Hermione Granger and The Burning Egg

Chapter 5

Draco wrapped his arm around her chest and lifted her up, turning so that his back was to the dragon as it spat out a second wave of fire. He lunged away toward the jabberknoll cages pushing her so that they both sprawled in the dirt breathing heavily. "The protection spell is only really effective one time. Two at a stretch." He hissed desperately, panting.

He peeked back out only to dodge another wave of flames, the heat waves shimmering in the air. He pulled his hand down the length of his face and seemed to make a decision as he took a deep breath. He held his wand up and started to sing a low deep chant.

Somnum penitus. Sit tibi in altum. Sentire Fluxus carmen. Somnum penitus.

As he sung, the spell spread out from his wand like a silver mist slowly wafting toward all corners of the barn. At each syllable it pulsed out to the rhythm until it slowly covered the whole area. The mist glittered and tingled as it passed over and around her. Every spot it touched felt warm and safe and so very soft.

Somnum penitus. Sit tibi in altum. Sentire Fluxus carmen. Somnum penitus.

She felt her eyes grow heavy as she watched him. His eyes were closed, and his eyebrows frowned in concentration as his lips moved slowly over the words. The mist grew thicker and thicker and the sounds of the animals in the barn grew fainter and fainter until all she could hear was the soft chant of the spell.

Then she closed her eyes and heard nothing at all.

"Rennervate"

Hermione sat straight up as she woke from the sleeping charm. Draco was crouched down next to her lowering his wand, his grey eyes filled with concern. She shook her head to clear the fog and stared around her. It was dead silent. All the creatures she could see were sleeping peacefully. She glanced back at Draco and took in how worn he looked. He was breathing deeply. Not quite winded from the exertion but the spell had obviously taken a lot out of him.

She whispered, "What was that?"

Draco stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and stood slowly. He explained, "Do you remember the sleeping charm that Fleur used during the tri-wizard tournament? Turns out it's a very useful spell for working with magical creatures. That was a variant that I was hoping would put the dragon to sleep without being in eye contact."

He leaned out to look into the baby dragon's pen and sighed with relief, "It worked." Hermione popped her own head out. The dragon was sleeping peacefully with its tail curled round underneath its head lolling out in front, it's breath slowly moving its little body up and down.

Hermione breathed, "That spell was amazing. They're all asleep."

As she turned back toward him, he took a step and stumbled toward the pen wall putting an arm out to brace himself. His hair fell down to cover his eyes and his breath caught. Hermione lurched forward to catch him under his shoulder. He was warm to the touch, and she could feel the hard plains of his body as he leaned against her.

"Are you ok?" she questioned with alarm.

He took another deep breath, "I'll be fine. Just let me rest here for a bit. By the time you've finished recording the animals in this corridor I'll be good to go."

She helped him crouch down to prop up against the enclosure wall. He leaned back and closed his eyes letting his breath slowly move in and out. Hermione caught herself watching him. She just couldn't get past how different he felt without the sneer she was accustomed to. With his face smoothed out in relaxation he was stunningly attractive.

She got up and busied herself recording all the creatures in the corridor. By the time she was halfway down he must have been feeling better because when she turned to pull more parchment out of her bag, she noticed him watching her. He was still sitting with his head back, but he was staring out of half-lidded eyes.