When the Stars Fall

SEVEN: Suspicion on the Hogwarts' Express

There was a loud knocking on the door. Hermione sat up and Draco groaned about it being too early. The knocking suddenly stopped. Hermione looked from Draco to the door, quickly got out of bed, pulled on a robe, and went to the door. She opened it enough to look through it, but the hall was empty. She closed the door, turned around and saw Draco pulling on a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt. After making sure the door was locked, she followed his example, by getting dressed. She decided to wear a red pleaded skirt cut just above the knee, a white blouse, and a black cardigan. Once they were finished dressing, they brushed their teeth, and then checked to make sure all of their things were packed.

Hermione left the room first, dragging her trunk behind her. Ron had just walked out of the room he was sharing with Harry. Ron looked as though he'd just woken up, but when he set his eyes on Hermione, they widened like saucers. He was speechless. He managed to say something about his dad getting a couple of cars to take them to the train station, muttered something about Malfoy, and then he took her trunk downstairs.

Once Ron was gone she tapped on her door and Draco came out carrying his trunk, or rather, the trunk the Granger's had given him. She squeezed past him and shut the door. As she turned around she saw that Draco had put his trunk down and was looking at her. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. He put his arms around her and leaned down to kiss her. Their lips barely brushed when they heard Mr. Weasley say, "Ah, Draco, there you are-" followed by, "What are you doing to her?! Hermione, are you all right?"

Draco let her go reluctantly and then picked his trunk up again as he looked at Mr. Weasley. Hermione was blushing as she told Mr. Weasley that everything was fine. He looked warily at Draco, and then informed Draco that he was riding with them, due to explicit orders from the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley did not look pleased by the arrangement. With that said, Draco went downstairs to load his trunk.

"You should go downstairs now. Almost time to go. With Draco downstairs, all the boys and Ginny are waiting on you and me. Well, go on, I'll be down in a moment," he said to Hermione and then after a pause added, "Just one thing though. That Malfoy boy, Draco, he's dangerous. He ran away from his home over the summer holiday. No one is sure where his loyalties lie and Lucius is quite angry with the boy. I don't know what's between the two of you, but be careful."

Hermione took a deep breath and held out her left hand, palm up. "I know where his loyalties lie. Please, Mr. Weasley, don't tell anyone. We're trying to keep it a secret. I'm going to tell Ron and Harry on the train."

Mr. Weasley looked at her, sadness in his kind blue eyes. "Oh, Hermione, its the rest of your life, its unbreakable, except by... Are their reasons? Molly would be more than happy to look after a baby while you finish school. Do you know the rule at Hogwarts about..."

"Yes, and I haven't told him yet, and there isn't a baby," Hermione answered.

"All the better. I always thought it would be Harry or Ron. I would have loved to have you in the family. Molly would've too. Oh, you're still family to us, but do be careful. There is no telling what Lucius will do when he finds out. No doubt Draco will be disowned. Now off to the car with you," Mr. Weasley said.

Hermione headed downstairs and ran into Harry. She nearly jumped. He looked at her, like he was trying to figure something out. A thought occurred to her, the invisibility cloak. What if he had been in the hall? Had he seen anything, heard anything? She knew she would have to explain herself on the train, now. She mentioned what Mr. Weasley said about leaving for the train station soon. Harry nodded and they went downstairs and walked to the cars together.

As Harry and Hermione stepped out of the Leaky Caldron, Draco looked up. Ron was glaring at Draco and Ginny already in the first car. All of the trunks were loaded. Ron's owl Pigwidgeon was making a fuss as usual, and Harry's owl, Hedwig, watched Pig in disdain. Luckily the cages separated the two birds, because Hedwig was highly annoyed by the small gray bit of an owl that was owned by Ron. Hermione's cat, a ginger colored fur ball, named Crookshanks was in Ginny Weasley's lap being cuddled mercilessly. Hermione looked at the cat and felt guilty about her lack of attention towards him.

She turned to face Draco when she heard his voice in her mind. What was that about an invisibility cloak?

Nothing, but I think Harry suspects. Mr. Weasley knows, but it's okay. We've got to tell Harry and Ron before they find out on their own. She answered back.

"Tell us what, Hermione?" Ron asked, and his glare towards Draco filled with suspicion.

Hermione looked at him in shock. "You could hear that?"

"It was kind of hard to miss, and how does Malfoy know about the invisibility cloak?" Harry said.

"How could you intrude on our conversation? We weren't speaking; we were exchanging thoughts. Potter, Weasley, what do you know?" Draco's voice demanded an answer.

Before Harry or Ron had a chance to speak, Mr. Weasley came out of the Leaky Caldron. He told Harry and Ron to ride in the first car with Ginny, while Draco and Hermione rode in the second car with him. Ron looked at his dad, tempted to ask for an explanation, but thought the better of it and got into the first car with Harry. As the first car took off for the train station, Hermione, Draco, and Mr. Weasley got into the second one. During the drive Mr. Weasley talked to the couple about what happened over the summer, and then he brought up the subject that Hermione dreaded. The Hogwarts' rule regarding married students required that married students be in the same house.

"Did you know about this?" Draco asked Hermione.

She looked down at her hands and nodded. "I've read Hogwarts a History so many times that I know it, from cover to cover, by heart. There has only been one time where a student has had to change houses. A Ravenclaw married a Hufflepuff nearly three hundred years ago."

"The Slytherins would eat you alive. Another reason to keep our marriage a secret. Are you sure we should trust Potter and Weasley? You know what they will do the moment you say you married me," he said.

"My dad hit you," Hermione said with a wince.

Draco shook his head. "That's different. You, your mum, and dad are the only the family I have now. Potter and Weasley on the other hand..."

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat. Draco looked at him and smirked. "You can well imagine the intense disliking your son and I have built over the years. I remember a certain time before my second year at Hogwarts when you hit my father."

Mr. Weasley's ears grew bright red. "Yes, well, your father and I have had our differences and look at what he gave my daughter. She was almost killed."

"I've taken that into consideration. I wish I could make amends, but as is you don't trust me, so how can you expect your son to trust me? I've always followed in my father's footsteps, but I started getting squeamish when I overheard him plotting to kill Hermione. That was why I ran away. I knew her, and I am no killer. Then by some strange twist of fate she saved me, from my father and myself. You don't have to trust me, but you can trust her. Look at what she has done for me. I owe her much more than my life. She's my salvation. I would have most certainly died if left to my father's footsteps," Draco said.

Mr. Weasley looked at the boy with platinum blond hair, his blue eyes wide as he looked the boy up and down. "Those are brave words. You're more of a man than your father ever will be."

"I have a reason to be brave," Draco said and then looked at Hermione before continuing. "And... Well... I'm sorry for all the things I've said over the years. Money and privilege really aren't everything. You couldn't begin to imagine what I would have given for a family like yours. I didn't realize it until living with Hermione this past holiday. I regret it all."

Mr. Weasley's eyes widened. He'd never heard a Malfoy so sincere or humbled. This boy was an almost completely different person from the boy he expected the son of Lucius Malfoy to be. All those years inside a cold and shallow boy lay a real heart. Mr. Weasley could hardly belief it. And the boy had changed because of one girl. It was truly amazing.

Finally the car stopped. The three passengers got out, Draco and Mr. Weasley got out the two trunks while Hermione got a cart for the luggage. Harry and Ron were waiting at the train station entrance, their eyes locked on Malfoy and Hermione. Soon Hermione and Draco's trunks were loaded and they joined Ron, Ginny, and Harry in the train station. As people boarded trains at platforms nine and ten the Hogwarts students and Mr. Weasley entered platform nine and three quarters.

The bright red Hogwarts Express was already at the platform and being loaded. Ron and Harry heaved their trunks onto the train, and then came back to help Hermione and Ginny get their trunks on board. Draco got his own trunk onboard, and then they all headed toward the compartment toward the back of the train. As they headed back, Ginny got distracted by Lavender, and went to talk to the girl, leaving Harry and Ron carrying their owls and Hermione carrying Crookshanks to the compartment in the back. To make things even stranger was the fact that Draco was following Hermione. Once they were all safely in the compartment Harry closed the door and locked it and then looked at Hermione and Draco. Ron was also looking at the pair suspiciously.

"Now, who is going to tell us what's going on? Why is Malfoy being so nice all of sudden, and why were you snogging him in the hallway?" Harry asked Hermione.

Her eyes widened in anger, as she began to poke him angrily in the chest with her index finger. "I should have known you were in the hallway wearing that bloody cloak! How dare you spy on me!"

Ron's eyes were bulging and his mouth hung open as he gazed at Hermione. When he recovered he said, "YOU were snogging MALFOY?!"

"And what's wrong with kissing me?" Draco snarled.

"Oh, I'll give you something to kiss!" Ron growled.

Hermione stepped between them and glared at them both. "Will the two of you stop it? Ron, Draco, sit NOW! Harry, there's something I need to tell you and Ron. You're not going to like it, but it was my choice. It's done and it can't be undone."

All the fight left Ron. He slumped onto one of the seats in the compartment. "Oh, Hermione, what did he do to you? Is there anything we can do? He's right here. We can curse him if you want."

"I don't want him cursed! Do you honestly think he could have forced himself on me? That's not what I meant."

"You said there wasn't a baby. I heard you tell that to Mr. Weasley. So what is it?" Harry asked.

"You eavesdrop too, Potter?" Draco said incredulously, "Not bad enough that you intrude in our thoughts, but you go and eavesdrop too?"

Harry glared at him and said, "Keep in mind where we are Malfoy. Your bodyguards aren't here."

"He doesn't need them, because you're aren't going to hurt my husband, Harry. I mean it! Neither of you are hurting one hair on his head!" Hermione snapped, all of her patience gone.

"WHAT?!" Harry and Ron shouted together.

"You've got to be joking!" Ron said.

Malfoy smirked, "No, she's not. We got married a couple of weeks after summer holiday began."

"I thought pureblood Malfoys didn't marry muggle borns," Ron stated matter of factly.

"If it makes you feel any better, my father cleaned out my bank account after I ran away, and when he finds out that I married Hermione, I'll be disowned."

Harry looked at Ron and Malfoy and then turned to a very flustered Hermione. "Hermione, can I talk to you in the hallway. Ron, Malfoy, I want to talk to her alone."

She nodded and then turned to her husband and her friend. "No fighting while we're out. I mean it! One spell and I'll hex you both!"

She followed Harry into the hallway and then into the compartment across from the one that held Ron and Draco. He made sure the compartment was empty and then shut the door behind him. He looked at Hermione, sighed, and ran a hair through his dark disheveled hair.

"Tell me what happened. I want to know everything, and can the marriage be undone. Some kind of divorce or separation?" Harry asked.

Tears formed behind her eyes as she looked up at Harry. "We did a Lunari ceremony. The only witness at our wedding was the moon. It's one of the most powerful marriage ceremonies. No witnesses are needed and the only way to end the marriage is for one of us to die. I did it to save his life. And, Merlin help me, I love him. I love him, Harry."

Harry looked at her with sadness in his bright green eyes. He listened carefully as she told him how she'd found Draco at her door, about the wedding a couple of nights later. She left nothing out. When she'd told him everything she collapsed back into a seat and looked up at Harry expectantly.

"I could have seen you falling for Snape. He is a professor after all, and it would have been understandable for you to have fallen for a professor, even Snape, but you and Draco just leaves me completely baffled," he said.

She started to giggle and then began laughing out right. "Me marry Snape? Are you mad?"

"Well, look who you ended up with!" he answered with a laugh of his own.

"Does this mean you're okay with it?" she asked on a more serious note.

He nodded. "It was your choice, and by some fiendish twist of fate you got stuck with Malfoy. He does seem different. It's almost like he's protective of you. Of course I'm not saying I understand it."

"Oh, Harry, there is one more thing..."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Don't tell anyone. Draco and I want to keep it secret. You see, if anyone found out one of us would have to switch houses. Married students must reside in the same house while they are in attendance at Hogwarts. We also want to keep this from Draco's father for as long as possible."

He nodded and then opened the door to the compartment. Hermione reluctantly stood up and crossed the hallway to the compartment where Draco and Ron were. It sounded as though Draco and Ron were talking civilly. Harry and Hermione exchanged a look and then entered the compartment. Both Ron and Draco looked up. Hermione noticed that Draco had his left hand out, palm up.

"You showed him our vow scar? Does he believe you?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded grimly. "Yes, and he promised that if I ever hurt you that he would personally free you from this curse, as well as free me from a few of my preferred select body parts."

Harry and Hermione looked around, wide-eyed, at the compartment and then at the boys and their clothes. The compartment looked the worst for the wear. Pigwidgeon's cage was overturned and the owl was squawking louder than usual, and Ron and Draco's clothes were rumpled. Hermione looked at them sternly and then in a scolding voice very similar to Professor McGonagall's, said, "I thought I said no fighting! Honestly, are you children or wizards?"

"Malfoy started it!"

"I did nothing of the sort!"

"I don't care who started it. Here are the ground rules. The marriage and Lunari ceremony are top secret. No more fighting with Draco. And please keep that bird of yours quiet Ron!" Hermione sounded tired, as she sat in the seat next to Draco.

He put his arm around her shoulder and drew her close against him so that her head rested against his shoulder. It wasn't long before she fell asleep. Draco leaned down and kissed the top of her head gently. Ron and Harry looked at the couple in shock. It was real. They also realized that Malfoy really cared for their friend. When Malfoy looked up he noticed that Potter and Weasley were staring at him. He sneered at them and sighed, knowing that he would be dealing with them all year long, as well as for the rest of his life. Things were not looking good from his perspective at that moment.

Harry and Ron left the compartment to look for the lunch trolley. They came across the trolley and Harry bought a little bit of everything. As they were headed back toward the compartment at the end of the train Ron spoke up.

"Do you think it's real?"

Harry sighed and turned to face Ron. "You know how Hermione reads up on everything. If she says the Lunari ceremony can't be undone, then that's that. She chose this. What can we do? You've seen the marks they have on their left hands."

Ron shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"Hermione loves him. I don't know why, but she does. She told me that."

"I think he cares for her too. He doesn't seem so bad. It's hard to believe that he's the same Malfoy that used to call her mudblood and make our lives miserable. Wonder what changed him," Ron asked.

A small smile crept across Harry's lips. "Hermione is enough to change anyone, she's brains, and well look at her in that skirt she was wearing!"

"You know, I could have seen her with anyone, but not Malfoy. I could have even seen her with Snape! But Malfoy? I never saw that coming."

"I told her the same thing."

"Good to know great minds think alike, Harry."

Harry nodded as they reached their compartment. The entered it and noticed immediately the two occupants. Malfoy had fallen asleep his head resting gently on Hermione's. He held her close against him as he dozed. Suddenly the door of the compartment swung open and Neville Longbottom walked in.

"Say Harry, Ron, have you seen Trevor..." he stopped speaking when he noticed Hermione in Malfoy's arms. He stared at them in shock. It was almost as though he were petrified.

"Is that Hermione and...Draco Malfoy?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes Neville, and you can't tell anyone you saw this. We haven't seen your toad. Sorry. We'll get you if we come across him," Harry answered.

Neville nodded and gave a half smile. "Thanks. Wouldn't know what to tell my Gran if I lost Trevor."

"We'll send him to you," Ron said, and with that Neville left.

Harry took that as his cue to wake up Malfoy and Hermione. The couple awoke with a start. They decided to put on their robes. Hermione went to the bathroom to change while the boys changed in the compartment. They were silent, and the room was filled with tension. Ron kept glancing over at Malfoy, wondering what in the devil Hermione saw in him. Once they were in their robes, they took a seat. A few minutes later Hermione rejoined them, her skirt, cardigan, and blouse hidden beneath the robes. They were all dressed in their Hogwarts robes.

The seating arrangement had changed however. Harry sat between Hermione and Malfoy, while Ron sat across from them. After a while Ginny joined them in the compartment. She sat by Ron and looked at Malfoy, wondering why he was in their compartment, since he'd always hated them. Crookshanks struggled in Ginny's arms until finally she had to turn him loose. The cat ended up jumping into Draco's lap. Draco managed a smile and stroked the cat, and the cat in turn purred.

The rest of the train ride went by uneventfully. Ron, Hermione, and Draco had to go to the prefect's compartment for the meeting prior to arriving at Hogwarts. Apparently a Ravenclaw girl, Morgana Sheehan, was this year's Head Girl, and the Head Boy was a Hufflepuff named Salvatore Aligieri. After the meeting Ron, Hermione, and Draco returned to the compartment where Harry and Ginny were. Luckily there were no run ins with Crabbe, Goyle, or any of the other Slytherins.

As soon as the train stopped Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Malfoy got off with the other Hogwarts' students. Harry shouted his usual greeting at Hagrid, and then the first years were being taken across the lake and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy got into one of the horseless carriages together. Ginny decided to ride with Lavender. Soon the carriages lurched forward. Excitement and dread of classes began to build in the four occupants of the carriage as every moment brought them closer to Hogwarts.