Draco and Harry: Escorts

Chapter Seven

The flight back to the outskirts of London was a bit strained. Ron and Hermione were barely speaking and she had even refused to ride with the angry Weasley. Instead, she climbed onto the back of Harry's broom without a word. Ron had ignored Harry's apologetic look and snapped into the air.

Malfoy had refrained from outwardly smirking, although Harry could see the satisfied glint in his eyes. Draco had also made an effort not to be quite so friendly to Hermione. He had still given her a pleasant smile, but had stopped telling her how fetching she looked, thank goodness.

It took some searching before they found the proper location. For one thing, the purple leaves were beginning to turn a pinkish color in the early September air and it had been awhile since Harry and Draco had visited the place. In addition, they had only been there the one time, staying only long enough for a romantic interlude.

Harry and Draco were both quiet when they dismounted from their brooms. They gave each other amused glances. Harry flushed at the memory and Malfoy chuckled wickedly, drawing Hermione's puzzled gaze.

They decided to split up in order to find the null-flying zone, which seemed to have shifted its location from where they expected to find it. Hermione stayed with Harry as they walked through the grove and onto a small meadow bedecked with bright clover. He thought she might be in the mood to talk, but she remained pensive and quiet. Harry kept walking, floating his broom in the air and watching to see if it would drop at the advent of a nullifying field.

Hermione finally spoke up. "I forgot to give you these."

Harry paused and looked at her curiously as she held out her hand. He reached out and blinked in surprise when she dropped several matching buttons into his hand. For a moment, his mind spun guiltily.

"I found them in Malfoy's drawing room. I would have given them to him directly, but someone would probably accuse me of lascivious behavior," she said and her voice rose toward the end.

Harry swallowed and pocketed the incriminating fasteners.

"You don't think I'm in love with Malfoy, do you, Harry?" she asked. Harry tried to force out a denial, but the words stuck in his throat. How could she not be in love with Malfoy? As Vincent Crabbe had once told him: Everyone loves Draco once they get past the walls.

He was about to blurt out to Hermione that he loved Draco, but his promise to the blonde Slytherin came back to haunt him. He couldn't say anything without Malfoy's leave.

"The important thing is what you think, Hermione," he said finally.

"Well, I certainly don't think I'm in love with Malfoy," she muttered. "I mean, it's been nice having him act like a human being recently, and he is unbelievably good looking--God, do not tell Ron I said that--!"

She broke off when Harry's broom dropped to the ground.

"We found it!" she cried.

Harry stepped back and cast a quick Patronus to call Draco and Ron. While they waited, Hermione looked at him seriously.

"I'm not in love with Malfoy," she said adamantly. Harry wondered if she were trying to convince him, or herself.

Draco found them first, streaking out of the clear sky like a silver shot. He slammed to a halt just shy of the null zone and hopped lightly off his broom with a devastating smile. His platinum hair was wind-tousled and he shook it out of his grey eyes with a casual toss of his head.

Harry felt his heart do a slow roll and he noticed Hermione fairly gaping at Malfoy. He scowled. Not in love with him? Ron flew up then and dismounted. Hermione watched him coldly, but at least she no longer ogled Harry's Slytherin.

"All right," Draco said. "Let's follow this thing and see how large it is. We will want to cast the spell in the very center of the field."

The nullification field turned out to be relatively small--only a few acres across, which was perfect for their purposes. They regrouped and spread out the materials they had brought, which mainly consisted of healing herbs: rosemary, ginseng, ginger, peony, and salvia. They had brought an assortment of candles, incense, and a set of etched runic charms.

They stood in the approximate center of the field and Harry and Ron watched while Draco and Hermione cast a rudimentary purification circle and edged it with a sprinkling of herbs. When that was finished, they muttered several spells and tapped the runic cubes before placing them strategically within the circle.

"Let's join hands," Hermione suggested. She took Ron's hand and then Harry's while giving Ron a defiant look. Harry took Draco's hand and grinned when Ron and Malfoy slapped their remaining hands together and then clenched them tightly in a silent battle of strength. "Feel free to stop acting like children so we may continue," Hermione went on with an annoyed timbre to her voice.

The two rivals relaxed slightly and Hermione began to chant. Harry waited until the proper moment and then picked it up, adding his voice in a counterpoint. Draco joined in next, adding yet another layer. Finally, Ron chanted in a fourth cadence. The words of the spell quickly charged the air and Harry felt a growing energy begin to crackle within their small circle. They continued the chant, building the power until Harry felt the hair begin to stand up on the back of his neck. The pressure became almost painful.

They all stopped speaking at once and Hermione breathed, "Now!" The four of them pulled out their wands and held the points together while yelling the triggering words of the spell.

Energy blasted into the air and Harry felt it surge through him and beyond. They stood breathlessly for a moment, waiting. Time ticked on and the late summer landscape did not change. Harry let out a breath.

Draco summoned his broom and let it go. It fell to the ground. He made a sound of frustration.

"Maybe it takes time," Hermione suggested. Malfoy sighed explosively.

"Then we wait," he said.

"How long?" Harry asked.

"Until morning? And then we try something else."

"Shall we go back to London?"

Draco shook his head. "I won't. I want to stay here in case it has a delayed effect."

"I'll stay too, then," Harry decided.

"Me, too," Hermione added with a glance at Ron, who shrugged.

"Whatever," Ron said.

ooOoo

Hermione gave up staring into the fire across from silent Ron and went to find Harry. She knew if she tried talking to her husband again they would end up in a screaming match. Ronald had a tendency to brood and sulk for a few days after every argument before apologizing and making up. It could be annoying, but she was used to it. If she could just hold onto her patience that long.

She expected to find Harry and Draco at the site of the spell, but they were nowhere to be found. She waited for a short time to see if there were any visible effect on the nullification field, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. She cast a flying spell at a nearby stick and sent it across the field, but it dropped a few feet away.

Hermione scowled and wondered what had gone wrong with the spell. She reviewed everything they had done, step by step. Maybe a variation of the third chant would help--instead of a purification spell, maybe they should use a healing charm. She needed to talk to Draco and see if he had any ideas.

Hermione walked back into the grove of trees with their oddly colored leaves. The sun was going down and it would be getting cool soon. Malfoy had set up the tent and prepared them a quick dinner before ducking into the trees with the excuse of checking on the spell. Harry had bolted shortly thereafter, probably to give Hermione and Ron time alone, not realizing it was a bad idea at this juncture.

She paused for a moment, wondering where they could have gone. She listened intently and finally heard the low hum of voices. Hermione saw a small path leading through a cluster of trees and pushed her way through until she spotted a clover-filled clearing similar to the one she and Harry had traversed earlier. She halted suddenly when she spied Draco and Harry lying on the clover. For a moment, she thought they were hurt and nearly rushed forward, but then she heard Harry's amused voice, though she could not make out his words.

Draco lay flat upon his back on his spread-out cloak, partially turned away from her vantage. Harry's head rested on Malfoy's stomach as though it were a pillow. A long stem of oat grass twirled idly in his right hand and his left gestured upward. Hermione could scarcely process the odd scene--she could not remember Harry ever being so casually close to anyone before--not even Ron or herself. It was even more peculiar to see Malfoy allowing such contact.

She nearly stepped out and spoke, but then Draco's hand reached up and caught Harry's. Hermione's breath caught in her throat as their fingers slowly interlocked and everything suddenly slammed into place. How could she have been so stupid? As she watched, Malfoy's other hand idly fluffed Harry's disheveled locks with a tender caress.

She backed away quickly, trying to be silent; on the verge of panic. It all made sense--the searching looks, the quickly silenced words, the shared glances of amusement, the... buttons. Oh God, the buttons everywhere because they... they... She nearly laughed hysterically at the way Harry had looked at her when she tried to deny falling in love with Malfoy. He must have thought her completely clueless.

Hermione stumbled out of the grove and back to the fire where Ron had just finished tossing another lump of wood into the coals. A red spray of cinders shot up, illuminating Ron's face when he looked at her in sudden concern. He sprang forward and grabbed her arms.

"Hermione! What's wrong?" he demanded. She did laugh then, a trifle madly.

"You were worried about me falling for Malfoy," she said with a giggle. Ron's grip tightened on her arm.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"It's Harry. He's in love with Harry. And vice-versa," she said. Strangely, the words served to calm her instead of adding to her hysteria. Aloud, it did not sound nearly so odd. The feeling of unreality was beginning to subside.

"What?"

Hermione sighed and wished she had not blurted it out to Ron.

"Draco and Harry are in love. With each other," she said bluntly.

"It can't be," Ron denied hoarsely.

"It is. I feel like an idiot for not having noticed sooner."

"But... but..." Ron's hands dropped away from her arms and his eyes went far away. Hermione nodded, assuming Ron was replaying the past few days in his mind. To her amazement, his fists clenched suddenly. "That bastard!" he snarled through his teeth. "I'll kill him."

Hermione reached out and grabbed a handful of Ron's shirt. "Kill who?" she asked in alarm, although she already knew the answer.

"Malfoy, of course. He had to have cast some sort of spell on Harry--some Imperius or something!"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think so, Ron. I think it just... happened."

"How do you know?" he snapped with an icy glare.

Because it nearly happened to me, she wanted to answer, but couldn't. Ron saw it in her eyes anyway.

"If that son of a bitch thinks he can take everyone important to me, he's got another bloody thing coming," Ron said with conviction and tore his shirt out of her grasp. He stalked to his broom and Hermione hurried after him.

"Wait, Ron! Just wait!"

But he mounted his broom and sped off in the direction of London, leaving Hermione staring after him with a deep sense of foreboding.