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In the Arms of her Dragon	By : Wolf.Blossom Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 101559 -:- Recommendations : 8 -:- Currently Reading : 50
Disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter and all characters. I am not making any profit form this fiction.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
In the Arms of Her Dragon
"Why're you crying?" Draco whispered, sitting down beside Hermione in a deserted Great Hall. Looking up at him with puffy eyes, she admitted what happened earlier at the Gryffindor Tower. Without a moment's hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said: "Come on, you're spending the night in the Slytherin dungeon. With me."
.xx.
Heat scorched Draco's skin. He was standing in front of a ball of light that resembled the sun; the heat was deadly, enough to burn cement, but Draco stood his ground staring murderously at it. His left hand was clenched and his right hand, with the faint outline of the dark mark, held his wand out in front of him.
"I repeat," Draco hissed. "Let. Her. Go."
The ball of light grew brighter and the reverberation of a female voice echoed out of it. "Oh dear nephew, when will you learn that a mudblood will only bring you down? I will succeed in turning Voldemort's dream into reality, and the key to that is your disgusting, filthy little friend."
"BELLATRIX!" Draco screamed, lunging forward. The ball of light exploded causing Draco's flesh to melt. In the distance, before he succumbed to death, he heard a bone chilling scream-
"DRACO!"
Hermione.
.xx.
Draco woke up with a cold sweat. That had to be the worst nightmare he'd ever had; Bellatrix, his psycho aunt, was determined to succeed where Voldemort failed. And, to attain her goal, she killed Draco and probably killed Hermione too. Or tortured her; Draco was unsure which would be worse.
Pushing his covers off of him, Draco headed to the washroom to splash some cold water on his face. Subconsciously his mind went back to the Sorting Hat prophecy the previous week— about a dragon and his lady. Draco wasn't stupid; he knew that the Hat was probably talking about him. His name was Latin for dragon.
And the bit with the sea and the sky?
Hermione stayed in the Gryffindor Tower, which was as close to the sky as any tower of residence could get.
And Draco lived in the Slytherin. It was submerged in the Black Lake.
The Hat was probably talking about Hermione and himself; it wasn't a coincidence that the year that they became friends was the same year the Hat said something about a Dragon and the sea and the sky and... more bloody nonsense. Draco knew Hermione was becoming somebody very important to him, and he also knew it was a matter of time before people found out about their friendship.
And then what?
The son of a Death Eater, a previous Death Eater himself, befriending the best friend of Voldemort's destroyer? He could hear his father's voice in his head. Draco, leaning over the sink, stared in to the mirror, in to his groggy reflection.
She helped kill Voldemort, Draconis! The Lucius Malfoy in Draco's head taunted. I know we've stopped advocating blood supremacy, but you need to have some sort of pride! This is tarnishing the Malfoy name.
"I don't care if this tarnishes our name, and I don't care if she helped kill him." Draco whispered to his reflection. He saw Lucius Malfoy in himself. Draco inherited the signature Malfoy hair and the Malfoy eyes. His jaw structure resembled his mother's, a Black trait, but he was a Malfoy; through blood, through genetics.
Draco tore his gaze away from himself. He thought about it all the time, about why he threw himself in front of Bellatrix's Crucio and why Hermione cradled him while crying. It was that moment that an unbreakable bond was formed between them that made them want to spend time with each other, and go on picnics... and kiss.
Kissing... Hermione Granger.
It had to be the best feeling in the world. Draco had his fair share of kissing in his last eight years in Hogwarts, but none of them could compete to Hermione. None at all. Perhaps it was because of that bond that he had with her? Or maybe it was rooted deeper, something that only the stupid Sorting Hat knew.
Draco growled and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to admit it, but he was slightly worried. Worried that Hermione would change her mind when news began to spread (eventually) about the son of a Death Eater and the saviour of the world were friends. Slytherins and Gryffindors were enemies, even if they were slightly more civil with each other, that didn't change hundreds of years' worth of animosity.
And now the Prince of Slytherin and Princess of Gryffindor were cavorting?
Draco could see the headlines in the Daily Prophet already: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger's illicit love affair! Could they have secretly been plotting against You-Know Who? Or, perhaps, it was the other way around! And with the headlines came his father's angry voice and the taunting of his dormmates. But that didn't bother him. What bothered him was that he didn't know if it was going to bother Hermione. Alright, so Draco was slightly insecure, but he never was involved with somebody as intellectually skilful as Hermione, as beautiful as Hermione, and witty as Hermione.
Basically he'd never been with anybody like Hermione.
Draco pushed away from the sink and punched the wall. Why was he getting so worked up over it? Whatever! They were friends.
End. Of. Bloody. Story.
Deciding to forget his insecurities for the moment, Draco started heading back to his dormitory to squeeze in as much sleep as he could for the rest of the night. Sundays at Hogwarts were usually (an unspoken rule) study days. Anyone that was particularly interested in passing their classes sought assistance for projects, and whatnot, on Sundays. Draco had to review the curriculum for the term anyway; he probably was going to ask Snape for clarification on some sort of potions projects.
Draco always did, every term.
Silently shutting the door behind him as he entered the dormitory, Draco crept over to his bed and sank into it. His eyes were shut and, out of habit, he shoved his right hand under his pillow to feel for the journal. His eyes snapped open when he felt it, and felt that it was warm. Hermione had written to him.
But it was three in the morning.
Maybe she was hurt?
Draco pulled the journal out from under the pillow and grabbed his wand from the night stand. "Lumos." He whispered. When a small bubble of light appeared, he opened the journal.
"Vetitum amicitia." Draco murmured, revealing Hermione's text.
Are you awake?
Draco cracked a silly grin and moved to grab his quill. Yeah. Why're you awake?
Neville's toad jumped on my face and I woke up screaming. The girls woke up too and Parvati went to yell at Neville. I didn't expect you to be up.
But you certainly hoped, which is why you wrote to me, isn't it?
Shut up, Malfoy.
That is your catch phrase. I've never had somebody tell me to shut up so often...
That's because I find you insufferable.
And attractive. Draco enjoyed his banter with Hermione. She always had some comeback for him, and they weren't pathetic and brainless... except for the 'shut up, Malfoy.' That was probably her fallback phrase when she had no witty comeback. Draco did learn that Hermione Granger was capable of being rendered speechless, so maybe when she told him to shut up it was because she had nothing left to say.
Perhaps a little, but the Malfoy in Hufflepuff gives you a run for your money. I spent the day with him yesterday, you know. He packed me a wonderful picnic and took me on a magic carpet ride.
Draco, despite himself, grinned like a stupid fool. So she was playing that game, was she? Alright, two could play it. Is that so? How was your time with him? I'm afraid I didn't fare as well as you did; I was stuck with this insufferable know-it-all, buckteeth, bushy-haired witch.
Were you now? I pity you. No, this Malfoy ensured that I had a spectacular time, which I did might I add. He makes this wonderful cucumber sandwich with the crust cut off... must be the most heavenly thing I've ever had.
Lucky you. When do I meet him?
He's out of your league.
Very funny, Granger. I'm in a league of my own. I pity the mortals that try to come close to where I stand.
Are you implying you're immortal?
My rugged good looks and charming personality has left an impression on all the students of Hogwarts, as well as the professors. I hear Dumbledore's portrait constantly praise what a genius student I was.
Then I must be Socrates reincarnated.
Than you can call me Aristotle.
Hermione giggled at his response. He was the perfect person to engage in a battle of wits with.
Okay, Aristotle. I believe we should hit the sack now. You have to tell me tomorrow why you're awake, though.
Perhaps. Night, bush-bush bookworm.
Goodnight, bad faith.
.xx.
"Quidditch tryouts begin today." Harry declared as the group of eighth year students began their descent to the Great Hall. "We received the thumbs-up from McGonagall late last night. Slytherin and Gryffindor share the field from two to four, and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw share the field from four to six."
Luckily, as per Hermione's promise, she had Ron and Harry give the three first year students flying lessons not too long ago. Their crushes were instantly sated when they learned that Ron and Harry were speed demons on their broomsticks. One of the girls swore she would never fly for as long as she should live.
Poor girls…
Hermione frowned. "Tryouts? But I thought we agreed to talk to Madam Sprout today about making our NEWT all written with no practical."
"Yes… but Quidditch!" Ron whined. "We have to win the House Cup this year because… well… there weren't any House Cups the past two years. It's a pride thing, Hermione, you wouldn't understand."
He missed the dangerous glare she sent him. Mockingly she said: "You need to sort out your priorities."
That caused the group to laugh at Ron's expense.
"I'm surprised you know what a pride thing is." Lavender shot bitterly at the ginger-haired boy. "Any man who decides to knock up a Hufflepuff mustn't have any form of pride whatsoever."
Ron looked aghast. "I didn't knock her up!"
"Pfft," Kellah snorted. "We wouldn't know, now would we?"
"Oh, will you lot give it up already!" Ron yelled, exasperated. "Can't a red-blooded man do anything around here without facing bloody consequences by you so-called Gryffindor Angels?! At least the girls in Hufflepuff know what they wa—"
The corridor that they were in went deadly silent when they heard a loud smack. Hermione's palm had connected with Ron's cheek, causing his head to snap sideways.
"I never thought I'd say this, but Draco Malfoy is right." Hermione hissed, missing Draco, Theodore, Blaise, Adrian, Tracey, and Pansy turning the corner. They stopped dead and watched the scene unfold.
"But you're nothing but a worthless, useless, tactless piece of… of…"
She couldn't finish. She wanted so badly to insult Ron but she couldn't bring herself to say the word. Luckily for her, Draco just so happened to know exactly what word she was looking for.
"Shit." He called out and Hermione's eyes widened. She didn't know he was there. "He's a worthless, useless, tactless piece of shit. He's also a good-for-nothing Weasel, looks like a squished pug, has the emotional range of a teaspoon, and has about the IQ level of a doorknob."
Ron scowled. "Nobody asked you, Malfoy."
"I do recall Granger quoting me; therefore, I was asked indirectly." Draco strode languidly to the group of Gryffindors. His Snakes followed him, all smirking broadly—Pansy and Tracey stood back to watch the scene unfold.
"You are in dire need of pointers from real men on what it's like to be a real man." Blaise snickered. "I'd offer to help but… you're a lost cause."
Harry shoved Ron aside to glare at Blaise. "Nobody asked you, Zabini."
"When my mate is indirectly asked, then we are as well." It was Theodore to retort. Hermione and the other Gryffindor girls exchanged glances and promptly took a step back. They didn't know how or why the Slytherins got involved, but it looked like it was going to get messy and they did not want to be caught in the crossfire.
"You, Mia, are an instigator." Fay nudged Hermione. The latter girl could only smile apprehensively before turning her attention back to Harry yelling at Blaise. She caught Draco's eye and shot him the 'if-you-dare' look. Apparently he got the hint because he immediately grabbed Blaise's arm.
"Zabini, drop it. Pot Head and Plant Food aren't worth our time."
Blaise snickered. "I can't believe the Jupiter Fly Trap actually ate you. Wow, I am wasting my time talking to you." Laughing, Blaise walked off with Draco. As much as Draco wanted to glance over his shoulder to take one more look at Hermione, he knew it'd be way too obvious so he restrained himself.
Hermione sent a silent prayer of thanks to Merlin. She didn't want to have a situation on her hands; she'd have to tend to the wounds of both Harry and Draco if they scrapped. And she could only imagine how intolerable the both would be. If there was anything Harry and Draco had in common it was that they were extremely whiny when the opportunity presented itself.
Case and point one: the skele-gro incident with Harry.
Case and point two: "the-Hippogriff-broke-my-arm-but-the-cast-kept-switching-arms-but-I'll-still-make-sure-my-father-hears-about-this" incident with Draco.
"This house is losing its sense of family." Ron spat after the Slytherins left. "You left me to the vultures there… scratch that, you brought the vultures to me."
"If you weren't stupid…" Hermione muttered and chose not to finish her phrase. She didn't have the energy to argue with Ron.
Ron took a dangerous step towards Hermione. "You know, ever since the start of the term you've been a complete bitch."
"At least I have the decency to not snog other boys when one clearly admires me in my own house!"
Now there was a circle forming around Ron and Hermione. She was glaring murderously at the boy and Ron could only match her glare with one of his own. "You got your knickers in a twist because nobody wants to snog you?!"
If only he knew…
"I don't need anybody to snog me." Hermione hissed. "When I find somebody, he's going to respect me enough to not want to snog me meaninglessly!"
"Good luck with that! The only way you will get any action is if you become another notch on Malfoy's broom."
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Malfoy's broom doesn't have notches. It's new!"
"Well look at that! He notched the old one down to a sliver so he had to get a new one!"
Everybody watching the fight was ping-ponging between Hermione and Ron.
Hermione and Ron.
Hermione and Ron.
"At least Malfoy knows what he's doing enough to notch his broom down to a sliver. How many notches do you have?!"
The fight was getting out of hand.
"Go be Malfoy's fucking slut, Hermione." Ron snarled but was taken aback when he felt a fist impact his jaw. All eyes turned to a seething Draco Malfoy.
"If you dare…" Draco whispered. "Ever say that. Ever."
Ron, whose cheek was pulsing, turned his rage onto Draco. "You working on getting into Hermione's pants now, are you? Why else would you defend her on the train when your goons called her mudblood and now?! Do you fancy her?"
"Regardless of if I fancy her or not, I was taught to respect women."
By then the crowd doubled. Kellah nudged Hermione and whispered: "Why did he punch Ron and not Harry or Neville or Dean or Seamus?"
Hermione shrugged her heart racing and her eyes locked on Draco. "No idea." she whispered back. Fay decided to answer that question herself.
"Ron's their mate. They don't want to jeopardize their friendship with him."
"And my friendship with them?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Guess only the girls are passing their NEWTs this year." Parvati murmured comically.
The tension was thick enough to be sliced with a butter knife. There were daggers being thrown between Draco and Ron and the onlookers didn't know what to expect. Draco's jaw tightened. His eyes bore into Ron's and it was taking all of his willpower not to beat Ron into a bloody pulp.
Draco was enraged. He didn't even want to use his wand to inflict pain. He wanted to use his fists.
"Respect women, hmm?" Ron scoffed. "Is that why your old broom was notched to a sliver?"
Draco took a lethal step towards Ron. "Listen here, Weasel. When I'm with a woman, she is the only person I am with emotionally and physically. Until the day comes where we have to call it off and tie up loose ends, I will remain faithful to her endlessly."
Hermione's eyes widened slightly… she knew his speech was also directed to her.
"I have learnt respect, honour, and loyalty. Despite the fact I'm in Slytherin." He took another step towards Ron. "But you, friend," he said the word 'friend' with disgust, "display qualities that even us Slytherins would be ashamed to have."
Harry and Dean decided it was time to intervene. The two of them stepped in between Ron and Draco to stop Draco's advancements. Harry spoke up.
"Okay! Okay… perhaps this is getting a little out of control. It was a spat between Hermione and Ron. Friends fight, Malfoy. You don't need to get so worked up about it."
Draco's eyes flickered to Harry. "Friends don't tell their friend to be anybody's slut, let alone their enemy's, Potter. You'll never hear me tell Pansy to be your slut; that is quite possibly the worst form of disrespect."
Looking at Hermione for a brief moment, Draco let his eyes linger on her before turning back to Harry and Ron. "And I highly doubt I've shagged as many girls as you have."
Ron's expression melted from anger to cocky. "Oh! So you're admitting that I'm more of a man than you."
"Hardly." Draco took a step back. "I'm telling you that you are a man whore and I'm selective when it comes to my women. I only pick the finest, smartest, and wittiest of them all. Not to mention ethereally beautiful."
Ron barked with laughter and Fay was tempted to conjure up a bag of popcorn. The fight was getting good…
"If that were the case, why haven't you gotten Hermione yet? She's smart and witty."
"And ethereally beautiful?" Draco cocked an eyebrow and Hermione managed to skilfully hide her blush. How did this go from their loyalty to women to her?!
"Let's end this before Ron gets hexed by Hermione for shoving his foot in his mouth." Dean squeezed in before Ron could formulate a response. Fay wanted to oppose the notion but figured Dean was doing the right thing.
"He's already shoved both his feet into his mouth." Kellah muttered under her breath and Lavender shoved her hard.
Draco looked at Ron for a brief moment longer before turning around. "You Gryffindors are a waste of my time." Without a sparring glance he turned the corner and disappeared. The crowd was silent for a moment longer before Seamus whistled low.
"What was that?"
"That was war." Kellah muttered. "How the bloody hell did that escalate?"
"If I were to repeat how the fight started then we'd have a case of déjà vu." Hermione murmured before turning on her heel and stomping off. She wanted to rip Ron's hair out and paste it to his chest (considering he couldn't grow any on his own)—she was never so angry at anyone before.
Never.
.xx.
You okay, bookworm?
Hermione, who was in a secluded corner of the library, watched the words in her journal begin to bleed onto the page. She was toying with the Healer Pendant around her neck. Ever since Draco got it for her and she put it on, she never took it off.
It became a part of her.
I'm okay. Thanks for earlier.
I'm surprised your supposed friends weren't sticking up for you. What would've happened if I didn't show up in time?
Then we'd have Ron's body parts scattered throughout the Forbidden Forest.
… crap. Then I shouldn't have come back.
Why did you?
To tell you which ingredients Snape told us to get for our potions assignment.
Hermione gawked at what he wrote. She wasn't expecting that to be the reason for him returning to where she and Ron were quarrelling. Really?
Yes. I spoke to Snape today about the curriculum and thought we should get a head start on our project. Apparently Potions has a seating plan too but because Snape was ill… we didn't know.
Let me guess, we're seated together?
Whatever gave you that impression? Anyway, do me a favour will you?
What is it?
Turn around.
Hermione froze and stared at the last two words. Robotically she turned in her chair to find the object that constantly plagued her mind leaning against a bookshelf with his journal and a quill in his hand. "Draco?" She squeaked.
Snapping his journal shut and making it disappear; Draco pushed himself off of the shelf. Languidly, he strode to where Hermione was sitting and, without word, used his index finger to tilt her face up and planted his lips on hers. Hermione was in a state of shock but managed to quickly recover and respond to his caress.
His other hand snaked its way around to the back of her neck and he pulled her closer to him, wanting to feel more of her lips.
More of her.
"If that Weasel ever talks about my woman like that ever again…" Draco murmured into the kiss. He used his teeth to grab hold of her bottom lip but she managed to yank away. She pressed her forehead against his and stared into his endless gray eyes.
"Your woman?" She cocked an eyebrow. "That's a new one, Mister Bad Faith." Their breathing was ragged and Draco took the opportunity to lean forward and steal another kiss from her.
"Why did that piece of rubbish speak to you like that?" Draco's fingers caressed the nape of her neck. "And why didn't your friends defend you?"
Hermione sighed and melted into his touch. She really needed him, and as much as she didn't want to admit it she was glad that he was there with her right then. "I have theories… we were having a fight over Ron's womanizing issues and he basically said that the Gryffindor girls were spinsters and Hufflepuff were…"
"Loose?"
Hermione grinned at Draco. "Pretty much. So we fought about that and something about you having so many girls that you notch your broom every time you get laid came up… and he told me to be your slut, and you punched him."
"That part I know. And your friends not defending you?"
"The girls didn't know how to react… and I think the boys were confused on whether they should jeopardize my friendship, or Ron's."
Draco sighed and placed a soft kiss on her nose. "Bookworm, I want you to punch him like you did me the next time he speaks to you like that understand?"
Hermione couldn't help but giggle. She was feeling miserable until Draco decided to pay her a little surprise visit. She told the girls that she wanted to be alone and snuck off to the library to immerse herself in her wonderful books. Hermione was not in the mood to speak to anybody at all.
Until Draco showed up.
He was something else, altogether… and Hermione was beginning to like it. A lot.
The hand that was under her chin moved down to grab a hold of her pendant. "I quite enjoy seeing you wear this every day, Granger."
"A good frenemy of mine got it for me." She teased and Draco grinned wolfishly.
"Frenemy? I thought we graduated to friendship."
"Right, right, my mistake." Hermione laughed. "Thank you, Draco."
The way she said his name sent shivers running up his spine and his nightmare from earlier was beginning to creep into his mind. In his nightmare she screamed for him… desperately cried for him to save her but he… he…
"Anytime, Hermione." he whispered in response. "When I said I'd catch you when you fall I didn't mean it literally. In every figurative sense there is, I will be there for you."
Sighing softly, Hermione nodded. "I know."
Draco took a step back and crossed his arms in front of his robes. "Well then, are you going to wallow in misery in the library all afternoon?"
"That was the intention." Hermione eyed him warily. "Why? Do you have another picnic for us on a floating bedsheet?"
Draco gave Hermione an incredulous look. "Bookworm, bedsheets don't float." Her joke completely went over his head. "And no, I don't have another picnic. The Quidditch tryouts are now and as the team captain, I have to be there. So why don't you use the pretense of supporting Gryffindor to come watch me execute my perfect flying tricks to on looking second, third, and fourth year Slytherin girls?"
Hermione shook her head in amusement. "You're a character, Malfoy. I'd love to see you show off but I kind of don't want to see Ron right now."
"Then don't. Watch me instead." He gave her his best Malfoy-puppy-dog-look he could muster up. "Please Hermione?"
The way he said her name did it for her. She slammed her book shut and scowled at her 'friend.'
"Fine. You're a prick, you know that?"
Laughing, Draco kissed her cheek. "I know. And you love it."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
.xx.
Hermione was sitting with Ginny, Kellah, and Fay in the Quidditch field. They were recalling the argument from earlier and the girls were at a consensus that Ron was in the wrong and shouldn't have said what he said to Hermione. The conversation then shifted from Ron's stupidity to Draco Malfoy's masculinity.
"He looked so riveting." Fay sighed dreamily. "He just came out of nowhere, defending Hermione's honour."
"He's doing that a lot lately, hmm?" Ginny nudged the quiet Hermione. "I heard about the incident on the train too, when Crabbe or Goyle called you the m-word."
Kellah tapped her chin. "Well... maybe it is because he's promoting inter-house unity. Perhaps he's trying to be civil after being an A-class arsehole to Hermione for the better part of seven years."
"Five." Hermione murmured and all eyes turned to her. "He was a jerk to me for five years. He lay off in sixth and seventh year." Not to mention that he saved my life from his psycho aunt. Granted Harry and Ron knew about it, but that didn't mean that they would suddenly call Draco their best mate. And Hermione wasn't sure if the girls knew about Draco's heroism. Well, any of the other girls except Ginny of course; Ginny knew Draco did something, but Hermione knew Ginny was unware of what that something was.
"He's dreamy though." Kellah concurred with Fay. "The way his muscles were bulging... and what he said about intelligence, and wit, and ethereal beauty? That was so romantic!"
Hermione's eyes moved to the sky and followed Draco's flying figure on Lightyear. Her mind reeled back to the flying lessons she had with him and found herself begin to wonder when they would have another late night rendezvous. One of the third year boys (Hermione didn't remember his name) was having a hard time trying to catch the quaffle. Apparently the captains of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams (Harry and Draco respectively) were able to request the non-live balls from Madam Hooch (which meant they were only able to get the quaffles). Both captains were using the quaffle as a mean to determine who would make the cut.
As Draco promised, he was showing off. He did a fancy loop in the air and flew around upside down for a while. Hermione wasn't completely ignorant. She knew that he was showing off for her and not for the Slytherin girls in second, third, and fourth years.
"Hermione?" Fay shoved her friend. "What are you watching?"
"Ron making a fool of himself." Hermione was quick to respond and her answer seemed to satisfy her friends. Ron was making a fool of himself; he was purposely trying to outshine Draco and perform fancy tricks himself. As predicted, Ron's tricks weren't as smooth as Draco's.
"I can't believe he brought up the topic of pride with you." Kellah shook her head. "He says you've changed since the beginning of term? I say he's changed. Gin, what in Merlin's name happened to him over the summer?"
Ginny untied her ponytail while watching her brother and shrugged. "No idea. He seemed normal all summer... kept getting into trouble with mum, getting on Fred and George's nerves, annoying Percy, and being a doting brother-in-law with Fleur. Then school started and he just..."
"Did a complete one eighty?" Hermione offered and Ginny nodded.
"Did a complete one eighty— LOOK!"
All eyes snapped to Draco Malfoy hanging off the side of his broom... doing chin-ups. Hermione's heart jumped to her throat as she, for a fleeting moment, thought that he was going to fall. No, that wasn't the case; he was being his usual show-offy self. Hermione tried not to show how much seeing Draco hang precariously many kilometres in the sky bothered her; she was already planning on giving him a piece of her mind for giving her a heart attack like that!
"He seems to be in a good mood." Fay observed.
Kellah snorted. "If you landed a good punch on Ron, you'd be in a better mood yourself. He's been a complete prick as of late and I just want to wipe the castle floors with his big, white, pasty arse."
The girls giggled. Hermione looked back up at the sky in time to see Draco hoist himself back onto his broom. He looked down at her, caught her eye, and winked. Hermione scowled at him and she saw him throw his head back and laugh. He was in a good mood, and seeing him laugh made Hermione want to smile.
She couldn't wait to be back in his arms...
"That girl is really good." Ginny pointed out and Hermione moved her gaze from Draco to a familiar third-year Gryffindor girl. Hermione remembered seeing her face around the Common Room a lot, but she couldn't put a name to the face. Whoever she was, she was really good at manoeuvring her broom. From what Hermione could tell, she was trying out to be Keeper.
"She is." Fay hummed. "She's cute too. Let's set her up with somebody!"
"Ugh, Fay!" Kellah groaned. "Fay! She's, like, five years old!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Kell, she's fourteen. She isn't much younger than us. Besides," Hermione didn't want to admit it, but she sometimes enjoyed playing matchmaker. There was such a sense of accomplishment with it! "I heard Dean Thomas is in the dating scene."
"Is he really?!" Kellah's eyes twinkled. "Because I've been eyeing him from second year!"
Ginny and Fay threw their heads back in laughter and Hermione only shook hers. Over the years the girls had become such important people in her life. She was always with Ron and Harry as they were the ones practically leading the Wizarding war, so she quickly learned to appreciate her girlfriends.
"Then forget her!" By 'her,' Fay meant the Gryffindor girl trying out to be Keeper. "Let's get you hooked up with Dean!"
Hermione believed she never saw Kellah blush before. But there she was, blushing, and blushing very hard. Ginny wrapped an arm around Kellah's shoulders in an effort to comfort their friend. Kellah sighed loudly and allowed her shoulders to slump. Yeah, she had a crush on Dean Thomas. So sue her.
Hogwarts was always fighting to stay alive so Kellah figured telling the boy she fancied him wouldn't be the most appropriate thing to do.
The girls engaged in a conversation about setting Kellah and Dean up and missed the Gryffindor Team landing just a few feet away from them. The Gryffindor tryouts were done and the team was ready to retire to their dormitory... it was a long two hours. The veteran team members (as Harry would announce the ones who made the cut the following morning) approached the girls.
Ron was sneering. "Look who decided to show up…" He trailed off. Ron spotted Draco landing just behind where the girls were sitting and caught the dirty glare the Slytherin Prince shot at him. Ron looked back at Hermione and saw that she glanced over her shoulder to look at what he was looking at. "Your bodyguard can't protect you forever. Especially not in our Common Room."
Without waiting for her to respond Ron stalked off. Everybody gawked at his retreating figure...
"What is wrong with him?!" Fay snarled. "He's acting like he's the King of the bloody school and that nobody, especially a Malfoy, can defend Hermione. So what? House unity, inter house cooperation. The war is bloody over and most of the Slytherins don't advocate blood supremacy."
"It's a pride thing/. Kellah echoed what Ron said earlier. Harry took a seat between Ginny and Hermione.
"I tried talking to him, but I got nothing. I'm sorry about what he said earlier, Hermione." Harry wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder and the girl smiled, leaning into her friend's touch.
"I don't know what's gotten into him." Hermione sighed. "He's getting all antsy because of the fact we're mad at him?"
Seamus shook his head; he was on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as well. "It's because Malfoy punched him in an effort to defend you."
Ginny snorted. "At least somebody is looking out for Mia. What were you boys doing?!"
Hermione shrugged Harry off, stood up and turned around. She was a tad bit disappointed that the Slytherin Team, including Draco, were gone but didn't let it show. "Drop it, okay? Forget about what happened. I'm not mad at the boys for not defending me. I understand, Ron and I are both your friends and it would've been a bad situation. I'm thankful for Malfoy for being there, though I'm not sure about the punch."
"Ron deserved it." Kellah murmured but Hermione ignored her.
"Let bygones be bygones. Ron'll be okay, eventually, and we'll all move on from this. Now, since tryouts are done, I'm going back to studying. Snape is assigning us potions projects and I want to get ahead." Hermione gathered her books, which were placed neatly on the ground, and walked off. Harry watched her and couldn't help but feel terrible for not coming to her aid earlier.
He was her best friend. It should've been him stopping Ron's tirade, not Draco. Sighing, Harry turned back to the rest of the Gryffindors. "Butterbeer?"
They erupted into loud cheers.
.xx.
"Who were you showing off for?" Blaise nudged Draco as the boys, still in their Quidditch uniforms, walked towards the Slytherin Dungeon. "Those chin-ups were rather good, mate."
Draco snarled and moved away from Blaise. In an attempt to get away from nudging distance, Draco walked into Adrian. Adrian wasn't any nicer than Blaise was and continued to taunt his captain. "Zabini's right, Malfoy. Who were all those acrobatic acts for?"
"I was only showing the Slytherins trying out that Quidditch isn't just about flying. It's about physical strength, smarts, and apt concentration as well." Draco sounded stupid, even to himself.
Theodore snorted. "Apt concentration on trying to show off to your lady."
"I do not have a lady!"
"Then why'd I see you wink at Hermione Granger?"
Blaise had him there. Draco felt his blood run cold and he did the first thing that came to mind: he ran away.
"You lot are crazy!" He managed to call out before mumbling the password to the dungeon wall and rushing into the Common Room. Adrian, Blaise, and Theo exchanged amused glances.
"Do you think he fancies Granger?" Blaise asked and the others shrugged. They didn't know what to think anymore... Draco was changing, and although they all agreed that it was for the better, they wanted to know who the cause of the change was. Blaise wasn't lying, though. He did catch Draco wink at somebody and the only one that was watching the Slytherin team, from the direction that Draco was winking, was Hermione Granger.
"He can fancy whoever he wants. As long as it isn't a Weasel." Theodore muttered.
"Or the Patil twins." Adrian added. "Besides, Granger's the smartest witch in the last century. She's probably the only one that can shut Malfoy up. And she's a sight for sore eyes."
"She is a beauty, isn't she?" Theodore drawled as the boys entered the Common Room. "I wonder what she'd look—" One look from Draco, who was sitting on the sofa, stopped Theodore from finishing his phrase. "In Slytherin robes..." he lamely finished.
"Your prerogative, Malfoy." Blaise shrugged. "We're no one to judge."
Draco could only nod at the boys. Blaise disappeared into the dormitory and Theodore and Adrian headed in the direction of the bathroom. Draco stayed seated on the sofa; the boys reacted to that a lot better than he thought they would. Untying his cape, Draco let it fall onto the sofa before he stood up and sauntered in the direction of the dormitory. He was anxious to write to Hermione...
If he couldn't have her in his arms right then and there, he might as well settle for having her words in their shared journal.
Oh Granger, what in Merlin's name have you done to me?
.xx.
Edited: August 9, 2016
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In the Arms of her Dragon