Chimera

Chapter 38

It took Draco three attempts before he could force his fist to make contact with the brightly-painted door. In the window, he could see Crookshanks eyeing him warily from behind flowery curtains. Music was playing inside, with the sound of a little girl singing along off-key. When no-one answered immediately, he turned and hurried back down the path. His hand was on the gate when he heard the door swing open behind him.

"Hi," Hermione said, shyly. "Come on in."

She looked as tired as he felt. Clearly she hadn't slept much either. Dark shadows hung under her eyes, matching the ones Draco had seen in his mirror that morning. Taking a deep breath and straightening his posture, Draco walked back up to the house.

"Good morning," he said. His voice sounded cracked and strained.

"Come in."

They walked into the living room. Althea sat cross-legged on the floor next to the coffee table, with papers and crayons strewn everywhere. Storm snored quietly in a dog bed nearby. Althea looked up at them both with a curious expression.

"Allie, this is Draco. He's, uh, well he's..."

"A friend from England," Draco cut in smoothly. His charming, Malfoy-persona was in full force, masking his nervousness. "It's nice to meet you, young lady."

"Is he not a stranger anymore?" Althea asked, looking sharply at her mother.

"No, sweetie," Hermione replied. A strained laugh escaped her lips. "Excuse me, I need to...go."

She turned and rushed out of the room. As the door swung open and closed, it revealed a dining room and kitchen beyond. Draco stared after her, wondering if it would be better or worse to follow.

"Would you like to draw with me?" Althea said, cutting through his jumbled thoughts.

"Uh, sure."

Draco sat on the floor next to her, and Althea solemnly handed him a clean piece of paper. He doodled while he watched her. Her forehead wrinkled and she stuck her tongue between her teeth as she concentrated on her picture. Her expression was so like Hermione's that Draco couldn't help smiling.

"Me and Mam are going digging for pirate treasure today," Althea was telling Draco when Hermione returned. "Do you want to come with us?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude..."

"It's no bother," Hermione quietly assured him. "We're having a picnic lunch though, is that ok?"

"So long as you're sure?"

"Positive. Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, right?"

"You remembered?" Draco laughed incredulously.

"It's actually Allie's favourite too," Hermione said. She gave him a pained smile. "I always thought that was a weird coincidence."

Hermione turned and rushed back out of the room before he couple reply.

"I don't like the bread crusties," Althea told Draco. "My friend at school, she's called Fiona, she said that her mam told her it'll make her hair curly. But mine is already curly!"

Althea tugged on one of her corkscrew curls, straightening it and watching it spring back. Draco grinned at her and picked up another piece of paper to draw on.

"Mam gets her hair straightened at the hairdressers," Althea continued, carefully selecting a crayon. "But she says I'm too little to do that yet."

"I imagine she's right," Draco nodded. "She usually is!"

They continued to draw, with Althea chattering merrily to Draco. She talked non-stop about every topic that popped into her head. Apparently last week she had wanted to be an archaeologist, but that had since been supplanted by her dreams of piracy.

"Finished!" Althea crowed. She draped herself over Draco's shoulders and showed him picture. "Look! There's me, and Mam, and you, and Crooksie, and Storm!"

Althea had drawn the beach, with three stick-figures and two misshapen animals. The sun smiled happily down on them from a blue sky not often seen in Northern Ireland.

"I'm finished too, look."

Draco moved Althea's picture aside to show his underneath. A pirate ship cut through crashing waves and a little mermaid swam alongside it. Althea shrieked in delight as she recognised her cloud of curls and brown complexion.

"You need to draw you and Mam," she commanded, pointing at the pirate ship.

Draco bowed in assent, a difficult feat with a small child hanging onto him. Althea giggled and watched him add two people sailing the ship.

"Here, this is for you," Draco said.

"Thank you! You can have this one."

"Aw, that's sweet, thank you, but you should keep both pictures," Draco pushed himself to his feet. "And I'm going to see if Herm...er, your mum wants any help."

"She talked your ear off yet?" Hermione asked when Draco went into the kitchen.

"Just about," Draco laughed. "She definitely takes after you, doesn't she?"

Hermione glared at him, gripping the butter knife in her hand tightly.

"I meant in a good way," Draco quickly reassured her. "Thank you for letting me come and meet her, that means a lot. And really, if you'd rather it just be you two on your adventure..."

"I said it's fine."

When they returned to the living room, Draco's picture had been placed on the mantelpiece. Althea's drawing was nowhere to be seen.

Draco wandered over to the shelves stuffed with children's books. They were all clearly much read and well-loved. Althea ambled over, her arms half in her coat.

"These are mine. I really like books. But I like Mam's stories more. She tells the best stories! My favourite is the one about the pirate ship that rose up from the lake, full of children from the Frozen Lands."

"Is that right?" Draco said, shooting Hermione a look. "Which lake is that?"

Hermione wouldn't meet his eyes.

"The one at the magic school of course! I love those stories. I really like the one about the giant who hatched a baby dragon in his wooden house." Althea collapsed into giggles.

"I knew it," Draco whispered. "I knew I wasn't imagining things!"

"What?"

"Nothing," Draco said. He tweaked Althea's nose. "Do you need help?"

"Yes please. I think I got muddled."

Althea frowned down at her coat. Somehow she'd got it upside down and inside out. From Hermione's exasperated sigh, this was a regular occurrence.

"If you'd put it away properly when you were done, this wouldn't happen," Hermione reminded her as Draco helped Althea figure her coat out.

Althea rolled her eyes conspiratorially at Draco. She slipped off to tug her boots on. Storm stood by the door, holding her leash in her mouth.

"Guess everyone's ready to go!" Hermione said.

Draco picked up his coat from the arm of the sofa. Hermione opened a cupboard, then bit her lip and looked guiltily at Draco. He walked over to see what was wrong.

"So, I, er, borrowed this...that next morning..." Hermione whispered, pointing to an old coat of Draco's. "I meant to give it back, I really did, I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine," Draco cut in. He could see Hermione didn't have any other coat, although Althea had several. "It was too small for me anyway. Keep it."

Hermione didn't move, chewing her nail anxiously. Draco took the coat off the peg and helped her into it. She moved mechanically, not meeting his eyes. Draco stepped away to help Althea carry things to the car, and to let Hermione compose herself.