Chapter 21Arrows and Other Pointy Things

As the Appleby Arrows practiced, Harry saw a tall thin wizard in a long black coat wearing a fur cap sitting alone in the bleachers taking notes. The silver hair gave his identity away. Do this for Hermione. Like she said, you're the bigger wizard. "Draco," he said.

"Harry," he replied nonchalantly.

"I was wrong to grab you like that but I thought….never mind." Harry sat next to him. "Look, when it comes to Hermione, I'm very protective. We have a history." Draco looked at him in a pure jealous rage. "Not like that, she's like my sister." Harry watched as Draco coolly observed the team again. "If it was any other wizard, I would have done the same."

"I appreciate that you're protective of her. There's nothing wrong with that." He silently sat a moment. "I overreacted. It was reflexes." Draco pushed a cup and thermos next to Harry. "It's hot cocoa."

"Thank you." Harry poured a cup but hesitated.

"It's not poisonous. You can see I'm drinking it." Draco watched as Harry sipped it. "I poisoned the cup." From over the rim, he saw Harry's eyes widen and so he laughed uproariously.

"Delicious," he replied. Harry really did enjoy the rich and smooth cocoa. Knowing the Malfoy tastes, it was probably fancy and imported. "Why Hermione?"

"Figures, you would insult her by saying that." Seeing Harry's look of utter confusion, Draco wondered if Harry knew how much he hurt Hermione. "Hermione is smart, loving, loyal and very attractive. You have no idea how much you hurt her when you say stuff like that."

"Excuse me, but you should talk," Harry countered.

"Look I apologized for calling her mudblood during our school years but mudblood was the only thing I could come up with." Harry rolled his eyes at Draco's words. "Insults from an enemy are like paper cuts; they hurt like hell but they don't go deep; they heal quickly, leaving no scars. However, insults from a loved one are like being slashed with a sword; they hurt even worse and they go deep; they heal slowly and they always leave scars."

Slowly Harry nodded in agreement, but still looked confused. "Those are wise words but I still don't understand what this has to do with me."

"Apparently, a wizard or wizards she was close to has over the years commented that they were surprised that another wizard would find her attractive. It started when Krum asked her out because who would ask her out, as she put it." Draco watched as Harry's jaw dropped. "Those sentiments happened frequently."

"But how…she wasn't there," Harry stuttered.

"Hogwarts, the portraits and ghosts have ears." Draco gulped down some cocoa. "No one will ever talk about her like that again."

"Agreed," Harry added. "I'm glad you're looking after her." For a little while, he watched the practice with Draco. "Have you noticed any weaknesses?" Draco handed him the notepad. "Very insightful," he commented. "Our team will go far as long as we play as a team."

"Agreed," Draco stated.

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Draco continued his business at the Ministry the next day but he had one person he needed to visit before that evening. His position allowed him to abuse his power if he needed, something Draco had no qualms about doing. Calmly, he walked into The Daily Prophet where quills busily edited stacks of papers and the clicking of dozens of typewriters could be heard. Discretely, he entered the office of Rita Skeeter who had been rehired several months ago. For a moment, he observed the yellow curls, bright red lipstick and cat eyeglasses while he listened to the clicking of her typewriter. A smile formed when he saw the dead giveaway as to her identity, man hands.

A flick of his wand made the cramped paper ridden office sound proof. "Good morning, Reginald." Instantly, the typewriter stopped and the quill pad dropped while tacky red lips formed an O. "It's very difficult to be an unregistered animagus when one attends Hogwarts, unless one has the right connections which you don't." Draco handed her an old photo of the Skeeter family, featuring the brother and sister. "Reginald, Rita's brother, was a registered animagus but Rita had no such ability." Draco paced the office. "The wrong person died in that fire all those years ago. A certain wizard then went away and was treated for several years using potions that can gradually change one's gender but not their abilities, unlike polyjuice potion."

Rita adjusted her glasses with a trembling hand. "What do you intend to do?"

"You're interviewing someone very special to me who gets a little nervous and is sensitive to what folks think about her. Unfortunately, you're known for your poison pen." Draco saw that she was writing questions for Hermione, some unkind. "However, you are going to be kind both in person and on paper." He watched as she revised her questions. "As a reward, you will get several exclusive sensational stories but as long as you continue to behave yourself. Do we have an understanding?"

Nervously, Rita brushed back her hair. "Yes, we do."

"Thank you, Reginald. I'll see you this evening. I'll be giving Hermione moral support."

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At the Hibiscus Tea House, a rather exclusive restaurant in London, Hermione arrived for her dinner interview with Rita Skeeter. The publishing house planned to publish a short story of hers along with Rita's interview to be released in a few days. Afterwards, they wanted a short story for a Christmas release followed by a couple more shorts over a couple of months to be featured in Witch Weekly before publication of her book. This would give her ample opportunity to tweak her writing and finalize her book.

The host smiled. "You have a back booth, if you'll both follow me."

Hermione turned to see Draco standing behind her. Promptly, he kissed her forehead before he tucked her hand in his arm. "Moral support," he stated.

As they seated themselves in the booth, the painted hibiscus flowers turned black in front of him and peach in front of her. The ones in the vase in the middle of the table turned black, peach and neon yellow. Rita greeted her while her long green feathered quill took notes. "I'm honored to be the one who gets to interview the next great author of our time."

"You're too kind." After they placed their order, Hermione braced herself for the harsh questions and even more harsh lies Rita was known for printing. While his grey eyes remained unfathomable, Draco placed his hand on top of hers that rested on the booth as Rita began her questions.

"What inspired you to put the events of Voldemort's tyranny to paper?"

"I felt everyone should know exactly what happened but from an emotional standpoint as well as factual. Also, it was a healing process for me."

Rita's quill wrote her exact words. "How did you develop your writing skills?"

"Loads of papers at Hogwarts and researching on how to write," Hermione stated. "Hopefully, everyone will agree I have a natural ability."

"Is this a career for you?"

As Hermione contemplated whether she had the creativity and skill to make it a career, Draco slightly squeezed her hand continued to eat his food. "I hope it is."

"Now for the question everyone is dying to know." Rita's notebook flipped to a new page. "How can you date someone you considered your enemy for so long?"

"First, I never considered him my enemy as you will read in my book. Second, I got to know him. That's why I started dating him." Hermione noticed that Draco glared at Rita who now gathered her things.

"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds to finish your meal. Thank you for a lovely interview."

After Rita left, Hermione resumed her meal. "That went better than I thought it would. Now I wonder what will get printed and how scathing her commentary will be."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Draco ate nonchalantly. "By the way tomorrow night, I'm taking you to a very fancy ball." Draco handed her a folded parchment. "This is some of the events a Malfoy is expected to attend. Please cross off any you don't wish to be present at."

She gazed at the list of balls, tea parties, socials and other events. While she didn't mind the balls on Saturday nights, the social calendar was a bit much. "This makes me crave quiet evenings of reading at the Weasleys." After she blurted that out, she regretted it. She wondered if her comments upset Draco but he simply finished his dinner quietly, making small talk with his eyes remaining impassive; that is, when he did look at her.

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Over the next few weeks, they publicly appeared at a couple of festivities, pretending to be in love. The Witch Weekly's society pages as well as several other papers constantly had articles on them: some applauded them, some criticized them and some implied it to be a publicity stunt. Draco kept pondering the fear he saw in her eyes during their camping trip and right before their first kiss. Though he wanted to go further, he didn't want to jeopardize losing her forever especially since he got carried away in her bedroom. Also, Bianca advised that he let Hermione make the first move and knowing her perspicacity, he listened. Remembering his black out when he attacked the mastiff and when he tackled Hermione during their camping trip, he worried about what his veela side might do to her if the Sedo potion ever failed. Moreover, he knew that if he saw fear in her eyes ever again when he touched her it would kill him.

From the grapevine, Draco figured Weasley would return. After Hermione's comments during their dinner with Rita, she looked forward to it. Worst of all, as the days grew colder with each passing week, drawing Christmas nearer, that holiday felt like the Sword of Damacles hanging over his head.