fervere

Chapter Seven

“Trust me, Granger.” Draco quietly muttered to himself, staring at this star chart.  

Hermione kept her sights on her telescope, not reacting to his words at all. Well not noticeably, at least. Her eyes flickered up to him and her mouth twitched at the corners, trying to hide her piqued interest.

He didn’t blame Hermione for hiding her dabble with an enemy. Draco had already been caught by Ron smiling warmly at Hermione, who had purposefully set her telescope next to him in Astronomy. Reason being, Draco had sent a secret school owl that morning announcing some good news he needed to share. It was perhaps the only explanation she would be as bold as placing herself right next to him during a night Astronomy class. Their only shared class of the day. 

They worked quietly avoiding the curious looks from those around them. It was a peculiar sight to see them together in proximity, but the more Draco and Hermione ignored the pointed glances, the less their peers were intrigued, abandoning their curiosity in favor of their work.  

Draco might have ignored the brief attention he got, but he didn’t let up stealing glances at Hermione any chance he got. He had taken the time to memorize more of the soft features of her face in a poorly dim room, excited to see them mold up into an expression of small pure joy when she got an answer to their assignment or when her brows furrowed when she scanned the night sky in search of a planet.  

It only had taken about two weeks, after that treasured moment at the library, before Draco finally came across Professor Sprout to inquire about something that could help with the problem of breathing underwater. 

Sprout had been his last hope if he was honest. He had hounded Professor McGonagall and Flitwick about any kind of wand magic only to be scolded away from any kind of answer. Nearly every professor, aside from Snape, had been a victim of Draco's harassment but he had succeeded in the most unlikely professor. It had taken two precious hours of his free time, but he had something worth sharing with Hermione after a deep conversation with Sprout who Draco had little hope for.  

While Draco stood still in his pure joy, waiting for the right time to talk to Hermione, the rest of the class began to groan at a few rouge clouds that began to block a bit of sky that surely prolonged the class. 

Scanning the room, Draco took note that Harry looked like a shell of himself. He could only assume he was worried sick for the next task that was looming over him like a dark cloud. Ron tried to help Harry chart his planets but, as with anything concerning the duo, it usually spelled disaster. Ron nearly broke Harry's telescope trying to set it up which Professor Sinistra made sure she threatened the entire class that points would be taken away if any of the school’s telescopes were broken. The pair were lucky to have Hermione as a friend. Draco was sure they would still be turning matches into needles with the first years if it wasn't for her.

The Astronomy classroom was one of the more interesting rooms at Hogwarts. Professor Sinistra had converted the top of the tower into an open space. It was a dark room with floors of black marble and a golden ornate orrery in the center of the room where Professor Sinistra would explain a few lessons on. The large gothic windows that encircled the entire room would disappear so that everyone would get a clear view of the night sky.  

Even in the middle of winter, the windows would vanish.  

There was a fair warning to students to bundle up to face the bitter cold of February. Despite the warmth of the charmed room, there was always a slight arctic breeze that brushed through the open windows that chilled them to the bone if not properly covered.  

Currently, Hermione looked like a soft marshmallow.  

Her bright Gryffindor scarf was tripled wrapped around her neck and ears. She also had poofy white earmuffs to cover her ears that turned red with the slightest temperature drop. Not that Draco was noticeably staring, he simply saw when Hermione tucked her hair behind her ear once when they crossed paths heading towards the Greenhouses for Herbology once.  

Draco paused for a second and scowled. Earmuffs and marshmallows... He needed to focus. Draco caught an error in his work when he realized that he had placed himself in the worst view for Jupiter. Even when the clouds finally drifted off, he still had trouble with it’s placement. 

Not that it was impossible to complete his assignment; it would require a bit more work since he’d have to skew some angles and calculations, nevertheless, he did his best to not look too suspicious working next to Granger. 

Although it was hard when Weasley was already very much on watch. 

“Spoke to Professor Sprout today,” Draco said as if he was talking to himself. Hermione did a double take and remained quiet. Draco wondered if she had heard him but her scrawling on her assignment came to a halt, as if she was waiting to hear more. Although her head hadn’t moved an inch, her eyes were wide, and her quill had stopped mid word. Draco held in a smile, closing an eye to peer into his telescope. There were a few minute adjustments he would have to make to get Jupiter into focus.  

“How are lessons going with Potter?” Draco asked quietly, pouring his focus on the terribly blurry lens, "Heard you've been drilling him." 

“Poorly,” She responded in a whisper, “I’m sure you can imagine how difficult it is to teach someone a spell I can’t even conjure myself.” 

Hermione had insisted that if they couldn’t find an alternative solution, the bubble-head charm was going to have to work. Of course, being way out of the scope of their magic abilities, Draco imagined it was a tricky spell for seventh years to master, let alone hardheaded fourteen-year-old.  

About to divulge to Hermione the chat he had with Professor Sprout, Ron’s whiny voice called out for his friend. Draco glanced behind him to find Ron looking oddly concerned at them. 

“ ‘Mione ,” He grumbled, “Harry’s spilt ink all over his chart! Can you come and help?” 

Hermione flashed a quick glance at Draco before marching over to her two friends across the room. He knew it wasn’t exactly safe to talk to her surrounded by all their friends, and he didn't understand why he so brashly took the chance, so he quickly came up with a plan by the time she came storming back. 

She did not look in a great mood.  

“Stay behind,” He uttered under his breath, “After class.” 

Hermione didn’t respond but she didn’t need to. Ron had called for her again for Merlin knows what and she abandoned her own work once again.  

The best part about Astronomy class and Professor Sinstra was that there was technically no schedule that ended her class. Her classes could be as short as thirty minutes if the sky was perfect, and the assignment was easy enough. Other times, if the sky was in the worst of conditions, class would drag on to the early hours in hopes that the sky could clear up. 

As long as her assignment was complete and turned in, it didn’t matter how long students would stay.  

Draco figured it wasn’t exactly terrible to have his telescope in a shitty position, not when he had an objective in mind. Despite Hermione’s growing agitation with her friends, the delay of walking back and forth to help her friends gave her a perfect excuse to stay late.  

It was nearing midnight and most of the class had left. Harry and Ron had given up, succumbing to the fate of some poor marks on their assignment.  

They didn’t even bother hurrying Hermione up, sensing her bad mood. Even Professor Sinistra advised the last few students should turn in the assignment bright and early tomorrow if they were going to take more time. Lavender Brown and both Patil twins hurried and turned in their assignments before rushing out. Professor Sinistra gave the remaining two a long look.  

Draco smiled back at his professor and finally took his telescope to placed it by a better window so he could double check his work. Professor Sinistra pressed her lips together hiding a knowing look before wishing them a good night.

Hermione appeared at Draco's side and glanced down at his assignment scroll. Without having to double check, Draco sensed the stillness of the empty class. They were completely alone. The breeze whistling along was filling in the silence with its low sad howls.  

“Your Venus placement looks better than mine,” Hermione pointed out, “How were able to track it when it's hours from appearing in the sky?”  

“Such the tone of surprise Granger. You’re not the only one that enjoys Astronomy,” Draco mumbled out, finishing the last of his chart.  

Hermione narrowed her eyes playfully, “It’s not exactly my favorite course.” 

Draco raised his brows playfully, “You could have fooled me.” 

Her mouth opened, about to refute his opinion, but she fought against it and continued to watch his calculations. Her brows knitted in concentration when she looked at her own scroll to compare.  

“Ron and Harry certainly kept you busy today,” Draco mindlessly pointed out. 

“Oh,” She sighed out heavily, “It spoiled my concentration. Actually, I think I spent more time concentrating on not setting their scrolls on fire.” 

Draco smirked and took a step back from the window, bringing his telescope along with him. The glass of the gothic windows began to reappear once he had completed his work and the whooshing of the wind had diminished considerably.  

One could say that the silence was even more deafening once the realization hit that Draco was in a dim room with Hermione Granger and she wasn't disgusted with the idea. 

“What did you want to say about Professor Sprout?” She asked referring to the note he had sent her that morning using the school’s owl. She cocked her head to the side as if it would get her a better read on Draco’s face.  

He smiled proudly, “Well it’s good news and bad news... and a bit more good news but wrapped in some bad news.” 

Hermione went blank and shook her head in confusion.  

“What a way to be clear and concise, Draco,” She sighed. 

Draco took the time to bag his belongings back into his bookbag, “I had a lengthy conversation with Professor Sprout, cut into my personal time considering she is not an easy one to crack. I had to butter her up before I went in for the kill, Granger. You know, talking to professors about an idea without giving away my intentions was difficult, but, I guess my charm served me well, if I do say so myself.” 

Hermione crossed her arms, scoffing in disgust, “Oh and I suppose you charmed the pants right off Sprout, too, didn’t you?” 

Draco grinned widely, “Funny you should mention, I was just about to get to that!” 

Her jaw dropped and he let out a light laugh. 

“Relax Granger,” He joked, “Professor took out her book of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and showed me something that I've glossed over plenty of times before.” 

Hermione’s eyes widened at how easy her search could have been.  

Draco continued, “There’s a plant called gillyweed that lets people breathe underwater like real merpeople.” 

Her face morphed into a deep thought as if she was trying to recall from all her hours of study when she had come across it herself.  

“It is used in a potion?” She paced back and forth with newfound energy at this ungodly hour in the classroom. He yawned but felt more than capable of staying up all night if it meant having to chat with Granger.  

“Even better,” Draco pointed his scroll at her, “You just have to eat it. Raw” 

“What?” Hermione said incredulously, her happiness bubbling up to her surface, “So then what's the bad news?” .

“Gillyweed comes from the Meditterrean Sea. So unless you can find a way to sneak out of this castle and enjoy a rather short trip to Italy, then, there’s no possible way to obtain it.” Draco forced a smile out, knowing it would be an impossibility. 

Hermione deflated, “I thought this was supposed to be the answer to our problems.” 

“Well, here comes the second good news,” He continued, “There's a stock of gillyweed right here at Hogwarts.” 

Hermione’s hands flew to her mouth. She rushed over to Draco.  

“Please tell me Professor Spout handed you some.” She grabbed hold of Draco's two large hands, shaking them in hopes that had the resolution to her problems, “Or you swiped some from her storage.” 

Draco’s mouth went dry, “Actually, its Professor Snape has some in his personal supply closet.”  

The news slowly sunk into her, and Hermione’s head rolled back in surrender. Her grip on his hands loosened but remained. Draco, distracted by her touch, was almost tempted to slowly shift his fingers around to intertwine with hers. He was fascinated how dainty her fingers were but had a strong hold on his own hand.

“This is impossible.” She groaned out.  

“Maybe,” He paused, still staring at their hands, “U-unless-” 

There was a sudden pair of heavy footsteps that caught their attention and they immediately separated. Draco became fascinated with his telescope and Hermione took out her own chart to look over, looking out the window to double check her work. The unmistakable messy black hair of Harry’s poked in, peering to see who was still up in the classroom.  

“Hermione?” He called out just as his eyes landed on the strange boy. It was almost as if Harry knew Hermione wasn’t alone. Draco found it all a bit too strange but not strange enough to make a point of it. 

“C-coming.” She strained a tired smile at him, “Lost track of time.” 

Harry still had his eyes on Draco, as if he was unworthy of being alone with his friend. Fumbling nervously with the telescope, Draco did end up twisting the focus a bit too far that a bronzed part of the telescope clattered to the floor. Draco felt a heat of embarrassment burn at his cheeks, chasing after the part.  

Hermione finally joined Harry at the door and then they were gone. Draco stood alone in a dark classroom for a moment relishing the longing he had to have her for just a bit longer. He glanced once more at the inky black sky to appreciate his constellation before he left himself. Draco wasn't sure why he was certain, but he knew that those stars were burning passionately.  

There was something particular about that night that caused Draco to stay up later than usual staring up into the ceiling of his four poster bed, repeating a single moment.  

Hermione had held his hands with her own like a desperate prayer. Like she needed him. His heart slowed a considerable amount delighting himself in the small indulgence.  

He replayed it repeatedly, until the dullness in his heart blossomed painfully open when Draco began to stuff that memory in the corners of his mind. He closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to guard these memories.  

Behind all the endless memorization for exams, behind all the pages of books he’s read, next to the times he spent during the summer enjoying all the muggle stuff, that’s where Draco will hide her. 

He didn’t need the memory to be front and center, he convinced himself, wrapping the memory around all the monotony of schoolwork she would be safe. Draco knew it was there and that was enough.  

When he finally opened his eyes after rearranging memories like furniture, the sun had already risen. Draco inhaled deeply and checked his drawers for a small vile. Although it was a Thursday, he thought it better to get some sleep than to go to class. It was Herbology with Hufflepuffs and a short History of Magic lesson with Ravenclaws and Draco was sure it’s nothing that he couldn’t make up for later.  

He found the sleeping tonic and with a swig, Draco was off into a misty hazy dream of stars, brown curls, and fairy wings. 

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Happy Valentine’s Day Draco!” 

Draco was caught off guard when he heard his name being called out in the middle of the morning rush for breakfast. He had expected to have a rather dull ordinary Tuesday when the sight of red and pink hearts floating down from the ceilings while cherubs flew around with their arrows attacked his sight and ruined breakfast in the Great Hall.  

“Is that why are my egg yolks are red?” Draco sneered.  

Crabbe smiled, “For Valentines Day, mate!” 

“It looks bloody.” Draco complained in disgust, shoving the eggs away in favor of anything else but that.  

He settled for some heart shaped toast, avoiding some glances a few third years were giving him. Draco was already in a poor mood from red eggs, he didn’t need the attention of gawking girls watching his every move in hopes that he’d take notice of them. 

Goyle took advantage of this newfound attention and struck up a conversation with the curious girls. It wasn’t a riveting conversation by any means but it did confirm that they were dropping hints about their plans for Valentines.  

Draco chewed his toast in silence and marched off the second his last crumb vanished.  

While walking to his first class, he bumped into Daphne’s younger sister, Astoria. As quickly as he dismissed her, apologizing for bumping into her, she clung on. Draco didn’t noticed Astoria was hanging on to any excuse to talk to him until he made it quite obvious that he was going a different direction than her, yet she still followed along. Her friends now had made it painfully obvious they were following closely behind.  

“I do find potions to be a lot harder than I expected it to be.” Astoria said, batting her lashes at the tall boy. Draco withheld his sneer and nodded, in hopes that his dismissive politeness would give her a clue. 

“It’s challenging every year,” He replied dryly.  

“I find that surprising coming from you. You’re top of Professors Snape’s class, aren’t you?” Astoria played with her dark hair, a stark contrast to her sister Daphne’s hair. “Snape mentions you a lot to our year. He really wants an outstanding student from his house but so far Ginny’s been leading, and that’s not saying much-” 

The odd pair came to an exit and Draco stopped walking. 

“I have Herbology,” He quickly explained, “See you around.” 

Hoping that it would be the last he’d have to talk to Astoria, her face lit up and she excused herself to join her friends. All of them took a glance at the confused boy and huddled together, giggling at who knows what.  

A dread filled Draco hoping it wasn’t related to Valentine’s Day. He had no intentions to celebrate this year. He didn’t want to boast but it was his first year without a Valentine and he wanted it to remain that way.  

In the past, Pansy had always assigned herself to Draco and he went with the flow. Third-year he had be inundated with small gifts and stolen kisses from several girls in his year. It was when Draco really began to appreciate the fact they didn't have to share their personal space in the Slytherin Dormitories. However, this time around Draco really didn’t feel like making the effort to proclaim the day. He also had other things to tend to that weighed heavy on his mind.

Draco was running out of time to obtain gillyweed for Hermione with the second task coming closer. It was a shame he couldn’t dedicate his free time to helping, he really wanted to. Unfortunately, Draco had to get back to attending his regular occlumency lessons with Snape every possible night after dinner. It was hard to aid in Hermione's mission and hide it from Snape at the same time.  

With missions and memories floating around in his head as he headed towards Herbology with Goyle, Draco noticed a familiar head of curly hair right in front of him. 

“Whadya say, Draco?” Goyle asked, nudging his friend lightly with his elbow. Draco sent him a sharp look, slightly shocked that he was unaware when Goyle and Crabbe had joined him in his stroll towards Herbology. 

“I heard a few fifth and six years lads are gonna go to Hogsmeade to have a bird-free night.” Goyle wiggled his brows, “I know Madam Rosemerta hates us hanging about but she doesn’t mind you. I mean she won’t deny you firewhiskey if you ordered it, that’s for sure.”  

“Ah,” Draco mused, “I-I can’t.” 

“What d'ya mean ya can’t?” Crabbe laughed, “Did you get yourself a date and didn’t tell us?” 

Draco could have been dreaming but it looked as if Hermione stumbled over her steps as she made her way down to Care of Magical Creatures. She awkwardly bumped into Harry avoiding a more disastrous trip. Draco smiled. 

“I have to make up some work for Professor Snape’s class.” He lied, “From that day I overslept.” 

Crabbe and Goyle have never been the smartest. Despite having all shared classes, they would have known Potions was not the class that he had skipped but they accepted his excuse without questioning it further.  

Well, it wasn’t a full lie.  

Draco was expecting to meet with Professor Snape, just not for the excuse he just made up. They had almost reached the Herbology conservatories when Hermione and Harry parted away, heading towards Hagrid’s, Draco guessed.  

Draco mindlessly ran his fingers over the shrubs that lead to their class before seeing a small group of white flowers. Without thinking too much of it, he picked a few and pocketed them. Perhaps it was another excuse he could use to talk to Professor Sprout about gillyweed. She could never turn down a question about plants.  

When lessons came to an end that morning, any ideas of talking to Professor Sprout were quickly forgotten when word of Draco’s refusal to pair up this Valentine spread during the lesson. All he wanted to do was escape before any Hufflepuff girls made any attempt at him. He noticed both Hannah Abbout and Susan Bones giving him eyes.

One would think that Chang and Diggory would have been the center of speculation today or the fact that Krum hadn’t been seen all day, leading to wonder whether Hermione had rejected his offer and the oaf was off hiding and nursing a broken heart. Draco thought that was the best news yet but Draco knew it must have been a real slow day if he was tossed in today’s school gossip.  

Delacour was flooded with Valentine offers, of course, but that was expected. Even Parkinson let a loud obnoxious sigh, proclaiming that she hadn’t been asked out by anyone during their Ancient Rune’s lesson, slowly turned to Draco expectantly. Draco continued to translate runes in silence. Still, by the time dinner arrived the more whispers Draco got. Draco blocked out the haze of Valentine’s and ate as normally as possible before having to meet Snape.  

It was past seven at night when Draco climbed down to the dungeons and headed towards Snape's office. He didn’t want to point it out, but it was astonishing how much bigger and grand his office was than Snape’s apartment on Spinner’s End. 

Aster, Snape’s dog, jumped up at the chance to greet him. Draco lovingly patted his head before approaching Snape who sat behind his desk, a rich dark mahogany woodwork backed by an intricate half a circle of a bookshelf, filled with the most mysterious book titles. 

There was a quick flicker of a piercing intruder in the center of Draco’s head, but Snape had pulled out, before Draco was able to lock himself up.  

“You are not to ever touch my books,” Snaped drawled, and Draco rolled his eyes up in annoyance. 

“Good evening, Professor.” He sighed before adding in sarcastically, “Such a pleasure to see you this fine Tuesday evening.” 

“Don’t be smart with me Draco,” He warned, “Take a seat, let’s see how much you’ve practiced since the last time.” 

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when he pushed through Draco’s mind. There was a lot of lessons that he shifted through and a few moments with Professor Sprout that almost gave Draco a heart attack, but he didn’t spend much time there. Snape, for some reason, focused most of his time on Professor Moody’s lessons before he pulled away.  

Draco collapsed over his knees, trying to catch his breath as he recovered. Aster padded over to him to lick his hand, placing his head on his lap. Draco took a few moments to catch his breath to refocus on Snape. 

It was almost by chance that at that very moment, when Snape began to explain an arbitrary term, Draco set his lazy sights towards the supply closet when he saw the door crack open by itself. Suspicious, Draco patted Aster on the head to distract him just as he caught a glimpse of a disembodied foot before the door closed.

There was a sudden wash of panic that filled Draco as Aster perked up at the soft click and began to sniff around. It was nothing that Snape deemed suspicious but it was enough to worry Draco.  

Draco quickly tried to hide what he just saw into a jumble of memories. He couldn’t afford tipping off Snape but as quickly as he tried to figure out a method to hide his memories, the searing pain of intrusion drove into his skull and he shut down.  

Sensing that if Snape saw those shoes, it would unlock all the secrets he had worked so hard to hide. It would flood out in an embarrassing flash of heart racing moments he wanted only for himself. Draco felt walls come up in in a panic to protect him. Even the most insignificant ones felt dangerous to him. Any one of them could lead back to those shoes currently in Snape’s storage room. 

Draco had a feeling it was Harry and he applauded him for being able to conjure the disillusionment charm but it was always the Gryffindor git in him that made Harry act on some of the stupidest ideas.  

It certainly was stressing Draco out.  

“How did you do that?” Snape snapped, reeling Draco back in with his question, “Once in your mind, I was only able to catch a glimpse of this room until I was left in the dark, unable to advance in your mind.” 

Instead of questioning it further, Professor Snape looked perplexed. He almost looked pained instead of furious.  

“You have something to protect, don’t you?” He asked.  

Draco gritted his teeth, bracing himself, expecting to face another intrusion. It never came.  

Sitting in front of his desk, gripping on to the armrest for dear life, he was on constant alert that he’d find any reason to look back into his mind to figure out the reason why he couldn’t see anything else.  

Draco couldn’t explain it to him, not without explaining that there happens to be someone in his closet (that Draco suspected was Harry) and not without revealing all Draco's treasured moments. Aster, who padded around close to the storage room, was beckoned back to Draco who whistled for him.  

Aster hesitated but eagerly came back to receive a bit of attention. 

“If it wasn’t for my own experience I would have been severely impressed by the leap you just took at occlumency,” Snape began, “I won’t question how much deeper you have gotten yourself involved but your toeing a line, Draco."

Draco felt a bit fatigued from having to protect his mind, petting Aster had been a great way to comfort his mind.  

“What do you even mean?” He weakly said, closing his eyes to catch his breath, “Can’t you just congratulate me for a fantastic job?” 

Instead of being proud that Draco had found a breakthrough in occlumency, Snape seemed more on edge.  

“I’ll see you next week,” He raised a brow, “Out. Now.” 

The supply door opened slightly just as Snape was about to turn towards his supply closet. Aster perked up. 

Draco called out to Snape.  

“Can you explain what’s going on?” He asked, gulping. Draco reached over to his desk were a plate of treats were for Aster hoping he didn’t look too shifty. He grabbed one and teased Aster to distract him from anything he could possibly sense. Professor Snape kept his eyes on Draco as the door of the supply closet wavered open. Draco could only imagine someone sticking their head out.  

“Why,” Draco began, “Why is it that you can’t see anything without me trying?” 

The door cracked opened, and a pair of shoes were visible for a slight moment before they disappeared. There was definitely someone sneaking in, and it wasn’t just one person.  

“Only someone skilled enough in occlumency can fully shut someone out,” Snape began, “Or someone with deep shame can as well.” 

He gave his student a cold hard look. Draco didn’t break their eye contact. Aster jumped on Draco’s lap trying to grab a hold of the treat in his hand he waved around. 

“I’ll give you a fair warning,” He narrowed his eyes, “Since you seem fully prepared, hiding your memories before these lessons, I’ll look for moments during the day to catch you off guard. Otherwise, our schedule can resume. Weekly. Understood?” 

Draco nodded and Snape pointed towards the door.  

“Now go. Before the the Prefects begin patrolling the corridors, I ran out of hall passes.” He finished. 

Without another word, Draco jumped to his feet, throwing the treat at Aster, and headed towards the door. Just as he had opened it, he felt a woosh past him and he knew with certainty that there was something there. A highly advanced disillusionment charm considering most charms couldn't fully conceal a person. It was impossible. Draco took a few steps out and once the door had shut behind him, he took out his wand.  

“Who is it?” He demanded to a very empty corridor.  

There was a pause of silence until Draco noticed a bush of curly hair poke out from behind a suit of armor. Hermione's hands were clasped together as if she was pleading with him before she stepped out to reveal herself. Draco couldn't say he was surprised. If there was anyone who could conjure a perfect disillusionment charm, it would be Hermione.  

“It’s okay, Harry.” Hermione whispered out, “I know what I'm doing.” 

Harry fully stepped out clutching a piece of old parchment and glared right at him, as if Draco was a fault for something he didn't realize he did.

Questioning her sanity, Harry gave Hermione a look of disapproval. It was then when Draco noticed the the same pair of shoes that he had seen in Snape’s class. His eyes widen. Hermione wasted no time. She grabbed him by his arm sleeve and pulled Draco towards Harry. In a flash, Potter threw something over them and they both pushed Draco down to hunch low to the ground.  

Before he could protest, a voice of a Prefect began to echo through the corridors.  

“Who’s there?” The Head Boy called out, he finally came into view and his Hufflepuff uniform glowed in the fire of the wall lanterns.  

Hermione immediately slapped her hand over Draco's mouth when the Hufflepuff cast his sights over to them. There should have been a lengthy questioning from a Prefect on why there was a group of three students huddled in a corner but they were overlooked. Snape came out of his class and sneered at the Prefect. Even Snape looked oblivious to their presence while he had a curt chat with the Prefect who intended to speak to Snape about his marks.  

It was full five minutes before the coast cleared, Snape and the Prefect stepped into his office and Hermione removed her hand. Draco, about to question, caught a glimpse of a bit of the old parchment paper Harry hand in his hand. There were moving dots on what looked like a map of something. He quickly hid it behind his back as Hermione removed what Draco now saw as a silvery liquid cloth. 

“Hermione,” Harry glared, displeased over something.  

“What just happened?” Draco questioned, reeling from the event. He pointed to the cloth that Harry tucked under his arm, “How did you even get your hands on that?” 

“None of your business, Malfoy,” Harry snapped. Draco might have been fooled but he wasn't stupid, he knew an invisibility cloak when he sees one. They were almost priceless. Even his father had difficulty, getting his hands on one.

Hermione placed a hand on Harry’s shoulders, “Harry. If it wasn’t for Malfoy, we wouldn’t have the gillyweed.” 

Draco’s mouth fell open, “Y-You got it?” 

Harry, still sporting a hard face, stared at Hermione as if he was still hesitant to trust.  

“Yes,” She announced nervously, “Um, thank you Dra... Malfoy. See you around.” 

And in a blink, they both disappeared underneath the cloak. Draco scoffed. 

"Not even a thank you?" He muttered to himself.

Hermione's disembodied head popped into view. 

"Thank you!" She mouthed.