Dragon's Kiss

Draco yawned and stretched, reaching his long arms up to gently caress the velvety trappings of his bed before leaping out and surveying the room. It was freezing for one thing. And empty as well. He frowned, slightly puzzled, yet at the same time, glad to be alone. Huh. I'd forgotten it was the start of the holidays today, he realized, running a hand through his bed-spiked hair. He did a few more stretches and meandered over to the mirror.

His reflection gazed back at him, handsome as ever. His hand shifted from his hair to trace his chin, feeling the rough stubble of hair that reminded him he had yet to shave. His gray eyes looked tired but alert- his skin the same color as always. What makes me so different than people like Neville or Weasley...he caught himself wondering. Then the spell was broken as he laughed. God Draco, he thought to himself. You're turning into a regular old softie. He turned away from the mirror and as he did so, spotted for the first time a large, sleek, black barn own, sitting on top of his bed canopy, an official looking letter tied upon one claw.

Draco already knew where it was from. Home. He'd promised his parents to be back over the Christmas Break, but had purposely "missed" the train so as to avoid it. Rolling his eyes, he untied the letter, grabbed the owl by the legs and tossed him up, trusting him to find the open cathedral window that hid up in the rafters, letting in very little sunlight. He unrolled the letter and began to read:

Draco-

Mother's angry. She wanted you to come home. You know her. I however, NEEDED you to come home. We have things we need you to help us with...and how am I supposed to tell you the plan if you're not HERE? I am trusting that you will get your ass down to the Hogsmeade station and be home by tomorrow night. If not...expect a visit from ME!

There was no need to sign that letter. Draco already knew it was from his father. He sighed, tossing the letter onto his bedside table, and in a sudden gesture of anger and frustration, he kicked the very solid stone wall. Pain laced up his leg but Draco refused to let his face show any of it. He hobbled over to the mirror to see his face again, and was struck by the apparent Malfoy-ness of it all...The pain and anger filled eyes, the bright cheeks, the grimace of the mouth...

That really hurt, he whimpered in his mind, hopping on one foot as he cradled the other in his arms, still in front of the mirror. Well...someone's laughing right about now.

The door opened with a bang as Pansy popped her head in. "Draco?" she called, in a syrupy, singsong tone.

Surprised, Draco lost his balance and tipped over, landing on his back. Hoping she hadn't yet seen him, he used his elbows to propel himself underneath one of the beds. He'd gotten halfway under when Pansy caught sight of him.

"There you are, muffin!" she squealed, hop-skipping over to him and grabbing the foot he'd just kicked into the wall and pulling on it. Draco grabbed the bed frame to keep her from pulling him out any more, but Pansy was a little heartier than he'd thought. With an oof! she pulled him all the way out and let his leg drop with the rest of him on the floor. Good thing I don't sleep commando anymore, Draco thought, realizing he hadn't yet gotten dressed and was still in his emerald silk boxers. Haven't since that time Goyle tried to hop into bed with me... But you can see she's loving this, look at her face. He rolled away from her and vaulted up, his foot now throbbing. Draco ignored it.

"What do you want, Pansy?" he snapped, having no patience for the terrier-like girl.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me today..." she giggled and put a finger to her lips. "I won't tell Blaise..." she giggled again, her short, reddish, frizzy mop of hair shaking.

"I...uh...can't," Draco replied, his mind reeling for want of an excuse. "Because I...have to go home." He really hadn't planned on actually following his father's command, but as he thought more about it, he realized that if his father came to the school, he'd be likely to find Hermione... and she was someone that Draco especially didn't want his father to meet. Besides, the Malfoy library probably had loads of good research material that he could look up the Dragon's Kiss in. "Yeah...That's right. I missed the train yesterday, and now I have to go home." He hauled out one of his packing cases and began to toss in robes from the wardrobe.

"Oh...but Draco-" Pansy began.

"No, no!" he cut her off. "I have to go and visit my mother. She's ailing." Where did that come from Draco? His mind snapped. Mother's fine.

"Oh...poor baby I'll-"

Draco finished packing, snapped the case shut and put an arm around Pansy propelling her to the door. "You have a good day now!" he called, pushing her out and slamming the door shut behind her. He slumped against it, panting. Jesus...Finally she's gone! He pushed himself upright and dressed hastily, not wanting Pansy to come back in...or Blaise for that matter. He'd forgotten all about his girlfriend in the past few days. Almost a week now, he mused as he made his way through the almost empty common room, running a hand through his un-brushed hair again.

He made it out of the common room with no problem, and even managed to get out of the dungeons before someone caught sight of him. Walking briskly through the damp, dark, winding corridors, he at last stumbled upon the stairs up to the Great Hall. Without looking back, he hurried up them.

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"Look," Ginny jabbed her brother's best friend in the ribs. "Wonder where Malfoy's off to." She and Harry had just emerged from the Great Hall, where they been eating breakfast. Harry, who had immersed himself in his copy of the Daily Prophet as soon as he'd finished eating, looked up from an article about the current gnome population to see what Ginny was talking about.

Malfoy was standing in the middle of the Hall, fumbling with his case, which hadn't been packed properly and was now looking quite strained with the amount of content that had been haphazardly thrown into it. It appeared that Malfoy had forgotten to use a "pack-rite" charm before embarking upon his trip. Ginny giggled at the sight of him. Harry rolled his eyes and returned to his article.

"Come on!" Ginny whispered, grabbing his elbow. "Let's follow him!"

"Hate to break it to you, Gin," Harry replied, rolling his newspaper and dropping it into his bag. He caught hold of her face and pointed it toward Malfoy. "But he's not going anywhere." Ginny shook herself free.

"Well, it looks like he's going somewhere...we'll just follow him when he does start to move," she retorted, refusing to be daunted. "Now, follow me. You know your plans for the day won't equal whatever Malfoy's up to." She skirted the edge of the staircase, hunched over nearly double, and crouched by one of the banisters, pulling Harry down with her.

Meanwhile, Malfoy had made peace with his packing case, and was now hastily heading to the huge doors in the front of the Entrance Hall. Harry found himself jerked back upright and toted alongside Ginny as they hurried after him, taking care to stay as out of sight as possible.

They followed him all the way down to the Hogsmeade Ticket Platform, where Malfoy purchased one ticket to King's Cross Station. Then they followed him onto the train.

"Ginny!" Harry protested as the girl dragged him up the stairs and looked up and down the corridor for the silver-haired Slytherin. "This is ridiculous. We need to get off right now!"

"Oh, come on Harry!" Ginny wheedled, turning back to face him. "This is just a way to spend the afternoon. I mean, we'll get off befor-" with a rumble the engine began to fire up. A blast of steam relayed to the passengers that the Hogwarts Express was ready for departure.

"You were going to say 'before the train leaves' weren't you?" Harry asked dangerously. Ginny whimpered and didn't answer. "Curse it Gin!" he snapped, staring past her out the window as the train began to pick up speed. "Now we're stuck following Malfoy...if we choose to or not!"

"Well, well, well. Look who's decided to accompany me back home... It's Potter...and Weasley Two," Draco's cool voice chilled Harry's temper, and both he and Ginny turned to look at the other boy. "Won't you come in and join me?" he gestured mockingly at the compartment door, his eyes flashing slightly. No answer came from the other two. "Alright...I change that. Get yourselves in here and explain what the hell you're doing following me around.... NOW!"

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"Ugh..." Ron groaned as his eyes saw light for the first time in four days. "What happened?" he asked groggily, sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Not to worry about that dear...you just got into an accident on the Quidditch field. Now...up you go! Let's see how well you can walk." Madam Pomfrey's cheery voice throbbed in Ron's skull. "I can give you a potion for that headache if you want it dear...but it should go away in a few hours," she caught Ron as the tall boy's legs went out from under him. "I just gave you a potion to wake you up...you haven't been cured yet. Sit there dear...I'll go get the other things you need."

"Thank you," he replied quietly, his voice hoarse. He crumpled back onto the bed and lay staring at the rafters of the room.

At last the head nurse returned. "Here now, sit up again young man, and I'll see what I can do." Gently she spoon-fed Ron the assorted syrups and tonics until at last Ron felt back to normal. "Now...I'll bet you're feeling better, aren't you?" Ron nodded slowly. "Good. You're bound to be feeling tired in a few hours though, so for the next few days, take it easy, rest often and don't tax yourself to much. You should be up and about by Christmas. If not, come back to me and I'll see what else I can give you." She surveyed Ron one last time. "Now out with you!" she said, shooing him out the heavy door. "I hope not to see you again for a while...but I know that won't be the case. Stay out of trouble!" And with that, the door slammed shut.

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Hermione dreamed:

She was lying, still in her hospital gown on the hospital bed, which was quite uncomfortable. Draco sat at her side, tracing designs on the palm of her hand and smirking in his usual old way. She sat up groggily.

"What's going on? Where am I?" she asked him. He made no reply, just finished tracing the design. At last he was finished. Hermione pulled her hand back and looked at her palm. What he had done was not a design after all...but a poem of sorts...a spell.

In the darkest hour,

You lie alone,

I am with you

Though not in body.

I will not let you go.

She stared at him. "What is this?" she asked, cradling her palm to her heart.

Don't worry about it just yet...it's simply something to remember me by..." he smirked again. "And don't expect a lovey-dovey note and a romantic me every time I come and visit you...this is beginning to grate on my nerves." He stood up, and disappeared.

Hermione stared once more at her palm, memorizing the words. I will not let you go...go where? She wondered...And since when have you been holding on to me?

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