Bride of the HP Dragon

Saturday morning.

"Do you want to eat that?"

Hermione didn't immediately realize that Ginny was talking to her, until the younger girl touched her arm lightly: "Are you okay?"

That's a good question, Hermione thought, before replying, "Sorry, Ginny, I got distracted."

Ginny smiled considerately: "You're not the only one, look at this hall, everyone is poking the food on their plates boredly."

It's true, most of the students look bored, but there are a few senior Hufflepuffs who clearly appear to be out of sorts by staying up into the wee hours of the morning at the school's banned common room parties I don't go to bed until four o'clock.

Such parties were strictly forbidden without the Headmaster's approval, but Blaise and Hermione made it easy because Ernie Macmillan had promised to look after everything.In fact, except for a broken chair and a fourth-grade boy with a raccoon tail, the other students involved are pretty safe.

"When will we have pancakes in the morning on a non-celebration weekend?" Ginny was confused.

"No way," said Hermione, regretting that she couldn't enjoy the food in front of her at all. She usually likes pancakes. "It must be a special treat at the end of this melancholy school year." She pushed her plate to Ginny. , and then looked at Ginny happily.

"You really don't want to keep some?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shook her head: "You can eat, to be honest, I just need to fill my eyes."

There was a flu epidemic in the castle, and maybe she had caught it.Ron was getting a stuffy nose and Ginny's sore throat was slowly coming back.The whole school year was coming to an end with coughs and colds, the atmosphere seemed restless and boring, and the whole castle was shrouded in an ambiguous atmosphere.

A third of the students have already left school, certainly not because of the flu.Some parents, especially wizarding ones, don't feel the need to keep their children away from home during these extraordinary times, and this belief has been around since Hermione's fifth year.Meanwhile, others were content to keep their children in the safety of Hogwarts as long as possible, wisely aware that as long as Albus Dumbledore was in the headmaster's seat, the school might be possible for them. is the safest place.

Hermione looked back at the Gryffindor table.As usual, Parvati and her fellow Ravenclaw sisters were gone.Lavender read the latest issue of "Wizard Weekly" with a yawn, but his face was visibly gloomy.The rest of the seventh year, Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ron, Harry and herself.Harry and Seamus' relationship was never fully mended after the events of fifth year, though lately the boys have been trying to be polite to each other because of Ginny.It wasn't until Seamus agreed to reconcile with Harry that Ginny was willing to start thinking about Seamus.To Ron's dismay, Seamus actually did.

Ron generally would not let any of Ginny's suitors go. He thought that most men, including himself, were actually full of pornographic waste.

A little further down the table sat Luna, this time with Gryffindor again.She was concentrating and cheerfully talking to Neville, who seemed a little nervous.Hermione could barely hear snippets: "Only when it's dark, not when you're full."

Hermione smiled slightly, wishing Merlin to bless Luna, the girl was always unwilling to stop asking about the DA's secret meeting, even though the future of this organization was already very uncertain.

In fact, many things feel unclear from the fifth year.

The monthly Order of the Phoenix meeting at Grimmauld Place has been postponed since that month.Dumbledore's reinstatement at the Wizengamot and Arthur Weasley's frenzied efforts to call various Ministry meetings have made the Headmaster a busy man.In the morning he and Professor Lupine left, although the whole school knew what was going on, because Thursday evening was the prelude to the full moon.

"I know you're thinking the same thing as I am now," Ron whispered to Hermione, his mouth full of pancakes, as they sat facing each other.

"Well," responded Hermione, who at one point was even pleased that Harry was busy bragging to Ginny about his wonderful Quidditch feats over the past few years, "but let's not talk about it, Ronald, the situation has changed." Bad enough."

"I bet Harry's bothered about that too," insisted Ron.His brows knit together in a deep frown: "Didn't you notice how panicked the professors were when the Dark Mark appeared in the Forbidden Forest? I'll tell you what I think, no matter what Voldemort is planning to do." What a dirty scheme, it's already been set in motion. It's going to be our first year at Hogwarts, and Harry doesn't have to... you know."

"Don't have to fight the Dark Lord?" Hermione said blankly.

"Yes."

"That's a really good thing, Ron." She watched him pour more jam on his breakfast pancakes.

"Boredom and peace happen to be what I want right now, which means I don't have to worry about you guys. Harry deserves a little peace and quiet, and I'm sure Dumbledore won't upset him."

"Anyway, I guess today's going to be an interesting day," Ron commented, looking over Hermione's shoulder.

"Why do you say that?"

He nodded towards the long table in Slytherin: "Look for yourself, Malfoy is coming."

He was coming in front of everyone, walking towards them, towards her.What the hell is he doing?If Hermione hadn't given up her breakfast to Ginny, she would have stared at her breakfast and pretended not to think about anything else.

"Hi!" Draco's friendly attitude made Hermione suspicious immediately. He stood behind her, but said to Harry, "Potter, can I talk to you."

Something was definitely going on, and Hermione noticed that Lisa Dupin, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, and Zacharias Smith, the Hufflepuff captain, were at the entrance to the Great Hall.Both looked expectantly in Harry's direction, with excited expressions on their faces.

Draco sat down, and Harry clearly recognized that Draco was behaving strangely.He was about to grab something from the bowl with the spoon and put it in his mouth, but now his hand stopped in mid-air.

"I'm used to these situations," Draco explained, tapping his fingers on his arm: "Usually I get two answers 'OK, Malfoy, what are you going to say' or just tell me to go away. .”

"You can go, Malfoy," Harry demanded with his mouth full of pancakes.

That didn't stop Draco, who glanced quickly at Hermione while apparently waiting for Harry to swallow his food: "Granger, you're looking wild this morning, your comb isn't working again." ?”

"It's a little too early for magic, what do you think?" Ginny interrupted abruptly, without asking anyone specifically.Her hand stopped stirring the coffee and turned to playing with the wand in her hand.

"Oh, little Weasley," Draco said with a sideways look at her, "you do look quite decent, unlike someone else. I must say my players are very interested in your morning run on the grounds, you know Yeah, that's the only reason why lazy players wake up at seven on weekends."

Ron's face flushed as expected, and that was the yellow crap he used to warn Ginny: "Malfoy, don't stare at my sister, (and) I'll blow your head off."

"You mean don't stare at your sister, (otherwise) you'll blow my head off," Draco kindly corrected the grammar. (Translator's Note: Ron's grammatical error is in the brackets. He used and, and this sentence is obviously a conditional sentence rather than a parallel sentence.)

"I made my point clear!" Ron retorted.

Hermione rolled her eyes, as long as things related to Malfoy were often out of control.The other students looked over: "Shut up, Ron. Malfoy, if you want to talk to Harry, just say it straight. And about Ginny, my answer is that it's late Well, a charm is a good thing, if some people want to try it."

Draco smiled indifferently: "I'm here to ask if Potter and his idiot Quidditch team would be interested in playing a friendly match."

"Who's the opponent?" Harry was so curious that he ignored the word "fool": "The season is over."

"And visiting Oro," Draco replied, looking pleased with that.The other students who were within the eavesdropping distance immediately whispered excitedly: "I have informed Du Ping and Smith this morning, and Mrs. Hooch said that if all the captains agree within today, then we can temporarily organize A game." Draco inspected the table, which was lightly stained with sticky jam, looked a little disgusted, and immediately moved his elbow away. "Obviously, the last days before leaving school are a bit dreary, so the school decided to allow the students to have a little fun..."

"You see, there's no objection," Neville interjected.

Draco looked casually at the long table where Neville sat, as if Neville was a new addition to the pile of Flobberworms on the Gryffindor long table.

"Then we'll meet in Mrs. Hooch's office after breakfast," Draco told Harry. "Remember to bring the list of players."

He stood up to leave, gestured to dust the dust off his robes, and threw a very light round object on Hermione's lap.

Hermione was startled and almost dropped the teacup in her hand.

Luckily, the others were too excited to hear about the upcoming Quidditch match against Oro that they didn't notice that Draco had managed to deliver a message to Hermione right in front of everyone's noses.

The words friendly games and Quidditch don't usually appear in the same sentence.

The four Quidditch captains gathered in Mrs Hooch's musty office after breakfast were fully aware of this fact.The game was more entertaining than competitive, but given that the Oro players were at Hogwarts at one point or another, schoolgoers can look forward to a derby.

"This is fantastic," Lisa Dupin said.

It was great, and interesting, and Draco realized that lately he'd almost forgotten what those words meant.

Dupin and Smith were discussing the lineup of the Oro team, and Mrs. Hooch had just seriously asked them to circulate it for viewing.

"It says Henry Williamson will be the batsman, and my sister still tells us stories about him breaking the keeper's nose at least once a year..." Dupin told the others with concern.

Smith looked sullen: "My goalie and backup goalie are all gone."

Mrs. Hooch believes that all Hogwarts players, whether regular or substitute, have a fair chance of selection.Names will be drawn randomly from a hat.In theory, if alternates were included, there would be three candidates for each position on the Hogwarts team.But in fact, a considerable number of players have gone home.

"Lisa, may I assume that Beth Pennywise is too sick to be a suitor?" asked Mrs. Hooch.

Du Pin nodded: "She was very depressed because of this, but Madam Pomfrey asked her to stay in bed for another week."

Gore is also out. His broken leg is recovering well, but he won't be able to make it four days later.

"Well, then," sighed Mrs. Hooch, "we might be beaten like chickens... Now if you four put your names in the hats too, we'll be able to decide where."

It so happened that Smith was the pursuer, Dupin was the batsman, and as for Draco and Harry, they played in the same position.

"We only need a Seeker." Du Ping felt that the fateful moment was coming.

"Thank you, Lisa. After playing Quidditch for six years and being the captain for another two years, I have been obsessed with this sport since I was three years old. I have forgotten the fact that there is only one Seeker." Draco spat out the words lightly.

Dupin narrowed his eyes and muttered a few curse words, Harry sneered approvingly.Considering that Draco had only flirted with the mighty Dupin a little while ago, Harry didn't intend to find out if the two were really hostile to each other.

Leaving aside her academy background, Draco found Dupin intellectually the equivalent of a pile of oatmeal mush, but had to admit that she was perhaps the most physically gifted girl he'd dated.

Draco's attention, as usual, was focused on his high desire for Quidditch, but it slowly faded away.As Harry started whining, and since such things are usually amusing, Draco turned resignedly into the conversation.

"Mrs. Hooch, no, please, don't say it."

Mrs. Hooch's face was full of sympathy: "I'm sorry, Harry, but you are suspended."

"What!" Harry growled.

"Speak well if you have something to say, don't spit on the stars..." Du Ping muttered, and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"Who said the suspension?" Draco asked Mrs. Hooch curiously.

"Professor Snape's proposal, I'm afraid the headmaster agreed."

Harry started walking up and down the tiny office: "I can't believe it! Do you know how boring I've been lately? The idea of ​​this competition is really good, but I can't enter! There's no danger Yes, it's all Snape's wild imagination!"

"Professor Snape!" Draco corrected him, looking very happy.

"Uh..." Smith interrupted suddenly: "Harry, the whole thing is that Lucius Malfoy's wand is in the Forbidden Forest. Professor Dumbledore has already declared that the wand was most likely stolen by Death Eaters, Who knows what sinister intentions they have?"

"Yes, but I'm not in danger." Harry told Zacharias a little excitedly: "For me, this whole school year has been nothing to do!"

Draco happened to disagree, "Mrs. Hooch, it's not that I'm complaining. If you're worried about Potter being shot down in the air, don't the rest of us deserve to be sacrificed?"

"Okay!" Harry poured out his frustration at Draco, "Malfoy, you're easy to get noticed in the air now. You're like a big, shiny, obnoxious… ..." He struggled for words: "Pigeons! Can't even fly in a straight line!"

Draco lowered his face, Harry's words may have revealed some facts, but the easiest way to arouse Draco's anger is to question his Quidditch level, Draco's eyes showed a deep blue Come.

"If anyone looked like a fat pigeon, it was you, Potter."

Harry sneered fearfully, like Snape: "Oh, nice counterattack, Malfoy."

"Oh, like some genius swearing at people with pigeons?" Draco spat.

"Oh, boys," cried Mrs. Hooch sensibly, "it's no use arguing about it."

But Harry didn't finish his sentence: "Seriously speaking, it's not our family who are driven by the Dark Mark to do some dirty things like snakes. If anyone is going to be suspended, it should be him!"

The flesh on Draco's jaw twitched: "That's a dragon, not a snake, you ignorant fool! Or did you happen to not hear Dumbledore's great speech on Wednesday? He said the whole fucking thing It is not my fault!"

If the topic wasn't about a serious Quidditch match, it would have been fun to watch Mrs Hooch roll up the players list and slam Draco's arm.The loud tap distracted people's attention: "Mr. Malfoy, because of your remarks, Slytherin will deduct 15 points!"

"Fuck off, you go to hell." Harry hissed Draco in Parseltongue, and the effect was immediate.Dupin and Smith looked uncomfortable, while Mrs. Hooch was livid.Although she didn't know what Harry said, she could guess from experience.

"You're going to fuck off, Scarhead!" Draco said in Goblin (Note: Gobbledeegook, the language of Gringotts goblins, is a harsh and uncomfortable way of speaking, old Barty C. Rauch and Dumbledore are the most famous non-elf goblin whisperers.) shot back, but given that the language sounds like a comic gibberish, it doesn't have the creepy effect of Parseltongue.

"Mr. Potter, Gryffindor House also deducted 15 points," Mrs. Hooch reprimanded with extreme disappointment with the two children.She has always been very indulgent to her Quidditch captains, but using this kind of evil language attack to test the bottom line is far from the original intention of the competition.

"If you don't apologize for your actions within 1 minute, each will deduct another 20 points. To be honest, it's been seven years, and you should at least learn to pretend to be in harmony."

Harry looked like he'd rather be chewing on broken glass, but he managed to mutter, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hooch," Draco said, but he didn't sound remorseful.

Dupin seemed impatient with the lack of progress in the meeting: "Can't we just write down the Seeker's name and draw fairly, Mrs Hooch? Harry has at least a one in seven chance of being selected, can't he?" She Asked: "Let's pick out a name and see who we want."

Mrs. Hooch hurriedly agreed, and after taking a deep breath, she reached into the old hat and pulled out a note with her name on it.

"Our Seeker is," the four captains waited for her to open the note, and her expression well interpreted a word when she pronounced the name-"untold hardships".

"Draco Malfoy."

Screaming and celebrating victory was not a typical Slytherin quality, and Draco's most glorious display was nothing more than a long sigh of contented joy.