Show

“Draco, what’s this?”
Narcissa held out a copy of the Daily Prophet over her breakfast plate the next morning.

Draco innocently took the paper from her. He scanned the front page which boasted a black and white image of himself and Hermione from the night before. The moving image showed her beaming at the camera while his eyes were on her.

SPOTTED: WAR HEROINE AND MALFOY HEIR
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were seen dining together at Lumiere des Etoiles, the newest French Bistro in wizarding London. Granger wore a dress from Madam Malkin’s latest line and Malfoy’s suit was a casual Massimo Dutti ensemble. The couple kept close to one another the entire evening and only had eyes for each other. From drinks to dessert Granger and Malfoy appeared to have a lovely evening. They were welcoming to our staff, even allowing The Prophet a photograph (see above). Interview continued on page 6

“It’s nothing.”
He threw in a shrug for good measure, but Narcissa didn’t buy it.

“Yes, it looks like nothing.” She snatched the paper from his hands. “You and Hermione Granger are an item now? Is this the ‘friend’ you were helping last night - the one whose pet died?”

Draco’s silence was his only answer.

He and Hermione had decided to make the whole ordeal as convincing as possible, even to those closest to them. It had been easy for Draco to agree to last night. Now, facing his mother, it was harder to lie. He wanted to be as truthful as possible.

Narcissa eyed him carefully.
“How serious are you about her?”

“Completely.”

Narcissa Malfoy grew quiet, lost in thought.

Their breakfast passed in silence. Only the clinking sounds of silver on china filled the large dining space.

Once the dishes were cleared, Narcissa spoke up.

“I should like to meet her. Officially. Don’t wait more than a month to bring her here.”

Her proposal threw Draco. Even though his mother was a closed off person, he could read her well. She wasn’t upset, intrigued more so. He felt relieved at first that she was open to the idea of the two of them being together. Until he remembered they weren’t actually a couple, and his mother was waiting for an answer. He scrambled for the truest response he could find.

When he spoke, his words came out more stilted than he would’ve preferred. “I’ll let her know.”

————————

Two weeks had passed since Hermione and Draco’s relationship had gone public. Cormac had backed off significantly. They had continued a weekly date to keep up appearances: eating out or shopping in Diagon Alley. Once Draco had even surprised Hermione with a trip to a bookshop in Paris. Their recent weekends had been busy.

On the whole, the wizarding community was largely in favor of the pairing. Even Hermione’s friends were supportive, though the recent passing of Crookshanks may have aided that cause.

Whenever Draco laid in bed at night, he continued to wonder how he might win her over. Though he was in the perfect position to do so, anything he tried only reinforced their fake relationship. She didn’t seem to believe his thoughtfulness or flirting to ever be genuine.

Today, Hermione had plans to meet with Neville at Hogwarts for tea. The pair had an ongoing tradition of sharing tea a couple times each term, to catch up on books and plants and life.

“Thanks for stopping by, Hermione,” Neville said as she stepped through his door. He was reshelving a stack of books behind his desk.

“It’s been too long,” she grinned, “I’m glad the breaks in our work schedules lined up for today.”

“Me too. It’s been a long week here. But it seems like you’ve been having an enjoyable time. You’ve been in the papers quite a bit since I saw you last. How is Draco Malfoy these days?”

She laughed, “The tea hasn’t even been poured yet, Neville. Getting right to it, aren’t we?”

He shrugged as he placed another book on the shelf.

Hermione rubbed the edge of her jumper between her fingers.
“It’s good, actually. I think.”

Neville paused his work.
“You think?”

“Well it’s a little strange, isn’t it? I mean, we used to be horrible to one another. Everyone’s been so accepting though...”

Neville searched her face.
“Do you not want them to be?”

Hermione’s eyes widened.
“Oh! I didn’t mean that, no, I just - it’s odd. I would’ve thought more people would oppose the idea.”

Neville gave a noncommittal hum. He tended to the tea while she went on.

“Of course he treats me well. Opening doors, planning dates, all that. He’s kind. Even carries on intellectual conversations; it’s rather nice if I’m being honest.”

A small smile crossed her lips.

“You and Harry are scary alike with relationships, you know that?” Neville asked.

Hermione inclined her head in question.

Neville barked a laugh and shook his head. “Never mind. Here.” He handed her a cup, and then took a sip of his own. “I’ve just finished the most interesting book on Fire Seed Bush.”

Hermione’s eyes lit up.
“The one by Hadrian Whittle?”

Neville nodded in excitement and the two old friends continued discussing their recent reads, the conversation about Draco pushed to the side for now.

-------------------------

The next day was Draco’s first Patronus lesson. Their fake relationship seemed to be in full swing, and they were caught up on enough work to begin the training.

Draco felt jittery, but could not pin down why. It may have been from the pending lesson, or it could be the fact that over two weeks had passed and he still hadn’t mentioned to Hermione that his mother wanted to meet her.

Draco rotated in a circle, scanning the training room. One wall was covered in floor-to-ceiling mirrors; spell-test dummies were scattered about the open space. He took a seat against a section of wall.

Hermione handed him a water.
“All right. To start, what do you know about the spell?”

She had changed from her office clothes to her Auror’s uniform - a dragon skin jacket and lightweight shoes with thick, black trousers to match.

Draco rattled off information.
“It’s an ancient type of magic, a charm. When it works correctly, the spell produces a Patronus, or guardian of sorts, to protect against dementors. If strong enough, one can produce a corporeal patronus which takes the shape of an animal. But it’s difficult to do.”

Hermione seemed pleased with his response.
“You know a lot about it.”

A corner of Draco’s mouth lifted.
“I was second in our year, you know.”

Hermione let out a laugh.
“Fair enough.”
She took a sip of her own water.
“A patronus also reveals what might otherwise be hidden, as far as the witch or wizard casting it goes.”

Her voice held a note of mystery Draco tried to ignore. He wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a ridiculous corporeal patronus. He hoped for something impressive like a panther or maybe a horse. Potter’s was a stag, for crying out loud.

This whole train of thought was partly what had put him off from learning the spell sooner.

His hand tightened on his wand.
“So what’s first?”

“Well you know the incantation already. So next, think of a happy memory. It must be something substantial; something that can fill you up, even when everything else is gone.”

Draco sorted through various happy memories. Some from childhood, like birthdays or holidays. Others were more recent and included Hermione - as well as a lot of wishful thinking on his part. He backtracked and finally settled on something from about 7 years old. A Christmas morning when he opened his first real racing broom.

“Got it.”

Hermione gave a single nod.
“Right. Now I don’t have a dementor with me today, but -“

“Unbelievable.”

Hermione rolled her eyes.
“One of these days I’m going to hex you when you interrupt me and you’re going to be very sorry. Now stand up.”

Draco obeyed.

“As I was saying. I didn’t bring in a dementor, but I’d like to work up to that point. For today, I just want us to work on the familiarity of the spell, your wand, the memory. It’ll be a good foundation for now.”

She wheeled a dummy to face Draco, with the mirror wall behind him. She instructed him to begin once he was ready.

Draco lifted his wand, filling himself with the memory -

But Hermione’s gasp cut him off.
“I almost forgot!” She cried.

She flicked her wand towards the dummy, transfiguring it into a scarily accurate depiction of a dementor. The dark creature was a menacing presence in the room. Trails of wispy cloth floated around the dementor-dummy as if underwater. Scaly hands reached toward Draco.

He swallowed and glanced in Hermione’s direction.

Hermione, misinterpreting, ducked her head.
“Sorry. Now, when you’re ready.”

She took several steps back, giving him the room.

Draco took calming breaths. In through his nose, out through his mouth. He reminded himself this was not a real dementor, and focused once more on his happy memory.

With a grin on his face, he pointed his wand.
“Expecto Patronum!”

A small beam of light came from the tip of his wand, causing Hermione to clap in the background.

But Draco frowned. He inspected his wand, nearly blinding himself from looking directly into the tip of it.

“That’s a great start, Draco, great start. Now try again. Really allow the memory you chose to fill you up, almost as if you’re reliving it.”

Draco huffed, but nodded.

This time, she stepped closer to him to tweak his stance. He caught her scent of peonies and sugar as she moved his arm slightly higher.

“There.”

Her voice was soft in his ear; then she stepped away.

Draco tried to envision his 7-year-old self, unwrapping his first broom. He’d had toy brooms before, of course, but this upgrade was a big deal to him. He imagined his parents as they looked on in excitement. He could almost hear the paper of the packaging tear.

“Expecto Patronum!”

Once more, a beam of light shone from the end of his wand.

The dementor-dummy seemed unimpressed.

“Keep trying,” Hermione encouraged, “It’s a difficult spell.”

Again and again he tried, but the small gleam of light was all he was able to conjure. Hermione curbed his impending frustration by suggesting a break.

The pair sat, drinking their waters.

They discussed recent assignments at work and Hermione mentioned her visit with Neville.
Mid-conversation, a knock sounded at the training room door.