Bride of the HP Dragon

Hermione seemed to have lost the ability to move around the castle nimbly that she had gained after becoming the head of the Girls' Council.After stumbling out of the passageway behind the Gryffindor portraits, she almost tripped over a warped rug.

However, no matter how subdued her fluorescent glow was, the spell was powerful enough to illuminate at least five square meters on the stairs.Harry had said something similar when his experiment failed.

Those days are long gone, when they put a lot of thought and effort into practicing casting Lumos, hoping they wouldn't last just a few minutes and then go off.

It is easier for a person to grope his way through the castle in the dark, relying on his own perfect memory.The armor is on the left, and the musty old tapestry is on the right. About 16 meters away is an empty staircase, and someone mischievously left a pair of Quidditch boots under the tenth step.

Thankfully, the full moon was streaming in through the French windows in the upstairs hallway, so Hermione carefully avoided the fate of tripping over pesky shoes.Leaning against the banister of the stairs, she caught her breath and snorted happily, imagining what the students might see in the morning.

A first-year Hufflepuff with tousled hair and sleepy eyes came out of the dormitory, running and screaming to find the Headmistress stumbling lifelessly down the hall, pink house slippers strewn aside...

In addition to her slippers, she was wearing a baggy old T-shirt with Kermit the frog on it and worn overlong pajama pants.The suit, which had previously belonged to her dad, didn't seem like ideal attire for a night out. The T-shirt was scratched in places by the stone wall, and she had to roll up her trousers to keep herself from tripping.

Because of the sounds she makes, she is easily spotted by Oro, who is patrolling Hogwarts.In fact, there are six oros in total here.Three more were stationed at Hogsmeade, where they would remain until the end of term.

After a harsh interrogation in Dumbledore's office, Hermione, Ron, and Millicent were taken back to the Great Hall by Professor Lupine, where the entire school was waiting for Dumbledore to speak.

Hermione guessed that her appearance might be a small buoy in the stormy sea for those panicked classmates.Then she reminded herself that they were relatively calm because most of them had gone through similar troubles.Although the real face of the Death Eaters is rare, they are all recorded in the documents in extreme detail.

Arthur Weasley was eager to do his best to go against Fudge's policy of "self-deception".The media reports everything, and a third of the coverage is pure exaggeration, but the point is that Hermione thinks it's at least reported, and even the youngest children know how to deal with the worst - hide if you can't run .

They were all learning how to deal with the situation, and Hermione thought Dumbledore was doing the same.

Even so, the old man still has a laundry list of secrets enough to keep the most knowledgeable investigators busy for centuries, but he has no longer persistently enforced the "need to know law" (note: only tell Harry what he needs to know, and keep everything else secret .), as Harry had done in his early school days.Harry took this change very seriously, and Hermione was fully aware that blind trust would no longer exist after Sirius died.

On this unfortunate Wednesday afternoon, in the Great Hall, thousands of curious students were listening intently to Dumbledore, who recounted in detail what had happened in the Forbidden Forest.

There are at least fifty different gossip versions of the Dark Mark sightings, all of which sound ridiculous.And the truth wasn't necessarily brilliant, and the students immediately began to speculate on the whereabouts of Lucius Malfoy's (now infamous) missing wand.

At the end of the speech, quite a few people, including teachers, felt at ease from the bottom of their hearts.There's only one Malfoy left at Hogwarts right now, and thankfully, it's not Lucius.

All classes and extracurricular activities for the rest of the day were cancelled, and Hermione saw Draco entering the Great Hall at dinner later.He looked good, with no sign of great stress or anxiety, and every hair was neatly placed on his platinum head.The cool expression is also the same as always, but it implies a bit of sharpness.When Lucius was first imprisoned in fifth grade, it was the same eager look on his face for weeks.

His fellow students were enthusiastic but reserved, and the Slytherins behaved as usual.Gregory Goyle's leg, badly injured by a Bludger during Quidditch practice last week, has recovered enough to allow him to return to his normal activities, so he can have dinner with his fellow students again up.

Goyle gleefully spotted Draco and gave him a hearty pat on the back, and everyone else at the table followed suit.Pansy Parkinson's nervous smile relaxed a bit, and after greeting each other, the Slytherins' attention returned to the dining table, and Blaise Zabini even glanced at the rest of the auditorium, as if silently He asks everyone how to live, how to live.

They did, and with enthusiasm.However, dinner has been delayed by almost an hour, and everyone is hot, thirsty, tired and hungry.

Draco didn't even glance at her while eating, which made Hermione feel good.She had other concerns, but eating wasn't one of them.Her appetite had been on the wane since that weekend, and she began to notice that her school skirt had loosened and she was often lethargic.

She couldn't concentrate very well either, and she was tossing a slice of baked potato on her plate around a pile of beans, completely unaware that a Gryffindor was gushing about Harry In the afternoon, 30 points were deducted for disobedience to Lupin.

Oddly enough, Lavender's exit was blocked.

"I think we have more things to care about than scores." Lavender sniffed, speaking maturely.

After dinner the students are relaxed and lethargic, and due to the increased security, the professor or senior prefect will escort the students to and from school.The students were led to the door at a leisurely pace, with Hermione and Blaise standing on either side.Draco followed the fourth year, but he was two heads taller than the students.

Goyle (obviously limping) walked ahead of Draco, his huge size forming a bottleneck in front of the door.The younger students yawned, just trying to get back to bed after dinner, pushing and jostling in line.Hermione was vaguely aware that Blaise was yelling at them not to squeeze.

The end of the line froze, and Draco stood beside her, letting out an excited sigh at the moment's delay.

Hermione, on the other hand, clearly felt restless, and she noticed him almost immediately; his height, his build, and his neat and manly air, all Draco-like.These are the same feelings that Hermione experienced in the Forbidden Forest, and the main role of FidaMia is starting to rise again.

She cursed the fact that she couldn't think rationally or act normally as long as she was near Draco Malfoy, which was more inconceivable than her spontaneous acquisition of Harry's outstanding talent in Quidditch.

Given the new twist in their relationship (as it was), Hermione felt that she should say something, whitewash the peace or, given what they had witnessed in the Forbidden Forest, encourage each other.She recalled sometimes holding Ron's or Harry's arm tightly, letting them know that everything was ok and that she was there for them.She recalled Ginny wrapping her arms around Harry's shoulders when Harry was in a mortal crisis and she was going berserk.

It was something friends would do with each other, but not for Draco.Oh no, there is no possibility.Any gesture of support from her, impractical or sincere, was likely to reveal a constant sly distaste from his eyes.

Speaking ironically, this man's vision is very vicious and sophisticated.Hermione couldn't help thinking that years of being miserable among the boys had finally given her the habit of using her intuition as a weapon.

"You stepped on my foot again, you short-sighted, be careful I'll beat you," Draco said wearily to a short third-year Slytherin behind him.Hermione stared. It wouldn't be normal for Hogwarts if Malfoy didn't embarrass or humiliate the younger children one day.

He brushed past her, and then she felt him stuff something in her palm - a small note, and Hermione instinctively clenched her fists tightly, hoping the expression on her face didn't give her away. Surprised mood.The temporary congestion has been resolved, and the team began to move in an orderly manner again.

After a brief exchange with Professor McGonagall and Blaise, Hermione hurried back to her room to read the note.It didn't seem strange that she recognized his handwriting at all. Of course, she had often seen the free and easy, slightly slanted strokes on the classroom blackboard in the past seven years.

She couldn't help thinking with a smug smile that his writing style was the same as that of a girl.

"We'll send the letter out tonight, and meet me at the Owl House after the second patrol.

Bring the owl feed. "

Pretty straight forward.

Hermione had already been impressed by his stubbornness in wanting to end FidaMia as soon as possible, and Merlin knew he must be well prepared.

So Hermione left Gryffindor Tower around two o'clock in the morning on Friday, after the Oro Patrol Squad had lumbered through its second patrol as planned. Ten minutes later, narrowly avoiding the deadly trap on the stairs, she reached the owl house atop the west tower.

The tall, decayed wooden door of Owl House was ajar, and Hermione pushed it open with a bit of fear, not surprisingly, the rusty hinges protested due to centuries of lack of maintenance.The bottom of the latch was useless, and the rest of the parts were scattered on the floor, but Hermione didn't make a lot of noise by removing them.

Once inside, Hermione smelled the familiar smell of bird droppings, musty damp, and the old decay of prey brought back by owls.Letter to parents two weeks ago, Hermione didn't use Hedwig or the school owl, she didn't come to the owl house very often.Harry and Ron came to tend their owls at least every two days.

The darkness meant that Hermione hadn't been fully aware of its nature when she stepped into the large, roofless room.The floor that "creaked" under her feet from time to time made her very happy that she had rolled up her fat trouser legs beforehand.

"Ah." She yelled when she stepped on something wet and muddy.

"It was so loud when you came down the corridor, please keep it up," Draco sarcastically said.

Damn bastard, he came out of the shadows in a little haste, causing Hermione to let out a startled sound, which made some owls flap their wings.

"Shhh!" he warned, looking like he was going to cover her mouth.

She stepped back vigilantly: "Who told you to sneak up next to people without making a sound!"

"It's kind of cliché to be afraid of the dark, don't you think?" he said slowly.

In fact, the owl house is brighter than the outside.Because there is no ceiling, the moonlight shines directly into the circular room.Hermione could now see a hundred pairs of keen owl eyes watching them from the transom.

Every species of owl (and bold hybrids) can be spotted: barn owl, snowy owl, horned owl, gray osprey, screech owl, and horned owl.Being nocturnal animals, they are constantly flying in and out, so background noise is enough to drown out normal conversation going on.

She found Hedwig at a glance, Harry's clever snow-white owl was preening its feathers.The feathered forest creature is resting with its claws on a rail.Hermione didn't get to see the excitable owl "Piggy" (note: the one Black gave Ron), but she was thankful given the pocket owl's penchant for causing chaos and noise.

"Have you brought owl feed?"

"Bring it." She said, patting what looked like a biscuit hidden in her pocket.It's from Lavender, and the package says "mouse and cheese flavors" and has those two things printed on it as an ugly logo.

Draco was wearing his school robes, but it was a little odd to see him in that after his regular bedtime.Hermione thought to herself that Slytherins like to stay up late at night, or that he doesn't like to wear pajamas when he sleeps, and...

what else?Her mind raced irritatingly, her imagery was out of control, but she cut off the blurry image before she could.

Now is not the time to daydream about teenage girls.

She handed Draco the feed and watched him slip on a pair of thick leather gloves.Even in the dark, she could make out the deep rips and grooves in the glove.As a rule of thumb, when Harry touches Hedwig with his hand, the owl always has a bad temper and wants to grab him.

Draco then gave a gentle three-part whistle and held out his arms.On the highest transom, probably three or four "floors" above where Hedwig was, Draco's owl flew out.

Hermione had seen it before, of course.It delivered letters and newspapers to Draco at breakfast.But up close, Draco's horned owl was different.

It was a very large, very stocky horned owl with extremely long ear feathers and a curved beak that seemed sharp enough to peck a hole in Draco's hand, whether he was wearing gloves or not.The bird looks majestic, of course, in the light of a fearsome predator that...

"Peter," Draco said, patting the bird's handsome head.

The owl responded happily, "Hooot."

Gosh, this bird is literally a baritone.

Hermione looked at this scene and took another step back: "You call yourself Pete the owl?"

He was busy patting the owl. "A close companion needs a name, Granger."

Yes, that's right.Although she had thought the name should be at least four syllables long, and must contain praise, in honor of some ancient pureblood wizard long dead.

Draco looked down at her, and he seemed to be trying to see what she was thinking: "It's just Pietro's nickname, if you insist on knowing."

"Hoot," Pete responded when he heard his name.

"Leave her alone," Draco said to his close companion, scratching Pete's elegant head: "she'd rather have a pugnacious old fat ball with bow legs than an owl .”

Hermione frowned: "Crookshanks is not a messy aggressive old fat ball, he is very smart."

"But it has the same bowed legs as Queen Anne's dresser," Draco added with a wry sense of humor.Then he seemed to remember suddenly that this was not the time to have fun, any kind of fun.This should be a serious, dangerous matter: "Give me the letter." He decided to resume rudeness.

Hermione was indescribably delighted at the change, and she handed him the tiny piece of parchment.He took the letter to Borgin under the moonlight, looked through it, and then, to Hermione's surprise, tore the letter into pieces.

"Boggin knew Pete, so you're doing useless work by using a pseudonym," he explained.

She looked at him exasperatedly: "Okay, so did you happen to remember to bring some parchment and a quill to write another letter?"

"I have letters," he announced, producing his own letter to Borgin.Hermione wanted to tell him that if he was going to bother writing a stupid letter himself, there was no need for him to start some secret meeting with her in the middle of the night, was there?

So what is she doing here and what's next?Hermione looked at him curiously.

"I don't see why we can't use a school owl. Use a less..." She stared at Draco's clawed bird of prey. "Show me?"

He looked at her and said with his eyes: "Are you out of your mind?" Hermione knew the meaning too well, and he was very good at conveying killer moves with his eyes, such as: "I don't have time to explain", "You are really Gran Fendor" and "Get out of my sight before I cast a spell".

"Peter went into the owl house, but he was as safe as ever. He was bred especially for that. School owls are reliable, but easy targets. They can be shot down, they can be intercepted Or seduce, Pete won't." His tone was very smug.

Too bad, Hermione couldn't help thinking, she thought the easiest way to intercept a letter or package was to shoot down the postman (cf. Professor Sprout's hapless macaw).Even if she couldn't remember the last time she heard an owl being treated this way.If Hermione could remember one little thing from helping Dumbledore win the war, finding a job after Hogwarts, and ending her accidental marriage to Malfoy, Hermione thought she might May engage in a bird humane treatment promotion activity.

Draco gently tied the letter to Pete's leg with a tiny metal ring, and fed him some food, which Pete swallowed three mouthfuls in a sitting position.

"Send it safely." He said softly before letting it fly.

This owl's wingspan is impressive, as is its good looks.He flew up, made a perfect circle over the owl house, and then disappeared soundlessly from sight.They stood there for a moment in silence, listening to the night and the faint sound of the wind over the owl's roof.

"What's the meaning of Rainbow Bridge?" Draco asked her, hiding his gloves away, running a finger along the peeling rainbow lettering on her T-shirt, brushing lightly over her navel.

Hermione realized that she was standing in the center of the moonlight, where he had read the letter.His expression looks comically bewildered at Carmit the Frog, while the venerable Mr. Frog is sitting on a lily pad under the rainbow he mentioned.

Hermione let her guard down completely.How do you explain Kamit the Frog to a wizard?The answer is quite simple, don't explain.

"It's a Muggle thing," she finished, feeling weird.She thought it was insane to explain The Muppet Movie or Sesame Street to Draco Malfoy, and at 02:30 in the morning, possibly being indiscriminately petrified by 10 Oro.

"So there's no need to waste your tongue on someone who isn't a Muggle, right?" Draco raised an eyebrow, sounding annoyed.

"I didn't... no!"

"Like that thing with the Pope on the way to see my father," he muttered.

She thought she had misheard: "The Pope?"

"You quote the Pope, but when I ask you what you mean by your sarcasm because of my father, you assume I have no idea who the Pope is."

Hermione was deeply suspicious of the sudden change of subject, which almost reminded her of occasional arguments with Harry, who was sometimes stubborn.But Harry's response would not be verbally sharp.

"You just want to cause trouble, don't you?"

"It's really smart," he told her, almost wanting to pat her on the head. "You figured it out on your own?"

She was discouraged: "God, you are so difficult to get along with."

He folded his arms and stared at her: "Why do you say that, have you tried to get along with me?"

This is off topic, he is too good at changing the subject.Based on a shift in strategic issues, well, the two seem to be able to fight, so she uses a 10-second timer to set the reaction time.

"You know, I'm glad Dumbledore told the truth yesterday in front of the whole school."

"Are you really happy?" His voice was flat, like a whisper.

Hermione hadn't realized they were standing so close until she was thinking of her, and her heart rate quickened a little as he brushed a fluffy white feather off her collarbone.The dragon tattoo on the inner thigh seems to be walking slowly and psychically on his body.Even after nearly a week, this strange feeling still can't get used to.

"If he didn't say anything, if you weren't there to confirm what happened, do you think I'm the one who put the Dark Mark in the sky?" His question was full of meaning, and the way he looked into her eyes, It's as if he's a pirate and she's an illegally obtained booty.

"No, I know the facts better than hypotheses," she shot back, hesitating at the word hypotheses.Damn it at night, she couldn't see his expression clearly, maybe his face was mocking "You are really a Gryffindor". .

"Gryffindor may be a brave martyr, but a terrible liar, your eyes have betrayed you."

"I doubt you can see my eyes in the dark, Malfoy."

"Too bad," he replied, and Hermione realized she knew he was smiling even if she couldn't see his face.The smile extends into his voice: "That's because when you're angry your eyes take on a very pleasant shade of brown, which is very common for me," he added, a little shyly.

Hermione vaguely imagined what it would be like to have a snowball fight in hell.No doubt it looked like it might come true, because it seemed like Draco Malfoy was actually complimenting her.

"Maybe we should go," she blurted out, remembering their adventure, and thinking that if they were caught, it would be more serious than meeting outside curfew: "Oro patrols the owl house, too."

It took Hermione a moment to pour the rest of the feed into a communal bowl in the middle of the room, and then a pair of beautiful snowy owls, of the same species as Hedwig, pounced right in.

Draco waited for her, still muttering something.A rude remark, no doubt, but Hermione didn't hear it.They broke up in front of the door: "Don't get caught on the way back. I don't want to be found out because you didn't go upstairs quietly enough."

Hermione felt compelled to do what she said after saying goodnight and good luck.