The Last Days of Summer
Snape dropped the mail in Draco’s lap, who was snoozing on the couch in the living room. He came to and flipped through the mail, pulling out a letter for him and the news paper. Sitting up, he began to laugh.
“Hey, Hermione!” He called. “Your boyfriend wrote you a letter.”
Hermione ran into the living room. Draco jumped to his feet and held the letter above his head.
“It seems pretty thick, it must be serious.”
“Draco, give it to me!” She jumped, but couldn’t reach.
“I think I should read it first, it might be too inappropriate for you to read.”
“Come on, Ron never writes me letters.” Hermione said, “And besides, he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh.” Draco dropped his arms and started to laugh. “It’s not from Weasley.”
Hermione snatched it and read the address. It was a thick letter written on thick parchment. Her name was written in pointed black letters, smudged in places from the long journey. It had traveled all the way from Bulgaria where Viktor Krum had sent it from. Hermione’s brow furrowed as she sat down and opened the envelope.
“Why is that boy writing you?” Her father leaned over her shoulder. “How did he even get your address here?”
“I gave it to him.” Hermione said.
“What?”
“I told him I was at my Grandparents, just like I told Ron and Harry. You were fine with that.”
“Ron Weasley isn’t an eighteen year old superstar. He isn’t trying to whisk you off to god knows where with him, under god knows what intentions.”
“Dad, you’re over reacting.”
“You just make sure Viktor Krum stays in Bulgaria.” Snape left and barricaded himself into his office.
Hermione opened the letter – several pages worth –and began to read. She ignored Draco as he giggled away on the chair across from her. Viktor apologised for not writing sooner, and for the length of this letter. Both were because he had been on a tour with the Quidditch team so far, and hadn’t found time to write a proper letter until he had returned home. At page three, Draco moved beside her, to try to read over her shoulder. She angled the pages away from him and continued.
From page three to four, Viktor described in detail his life since the last moment he had seen Hermione, mostly full of quidditch and after parties, all his victories and accomplishments. On page five, he started on how much he had missed Hermione so far. He started out decently, acknowledging her age and the physical distance between them. Draco had caught a few words by now, and was laughing and repeating them like he was reciting Shakespeare. By page six, Viktor had gotten philosophical, talking about how he could wait for eternity for her, how their souls were connected by a magic more ancient than civilization. On page seven it finally happened. Viktor asked her to visit him, if only for a little while. He would be in Ireland at the end of the month for a quidditch match. She could come and watch him for the match, or if she wished, she could meet him there and stay with him for the rest of the European tour. The quidditch season would end before she began school again, and it would be perfect. All she had to do was say yes, and he would arrange everything, from transportation to a special box seat reserved for the player’s loved ones. She would have anything she wanted.
Hermione set the letter down and rubbed her temples. She would never understand boys. On one end was Ron, ignoring everything she felt for him no matter what she said or did. On the other end was Viktor Krum writing letters like this, despite the fact that she had specifically told him she wanted nothing more than friendship. Somewhere in the middle was Draco Malfoy being his usual insensitive self, having a full blown fit of laughter by now at her discomfort.
“Would you shut up already!”
“But there’s nothing else to do but make fun of you.” Draco leans back and looks out the window, where the rain is still splattering hard. “Let’s play wizard’s chess.”
“I hate wizard’s chess.” Hermione gets up and collects some parchment and a quill from the side table.
“Exploding snap?”
“Not today. I’ve got to write a letter to Ron and one to Harry, then I’ve got to call my mom without dad around so they don’t have another row.”
“You’re so boring!” Draco slinks off to the kitchen for food, shouting at Hermione as he goes. “What am I supposed to do then?”
“Why don’t you read your letter?”
“It’s from my parents. Dad will have written half a page tops, and mom will have written four or five pages about the garden and the servants and the weather, and ‘do remember to thank Severus ever so much for having you over’.”
Draco comes back to the living room with a roast beef sandwich and begins to eat.
“Read something else then.”
Draco swallows and pulls a face. Hermione looks up from the letter she’s writing. Draco looks away from her gaze.
“What?”
“I didn’t bring anything to read.”
Hermione raises her eyebrows and smirks, something she has picked up in the last few weeks.
“Hermione!”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“Can I borrow one of your books?” Draco folds his arms and slouches.
“Why of course, Draco, I’d be happy to share one of my stupid, musty old books with you.” She gets up and walks up the stairs.
“You really are getting more unbearable by the day, you know.” Draco shouts up the stairs.
Hermione comes back with her copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and tosses it to Draco. Hermione goes back to writing. She finishes Ron’s letter and moves onto Harry’s as Draco reads in silence. She is halfway through Harry’s, Snape has gotten up to get some lunch and brought Hermione a sandwich too. She puts the letter aside as she eats.
“This is actually pretty good. I guess I’ll have to find my own copy somewhere, since you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“You can borrow the book until school starts, then just give it back to me then.”
“Really, you wouldn’t mind?”
“No, so long as you don’t destroy it.”
“Thanks,” Draco grinned and Hermione smiled back at him. “What are you going to do when you get home?”
“Oh, I’m not going home, I’m going to stay with Ron.”
Hermione would be leaving for Grimuald place the following evening. To avoid suspicion on all sides, Severus decided to wait until the next afternoon before he went to join the order of the pheonix.
“Like hell he’s not your boyfriend.”
“It’s not like that,” Hermione said with a mouthful of sandwich. “Don’t you ever stay at your friends’ over summer?”
“Does that mean potter’s going to be there too?”
“Well, no,”
“Ha! It’s a relationship.”
“Harry’s not there for completely different reasons.”
“Right.”
Hermione went back to writing her letters and she thought Draco had gone back to reading quietly. Then he looked up from the book and smirked.
“Does that mean you’re going to tell Weasley you’re eloping with Viktor Krum?”
“Draco!”