The Shattered Dragon

Chapter 26: The Pumpkin Shell

There was no point in hiding their...whatever it was...anymore. The girls knew she wasn't working, the members knew not to ask for her and whenever the two saw each other in the hallways or at meals, their eyes locked together and the power of it nearly sucked the air from the room.

"Will you be moving into his suite?" Claire asked, biting into a strawberry with a bit more ferocity than was really necessary.

Hermione knew that some of the girls were jealous of her time spent with Draco, but Claire just seemed blatantly angry, as if she didn't deserve such happiness, good fortune. Hermione bit her tongue of course, not wanting to explain the piles of shit she'd dragged herself through since the age of twelve that might indicate she was actually the most deserving of such things, deserving of a bit of happiness, release, pleasure, a bit of selfish joy. Instead she just shrugged and smiled politely.

"He hasn't asked me to. And frankly, he hasn't ever invited me into his bed, Claire. And he's only spent the night with me once. He has quite a hang up about it."

"Or he doesn't want you as badly as you think," she said, pointing her fork at Hermione's nose.

"A bitch to the last," Leanna muttered. "Jealousy makes you look fat Claire."

"Well at least for me it just an illusion," she fired back.

Instantly, the girls took sides and all began hissing insults at each other and Hermione looked up to find Draco sitting alone at a table near the window. He was bent over a scroll, his hair hanging in front of his eyes, writing frantically with his black quill. She couldn't help but smile at the picture he created, looking just like he did third year, his lips set in an earnest pout of concentration. She stood up from her uneaten lunch and went to join him.

"Working on a Potions Essay Mr. Malfoy?" She teased, running a finger over his shoulder.

"Yes," he answered flatly. "I still owe Snape 14 inches on Amortentia, may he rest in peace."

She playfully walked her fingers across the table before reaching for the scroll and he pulled it back, covering the words with his arm.

"Did you need something?" He asked. "I thought you were having lunch with the girls..."

"I was, until the fighting started," she sighed, sitting across from him. "I think we're all getting a bit of cabin fever being on lock down, fewer visitors, the heat...tempers are flaring."

He nodded but offered nothing by way of advice and she noticed that he was packing up his work, hiding it away. There were two books on the table; A German to English dictionary and History of Bavarian Wizarding Communities. She glanced at the titles but didn't dare touch.

"I've been curious about your new project. It seems to be consuming you lately," she said softly. "If I could help..."

"You can't," he snapped, looking up finally. When his eyes met hers they softened a bit, the tension in his face melting. "I mean...not at the moment. You...I can't tell you anything yet. I'm not trying to be secretive, I only...I'm not sure of what..."

"It's ok, I'm just curious is all; jealous to see people reading and doing research. It gives me the itch to do my own."

It was the one thing they'd had in common in school, their love of learning, devouring books. Although she could never voice it at the time, she often enjoyed competing with him in potions class or debating him in history. It had been energizing to find someone else who loved the material, who wasn't just going through the motions to get to lunch.

They were quiet for a few moments, her hand brushing against his pinky. When they touched he stopped breathing, his eyes locked on where their skin touched.