Кассандра Клэр - Draco Dormiens

"Which gives us a minute to what, exactly?" she asked, but he shook his head at her and said, "Hermione. You're wasting time."

Then, still leaning against the tree, he pulled her towards him by the hand holding her wrist-surprised, she stumbled forward, and fell against him. And he kissed her.

Later, Hermione would think that he had obviously put everything he had, every ounce of feeling for her, every last vestige of passion and every shred of frustrated love, into that kiss. As if he were trying to burn whatever it was he felt out of him, exorcise it, wring it dry. At the time though, she was only aware that her knees were buckling and there was a roaring sound in her ears as if someone were holding seashells over them. She shut her eyes and saw lightning dance across her inner lids.

She wondered if she might be the only girl ever to kiss two Magids in one day.

Then she wondered if it might possibly be fatal.

He let go of her, and the world swam back into focus.

"Three o'clock, Granger," he said, and dropped her hand.

"Wow," she said weakly, and looked up at him. He was looking at her again with that funny little smile, half amusement, half regret. She knew he had just shown her how he really felt. And knew he would never, ever do it again.

He half-grinned at her. "So?"

"That was…amazing," she said faintly.

"And?"

"And if you ever try it again, I'll slap you."

His smile widened, became a real grin. "You love hitting me, don't you, Granger?"

he said. "You might want to look into that."

She grinned back.

"Shut up, Malfoy," she said.

**** "What'd Ron say?" said Hermione, curiously.

"He said it was about time, then he made a rude remark which I am not going to repeat. Then he said he told me so."

"And what'd you say then?" asked Hermione, giggling.

"I turned his broomstick into a snail by pointing at it."

"Did you really?"

"I was going for turning it into a frog, actually," admitted Harry. "And Pigwidgeon ate the snail, so now I owe Ron a broomstick. This Magid stuff is a lot of trouble, really."

Hermione laughed, and reached for an apple. What a difference twenty-four hours makes, she thought. Yesterday it was raining and miserable, and now…They had brought their lunch down to the lake, as the sky had cleared completely and it was a beautiful June day. Harry was sitting with his back to a rock, and she was leaning against his knees.

"But you wouldn't want to not be one, would you?" she asked.

"I don't think so," said Harry. He was lazily playing with a lock of her hair, pulling the curl straight and then letting it bounce back. "I was talking to Dumbledore, and he said that he runs this sort of education program for untrained Magids over the summers in Ireland, and if I want to go this summer, I can."

"Do you?" she asked, turning around to look at him.

"Well, it isn't the Dursleys. And it's only two months. So I could come and see you in August."

"You know Draco's still coming to visit me, right?"

"I know," said Harry. "We can all hang out. Go to the beach. Watch Malfoy not get tan."

"Hey!" They both turned, and saw Draco running towards them around the perimeter of the lake. He came to a skidding halt in front of them, and stood there, leaning his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Harry-" he panted.

Hermione looked at him curiously. "Did you run all the way here?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

"I had to talk to you," he panted, looking at Harry. If the sight of Harry and Hermione together bothered him, he didn't show it. It was a talent he had. "Potter" And Draco held out a white piece of paper to him. "I just got this-by owl post."

Hermione and Harry both stood up, and Harry took the paper from Draco. He unfolded it, read it, and went suddenly very white.

"Harry?" said Hermione, alarmed. "Is it bad news?"

Wordlessly, he handed her the letter. It was from Sirius.

Harry and Draco, I decided to address this letter to both of you as this matter concerns you equally.

I wanted to write to tell you two things. One, my motion to be allowed to legally adopt Harry has been accepted, and should be finalized within the next few months. I'm very pleased about this, and I hope you, Harry, are as well. Secondly, as, Draco probably already knows, Narcissa and I have been talking, and we're planning to be married in August, as soon as her divorce from Lucius comes through. I'm very pleased about this as well, and hope you will be too" What does he mean, as you already know, Draco?" she asked, bewildered, lowering the letter.

"That letter came with one from my mother, that was just addressed to me," said Draco, who was looking stunned. "It basically said the same thing. I can't believe it," he added, shaking his head. "I can't believe it!"

"So that's what he wanted to tell me that time in the common room," said Harry, looking equally thunderstruck.

"Sirius!" exclaimed Draco. "That sly dog! And literally, too!"

"Well, I figured this would happen," said Hermione, who was now pink with the effort of not laughing at their poleaxed expressions. "Didn't you?"

"No," said Harry and Draco in unison, shaking their heads.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" she said, pointing at the paper. "If they get married, and Sirius adopts Harry. You two will be…"

"Brothers," said Harry, staring at Draco in horror.

Draco stared back with his mouth open.

Hermione couldn't restrain herself any longer. "Brothers! The two of you!" She burst out into a peal of laughter. "The looks on your faces!" she gurgled. "Oh! The looks on your faces!"

Harry glared at her. "Hermione!"

"I can't help it!" she giggled. "It's too funny!"

And now Draco had started laughing, too. Harry had never seen him laugh like that before — not just snickering, but really laughing. He actually sat down on the ground, put his face in his hands, and shouted with laughter. Slowly, Harry started to smile, and then, looking at Hermione bent over and clutching her stomach with mirth, he began to laugh as well.

The sound of their laughter, rising in pitch, drifted out over the lake and the lawns and up to the castle beyond.

References:

1) "Oh, no," said Dumbledore. "All down to shouting, really." — Blackadder.

2) ""Meanwhile," continued Draco, "I've dropped out of Hogwarts and become a hired assassin for the Ministry of Magic." — The X-Files.

3) "I will come back here and I will yank out your ribcage and wear it as a hat.

Understood?"

"Understood," said Harry, grinning despite himself. "And a big gold star for imagery." Buffy.

4) "I just never thought of it like that. You've always been like a part of me, like how I can do magic. I never sit around thinking about how I love being able to do magic, what it means to me. It's just a part of my life. But if I lost it — if I couldn't do magic anymore — " I always thought Christopher's declaration to Katherine in The Perilous Gard was one of the best non-sappy declarations of love I had come across. It goes like this, "I never thought of it like that. I always thought of you as a part of me, like my own eyes or my own hands. You don't go around thinking 'I love my eyes, I love my hands', do you? But think what it would be like to live without your eyes or your hands. To be mad, or to be blind. I can't talk about it. It's how I feel." I memorized that speech when I was a kid and I wanted to use it again here. The Perilous Gard is by Elizabeth Marie Pope.

All illustrations in this document were drawn by Monica Starling, except for the picture of Harry and Draco cutting their hands, by Bhanesidhe, and the cover art, by Taylor.