Carpathian

Monday, 7:02 am

The sun hadn't yet made it above the mountaintops by the time Hermione awoke the next morning. Lingering grey clouds hung low in the sky on a backdrop of blended oranges and yellows against the fading night. Hermione welcomed the peaceful silence that spread through the sanctuary as she carried her toiletry bag to the shared bathrooms at the end of the circle of cabins. After her hasty wake-up the day before, it was pacifying to return to her routine of rising early—even if she wasn't heading to the Ministry this morning as originally intended.

The green door swung shut behind her, and Hermione couldn't help but feel relieved. Besides the pattering of a single shower, Hermione was alone. Throughout the rest of the weekend, she had been forced to manoeuvre around four or five other dragon keepers—most of whom she didn't know—while trying to brush her teeth at one of the two sinks. It had been tolerable for a weekend, but now that she was staying for the rest of the week, Hermione didn't need to feel like she was back in the Gryffindor Tower girls' bathroom, fighting for a second in front of the mirror while Lavender examined her pores and Parvati debated the best placement for her butterfly clip.

Hermione relished in the practical solitude while trying to figure out what to do with her hair. She attempted a few charms to make it cooperate more like Julia's did in a ponytail before yanking out the hair tie, rummaging her fingers through her curls, trying out a plait instead, and then starting over. None of it looked good. She was on the brink of giving up when a low chuckle broke her concentration.

She instinctively whipped around to see who was there, only to discover a grinning Draco.

Correction: a grinning, shirtless Draco, with nothing covering his body except a towel hanging low around his hips.

All the blood seemed to rush to Hermione's face as she flung her focus back towards the sink, hair tie falling forgotten on the ground. His shirtless form still taunted her in the mirror's reflection.

"What's the matter, Granger?" his amused voice chimed. "I find it highly improbable this is your first time seeing a man without his shirt."

"Of course not," she defended, fixating intently on her own reflection. It was a rare, tortuous sight to have to witness her own cheeks turn so unmistakably rosy. "Just usually not so... unexpectedly."

His laughter echoed louder in the bathroom. "And I'm usually the only one up this early and not accustomed to intruding eyes, yet you don't see me cowering. Not very Gryffindor of you, now is it?"

Hermione peered over her shoulder just long enough to give him a pointed glare.

That proved to be a mistake.

Even in those few milliseconds, she caught too much of a glimpse, breaking the floodgates of curiosity. When her attention turned back to the mirror, it was no longer possible not to look. Years of working at the sanctuary had strengthened his lithe Quidditch muscles into a more brawny build—a fact she could have deduced with his shirt on. Yet now that Hermione had taken more than a couple stolen glances, she could see him properly, including the large dragon tattoo that curled up his bicep. Its dark green wings reached his shoulder while its black ridged tail spiralled down to his elbow: the clear depiction of a Norwegian Ridgeback. She didn't let her eyes fall far enough to see what she would find on his left forearm.

The slow pad of his footsteps against the tile approached closer. "So, Granger." His taunting faded, replaced by the casual demeanour she'd grown accustomed to the past couple of days. "No shower for you?"

Hermione sighed, resigning herself to face him properly. "I prefer to shower at night, especially out here. My hair doesn't cooperate with Drying Charms and requires the old fashioned method of natural air, so nighttime is better." She watched as his gaze tracked to her unsettled curls and pushed out a question before he could comment on it. "And just what exactly are you doing up this early, anyway? The mess hall doesn't open for another hour and a half."