When the Stars Fall

ELEVEN: Gryffindors' Discovery

Long platinum blonde hair spilled into his face, caressing his cheek like the softest silk. Draco held his breath, and opened his eyes wider. To his surprise his mother was standing over him. Looking upon him with the strangest expression on her face. She smiled at him, the smile reaching her dark blue eyes, and she took in a deep breath as though she were in awe of him.

"My beautiful son, the only thing I'm ever allowed to love again. I've been a fool, and you are to pay the price. You've eyes like your father's, but that can never be known," she whispered tenderly, and then she gently ran her fingers down his forehead and over his eyes.

He closed his eyes instinctively and felt her lips lightly caress them and then she spoke again, "You will have my eyes until the day I die, and only then will you know the truth. I only hope it won't be too late for you. Defy the man you know to be your father. Don't be a fool like me and believe in the purity of blood. Blood is nothing anymore; even the Dark Lord is a half-blood. Follow your heart, because from this moment on, my heart will be cold, and I can be of no use to you. It is safer that way, because he takes away all that I might love. He will want to take you away from me soon. Be the spirit of the dragon for which you're named. Create your own paths."

Someone spoke, a familiar voice belonging to a woman. "So it's true Narcissa? You've born Lucius a child."

Narcissa looked down at Draco again and let out a deep breath. "No, Minerva, and you must keep my secrets. Please, no one is to know, especially my son...and his father."

"This boy has a difficult path ahead. He will be raised to be obedient. Do you think he'll be able to betray the only father he's ever known?" Minerva asked.

"I hope so. He's my last hope. Now, please, hurry. Go before Lucius returns. If he knows a friend of Dumbledore's has been here, it will be the death of me," Narcissa spoke gravely.

There was a loud cracking sound as Minerva disapparated from the room. Narcissa bent over Draco once again and drew her hand lightly across his cheek.

"All will present itself in good time. One day you will know the truth, I swear it," she whispered as tears formed behind her eyes and when she closed them a single drop fell and landed on his cheek where her feathery touch had just been. She straightened up and then drifted from the room...

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Draco sat up, breathing hard. He looked down beside him, at Hermione's sleeping form, and took in a shuddering breath. Then stretching, yawning, and groaning, Draco Malfoy woke up. He settled back down on the mattress and then wrapped his arms around Hermione and drew her close against him. She stirred, but didn't wake up as he held her close against him. He ran his hand through her hair and thought back to the dream he'd had. Had it really happened? His mother had actually acted like she cared for him, and who was that Minerva woman? His mother couldn't have meant Professor McGonagall?

Suddenly realization hit him as he realized that he was in the Gryffindors seventh year girls' dormitory. He was just about to wake up Hermione when someone snatched the bed curtains aside and a piercing shriek, like a banshee's, filled the room. Hermione sat up in a panic and Draco reached for his robes, dressing as quickly as possible. As Draco was adjusting his robes, the door of the dormitory was flung open by Professor McGonagall, who was surrounded by a score of Gryffindors.

"Lavender Brown, why are you..." McGonagall paused as she stared open-mouthed at Draco for a moment and then quickly regained composure. "Mr. Malfoy! What is the meaning of this? Can you explain why you are in a girls' dormitory in Gryffindor tower? And that is quite enough Miss Brown."

Lavender took a deep breath and then spoke hoarsely, "He was in Hermione's bed! She was asleep and he was...holding her."

"Will someone give me a reasonable explanation? And Mr. Malfoy, how did you get in here?" McGonagall asked, a look of reprimand and curiosity battling for dominance on her face.

Hermione piped up before Draco got a chance to. "I gave him the password, Professor. You see Draco and I are..." However, Hermione couldn't finish.

"Well, do continue Miss Granger. I'm anxious to know why you told a student from another house the password to Gryffindor tower. You know this is explicitly against the rules," McGonagall spat out harshly.

"Her proper name of address is Mrs. Malfoy, Professor. As for you explanation, I wanted to sleep with her, so that I could be assured of her safety. My father, when he finds out, will not be pleased by my marriage and may pose as a threat to my wife," Draco spoke calmly, but it was a deadly calm.

"What are you saying? There are no records of a marriage between any Hogwarts' students. Especially not between the two of you! Hogwarts would have been notified had there been, because of the rules regarding married students," McGonagall said curtly.

Hermione held out her left hand, palm up, guiltily and looked down at the floor. She felt as though she'd betrayed everything that Gryffindor stood for. Just then Ron and Harry appeared at the door, having pushed their way through the crowd of Gryffindors. They looked from McGonagall to Hermione and Draco and then they looked at each other and shook their heads. It looked as though Hermione and Draco were in for a world of trouble and McGonagall had to be the one to go and uncover the whole deal.

"Hermione, why'd you go and let him in? You're supposed to be the sensible one," Ron said.

"Shut up," she hissed.

It was too late though; the damage had already been done. McGonagall looked at Ron and Harry and then at the Hermione and Draco and then she looked behind her, as though noticing the gathering of Gryffindors behind her for the first time.

"Right, well Miss Granger, I mean Mrs. Malfoy, you and Mr. Malfoy will be called to my office later in the day to discuss the matter of the school rules as they pertain to your situation and you Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley will be accompanying Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy to my office, because I also need to speak with you. That is all. Everyone get dressed and then go directly to breakfast. And I do not wish to hear another word about it!" she snapped.

Draco put his arms around Hermione's shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze, before adding sarcastically, "I think that went rather well."

"Everyone is going to think I'm pregnant. At least the mystery of your summer whereabouts has finally been solved though," Hermione spoke in resignation.

Ron looked at the couple and then said, "I can understand why she would need to see you two, but what do me and Harry have to do with anything?"

"We are her friends, aren't we?" Harry spoke up finally.

Harry looked as though he wanted to say more, but he wasn't given the chance, because suddenly Ginny Weasley had walked through the door to confirm what she'd just heard. She saw Draco's arms around Hermione and something in her snapped.

"How could you? He's a Slytherin, and look at the kind of man his father is! Hermione, you're better than he will ever be. Did he trick you into marrying him or curse you or anything? You can't have married him under normal circumstances!"

"Oh, Ginny, you knew how I felt about him..."

"No!" Ginny cut her off, "That was just silly talk! You were supposed to marry Ron so that we could be sisters! You never marry your foes. You're allowed to admire their looks, but never follow through. I just thought it was a crush. Please tell me it was some jinx he put on you!"

Hermione's knees went weak. Draco caught her before she fell to her knees and then he looked at Ron's little sister and said, "There was nothing dishonorable about the vows that Hermione and I took. We were open and honest about the terms of our marriage, although I'll admit it was hasty, and some of those terms have changed, we knew what we were getting into; at least we knew the basics."

Ginny launched herself at Draco, but Harry caught her around the waist and held her back, while Draco sat Hermione down on her bed.

"You hate her and what she is, and she knows that, so what did you do or say to make her care more for a prat like you, than for a chance at happiness?" Ginny spat.

"Excuse me?" Draco spoke haughtily and then turned to Ron, "You should put a leash on that wildcat sister of yours."

Ron drew back his fist and it was about to meet Draco's face when Harry said, "Ginny, Hermione loves him. We can't make that choice for her. She can love whomever she chooses. We, as her friends, need to be strong enough to accept that. And Ron, just ignore him if he gets to you."

Draco, face full of surprise, looked at Harry. "Wow, Potter, I'm impressed. I can't believe you took up for me."

"If she's willing to do it, then I can manage this one time. Just tell me one thing," Harry paused and then continued at Draco's nod, "Do you love her, because we're her friends, she means a lot to us, and I don't know about Ginny or Ron, but I have to know if you really love her."

Draco looked down at the floor for a moment and then turned to Hermione. His immediate answer was a yes, but he realized what Harry meant. Of course Draco loved the sacrifice Hermione had made, and waking up with her in his arms was good too. As he looked at her he thought about how it was before her, and how it was without her, and realized that he didn't want that. She was all he could think about, and he didn't always think about making love to her or holding her. Sometimes he simply thought of something funny and wanted to tell her, or he wanted to hear her voice just for the sake of hearing it, even if she was scolding him.

He looked at Potter, his blue eyes meeting Harry's green ones and then spoke with absolute certainty, "I love her more than you'll ever know. I couldn't imagine my life without her, and I don't know how I made it through life before I met her. Are you happy now that you've gotten a confession out of me, Potter? Like seeing me vulnerable?"

Ron and Ginny gaped at Draco. Harry noticed the change in Ginny and finally thought it safe to release her. That was all that needed to be said. No one knew what else to say. With that Ginny, Ron, and Harry left the dormitory. Hermione quickly dressed and then she and Draco left the dormitory and then Gryffindor tower and walked to Great Hall together. Once they were in Great Hall all the Hogwarts students looked up at them and eyes widened in shock as jaws dropped. Draco walked with Hermione over to the Gryffindor table and then took a seat beside her.

Soon breakfast began and the silence was filled with the sounds of students eating ever-crunchy cornflakes and sighing over plump juicy sausages. Still, Draco and Hermione felt the eyes of the entire Slytherin table on them, as well as the eyes students from other houses. They looked over at the staff table and noticed Snape regard them with raised eyebrows. It was obvious that their cover was blown.

Still it was a relief to be out in the open with their secret. After breakfast Draco and Hermione parted. She had Herbology first period with the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors and the seventh year Hufflepuffs. Draco had Professor Flitwick's Charms class with the rest of the seventh year Slytherins and the seventh year Ravenclaws. When they had a class together, they met in the corridor just outside of the classroom and then walked in together hand in hand and took a seat at the same table.

The Slytherins were not pleased by the new development with their "golden boy" having married a mudblood, and Pansy Parkinson was the loudest to voice her opinion. Of course all of the Gryffindors were stunned as well. Hardly anyone could believe that pureblood Draco Malfoy and muggle-born Hermione Granger had gotten married. Gryffindors' discovery had become common knowledge by the time breakfast had ended and by the end of the day everyone was wondering why Malfoy and Granger had gotten married.

There were several vicious rumors going around. Hermione had bewitched him. Draco had forced himself upon her and then did the honorable thing after having found out she was pregnant. Draco had cast the Imperious Curse on Hermione. Rumors spread like wildfire, but the rumors were too outrageous and Draco and Hermione looked too comfortable together for any hexes or foul play to be involved in their union.

Of course fate still loomed ahead in the forms of Professors McGonagall and Snape. They still hadn't been called to McGonagall's office and Hermione seemed to recall a certain agreement they'd made with Snape. So once they had their conference with McGonagall, they could expect a summons from Snape to further discuss a formal ceremony...