#8th year break | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

illusinia · 18 days

Text

Except from a piece I'm working on that's taking a very long time to write. I enjoyed this scene though and thought I'd share.

Draco and Pansy's first car ride, courtesy of Hermione, Harry, and a Christmas Tree.

Note: Pre-Dramione, but no Dramione in the content.

Trees and Car Rides

Watching Malfoy and Pansy baulk at the car was almost funny. Their eyes were wide as they stared at it and both jumped when the engine turned over and it started rather loudly. Malfoy looked like he would rather face the telly. Pansy, however, pulled herself together and, with some help from Harry with the door, practically forced the blond into the seat behind Hermione. She shut the door before Malfoy could object, then dove into the seat behind Harry with a wildly shouted “go, go, go!”

Hermione was reminded of why she liked Pansy in that moment. Even Harry looked amused. So Hermione locked the doors and put the car into drive, turning to pull out of the driveway and onto the main street.

She had been concerned the speed of the car might unsettle them, but neither Slytherin seemed bothered by it. Malfoy was glued to everything passing outside the window while Pansy was fascinated by the inside of the car. She stuck her head through the centre partition, eyes scrolling over all the buttons.

“What's that?” asked Pansy as she pointed at the radio. Which was when Hermione realised she wasn't wearing a seatbelt and Malfoy probably wasn't either.

“A radio,” replied Hermione as she pulled to a stop at a traffic light. “Seat belts. They're the thing hanging near the doors. Pull them on and put the metal bit that slides around into the box with the button on it that is sticking out of the seat.”

It took a minute and Harry turning around to direct them to get their seatbelts clipped in place. Hermione was elbowed in the head as part of the exercise to Harry's consternation. At least the light was a long one. As it was, Harry barely got turned around before the light changed and Hermione had to move again.

Seatbelts fastened, Pansy turned her interest back on the radio. “What does the radio do?”

“Play music, live talk shows, the news, whatever really depending on what station you're tuned to,” explained Hermione as she flipped the radio on. It let out a brief burst of static before B*Witched’s To You I Belong filled the car. A glance in the rearview mirror showed Malfoy and Pansy looking at the radio in absolute awe.

They were suitably distracted for a few minutes until the song ended and the station DJ came back on the air chattering away about the recent headlines from the news. Mostly local news. A few political points. Nothing terribly interesting.

“Are they reading a newspaper aloud?” asked Malfoy and a glance back showed his brow was furrowed. “Why would muggles do that?”

“Some muggles appreciate talk radio on their way to wherever they’re going,” explained Harry as he changed the station. Chumbawomba’s Tubthumping thumped through the speakers. Hermione and Harry exchanged a look and began singing along when the refrain began.

“I get knocked down, but I get up again, but you’re never gonna keep me down,” they sang along, grinning and shifting in their seats with the rhythm. Harry began to drum out the rhythm on the dashboard, pausing when the music dropped to the trumpet solo, then picked it up again. They started laughing as they did though, particularly when they both glanced back and noted the balmy looks Malfoy and Pansy were giving them.

“Do all muggles do,” Pansy waved her hand in a disbelieving manner, “that while they drive?”

“When they’re driving with friends they do,” replied Hermione with a grin as a new song came on.

The first refrains of Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply began to reverberate and Harry chuckled. “Ginny loves this song.”

Hermione hummed and began to sing along, her voice dropping a bit to match the pitch of the song. Harry joined in on the refrain with her. Behind her, she felt Malfoy lean forward against the back of her chair, his low voice humming along with the tune. When the refrain started again, he joined in with her and Harry, his low voice reverberating pleasantly with theirs. Pansy joined in as well a few seconds after him as she joined in the sing-along. They stuck to just the refrain while Hermione sung along with the whole thing. As they neared the entrance to the motorway, Hermione clicked on her signal. The last refrains of the song echoed out as she began to merge through the lanes of traffic to get to the motorway entrance. Another DJ came on rambling about something or another, followed by the sound of commercials starting up. Harry turned down the radio rather than changing the station.

As they hit the entry, she accelerated to reach speed. The engine rumbled. The car vibrated a bit with the increased speed.

Pansy yelped. “What’s happening?!”

“I’m just accelerating,” assured Hermione as she clicked and merged into traffic with a slight turn of the wheel. “The good tree lot is in the next market.”

Malfoy was still leaning against the back of her chair and she could feel his eyes watch her every move. She glanced in the rearview mirror for half a second to confirm and yes, he was watching her hands intently. “Is something wrong, Malfoy?”

“I’m just trying to figure out why you hate flying so much, but you have no issues riding this car at high speeds,” explained Malfoy as his hand appeared, gesturing to the dials on the dash. “How fast are we going anyway?”

“Almost 60 miles per hour,” replied Hermione as she turned on her turn signal and changed lanes again so she was in the lane next to the exit lane. “And the term you are looking for is driving a car, which is what I’m doing, or riding in a car, which is what you, Harry, and Pansy are doing.”

Malfoy waved his hand casually, his chin resting on the back of her seat. “You are still moving very fast.”

“Yes, in a contained space on the ground with safety equipment installed- such as your seatbelts,” countered Hermione, her eyes flicking to him for a half second before returning to the road. “That is far less disturbing than flying through the air with nothing below you should you fall off or crash.”

“You flew on a thestral,” reminded Harry with a grin. “And you couldn’t even see it.”

“Do not remind me,” groaned Hermione with a sigh. “That was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I couldn’t see the bloody thing. My eyes were closed the whole time.”

Pansy was suddenly leaning forward, her head nearly knocking into Malfoy’s. “You rode on a thestral?! Why? When?”

“Fifth year, and to get to the Ministry of Magic the first time we broke in,” replied Hermione with a sigh as she flipped on the turn signal and merged to exit the motorway.

“The first- right, the Department of Mysteries,” murmured Malfoy with a nod before he flopped back into his seat again.

“What was the second time?” asked Pansy, her eyes locked on Hermione curiously.

“When we stole a locket from Umbridge,” replied Harry without details. They- she, Harry, and Ron- had decided the Horcrux hunt should remain mostly silent. Members of the order knew, of course, but no one else and they intended to keep it that way. Apparently Pansy and Malfoy both picked up on that because they didn’t ask further questions about the locket. It was actually a relief- Hermione was finding herself enjoying the day and a fight about the fact she and Harry would not reveal some information would ruin that.

For a moment, the only noise in the car was the rambling of commercials from the radio. Then, the first refrains of a song, Sarah McLachlan’s Building a Mystery came on and Harry turned back up the radio. Hermione didn’t know this song well- she’d only heard it once before, so she didn’t sing along and neither did Harry. The radio was the only noise in the car for a moment before Harry spoke up, breaking it. “Are they playing some popular hits series?”

“Probably,” replied Hermione with a shrug as they exited the motorway. “It’s about the right time of year.”

“I’m just relieved it isn’t all Christmas music,” stated Harry firmly as they slowed to a stop at a light. “I hate when they do that.”

“What are popular hits?” asked Pansy from the back seat as she suddenly leaned forward again.

“And why would any of these… stations just have Christmas music?” asked Malfoy as he, too, leaned forward again.

The conversation shifted back to music until Pansy suddenly yelped and leaned forward. “Did she just mention vampires?!”

“Do muggles know about vampires?” asked Malfoy, sounding equally concerned. “What about the vow of secrecy?”

“Muggles think vampires are make-believe,” assured Harry as he glanced back at the other two.

Hermione nodded. “The concept is often used to convey the concept of mysterious romanticism. You can blame Bram Stoker for that.”

“Bram Stoker?” questioned Malfoy with clear concern.

“He wrote Dracula,” explained Harry with a shrug. “It’s a muggle book about vampires.”

The tree lot appeared on their left and Hermione made a turn across lanes of traffic safely. It still caused Pansy to yelp though- likely because there was a car much further down the road. Too far to pose a risk to them.

Still, as Hermione pulled the car into park, she heard the click of a seatbelt and Pansy’s head suddenly appeared beside her. “Was that safe?”

“Yes,” assured Hermione as she undid her own seatbelt. “It was. The other car was very far away from us and the speed limit on this road is quite low. I also judged the speed the car was approaching versus the amount of time it would take to make the turn and calculated that it was safe.”

Malfoy, to her surprise nodded. “It’s just like making a call on when to turn on a broom, Pans. No different.”

Pansy didn’t look completely convinced, but she wasn’t running out of the car either. “Could I learn to drive?”

Hermione raised her eyebrows at the other girl. “I don’t see why not. But we aren’t doing that, too. The timeline is too tight.”

“Later,” agreed Pansy as she began fiddling with her door, trying to figure out how to get out. Hermione unlocked the doors and Harry reached back to pull the lever that popped the door open. Malfoy observed and managed to get out on his own. Hermione climbed out once he had his door open and looked at the long line of trees in front of them.

“Is this where Muggles get their trees?” asked Pansy with a touch of awe. “There are so many of them. And they’re all different sizes.”

“And we can choose any one as long as it will fit in the house,” stated Hermione with a smile. Then, eying some of the trees, added: “And on top of the car. It needs to fit on the car.”

“On the car?” repeated Malfoy as he turned to assess the hood of the car. “Why?”

“Because that’s how we’re getting it to Hermione’s house,” explained Harry as he started towards the trees. Hermione stepped in behind him with Malfoy and Pansy quickly catching up to stand on either side of her.

“Can’t we just get a house elf to bring it back?” asked Pansy in confusion as they wandered into the trees. A few works waved at them and Pansy, apparently deciding a few of them were cute, waved back and offered them a wink.

Malfoy made a disgusted noise. “Really, Pans?”

“I’m allowed to shop around,” stated Pansy simply as she eyed one of the stronger young men bagging a tree. “And some of these men are very well built.”

Hermione stifled a laugh. Malfoy rolled his eyes and returned to the question of tree transportation. “But we should be able to get someone to deliver it, correct?”

“Not here,” dismissed Hermione as she paused to examine a tree. It was about 2.5 metres and looked relatively fluffy. Lots of branches, not a lot of holes or bald spots. “If we’d gone to a cut-your-own place, perhaps, but half the experience is wrestling the tree on top of the car.”

“Wrestling it on top of the car?” repeated Malfoy as he glanced back at where the car sat in the parking lot. “How?!”

“Ropes in the trunk tied to the rack on the top of the car,” explained Hermione as she moved on to another tree. The next one was even bushier but seemed sappy. Sure enough, her fingers came away sticky when she touched a branch. Still, that could be taken care of with a quick spell. Carefully walking around the tree, she checked for large bald spots- none- and branch spacing- sufficient for ornaments to be hung without the tree appearing bare. “What do you think of this one?”

“Us?” asked Malfoy in surprise, even as he drifted to stand beside her.

Hermione glanced at him and Pansy, who was still long distance flirting with some of the workers. “Yes, you’re here, therefore you are a part of this.”

Malfoy paused to examine the tree, tilting his head to the side as he examined it with a critical eye. “It looks sticky.”

“It is,” confirmed Hermione, holding up her sticky fingers as proof. “Still, the branches are well spaced and there are no significant bald spots. And the stickiness could be taken care of with a spell.”

“Is there a spell to remove tree sap?” asked Malfoy curiously, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione nodded slowly. “I found it in some obscure book about using magic to decorate for Christmas. It seemed useful.”

“I think obscure spells should be your specialty,” remarked Pansy as she finally joined them to examine the tree. “Mm, it’s a bit short.”

“The ceiling is just under 3 metres,” explained Hermione as she tried to wipe her fingers off on her pants. A tingling on her fingers surprised her- the stickiness was gone. From the corner of her eye, she caught Malfoy slipping his wand back into his coat. Sneaky man. She shot him a grateful look. He just shrugged in response and moved towards another tree.

She followed him while Pansy wandered off towards where Harry was examining his own pick. Malfoy’s pick appeared to be a bit too tall, but she didn’t say that. THere was something about watching Malfoy pick out a Christmas tree with the same careful eye he might examine a quidditch pitch that was adorable.

“What about this one?” questioned Malfoy, his head tilting to the side.

A smile tugged at Hermione’s lips. “It’s a bit tall, I’m afraid. Still…” She reached out and carefully turned the tree on its stand. “Good branch spacing without being too much. Nice colour, too.” Releasing the tree, she gently took Malfoy’s elbow and tugged him towards more trees. “Let’s keep looking. There are a lot here, after all. The perfect one might just be around the corner.”

#dramione #8th year break #Harry Potter #Hermione Granger #draco malfoy #pansy parkinson

11 notes · View notes

scribefindegil · 1 year

Note

My beloved tattered copies of my Artemis Fowl books that I got from library sales are the love of my life. I’m 90% sure I’m so snarky in my writing because of these books. Artemis and his relationships with everyone are so well done. The eye swap thing still gets me. What a duo. What a series. God do the last three really….. do things. I am still mad about Artemis losing his magic immediately yes. And for them making a character so powerful they have to keep making excuses why he’s not around. And… well. You know. But goddamn if I didn’t consume them like 800 times as a kid and goddamn if I’m not so sorely tempted to reread them now that you’ve reminded me (and maybe finally actually read fowl twins)

Listen, the last few books sure made . . . . Choices. AND YET. Even when they were bad (and sometimes they were very bad!), they never did it in a way that made me want to stop reading, which is honestly very impressive! The characters remain recognizable and entertaining and their relationships are compelling even as the situations they're in become increasing Like That, and the characters are what I'm here for.

They're not books that I would necessarily recommend to people who didn't grow up with them but man. I love them so much. Artemis' character development is so good. Every single thing about Holly Short is so good. The whole weird messy found family of it all is so good. The way the later books veer from heist narratives into fairy-tale structure is . . . like, objectively bad, but man does it manage to hit me where it hurts thematically.

Don't even get me started on the eye swap; I'm obsessed with the ongoing progression of how these characters look at each other, because with the magic of control so closely tied to eye contact at the beginning there's always something in the way--mirrors and shields and helmet visors--and it's a huge display of trust to actually meet eyes without any sort of intervention, and the swap ties into this and takes it to the next level and! UGH! (Was literally ANY of this intentional? Knowing Colfer, probably not! Doesn't stop me from losing my mind about it though!)

(I have not read Fowl Twins. I have not even read their cover blurbs despite staring at the audiobook versions every day when I worked at the bookstore. Has anyone read Fowl Twins? And can you tell me if Holly's in them? If not I do not care.)

#conversations #carry me always; carry me well #another fun thing about these books is that i have such *vivid* memories of the first time I read each of them #more than with any other series i think #the first one was a roadtrip present when my family was driving to see my dad's relatives #when it came out i was the same age as Artemis #and the last one i read when i was several years out of college and working front-desk at a hotel right across from the public library #and spent all my breaks sprinting across the street to check out YA books to revisit #learned the 8th book existed and then was too impatient to wait for the library hold to come in so I ended up buying my own copy anyway

21 notes · View notes