Ball of Light
The corridors of the school were almost empty. Most everyone was either in classes, going through their last homework assignment, or headed to dorms. Only a handful of students lingered in the halls, some reading textbooks in classrooms and others wandering aimlessly through hallways, lost or waiting for the next class to begin. She, too, lingered while waiting for the last classes to end and saw Harry and Ron going to the Gryffindor Tower. Without giving it any thought, she followed them. Harry noticed her and nudged Ron to stop him from continuing on his way down towards Gryffindor Tower.
"Hey, Hermione," Ron said when he saw her.
"Hey," she smiled at them both. "Are you going to the common room?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Come join us if you are free."
"I will meet Malfoy in a few hours for the night patrol, I can kill some time."
Or she could do something productive to pass the time, but she would rather spend that time with her friends.
"Great," Harry said. He glanced around before looking at her again. "We have to talk about that, too." He said quietly, trying not to be overheard.
Avoiding Draco also meant talking about Draco, too. Harry had told Ron and Ginny everything, but she wasn't there when they had their conversation and she didn't want them to know how she felt about him. Ginny knew everything that had happened between them, but she couldn't let Harry or Ron know or suspect anything. So she just pretended everything was fine. And sometimes it even worked. For the moment. She hoped it would stay that way.
In the common area, they went in search of a quiet area away from prying eyes near one of the windows. When they sat down, they faced one another and looked out the window while keeping some space from the others so that no one could listen. Harry took a deep breath before speaking.
"I told Ron everything we heard that day and Ginny, too," he started off. "I don't know if you weren't interested in the topic or you just decided not to say anything but we should talk about it."
He exchanged glances with Ron and then looked back at her. It felt like the two of them were waiting for her to say something.
She sighed, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "I didn't know what to say," she began slowly. "I mean, I knew everything, I still do, obviously but I also didn't want to face that reality," she swallowed hard before adding, "but it is true and we should talk about it."
Ron shifted uncomfortably and asked, "Well, what do you think?"
What was the best answer here? It wasn't like she could tell them how conflicted she felt about all this. She took a deep breath.
"I don't know, I think we've heard enough. He said he was chosen and he seemed very proud of it, too. I'm sure he was given a task, a dangerous one, to complete and succeed."
"I thought the same thing," Harry agreed. "But I don't believe he actually completed the task, and we have to make sure that it doesn't happen anytime soon."
"But how are we going to do that? We don't even know what he's going to do." Hermione said. She was frustrated by how many things were still unknown, even though there was evidence right here in front of them.
Two boys exchanged looks before Harry decided to let Ron talk. "We were hoping that you could help.“
"Me? What does that mean?"
She stared at him questioningly. Harry looked at Ron and mouthed something that she couldn't quite see. Ron nodded.
Harry leaned forward across the coffee table slightly and explained. "You have access to more information than any of us. You can find out what he's hiding, just think for a second, Hermione. Did he say anything suspicious?"
Hermione frowned. "No, he didn't say anything like that. And I'm sure he's careful enough not to give anything away."
"Right," Harry nodded, leaning back into his seat once more. "There has to be a way to find out what he's planning," he concluded. "Maybe you can do it, Hermione?"
Hermione shook her head slowly. There were too many questions to consider and too many possibilities. And she didn't even know what to say to him, or how to behave around him, to begin with. "I don't think I can help, he doesn't trust me."
Harry grimaced in sympathy. "I know, I understand," he said. "Just know that whatever he tells you, it might be a clue to his plan. And if you can figure it out, we might even prevent it."
This was too much pressure on her already overloaded brain. She could only nod and find something else to talk about to avoid answering any of these questions.
"I spoke to Blaise Zabini today," she said to Harry.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Really, why?" He seemed genuinely curious.
"I was just sitting and he came out of nowhere and we started talking."
"Just like that??" Ron asked with an incredulous tone.
"Yes, just like that," she tried not to roll her eyes at him. "I only spoke to him a few times in the Slug Club, but they were as a greeting, I didn't think he would come and say hi, but we talked for a while."
"About?" Harry's voice was full of curiosity. His eyebrows still had a slight upturn, and she could tell he wanted her to elaborate.
"How much Ron annoys Pansy and how he has to endure her complaints about that. Or how impressed he is by Harry, although he didn't word it like that, he said he's having a good time practicing. Then," she couldn't tell them everything, or things would get more complicated than they already were. "He asked how it was going with Draco and I told him that we weren't practicing anymore and then the man himself came and I left. That's pretty much it."
Ron's face lit up. "Thank you so much, Hermione, by the way. She stopped talking to me altogether after I did what you said."
She saw Harry glance over at Ron and back at her. "You told him that?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, why should he listen to her all day?"
Harry thought for a moment. "He said he liked practicing with me?" Hermione nodded. "He's right, it's fun to duel together. He's sometimes a bit competitive, though. Always challenging me with something new." There was a little grin of enthusiasm on his face.
"Oh, by the way," she added after a pause. "When did you teach him to do a Patronus?"
"What?" Ron's head snapped up. "Wait, really?!"
Harry chuckled. "It's okay, Ron. I did, yeah," he replied calmly. "I didn't think he was bad and I thought he might need it someday."
She knew her friend too well to know that he wasn't sharing the whole truth. "Really? That's the only reason?"
Harry maintained eye contact for another beat before nodding slightly, a faint smile gracing his lips. "I might've wanted to see if he was, you know, a Death Eater."
"What?" Ron and Hermione spoke at the same time.
Harry leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Remus once told me that Death Eaters can't cast patronus because they are corrupted by dark magic." He looked at them both. "You know I suspected Draco way before and I thought, his close friend could be one of them too, but he seems okay. At least for the time being."
Hermione felt overwhelmed by the information. Her mind reeled with so many thoughts racing around. Her first instinct was to disagree with him but she had done that before and he was right about Draco, even though they didn't know exactly where he was in his ranks, he was definitely one of them. But if what Harry's said was true, then she could find out if he actually was a Death Eater. But there was still a catch, of course.
"You said because they are corrupted by dark magic?"
Harry nodded. "That's what Remus said."
"And what if they are not corrupted by it, not yet?"
They shared a look of confusion. "What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"We're assuming that Draco's a Death 3ater, right?" They both nodded. "Okay so, what happens if he isn't corrupted yet, what if he hasn't done anything bad enough to be considered 'corrupted'?"
Both of their faces turned serious. "I... I don't know." Harry answered while Ron remained silent.
"I can get him to do a Patronus, but if he isn't corrupted yet, how can we even know? We don't know how someone becomes a Death Eater. Do they kill someone to prove their loyalty or are they considered one of them if their parents are also a Death Eater? Do they go through training beforehand, or he just decides their skills are enough and makes someone one of them? We don't know anything!"
Hermione took several deep breaths after ranting. When she finally stopped she noticed Harry and Ron were staring at her with wide eyes. "What I'm trying to say is we can't be sure of anything yet. We need solid evidence before we can even do anything, or no one will believe us."
Ron took a deep breath as if steadying himself, and said firmly:
"You shouldn't meet him tonight, Hermione." He sounded worried about this situation, she could understand that.
"I can't do that." Hermione responded immediately. "He doesn't know that I know, and as long as he doesn't know what's going on, we're safe. I don't think he will do anything drastic inside the school."
"But what if he does?" Ron protested. "Being alone with him is not a good idea, Hermione."
"I've been doing that for months now, Ron. We were practicing alone and he could do anything to hurt me and I know that he won't do anything. Just trust me, okay? Both of you."
She stared intently into their eyes until they finally nodded. "Alright," Harry sighed. "Maybe you can figure out why Zabini tried to get close to you."
"He said he wanted to be friends," she explained.
Ron frowned at her in bewilderment. "What is it with him suddenly wanting to be friends with you? We're not even kids."
Hermione averted his gaze, looking down at her hands, twisting her fingers together anxiously. "I once told them they were my new friends when Viktor got a bit protective of me," she mumbled quietly.
Ron's eyes went wide open. "Who did you tell that to exactly?"
She shut her eyes as if not seeing their expressions would make the words easier to come out. "A few Slytherins... we were at their table."
Hearing their gasps was not avoidable though. "What??"
"It's not a big deal," she tried not to roll her eyes. "But I am surprised, too. Of course, I know him from classes and the club but we never really had a proper conversation before. Even back then at their table, he was quiet while Nott spoke to me a few times. Nott was genuinely talking by the way, no snarky comments or anything, he even thanked me." She stopped herself from talking more when she said the last part.
"He thanked you? For what?" Harry asked.
"Something I said about the house point system, it wasn't anything serious, I thought everyone knew actually."
Ron let out an exasperated sigh. "Why are you even wasting your time on the enemy?
"The enemy?"
It was all over Yule Ball again.
"Aren't they? They were already bad, and now one of them is potentially a Death Eater or just you-know-who's man, which is the same thing to me."
"Calling them enemies are a bit too much when they didn't do anything... yet."
"Exactly!" He exclaimed. "Yet. We don't know when it's going to happen but it sure will."
She took a deep breath, he was right. She shouldn't be arguing with them about it, they wouldn't even feel or think the same way as her even if she tried.
"He's right, Hermione. You should stay away from them." Harry stated. "Zabini, too."
She gave them a small nod and stood up. "I appreciate the concern but I have a duty as a prefect," she said and glanced at the clock, "which starts now... I should probably go. The curfew has started." With that, she made her way towards the door, pausing in front of it for a moment, "I'll let you know if I learn something new."
With that, she left them alone and Harry and Ron continued to stare at the empty space left by the brunette girl.
"What was that? We know he's one of them, he doesn't have to prove it, let's tell Dumbledore!" Ron insisted, his voice raising in volume.
"No, Ron, she's right," Harry argued. "We have to be careful. You know what happened when I acted rashly last year."
Ron gritted his teeth in frustration, Harry was right. She had warned him about Sirius and told him that it could be a trap, but he didn't listen and well... here they were.
"We can't talk to Dumbledore either, he is not in the school." He lowered his voice even more when he finished speaking.
Ron was confused and a bit worried. "What do you mean?"
Harry hesitated but continued nonetheless. "He's been digging into Voldemort's past lately, it must be about him.“
"That's even worse!" He exclaimed with panic in his voice. "What if he attacks the school? I know the old man is a bit off his head, but he wouldn't leave us alone with no protection... right?"
"No, he wouldn't," Harry reassured him. "If there's one thing I've learned from Hermione's constant scolding every time we asked a stupid question that was clearly answered in the 'Hogwarts: A History' is that, we're in the safest place we can be in the whole of Britain. The school has been heavily fortified against any attack and it protects itself even if the Headmaster's not in it, and we're talking about Dumbledore here, do you think he would leave us unprotected?"
His words seemed to have calmed him down and he sat back against the couch in relief. "Yeah, you're right, he wouldn't." He looked down, his expression becoming slightly worried. "But that doesn't ease the worry that comes along with having your friend in danger and not being able to protect her."
"No, Ron, she's right." He agreed with her, although Harry still had a lot of worries about her safety in general. "I don't think she's in danger yet. Malfoy doesn't know that she knows and I want to trust her, even if it seems like it might be hard at the moment. She is smart after all, so maybe she'll figure out the best solution."
Ron continued looking at his friend as he thought of all the things he said. "So you won't even look at the map?"
The map... of course, he was going to. He had to know where they were if something looked suspicious and he wanted to find her.
"I might..."
—
For her curfew patrol duty, Hermione had been assigned to East Wing (sixth floor) and to the seventh floor. Although she had been here many times with Draco alone, especially on the seventh floor when they were using the room of requirement, she had never once felt this nervous as she walked the familiar hallway. And another downside was that there wouldn't be many people there except for the Gryffindors whose tower was also on the seventh floor.
"If you don't want to be reported you better go back to your dorm, you little brat!" A voice that didn't need any introduction came behind her and she saw a third-year Gryffindor running to the tower.
Draco didn't particularly enjoy his time near the Gryffindor Tower. But he absolutely loved scolding her housemates. She took a quick, calming breath and turned to face him.
"You're late."
Draco raised an eyebrow as he climbed up the stairs. "Am I?"
"Yes, you are. It's been ten minutes already."
He sighed loudly. "I'm coming from the dungeons if I have to remind you again, Granger. It's easy to say 'you're late' when all you have to do is to walk straight out of your tower."
It was a long way from the dungeons but it wasn't her fault, they weren't choosing their locations. "Why don't you try leaving your dorm a bit early next time?" She said and looked around to distract herself from his gaze.
"You seem to be in a very good mood today," he remarked before coming to stand in front of her. His hair was a bit messier than a few hours ago and it just made things more frustrating. She wanted nothing more than to reach over and tuck it into place but at the same time, she couldn't.
"I am and I would appreciate it if we could finish our duty as quickly as possible," she gave him a fake smile and walked towards one of the classrooms and checked it out.
"Empty."
She heard him laugh lightly as he passed her by and grabbed one of the chairs, sitting down.
"Not anymore."
"What do you think you're doing?" She said with a panicked voice.
He smirked smugly as he crossed his legs and stared at the ceiling. "What does it look like I'm doing? Sitting here while you do... whatever it is you're doing." He waved his hand at her dismissively.
"You know what we're doing. We should go back."
"The only house that consistently breaks the rules is yours, Granger and I sent the last Gryffindor to his bed a few minutes ago, just relax for once."
Hermione clenched her jaw. It was true that Gryffindors tended to break the rules more often than the others, but it didn't mean she liked being reminded of it. "Don't talk as if Slytherins are the most obedient people around." She walked towards the end of the class and sat down at a desk far back in the room.
His eyes followed her closely. "Say whatever you want, Granger, but you can't deny that we're not the rule-breaking kind," he replied lazily, leaning back in the chair. "If it's not necessary for us, of course. Other than that, we just simply follow the rules."
As she realized she was making progress with this, the little hairs on her arms stood up.
"So… you just do what they tell you to do?"
She briefly closed her eyes as she caressed her leg with the palm of her hand to calm herself. It wasn't a direct query, but he could easily pick up on it, and she wasn't sure if she wanted him to answer her.
His features looked menacing as the moonlight reflected on his face as he stared at her with questions in his eyes, and for a brief second Hermione considered running away from him. He then continued in a quiet voice.
"Exactly, what else is there to do?"
'What else is there to do?' She repeated in her head and started thinking about another question. In order to prevent any words from leaving her mouth without her consent, she had to tread carefully. But the way he had spoken seemed too close to what she was really thinking right now, something she was trying so hard to avoid thinking about.
"So, all of you are like that?"
He turned his chest to the side, resting his hands on the desk and looking directly at her, making her slightly uncomfortable. "Tell me, Granger, do you secretly want to know more about this new friend of yours?" he asked, his voice sounding much sharper. If she didn't know him, she would assume he was annoyed at her for that but he didn't have a reason to be annoyed at her.
She frowned a little, the sudden change of tone was unexpected. She wasn't prepared for the answer that came forth from her lips. "Is that too bad?"
Draco clicked his tongue and shook his head. "It depends. What is it that you want?"
"Nothing... I just want to be cordials at Hogwarts, that's all."
"Hmm," he thoughtfully nodded and stood up, slowly approaching her. "That's very naive of you."
He stopped, standing right beside her. He looked at her and the desks around for a second and decided to sit down in front of her.
"I'm not naive, you like to exaggerate things. We were just talking for Merlin's sake, Draco..."
"Yeah, about me." He said immediately.
"Well... it was just a part of it," she explained. "We were trying to find things in common-"
"So I'm the thing in common??"
He sounded almost offended which she found very amusing but she still fought the urge to smile.
"Yes," she sighed. "And Harry, too. Even Pansy and Ron. You only heard the part we were mentioning your name."
"What did you tell him?"
She wasn't sure what he was implying at first. Did he mean the things he couldn't tell anybody like doing those nice things for her and kissing her?? Because she would never tell that to anyone other than Ginny.
"Not much. I just told him how annoying his friend was and, surprisingly, he agreed with me." She shrugged like an innocent little girl.
"Funny," he replied. "Do you know why he questioned me about what we were doing in our practices?"
An 'oh' escaped her mouth and he nodded knowingly, his eyes flashing slightly as if he understood exactly what it meant.
"Uh... he told me they were doing different things with Harry and I told him we were doing something a bit similar, too." Draco raised an eyebrow but she continued. "He said Harry taught him Patronus and it shocked me because..." She could see the surprise on his face as he took the new information in. Blaise probably hadn't brought up the subject before and she felt like she was exposing his secret. He must have had a good reason for not telling Draco, maybe he thought Draco wouldn't like it or he just didn't see it as something noteworthy. Either way, it wasn't her information to share.
"Because?"
He repeated, not paying much attention to the part about his friend but to the reason it shocked her.
"Because that's what I was planning on teaching you after we did your spell." Her voice was softer than she intended. It felt weird to admit it even though she knew that was something she planned since the beginning, even before learning about this new information about the Death Eaters. She just wanted to see his Patronus.
"Patronus?" He asked as if he heard it for the first time. "Why Patronus?"
"It's a powerful defensive spell and it would be good to know how to cast it," she explained. "It can even be used to send messages too if needed."
"And why do you want to teach me that?"
It felt like every muscle in her body tensed up and she tried so hard to ignore it as she took a deep breath and answered. "I don't know, it was the first spell that came into my mind when you said we could show each other stuff."
He wasn't across the room anymore and the way he was looking at her closely had an undeniable effect on her. He was searching her face for any sign that she was lying but when she said nothing, it seemed like he finally believed that she might have been telling the truth.
"Alright," he nodded, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Hmm?" She asked confusedly, raising her eyebrows.
He smiled and shook his head a little, turning away and looking outside the window again. "I said alright. Let's try it."
"Really?" She couldn't help herself.
"Yes, Granger, let's do it," he rolled his eyes. "You owe me that since I already taught you something before." He got up and walked over to the empty area in front of the board, taking out the wand that was hanging loosely in his pocket. "Thanks for bringing it up, by the way, I had forgotten." She immediately stood up and walked over to him.
"So what are we doing?"
"We're going to do a simple Patronus charm," she began. "But I'll need you to focus really, really hard for this one. You need to concentrate on your happiest memory, your best moments," she paused briefly. "Everything you feel related to happiness. Try to picture it, think about those moments. Focus on the feeling."
"I never heard something so vague before," he muttered, frowning slightly.
"I know, it was difficult for me too, relying only on my emotions," she admitted quietly and immediately regretted it. "Since the dementors suck all the happiness from you, you have to protect yourself with your happiest memory."
He thought carefully for a few seconds, trying desperately to think about happy moments he felt connected to. They had gotten few in numbers lately ever since his father was gone, but there were a few of them that made him laugh or smile and made him feel warm inside. Like that day when he first started taking flying lessons. Or the first time he went to Quidditch World Cup with his father. Or how his mother would always make him his favourite dessert every time he came from school.
"I think I'm ready, what now?"
"Now you're going to say Expecto Patronum," she said.
He nodded and pointed his wand towards the ceiling, saying: "Expecto Patronum." And then after a couple of seconds of nothing, the tip of his wand lit up faintly, like a candle. Sadly, it didn't last long, the light flickered rapidly and went out. "That's impressing," he grumbled under his breath.
Hermione took a deep breath. "You might need to say it with more force."
"Alright," he agreed unwillingly. Although it seemed as if he was trying to hide it, the look on his face clearly showed that he was annoyed. After a short while, he said with emphasis, " Expecto patronum!" The tip of his wand shone brightly, and this time, a small flame appeared for a few seconds before it died away again.
"What the hell?!"
He was getting angry again, clearly frustrated about his failure, but she was feeling more nervous than him. She didn't want to think of the possibility that his magic was already corrupted. Patronus was used against dementors but it also was a basic protection charm against dark magic. If someone was evil at their core, it was logical that they wouldn't be able to do it. "Try again," she whispered.
He had to prove himself.
He frowned and closed his eyes, concentrating his thoughts and using all the anger and frustration from the past weeks inside his chest and then imagining himself at home with his mom and dad together. " Expecto patronum!" he said louder than ever and the top of his wand lit brighter this time, almost as if it was on fire. However, the flames quickly went out again and left only a faint glow behind.
"Again," Hermione urged. It couldn't be true.
"Fine." He mumbled through gritted teeth and tried once again. "Expecto patronum!"
A bright, blue light covered the dimly lit room and formed a thin, translucent circle in front of Draco, shining with its pure magic. Its light reflected on his eyes as he looked at it. Hermione released a breath she had no idea she had been holding. It wasn't any proof, but it was still something. He wasn't completely evil. She was right.
"That was it?" He asked when his Patronus faded.
"Umm..." she thought for a second, trying to keep herself together. "That's not how your Patronus looks like. Wait, let me show you," she said and pulled out her wand. "Expecto patronum!"
Her otter jumped out of the end of her wand, dancing around the room excitedly as if it was waiting for this moment. Draco blinked twice, watching the animal as he slowly lowered his wand down. Then he stared at Hermione with an expression she hadn't seen before. It was a mixture between shock and disbelief like he wasn't sure he had actually seen what she had just done. He lowered his head to look at the otter that played around her feet. "How?" he asked, still watching the way it was playing with the ties of her shoes.
She smiled at her otter. "It's the corporeal representation of your personality and your magic, they can change later on but this one stuck with me." She kneeled to watch it closely, it had been some time since she had seen this cutie.
"Can I touch it?"
His question caught her off guard as she watched him approach the otter, no one had ever asked to touch her Patronus before.
"Uh, yeah sure."
She said and took a step back, allowing Draco to get closer to her otter that looked confused by his presence for a second. Once he was close, it turned around to look at Hermione as if asking if she was okay with this. Hermione smiled and it looked back at Draco who was slowly reaching out his hand towards her otter.
"It's not..." he said as he reached for its head. "I can't physically feel it, but..." his voice trailed off as he brought his hand to its belly. "What is this?" He asked in shock.
"That's not something you can touch with your hand, but you will still feel it in you," she explained and he pulled his hand back. She put her wand away and the otter slowly dissipated in the air.
"That was strange," he said, "I felt...something..." His eyes darted from the spot where it had disappeared and back at her. "How about mine? How do I do it?"
"I can't know what yours is until you do it. Try to focus harder or think of something stronger."
He didn't know what the hell did just happen to him but he felt himself getting dangerously closer to her. There was something about her, something special, something magical, and not the type of magic he was familiar with. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that he wanted to keep looking at her. Just like her little otter.
Oh.
Maybe that was it.
She said the Patronus was the representation of one's self and maybe she unknowingly introduced herself to him in a different sense. He felt his heart start beating faster at the thought of seeing his own Patronus and tried to think of a good memory. This time, neither his mother nor father was in his mind. There was only one person in his vivid memory and that person was standing right in front of him.
He had thought about that night before, but he always stopped himself from thinking further. Because whenever he thought of her, that moment, the kiss, was always somewhere in the back of his mind. Whenever he saw her, he constantly went back to that moment. When McLaggen leaned forward to her that day, all he could feel was how tense his muscles were and how badly he wanted to pull her away from him. But he stopped himself again. It was none of his business, he had no right to do something.
But after touching that little ball of light, it felt impossible to ignore that day. His body started tingling when he thought about their dance. He hadn't felt that free for a long time and when they started dancing slowly, he had felt something pulling him towards her. He never could've imagined the day she would rest her head on his chest, but she had done it as if it was something they would do every day and he held her without even thinking about it. It felt so natural to wrap his arms around her. He didn't know what he was doing at the time, but it was one of those rare occasions that his mind didn't stop him. And when they finally kissed...
"Expecto patronum!" He shouted and his wand lit up again, this time, bigger and brighter than before, almost blinding him. Hermione gasped when she saw his Patronus, which was shaped like a peacock. She hadn't seen a peacock Patronus before but she knew it was very uncommon.
"You did it," she said softly and watched it showing off its feathers proudly as it glided over the room and stopped in front of him. "That's really beautiful," she admitted as she watched him watching his Patronus in awe.
He nodded silently but didn't take his eyes off the animal. Hermione couldn't help noticing that the Patronus moved slightly every so often as if it were talking to him somehow. He looked a bit lost for a couple of minutes before his lips slowly curved into a smile. It was one of those rare moments that she saw him smiling like this, like he was a little kid.
She wanted to take a picture of this moment, it would stay in her mind anyways but she wanted a picture she could show to Harry and Ron. So they would know he hadn't done anything. He wasn't their bad guy.
"It's not surprising that it's a peacock. They love to show off and they are quite proud creatures." She commented. It was basically him in animal form and it made her want to laugh.
It disappeared into thin air immediately after Draco lowered his wand. "And what does otter mean?" He asked.
"They're clever, playful and loyal animals." She explained.
He nodded. "You said they can be used to send messages. So, if I send a message... you will see my Patronus, as a peacock?"
"Yes," she said, "But it's not very reliable since the message can be received by someone else or can be intercepted. It's only used for emergencies, especially when there's a danger."
"Hmm," he hummed and cleared his throat. "We have better ways of communicating but it's a good idea to use them if they are moving fast. I'm not sure if it'll be useful for me but... thanks anyway." He said and put his wand back in his pocket.
She smiled in return. Thankfully, she didn't need to use it to send an urgent message but it was an effective and fast method. The silence lingered for a few more seconds and she looked at him, really looked at him for the first time tonight, waiting for him to say something first because she was too distracted by the way he looked. She hadn't paid attention to his clothes before but now there was no patrolling, no Patronuses, no distractions... just silence.
He was unusually casual, something she hadn't witnessed before. She was used to seeing him in his school robes, uniform or expensive suits. He wasn't the type to walk around as he had just woken up from a nap, no, he would pay attention to his appearance. But now, he was wearing a white t-shirt, sweatpants and a jacket. Her friends walk around like this in the common room all the time, but him? Maybe that's how he walked around in his common room, too.
"So, Blaise learned this from Potter, huh?"
He pulled her out of her mind and she needed to clean her throat and not look at his clothes like the past two minutes she had been doing."It doesn't sound real, but he did."
"It sounds real to me," he looked at her. "Considering you just showed me the exact same spell."
He was right, she didn't know what Harry and Blaise were doing or what they were talking about when they practiced. They both looked at each other for a few seconds before she spoke. "But he can't produce a full-fledged Patronus yet, that's what he said." Draco raised his eyebrows at her in surprise and she continued. "I'm sure they didn't give it enough time as we did, he seems like a skilled wizard."
Draco shrugged his shoulders. "He's not bad," he said and looked at her.
Draco noticed she had perfect control over her facial expressions around him, a skill that she often used when they were alone to avoid any sort of awkwardness or conflict between them. Or when she was mad at him. He knew it, because he did that, too.
But there were also some moments that, whether they were by choice or not, she let those walls come down; he had witnessed it many times before. Sometimes it was for no apparent reason, but most of the time it was just because he annoyed her. He could easily tell. And there were other times as well, like the one currently, they would do the simplest things or just talk to each other like people who actually understood each other and wanted to make a connection.
That time they were at the Astronomy Tower for instance, where the night sky stretched out above them in all directions with nothing but stars and the moon to illuminate them. Even sitting there in silence with her wasn't forced or weird, it was natural and comfortable, unlike how it usually felt to be near her. He guessed she felt the same too because of how much she was smiling talking about how the moon reminded her of the night of the ball. He didn't know what to do with the fact that her date kissed her under a moonlight like that one but... she wasn't bothered by him. She wasn't bothered to share this part of her with him while he was hiding so much.
But that wasn't new. Even before they started "talking", he never opened up to her; he didn't think of it once. He saw her cry on the stairs two times and the first one didn't affect him much, it was just... weird. The girl that would never show such weakness and act all tough and proud all the time was crying like that in front of people? It was weird, indeed. Some time passed after the ball and when he saw her like that again, he could feel something stir inside. A kind of anger, perhaps. He wanted to help her, maybe even protect her, but he couldn't quite see the way he should be doing it. He assumed she wasn't feeling comfortable around him, naturally, so he wanted to get one of her friends, but to his surprise, she asked him to stay. So... he stayed. He didn't understand why would she say that at the time but when she started opening up, he realised his thoughts had been wrong. Not only she wasn't uncomfortable around him, but she also felt safe with him and that made him feel safe around her, too. That, more than anything, had changed everything. She said that it was because of their bond that they did at the time, but he knew. She trusted him. How, he had no idea, but she did. And he realised the need of protecting that trust and herself. Especially from him.
But he wasn't going to walk out of her life without fixing up a few errors. He wanted her to remember him as someone she could have fun with. They could dance together, right, why not? Their dance at the ball wasn't exactly fun. They were just trying to annoy each other the whole time. Hell, he even thought of accidentally dropping her to the floor for a second. He really was an ass at that time but now he could show her that he could have fun, too. He needed something like this anyways.
He hadn't realised how much closer they had gotten until she didn't even want to talk to him anymore. And he really hated himself for not being able to do anything about it. Was it worth trying to fix things now? She was going to hate him again, so why would he care? He shouldn't be worrying about this, especially when he was still trying to fix that damn cabinet, but it became impossible after today.
He didn't care, not before, not until she wanted to befriend Blaise. Maybe he was angry that she would share those things with him, too. And they would continue to be friends, but not him. He was going to leave soon and he didn't know if she really wanted to be friends with him or perhaps something more? What he understood from all this was she gave up on the idea of being friends, or whatever this was, with him because he said he didn't want this after they kissed and now she was trying to be friends with his friend?
No, he didn't like that at all.
He cleared his throat before saying, "Are you actually going to be friends with him?"
"Blaise?" She asked and he nodded in confirmation. "I can't see why not."
Because it didn't make sense.
"Why him?"
"Because he never made any rude comments to me or anyone I know."
He thought of her words for a second. If she wanted to be friends with him just because he wasn't rude to her then it meant that Draco could actually have this way before... if only he wasn't such an ass. She was half right about Blaise. He wouldn't make fun of people like him but he was still a pureblood. He wasn't a strict, over the top blood supremacist, but he still wasn't really open to befriending other people that weren't pureblooded either. But then again, he never talked that much about that. That only left one option that he could think of...
"I think he likes you," he locked eyes with her, waiting for her reaction. "And not as friends."
She frowned while shaking her head, disappointed that she couldn't understand what he meant. "What?" She drew back to a desk and sat down. "That doesn't even make sense."
"It doesn't?" He questioned and casually sat next to her.
"No."
He laughed at her response. The brightest witch of their age had no idea how oblivious she was sometimes. She could make anyone fall for her if she wanted, but she didn't even see it.
"Do you remember what I said about the ball?"
"No? What about it?" She turned to her right to look at him, unconsciously observing his face up close.
Draco sighed, wondering if he should even continue with this conversation. He didn't even think that she could get that part of it through her dense brain but maybe he should just say it. Maybe this was for the best, even if his insides felt completely uncomfortable.
"About the boys in the school?"
Her cheeks flushed pink again as she remembered what he said. "Oh, that they were... jealous?" She didn't want to talk about something like this when he was sitting right next to her. Not especially when his scent that she was all too aware of was already filling the room, not this close.
He chuckled dryly. "I don't think the word 'jealous' is quite accurate. Or perhaps I should explain it differently." He thought for a minute to try and find some proper wording. Hermione looked at him curiously as he searched for the correct word to tell her what was going on.
"If you weren't next to the most famous seeker in the world that day..." he began, already thinking how wrong it all was but continued anyway. "If you didn't want him..."
"What are you talking about? How does that have anything to do with Blaise?"
"He was quite impressed...” He shut his eyes briefly. “Along with everyone else in the school."
She couldn't stop looking at his face. The words coming out of his mouth didn't sound real but they didn't feel like a lie either. If it was true, what was she going to do with this information?
She wasn't ready to answer the questions inside herself, she needed more time. "Not everyone," she chuckled nervously.
He turned his head to look at her, unable to stop himself from saying that one word out loud.
"Everyone."
Her eyes flicked between his as she tried to process his words. She didn't even know how to react to this. She wanted to search for a lie in his eyes, but all she found was honesty and something that resembled a bit of hope. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she could almost feel butterflies forming under her skin. Was he really saying what she thought he was saying? Could it be possible that he was interested in her? Why didn't he seem like he was joking? She never thought about what she would say to him if that was true, but... this had been happening too quickly. Her thoughts went through everything he had said and all of her senses seemed to be telling her to accept the possibility that he could actually like her. "I..."
His eyes darted to her lips before he quickly looked away. "Don't mind me, I'm just a messenger." She softly muttered his name as he got up. "We better go back, Granger."
She found it absolutely impossible to get up for a second and forget everything that had happened. "Right..." Her voice trailed off as she tried not to look at him. She finally got up and walked to the door. He was already out in the corridor, walking towards the stairs and didn't turn around to wait for her. She followed him quickly and eventually they were standing at the top of the stairs.
"Draco..." She called as he was climbing down the stairs.
He stopped and turned sideways to look up at her. "Yes?" He said with a hint of hope in his tone, or at least she wanted to hear that. He waited quietly while she struggled with words, not even knowing what to say.
"Well?" He finally pushed, wanting an answer.
"The Patronus... I forgot to tell you that the people whose magic is corrupted cannot produce one." She took a quick breath when she saw him widening his eyes. With the same urgency in her voice, she spoke again. "I'm glad you could do it."
She turned around and left when he turned his whole body towards her. She wasn't ready for another confrontation, especially when her mind was all over the place. Her feelings were all out of control, and she didn't know how to handle them. She needed to think things over, alone, and not with him watching her every move. And especially not with him anywhere close to her because she didn't know what would happen the next time he got too close.