poison ✞ dramione

part eleven

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the first few days flew by in a blur. hermione had taken a total of seven pictures so far, harry was warming up to draco and draco—well, he was still fairly closed off. not completely unreadable like his older self but he was still wary of those around him.

draco, pansy and theo had taken a liking to each other, rapidly becoming friends. daphne had told her, albeit quite reluctantly, that they all used to be good friends. it was daphne, draco, pansy, theo, blaise and some older students. millicent bulstrode and tracey davis would often accompany them but those two girls preferred to stick to each other. people like crabbe and goyle also used to spend time to themselves.

when hermione had asked her what had happened, daphne shot her a look. "don't get too excited, granger. just because i told you one thing doesn't mean you're going to learn the whole history right away. maybe if i trust you enough," daphne had almost snapped.

"you slytherins and trust," hermione had used as a reply. she hadn't meant it to be offensive in any way but daphne did become defensive.

"we don't wear our hearts on our sleeves," daphne had shot back but her eyes did soften just a little. "but you can always win over our trust with time. when i know i can trust you, i'll tell you more."

hermione understood that, in a way. slytherins don't set themselves in the line of failure or pain. with daphne telling hermione it's basically handing over some blackmail material or a way to destroy her. it was a sad way to live in hermione's opinion but she knew daphne had a point.

it got her thinking about draco. yes, that seemed to be him in a nutshell but it was far more complicated. draco didn't even talk to his friends who, apparently, used to be a close-nit group of adolescents. what could have changed them?

however, she didn't let these thoughts plague her mind. she watched as draco played with crookshanks, how he'd pet the orange mess and scratch it where crooks liked it. sometimes he'd hold crooks up by its front legs and let the cat lick his face affectionately.

"crookshanks never does that with anyone else, doesn't he?" harry asked in a amused tone, pulling out the camera. he took a sneaky shot of draco petting crooks. the film slid out of the camera and harry smiled at it then handed it to her.

she watched as the photo replayed itself. draco was smiling as he repeatedly petted crookshanks back. he then ruffled crooks fur lightly then when back to petting him. it made her smile, so much so that she pulled out her wand and duplicated it. she handed the original back to harry and kept the copy. "i was thinking—why don't we make a scrapbook? like an album of pictures of all of us."

harry seemed to like that idea. "yeah! actually, i think i have a spare notebook we can use. it's not that big but you can enlarge it and add a few more pages if needed."

hermione nodded and grinned widely. "you get that. i'll summon down the photos we've take and duplicate them."

while harry ran to his room, hermione waved her wand and the pictures flew into her hand. draco watched longingly. "i wish i could do magic."

hermione laughed. "don't worry, i'm sure that once you can you'll be great at it." and it's true. older draco could perform wandless and nonverbal magic, which was a feat of its own.

"i made a vase explode," he said proudly. "twice. although father wasn't proud of it."

"what happened, then?" hermione asked as nonchalantly as possible.

draco shrugged. "he fixed it. and one time i made a pitcher of juice float over to me—and hyperion, he fell over once and scraped his knee. i healed it!"

"tell me more about him," hermione said. "hyperion, i mean."

draco nodded enthusiastically and hugged crooks to his chest. "oh, hyperion is only three years old! he looks more like mother than me—his hair is a little darker and his eyes more bluer, but otherwise he could be my twin! that's what dobby says, at least. we always play together and i always look after him. i don't sleep until he does and i make him breakfast although he never finishes it because it's toast and he's always changing his mind."

hermione listened as draco went on and on about hyperion. it obviously made her wonder what happened to him. with the three years difference, he should have joined hogwarts in their fourth year.

"he's pretty much my only friend," draco carried on. that sentence—fact—made her heart swell. when did draco make his first friend. "besides theo and pansy. and dobby."

hermione hoped that draco wouldn't ask about dobby. luckily for her he didn't and he carried on petting and playing with crooks.

"got it!" harry called as he came tumbling down the stairs and into the room. he held a medium sized, navy blue-almost-black notebook. when he got closer he started to notice the look on hermione's face. "what happened while i was gone?" he whispered.

hermione watched as draco giggled when crookshanks tail swiped across draco's nose. she smiled softly. "i'll tell you later. first off, i need you to distract draco."

harry spluttered as he dropped the notebook onto the seat next to her. "w-what? does that mean i have to spend time with him—alone?"

hermione rolled her eyes. "look, i have a surprise for him but he can't be here while i'm preparing it."

harry ducked down. "think you could hint something at me?"

hermione smiled. "remember when he asked about his piano lessons? he seemed pretty upset when i said it'll be on hold..."

harry's eyes lit up with understanding. he stood up straight then walked over to the blonde child. "hey draco, you like flying?"

draco nodded. "yes, but why?"

harry grinned and summoned his broom with his wand. "let's go out. hogwarts hosts a very impressive quidditch pitch."

draco's light eyes brightened even more as he gently pushed crooks to the side. "really? yes!"

harry laughed and held out his hand. draco stared at it for a little bit before he tentatively placed his own on it. harry pulled draco out and crooks even followed them out, his tail swishing high in the air.

when the door closed behind them, hermione started on her task. she rearranged the furniture and in the corner of the room she placed a quill down onto the floor.

after some complicated spell work she stepped back and admired her handiwork. sat in the corner was a grande, pitch black piano. magic still never failed to amaze her even after participating in a war.

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[i have nothing better to do so... triple update!]

wow, i am pleased with this part more than i should be. idk man. i just am.

so, next chapter will consist of little draco and his talent around the piano and maybe some other shit too.

-bee.