THE PHOENIX

Chapter Fifteen


The next morning Draco woke up to an empty bed. He was about to rush and get dressed when Hermione, fully dressed for the day and a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, came into the room. She handed it to him and smiled. “It was nice waking up with you next to me this morning,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

He grinned. “It would have been nicer if you were still here,” he said putting down his coffee and trying to pull her back to bed.

She laughed and pulled back. “No way. We’ll never get out of bed if I come back.”

“That’s the whole idea.”

“Come on, I am starving for breakfast, then I believe we have a race to partake in,” she said cheekily, then left Draco alone to drink his coffee and get dressed.


Once in the Great Hall, Professor Snape handed out some hang-over potion to the seventh years and a few professors who attended the party across the lake.

Draco and Hermione sat at the guest table with Sirius, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, and Blaise. Hermione ate quickly then stood up. “I need to check over my bike and maybe do a lap or two before the race. I want to try out the new bike in this race,” she said taking a last sip of her orange juice.

“Why don’t we just call it a draw,” Draco suggested hopefully.

“Scared Malfoy?” Hermione smirked.

“I wasn’t before, until I found out that I would be racing against the Phoenix,” he said jokingly.

“Well, I’m not backing down,” she said smiling and leaned down to give him a fleeting kiss on the mouth. “I promise to go easy on you,” she said impishly as Draco watched her jean clad bottom leave the Hall.

He wasn’t the only one watching Hermione. Pansy, Millicent, and Suzanne got up when Hermione did and started to follow her out of the Great Hall. “Are you sure about this Pansy?” Millicent asked nervously as she followed the other two.

“She’s alone, without her cheering squad. It’s perfect,” Pansy sneered.

“She fought alone before,” Suzanne added nervously, “all three of us.”

Severus had seen the three Slytherin girls get up when Hermione did, and made his way out the side entrance to come around to the hallway outside of the Great Hall. He had overheard their conversation and strode over to them. “Girls, I hope you don’t intend on going through with that threat of yours. The Headmaster may not be so lenient on the next fight that takes place on school grounds.”

Pansy glared at Hermione who was just going through the front doors, then looked to her head of house. “I promise not to fight on school grounds Professor,” she said pasting a innocent look on her face.

“Good. Now off with you,” he waved them away as he went back to the Great Hall to let Sirius and Remus on the danger to Hermione from his students.

Pansy sneered at the back of the professor. “He didn’t say anything of fighting off the grounds. Come on, she’s up to something and I want to find out what it is,” she said as they rushed outside, soon catching sight of Hermione.

They followed Hermione to the tent where the bikes were and waited outside of it until Hermione came out about a half hour later. They hunched down as she wheeled the silver bike out and watched as she kneeled down to check something at the side.

“Pans...” Millicent started to say before her mouth was covered by Suzanne's hand. For it was at the same time that the three of them saw the phoenix tattoo on Hermione’s lower back as her shirt lifted at the back when she leaned over.

Hermione oblivious to the three girls, then straddled her bike as she zipped up her leather jacket, put her phoenix helmet on, and adjusted her gloves before she started up the bike to head for the track.

Pansy had a calculating look on her face. “Interesting. Draco doesn’t like secrets being kept from him. When he finds out his mudblood girlfriend is hiding this, he’ll be sure to dump her,” she said smiling sadistically, “and I’ll be sure to be there to comfort him in his time of need.” The three of them went in search of Draco to supposedly break his heart.

They had looked everywhere for him but couldn’t find him. They finally found him as he sat at his bike, close to the start line of the track, while Blaise was checking over his bike one last time.

“Uh....Draco,” Pansy said coming closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, “I have some rather disturbing news about your mud..... girlfriend.”

Draco looked up at her after shrugging her hand off his shoulder. “Oh...and what would that be Pansy?”

“She’s lying to you.”

He stood up and stood in front of Pansy as he watched Hermione and Harry wheel her bike to the start line. “And what would she be lying to me about?” he asked dangerously.

Meanwhile, Goyle and Crabbe were standing by Draco and Blaise and watched as Hermione wheeled the bike over. They nudged Draco from his other side. “Draco....do you realize who’s bike that is?” Crabbe asked.

Draco looked at Crabbe. “Yes,” he said smirking then looked to Pansy who was glaring at Hermione. “What were you saying Pansy?”

Pansy looked back to Draco. “She’s lying to you....she’s this Phoenix person. We saw the tattoo.”

Hermione was listening to Pansy getting worked up as she adjusted her chaps and slipped on her leather jacket. She smirked and walked over to Draco and leaned over to kiss him on them mouth, “hey Draco....ready?”

“But....” Pansy stuttered.

Draco glared to Pansy, “Pansy....I already know that Hermione and Phoenix are the same person. You haven’t told me anything I don’t already know.”

Pansy gave a very threatening glare to both Hermione and Draco and stormed off, followed by Millicent and Suzanne, while Crabbe and Goyle were gawking at Hermione.

She then saw them looking at her. “What?” She asked grinning.

“Are you really the Phoenix?” Goyle asked.

“Yes,” she said. It looked like they still didn’t believe her so she lifted up the back of her shirt and jacket to show them the tattoo. “How did you think I knew your name when I signed the magazine Vincent?” she said smirking, then turned to Harry who handed the helmet to her.

“Okay....Draco. What should we wager this time?” she asked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Why don’t you both write it down, then the winner finds out at the end,” Blaise said.

They both agreed and wrote down their wager, both smiling to themselves. They handed them to Blaise as they put their gloves on.

Draco caught Harry’s eye and nodded him over while Hermione was pulling her hair back with the bandana. He waited until Harry was on the other side of the bike beside Blaise. “Harry, can you put a protective charm around Hermione’s bike?” he asked quietly.

“Probably.....why?” Harry asked.

“I don’t trust Pansy not to try anything,” he said as he put his helmet on.

“Sure,” Harry said as he watched them position themselves at the start line. Harry stood with Blaise and said the spell to protect them and pocketed his wand.

“Maybe you should do Draco too, just to be sure,” Blaise said.

“Already did,” Harry grinned. “So what did they wager?”

Blaise opened both of the slips of paper. “Interesting,” he smirked then handed them to Harry.

“You know, they both win either way,” Harry commented.

Blaise laughed, “I’ve never seen a couple like that, like they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m happy for her. She deserves it,” Harry said.

“Well, I’m going to round up a few Slytherins to keep an eye out for Pansy, so she doesn’t try anything,” Blaise said, then saluted as he went to talk to Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry then went in search of Lavender, Ron, and Ginny to watch the race. He found them sitting with Sirius, Remus, and Snape along with some of the other bikers. He sat behind Lavender on the bench as he relayed what had happened.

“You think Pansy getting her ass kicked would make her back off from Hermione,” Ginny said.

“Ah.....but she’s a Slytherin. She’ll find another way of retribution,” Snape said. “I’m afraid Miss Granger only infuriated her even more after the fight.”

“Isn’t there anything that can be done about her?” Lavender asked.

“Not unless she fights on school property again, or inflicts serious harm on another person, I’m afraid,” Snape said sighing, not liking the fact that his hands were tied on this matter.

“So....” Sirius said smiling. “Who do you think will win?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“My bets on Hermione,” Remus said.

“She could get a bit of a run from Draco....he’s been riding a motorbike since he was able to reach the handlebars,” Snape said smiling. “His father did not approve of it, so he rode mostly when he stayed with me during the summers.”

“Do you ride?” Remus asked trying to get used to this more laid back Severus Snape.

“A bit. Draco and I have some dirt bikes at my estate we ride around on,” Severus replied smirking at the faces around him who were all looking at him. “What?! I’m not the snarky greasy git all the time you know,” he added and grinned at the red faces of the students around him.

The students were saved from commenting on that last remark when the bikes could be heard revving their engines and waited until for the signal for the race to start.


Hermione took off with Draco beside her. Her mind was flipping back and forth....win or let him win. They were to do three laps around the school. The first lap she tried to keep pace with him, not letting the full speed of the bike go.

Draco glanced to Hermione as she pretty well rode beside him the first lap. He knew what she was doing. He motioned for her to stop about half way through the second lap. They rode to the side where there were no people watching except from the air. He lifted his helmet to look at her sternly. “Hermione, I know what you’re doing.”

She took off her helmet. “What are you talking about? What am I doing?” she asked innocently.

“You’re holding back. You’re not going to prove anything to me if you let me win,” he said sitting back on the seat to look disapprovingly at her.

She nodded her head. “Fine ..... no holding back,” she smiled. “Besides, there’s a wager at stake here, isn’t there?” she grinned, before putting her helmet back on.

Once they were both ready, they revved up their bikes and nodded to each other. The race was back on.

Hermione kept pace with him the rest of lap two. At the start of the third she leaned into her bike a bit more and shifted gears as she picked up speed. After the first corner, she glanced back to see him a couple of bike lengths back from her.

As they were nearing the finish line, there was a bigger crowd, as by now, the students of Hogwarts had found out that Hermione was none other than the Phoenix. Some of them couldn’t quite believe it and wanted to see for themselves.

Hermione was the first to cross the finish line as she geared down while slowing down. Then turned her bike around to see Draco coming about twenty seconds later.

He slowed his bike down to stop at her side, his front wheel to her back. He took off his helmet and grinned at Hermione who took off her helmet also. “I didn’t have a chance, did I?” he asked.

She smirked, “No. Not really.” And reached over to hook her fingers through the top of his jacket. “Now, I believe you owe me,” she said and kissed his waiting lips, letting them linger there. She pulled back sucking on his bottom lip.

“So, what do I owe you?” he asked huskily.

Blaise handed him the piece of parchment and read it quietly, “a night in my bed...no ties.” He looked into her eyes and brought his hand to the side of her face to pull her closer. “Tonight?” he asked.

She nodded and they shared another kiss before being interrupted by a nudge from Harry and Blaise. She pulled away reluctantly. “What was your wager?” she asked Draco. She was handed the other piece of parchment and read it quietly, “remember our first night? Well it’s my turn.” She looked up and smiled. “We’ll see about this another night. It sounds.....promising.”

Dean from Gryffindor spoke up to get their attention. “Hermione, are you really the Phoenix?” At her nod, he continued to ask, “I still find it hard to believe....I mean you look the same racing, but what about the stunts the Phoenix did the other day?”

“Dean, if I did the same thing, would that prove it to you?” she asked. He nodded, as well as a lot of the other students.

“You don’t have to prove anything Hermione,” Draco said glaring at Dean.

Glen had moved up in the crowd had had heard the last comment from Draco. “You know Hermione, I wouldn’t mind some shots of that anyway for the article and picture layout.”

Hermione looked to Glen and the others that stood around her. “Okay, fine. But if you don’t believe me after this, then....tough,” she said smiling to soften the harsh words.

She put her helmet back on and rode to the far end of the track. She revved up her bike and switched gears to start off. She leaned back, riding on the back tire for most of the length, then leaned forward to bring the back end up as she rode on the front tire until she was back near the crowd. She maneuvered the bike to turn on the front tire until she was facing them, then slowly lowered the bike to slowly come back to Draco’s side.

She got off her bike to put her helmet on the seat, unzipped her jacket to lift the back of it up, revealing the tattoo. She smirked to Dean, not really put out that she had to prove herself. “So....do you believe it now?”

Dean nodded his head, “sorry Hermione...it’s just that it was hard to put you two together as the same person, especially thinking back to those pictures you posed for in the muggle magazine.”

“No problem,” she said smiling as she felt Draco’s arm go around her shoulders possessively.


The next couple of hours were spent watching the stunts on the brooms. Hermione sat with Draco as they watched the nerve-racking stunts from present and past students. There were quite a few professional quidditch players showing their stuff, Oliver Wood being one of them.

Hermione had seen Glen make his way to her seat and smiled warmly to him. “Hey Glen, you ever play?” she asked as she gestured to the pitch.

He sat down beside her. “No. Liked the books too much,” he smiled. “So, you all ready for this afternoon?”

“Yeah, I think so. Where is it going to be?”

“Dumbledore is letting us use an old classroom that has a lot of natural sunlight. We also charmed it a bit to look outdoorsy.

“Do you need the bike in the shots?”

“Actually.....how many do you own?” Glen asked.

“Three, including the one I won the other day.”

“Do you have them here?” Glen said looking to her.

“Yes.”

“I would like all three in the shots. Also....if possible to have Draco there again.”

Hermione looked to Draco who shrugged his shoulders, “sure, why not,” he replied.

“There is also a friend of mine who would like to interview you before the shoot, completely casual.”

“Where would the interview take place?” Hermione asked looking out to the pitch as the crowd applauded.

“Maybe in the Great Hall. They would like to interview the real you, so a few friends are welcome there also,” Glen said.

“Sure. So in about an hour?” Hermione asked.

Glen nodded and said he would see her later to introduce the journalist that would be doing the story, then left to do the last minute arrangements for the shoot. He thought they would turn out just as good as the Phoenix shots. Hermione was still very nice to look at in her natural state. He also had the copies of the pictures from the other shoot he needed to go over with Draco and Hermione. He thought they turned out even better than the muggle shots that were taken of her.


thanks to Lessa for beta-ing!