Quarrels & Loves

Up & Coming

Her eyes didn't open immediately and her breathing was ragged, but Draco sighed in relief, looking up at the sky before closing his eyes. At the sound of her coughing, his attention was immediately drawn back down to where Hermione was. Her eyes were squeezed closed as she coughed and shivered and Draco glanced up to where his dry cloak was lying. He summoned it without a second thought and helped her sit up.

As soon as he touched her, her eyes shot open and she fell into another bout of coughing when she inhaled sharply. She was suddenly very tense, but Draco continued to help her sit up before he wrapped his cloak tightly around her.

When her coughing finally died down, she just stared at him. Unsure what else to do, Draco stared back, waiting for her to force him to leave or somehow blame him for her near-drowning.

"Thank you," she said instead. Draco blinked, not having expected that to be the first thing out of her mouth.

"Why didn't you cut it yourself?" Draco replied, kicking himself mentally for it. Hermione frowned and pulled his cloak tighter around her as she shivered with the wind.

"I didn't have my wand," she mumbled. She brought her knees up to her chest and tucked them under Draco's cloak as well. Her bare toes peeked out from under the fold of his cloak and Draco frowned at them. Taking it as a frown at her, Hermione said, "What? Don't believe I didn't think of that myself? I couldn't do much without my wand in the darkness."

"No, I just—" he supposed he hadn't really thought about the possibility of her not having her wand. It seemed so absurd, he hadn't considered it. "Why didn't you have your wand?"

Hermione looked away from him and down at her toes. She pulled the cloak over them then looked at the castle, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

"Where have you been?" she asked. Draco frowned. Why would she care? "Harry thinks you're up to something and I'm not going to lie, you haven't been as big of a pain as usual, so where have you been?"

"Why do you care?" Draco asked. If he wasn't around to bother her and her ridiculous friends, then shouldn't she be glad? The way she'd said it, though, sounded more like she wanted him to be around more.

"I don't," Hermione snapped. Draco glared at her but she wasn't looking at him, so it didn't do any good. He quickly stopped and she turned to look at him. She was clearly trying to size him up, but Draco had always prided himself on having blank facial expressions so he knew she wouldn't get anything she was looking for.

"You haven't answered my question," Draco pointed out, getting bored with the silence.

"You haven't answered mine."

Draco ceded, considering it was a reasonable response. Rather than bite back at her like he would if they weren't alone, he said, "Fine. You tell me what happened and I'll tell you where I've been."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, but her shivering didn't make her all that intimidating. When she wasn't paying attention, Draco put a warming charm on his cloak wordlessly.

"Swear you won't laugh at me," Hermione said. Draco swore it and she nodded. "Avery, that git you used to hang out with. He lured me out with a fake note from Ron and Harry about the—Well, it doesn't matter what it was about. I came out here to meet them, but he was here instead."

"So he what? Took your wand and shoved you in the lake?" Draco teased. Hermione scowled at him, reminding him that she didn't have to tell him what happened. Instead of pointing out that wouldn't work in her favour either, he just nodded.

"But that is pretty much what happened," she muttered. Avery had also used a spell she didn't recognise to slowly pull her to the bottom of the lake where he told her she'd rot away. When she looked at him expectantly, Draco suddenly wondered if lying was an option. He figured she'd probably know if he did and as long as he didn't tell her everything, it was really fine.

"I have a mission," he said carefully. If the Dark Lord found out he'd told anyone, he'd be punished. However, that did not mean Draco wanted to flat out tell Hermione what he was doing. "It's from the Dark Lord and it's been keeping me very busy."

"You won't tell me what it is," Hermione said, more than asked. Draco shook his head, staring out at the lake as he thought about what waited for him at the Shrieking Shack.

They stayed by the lake for several more minutes before Draco figured they should return to the castle. It wasn't safe to stay out anymore and while he doubted anyone would attack him, he didn't particularly want to risk it. When he suggested it to Hermione, she nodded and climbed to her feet. Again, Draco spotted her bare feet and wondered how she'd lost her shoes, but figured they'd come off in her struggle to avoid drowning.

The walk back to the castle was silent. Draco was shivering a little by the time they slipped through the front doors, but he managed to hide it from Hermione. At least, he thought he had until she handed him back his cloak with a small smirk.

"Looks like you could use this back," she joked. Draco smiled and wrapped the cloak around his shoulders. "Thank you again," she said, fidgeting a little as she spoke.

"Please, it just gives me a good reason to beat up Avery when I get back," Draco replied. Hermione smiled back and nodded.

"My wand—"

"I'll send it to you," Draco promised. Avery was bound to have it nearby as a sort of prize, but after the beating Draco was going to give him, Avery wouldn't be able to keep hold of it very long. "Goodnight, Hermione," he said.

"Goodnight," Hermione replied before hurrying through the Gryffindor portrait and leaving Draco in the hall alone. As soon as he was certain she was inside for the night, Draco turned and headed straight for Avery's dorm in the Slytherin dormitory. Hermione was his to pick on and tease and his alone; clearly Avery needed a reminder and after the week he'd had, Draco was more than willing to give the git just what he deserved.