A Reason To Be

It had come to him in his sleep. Draco had been lying in bed, recovering from the hangover he had acquired the night before. He was extremely thankful that the student body had yet to return from their holiday break, if it was possible to make his headache worse that would have done it. As he had lain in bed, an idea pushed its way through his pounding headache. He was wondering if there was anything to be done about Hermione. Doctors had done all that they could but Draco was thinking on a more supernatural level. Then it hit him…Firenze. Draco never put any faith in Professor Trelawney’s abilities; he had always thought she was a hack. Firenze however, was different. Draco had picked himself up and out of bed, dressed, and made his way down to Firenze’s rooms. Hours later, well into the evening, Draco felt his headache getting worse.

“Is there a reason that the girl could not have been brought downstairs to me?” Firenze asked annoyed. Draco had pleaded and finally convinced the centaur to traverse the four flights of stairs to come and see Hermione. This was no easy task. Common sense suggested that centaurs and stairs did not mix at all. They were too large and it was difficult to navigate the stairs with four legs. The steps were steep; a single hoof could barely fit on a step. He moved extremely slowly, arms outstretched slightly at his sides to give him balance.

“Madam Pomfrey insisted that she could not be removed from the hospital wing.” Draco replied. He was a few steps ahead of Firenze. He climbed the stairs backwards so that he could watch Firenze. He had his wand out and ready, he figured if Firenze stumbled he could levitate the centaur so he would no fall down the staircase to his death. Firenze grunted at Draco’s answer and kept moving. One step at a time they made their way up the stairs. When he had caught sight of the moving staircases, Firenze had been ready to go right back down the stairs but Draco explained that they would just time it so they were not moving when they were climbing them.

Four flights of stairs and a half an hour later, the two made it to the doors of the hospital wing. Draco pushed them open and found that the room, as usual was empty except for Hermione. Draco motioned for Firenze to come in and follow him. They went over to the girl in the bed. Draco stood at the side, leaning on his chair while the centaur stood at the foot of her bed. He looked down at her small, motionless form, but said nothing. Draco’s gaze went back and forth from Hermione to Firenze. They two stood in silence for a while, Draco said nothing, he did not want to disturb or rush the Divination professor.

“Her future is unclear.” Firenze’s low, deep voice said finally. Draco contemplated his words for a moment and then rolled his eyes. It seemed that the phrase the future was unclear was Firenze’s favorite.

“Say something else, Firenze. Don’t just leave it at that. What can be done?” Draco ventured to ask. The centaur’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed at the pale girl in the bed and then he closed his eyes.

“I see her in the dark. She is lost and cannot find her way. If ever she is to wake up, someone must help her. She cannot do it alone.” Firenze stated confidently. Draco sighed, he was hoping for something a little more solid, some details that might help.

‘I’m lucky I got this much out of him. Centaurs never say yes or no.’ Draco thought to himself. He nodded his head and extended his hand forward, toward Firenze. He looked down at the young man’s hand and reached his own larger hand forward and shook it. Draco had grown to like the centaur, they were actually somewhat similar. The biggest similarity was that the two understood and cherished the value of privacy.

“Thanks Firenze. I appreciate you coming upstairs and all. Do you want me to levitate you back down?” Draco ran his hands through his wild, blonde hair and began walking towards the door.

“NO! No Draco, I’ll walk down by myself. I’ll see you in class.” Firenze insisted that he walk back down. Draco really hadn’t expected Firenze to let him levitate him down the stairs; he figured he would offer anyway though. Draco watched the Divination professor duck his head under the wooden doors of the medical ward and leave. Draco turned back to Hermione and went and sat down.

“Lost in the dark, are we luv?” Draco asked. After a few moments he stood back up. He gave her once last look before he left. A small smile came on his face when his eyes traveled down to her wrist and there was the glittering gift he had given her. Then he turned and his long strides took him out of the room and down to the library. Draco had figured if he was going to come up with an idea, it would be there.



Harry sat in front of Dumbledore’s desk, staring at the flames in the fireplace. He had been asked up again for another chat. After the death of Sirius Black, Dumbledore and Harry had barely spoken. Albus had hoped that now that they could start salvaging the friendship they once had. They had talked about quite a few topics, and now the old man and the young boy had come to a lull. Harry stared deeply into the fire until finally a question popped into his head.

“What is it between Malfoy and Hermione? I have seen him going into the hospital wing. He was the one who helped her at the train station, they spent a few hours together earlier that day. What’s going on?” Harry asked without ever looking up from the fireplace. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk and the question drew a soft chuckle from him. Harry’s eyes shot up when he heard the wizard laughing.

‘He knows something about those two that I don’t!’ Harry thought. That thought made him angry. Regardless of the drunken stupor the young men had shared, Harry still could hardly think of any other student he disliked more.

“Is it so very hard to believe that perhaps Mr. Malfoy has outgrown his pureblood superiority phase?” Dumbledore asked, his eyes ever twinkling. Harry huffed at his question.

“Yes I do find it hard to believe.” Harry retorted. Dumbledore laughed again at the response he knew Harry would give. Dumbledore thought a moment, mulling over if he wanted to disclose the information he was thinking of.

“Draco Malfoy has done more for Miss Granger than you know, Harry.” Dumbledore stated casually. Harry looked at him curiously and asked what he was talking about.

“Do you know what custodia ab recolitus is, Harry?” Albus questioned the young man in front of him. Harry thought a moment and then shook his head. He couldn’t think of ever hearing about such a thing. When Harry indicated he didn’t know, Dumbledore sighed and settled down further into his chair.

“After Hermione was attacked at the train station, Draco invoked his right of custodia ab recolitus. This is an old right belonging to wizard families of nobility. It means that someone of one of these families can place someone not of their family, no matter whom, under the complete protection of their family name. No one, absolutely no one, can harm them in anyway. The person who did the invoking has the right to kill in order to protect their ward. After she was hurt, Draco invoked his noble right to protect Miss Granger. I believe he was afraid her attackers would try again.” Dumbledore explained gently. Something like this would take a few moments to sink in. Harry looked stunned; he never expected to hear anything like this.

‘Why would he do that? What is his angle?’ Harry thought over and over again. What Dumbledore just told him didn’t make any sense at all. Draco helping Hermione? Harry recalled a T.V. show he had once seen called ‘The Twilight Zone.’ Now he thought that maybe it wasn’t just a show.

“How do you know this?” Harry asked, still recovering from the shock he felt. Dumbledore smiled and stood up.

“A little bird told me. A little bird named Blaise Zabini. That young man is the eyes and ears of this institution.” Albus said in an amused tone of voice. He knew it was entirely possible that Blaise knew more about what went on at Hogwarts than he did. Dumbledore watched the display on Harry’s face.

“Come now Harry. You are a bright boy, surely you have noticed that Draco has become…fond of Miss Granger.” Albus said finally, his voice brought Harry back to the conversation. Harry thought about what Dumbledore said and couldn’t help but admit that he was right. Now that he thought about it, there were signs. At the Halloween ball, Potions class, the field trip to London. He had dismissed it as Draco being sick or something, but never would he have thought then that Draco had started to like Hermione. Now it had become blaringly obvious and Harry was none too thrilled.

“Oh lovely.” Harry grumbled. Albus stopped smiling and walked around his desk to stand next to Harry’s chair. He placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and sighed.

“Leave him be, Harry. I think it would be wise. He isn’t hurting anything.” Albus gently instructed Harry. Harry mumbled his agreement but couldn’t help but think about what Ron’s reaction would be.