fervere

Chapter Three

Narcissa Malfoy struggled with her son’s tendencies, especially the more shameful inherited ones such as the Black Family Flaw.

When Draco was young, he was much like a pup who would run up to any stranger that would give him enough attention. He was indiscriminate to those he wanted to befriend.

And that was a big problem.  

They were different. They were Malfoy's.

Thus, they must learn to discriminate between the people they should associate with from those who weren't worthy of their precious time. Narcissa knew very well how fortunate it was that she fell in love with someone proper and prestige. The match was one her parents took pride in and also allowed her to say within the realms of the beauty of purity. She didn't have to be shunned or disowned like some of the members of the Black family.  

Draco had an unsettling similarity to her younger sister: Andromeda who had also been linked to the striking similarity of cousin Sirius. 

She was rambunctious and headstrong, all qualities her mother had a hard time taming. Defiant, her mother Druella would often say. 

"Stupid, disobedient 'Meda." Druella would say with her face chock full of makeup and decorated in the most obnoxious pieces of jewels, before handing her eldest the most supportive compliments at the dinner table. 

Bellatrix and Andromeda were two side of the same coin. Stubborn and frantic, Bellatrix enjoyed the splendid life she was born into and made sure that everyone knew only the best came from pureblood families. Their mother had been pleased with every movement Bellatrix made despite the extremes she took. She was also headstrong and just as disobedient as Andromeda but not in the right shade of Black.

Andromeda had that certain Black Flaw that brought shame to their family.

Andromeda was curious and that's all the flaw was. Narcissa loved her older sister growing up. Andromeda was a far better shoulder to cry on than Bellatrix, despite their uncanny resemblance. Bellatrix would jinx the tears back up Narcissa's eyes, making her eyes sting while Andromeda would let Narcissa crawl into her bed in the middle of the night to cry and let her talk about whatever was troubling her. 'Meda was kind and always willing to befriend anyone around her. 

A wave of fear, a fear that struck her very core, washed over Naricissa when she saw how destructive this Black Family Flaw was.

She had only experienced the fear twice.  

The first was when Andromeda trusted Narcissa with her true heart’s desires. That her sister had fallen in love with a disgusting Hufflepuff. Narcissa did her best to ignore her sister in hopes that it was just a fleeting emotion. Surely Andromeda would one day come to her senses and choose a better suited match once out of Hogwarts. Narcissa later on found out he was a muggle-born and by then it was too late to convince her of her errors. When Andromeda announced she had gotten married to Edward Tonks because she was expecting, Narcissa plunged into a spiraling trepidation. If her sister was flawed enough to fall in love with a mudblood, perhaps she also was susceptible to the same shortcomings her stupid, happy pregnant sister.  

Seeing the rage from her mother failing to raise a proper daughter, Narcissa swore she would never cause that kind of grief and was relieved when Lucius began to return her attention at the ministry as an intern. Narcissa also swore that she would do better than her mother. She wouldn't take the chance and raise one perfect pureblood son. 

So despite Draco's odd tendencies that Narcissa blamed on loneliness, she did her best to keep him occupied. Surely Draco had too much time on his hands so lessons about everything would do him some good. Subjects ranging from family history to quidditch, filled Draco's every morning. That had been a great assurance to Narcissa but it wasn't until a holiday in France when she caught Draco speaking to another little muggle boy about his flying broom, that she realized she hadn't done enough. Worry filled her every moment since then. Even when she caught him trying to send owls to all the children he met on a playground once hadn't been the worst spiral. She hadn't felt that fear she did years ago with her sister as she did when Draco’s first letter came in from his first year at Hogwarts.

A letter that was shut away in her keepsake box.

Narcissa did her best to instill the values she grew up with and yet Draco’s inherited curiosity still reared it's head just when Narcissa felt at peace. She had hoped that with all the lessons she scheduled for Draco and the reprimanding Lucius ensured, Draco would be better molded than Andromeda was. She needed the flaw to be stamped out of Draco before her husband knew of the family quirk that unfortunately might have been passed down to her son.

Perhaps it was her mother’s failing but it would never be Narcissa. So when Draco turned ten years old, she did her best to fully prepare Draco for school and that only meant more lessons and tutors than before.

Unfortunately, Draco had to, at times, be heavily disciplined, especially about their world and how they stood on top. There were a few concerning out of pocket ideas he would entertain his tutors with, and word always got back to Lucius. It only took about six months before school started to break Draco and he started to act like an acceptable son.  

In the dark of a chilly night, Narcissa sat at the edge of her chair at her desk, rereading a long scroll she had written to Draco. Other scrolls had been scattered around, on her desk and on the ground as if she had been frantically looking for something in the drawers of her desk. Narcissa found herself in her own study feeling restless from a pang of intuition that shook her from her sleep. The comfort she found in rereading the details Snape would send her about her son was usually enough, but then there were nights like this when nothing could extinguish her anxiety.

Her writing was uncharacteristically messy and desperate. Her fingers were stained in black ink due to her scrambled mind but she finished Draco's letter with a flourish. 

She knew that it would be yet another letter that would be left unanswered but she still attempted to reach him. He had stopped really writing to her after his first year. Narcissa sensed he was none too happy that he was sent away but he must know it was for his own good.

Still, she was lucky if she would get a letter a year and even more if he wrote a full sentence that he would be coming home for the holidays.  

No matter one's opinion on the matter, no one could say that Narcissa didn't try her best. She desperately tried. She needed to make sure that all of what had happened to her sister would not happen to Draco. Not her son. She needed to be sure he would be alright. Naricissa sighed out, finding their family eagle to tie her letter for Draco on it's strong thin leg.

She had mentioned the Triwizard Tournament in her writing. She had also suggested traveling to Portugal for Christmas if he wanted. She even coxed him with a box of sweets if he responded. She wrote anything to entice him to write.  

When she watched the eagle disappear into the inky night sky, a flood of doubt consumed her especially because she knew it would be another letter unanswered. She didn't want to acknowledge Snape's warnings of being too intrusive. There was no such thing if he only knew what that flaw is capable of. 

A moment in her destructive solitude, Narcissa slipped out Draco’s first letter from her night gown. She did it every time she felt doubt. That perhaps she had done too much to correct his ways. 

Dear Mum,  

School is worse than you said it would be. All my lessons are a bore. Surely you’d think the other kids would have learned this by now, except for the mudbloods I suppose. I can see why father said Hogwarts shouldn’t let them in. They are behind in everything. I bet we could be learning more advanced stuff if our professors didn’t have to be teaching the basics to them so they could catch up.  

It is really annoying but there is one girl who seems to know everything. She answers everything and it seems like most our professors really like her. I don’t understand why. I could be answering the same questions, because I know them, but they are very impressed with her for some odd reason. It must be because she’s a muggle born. They're not as impressed with me.

I’ve checked our class rankings recently and it seems like I am top of Slytherin’s first years. I hope you’re proud of me. She’s also top of Gryffindor, but she is beating me by a mile in grades. I really don’t understand how, she’s barely been introduced to magic this year and is better than everyone. Thankfully she’s not in Slytherin so I don’t have to worry about her.  

It’s really not fair mum the more I think about it. She’s even Harry Potter’s friend. She didn’t even grow up knowing who he was. The only thing that gives me satisfaction is watching her trying to impress Professor Snape. He seems to hate her, too. I hope that I can beat her at Potions at least so she can see what a true wizard is and be impressed. Anyways mum, can you please send more cream puffs? Crabbe and Goyle got their hands on the first package you sent and they’re all gone.  

Thanks mum, love you,  

Draco Lucius Malfoy  

Narcissa reread the letter for what seemed like the millionth time and still felt like she was drowning in her fear despite her efforts. She trusted that Snape’s care that she enlisted was enough to keep an eye on him, but something gnawed at her gut. Like there was something she missed or that her intuition was screaming that there was something now severely wrong.  

Narcissa let out a shaky sigh, “Please be good, Draco.” 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  

“Your opinion Draco?” Dumbledore asked, pacing back and forth. Draco let out a yawn as he stood in the middle of the Headmaster’s office with his hands behind his back. Snape stood behind Draco fetching him bright and early in the morning. He hadn’t even reached the Great Hall for some food when Draco was abducted. 

“Sir, are you sure it was wise to allow Potter into the tournament?” Draco held in a scowl. It wasn’t the answer to the full question whether he thought there was a maleficent reason for the Tournament and Potter’s bid as a Champion. For lack of a better explanation, Dumbledore had been wondering if Draco might have overheard something of importance about the event connected to Potter in the realms of the Deatheaters.  

Dumbledore took a careful look at Draco, looking as if he had been having trouble sleeping since the selection of Champions a week ago. “Actually, I don’t think it was.” He admitted, “However, Barty Crouch said the rules of the games are absolute. Harry doesn’t have a choice and it all seems too coincidental from the information you brought forth.” 

For being Potter, he sure got to get away with so many things regular students would normally be expelled for.  

Draco felt a proud smirk come on, “Well as long as one of the tasks doesn’t take place in a graveyard...” 

Professor Dumbledore gave him a pointed look.  

“Well?” Draco pressed, “ Is a graveyard being used?” 

“I cannot be certain of it,” The concerned Headmaster collapsed into his chair almost too casually. Draco could almost sense the youth left in him, “As of recent, I only found out about the first task this morning. We will catch word of the tasks from Barty Crouch as the Tournament gradually develops since it is taking place on the school grounds.” 

“Do you trust him, sir? Mr. Crouch?” Draco asked. He can’t recall if his father ever talked about him in a kind light; a light that only meant they were someone they could trust.  

He stroked his long beard and lifted one shoulder up to shrug, “I suppose I do, although I don’t exactly agree with his tactics or personal beliefs, I don’t think he’s one to betray his own strong ideas. Not after he put his own son in Azkaban.”  

Draco raised a brow when Snape quickly briefed him on the case that Crouch had to send his son to Azkaban. A scandal in the ministry, no doubt. Draco wondered why his father never mentioned that piece of information.  

“I presume you don’t have an update or any morsel of speculation you might have heard of from your home.” Dumbledore wearily asked.  

Draco shook his head.  

“I apologize that I can’t be more of service.” He bowed his head. Once Draco straightened back up and Dumbledore’s kind face came back into vision, he saw that the headmaster had a rare look on his face. Draco didn’t know what to make of it, but it was this gleam in his eye and a small smile pulling at the corner of his cheeks. Once again, Draco found it a bit unsettling that he wasn’t being punished despite their desperation to be two steps ahead if this indeed was a nefarious plan. 

“I know you struggle choosing sides,” He spoke out, “And if you’re anything like your parents, the side you choose is will always be yourself.” 

Draco paused to ingest the comment.  

“Sounds vain, sir.” He frowned.  

“Self-perseverance can be but may I add that it is also a rather lonely road, I’ve heard.” He motioned over to himself, “Most find it easy to flow with their upbringing or surroundings. I suggest you continue being selfish until you know what aligns most to your desires.” 

“And if the Dark Lord rises-” 

“ When he does,” He corrected.  

“If I align with him,” Draco winced at the idea, “What then?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“W-will,” Draco stopped, horrified that he stuttered, “Will you be disappointed?” 

“I sense it would be hard to refuse the Dark Lord when a student like you can give him a great insight into the school.” He thought it out slowly, “But no I would not be disappointed, he would be most terrifying to go against his wishes.” 

“So then how could I protect myself if I chose to work closely with you,” Draco asked, “You make it seem like his return is inevitable. He’d know everything if he’s anything like Snape.” 

He shuddered at the thought of the Dark Lord knowing every single detail of his life as Snape has once intruded.  

“I know you’ve been exposed to Legilimency through Snape.” Dumbledore began, glancing at Draco’s professor. Snape stood stiffly as he always did with his hands behind his back.  

“As you’re aware, his mother has an invested interest in his development.” Snape raised his brows, “I have had the misfortune to peer into his early life. I wouldn’t say that her concerns are a mother’s benign delusion.” 

Snape threw a pointed look at Draco. Draco felt his face twist into a scowl. 

“Yes, yes,” Dumbledore continued, “I believe that it is the utmost importance to resume training Draco in Occulemency. I admit it is a skill far advanced for the regular wizard, and for a student it is unheard of to master. But, for his protection...” 

Snape bit down on his lip as if he had to stop himself from protesting. After all, he had been teaching Draco during the summer the most puzzling basic concepts of it through a book: “Master the Mind: The Invisible Shield, Occulemency for Beginners”  

Despite Snape’s efforts, Draco favored the muggle things they did that summer far more than staring at an illustration of a brain.  

“... if the Dark Lord finds a morsel of Draco’s truth, I don’t see Voldemort holding back on using Draco for it and punishing his family for their failings in raising him.” 

Draco felt a spark of outrage flush through his cheeks. 

“All of this is none of my fault!” Draco raised his voice fully knowing that Snape could jump him for the disrespect, “My mother’s concerns have pushed me into the care of Snape and by fault you. Why do I have to bare the full load of shielding everyone?” 

“Lower your tone,” Snape warned. 

“It is quite alright, Severus,” Dumbledore raised his hand, “The injustice of his position for simply growing up has placed him in a rather precarious position. One that he is being forced to commit to without consideration of going through the proper life experiences to allow him to choose a side without regrets.” 

There it was again, that grace that Dumbledore gave him without punishing him for acting out of line in accordance with their beliefs.  

“What I ultimately want for you, Draco, is the luxury of time and that can possibly be bought with occlumency. You can shield yourself from your parents, from us, and ultimately from Voldemort. Besides the benefits we all receive from it, you can live a comfortable life here at Hogwarts without having to worry about how precious your mind is to others. And when you do decide to choose a side, Draco, I hope you are able to in full confidence that it is best for you. And if it makes it any easier for you, I vow to keep this secret even if you choose a different path.” 

Draco felt at ease, and although the choice should have been clear, he nodded wordlessly when Snape announced that he must attend to preparing for his morning lessons. He promptly left, leaving Draco to thank Dumbledore for his consideration. As he did, his stomach growled. Draco was in need for a spot of food and was about to leave when there was a knock at the door.  

Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat, expecting his new guest. 

Before Draco was able to excuse himself to breakfast, Dumbledore asked if he could fetch him some of his lemon drops in his storage. Without questioning, Draco walked to the door that Dumbledore motioned towards. He walked in and immediately deflated once Draco saw an entire wall dedicated to lemon flavored sweets.  

There were lemon bon bons, lemon lollies, lemon gummies, lemon taffy, lemon puffs... 

Draco’s eyes darted around in panic when he heard Dumbledore cheerfully greet this next guest. 

“Enter Charlie! It’s a pleasure to see you once again!” Dumbledore's voice rang out. 

A deep rumbling voice warmly responded, “Professor! It has been a few years, hasn’t it!” 

Draco stopped at the label of lemon sours, and poked his head out to see a rather burley looking fellow with flaming red hair that reminded me of- 

“I hope Fred and George aren’t giving you too much trouble this year.” The stranger named Charlie chuckled, “Mum always has to threaten to take their joke magazines to be good during the summer.” 

A Weasley . 

“Not at all! I rather enjoy witnessing some of their hijinks. Quite clever those two are. Although I can understand the chagrin to be on the receiving end of their antics.” Dumbledore chuckled, “What do I owe to your sudden request?” 

Charlie wasn’t exactly like most of the Weasley men. Although he was tall, he had some healthy weight to him. All of the Weasleys Draco knew were as lanky as a noodle.  

“It was requested by Mr. Crouch to fly in a few animals from my job,” Charlie explained, “I believe I was told to keep this under wraps but without your help, it will be really difficult to disguise four dragons on grounds without suspicion.” 

Dumbledore glanced over to Draco’s direction, and he sunk lower into the shadows of his storage. 

“Actually, I know Hagrid would love to be a part of this and I know he would be keen to help scout for a big enough area in the Forbidden Forest for dragons,” Dumbledore rose to his feet, “I suppose my lemon drops can wait, Charlie... after you.” 

Facing his back to Charlie, Dumbledore looked in Draco’s direction again and winked.  

Crouch? Dragons?  

This was something Draco did not envy Potter for at this time.  

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 

Dragons. 

Draco looked out the window, wondering if he would be able to see proof of the ministry delivering dragons but he assumed it was not in the nature of the games to allow the champions to know much ahead of time, especially on their first task.  

“Mr. Malfoy?” Professor Binn called out.  

Draco snapped out of his trance and looked back at the head of the class. The white, slightly hazy ghost professor stared in the distracted boy’s direction, and Draco looked around to see that most Slytherins were collapsed over their books, drooling in their slumber. It was a stark difference from the other half of the room, comprised of Ravenclaws, that hung on to every word that Professor Boring Binns said. A few Ravenclaw girls, as snooty as they were, maintained their gaze on him. 

“Yes?” Draco gulped, blinking rapidly as if it would help him recall what his question was and what had been said moments before.  

“Your opinion, Mr. Malfoy,” He continued.  

“Over?” He grimaced. Some Slytherins began to stir in their sleep and some even began to wake up at that pause of lecture that lulled them to sleep.  

“The Triwizard Tournament of 1792 !”  

Draco cleared his throat and flipped some pages of his history book in hopes that scanning would help him reach an answer. Alas, it didn’t, and he resorted to blurting out the first thing that came to his head.  

“Um, fascinating Professor,” He nodded confidently, “One of the best tournaments to date.” 

“The tournament that saw the attacks of the judges and ended in the cancellation of the tournament for centuries?” Binns questioned. 

There was snickering from the Ravenclaw side of the room. A few girls tried to hide their smiles by rolling their eyes in annoyance but ultimately caved into the whispers of interest. Draco had, after all, been brooding and distant since the year started. Coupled with his growth spurt over the summer, it was the perfect equation for tickling the intrigue of awakened girls.  

If Professor Binns could have died a second time, he would have at the disappointment that he had in his usual dependable student. Draco, despite his lack of enthusiasm in class, was well versed in history thanks to his mother’s insistent need to educate him far more than he needed to at a young age. It was a blessing for Professor Binns to have someone like Draco to add some color in opinion for historical events to his lessons.  

Still unable to accept a defeat for his lack of attention, Draco nodded, “I suppose our opinions differ then. It is what you asked for, correct?” 

The few Slytherins that were now awake were the ones to snicker amongst themselves. Professor Binns let out a long sigh not happy with the color that Draco decided to paint the lesson in. Nevertheless, Draco was much more preoccupied with more important events. He had sunk back into his chair and immediately was consumed with the thought of dragons in the Forbidden Forest.  

Draco should have been grateful to have his mind occupied by dragons but the moral dilemma of carrying around this kind of valuable information was draining.  

Draco struggled even more whenever they had lessons with Gryffindor. Potions, Astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts had become some of the most challenging classes especially when Hermione would waltz in, and he would completely lose focus.  

His mind would circle around the lesson, dragons, the way Hermione would walk, back to dragons, something with potions, the way she pressed her lips together when she took notes, and dragon lessons, wait what?

Did Hermione just glance at him during Astronomy? With a smile? No. 

All of it had been thoughts that floated repeatedly around in his head, so much so, that his attention span in class was now nonexistent. Draco had been thankful that most of their lessons were topics he didn’t need to put in a lot of effort. Still, he sensed it was reaching the end of his knowledge. He would soon have to put in a good effort in his studies and that was a chore that Draco didn't feel like doing at the moment. 

What Draco was concerned about was how unconcerned he was. He’d battle himself internally that he should be more privy to keep his mind busy with other things rather than Granger. Without even trying, she has managed to turn his thoughts into a bland mush of predictability. 

Perhaps his mother was right in her concern about his attention on her, it couldn’t have been healthy trying to completely hate her early on. Now, he was left with the dizzy realization that he, in fact, didn’t hate her at all. How could he when he looked forward to seeing her everyday even if it was for a second. 

It was more the fact that his denial of his fancy for the girl was weakened and he was not completely revolted. His thoughts would then morph into a senseless string of “ it wasn’t the worst idea to be in love with Granger ” to then an internal dread of hopelessness.  

There were other things that could have filled Draco’s attention to distract him in his teenaged turmoil but didn’t.  

Most Hogwarts students were congregating around Cedric Diggory in full support of him while they actively shunned Potter out of their sincere support. Draco tried to join in and lead a hate campaign against Potter but it seemed like nobody really needed convincing. Most students were already adamantly against Potter, which made it less fun to partake in the defamation.  

Besides, Potter already had enough on his plate, didn’t he? After all, it seemed he and Ron were not on speaking terms, not since the selection of Champions at least. And the undertaking of a dragon that Draco was sure Potter still had no clue on (Not that Draco was keen on letting Potter know. As if he would trust Draco to tell him the truth).  

Draco didn’t notice when Ron and Harry were not speaking. They had begun to sit away from each other in potions and barely were seen together after classes. This was something Draco had heard from the surrounding gossip during meals. The buzz of school gossip was reaching an all-time high, it made eating a shockingly annoying chore. Draco had resorted to shoving a few bread rolls in his mouth for several days now before he rushed away. He frequently abandoned his plate in search of a bit of peace and quiet, and that meant only one place.  

He only knew of the library. Now that exams had passed, and the school was all talk of the champions, the library had cleared out a considerable amount. Draco, facing an empty corridor, took out a muggle science book on his way to the library. 

Surely, his secret study nook would be available since most students were having dinner. Funny enough, the nook it wasn’t that much of a secret. It was well known for couples in sixth and seventh years. A few daring couples would use it to have some privacy, especially if the couple in question were from different houses. Draco knew of it... well... never mind of how he came across it.  

That in mind, Draco smirked at the image of two love-stricken students tangled up in the small hidden nook as he walked into the peace and tranquility of a calm library.  

Musing the list of things to do (like catching up on the History lesson that he had missed out or start on that Transfiguration essay), Draco glanced at the cover of his muggle book about airplanes. Snape said it was a physics book, and outside of the realm of the romance novel he said Draco had a talent for choosing. Draco wasn’t one hundred precent sure if Snape was being sarcastic. 

Draco’s steps slowed down a considerable amount when he found himself rereading two paragraphs on the science of flight repeatedly. There on the crisp pages was a detailed illustration of birds' wings (which was boring and not moving at all). Draco wondered what muggles would make of a flying dragon and if they would desperately try to calculate them with all these numbers and charts that made it possible for them to fly.  

“Figuring out flying, I see.”  

Her voice came out careful and soft. Draco whipped around to find her standing right behind him Draco took note that he had found himself standing in the middle of two bookshelves, just an aisle away from the secret nook. She motioned a book in her hand and pointed to the bookshelf that Draco had leaned against while his mind was filled with flight.  

She had intended to reshelve the book she had borrowed. Draco took a step back feeling his heart pound from being caught once again by Granger. And this time, it was face to face.  

“What’s it to you, Granger.” Draco gulped, hoping to sound defensive enough to ward her off. He wasn’t exactly confident in coming up with an excuse in his sudden interest in muggle stuff, nor was his actual reason strong enough to explain away his book choices.  

He was a Malfoy after all. 

She remained unconcerned, as if it was just engaging in light conversation. Her slim shoulders came up in a shrugged, ignoring that Draco’s defenses were down. She had nearly brushed her side with Draco's chest when she stepped forward to place her book back in its respective space. 

“I didn’t mean to pry,” She nodded, “It's just intriguing, that’s all.” 

“That I have interests?” Draco scoffed.  

He could almost sense her smiling at something she shouldn’t be, fumbling with her own fingers. Coming up with something more to say.  

“No, I mean that...” She trailed off licking her lips nervously, “Never mind. Excuse me.” 

She had taken a few steps away and not ready to end this interaction (and the time to stare at her lips), Draco blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. 

“Dragons.” He immediately felt stupid.  

She paused and wheeled around.  

“What?” 

Draco held in a breath, blinking fast, wondering how he was going to even start explaining anything to her.  

He exhaled.  

“I-I was wondering if muggle science law can also govern the things we see in my- I mean, our world.” He cleared his throat, shocked that he had impressively was able to come up with such a fast excuse. Even Granger looked shocked.  

Perhaps it wasn’t that much of a stupid excuse... 

What was he talking about? It was a stupid excuse.  

“I didn’t think that muggle explanations on how they explain their world would interest you at all,” She quietly admitted, and she wasn’t exactly wrong in her assumptions, Draco just needed a way to piece it all together so it would make sense.  

Even to Draco.  

“Well, drag and thrust doesn’t seem like a good explanation to flight.” He shrugged nonchalantly recalling a few keywords he had read, “Seeing how dragons don’t even have propellies.”  

Something he said made Hermione press her lips together to hide her grin, but she couldn’t stop her face from glowing.  

“Oh,” She let out a sigh, “Yes. Right. They don’t have those .” 

A silence fell over them and he looked at his watch and noticed it was still early for dinner to end.  

“What brings you here? Shouldn’t you be handling a Potter Weasley spat over mash?” He pointed out. Hermione crumbled under the reminder that her friends were still in the midst of an epic row.  

“Actually, I’d rather sleep with a dragon at the moment than have to spend a tense second with them.” She rolled her eyes up, crossing her arms tightly, defensive at the thought of her friends fighting.  

A disturbing thought suddenly entered Draco’s head, feeling his face flush at the image of Hermione and iridescent fairy wings, green silk sheets, and being tangled up in the secret nook with her. Clearing his throat, he loosened his green necktie at the sudden uncomfortable hold it had around his neck. Luckily, she didn’t take note of Draco’s sudden fidgety tenseness.  

“Having to deal with Ron’s jealousy on top of studying past tournaments to get any sense of what the first task might entail for Harry... and then making time to teach him some useful spells...” 

“Granger.” Draco said, pulling her attention back to him, the moment her eyes drifted off into another world.  

“Dragons.” He repeated, lowly.  

She cocked her head to the side.  

“What about them?” She shrugged as if she was ready to move on to another topic.  

Draco straightened up, reshouldering his book bag when he slipped his physics book back in. He took a good look around to make sure they were completely alone before he lowered his head a few inches closer to her face (to get his point across, of course).  

“The first task is dragons.” He whispered to her. Her eyes widened as she finally understood. Draco didn’t stick around for too long to enjoy more of her. He made his way out and back to his dorm room with a pep in his step. By the time the teen boy had thrown himself into bed, he was already in full agony of how delighted he was to have spoken to her for those few minutes.  

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 

One can imagine Draco’s horror (and slight delight) a few weeks later when the first task finally came around. Dragons were being hauled into the arena much to the amazement of all the students watching the event. Draco was amazed that he had been correct. Even more so when he caught a cheeky smile from Professor Dumbledore when he walked by with Barty Crouch and company of the ministry as they settled themselves into their teacher’s box to view the tasks.  

The first task was dangerously entertaining and, for once, Draco was so glad that he wasn’t in Harry’s shoes. Even as a spectator, some students in the first rows had been singe by a shot of blazing fire, straight from the mouth of a Chinese Fireball. Impressive as Harry’s fight was against his own Hungarian Horntail, Draco was never going to admit it out loud that he did an amazing job. The idiot did have grit, a lot more than Draco ever cared to have.  

Once the first task was over and the celebrations began in the corridors with hordes of people surrounding Diggory and Potter, Draco hung back with his hands in his pockets loosely following behind Crabbe and Goyle.  

Goyle was replaying some of the most notable moments of the first tasks while Crabbe was talking in depth about measuring the position of the stars and calculating with some precision who would win the tournament. Goyle was dumbfounded and kept looking outside as if a star would gleam in the day sky to confirm the wild assumptions Crabbe was making.  

A group of lively Hufflepuffs cut into their path, joining Cedric who held up the golden egg high up in the air, proudly showing off his trophy. Some of the joyful Hufflepuffs grabbed Goyle and Crabbe, inviting them to their common room in celebration.  

Considering that Crabbe and Goyle would never turn up food, it was no surprise to Draco that they joined tin, heading down to the very elusive Hufflepuff Common Room.  

Draco stood in place, pocketing his hands in his thin winter robes and watched them disappear down the corridor. A nice warm meal didn’t sound too bad to finish off the early evening. Draco turned right to take the stairs up to the Great Hall for an early meal only to find Hermione squeak at his sudden appearance.  

“Malfoy!” She scolded, her brows furrowed in slight irritation. 

He gave her a long look unsure of what he had done wrong, “Are you really using that tone Granger, when you nearly scared the wits out of me ?” 

She huffed and crossed her arms, “I didn’t think you’d be right around the corner.” 

“Still is no reason to scream.” He rolled his eyes, “Unless you were watching out for me.” 

“I did not scream!” She defended, but the red that was dotting at her cheeks said otherwise, “And I was not looking for you.” 

Draco smirked.  

“How did you know?” She suddenly said with a fierceness in her eyes that caught him off guard. She was also not going to waste any time to get to the point.  

Although Draco knew exactly what she meant, she needed to be a lot clearer if she wanted him to bend at her will. Truthfully, Draco would have told her anything she wanted to know but at the cost of the sudden playfulness that was gripping his heart. 

“Know what?” He gave a slight smile, “That you were just over there, stalking me?” 

Hermione had a funny little habit of huffing when she was annoyed. She shifted her weight around on her feet, looking very uncomfortable, looking around to see if anyone was around to witness her fraternizing with the enemy.  

She finally clarified in a hushed whisper, “How did you know about the dragons?” 

“Why do you care?”  

“I don’t know what you’re playing at or if you’re just trying to mess with Harry,” She frowned, “Rest assure that if you or your family have something up their sleeves considering their close ties to the ministry or Vol-” 

“Are you insinuating... Do you think that I put Potter’s name in the goblet?” Draco furrowed his brows, confused by her sudden turn of accusations. 

“Who else but-” 

“Are you not supposed to be smartest witch in our year?” He laughed, shocked at the sudden turn of events. It was almost flattering. 

Hermione, unable to take teasing well, turned furiously red, “Then how else were you aware of the dragons?” 

“Dumbledore.” Draco simply answered and that was enough to shock her into the next lifetime. She incredulously stuttered over her next words.  

“S-stop joking.” 

“I was in Dumbledore’s office when Charlie Weasley came in,” He recalled. Shrugging as if it were no big deal, Draco continued, “If you wish to speak to Dumbledore about it, you can go right on ahead. Although I’m not sure how he’d take it that I took that piece of information to help aid Potter when the Champions are not supposed to receive any help-” 

“ Charlie? ” She chimed in, “So Professor Dumbledore. How- But when...” 

She took a moment to pause and recalibrate her brain.  

“Then... w-why did you tell me?” She softly spoke, intertwining her fingers together unsure of what to do with herself. It was then when Draco realized how easy it was to read her face as she twisted and scrunched her nose up as she recalled something that popped into her head.  

Draco cocked his head, “Didn’t Ron know? It’s his brother after all.” 

Hermione deflated, “I dunno. Ronald... he could not have the slightest of clues. He’s like that sometimes... But he has been so defensive against Harry lately so, I really don’t know.” 

“Well at least you told him.” Draco awkwardly mumbled out. It wasn’t like him to slip out niceties towards Hermione, “He did pretty well today... don’t tell him I said that.” 

Her face twisted even more. 

“That’s the thing.” She gulped, “ I didn’t. I didn’t want to believe you if it was a joke and... and when Harry mentioned that Hagrid told him about the dragons, I still thought there might have been some cruel plan to misled him... until today, that is.” 

Draco stood there watching her struggle with the conflicts that he brought forth simply letting her know about the dragons.  

“I suppose I don’t understand why .” She finally said.  

“Why what?” 

“Why you even would care enough to try to warn Harry.” She clarified.  

Draco knew deep down he didn’t care much for Potter. He tried his best to make it seem like he didn’t care for any of them. He didn’t care for the goosebumps that rippled all over his skin when she insisted to not break eye contact, hoping to find the deception in his eyes.  

“I didn’t think of it as helping him.” Draco honestly replied, “And if you think I have more information about the second task, I don’t. My guess is as good as yours.” 

“Right...” She stepped away, licking her lips once more. “Yes, well...” 

Hermione suddenly inhaled a soft gasp, stepped away and with a quick pivot she briskly walked off leaving Draco astonished that he was able to have yet another interaction without ripping each other's heads off. Perhaps fancying Granger wasn’t so far-fetched for his curiosity to entertain.