[Special] What Is the Malfoy Family's Magic? - Part 2/2
"I hate when she does that," Draco complained, not letting go of Hermione's hand until they turned the second corner of the corridor.
Or, more exactly...
Until Hermione finally realized that he was still holding it.
She slowly lowered her gaze toward their joined hands and felt her cheeks beginning to heat up again.
"Umm... Draco," she said softly.
"What?" he asked as he kept walking without looking back, as if he were more focused on getting away from his mother right now than on where he was going.
Hermione slightly raised the hand that was still trapped in his. Draco followed the movement with his eyes.
The two of them fell silent for a few seconds before immediately letting go of each other's hands, both obviously embarrassed. Draco tried to hide it by clearing his throat, although the slight reddish tint on his ears betrayed him. Hermione, meanwhile, could feel her cheeks completely burning.
"I was just trying to get you out of there. My mother, even if she doesn't look like it, can be rather... scheming sometimes," Draco clarified.
Hermione opened her mouth to deny it, since she didn't really believe Narcissa had that kind of mischievous side, but remembering those smiles she'd seen from her today, she decided it was better to stay quiet.
"Well..." Hermione slightly adjusted the sleeve of her robe. "Your mother was about to tell me something pretty interesting."
"No, she wasn't," Draco said, his expression turning more serious, but nervous at the same time.
It was an expression Hermione wasn't used to seeing on him and that, for some reason, she found rather... interesting.
"Yes, she was," she immediately said while staring directly at him.
"No," Draco said again in a drier tone.
"She was about to tell me what the Malfoys' special magic is," Hermione said, unable to stop a small amused smile from appearing on her face.
The moment Draco saw it, he quickly turned around and started walking faster.
But Hermione did the same, following closely behind him.
"So, what is it?" she asked, now genuinely interested.
"Nothing," Draco declared immediately without even turning to look at her.
"Your mother just said it exists," Hermione said, refusing to let the subject go. "And if you hadn't shown up and dragged me away, she probably would've told me by now," she added.
Draco made a slight grimace.
"How unfortunate."
Hermione narrowed her eyes with a somewhat teasing look. That only managed to make her even more curious.
"She said... you're embarrassed by it. Why are you embarrassed?" she suddenly asked.
Draco stopped for barely an instant, making Hermione almost walk straight into him.
"I'm not embarrassed by it," Draco said, turning around to look at her, only to immediately continue walking again.
The smile on Hermione's lips seemed to grow even wider.
"Then tell me what it is," she insisted.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to."
"Because you're embarrassed?"
"No."
"Then tell me."
"No."
"Then you're embarrassed," she continued, seeming to enjoy the changes in Draco's expression a little without even realizing it.
Draco turned around and stared directly at her.
Hermione kept a completely innocent expression, along with that teasing smile.
Draco looked like he was about to say something, but when he saw her face, he seemed to swallow the words and only let out:
"...You're unbearable."
Something he'd never said to her before, but Hermione, rather than taking offense, simply continued.
"That's not an answer either."
Draco started walking again.
Hermione immediately followed him.
"Is it dark magic?"
"No."
"A curse?"
"No."
"Something dangerous?"
"No."
"A combat ability?"
Draco let out a small scoff.
"Definitely not."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Then what is it for?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Does it have something to do with the mind?"
Draco kept walking.
"Emotions?"
Silence.
"Potions?"
Nothing.
"Transfiguration?"
Draco let out a tired sigh.
"You can keep asking the entire way and I'm not going to answer," he said.
"That means one of my questions was close," Hermione said with a satisfied smile.
"It means absolutely nothing," Draco said, turning his head toward her with a completely serious expression.
"Sure," Hermione said, smiling and nodding, obviously unconvinced.
Draco took a deep breath and continued on his way, trying to remain silent, but Hermione couldn't let it go.
"Was Nicolas Malfoy really proud of that magic?"
Draco grimaced again.
"Something like that," Draco admitted as he brought a hand to his forehead.
"And what did he use it for?"
"No."
"Come on, just tell me that much," Hermione insisted, taking a few quick steps beside Draco.
"No," he replied dryly. "Weren't you interested in fixing Daphne's love life? Why don't you go back to that?" Draco asked in a serious tone.
"Oh, that. I can leave it alone. Aunt Narcissa recommended it," Hermione said, blinking with a smile.
"Weren't you going to call our mothers Professor like you're supposed to?" Draco corrected her, staring directly at her.
"Oh, I'm going to try to stop obsessing over little things so I can pay attention to more interesting ones," Hermione said in a tone that didn't sound like her at all, but Draco could tell that was his mother's fault.
That made him narrow his eyes.
"We're going to be late," Draco said, turning around and heading through the castle doors that led out onto the grounds, in the direction of Hagrid's hut and Care of Magical Creatures class.
"No matter how much you try to hide it, I'm going to find out," Hermione said as she caught up with him again.
"You won't."
"Yes, I will."
"No."
"Your mother will tell me."
Draco immediately looked at her seriously, almost dangerously.
"Stay away from my mother."
Hermione knew Draco far too well to take that threat seriously and burst out laughing.
"Now I'm definitely going to ask her."
"Granger."
"Malfoy."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Draco was getting a massive headache. What the hell had his mother said to Hermione to make her completely change her personality?
Luckily for him, as they made their way across the grounds, they could already make out Harry in the distance.
And, half-hidden behind a bush...
Daphne.
Hermione immediately narrowed her eyes, and all her attention left Draco to focus on Daphne. She still hadn't forgotten about the bite.
Something that saved Draco and finally gave him a little break from her barrage of questions.
Daphne saw her too, went pale, and quickly turned around to escape from her friend, while Hermione picked up her pace to catch her.
Harry only gave them a brief glance before looking at his friend, who had an expression of complete exhaustion on his face, something a little unusual for him.
"What happened?" he couldn't help asking.
Draco calmly moved to stand beside him while they waited for class and simply said:
"Don't ask."
He really didn't feel like talking about it.
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Problems with a certain... family inheritance again?"
Draco shot him an icy glare.
"Shut up."
Meanwhile, the two of them could hear Hermione and Daphne arguing in the distance, while the other Ravenclaw students watched with interest.
"It was self-defense!"
"YOU BIT ME!"
"And I'll do it again!"
"Stop running away!"
Behind them, Hermione was already chasing Daphne again, while the latter used Terry as a shield, shaking him around in every direction.