To Hermione's annoyance, Malfoy walked with her all the way until they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.
"Well, that's the stop, you can't follow me any further. I'm serious, Gryffindors would eat a Slytherin alive if they saw one in their space," Hermione told him when they reached Fat Lady, ignoring her, "What a handsome young man!" comment.
Malfoy kept standing, eyeing the egg, as if the thought of leaving his assignment alone with her made him incredibly anxious. He gave her a cold look. "Make sure you take care of that egg."
"Yes, yes, you can leave now," she said, shushing him away with her hand.
Malfoy's inspecting gaze finally abandoned her, and she released a sigh when she saw his back getting farther away from her. She told the password to the Fat Lady (Shenanigans) and entered the almost-empty Gryffindor common room. She was about to get straight to her room to freshen up before heading to the library to figure out what to do with that egg when she heard a voice say, "Hey, where have you been?" and, after a pause, added with mortification," And what on earth is that?"
Hermione turned and saw Harry on the red sofa in front of the fireplace – arguably, the best seat in the common room. He was already out of his uniform, wearing a simple grey zip-up with jeans. He stared horrified at the egg in her hands.
"Hi, Harry. I just had Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid is getting more creative every year."
She sighed and decided to relax just a bit, sinking on the sofa next to Harry with the egg in her lap.
"Is that what I think it is?" Harry asked, frowning in distaste.
"Give me your best guess."
"That's a dragon?"
"You guessed it."
The sound that came out of Harry was a mix of utter shock and pity.
"He got a dragon again?"
"No, this is actually my dragon. At least until the end of the year. Oh, and Malfoy's."
Harry stared at her dumbly. "What."
"It's a new breed of dragons. Hagrid got three of them from the Dragon Care Association. He gave us to us, his students, and I got paired up with Malfoy. Again," she explained.
Harry didn't look much relieved. "That is… awful. I'm so grateful I'm no longer taking that class."
Hermione thought so too, but she didn't want him to know she regretted it.
"What exactly do you have to do it?" Harry asked.
"Take care of the egg until it hatches, then raise the dragon until, as Hagrid put it, it can live relatively on its own," Hermione said.
"Whatever that means. Can I hold it?"
She turned to Harry with a surprised look on her face. "Why would you want that?"
"Hey, I'm just curious. I'll give it back, I just want to hold it a bit…"
Hermione was surprised to find herself irrationally protective over an egg she had become responsible of less than an hour ago. After some thought she, albeit reluctantly, put the egg in Harry's waiting hands with care.
Harry's eyes widened when he felt the warmth coming from the egg. He slowly turned the egg from side to side, its red scales shining in the light of the fireplace.
"It's very small," Harry pointed out. "And warm, and… do dragon eggs shine like that?"
"The dragon is going to be very small because it's a domesticated breed, still experimental. That's what Hagrid said," Hermione explained, eyeing the egg in Harry's hand, making sure nothing bad happened.
"Beautiful…" Harry blurted out without thinking. Then, upon seeing Hermione's judging gaze, corrected himself, "Well, it is beautiful now that it's still an egg, but it won't be once it hatches and starts causing trouble but…" His eyes landed back on the egg. "But now it's beautiful… It shines like a trophy…"
When Hermione looked at the egg from Harry's point of view and not with the eyes of someone who will be graded on whether or not this dragon survives, she couldn't agree more. The egg was small but magnificent. She supposed that's how cat and dog lovers felt when they looked at their favorite breed.
"The only problem is I have to work with Malfoy," Hermione said. "Had I let him, he would've grabbed the egg from my hands just now because he wants the best grade."
"Tell me about it," Harry huffed. "Parkinson and I failed our potion twice last week, I have never seen Slughorn give such a disappointed look to me, ever. I'll have to spend the rest of the weekend in the library, learning how to do it right, because god knows she will not lift a finger to keep us from failing." He spent the next half hour explaining in intricate detail why he hated Parkinson and why being paired with her in Potions as well as simply having her as a fellow Eighth year was definitely a dark magic move to keep him from succeeding. All it took was for Harry to start calling Parkinson and all other Slytherins Death Eaters who came to Hogwarts this year just to make sure Harry fails all of his classes because he will be separated from Hermione.
"I can help you study potions tomorrow, if you want," Hermione offered after and excruciatingly long hate-filled monologue all the while making sure Harry didn't squeeze the egg too hard out of anger. "I'll need to learn more on hour to care for this egg anyway."
Harry gave her a grateful look. "Thanks, Hermione."
He stood up, ready to live, but she called out, "Harry?"
He turned questioningly. "Yes?"
"The egg. Give it back."
He stared at the egg still in his hands, then laughed, giving it back to Hermione. "Sorry. I totally forgot. It's so light and warm. Must be the lack of sleep."
Harry went to his room and Hermione followed him to her own dormitory half an hour later.
Fortunately or not, Crookshanks was in her room, mewling softly when he saw her. She didn't know how the cat was going to react to the egg, so she couldn't just put it down and leave for the library. Hermione crouched down to pet Crookshanks who was purring now.
"Hey, Crooks, look what I've got."
She reached out the egg for him and the cat started to sniff it, inspecting it with his big yellow eyes. Her beloved pet seemed very interested, so she put the egg on the bed and Crookshanks jumped up, continuing to sniff it. Hermione watched nervously, frightened that if Crookshanks decided that the egg or the dragon in it was an enemy, she would have to give the egg to Malfoy for good, and she really, really did not want him to have the chance to say he did all the work. Crooks started circling the egg while sniffing which made her pulse rise. And then, just when she thought her pet was going to attack her assignment, Crookshanks mewed sweetly, purred, and started to cuddle around the egg, marking it as his favorite thing.
Hermione breathed out in relief. The egg will be safe with her boy.
Hermione fell asleep quite easily with minimal number of nightmares because she was so exhausted from the first week of school her head was completely empty, and she was able to sleep relatively peacefully. She woke up as usual even though it was the weekend because her body had already gotten used to the time. She was still sleepy when she took her morning shower and upon return to her bedroom she gasped because she saw Crookshanks wrapped around something—and then she remembered the egg. Hermione gasped, running to grab the egg, touching it softly to make sure everything was alright. It seemed to be. Crookshanks meowed when she took the egg he apparently had been sleeping by all night. Hermione was relieved, so she petted her cat. She didn't need to be scared to leave the egg in her room with Crooks.
She planned the study session she was going to have and went to the library in a short while, leaving a paper swan note that she charmed to fly to Harry's bedroom in a few hours. The library was completely empty, and when she found her favorite spot vacant for once, she smiled to herself. The first thing she did was Charms homework which took her a few hours and then went on to search for books in the library about dragons, taking all of them to her study space to read through carefully. She was in the middle of skimming the third book with quite accurate illustrations when she heard someone pass by.
"Oh, hi, Hermione," Luna greeted her.
Hermione raised her head from the book, smiling. Luna wasn't alone, though. "Hi, Luna. And hi, Cho." Cho smiled back at her.
Hermione saw that Luna was carrying her dragon egg around in a knit tote bag that seemed rounded specifically for the egg. Before she had the chance to curb her curiosity, Luna asked, "What are you studying?"
"I'm trying to learn as much as I can about dragons so I can take care of mine properly," Hermione answered.
Luna's eyes widened dreamily. "I also came here for that. Cho wanted to help me."
"I just really like dragons," Cho said shyly. "We could maybe all learn together?"
"Oh, yes, I think that would be great," Hermione encouraged them honestly.
"Might we sit with you?" Cho asked.
"Of course," Hermione said.
Both of the girls sat down in front of her – the desk was big enough to fit six students. Cho took one of the books from Hermione's stash while Luna put the egg in the crochet bag on top of the desk. The bag had a strap crochet in the same style as the bottom of it – the holes in it reminded her of honeycomb, but overall, the bag looked quite sturdy.
"Where did you get that bag, Luna?" Hermione asked.
"I crocheted it myself," she said.
"Yourself? When did you have the time?"
"Oh, last night. I couldn't sleep because the egg was just so beautiful, you know? So, I decided to crochet a bag so I could carry it around."
"Did you also get a dragon egg?" Cho asked.
Hermione nodded. "Malfoy and I will have to share it."
Cho frowned. "What is it with teachers trying to get everyone to accept Slytherins? After all they did?"
"They want to cultivate interhouse unity which I think is very noble and kind," Luna said softly, making both Cho and Hermione look at her. "If this war taught us anything is that being kind is the only way to be. That's what I believe."
Hermione thought for a moment. She always considered herself to be a kind person, but she had begun to realize she was never actually embracing it in her daily life. She had faith that being good was her core value, then why was it so hard to be good, even for her? She knew why. Because being good was hard. Because being kind took work. Because loving people even in the worst of times was so much more difficult than hating.
She smiled. "You know what, Luna, I believe that too." She really did. "I have the dragon egg in my bedroom, Cho. If you want, we can go and see it later in the evening. I promised Harry, I'd help him with potions today."
Cho's lips quirked up. "I'd love that."
"Can I come too?" Luna asked.
"Of course, you can. You're both invited to my bedroom to see a dragon egg."
They spent the upcoming hour shuffling quietly through the books, occasionally sharing something they had found, and by the end of their group study session they had gained some valuable knowledge on dragons. It was interrupted when Harry came to them, catching his breath from running all the stairs.
"I got your note," he told Hermione. "I'm sorry I'm late, I overslept."
Both Luna and Cho discreetly moved from their seats to allow Harry space and, after saying goodbye until the evening to them, she turned to Harry, "I hope you're ready to study because I just got started."
Harry sighed but sat down, ready to learn something if only to spite Parkinson.
After four hours of explaining basic concepts to Harry, Hermione decided that was enough for the day and went back to the Gryffindor tower. Cho and Luna were already waiting for her by the entrance, Luna clutching the egg in the crochet bag in her hands and Cho wearing a big, excited smile on her face, the one Hermione hadn't seen on her in years.
Upon entering the Head Girl's bedroom, both of them looked around in awe. Everything impressed them – the canopy bed, the wooden wardrobe, the separate bathroom and shower. Crookshanks started cuddling around both of their legs, and while their gazes scanned the room in appreciation, Cho's landed on the egg.
"Oh!" She crouched down to inspect the egg more closely.
"You can take it if you want," Hermione told her.
"I can?" Cho's eyes glittered.
She took the egg in her arms as tenderly as if she was picking up a newborn and cradled it in her arms.
"It looks similar to Luna's," she said after a few minutes of admiring it.
"I believe both of them are from the same batch," Hermione pointed out.
Luna sat down next to Cho, putting her own egg in her lap before taking it out of the crochet bag. Cho put Hermione's egg in the bag softly – it was a perfect fit.
"I could teach you how to crochet a bag just like mine," Luna told Hermione.
"That would be lovely," Hermione said, sitting down on the ground in front of the two girls.
"I brought the yarn needle, but I don't have any more yarn left," Luna frowned.
"That's not a problem, because I do," Hermione grinned.
She went to her wardrobe and fished out three different pink shades of yarn.
"I didn't know you were into crocheting," Cho commented.
"No, crocheting is a lot more difficult. You can knit with magic, but crochet is all handmade. I used to knit socks for the house elves at Hogwarts because I wanted to free them," she said matter-of-factly.
"Wow," Cho said, but there was no judgement in her tone.
"I remember spew," Luna said. "That was very noble of you, Hermione. Even if it didn't work out – still very noble."
Hermione wanted to correct that it was S. P. E. W. but didn't want to ruin everyone's evening.
Luna showed Hermione a few basic crochet patterns, then started teaching her how to do the actual bag while Cho enjoyed the company of the dragon egg in her lap and Crookshanks loafed at her side. After Luna finished the tutorial, Hermione tried to do it herself – the first few chains were quite lopsided but after a few tries she already got better at it.
"How did your cat react to the egg?" Cho asked.
"Oh, he was the sweetest," Hermione said, while on her tenth chain. "Suspicious at first, naturally, but after a few minutes he fell in love. He spent all night wrapped around it, guarded it from any danger. As if anything dangerous could happen here."
Cho scratched Crookshanks' chin. "What a good boy. In love just like the rest of us." She turned back to Hermione. "Malfoy must not be very happy to be your partner in this, huh?"
"I don't know what he's thinking truly. He's also my partner in Potions but he didn't seem very opposed to that. He's still an annoying git but I think he hates Care of Magical Creatures more than he hates me."
"Now I regret not taking that class," Cho sulked.
"Draco is actually really nice," Luna said calmly, watching the awkward movement of Hermione's hands. Hermione stopped crocheting to look up at her. "I spent a few months in the Manor during the war, him and his mother were very kind to me all the time. His father, too. I was so said to hear he died in Azkaban. Whenever Draco's aunt wasn't there, his parents would give me a room and invite me for dinner every night. But there were so many Death Eaters in their home. Draco would keep me company in the cell whenever he could. The Malfoy family was in a really horrible situation but never forgot to be cordial. And Narcissa hated all of those who were with Voldemort. She only did everything for her husband. She makes wonderful tea, by the way," she finished nonchalantly.
"I never knew that," Hermione spoke up quietly.
Luna didn't look at her, still staring at the pink crochet project in her hands.
"He probably doesn't tell many people this. I don't either." She was silent for a moment. "I was so sad to hear of his father's death, I know Draco loved him a lot. I gave him my condolences the first day of school. He was very sad."
Hermione remembered her and Malfoy's interaction in Potions class. He didn't seem sad to her, but maybe that was because she didn't know him at all. Truly, she got an impression that he was soft, in a raw way. Maybe that's how his grief came out – in a tender and vulnerable way while all he did was try to suppress it with a mask of utter indifference.
Cho put a hand on Luna's. "Thank you for telling us," she said quietly.
Luna smiled. "You know, while I was at the Manor, I thought I had lost all my friends, and that Draco was now my only friend. But I haven't." She intertwined her fingers with Cho's and reached the other hand to Hermione who took it, smiling sadly. "I still have the best friends ever."