chest, and the letters changed. Now, in glowing green letters, the stupid badge spelled two words. POTTER STINKS.
Hermione rolled her eyes as all the Slytherins pressed their badges and howled with laughter. Harry's face and neck became sickly red in the vivid green light.
"Oh very funny," Hermione turned to Pansy Parkinson and her band of cackling hyenas. "Really witty."
She registered some movement in the corner of her eye, and she spotted Ron leaning on the wall, with Seamus and Dean next to him. Hermione was so mad at him at that moment, mad and disappointed at them all for just quietly lurking there and not standing up for their friend and house-mate.
Malfoy turned to her in that moment, and it was the first time she really saw him since their encounter, not counting the passing glimpses of the blond in the hallways. He looked like he wasn't sleeping either, testimony of faint circles around his eyes. His usual smirk turned just a bit crueler as he held out his hand to Hermione.
"Want one, Granger?" His voice was icy, matched only by the look in his eyes. "I've got loads. But don't touch my hand, now. I've just washed it, you see; don't want a Mudblood sliming it up."
The shock on her face must have been evident to him, because of the smug expression on his face. It was quickly replaced by an expression Hermione couldn't read as he looked away from her. She turned her head in the direction his eyes were now facing, and she saw Harry, his face livid, his wand in his hand.
"Harry!" It was all she could muster up. Her heart swelled with gratitude for the boy who wanted so bad to defend her honour, but she needed to warn him. She knew that Malfoy was much powerful than Harry, but she hoped that he wouldn't dare cross the line and use an Unforgivable on school ground.
She did not hear the next words Malfoy uttered; they were for Harry's ears only, but after Malfoy pulled out his wand everything happened quickly.
"Furnunculus!"
"Densaugeo!"
The spells shot from the wand at the speed of light, and collided in midair. They ricocheted off each other at odd angles. Hermione saw bright light coming at her, and put up her hands to shield herself from a naughty hex. It was too late. Panic struck her at the same time as her teeth started growing.
"Hermione!" She heard her name being called, and then felt Ron's hands trying to pry her hand from her face. His blue eyes bore into hers, remorse and anger apparent in his irises.
"Ron," she whimpered softly, but speaking came difficult to her. Her teeth were growing quickly, and she tried to cover them as much as possible. Tears blurred her vision and a frightened cry escaped her when she felt her front teeth touch her chin.
Snape appeared in that moment, his deadly voice rendering the whole corridor silent. She barely heard people around her speaking, but as Malfoy turned everybody's attention on Goyle, letting Snape examine the remains of Harry's spell, she felt something drop into her pocket.
Hermione couldn't check what it was because at that moment Ron pried her hands away. She couldn't stop the tears of humiliation as their Potion's Master assessed the situation, and then said he saw no difference.
It was too much for her, so she turned and ran, and amongst the hysterical giggles coming from Slytherins, she heard Harry and Ron yelling profanities at their Professor.
It made her feel at least a bit better as she disappeared from the cold dungeon corridor.
**DaB**
Thankfully, Hermione did not need to run very far.
The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts was located on the First Floor. She burst into the room, still in tears, and almost knocked Madam Pomfrey over a bed.
The old witch turned around, pulling her wand in one swift move. Then she saw the young girl in front of her, her face covered in tears, her teeth so big they now went over the collar of her white shirt – and they were still growing.
"Finite Incantatem!" The Medi-witch yelled as she made a circle movement with her hand, and Hermione felt her teeth cease their growth.
"Oh Miss Granger," said Madame Pomfrey softly when the young girl's knees buckled. "Come, sit down. Let's get this fixed."
Hermione willed herself to stop crying and sit down on the bed. She was scared to even touch her teeth in fear she would star weeping uncontrollably. The lack of sleep, the insult Malfoy fired at her along with the curse all took their toll, and she stared blankly through the window as she waited for the Medi-witch to return.
"So, Miss Granger, tell me what happened," Madame Pomfrey said as she returned from her office with some potions and a mirror in her hands. She put them all down on a night stand, and she summoned a chair from across the room to sit in front of Hermione.
"Well," Hermione tried to speak, but it was almost impossible, as her teeth scraped her bottom lip. Her lips started to quiver again when she realized she couldn't speak with those... monstrosities protruding from her mouth. Madam Pomfrey saw her discomfort, and her eyes took on a look of pity.
"It's quite alright dear, you do not have to speak. I am going to ask you some questions, and you just nod if I'm correct in my assumptions." Hermione gave a small nod and tried to calm herself down.
"Was it a spell?" The old witch asked, and her mouth narrowed in a thin line when Hermione nodded.
"Densaugeo?" Another nod from the young Gryffindor had Madame Pomfrey reaching towards the night cabinet and picking up a vial of a soft yellow colour, spilling into molten gold as it moved within the glass container.
"Here, drink a sip of this. It's the Calming Draught; it'll help soothe your nerves." Hermione took the bottle and chugged down a sip. In an instant, she felt her tense muscles relax, yet she was able to keep her wits about her.
"Were you dueling?" Medi-witch in front of her continued with the questions. Hermione shook her head, her eyes wide. Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Didn't think so. Somebody else was, and the spell hit you."
It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Hermione nodded nonetheless. She knew that there would be consequences if Headmaster learned about the duel. Although, given that Malfoy was included, Snape might not decide to bring it up. Hermione presumed that he subtracted points from Gryffindor, if Harry and Ron's swearing she heard while she ran was anything to go by. It made her hopeful that her boys would come to see eye to eye once again, and she wouldn't have to keep playing mediator anymore.
Her attention turned to Madame Pomfrey once again, as the witch was now holding her wand and pointing it at Hermione.
"Miss Granger, I am going to shrink your teeth to their previous size. I'll hold up a mirror, and you just tell me when to stop, alright dear?" Hermione nodded.
Looking herself in the mirror, she observed Madame Pomfrey murmuring incantations. A weird feeling spread through her gums, a slow vibration, and she noticed the dreadful fangs shortening. A small smile formed on her lips, and the slow retracting of her teeth gave Hermione an idea.
As the teeth got closer to the shape they were before, Hermione felt Madam Pomfrey's spell going even slower. After a couple of minutes, Hermione nodded happily and the old witch finished her incantation.
"There we go, it's all good, isn't it? No reason to cry anymore dear." The smile Hermione gave her was reward enough for the Medi-witch, who dedicated her whole life to healing people. It was the most gratifying thing in the world, and it gave Poppy Pomfrey strength to get out of bed every morning.
"Thank you so much Madame Pomfrey." Hermione finally found her voice. "I... thank you."
"There, there, dear. It's nothing. Now you lie down and rest for a moment; you can go to your dorm in an hour. I just want to check up on you once again, in case there are some late effects of the curse, improbable as that sounds. I just hope those students who were dueling would get properly punished. Dueling in corridors, Merlin's grace? What's next, dragons?"
The woman was now obviously mumbling to herself, her mood darkening with each step she took towards her office. Hermione was left alone in the room, and as she made a move to take off her robe, she once again felt something rustle in her pocket.
Hermione took off the robe and laid it down next to her, pulling a piece of parchment from her pocket. The words written in beautiful script left her feeling confused and angry at the same time.
Meet me up on the Astronomy Tower tonight at dinner. I believe your hex should be handled by then, beaver-girl.
M.
Hermione's hands shook with rage as her mind worked itself into overdrive.
He knew.
He purposely fired that hex at Harry, because he somehow knew it was going to hit her. Why would he use that particular hex anyway? There were so many others he could choose from, and many of them were more serious, and could do more damage. Harry fired the Pimple hex, and Draco countered with a hex to make one's teeth grow.
It was no secret that Hermione had large front teeth; hell, everybody who ever laid their eyes upon her could say that it was the first thing they noticed, besides her bushy hair. So this move by one Draco Malfoy must have been premeditated.
Hermione was baffled.
Why did he do it? Is it possible that he did it out of kindness?
She quickly discarded that theory. Draco Malfoy did not, under any circumstances, do anything out of kindness of his heart, and especially not for a Muggle-born like her. No, he had done it for some sort of personal gain – the only thing she needed to figure out was what the 'it' he was getting out of this is.
Not looking at me for a whole lesson. Seeing Harry, and Ron, upset. Deduction of points for Gryffindor House. Establishing his dominating position in the idiots clique of his house-mates.
The list went on and on, but as Hermione laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, she felt that there was more to the blond-haired Slytherin than she ever could have imagined. Now, all she needed to decide was whether or not she would give him the satisfaction of showing up at the Astronomy Tower that night.
She could ignore his message – it sounded more like a summon than an invitation, and she didn't like that. Her pride was wounded, and she still felt hurt, being called that name by Malfoy. On the other hand, Hermione knew they needed to discuss the future of their meetings, as lots of things were left unsaid the last time. Were they to stop their classes, lots of people could get hurt unintentionally.
I could hurt people.
Another thing that bothered her was how he did it? How did he make that scrap of paper appear in her pocket, and so quickly? It must have been some counterpart of the Summoning spell they were learning about, and the bookworm in her was dying to go and find a book about it. It was advanced magic though, and it would be easier to just ask him.
But the main thing... the main thing was curiosity. Draco Malfoy was a strange puzzle to solve, and the more she got from him, the stranger he seemed. She wanted to be the one to understand him, to figure him out until he could not hide from her anymore. Hermione wanted to grasp the essence of the Malfoy heir, and more than anything, she wanted to prove him and his stupid prejudices wrong.
As Madame Pomfrey entered the Hospital Wing once again, Hermione had already decided. She was going to go see Draco Malfoy that night.
**DaB**
Draco was feeling quite proud of himself.
His elaborate plan had worked. He got Potter fuming with rage, provoked him into dueling, got Gryffindor to lose fifty points, and managed to slip his note to Granger. Also, he prepared a perfect Antidote to Common Poisons, being the only one that did not accidentally put more than two Mistletoe Berries into his cauldron.
All in all, it was a good day.
He was standing on top of the Astronomy Tower at the moment, enjoying the slight chill of the wind that circled him from time to time. It was the first moment of peace he got since the Room of Need Event, as he came to call it in his head. Thoughts about that only made him agitated, so he pointed his eyes to the sky.
The sky was different here in Scotland than it was back home in Wiltshire. Given that the night sky was one of the rare things he was passionate about, Draco had no trouble searching for familiar patterns and old friends in the stars.
Polaris was there, of course. Here, in the Scottish wilderness, undimmed by pollution, it shone as bright as a diamond. It was the one thing that was always there, a constant, and Draco recalled searching for it in uncertain times. It was an anchor of sorts for him, the thing that grounded him with its certainty and everlasting presence.
Next, he searched for the Orion's belt. The Three Kings shone brightly, Alnitak, which he knew would appear blue when looked upon closer; Alnilam, the middle star, its name derived from Arabic meaning 'the string of pearls'; and finally Mintaka, its position far to the South. Draco smiled and turned his head a bit, knowingly searching for Sirius, but something else caught his eye.
The Draco constellation, his namesake, was uncharacteristically visible for this time of year. Draco's face scrunched up, as he recalled all the fact he knew about his favourite constellation. The Dragon curled around the Ursa - the Bear, shielding her from the world. Draco knew the legend of it by heart, for his mother used to tell him that story all the time.
Its origin derived from old Greek legends, and being a young boy, he used to fantasize about this mighty Dragon saving his Nymph from all the pain she endured. He would be her knight in shining armor, taking her to safety to be his love and live happily ever after, much like the knights did to their damsels in distress. He made a mistake of mentioning this to his Father, who laughed at him and squashed his dreams in one single sentence. He still recalled it clearly, even though it had been almost ten years since it was spoken.
"You foolish little boy, there is neither love nor happily ever after – there is only power, and those too scared to seek it."
That was the principle he was living by today, and that was his leitmotif – power. The memory did nothing to alleviate Draco's bad mood, in fact it was getting worse with every passing second, so he concentrated once again on the anomaly in the sky.
He knew it was not possible, and that his eyes were most likely deceiving him, but it looked as though the Dragon had turned his head away from the Lyra and towards Cygnus. Its tail looked different too, as it appeared not to shield Ursa from the Lynx, named by the vengeful Lynceus who sailed alongside his brother with Jason and the Argonauts in search for the Golden Fleece.
Given that they studied stars in Astronomy in Third year, and the alignment of stars came hand in hand with myths and legends, Draco knew both versions of the story, the Muggle one and the Wizard one – that one was actually true. Draco recalled the story as he squinted his eyes to see the stars better.
Jason was a love-struck Muggle, married to a powerful witch Medea. After tragedy struck his family, she used her magic to prevent him from being killed by his half-brother, and orchestrated his quest for the Golden Fleece to save his life from a terrible faith. On his voyages, he sacrificed his companions Lynceus and Idas to the great Calydonian Bear, and legend said they were transported to the skies by the pity of Gods. Lynceus ended up next to the Ursa – the Bear, and ever since then he had been trying to reach her and destroy her. He would have succeeded a long time ago, were Dragon not protecting her.
Draco blinked twice.
It is not possible.
Just as he was about to summon his star chart and his telescope, he heard a noise. Turning quickly and pulling his wand out, he came face to face with Hermione Granger.
"I think one hex a day is my limit Malfoy. Put your wand down."
He then remembered why he was there; staring at the stars sometimes made him forget things. Deciding quickly that he was going to look into the oddity of the constellations later, he lowered his wand and put his best smirk on his face.
"I did not know the beavers could talk." He said condescendingly.
"I thought the same of ferrets," was her quick reply. Draco would never admit it to himself, but there was a part of him that was amazed with her wit. He would have to try a different approach.
"Come out of the shadows Granger, I won't bite... much."
His voice was almost seductive, words circling her like a vicious viper about to attack. The wind screamed as she reluctantly took a step forward, her wand in her hand. The moon illuminated her face, and he noticed there was something different about it. When he realized what it was, he barked a laugh.
"I see you made some improvement with your looks. You're welcome."
She blushed for a second, her skin turning faint pink, but then she jutted her chin out and took up a defensive stance.
"Cut the crap Malfoy. I got your note. What do you want?"
He did not know what he wanted. For a moment, he stood still, letting the nature around him resonate the turmoil within. Granger took a step closer, and just like their first meeting there, she sat down and leaned that bush of brown hair on the stones.
Unwilling to show his confusion with her actions, Draco sat next to her. Neither of them knew what to say, but Hermione was adamant not to speak first. He sought her; he needed to be the first one to push – then she would push back as hard as she could.
After some time, Draco finally spoke up.
"We need to keep doing this, Granger."
She was silent besides him, as unmoving as the stone behind her.
"I've been having trouble sleeping. My magic was drained after that... event on Sunday. Not a lot, but enough for me to feel it. I don't want it to happen again."
He was still focusing on something in front of him, but she did not miss the nervous way his fingers twitched around his wand. Words left her softly, mixing with the howling of the wind.
"Me too. I don't want to hurt anyone."
They both turned their heads at the same times. Firm granite met aurulent fire, and without touching they felt the spark.
Hermione instinctively pulled away a little, but then Malfoy's fingers found her own, and something was different.
They needed each other.
Realization dawned upon them at the precise same moment, and it was reflected in their eyes. No matter the antagonism and differences between them; they needed each other fiercely, still. All the troubles – insomnia, energy bursts, nightmares, loneliness; they could all be restrained if they continued their agreement.
The spark was different now. It was not the chaotic mess it was before. Now, it was more of a binding burn, borderline unpleasant but not quite. It spread slowly, heating them both from the inside from their toes to the back of their heads.
Hermione gasped and then moaned when she felt it going down her stomach, and stopping right in that spot. Draco's eyes widened as he heard her moan, and the sound went straight to his core and mixed with the fire that came to a halt there.
Draco's eyelids became heavy; Hermione's nipples hardened. Then, their expressions slowly went from lustful to horrified.
They both let go of one another at the same time.
Draco retracted his hand from Hermione's; in the exact same moment she nervously pulled her fingers to her hair, trying to tame it into submission.
She had to go before she did something she might regret.
He needed her to go before he did something he would surely regret.
"Sunday at midnight, same place?" He asked her in a strained voice.
Hermione only nodded; she was not capable of forming a coherent sentence, as desire coursed through her veins, her skin afire, her nipples treacherously strained. In a flash she was gone, leaving Draco with and extremely uncomfortable situation in his pants.
He knew only one thing could alleviate the tension, at least somewhat. Standing up, he forgot all about the stars, as he rushed to the Slytherin Common Room at an inhuman pace, needing to bury himself in Daphne as soon as possible.
Hermione was scared. She never felt so... obscenely lascivious as she did in that moment. She ran through the corridors, bursting into Common Room, much to chagrin of the Fat Lady. Thanking Merlin everybody was at dinner, she ran to her room and locked the doors behind her, her heart thumping wildly.
This is so wrong.
She was hornier than ever in her life.
Lying down on the bed, she tried to resist the urge, but she knew she was fighting a lost battle.
Wrong.
She needed the release, or else she would surely explode.
As she pushed her knickers aside, seven floors beneath her Draco Malfoy was hurriedly undressing Daphne Greengrass.
Wrong.
As Hermione's fingers touched her core and she moaned lodly, Draco grunted as he pushed into Daphne.
Wrong.
As Draco quickened his pace, Hermione pushed two fingers inside herself.
Wrong.
As Hermione brought herself to the edge of pleasure, Draco could feel his orgasm coming, and closed his eyes.
Wrong.
They both exploded at the same time, delicious waves carrying them high to the stars, and somehow, it just felt right.
As Hermione lay breathlessly on her bed, she wouldn't admit to herself that she imagined his fingers inside of her.
As Draco rolled off the girl next to him, he couldn't confess to himself that in the moment of ecstasy, it was eyes of soft gold and brown hair he saw, and not the blue-eyed blond beside him.
In that same instance, they both vowed they would never think of that affair again.
Up in the night sky, the Dragon moved his tail a little closer to the Bear, once again shielding her from the outside world.
Penny for your thoughts?