Amycus Carrow was killed on arrival in Italy. Alecto was able to escape with her life, disapparating with the corpse of her dead twin before the fight had even begun. Four other death eaters were killed along with him. Hermione didn't know at the time, but Malfoy had taken it amongst himself to tag a few for slaughter himself when he was presented the chance.

The orange smoke had claimed the lives of eleven death eaters in total through the month of November. Blaise was the only one to question Malfoy on how he managed to tag them all on his own without being discovered, but eventually he conceded that it was Draco's stealth to thank for his success, and Hermione's role in the execution was kept a secret.

The increased aggression from the Order added more challenges as it did rid of enemies. The death eaters started fighting back more brutally. The mourning fed into a bit of camaraderie. One that Voldemort didn't value or take advantage of. Not the way Cyrus Greengrass did.

Greengrass grew bolder in advertising for his subset within the death eaters. Unlike Voldemort, his clique consisted only of high-born and wealthy families. A magical version of nepotism that separated them from the rest of the group as they aided and helped one another with the tasks and missions. The viscousness of the war forced people to move further into their own corners rather than coming up with a solution to work together. Hermione and her Slytherin friends were possibly the only group remaining that trusted each other completely.

All the Slytherin's succeeded in preparing their mandrake leaf until the December full moon. They met at the barns once most of the members had left for the day, and Hermione was able to prepare each their own cauldron of potion. They would have to come out each day and night to perform the incantation, and Goyle nearly missed one of his sessions when he had to rush back from his post at Hogwarts. Once Hermione completed each of their potions, all they had to do was wait for a lightning storm, and their animagus training would be complete. This evening, their waiting would be over.

"For Salazar's sake Zabini, what the bloody hell will we need four bottles of whiskey for?" Goyle exclaimed as he watched Blaise shove the liquor in the bag.

"You'll thank me when we get lost out there. Have you tried navigating through those woods? It's bloody impossible."

"Ah yes the secret to every great steersman. Getting smashed." Theo snickered as he shoved yet another blanket in his bag.

Hermione pulling her hair from the robe she just put on, threw out, "a fully corporal patronus could lead you back from just about anywhere if you've lost your way."

"We have the dark mark, Granger. We technically don't need to cast one at all to get past dementors." Goyle defended himself.

"Speak for yourself, Greg. I mastered that charm ages ago," said Blaise.

"Let's see it, then!"

Blaise smirked down at Hermione. "You wish, little lion."

"What are we seeing?" Draco asked as he walked in the room. "Bloody hell, Nott. You can still cast a warming charm. That throw was five hundred galleons."

Theo stopped as he was shoving yet another one of Malfoy's blankets in his bag. "I don't see why we have to spend the night out there. Why can't you just apparate us back once we are done?"

"We went over this," Hermione nagged, and Draco squeezed her shoulder on his way to their room. "We don't know what form any of us will be, nor how long it will take to change back. Now do you want to be stuck out there freezing if we have to wait for one of us to return to our human form?"

The group was going to attempt their first transfiguration deep in the woods, near the lake Hermione saw one of her first times flying. The lake was a precaution in case one of them ended up being an aqueous creature. Other than that, they needed to be out where their potions were in view of the lightning, and they could hardly test it in Malfoy's garden.

Blaise seemed to have no qualms about spending the night camping out. "I still can't believe you got Malfoy to agree. He's a little bitch when it comes to the woods."

"Oi! Piss off! No one fancies the Forbidden Forest." Malfoy said, coming back with his own bag.

"We may not even need all this. For all we know, we will transform and shift back quickly as McGonagall does." She tried to keep a pep in her tone, but she was sure her nerves showed, nonetheless.

Theo walked over to the large window, looking out as the rain started to pour. "We better head out. The lightning is bound to start any moment."

Blaise went to stand next to him, looking out intently. There was a lot that could go wrong tonight should someone botched their transfiguration, but none of the group wanted to be the first to raise any alarm.

Goyle was mumbling something to Malfoy, and Hermione watched Theo place a quick peck to Blaise's shoulder before he turned and walked away from the window. Blaise seemed to be getting more on edge, which was concerning as he had the best poker face out of anyone in the group.

Hermione couldn't help herself. "It's not too late. We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Granger, stop. You spent at least a hundred hours on each of our potions. We're not throwing them away." Draco insisted.

"You can pry my potion from my cold dead fingers," Goyle seconded. Theo nodded in agreement, giving Hermione more confidence.

She turned to Blaise, "And you?"

Blaise turned to lean against the window, trying to look unbothered. "I've no doubt the transformation will go as planned."

"Then what's got you all pissy?" Goyle retorted, somewhat surprising the others in the room that he challenged the other boy.

"Ah… I see." Draco mused, putting his hands in his pockets. "Worried about what form you are going to take?"

Blaise shrugged, "S'not like we have a choice."

"Don't worry Zabini," Draco said, placing a hand on his shoulder in fake solidarity. "If you turn into a rat like old Peter, I'll let you ride around on my shoulder."

"Piss off!" Blaise laughed with a shoved and Draco quickly caught back his balance.

"Neddy!" Draco called, lightning up.

A POP sounded and Neddy appeared to the right of the group. "Please apparate my guests to the clearing by the lake. Hermione and I will be right behind you."

"Yes, sir." Neddy said with a bow to Malfoy, and reached out her hands to the other boys. "If the young sirs, please."

"You're a saint, Neddy. Half expected your prick of a master to make us walk," Theo joked and Neddy pulled her hands back, scowling at him. Draco choked back a laugh and flipped Theo the bird.

"Sirs can walk," Neddy said, and went to snap her fingers. Hermione had to stop her when it was clear Draco wasn't.

"He's only joking, Neddy! It would help us out a lot if you would help us so that others on the grounds do not see?" Hermione asked her as kindly as she could and Neddy reached out her hands again.

Once the others disapparated, Hermione walked over to Draco as he shrunk his bag with their supplies and put it in his robe pockets.

The moment he looked at her, she closed the distance between them, pressing her lips firmly against his. The heat between them was instant and Draco lifted her and walked until her back was pressed against the wall. They had several layers of clothes under their robes and Hermione was fighting against the fabric to feel the shape on him.

A bolt of lightning illuminated the room, followed by a roar of thunder that pulled Hermione from her trance. Draco felt her pull back, and slowed his kiss, doing one more solid exploring of her mouth with his tongue before resting his forehead against hers.

"Ready?"

Hermione nodded her head against him in response, and she felt the pull as Draco apparated them to the others.

The smell of the dirt was the first to hit her, and it took her back to the last time she was in the forest, running for her life. Her knees buckled and had Draco not been holding onto her she would have collapsed on the ground. He held her lifting her chin to meet her eyes and she felt herself be grounded as she stared into the depths of the stormy gray.

She turned to look around her and gasped when she saw she was surrounded by three hooded death eaters, standing at attention ignoring the rain as it poured over them. It was Theo's green eyes that registered with her first, and she was brought back to present and remembered why they were out there.

"Honestly," She said with a laugh, waving her hand to put a warming and protective charm against the rain. "You all have quite a flair for the dramatic."

Blaise pulled off his hood, shaking the water off his head. "What took you so bloody long?"

"You know what," Hermione muttered back. She pulled out her wand, and five cauldrons appeared.

She levitated each one to its respective wizard carefully, each once customary brewed for their particular magical signature and DNA. When she walked to stand in front of her own, she used the ladle to stir the potion, satisfied that the brew was exactly like all the books in her research described. They were perfect.

They should all be fine.

"The next bolt? No use dragging it out any further?" Theo said breaking the silence

And the others nodded.

All eyes were on the sky. Water bounced off Hermione's barrier instead of in their eyes, but the clouds of the storm still made the sky as dark as the black lake.

Until a bolt of lightning lit it up, the zig-zag shape was all too familiar to her, and gave her a nudge of courage she was missing before.

Hermione cleared her throat, pointing her wand to her own heart as the boys followed suit.

"Amato. Animo. Animato. Animagus." They all chanted, and the bolt that illuminated the sky moments ago was now resonating in each of their cauldrons.

Hermione wasted no time, not wanting to allow error an opportunity to creep in. She brought the ladle to her lips, taking a healthy drink, and opened her eyes in time to watch the world drift away.

Maybe she was the one drifting.

The rocks and roots of the forest floor felt like they were right beneath her feet. However, they were not as sharp or cold as it was against her human flesh, but like her extremities were tough and calloused. Her fingernails clicked against the forest floor as she started walking. Then running. Her instincts took her to dive in the lake, and Hermione was able to swim and see through the dark water like a fish in the sea. Climbing back on the shore, her eyes met another. Her animal instincts urged her to run, but there was something in the warm brown eyes that told her he was a friend. Then, she swore the fox standing a few feet away was grinning at her.

Next to him, a large hare jumped up to bump his head against his own trying to get his attention. A canary landed on her head, and she shook it off, turning to find where it was going to find it instead landed on a large badger.

Transforming back into her human form gave her more vertigo than the first time, and Hermione suspected it was due to the fact that she was forcing the action that time rather than letting the potion overwhelm her.

She ran her hands through her hair, checking her body and staring at her fingers to find that they had survived the transformation perfectly. She laughed with glee and turned to look at the others when someone crashed into her, lifting her off the group and spinning her.

"You did it! You bloody did it you swotty- brilliant!"

Hermione laughed as Theo continued spinning them and clung on tighter so she wouldn't fall. Once they stilled, he kissed her firmly on the cheek before she was pulled out of his arms.

Malfoy looked down at her, hair tousled and smiling so beautifully she thought she could die right on the spot. He crashed his lips on hers, laughing with joy and amazement and what the group had accomplished. Hermione let herself live in the triumph, both that she acquired a skill most magical people can't do in a lifetime, and that Draco was openly kissing and holding her in front of others for the first time.

"Oi! stop your pouting," Draco chided Theo, who was already half a bottle deep of whiskey in.

The group had to wait for Goyle and Blaise to transform back, Goyle taking hours after they had already returned to their true form. They each practiced several times, determined to get the hang of it. Once they were fatigued, Hermione made a fire and the group was tucked warm and safe behind her various charms. Draco enjoyed the whiskey Blaise packed while the fox watched and paced impatiently, and was far too pissed to apparate back by the time his friends finally managed it.

The rain ran down the invisible dome looming over them, fading into hardly a drizzle and the sky was starting to clear.

"Easy for you to say," Theo grunted, throwing a stick into the fire. His back was propped against a log that Blaise was sitting on. He nudged him with his leg, and Theo looked up at his partner with a scowl before realizing he was passing him his blunt and instantly relaxed.

"Rabbits are incredibly intelligent animals, Nott- hiccup. They are quite known for being cunning," Hermione slurred through her statement, indulging nearly as much as the boys in the festivities.

"Not to mention bunnies are so cute," Goyle taunted, causing Draco to laugh.

"He's a hare not a rabbit, you songbird." Blaise corrected, yet Theo kept stabbing at the burning logs resentfully.

"Tell me, Goyle. Are we expected to watch you eat worms?" Draco poked at his friend who chuckled at his own chiding.

"About as often as you'll eat slugs, you bloody brock."

Hermione spat out the sip she was taking and lost it in a fit of laughter. Blaise lost it at the same time and the others were shouting at them to tell what was so funny.

"Fucking Weasley was onto something second year, wasn't he?" Blaise croaked through his laughter and Hermione laughed so hard it turned silent. Blaise was there the time Ron tried to defend Hermione and the curse rebounded.

Draco had his arm around Hermione where she leaned into his side, sitting on a blanket. He grabbed her jaw to turn her face up to him to kiss her as she laughed. "Badger form or not, I think I'll leave eating slugs to your ex-boyfriend."

Theo's jaw dropped. "I bloody knew it. I told you Zabini, didn't I? No way the Golden Girl was hanging around those tossers all the time without them trying to make a move."

"False. You said she was shagging, Potter." Goyle threw out.

"Thought highly of you, I did, Hermione." Theo nodded and she rolled her eyes.

"He wasn't my boyfriend." Hermione said, taking another drink of her wine. Draco said nothing but pulled her legs so they laid over his lap, turning her more towards him.

"Ah otters, playful things, those." Blaise slurred. "Probably snogged half the blokes in Gryffindor just for fun."

"If our animagus were born of our past sexual history, Zabini, I believe you in fact would be the rabbit." Draco snapped and Theo groaned audibly again at his animal form.

"How the fuck I got stuck with a bloody hare is appalling. It's one step up from a rat."

Blaise elbowed him gently, but Hermione could tell his animagus was actually getting to him more than he was letting on. Blaise must have caught on too, but because he smiled gently at Theo before looking at the fire again.

"I don't know about that. I think your form makes loads of sense." He said watching the flames dance as all heads turned to him. "I think it is rather perfect actually."

"Yes, yes, Zabini. You are a lucky man." Goyle drawled.

"Not that, you trollop," Blaise said, pulling out his wand. "Expecto Patronum."

At Blaise's cast, his patronus expelled from his wand, taking form instantly as the hare bounced and weaved between the attendees around the fire. A surprised laugh escaped Hermione and she covered her mouth, smiling from ear to ear. Goyle and Draco watched it with amazement, and what looked suspiciously like hope. That one of their own managed to perform a charm that no one thought death eaters would be capable of. Is that why Blaise didn't want to show them his patronus? Now he couldn't look more proud.

The hare circled around Theo last before hopping off Blaise's shoulder as he ended the cast. Theo stared at him, eyes wide and even though the look wasn't for her, she knew what it meant to have a patronus take the form of another.

Theo finally cracked, smiled slightly up at Blaise who shrugged casually as if he didn't just make everyone's hearts explode. When Theo leaned closer, he sat straight, looking back towards the fire and troubling his hands. Theo conceded to rest his forehead against Blaise's leg, and the other boy ran his hand through his hair. It only lasted a moment, and then Theo was sitting up, back against the log with Blaise to his right. Like any other two friends would be. Hermione wished they could be comfortable being themselves in front of others, but it wasn't her right to push the situation.

Hermione looked at Draco, who's eyes were narrowed towards his friends. His face was full of something she knew all too well.

"Alright," he said suddenly, gently moving Hermione off him and standing up. "Get over here, Nott."

"Huh?"

Draco started walking around the fire to their side. "Don't look at me like that, Zabini. You thought I'd forgotten about the stunt you pulled with Granger when she looked like Pans?"

Blaise narrowed his eyes and Theo grew a malicious grin of his own.

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?"

"You snogged Hermione. It's only fair Nott and I even the score."

Blaise tensed, clearly the only one of the friends not catching onto Draco's game. "Ha. Ha-"

Blaise's sarcastic comment was cut off when Theo promptly stood, stumbling a little from the whiskey, and walked to meet Malfoy, throwing a coy look over his shoulder on his way.

"Don't forget to grab my arse. You saw how low his hands went." Theo looked at Hermione and winked, and she could only shake her head in amusement.

Blaise was up the next moment, stumbling himself, and feeding perfectly into Malfoy's antics.

"It was hardly a snog," he protested.

Theo was standing in front of Malfoy, who took it amongst himself to push Theo's fringe to the side, and mock tuck it behind his ear like Blaise did with Hermione, right before he kissed the side of her mouth.

"Ah, poor lad. Parched for affection. Only a proper snog will do." Malfoy nearly laughed and hardly moved an inch before Blaise grabbed Theo around the waist and pulled him back against him.

"Bloody hands off!" Blaise muttered from around the joint he held between his lips, both arms holding Theo against him. Theo grabbed it from between his lips and stopped smiling to take a drag himself. Blaise looked from Theo to Draco, narrowing his eyes as realization hit him.

"You don't want that blonde popsicle, do you?" Blaise whispered in his ear loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, and Draco groaned at the nickname he would never be able to live down. His sly grin showed that he in fact had caught up to Malfoy's antics. Theo looked from his eyes to his lips and shrugged, and the grin stayed on his face until Blaise finally kissed him.

Draco looked towards Hermione, proud as ever of his master manipulation. Where Hermione would never push people to do something uncomfortable to them, Draco seemed pleased as punch to finally get Blaise to crack.

"That was unnecessary," She whispered to him when he finally sat down.

"Blaise's been talking me deaf about Theo not wanting to hide as much anymore. I was just helping him along."

Theo and Blaise took their spot across the fire, except this time Blaise sat on the log right behind Theo, one knee on each side.

Goyle finished wrapping the next blunt and held it up to light. "How I am the only betrothed one and am getting the least action is a mystery to me."

"If it makes you feel better, you've snogged more people than I have." Theo said.

"I've only kissed Marietta. Wait- Blaise is the only person you've snogged?!" Goyle asked bewildered, passing him the joint.

"First kiss. Then I couldn't get rid of him."

"Yet he still managed to go through half the girls at school," Goyle snorted. "What about you, it was Daphne right?" He asked Blaise who shook his head.

"Parkinson, third year." Blaise smirked. "Draco and I have that in common."

Draco looked like he wanted to set Blaise on fire and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Your first kiss was Pansy?!"

"Well after that bloody chicken attacked me in Hagrid's class, she visited me in the hospital wing to offer me comfort. How could a young bloke resist?" He said grinning down at her.

"What about you, Granger? Was yours Krum or Malfoy?" Theo asked.

Draco snorted. "Just don't tell me you spent years snogging Weasel."

"Just Ron, and we only kissed twice," she said, hitting his arm and taking another swing of wine for good measure.

"That bad?" Goyle jibbed.

"It was fine!" She laughed. "We just didn't have time."

"You were inseparable for years, what's all that time then?"

"We were friends for years." Hermione stated, pointing her finger.

"When did the first of the two great snogs happen?" Blaise asked lightly.

Draco and Hermione had never really talked about their romantic pasts. So little of it existed between them anyhow.

"We kissed the first time at the battle."

Draco and the other boys were silent. Knowing exactly what day she was referring to.

"The day you came here?" Draco asked to clarify, though he already knew the answer. When Hermione nodded, he looked away and took a big swing himself. "Do you miss him?"

"I do," she said easily. "He's my best friend."

Draco searched her eyes, looking for some secret message or hidden meaning behind her words but finding none. Hermione loved and missed Ron. He was her best friend and would always be important to her. But it was nothing like she felt for Draco. Somehow, looking into his gray eyes, she found herself trusting he knew that.

Goyle was the one to break the tension. "Bunch of slags. The lot of you."

The rain stopped and it was nearly three in the morning when Hermione was looking up at the newly cleared sky. The boys, against her protest, decided to shift and race around the lake. Goyle took to the sky, earning himself the role of referee and Draco only made it about three rounds before he gave up and transfigured back to join her. He really had no chance, the fox and the hare a large stretch ahead of him once they took off.

She laid on a blanket, her head resting on a pillow. Her warming and cushioning charms made her so comfortable she was on the verge of drifting off to sleep. Most of their drinks had worn off and the excitement of the night was finally starting to recede.

"What are you doing?" He said lying beside her, shoulder to shoulder.

She grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together and appreciating how soft and long they were. "I think I'm crashing. You're going to have to carry me back, I don't expect I can move."

"I can manage that."

She grinned lazily at him, hand still encased in his, and her lips parted when her eyes locked with his. The moonlight reflected off his silver hair and gray eyes and it was like he was illuminated himself.

Draco turned on his side, slipping a hand under her shirt and rubbing small circles with his thumb on her belly. He would occasionally kiss her cheek or temple, the crackling of the fire and the occasional rustling of the boys racing around the lake the only sounds filling the night.

His hand drifted towards the button on her denims, starting to unfasten it. All too aware of the others that keep passing by, Hermione moved to sit up but Draco pressed his lips hard against hers, keeping her head on the pillow. She pushed her hand through his hair, indulging and slipping her tongue past his lips.

He freed the buttons and slid his hand under her panties. "I need you to stay quiet for me. Can you do that?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but not trusting her voice she instead just looked at him and nodded, returning his smile. When he didn't continue, she turned her head to whisper against his ear. "Yes."

"That's my girl," he said, running his fingers past her opening to coat his fingers in her slick. Hermione closed her eyes, her exhale hitched as Draco started rubbing against her most sensitive spot.

"Your gorgeous sounds are only for me to hear." He kissed the soft skin behind her ear. "All mine."

It had been so long since Draco had touched her with only his fingers. She typically would only last for a few minutes before he'd reward her patience by slipping inside her. Even knowing that wasn't an option, Hermione found that her arousal was quickly growing, and she did her best to repress the moans he was eliciting from her.

A small whimper escaped the back of her throat when he suddenly pushed two fingers inside her, still drawing expert circles with his thumb. Her hips lifted on their own volition, trying to get his fingers deeper and she nearly growled when he shifted his leg over her to keep her in place.

"Draco, I need…" She choked out a little too loudly.

"I'm going to fuck you the moment we get back to our room." His voice was low and dark in her ear. Her walls clenched around his fingers and she couldn't fathom why he wouldn't just take them to their room that moment. "But I want you to come right now, first."

She pulled him down and held her lips tightly against his, fighting her voice to remain silent to the point that her entire body was trembling. Draco was hard against her side, and she shuttered in anticipation of what awaited her once they were alone.

The thought shot another wave of arousal through her and she felt herself getting closer. He kissed down her neck, and she held her breath as his touch took her to a place only he could. She clasped her legs tightly around his hand, riding the pleasure out as it coursed through her and willing herself to hold back the moan that was on her lips.

"Good girl," he praised in her ear. She let her legs fall back lazily on the blanket, freeing his hand.

He brought his hand up, running one finger over her bottom lip until it was shiny with her essence before kissing her gently, his tongue darting out to taste the spot he just touched.

He buttoned her trousers and let his hand fall on her lower stomach like nothing had happened. Hermione could feel him looking at her, but the late hour and various activities of the evening made it impossible to keep her eyes open.

Footsteps grabbed her attention, and she sat up quickly to see Blaise and Theo walking back, still out of breath from their competition.

"Goyle back yet?" Blaise panted. Almost on cue Goyle flew past him and transfigured back into his human form a few feet away. "You're nearly impossible to find, Greg. That ought to come in handy."

"Had to go higher to keep up. Did Theo win the last sprint as well?"

"Ten for ten!" Theo sang as he fell to the ground on his own heap of blankets and pillows. He let out a satisfying sigh and turned his head towards Hermione. "Warming and cushioning charms? You are too good to us, Granger."

Blaise collapsed next to him, pulling Theo to lean on his chest. "Quick nap, then we can head back. I don't think I'd survive an apparation." Theo groaned in agreement and let his arm lay across Blaise's waist.

"I may just fly back, I've still got energy to burn. Alright if I take one of the rooms in the hall?"

"Course. The balcony door to the suite across from ours should be unlocked." Draco told him and Goyle said his goodbyes and took off. Blaise levitated a few more logs on the fire and the flames grew just high enough that she couldn't see across at them without sitting up.

Hermione could hear mumbling from across the way and without thinking, she felt her ears hone in on the sound until she could hear Blaise speaking more clearly. She was shocked, not expecting that any animagus traits would be present in her human form, but she was sure that her hearing was beyond her old human abilities. She gasped a little and Draco paused his petting to look at her.

"Yes, Zabini can speak French," He drawled. "Thank Merlin he is obsessed with Nott, or there'd be no hope for the rest of us."

"Usually I'd disagree with you, but that is incredibly romantic," she quipped back, earning herself a smile.

"You've no idea," He said before looking over his shoulder. Both the other boys looked occupied, Theo still resting on Blaise's chest, who's eyes were closed as he continued his whispers. "Do you know much about Zabini's family?"

Hermione felt a twinge of guilt. She didn't really know anything about Blaise's upbringing, other than his father and mother were not together for some time.

"His father is a git like the rest. But his mother, she was a different sort of malevolent altogether."

"How do you mean?" She whispered softly.

"She has married several times. The only one of her husbands who survived was Blaise's father. She's a stunner with a silver tongue, Crabbe even swore she was part veela. But her words... she was so seductive, manipulative." He kissed Hermione on the tip of her nose before continuing. "It was always a show. Her affection for her lovers. Even her affection for Zabini. He did the same thing for years in school with whatever girl he was pursuing. Saying and doing all the right things to get them to fawn over him but never really giving a shit in return. I'd never seen him actually care about his partner until Theo."

"Is that why he's so private?"

"A large part of it. His mother's declarations of devotion and affection were all an act. So he only says them when no one is around. In a different tongue. That way Theo knows it's just for him."

"He told you this?"

"Mhm."

"Hermione furrowed her brow, and Draco reached up with his thumb to release the tension. "Why don't I believe that's the whole story…"

Draco's chest bounced as he chuckled. "I may have been freaking out after spilling my secrets to you. It turned out Zabini and I are more alike than I ever thought."

Hermione looked over at others again and smiled, not so unlike Draco's late-night whispers. "We should try and rest," she mumbled finally, laying down again on the blankets.

After several minutes, her skin cooled, the brisk air starting to make its way through her heating charm and she thought she ought to recast it before the chill woke up the others. She decided against it, nuzzling closer to Draco for warmth. They were wizards themselves, fully capable of magic far more complex than a few heating charms.

"Granger?"

She smiled, half surprised it took him so long. "Yeah?"

"There's no way to say this and not have it sound wrong, but... I've never known a world without magic. The Malfoys are a proud family, I won't deny it. But our magic, the strength in it... It's what binds us.

It made more sense to Hermione than it would have a year ago. Malfoy appreciating where he came from was not evil in and of itself.

"But there is a different kind isn't there? Different from our old magic. The kind Harry's mother had when she sacrificed herself. What was her name, Lily?"

Hermione nodded against his chest, and Draco started twirling a strand of her hair in his fingers.

"The Dark Lord didn't even know of it. It doesn't feel the same. It doesn't feel like static on my fingertips. It's like it's grabbing at me from the inside."

Hermione couldn't stop herself from breaking her usual silence. "What... This other magic, you've felt it?"

"I didn't know what it was at first, but it just kept getting more insistent the longer you've been here." He gave her a soft kiss. "I feel stronger with it. I used to be so afraid of the Dark Lord. Now, I think I could rip him in two if I need to. If he ever comes near you."

Hermione was frozen, her heart beating out of her chest as she listened to Draco's breathing slowing, drifting further into sleep.

"That's your kind of magic, isn't it?"

She could barely find her voice. "My kind?"

"Mm, like Lily's. Muggle magic?"

Hermione swallowed, her throat feeling dry. "Yeah... yeah- I suppose so."

Draco kissed her temple one more time, half-asleep. "It's lovely."