In the Eye of the Dragon

In the Eye of the Dragon
Chapter Five

Since the next day was Saturday, and since Draco knew the Gryffindor Quidditch team had an early practice, he headed to the kitchens and had the house elfs arrange a picnic breakfast for him.

He met Hermione in the entrance hall as she came down the marble staircase for breakfast.

“Hey. I thought since we didn’t get any homework done last night we could go outside and finish it this morning.” He held up the basket, showing her the contents. She smiled.

“Alright. Let me go get my books, and I’ll meet you back here.” She left quickly and Draco took a quick look around. No one had seen the exchange, and for that he was grateful. Hermione arrived back a few minutes later with her bag and a thick cloak. “It’s still December,” she said in explanation.

They walked out into the grounds and found a small cluster of trees not too far from the lake. The ground inside the small circle formed by the trees was clear, but was still quite cold. When Hermione pointed this out, Draco just smirked and pulled out a large, heavy quilt from the basket and laid it on the ground. After they had sat down, Draco again pulled out another blanket, this time woolen, and he motioned to Hermione to sit next to him so he could wrap it around them.

Once they had gotten settled, Draco emptied the rest of the basket. Hermione watched in surprise as he revealed a small pot of porridge, a container of steaming apple cider, another of hot chocolate, a stack of toast, and a rhubarb stew, along with bowls, plates, utensils, and mugs. They worked their way slowly and silently through the food.

“So was this actually supposed to be for homework?” Hermione asked as they were sipping hot chocolate.

“Well, kinda. You had a rough night yesterday, so I wanted to do something to make you feel better. As for the homework, we can do that later in the library.”

Hermione laughed. “This was incredibly sweet of you Draco. Thank you.” She shuffled closer to him and brought the blanket tighter around her. He set down his now-empty mug and put his arm around her again, and to his great happiness, she relaxed and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Draco,” she asked a while later, “what made you respect me in the first place?”

“Well, for one, you didn’t take any of the crap I was giving you. At least, you didn’t seem to. But it showed that you were more confident, and that you were making it impossible for me to burn you. Insulting you lost it’s appeal because of it, cause I couldn’t get a rise out of you. Secondly, you ignored me the first bit of the year, and I’m not used to being ignored, even by people I hate, so it made me realize that not everyone cares what I’m doing. And you were the only one. And last, because after reading your notes that one time in Transfiguration, I noticed the detail and effort you put into your work, which I completely respect.” Hermione didn’t reply, only nodded her head, which he felt on his shoulder.

“Hermione, we should probably be getting back up to the school. Can I meet you at the library at one o’clock?”

“Of course,” she said, and smiled at him. They got rid of the remaining food and packed the blankets back into the basket.

***

Just before one o’clock, Draco got up from his favourite chair in the library and went to his and Hermione’s corner. She arrived a few minutes later.

“Hey, Draco. Sorry I’m a bit late.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just reading. What do you want to start on?”

“Let’s do that Potions assignment. Sounds easy enough.”

“Alright.”

“Oh, and Draco?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for breakfast, again.”