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Atonement	By : absumoaevum Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13720 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor to I make any money from this story. These characters are JKR's, I just play with them.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
There is a high likelihood that I will be updating this chapter with minor changes in the new future. I just couldn't wait to get it out there.

Chapter 19

A Light on a Hill

The Hufflepuffs had come prepared, he'd give them that. It was another thirty minutes at least before they got to the grand finale. Draco watched them in the dying light of two shockingly-pink Catherine wheels. Someone – he guessed James – was doing something of a victory lap, brandishing a huge firework over his head. That must be the one with his name on. Draco could still see James' huge block letters on the side ("Hey Draco! Seek This!") in his mind's eye. Whatever it was, it was going to be good.

He glanced over at Granger beside him. She was smiling wistfully down at the Hufflepuffs on the lawn. What was she thinking about? He could feel the rise and fall of her breathing through his arm, still draped over her shoulders. Though it had calmed down considerably, Draco could feel the catches toward the end of every exhalation, the shakiness of her intake of breath. She almost sounded like him with his wheezy lungs that had yet to fully heal.

Draco remembered that day after Charms when she and Ginny Weasley had come to his aid (he did not like to think "rescue"). And she had taken him to the Hospital Wing so that Madame Pomfrey could clean him up. It was like a dream, but he imagined he remembered her peaking around the corner of the white stretched-fabric partition, then tiptoeing to his bed just to stand over him, looking sadly at the state of him, which he knew from his own inspection had been dismal. What had she thought about then? How many others she'd seen look like him, bruised and ruined and bleeding? Had he reminded her of Potter? Or Weasley?

Shifting on the ledge in agitation, Draco tried to focus on the events unraveling down by the lake. James had pegged the rocket into the ground and was talking to a little group. They turned their heads around and around, as if looking for someone. They're looking for me, he thought.

He felt that rush of excitement just before he did something stupid and rash, then he leaned in to Granger as said, "Cover your ears!" before pointing at his wand at his throat and whispering "Sonorus! Guys! James! Up here!"

The Hufflepuffs all started in alarm and looked up at the castle, most of them in the wrong direction.

"Quietus!" he murmured, the turned to Granger and said, "shine your wand!" She was looking at him in shock. "Shine your wand, Granger. So they can see where we are!"

"Alright, ok!" she said, laughing. "Lumos!" Below, the Hufflepuffs had found them at last. They were waving and jumping up and down. Draco and Granger waved back, smiling, then she extinguished her wand.

Below, the speck that was James was back on task. He was making a big show of what Draco assumed was lighting the wick of the firework.

There was a moment of anticipation while they waited with baited breath for the rocket to ignite, then a sudden shout from the gigantic oak front doors. A tiny figure was slouching angrily down the entrance steps, striding with the kind of joggling malice that could only belong to one person: Flinch.

Granger clapped her hands to her mouth, trying hard not to giggle, but Draco didn't even attempt to stifle his laughter. He clutched his chest in hysterics as he watched James scoop up the rocket and run with it away from Filch, who was giving chase and barking furiously at James for him to "Stop! Slow down, you! Come back with that!"

Two more figures had emerged onto the grounds as Granger and Draco squinted down, trying to see who they were. One was much taller than the other, as straight-backed and thin as the second was round and stout. They could only be Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Sprout. The majority of the Hufflepuffs froze when they saw the two women. They seemed to respond to some shouted order from McGonagall and trekked resignedly over to where the women waited, hands on hips, wands lit like beckons in the semi-darkness.

But not James. He was still fleeing Filch, holding the rocket out in front of him at arm's length. When James had made it a good fifty yards around the lake toward the Forbidden Forest, he stopped, glanced back at Filch (who was still 30 feet away), planted the rocket in the soggy ground near the water, and lit it.

There was a buzz and then a rumble like thunder rose up from the firework. Everyone, even Sprout and McGonagall and Filch, had stopped what they were doing to watch. The rocket shot into the air like a canon, zoomed high into the sky, and burst. Out of the sparks came a great golden dragon. It roared, and streams of green and blue light billowed from its fanged mouth. Huge, batlike shimmering wings expanded in the air and flapped; its tail, long as West Tower was tall, flicked through the night sending jets of yellow light whizzing toward the ground. Owls screeched and took flight from the Owlery behind them, but they couldn't peel their eyes away from the vast fiery beast prowling and dancing through the air.

"Wow!" muttered Granger. He'd almost forgotten that she was there. He looked at her, the enormous firework dragon reflected in her eyes, and decided that this must be exactly the sort of thing that she liked, even if she didn't want to admit it. Big flashy displays. Must be a Gryffindor thing.

Draco had to confess, though, it was pretty amazing. And this was a Weasley Wizard Wheezes product? Hats off to the Weasley twins. Draco had always thought they were good value.

By the light of the dragon twisting around in the sky, Draco saw Filch tackle James, who had been staring dazedly up at his own handiwork. The caretaker pinned James to the ground, and there was much thrashing as James tried to get away again. Everyone else seemed to snap out of a sort of stupor as well. McGonagall and Sprout were yelling at the Hufflepuffs over the roar of the firework dragon, and everyone began traipsing back toward the castle.

The dragon belched another jet of blue-green sparks over the lake. Draco saw water creatures darting away from the light under its smooth surface. He started to point at a little group of merpeople staring up from under the water at the dragon, but they were gone in a flash. And besides, Granger had seen merpeople before, hadn't she? She was Vickor Krum's prize in that same lake during the Triwizard Tournament four years ago. She would have definitely gotten a glimpse of them then.

Draco sat for a long time with Granger, watching her watch the dragon out of the corner of his eye. Something had really upset her, and he wished he knew what.

And things had changed between them so drastically so fast that he was still trying to wrap his mind around it. She was sorry, and she forgave him. Yeah, for tonight, maybe. Well, he'd take the chances he got.

"Hey, Granger," he said. There was a little pause. Behind him, owls hooted and rustled, settling back in after their fright with the dragon.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to look at him for the first time in an hour. Her face still had that expression of wonderment, but underneath he could see her coming back to herself. This was, after all, not the typical Friday night for either of them. Draco could tell she was wavering somewhere between apprehension and guilt.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said, dropping her gaze to the hay between them and starting to pick at it.

Draco wasn't sure he should be asking. It was private, he knew that. But he still wanted to know. "What did you say to my mother in your reply?"

"I said, 'I forgive you, and I will try'," Granger told him. Then she added, "Or something like that."

"Can I ask something else?"

"Yep." She tossed a strand of straw over the edge of the window. It wafted down to the lawn, lost from sight even in the light from the dragon.

"What do we do now? I mean to say, after tonight. What are we?" Granger picked up another piece of hay and tried to throw it past the ledge, but missed. Draco picked it up and tapped her leg with it. "I want to know. I want to be clear."

Granger thought about this for a while before answering. Finally, she said, "We're strangers. You and I. We can be strangers now. Acquaintances, maybe."

Draco didn't understand. Strangers? What did that mean?

And then it dawned on him. Strangers. No longer enemies. Not friends, of course – they barely knew each other. But strangers. Strangers could meet. They could become friends. They could come to know each other.

"Strangers it is," said Draco. They both watched the dragon swoop down and blow sparks on the surface of the lake. At once, steam billowed up from the water and covered the grounds in a thick, rolling fog infused with beams of multi-colored light emanating from the firework beast. The mist had backfired on the dragon, however, enveloping it, extinguishing its light little by little in a dazzling display of pyrotechnics. The more the dragon hissed angry blue and green flames and flailed its wings in annoyance of the fog, the more of it there was. At last, the steam and the water seemed to swallow the dragon as a great, dying ember, finally extinguishing it somewhere deep under the lake.

That was unbelievable, Draco thought. He'd never seen anything so beautiful.

The minutes flickered by, and still they watched the mist curling around the castle, climbing the stone to lap at their hanging feet. It must have occurred to both of them to leave, to get back to bed or risk Mrs. Norris's prying, lamp-like eyes or Filch's wrath, still fresh from run around after James. But they didn't move, not for a very long time.

After a particularly loud hoot from a barn own that made them both jump, Draco stood up and again offered Granger his hand. She took it, got to her feet, and brushed the hay and owl feathers off of her clothes. It was dark, but the moon emitted just enough light for Draco to see Granger look up at him with fierce intensity. It was the gaze of someone who is about to say or do something and really, truly mean it.

"I'm Hermione," said the girl with the messy auburn hair and the sharp brown eyes. She stuck out her hand between them as if to shake.

"I'm Draco," said the boy, and he took her hand in his.
- 18
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Atonement