4.1 | Draconian ✓

32 | colovaria

A/N

Happy (almost) Halloween! What're you dressing up as this year?

x Noelle

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3 2

c o l o v a r i a

Changes colour.

THERE WASN'T A moment to lose. As soon as they stepped out of the building, Draco tugged Hermione to his side and apparated them out.

They landed by the seventh willow tree in the blink of an eye, and Draco's mouth fell open when he saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid standing with Andromeda some distance away. They were deep in discussion, but Andromeda looked half worried to death, and the moment she saw Draco and Hermione, she immediately rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around the two.

"Thank Merlin you're both safe," Andromeda said. "I was so worried when Theo told me he couldn't apparate back into headquarters."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but a loud gasp from Hagrid diverted his attention. Before he knew it, Hermione was dragged away from his side and practically engulfed in Hagrid's embrace. As for McGonagall, she seemed thoroughly pleased and shocked to see Hermione, hugging the girl tightly after Hagrid had released her. Hermione looked almost awkward with the sudden outpouring of affection and immediately latched herself back to Draco's side the moment they released her.

He smirked when he felt her fingers intertwine with his. "Hello, Professor," he drawled, pointedly ignoring Shacklebolt and giving a polite nod to Hagrid. "It's been awhile."

"Not long enough, Malfoy," McGonagall returned, with a calculative gleam in her eye. "If Andromeda hadn't told us all you'd done in the past three years, I would never have believed it even if I'd seen it."

"Why don't we all go inside?" Andromeda suggested. "It's not safe out here."

"You four run along," Shacklebolt said. "Hagrid and I will make sure the wards stay in place."

Andromeda led the way inside. McGonagall immediately began talking to Hermione as they followed, even though Hermione had cast a frantic glance over her shoulder at Draco, who simply shook his head and winked at her.

Draco was the last to head inside, after he'd exchanged a quick, reconciliatory nod with Shacklebolt. Hagrid had taken a step forward for a hug, but Draco was adamant on keeping his distance and shook the giant's hand firmly instead.

"Thank yer fer bringin' 'Mione back," Hagrid said gratefully.

No, Draco thought, she brought me back.

If it wasn't for Hermione, he would've been a shell of himself. But he didn't voice his thoughts aloud. Instead, he accepted Hagrid's gratitude and headed into the house.

The sight that greeted him was one he hadn't expected at all. People crowded the entire place, which had been magically expanded to accommodate everyone. Some of them looked up as he entered. Feeling rather self-conscious, he tugged down the sleeve of his jumper to cover his Dark Mark before looking around for his friends.

He soon found them. Blaise, Pansy and a couple of other people were in the kitchen whipping up some sort of stew that smelled delicious, while Theo was taking care of Teddy. Even though Theo had often grumbled about Teddy, Draco knew that his friend was secretly fond of the kid. And this, right now, was clearly an advantageous situation for Theo as he was surrounded by girls who seemed equally as interested in Teddy as they were in him, although in vastly different ways altogether.