text stringlengths 0 57.5k |
|---|
Draco looked down to find Minerva standing beside him, looking at her mother. "I'm not really sure what to say to that, Minerva. I would like to say that I'm sorry things didn't work out between her and your father, but I'm afraid that would sound insincere." It would also be insincere. He was too ecstatic that Hermione was with him to really mourn that her marriage with Weasley didn't work out and being honest with the girl was probably better than giving her meaningless platitudes. |
"I know what giving her that snitch meant. She probably doesn't but I paid attention to Quidditch. Do you really mean it?" |
Draco stopped looking at Hermione to meet Minerva's eyes. "Yes," Draco answered simply. |
She nodded at him then changed the subject. "Did you really teach Scorpius to fly like that?" she asked. |
"Yes and Florence, "Mione, Drake, and your sister as well. Why do you think you're hopeless on a broom?" Draco said, using the opening she'd given him to question her about flying. He didn't really expect her to answer him. |
"My father tried teaching me when I was five. He threw me up on his Quidditch broom, told me to hold on tight, and let go. It took off really fast. I had no idea how to control it and I fell off. I hit my head on a rock. I started crying and my head was bleeding. It hurt so much and it was so scary. He and mum had one of the worst fights I've ever heard that night. I was too scared to get on a broom after that. I had a panic attack in Madame Hooch's class and she excused me from flying lessons after that." |
Draco could feel a tick in his jaw as he tried to contain his anger at yet another reason to hate Weasley. He'd acted like an idiot and completely traumatized his daughter. Putting a young child on a racing broom meant for Quidditch was a disaster and a tragedy waiting to happen. She could have been killed. She was extremely lucky she wasn't killed. |
Draco breathed deeply through his nose, flexing his hands into fists and releasing, before flexing them again. Weasley should be glad he wasn't among the spectators right now. No force in this world could have kept Draco from kicking his ass if he caught sight of him. Calm. He needed to calm down. |
Once Draco regained control of himself, he turned to Minerva and gently asked her, "Would you like to give it another try? I'll teach you properly." |
"I don't know. It looks like fun, but I'm afraid of falling again." |
"I don't want to pressure you, but I think learning would really help you conquer your fears. I don't want you to miss out on something fun because of one bad experience. Talk to Scorpius and the rest of the Baby Snakes. They'll tell you how I taught them. It will be a little different for you because you're older than they were, but we can talk about it if you decide you want to try." |
"I'll think about it." |
Well, it wasn't a "no'. That was progress at least. Maybe if she agreed, they would be able to form their own bond. |
Draco asked Hermione to walk around the park with him before they went inside to go get Rose from the elder Weasleys. He held her hand as they strolled through the park. It was getting cold but Hermione's warming charms kept them comfortable. He could see the rounded bulge in her jacket pocket from the snitch. |
"I saw you talking with Minerva. You looked enraged there for a minute. I thought maybe she said something but then you both started talking normally again." |
"Minerva told me why she didn't like flying," Draco said to explain why he looks so angry. |
"Why were you so mad about it? It's perfectly okay that she doesn't like to fly." |
Draco stopped walking and stared down at Hermione flabbergasted. "What exactly do you remember about Weasley teaching Minerva to fly?" Draco asked slowly. |
"He said she was afraid of heights. I understood that so I didn't push her to keep trying." |
Draco grabbed her arms by the arms, "I don't think that's what actually happened, Hermione." He related Minerva's story to Hermione. |
The rage that consumed Hermione was difficult for Draco to control. The news of Weasley's neglect of their daughter was too much to take, especially coming so close on the heels of his attempted kidnapping. Three trees fell victim to her rage as she pointed her wand at them and shouted Incendio. He let the trees burn momentarily before putting them out with jets of water from his wand. |
"I'm going to kill him. This is too much. That bastard is a dead man." She stomped around the clearing shouting her rage repeating it over and over again like a mantra. Another tree went up in flames. |
"You can't kill him, Hermione," Draco tried telling her calmly. |
He should have just kept his mouth shut and let her rage. Hermione was scary when she was angry. And dangerous. He held out his hand and her wand flew from her fingers into his hand. Better to get punched again than have her wand pointed at his jugular or have the park burning around them. Unfortunately for him, disarming her just pissed her off more. |
"Give me my wand, Draco," she shouted at him, holding out her hand. |
He held it up out of her reach. "Not until you calm down. You're kinda scary when you're pissed off." |
"I'm going to hex your balls off when I get my wand back," she threatened. |
"That may impede any fun you want to have with them in the future. Hex the weasel's balls off." |
Hermione glared up at him. He caught sight of a faint quirk in the corner of her mouth. He waggled his eyebrows at her and she snorted in reluctant laughter. |
"I'll give this back to you." He held her wand out to her. She tried to snatch it away from him but he held it away from her again. "If you promise to leave all my body parts in their rightful places." |
"I wouldn't hurt you, Draco." |
Draco handed her wand back to her. She took the wand and stored it in the holster at her waist. "Yes, well I call you my lioness for a reason. You're scary when you're mad, especially when it comes to your children." |
"He's going to pay for this." |
"I'm sure you'll think of something appropriately devious," Draco said, hugging Hermione to him relieved that he'd made it out of the situation with all his body parts attached. |
"Where are you off to?" Hermione asked him as he walked into the drawing room carrying a black leather case. |
"I promised McGonagall that I would bring back some snitches. She's convinced that all the lovesick seekers will start presenting them to their girlfriends." |
"That was very romantic of you," she said from her place on the couch. He walked over and kissed her goodbye before throwing a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace and calling the directions to the headmistress" office. |
"You have no idea," he thought as he walked into the flames. |
Love and Other Things |
Sunday, November 11th |
Saturday's Parents" Day at Hogwarts brought some exciting developments. Two former enemies joined together for a friendly game and a long awaited relationship was revealed. |
Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy took to the Quidditch pitch, once again captaining opposing teams consisting of their children, friends, and their children's housemates. The two reprised their roles of seekers, while Ginny Potter nee Weasley, former Chaser of the Holyhead Harpies, equipped herself with an all female Chaser crew, consisting of Hermione Goyle and Florence Zabini, housemates of her son, James Potter. Rounding out the Potter team was Blaise Zabini as Keeper. James Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, and Drake Nott gave the ladies a run for their money as Chasers for the Malfoy team. Gregory Goyle acted as the team's keeper. When asked about the lack of beaters and bludgers, Hermione Granger stated that "since the children were so young and this was just a friendly game between friends, the use of bludgers was deemed too risky." |
The game started out with a blur of movement as Scorpius Malfoy snagged the quaffle and quickly scored a goal in an impressively fast bout of flying that we have come to expect from the Malfoy men. Scoring stayed fairly even throughout the game as both sides used speed and cunning to score. The seekers were seen hovering above the pitch watching the game and talking animatedly to one another. Draco Malfoy stunned the spectators by suddenly diving toward the goal post causing Greg Goyle to have to scramble out of the way in order to avoid a collision. The two seekers raced toward each other along the length of the pitch chasing after the snitch in a thrilling game of chicken. |
Draco Malfoy caught the snitch just inches before Harry Potter and for the first time, defeated Potter in a game of Quidditch. After congratulations were given to the winning team, Draco strode off the field and presented the winning snitch to Hermione Granger. We have been eagerly anticipating confirmation of their relationship for some time. The two lovebirds have been making regular appearances in the gossip columns since Granger's very public split with husband, Ronald Weasley, after finding out about a longtime affair with former housemate, Lavender Brown. |
Hermione Granger accepted the winning snitch from a very earnest Draco Malfoy. Ginny Potter was heard urging Granger to take the snitch presented to her, indicating that the match was approved of by friends and family. Harry Potter was asked his opinion on the new couple and he stated, "We're happy for Hermione. Draco is a good man and he makes her happy." Has the seeker found his mate at long last? Will we be hearing wedding bells in the future for these two? |
Beneath the front page story were photos of their game. Prominent among them was Hermione plucking the snitch out of Draco's hand. Pictures of their kiss as he spun her around and Harry and Draco shaking hands at the end of the game were also featured in the article. |
"We made the front page this time," Draco said, handing the paper to Hermione. |
Hermione set down her cup of coffee and took the paper from Draco's outstretched hand. "It's odd that a reporter would be at Hogwarts. I don't think McGonagall would allow the press to intrude at school." |
"You and Potter are also making comments to the press now," Draco said as he buttered a slice of toast. |
"Well I did say that but I was talking to Hagrid and I doubt Harry would make a comment to a reporter about our relationship." |
"You would if you didn't know they were a reporter. It's not like they all walk around looking like Rita Skeeter," Draco pointed out. |
"It's not a bad article though," Hermione said with a shrug and set the paper aside. |
Draco picked up a letter from the stack of and opened it. He was surprised to see an unfamiliar neat, loopy scrawl and checked the signature at the bottom. Minerva Granger-Weasley. He read through the letter carefully. |
Dear Mr. Malfoy, |
I have spoken with Scorpius and the rest and I would like to take you up on your offer to teach me to ride a broom over the holidays if it is still available. |
Minerva Granger-Weasley |
Draco handed the letter over to Hermione saying, "Your daughter wrote to me. She's decided to conquer her fear of flying." He felt a surge of pride for the girl. He wouldn't have blamed her in the least for never getting near another broom again after her last experience. |
Hermione read over the short note and set it down with a smile. "Thank you for offering to teach her." |
She picked up a letter from in front of her plate. Draco noticed the Ministry seal on the back of the letter. She broke the seal as Draco watched. Her brows scrunched together and her eyes moved furiously over the page. She handed the letter to him silently. |
Draco took the offered letter from her, concerned about what the news was and Hermione's silence. |
Dear Mrs. Granger, |
This letter is to inform you that you are currently in violation of Ministry Code of Conduct 104.3.a "Employees of the Ministry shall conduct themselves in a discreet and virtuous manner in their personal and professional lives." |
Your conduct over the past few months has been neither discreet nor virtuous. You have been seen in public consorting with a man who is not your husband and entering into a public relationship with that man. |
Considering your service to the Ministry and exemplary record, we are giving you two weeks to rectify this situation. Our expectation is that you will end this immoral relationship and return to your home and husband. |
Failure to do so will result in your removal from Ministry employment. |
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic |
Draco set the letter down and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What would you like to do about this?" he asked. |
"Can he even do this?" she asked. |
"Yes. The Minister can fire anyone he wants, especially with a policy that vague," Draco answered her feeling a little furious that Shacklebolt would put Hermione in this position. |
"So I'm expected to choose between my relationship with you and my job," Hermione said blandly. Draco looked closely at her. He expected more of a reaction. Anger. Hurt. Something other than the apathy he was seeing on her face. |
"Well, you're not going to get rid of me that easily, but if you want to keep your job, we can move you back to the cottage and be more discreet," Draco said. He would probably end up sleeping every night on her couch just to make sure she and Rose were safe. Draco heard Rose racing up the stairs, her tinkling laughter floating about in the air as she and Tansy played. They both were essential to him now, as much a part of him as his son and mother. |
"We haven't really spoken about our living arrangements. Our relationship hasn't exactly been traditional," she asked tentatively. |
"I want you to stay!" Draco blurted out. They both were a little surprised by his sudden outburst. Draco reached over and took her hand, "I know this hasn't been a traditional courtship. We lived together before we even began our relationship, but if you want to, I'd really like you to stay. Seeing you and Rose every day gives me something to look forward to, a reason to wake up every morning and rush down the stairs." |
"Oh, Draco," Hermione said. She got up from her seat. Draco scooted his chair back and she sat down on his lap. He kissed her tenderly. "I want to stay too. We both know that my job is pretty meaningless. It's not even a hard decision to make. Even if it were a great job, I would still choose you. I'm not going to let some backward laws and policies keep me from being with you." |
Draco leaned forward and buried his face in her curls, kissing her neck. "You have no idea how happy you've made me." |
Draco was relieved. He didn't truly believe that she would leave him for her job. He hated that she had to choose though. He hadn't wanted her to move back to the cottage. He didn't want to worry about her being safe. He especially didn't want to think about not being able to see her every day. |
"Well, being unemployed will make a few things easier. Theo and I can work faster on the divorce bill. Your mother has been hinting about wanting help with her charity ball." |
"You can also seriously consider my Christmas present," Draco said, rubbing his hand in circles across her back. |
"Yes, this will also make that easier." |
Draco took Hermione and Rose out to dinner that night in Diagon Alley. Hermione wanted to gauge public opinion of their relationship in the wake of the article. If people empathized with her and supported their relationship, they would support her as she tried to create divorce laws. |
La Famiglia was a new Italian family restaurant that opened up on Diagon Alley, directly across Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, seeking to draw in families as they came out of the joke shop. Blaise recommended it and Hermione had been dying to try it out. They were given a seat by the window and watched as people walked by outside. |
Dinner was interesting. The waitress, a young witch fresh out of Hogwarts, appeared very nervous to be serving them. She stuttered and stammered while taking their order, almost dropped the breadbasket in Draco's lap, and forgot their drink order. She was almost in tears when she had to come back and tell them that the kitchen was out of Osso Bucco. The young witch finally calmed down when Rose started to regale her with flying stories. By the end of the meal, the witch gained enough confidence to tell Hermione that she hoped she was able to get a divorce because everyone deserved a chance at happiness. |
They took a stroll down Diagon Alley after dinner. The three of them were a subject of curiosity among the witches and wizards out and about that evening. They received glares of open censure from some, mostly from the older generation. Draco pulled Hermione to him for a scorching kiss just to rile the old codgers up. What surprised him were the cheers and wolf whistles he heard around them. Some he knew came from the direction of the joke shop. Younger witches smiled and whispered to one another as they walked by. |
Rose wheedled Draco and Hermione into stopping for ice cream before they returned home. Before they walked inside, Draco overheard a conversation between a woman and boy standing in front of the window. |
"Mum, can we get some ice cream?" the boy asked. |
Draco noted the look of tired resignation on the woman's face. This was not a witch who had an easy time of it. The robes of her and her son were shabby and threadbare in places. Their shoes were battered and scuffed. The boy looked to be around Rose's age and he had an expression of such intense longing that Draco found painful to see. |
"I'm sorry, Jake. We just can't afford it," the woman responded, tiredly. |
The boy hung his head and took his mother's hand. They started to walk away. Draco just couldn't stand the look of dejection from the boy or the failure he saw on the woman's face. He squeezed Hermione's hand and walked over to the mother and son. |
"Excuse me, ma'am. My family and I would be honored if you would join us for ice cream." |
The woman looked up at him startled and, he thought, perhaps a little fearful. "That...that's very...um...kind of you, sir. We wouldn't wish to be an imposition of you or your family, but thank you for your offer." |
"It's no imposition," Draco said, trying to appear as friendly as possible to the witch. Her son was vibrating with excitement at the prospect of ice cream. Hermione and Rose walked up to them and Draco introduced them all to the witch and her son. "I'm Draco. This is my girlfriend, Hermione, and her daughter, Rose. Please. We'd like for you to join us." |
"Oh, I know who you are. Everyone in our world knows Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. I'm Honoria Blake and this is my son, Jacob." |
Draco ushered the group inside the ice cream parlor before the woman could change her mind and try to refuse him again. The children, of course, had a difficult time deciding. Jake had a particularly difficult time. Draco thought it might be because the boy thought this was going to be the only time he was ever going to taste ice cream and he didn't want to choose wrong. Finally, after sampling every interesting flavor, the children had their sundaes and the adults had their own bowls of ice cream. |
Draco spooned a bite of his favorite chocolate ice cream with caramel swirls into his mouth. He stole a spoonful of Hermione's ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, and received a playful smack with her spoon. He watched the children sitting together chattering away. Well, Rose was chattering. Jacob was in a state of sugar-induced bliss and too enthralled with the experience of ice cream to do more than nod at Rose. |
"Mrs. Blake, I hate to pry," Hermione said, awkwardly, "but it seems like you've fallen on hard times." |
Draco felt sorry for the woman. She was clearly uncomfortable sitting here with them. He also understood the sacrifices parents made to make their children happy and Jacob was clearly enjoying himself. |
"These last few years have not been easy for us," she replied evasively. |
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hermione asked. Draco draped his arm over the back of her chair and played with her hair. He loved wrapping the curls around his fingers and it gave him something to do to distract him from watching Jacob enjoy something that everyone else took for granted. |
Mrs. Blake's gaze drifted between the couple. Draco saw her eyes soften as she responded, "I have a feeling that the two of you are already working on what I need help with given your current situation." |
The children finished their ice cream. Mrs. Blake thanked them for the ice cream and got up to leave. Just before she left, holding her son's hand, she turned and said, "I know the path has been difficult for you, Mrs. Granger, however, you truly are the only one who would bother to help the voiceless." |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.