✓ | RECKLESS AND BRAVE | Draco Malfoy

51 | YŪGEN

YŪGEN
(n.) an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words; to watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill, to wander on and on in a huge forest without thought of return, to stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands

TESSA HAD SPOKEN WITH HARRY ABOUT THE MATTERS OF BEING TEACHERS FOR DADA. They haven't told Ron and Hermione yet, but they'd come to an agreement that it wouldn't hurt for them to try and help out.

     It was the end of September, and the four of them were sitting in the library looking up potion ingredients for Snape. Tessa was completely and utterly distracted as they worked — a few tables ahead sat Draco and Theo who were also working on homework, and Draco and Tessa would constantly lock eyes to communicate without words.

     She had been smirking slyly at Draco who was winking mischievously at her when Hermione called her attention.

     Ron banged his head on the table before loudly saying, "Oy, Malfoy, we would greatly appreciate it if you gave us Tessa for five minutes."

     That earned him a reprimanding shush from Madam Pince, and a silent glare from Draco who resorted back to his homework.

     "Anyways," Hermione said, now that she had Harry's and Tessa's attentions. "I was wondering whether you'd thought any more about Defense Against the Dark Arts."

     "'Course we have," Harry said grumpily. "Can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us —"

     "I meant the idea Ron and I had— " Ron sent Hermione an alarmed look " — oh, all right, the idea I had, then — about you two teaching us."

Tessa and Harry shared a discreet look as they pretended to think long and hard about it.

"Well," Harry said slowly, "yeah, we've thought about it a bit."

"And?" Hermione leaned forward eagerly.

"We don't know for sure," Tessa dragged it on as she turned to give a pointed look at Ron.

"I thought it was a good idea from the start," Ron said earnestly, shifting closer to them.

Harry coughed to clear his throat. "You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?"

"Yes, Harry," Hermione said gently, "but all the same, there's no point pretending that you two aren't good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, because you both are. You two were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely — don't deny it, Tessa!"

Harry sent her a half grin. "It's true — I saw you resist the Curse easily. Much easier than I did."

Hermione went on, "And the both of you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said —"

Ron whipped around to look at her with a steely gaze. "Yeah? What did Vicky say?"

In a dry voice, Hermione replied, "He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang."

Ron eyed Hermione suspiciously. "You're not still in contact with him, are you?"

"So what if she is?" Tessa piped up, defending Hermione.

Hermione's face was pink as she mumbled, "I can have a pen pal if I —"

"He didn't only want to be your pen pal," Ron said accusingly.