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In the Arms of her Dragon	By : Wolf.Blossom Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 101564 -:- Recommendations : 8 -:- Currently Reading : 50
Disclaimer: JKR owns Harry Potter and all characters. I am not making any profit form this fiction.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
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.
And attention they drew.
Heads turned, jaws dropped, gasps sounded- Diagon Alley was in complete and utter shock as they witnessed the unthinkable, with their own eyes. Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger were walking in tandem in a civil fashion. Hermione was casting nervous glances to the people watching them but Draco seemed not to care at all. He donned his usual superior smirk and strut his usual superior strut.
"I'm still not vomiting slugs, Granger," Draco commented idly as he brushed past two evidently shocked witches. One of them dropped her cauldron filled with textbooks. Hermione smiled faintly at her before turning her attention back to her companion.
"No, but you're definitely attracting unwanted attention."
"Correction," he smirked, looking over at her, "we are drawing attention."
Hermione groaned but continued to walk with him with her head held high. Apparently unwanted attention didn't faze Draco Malfoy... come to think of it, unwanted attention shouldn't bother me either, Hermione though sarcastically, I am best friends with the Boy-Who-Lived. "How was Italy?" She asked rather suddenly and Draco was caught fairly off guard.
"… fun…" He responded, slowly. They took a left, dodging a few playing children (and chicken), and continued their trek to Madam Malkin's. The unwanted attention, however, never wavered. "Saw that monument that muggles love so much; the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Did you know that a handful of muggle men built that tower to prove their masculinity to a clan of Veelas?"
Hermione's eyebrows shot up and Draco snickered, loving how he knew something that know-it-all Granger didn't. "Surprised? Why do you think its leaning? It's because the Veelas left and the muggles' inspiration was gone."
Hermione rolled her eyes and sucker-punched Draco. "You're full of rubbish." She muttered, actually believing him for a split-second. Hermione had never felt stupider.
Draco chuckled, his voice a low baritone and the sound of it made Hermione's hair stand on end. It wasn't a feeling she was much familiar with and resented feeling it because of Draco Malfoy's laughter.
"It's not my fault you're utterly gullible, Granger." Draco said that as he lifted the Healer Pendant and plopped it into his mouth, subconsciously sucking on it. Hermione, who had been watching the shops as they trekked to Madam Malkin's, looked over at him to retort but stopped dead. Draco glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "Hello? We aren't at Malkin's yet... keep walking, Granger."
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Get my pendant out of your disgusting mouth."
Draco shot both eyebrows up and crossed his eyes, looking at the pendant in his mouth. Smirking (with it still in his mouth), he looked at Hermione. "But you didn't believe me when I said it wasn't hexed. I guess it's mine now... I'm wearing it."
Hermione's eyes narrowed further, if possible. "Malfoy. Give. Me. Back. My. Pendant." Her words were sharp and enunciated. Draco took a step backwards and Hermione, in a rather lethal fashion, took a step forward. "Now."
"Nope."
Draco spun around and began running at full speed as Hermione began chasing him. He whizzed past a wizard walking his enchanted dog that had the legs of a zebra and jumped over a cart of oranges. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Hermione was hot on his tail but because he had longer legs, he was always two paces ahead.
Draco turned his attention back to the path he was running. Unceremoniously, he shoved a middle-aged wizard out of his way and kept running at full speed. He was both surprised and not surprised that Hermione was able to keep up with his speed; she had proven herself in more ways than one during the final battle against Voldemort. He felt the pendant beat against his chest but he no longer paid it any heed. He was caught in the moment of getting away from Hermione Granger.
And more importantly, her wrath.
Hermione's eyes were zoned-in and locked on Draco. She felt the blood rushing in her ears and completely forgot about her surroundings—she could only think of one thing: Get Malfoy. Retrieve pendant. Seamlessly, and without thinking, she withdrew her wand from her pocket and pointed at his back: "Accio Malfoy!"
She didn't even know if it'd work, in all honesty. Hermione knew the summoning spell worked on inanimate objects, so it being the first spell to come to mind was surprising. What was also surprising was that Draco Malfoy flew backwards, towards the girl who had summoned him without realizing it.
"Bloody—" Draco's words were cut off as he hurtled in to Hermione who flew backwards in to a stand of display robes. Grunting in pain, and visibly out of breath, Hermione lay on the floor unmoving as Draco tried to push off of her and the pile of robes that had toppled on top of him. He was unaware of the crowd they had attracted…
Or the thoroughly pissed off Madam Malkin who was glowering dangerously at them.
"Draco Malfoy!" She screeched at the top of her lungs and both Draco and Hermione's eyes snapped to her. Magically (no pun intended), Hermione's panting ceased; it was as if she did not just run a marathon to catch the last person she ever though she would be chasing. Hermione's, and the aforementioned man she was chasing, eyes were solely trained on the huffing and almost-foaming-at-the-mouth Madam Malkin.
"What are you two doing?" She hollered. Draco quickly stood up and dusted off his robes before giving Madam Malkin a charming smile.
"Miss Granger and I had gotten into a slight… disagreement…"
It was Hermione's turn to stand up. "Disagreement?" She accused, pointing a finger at him. "You plopped my pendant in to your ungodly mouth!" Her voice was as screechy as Madam Malkin's. If Draco didn't know any better, he would've guessed that Hermione was close to foaming-at-the-mouth.
"My mouth is godly, thank you very much." He countered, forgetting that he was standing in front of Madam Malkin and in the middle of a rather thick crowd. Before Hermione could even think of a retort, Madam Malkin had begun shrieking once more.
"Hermione Granger, I'd expect you of all people not to involve yourself with petty arguments… especially with Draco Malfoy." She clicked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly. "Mister and Missus Weasley would be so disappointed…" Madam Malkin paused. "Come to think of it, so would the plethora of other Weasleys, including the Weasleys-in-law and Mr. Harry Potter. And do not get me started on your parents. Trust me when I say that we were made aware when their memories were returned and I highly doubt they would appreciate their daughter parading around Diagon Alley!"
Hermione hid her wince. She was not parading... Draco made a sound that was something between a laugh and a snort. That resulted in Madam Malkin and Hermione to glare at him. "Your father would be very disappointed in you, Mr. Malfoy."
Hermione grinned smugly at him. "At least I have more people that care enough about me to be disappointed."
Draco's eyes flickered to her. "Can it, Granger. I have a whole fucking family tree that's disappointed in me. In Potter's house! Your clan of weasels has nothing on me."
"That's it." Madam Malkin took a step and physically separated two obviously angry magicians. "Miss. Granger, go buy school supplies. Mr. Malfoy, get in to studio four and prepare to have your insignias sewn on. Merlin only knows why I must deal with this; I'm not even a professor at the school!"
As Madam Malkin turned to go back into her store, Draco subtly winked at Hermione before picking up the Healer Pendant and putting it back in his mouth. She fisted her right hand and watched him enter the shop behind Madam Malkin. You're so dead, Malfoy.
.xx.
Hermione was kind of glad that Madam Malkin had forced them to separate. She was able to buy textbooks, cauldrons, parchment, trinkets and odds and ends that were quite possibly not at all necessary for a successful final year of school, and lastly her robes. When she re-approached Madam Malkin's, she saw that the mess had been cleaned up and that Draco Malfoy was no longer in the shop. Inhaling deeply, she had entered and one of the assistants began taking her measurements almost immediately.
Though she wouldn't admit it, she was slightly disappointed that Draco was nowhere to be seen.
She decided that, since her pendant and frenemy had disappeared, she'd head back to the Leakey Cauldron… probably have something to eat before cracking open a textbook for a bit of light reading
Who knows, she mused, maybe I'll run into some Gryffindors while I'm mulling around.
.xx.
Draco couldn't decide if he wanted to buy the parchment laced with gold, or the quill that had a diamond studded stem… both looked good, and the price lived up to his Malfoy expectation… but it seemed too feminine.
Granger might like the quill, though. He thought without realizing he thought it. Snarling, he shook his head and tried to eliminate any thoughts of her. Who cares if she'd like the quill? She wasn't a Malfoy so it didn't bloody matter!
But I am, his saintly-half called out, and I could get her things…
No. His less-than-saintly-half countered. You will not.
Draco decided to remove himself from the diamond-quill situation before his two internal saints made him lose his mind. He didn't know what possessed him to want to buy things for Hermione Granger, but he did. What struck him the most was that regardless of the fact he wanted to buy her things, he actually did (prime example would be the Healer Pendant strewn across his neck).
A Slytherin – no, the Slytherin of all Slytherins—was buying the Gryffindor of all Gryffindor things. Not just anything, things he thought that she might like!
I think I'm finally getting the side-effects of partaking in the Battle of Hogwarts. Draco groaned, trying to put a name to the feeling. Or I lost it after Bellatrix had me under the Unforgiveable Curse.
Yeah, that made sense too.
"You know I've been behind you for five minutes, right?"
Draco whirled around to find a snickering Blaise Zabini. "Bloody hell, mate," Draco's eyes were wide. "Were you trying to give me a heart attack?"
Blaise raised an eyebrow. "Something has to be bugging you—you were actually caught off guard! I don't remember the last time you were ever caught off guard."
Draco snorted. "I was caught off guard when that stupid Granger punched me in third year." Even talking to Blaise he had to bring up Hermione Granger. Couldn't she just leave his mind alone?!
Blaise, on the other hand, was laughing. "I remember that. Crabbe couldn't stop laughing and Goyle found her attractive for a few good hours."
"He did?" Draco did not know about Goyle's temporary crush on Hermione. "He didn't tell me."
"He didn't want you to blow his brains out." Blaise shrugged and both fell into a step in tandem. "He got over it before the end of the day, though."
"Now why would I blow his brains out?" Draco was definitely planning on blowing Gregory Goyle's brains out.
"Because he found the girl who punched you mildly attractive?" Blaise snorted, oblivious to Draco's curiosity. "Why are you asking me and why do you care? This was five years ago, mate."
"Right." So I have five years' worth of blowing-brains-out to catch up on. "What're you doing here, anyway?"
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Same thing you are, buying school supplies. You're here pretty early though."
Draco shrugged as nonchalantly as possible. "Mother and Lucius were getting very emotional with the 'watch out for those who believe the Dark Lord will rise again' rubbish. One more day, and I was sure mother would've pulled me out of Hogwarts and put me at Durmstrang instead."
"Would you complain?"
"Of course not," Draco snorted, "I want to spend the rest of my final year with a load of men and not a single bird in sight."
"You just want your Slytherin sex on."
"Don't you?"
Blaise only shook his head and laughed at his best friend. Draco Malfoy could not be explained with any word in the English vocabulary—he was just something else altogether. Both men were walking in nowhere in particular when Blaise spotted something and nudged Draco, ushering him to look at a small outdoor café. "Draco, isn't that Longbottom and Granger?"
Draco's head whipped in the direction Blaise was pointing and, indeed, he saw Hermione laughing over a mug of Butterbeer with that Longbottom fellow—he had gotten taller and rather muscular over the summer. Draco didn't know why, but he slightly felt… threatened.
"Guess so," Draco murmured, subconsciously picking up the healer pendant and twirled it between his fingers. "They seem chummy."
"They lived together for eight years; you and Pansy are probably as chummy as they are." Blaise winked and Draco shuddered—everybody knew of Pansy's more-than-obvious crush on Draco Malfoy. She dropped hints any and everywhere. In their sixth year, she attempted to concoct a love potion and sneak it into Draco's pumpkin juice. Unfortunately she thought eye of rat was equivalent to eye of mouse and poisoned Draco instead.
Granted she had been very apologetic, Draco had to ingest almost inedible medicine to unpoison himself. Madam Pomfrey looked as if she wanted to laugh the week he was confined to the Hospital Wing; his scowls and look of utter despair probably did not help her cause.
"Pansy and I are just about as chummy as you and Millicent are." Draco snorted as he opted to brush past those two, not making his presence known. He knew Hermione would probably want to poke his eyes out with her wand for putting the pendant in his mouth, but he wasn't going to risk such travesties in broad daylight.
She did say she was staying at the Leakey Cauldron…
.xx.
Draco paid seven sickles to hire a temporary owl to send a letter to Hermione. It was almost midnight and, again, his inner insomniac decided to come out and play. He wrote a letter to Hermione (what possessed him to do it, he didn't know) and hoped she would respond soon.
Granger,
Shall we have a rendezvous?
Malfoy
Within ten minutes her response came.
Sure. Fourth floor, third window to the right.
That was it. Draco immediately pushed off the balcony railing and threw on his robe, already wondering where the heck a broom would be. Well… he could also apparate onto her balcony, but to do that he had to envision where he wanted to go and he had no idea what her room looked like. Passing a broom cupboard on his way down the corridor, both of his eyebrows shot up.
He loved it when things worked out for him.
Grabbing the first broom he saw, Draco walked back to the balcony and mounted his trusty steed. Within moments he kicked off the ground and shot into the air. His mind was reeling, but most of all he couldn't fight the wondrous feeling of seeing Hermione Granger. Why the hell was he so excited?! He was the one that restarted sending owls to her and he was the one that suggested they meet up at Diagon Alley.
And now he asked if he could go see her.
Tone it down, Malfoy. He warned himself. You threw yourself in front of a Crucio for her and she thanked you. Don't take it any farther than this relationship should go.
But deep inside he knew; he knew he was lying to himself.
There was a reason why he threw himself in front of the Crucio—a reason he wasn't even sure of. But whatever that reason was, it had to be the same one that had Hermione Granger crying for Draco Malfoy.
Crying while cradling him in her arms.
.xx.
Hermione was doubly shocked when the ugly barn owl dropped a rolled piece of parchment on her stomach as she tossed and turned, trying to sleep. Draco Malfoy had sent her a letter, asking if she wanted to meet up and as much as she wanted to say no, she couldn't.
Any moment now, he would be there.
Pulling on a pair of her capri yoga pants and a baggy white t-shirt, Hermione paced the room, keeping her ears open for the sound of Draco, however he may arrive. The situation that was presented before her was simply unbelievable; in a matter of just months, she and Draco were on speaking terms.
Friendly speaking terms.
A slow smile crept onto her lips. Watch it, you two are frenemies. Don't let him hear you say friend around him.
She barely finished warning herself when she heard somebody land on her balcony. Before she could react, Draco walked through the slightly ajar door; his hair was messy and askew from the fly there, and his face was blanketed with a look of concentration. His plump lips were pursed and his eyes, stormy grey-blue, landed on Hermione.
"Good evening, Granger." He finally smirked, flicking his wrist and sending his broom (on its own) to stand up against the wall.
"I can see that you were very bored." Hermione crossed her arms in front of her. "Did you want somebody to chase you again?"
Draco rolled his eyes and sat down on her bed. "No, I don't. And yes, I was bored, but you obviously allowed me to come for the same reason I wanted to come."
"And what may that be?"
"You wanted to see me." Draco leaned back and sprawled onto her bed. Hermione gawked at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide in disbelief.
"I wanted to—" And then it clicked, what he just said. You obviously allowed me to come for the same reason I wanted to come. A smirk threatened to form on her wonderful, wonderful lips. "You wanted to see me, hmm?"
"Your words, not mine." He whispered, his eyes closed. Great, finally sleep caught up to him and that was while he was lying on Granger's bed.
Her bed…
She slept there last night, in probably her underwear.
Or nothing at all…
Relax. Draco.
"So you came here to sleep?" She asked him and he cracked an eye open. She was just as beautiful upside down as she was right side up. Shaking such blasphemous thoughts from his mind, Draco sat up and turned to look at her.
"Here," he unhooked the pendant from around his neck and held it out to her. "I hope I passed the no-hex test; although you might want to perform some sort of antibacterial spell on it." Playfully he winked at her. Hermione frowned at him and Draco took the opportunity to stand up and approach her.
"Won't you take it?" His eyes were twinkling and his voice dropped to a husky whisper. Hermione was blown away by the shade of his eyes; they were the most beautiful colour she'd ever seen. "I bought it just for you, from Italy." And his voice?! It caused a shiver to run up her spine making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Why is my heart beginning to speed up?
"Why did you buy it for me?" He watched her lips move and the thought of kissing it crossed his mind.
What the hell, Draco?! This is literally the first day you've seen her since last school year and you are contemplating kissing her after exchanging a dozen or so owls?! What was he feeling? What was he thinking?
"Why else?" Gently, he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. Though she was reluctant at first, Hermione was compliant. After her back was turned to him Draco used his right hand to push her hair to the side—"Your hair is soft." He commented and Hermione slightly shifted her head to the right, to look at him.
"Why did you buy it for me?" She repeated as Draco draped the cord around her neck. The cold metal felt refreshing on her skin but Hermione could only feel the warmth seeping from his hands. He wasn't touching her skin, but he may as well be.
"Why did I take Bellatrix's Crucio for you?" He murmured as he locked the clasp. He turned her around but didn't release his hold from her shoulders. "Why did you cry when I fell? Why did you hold me? Owl me after? Why did I respond, and after I stopped, why did I start again?"
He picked the charm up; in the process his finger slightly brushed her skin. "Why did I buy it for you?" He whispered. Draco's eyes locked with Hermione's. She was breathing heavily, panting almost. Their proximity was so close, their body heat clashing with each other. Draco was vividly aware of how her chest rose and fell with every inhalation, and how it was affecting him. His blood was rushing to areas that he wished to remain unknown. Especially to Granger.
Draco let the pendant drop but the hand that held onto her shoulder remained. "Have lunch with me tomorrow?"
Hermione's eyes widened and her breath hitched.
"Not in the Alley. There's a place just outside from here; nobody there will recognize us right away." His eyes searched hers. Hermione was almost trembling and couldn't speak so, from the lack of her voice, she merely nodded.
At that moment, Draco released her shoulder. "Meet me at Flourish and Blotts, at noon." Taking two steps backed, he held his hand out to where the broom was resting and murmured Accio broom. Soundlessly, the broom flew into his hand and, with one final look at the beauty in front of him; Draco turned around and kicked off of her balcony.
It was then Hermione sank to her knees, trying to calm her racing heart.
What on earth…?
.xx.
Hermione didn't sleep the rest of the night. Her mind was reeling with what Draco was doing; possibly planning. Was it safe to have lunch with him at a place where nobody would recognize them at first glance? Was he trying to kill her?
Well, if that were the case, he would've let his aunt do the job at the beginning of the summer.
Or killed her the previous night when they shared a moment in her Leakey Cauldron room.
When morning dawned, she quickly showered and got dressed: a black and blue plaid skirt that landed just at her knees with a yellow blouse, tucked into her skirt. The top button of the blouse was undone, showing off the pendant Draco had gotten her. Grabbing her wand, Hermione tucked it into her messy bun, quite line a chopstick—for some reason, she was excited to see Draco.
Kind of.
Noting the time, Hermione saw that it was close to 11:30 and she knew that Draco would be by Flourish and Blotts soon. Dodging witches and wizards, Hermione slowed to a stop when she arrived at the bookstore. Draco wasn't there, yet, but to her delight and dismay, Ron and Ginny were.
"Hermione!" Ginny hugged her tightly and Hermione was aware of Ron giving her the once over. He was making an obvious point to check her out and by the blush that tinted his cheeks and the sides of his neck, Hermione was sure that he liked what he saw.
Too bad she woke up with the intention of seeing that look on Malfoy's face…
"When did you both get here?" Hermione asked in the most nonchalant voice she could muster up. "Is Harry also here?"
Ron shook his head and Ginny linked her arm through Hermione's. "No." She replied. "He said he got tied up at his Aunt and Uncle's. Something about helping them clear out their basement? Who knows. We got here today though—and wow, have you been working out?"
"Yeah…" Ron echoed his sister. "Have you?"
Hermione could've rolled her eyes but didn't. Ron was so obvious sometimes; throughout their schooling he was on and off about his attraction towards her. When she was 'one of the guys' he wasn't interested in her, but as soon as she showed some leg, he wagged his tongue like a little puppy. "No," She replied smoothly. "I just took extra time and effort to dress up today."
Ginny wiggled her eyebrows. "Meeting somebody?"
Hermione giggled. "Gin, you know I'd tell you if I did."
"Better not be a boy!" Ron snarled from the side and Ginny shot her brother a blatantly pissed off look.
"Ron, if she dressed up like this to meet up a girl, I'd assume she'd run around butt naked if it were a male."
Ron gulped and his eyes widened. Hermione laughed, shaking her head in sheer amusement. The Weasley family never failed to amuse her when she was a) distraught or b) nervous. In this case, she was nervous beyond repair. And slightly distraught that she couldn't make a clean getaway to meet up with Malfoy.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of blond and idly looked over. Draco Malfoy was watching her, looking so devilishly handsome. Dressed in jeans and a black button up shirt, Draco was the epitome of casual. His hands were shoved into his pockets and he was leaned against a light post, successfully hiding in plain sight.
Hermione turned back to her two friends. She heard Ginny say something about Gringotts before nudging her and saying: "You coming, Hermione?"
Taken back for a moment, Hermione didn't know what else to say except sure. She couldn't very well tell her friends that she was going to have a lunch date with their arch nemesis; sure, Ginny was aware of what Draco did (and by aware, more along the lines of she knew he saved her live but didn't know the particulars of how) and was thankful for it, but Ron still hated him.
He has an ulterior motive, Hermione! He had insisted.
Again, Hermione couldn't understand who would have an ulterior motive to throw themselves in front of a Crucio. As Ginny dragged Hermione off, she glanced over her shoulder to find Draco rub his nose gently before pushing off of the post and walking off. Her heart sank—
Could she have disappointed him?
.xx.
After a long day of being dragged around by the Weasley siblings (along with Neville and Seamus), Hermione couldn't have been more excited to enter her inn room and flop onto the bed. Although she had loads of fun, catching up with her friends about what happened during the summer, she was disappointed that she couldn't spend some time with Draco.
Perhaps it was for the best. Her fingers wrapped around the healer pendant as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her reflection watched her: hair pulled back into a messy bun, with her wand poking out of it, and her outfit still looking impeccable. Silly her, the one day she put real effort into her attire, she was shopping for school supplies with her friends.
Curb your enthusiasm, she scolded herself. Remember, he's a Slytherin; a really good looking, nice smelling, lifesaving, evil Slytherin.
Engrossed in her thoughts, Hermione failed to hear the balcony door open.
"Short skirt suits you, Granger."
Whirling around, Hermione came face to face with the man occupying her thoughts: Draco Malfoy. Frozen on the spot, she drank him in. He was still in his jeans and t-shirt, except his shirt was now half untucked, his hair an unruly mess, and his smirk wider than ever. "What if somebody saw you?" She blurted out and Draco rolled his eyes.
"Granger, Granger, have faith." Taking two steps forward, Draco pulled his wand out of his back pocket and flicked it. In an instant, the entire room rearranged to fit a picnic blanket and basket smack centre of the room. "Since you were preoccupied for lunch, I thought I'd bring lunch to us."
Hermione's eyes were wide.
"A picnic?" She breathed and Draco's smirk widened.
"A picnic. I promise I haven't poisoned anything," his eyes twinkled, "unless you want me to try everything first and then wait an hour to see if I keel over."
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Shut up, Malfoy. I learned my lesson after not trusting you with the pendant."
"I can put it back in my mouth, you know."
"I'd rather you not."
Draco chuckled and moved to take a seat. Slowly, Hermione followed but made sure to fold her legs back, to hide any view that Draco may have of her lady parts. Slowly, he opened the picnic basket and pulled out sweeties, neatly cut sandwiches, and just about anything else that was picnic appropriate. Hermione was in complete awe…
"When did you have time to learn all this?"
Draco shrugged as he unwrapped some cellophane off of a sandwich. "After the bridge was formed between wizards and muggles, I had a lot of research to do during the summer."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "So you learned how to make sandwiches?"
Draco snorted. "Really, Granger? My mother learned how to make sandwiches. I just stood idly by and watched."
"What a sweetie," Hermione winked before biting into an unwrapped sandwich. Draco watched her expectantly and was thoroughly relieved when she leaned back and grinned, complimenting him for a sandwich-well-done.
"You are a chef, Mr. Malfoy." She commended and he puffed his chest out in pride.
"I am a Malfoy." He stated as if it was the ultimate skill of all skills: Malfoy. Hermione threw her disposed plastic wrap at him and Draco slapped it to the side with his wand.
"Well I'm a Granger," She stated, "I feel as if we're at equal with the Malfoys."
"I'd crack a muggle joke right now if this conversation was a year ago."
"This conversation wouldn't be happening between us a year ago." Hermione stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Touché," Draco nodded before digging into a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans. He cringed when he tasted an ash flavoured one. Spitting it out as fast as he put it in his mouth, Draco pondered on who thought of which flavours to put into the box.
"They aren't every flavoured beans for nothing." Hermione stated. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bean with the essence of Malfoy."
"I would," Draco had that familiar teasing twinkle in his eye. "I'd wonder who had the guts to sneak up on Lucius as he was sleeping to extract his essence."
"Right, because your father would wake up and shriek like a sissy girl."
Draco shrugged. "He could. I wouldn't put it past him." He lowered his voice and leaned forward. "But don't tell him, he's the big bad Death Eater, remember."
Hermione zipped her lips. "I wouldn't dream of telling anybody."
They both shared a laugh and resumed eating. It was quaint and Hermione had to admit, she was having more fun spending lunch with Draco than she did running around Diagon Alley with her fellow Gryffindor classmates. Perhaps it had to do with the invisible bond that the two had forged?
Or maybe it was because of all the unanswered questions between them, questions that Draco had posed earlier.
Hermione was the one that brought up topics of conversation, but to Draco's credit he put in an effort to keep the conversations going. They talked about their second year basilisk encounter, and when she punched him for their third year. Draco stated that it still hurt and Hermione, without thinking, offered to kiss it better.
Draco's wink was followed by a chocolate frog being thrown to his head.
The meal wrapped up nicely and Draco made it disappear with a swish of his wand. Hermione walked him to her balcony and they stood, just inside the French doors, for a moment longer.
"Thanks," she said, the awkwardness finally setting in. "It was fun."
Draco nodded. "Yep. Blaise is in Diagon Alley, and so are your friends. Meeting up will be difficult, Granger, so I'll see you at Hogwarts."
Why did her heart fall when she heard him say that?
"Yeah," she murmured. As Draco was preparing to mount the broom, she caught his arm and turned him to fully face her. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him, tightly. Draco was taken off guard but quickly recovered and put his arms around her shoulders, returning her embrace.
The sizzle of electricity was undeniable between them. The hug lasted a full ten seconds before Hermione pulled back, smiling. "You're squishy."
His face fell. "No I'm not! I'm all steel!"
She poked his belly. "Nah, there's a little pudgy there, Malfoy."
Draco's eyes narrowed. "I hope you're joking right now."
Ah, but she was. His chest was nothing more than a frame of utter masculinity. She could feel his abs burn through his shirt when they hugged. And his arms? She had never felt safer… which was ironic because she felt the safest in the arms of who would appear to be the enemy.
She cracked the pudgy joke to keep herself from blushing entirely too much.
"I dunno, Malfoy." She wiggled her eyebrows. Draco scowled.
"See you at Hogwarts." He repeated before kicking off and shooting into the sky. She watched him fly off before sinking to the ground and clutching her chest. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy.
As much as she tried to convince herself that what she was feeling was just survivor-gratitude, she knew that she was lying.
What she was feeling was much more than just a quasi-version of Stockholm syndrome.
.xx.
Edited: August 5, 2016
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In the Arms of her Dragon