Blood Bound

Chapter 30 - Torris

A/N

This chapter took me SO long. I realized when I went to write this that I got a little carried away with my writing, and I was a good 8 chapters behind were I'd intended to be by now so forgive the time jump (I promise I didn't rob you guys of anything too exciting). Anyways that's all, there's some pretty significant foreshadowing in this chapter but I'm not telling where, we'll just have to see if anyone can guess.

Enjoy!

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The rest of the first term passed relatively uneventfully for the two of them in the Head's dorm aside from the days surrounding the Halloween dance, which gave Draco a constant headache. The less savoury two thirds of the Golden Trio made a reappearance on the 31st, Nott pranced about with an unsettling number of hickeys on his neck like a badge of honour, Zabini was constantly ducking away mid-conversations to who-knows-where and with who-knows-who, the younger Greengrass refused to quit following him like a lovesick puppy, and the older Greengrass would not stop whinging to anyone with ears how she was certain Parkinson was shagging someone in secret.

Hermione seemed to be equally annoyed with her own friend group according to the long-winded rant he'd endured the day after Halloween; her frustration surrounding mostly Ron's overprotective attitude on her living arrangements, his disappearances throughout their visit without explanation, the Weaslette's refusal to confide in her who she's shagging, and Loony Lovegood's spouting of alarming nonsense-not-nonsense.

Nonetheless, the rest of their time at Hogwarts before winter break quite uneventful. Draco found the domestication of his and Hermione's situation both unnerving and comforting. They would eat breakfast in the dorms every morning, brave the population of Hogwarts with their occlumency walls fortified, and drink away their post-war traumas in the evening while Granger let her walls down to prevent another mind-magic induced mental breakdown.

He was dreading returning home to the Manor for Christmas break the day tomorrow. He'd received numerous owls from both of his parents in the past weeks, all spouting various degrees of familial expectations and blood purist rot, especially from his father.

Draco let these thoughts roll over each other in his head as he watched his trunk magically pack itself. His Christmas present to Granger was sitting on his desk, the lavender wrapping paper with its Gryffindor gold bow stood out stark against the deep greens and blacks of his room. He could vaguely feel his anxiety over if she'd like the gift bubbling in the back of his head, but it was buried deep behind his occlumency walls and felt like little more than an annoying tickle.

"Draco" Granger's voice interrupted his train of thought as it carried into his room from the kitchen. "Coffee's ready." It'd been her turn to make breakfast for them this morning. They'd really dove head-first into the domestication of it all, taking turns changing trash cans and everything. She'd even yelled at him for leaving his socks on the floor the other day, absurd.

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"Be right there Honey!" Draco called back into the kitchen, his voice cracking with barely restrained humor. Hermione felt her expression twist into a scowl, and she contemplated the pros and cons of hexing his coffee in retribution. Deciding against it, and to get her revenge another day, she placed it on the counter next to their breakfast spread and dusted some coffee grounds off the shirt she'd swiped from Draco's floor and her back from the entrance to fix her tea.

She heard footsteps padding up behind her and the dull clicking of Draco's coffee mug being picked up.

"I thought we agreed that 'Honey' was on the list of names we were avoiding, I told you I think its platitudinous and hollow."