Author's Chapter Notes:
Hermione gives Draco his birthday gift (and it's rated G, folks).
Chapter 33: Draco’s Birthday

About two weeks had passed since Narcissa Malfoy had left Hogwarts to visit friends in Belgium. During that time, Hermione and Draco had to rush to pull everything together for the Spring Ball, the last dance of the year. Fortunately, at this point in the school year, they had an experienced committee of students to help them. But on top of planning the dance, NEWTs were scheduled to begin the following Monday, making Hermione almost wish that the dance were not on the schedule. On top of all these worries, Hermione knew that Draco’s birthday was in early June, but she didn’t know the exact date. Each day she worried that she might miss giving him his gift on time, but she didn’t want to ask him outright.

On Friday evening, Hermione finished preparing well in advance of the final Spring Ball committee meeting that she and Draco were hosting in their suite. When she walked into their common area, she found Draco opening a fancy box on his desk.

“What’s that?” Hermione asked.

“A birthday gift from my mother,” Draco answered, looking into the box carefully.

“Oh, so is today the day, then?” Hermione asked, walking over to their desks, curious to see what Draco’s mum had sent him.

“Well, technically my birthday is tomorrow, June fifth,” Draco responded, a bit distracted.

“So, what did she send you?” Hermione asked, peeking into the box.

“It’s an Invisibility Cloak.”

“You’re joking!” Hermione was awestruck. “Invisibility Cloaks are very rare. It must be worth a fortune!”

“I suppose my mum did go a bit overboard. I think she saw how valuable a cloak like this can be when, well… when we were in Romania. But this cloak won’t last as long or work as well as Potter’s. His is exceptional. I think the life expectancy for one like this is probably about ten years.”

“But still, it’s a fantastic gift!” Hermione was very impressed by the fact that Draco’s mum had given him an Invisibility Cloak for his birthday. “It’s lovely,” Hermione added when she reached out to touch the glittering fabric reverently. “Why aren’t you more excited?”

“To be honest, the Invisibility Cloak makes me think about those situations where it will be most useful, which brings up painful memories of my father. I’m also worried about the future. I may need something like this if I have to face problems from former Death Eaters, those who managed not to end up in Azkaban. I’m afraid they’ll either try to recruit me back or they may punish me for switching sides. I’m still not sure why the Dark Mark burns me from time to time.”

Hermione put her arm across Draco’s shoulder, as she was standing next to where he was sitting. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find anything to help with that,” she said solemnly. “Give me a moment. I have a gift for you as well.” She smiled at him.

Draco looked surprised. “But two minutes ago you didn’t know that tomorrow was my birthday.”

“I knew it was in June, but not the date,” Hermione answered. “Now, go sit on the sofa and I’ll bring it to you.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to give it to me lying on the sofa?” Draco asked lewdly, shaking off his somber attitude quickly by the idea of a birthday gift from Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him as she walked to her room. She came out with a large, flat square box, adorned with a green bow. She sat next to Draco on the sofa and handed him the gift. He pulled off the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a scrapbook entitled, ‘Hogwarts, Seventh Year: 1998-1999.’

“You made this?” Draco asked, amazed by the gift.

“Well, actually, I made it for myself. I used a Geminio spell to replicate it, and then I took out a few things and added a few things for you,” Hermione answered honestly.

Draco began flipping through the pages, which began with a blank space.

“That’s for your letter from Headmistress McGonagall telling you that you were chosen to be Head Boy, if you still have it,” Hermione explained.

“Yes, of course I still have it.” Draco smiled at Hermione and turned back to the scrapbook. She had saved bits and pieces from each of the dances, including a photo of Draco and her dancing at the Yule Ball that a young fourth year student had taken of them. She had removed some of the pages that contained personal memories shared with Ron in the early part of the academic year, but she left in the sprig of mistletoe that she had saved from the holidays, since that was meaningful for Draco and her as well. She had also made pages for each of their three university visits, with campus maps and knick knacks from each school.

“What’s this?” Draco said, laughing slightly as he came to a page Hermione had added just for him. It was entitled, ‘Slytherin Quidditch Season, 0 – 4’, and listed the score from each match, along with how many times Draco had been hit by a Bludger from one of his own Beaters.

“I drew a little Snitch down by the Hufflepuff score.” Hermione pointed to her artwork. “Because you caught the Snitch in that game.”

“But we still lost,” Draco said ruefully, before turning back to flip through the pages again. He found two more blank pages, which Hermione explained were for his UWL and WUP acceptance letters. Hermione had made a page that outlined their process of apprehending Liam Blogus. She had even created a page about the recapture of Draco’s father, having drawn a small Vestigium globe and copied the transcription of Draco’s letter to her that Auror Williamson had written. At the very end of the scrapbook, there was a blank page for the Spring Ball, which Hermione said she’d fill in for him, plus a space for his NEWT results letter.

When he finished looking through the book, Draco closed it softly. He turned to Hermione, his eyes glistening. “I believe this is the nicest gift I’ve ever received,” he said softly. “No one has ever made anything for me before.”

Hermione felt compelled to explain again that she had not actually set out to make him a scrapbook of their seventh year at Hogwarts. “But I told you, I actually made it for myself, and then I only used a Geminio spell to make a second copy for you, and…”

Draco cut her off with a kiss, forceful enough to stop her from rambling on. When he pulled back, he said respectfully, “Thank you, Hermione.”

“You’re welcome, Draco,” Hermione responded. Draco quickly began to kiss her again. When he deepened the kiss, she responded by scooting closer to him on the sofa and pulling him towards her. Whenever he kissed her like this, she felt as if she couldn’t get close enough to him. She had one leg across his lap when there was a knock at the door.

“Shite, we’ve got that bloody dance committee meeting,” Draco said. “You get the door while I take my gifts upstairs.” Hermione nodded in agreement.

“And, Hermione, thanks again,” Draco said, as he kissed her quickly one last time.




The next morning, Draco and Hermione were having an early breakfast together. The Great Hall was nearly empty; most of the other students weren’t up so early on a Saturday morning, but Hermione wanted to get an early start studying for NEWTs, before she had to make final preparations for the dance that evening.

“You know, it’s not completely selfish for me to want you to come to Paris with me,” Draco was saying. “It’s by far and away the best university in Europe and you are brightest witch Hogwarts has seen in decades. It makes sense for you to attend WUP – you’ll learn more and you’ll be challenged, maybe for the first time in your life.”

“I know logically what you say makes sense, but I have had my heart set on UWL for so long. I want to be close to my family and friends.”

“But that was mostly for Ron, and if he’s really not in the picture anymore…”

“You and I, we can still see each other if I’m in London and you’re in Paris.”

“I know that, but I can foresee the future as well.”

“What? You’re an expert in Divination now?”

“Yes, and without a secret magical map either.”

“Very funny.”

“Here’s what will happen. For the first few months, everything will be great. I’ll visit you, you’ll visit me; I’ll send you expensive gifts and write you romantic love letters.”

“Sounds brilliant.”

“But wait! First, we’ll get caught up in our studies. You won’t be able to visit as often because you’ll go mental about revising everything twice over and completing all your assignments four weeks in advance. I’ll have some big Potions project to work on and the wizard in charge will treat me like a house-elf.”

Hermione smiled at this point.

“Next, you’ll start bumping into Ron, here and there, in London. You, Ginny, and Harry will hang out and Ron will start joining you. At some point, he’ll come to you and admit that Lavender is a divvy, and that breaking up with you was the biggest mistake of his life. You’ll be nostalgic for your years at Hogwarts and you’ll see how nicely the four of you get along and you’ll consider getting back together with him. You’ll realize that I am far away in Paris, that I was a horrible person for years, and that great sex is over rated.”

Hermione batted Draco’s arm.

“I’ll have an entire weekend planned for us – I’ll have sent my mother away to our Menorca home for the weekend, I’ll have cooked a fancy dinner, and then I’ll get an owl that says, ‘I’m sorry, Draco, but I can’t come this weekend. Ron and Harry had tickets to the Chutney Cannons Quidditch match last week and since I went with them, I couldn’t finish the four hundred assignments that I now have to work on this weekend.’ And that will be the beginning of the end.”

Hermione laughed. “A Quidditch match? Really?”

“All right, that part might not happen. But you see my point.”

“Yes, but that’s not going to happen.”

“It definitely won’t happen like that if you come with me to Paris,” Draco said, resolutely.

“I can’t think about that today. We have some serious studying to do. NEWTs start on Monday! I can’t believe you even convinced me to have breakfast today.”

“You can’t study on an empty stomach,” Draco answered, politely taking another bite. Hermione huffed at him, but before she could bully him into leaving, Ginny joined them at the breakfast table.

Hermione glanced around the room and noticed that most of the tables held a mixture of students from the four Hogwarts Houses. Dinner was still a more formal meal, where the Houses ate separately. But at breakfast, and lunch too, students intermingled across Houses. Hermione saw Headmistress McGonagall at the front table, caught her eye, and smiled softly at her. The year had presented many challenges, but Hogwarts was coming back into its own now.

“Oi, Hermione, I asked you a question,” Ginny inserted herself into Hermione’s thoughts.

“Um, yes, sorry. What was that?” Hermione returned her attention back to her friends.

“I asked if you had made a decision about next year,” Ginny replied.

Hermione glanced quickly at Draco, then answered honestly, “No, I haven’t. Draco here is trying to convince me to go to WUP in Paris. It is a better university than the University of Wizardry in London.”

“I agree with Draco,” Ginny said, surprising Hermione.

“You do?” Hermione asked, perplexed by Ginny’s pronouncement.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? Paris has the best university and you are the cleverest Hogwarts student in years. Why wouldn’t you go there? Ron isn’t still pressuring you, is he? Because he has no right…”

“No, no, it’s not Ron.”

“Well, then? What is it? As I see it, your two best friends are Draco and me, and Draco will be in Paris and I’ll be…” Ginny paused, as if unsure of where she’d be in the future.

“Where do you think will you be?” Hermione asked, wondering what sort of job Ginny was contemplating after finishing Hogwarts.

“Well, I’ve just gotten an invite from the Holyhead Harpies to try out for their team!” Ginny responded happily.

“That’s fantastic!” Draco said, excitedly. “I know you’ve wanted to try to play professional Quidditch.”

“She has?” Hermione asked, dumbfounded. Draco looked at Hermione as if she were daft.

“You really need to get your head out of your books, Granger,” he said, winking so that only Hermione could see. Draco and Ginny became engrossed in an animated discussion of Ginny’s chances with the Holyhead Harpies, including a rundown of each player’s strengths and weaknesses and how Ginny might complement the team. Hermione eventually tuned them out, but she didn’t leave until Ginny was finished eating. The three made plans to meet in the Library to study for NEWTs.

When she and Draco entered their suite to gather up their study materials, she asked him seriously, “How did you know about Ginny’s dream to play professional Quidditch when I did not? Am I such a bad friend, then?”

“Don’t worry, love,” Draco said, pulling Hermione into a hug. “Ginny and I are both Quidditch fans and you are not. It makes sense that she would talk to me about her Quidditch aspirations.”

“But I feel as though I should have known about it. I mean, I do know she loves to play Quidditch…”

“It’s been a busy year for you. You’ve had so much to do as Head Girl, plus you’re sitting for nine subjects. It’s mental, really.”

“You don’t think it’s because Ron and I broke up?”

“No, not at all. In fact, I think your friendship with Ginny will be stronger now. You won’t spend all your time talking about Ron and Harry. You can talk about yourself and Ginny.” Draco kissed Hermione softly, then smiled. “Of course, you’ll probably want to spend all your time together talking about me.”

Hermione shook her head at Draco then hurried him along to the Library so they could begin revising yet again for their NEWTs.
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