Round 5 Challenge #5: VOTING!
Are you ready to RUMBLE?? This week, we’re rumbling in Moscow, Russia! BRRR! Grab a warm parka and your ushanka and join us!
Welcome to the fifth week of voting for Round 5 of Dramione LDWS-Rumble Edition!!
A couple of things to remember when deciding which drabbles to vote for (most and least favorite):
Guidelines:
1. Which drabble best incorporates the prompt?
2. Is the drabble clever, different, fresh? Does it evoke an emotional response (good or bad)?
3. Does the drabble contain grammar, canon or spelling errors?
The “feedback” option.
As a voter, you have the option of leaving a brief statement about why you voted the way you did, for both most and least favorite. You can also leave feedback for ALL drabbles in a screened comment if you wish. Your feedback will then be given to the drabble writer (if they want the feedback) ANONYMOUSLY.
Example: Most - #40: the ending was brilliant - OR - Least - #57: the ending fell flat
Now that all of that is done… We present the drabbles for week 5!!
RULES
[1] Choose your most favorite and least favorite drabbles. Favorites will receive +1 point per vote, and least favorites -1 point per vote. Each drabble’s MF and LF scores will be added together. Drabble with most points wins!!
[2] Points will be awarded to the top THREE (3) drabbles, Mod’s Choice, and any other awards we want to throw in!
[3] You may NOT vote for yourself.
Voting ends at 11:59pm, Friday, November 6, 2009.
PROMPT:
AROUND THE WORLD with Draco and Hermione!!
This stop: Moscow, Russia! Pick a fact - any fact (historical, a festival, local color - whatever) and incorporate it into your drabble. Drabbles must be EXACTLY 350 words.
Sadly, marlaichen is boarding a plane bound for home and won’t be traveling with us anymore. We wish you the best of luck!!
Two people did not submit drabbles and are ineligible for rewards this week:
thebigdisaster
moxicrimefightr
1
Title: Happy Birthday!
Author: midnight_birth
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Nothing.
Word Count: 350
Hermione was pushed violently aside by a group of people waving flags and singing a foreign tune yet again, and Draco had just enough time to catch her before she hit the ground. She had always disliked crowds, and she was still completely incredulous how, upon landing in Moscow, she suddenly found herself in a jungle of screaming, singing, dancing people dressed in red, blue and white and all going somewhere, though it seemed not to matter where.
“Akkyratno*!” Draco growled, and one of the young men in the crowd swung around and screamed cheerfully, “S dnem rozhdenya, Moskva**!!!”
“I didn’t know you spoke Russian,” Hermione said incredulously, pressing herself as close to Draco as she could as he stood unmoving as a stone wall among all the people.
Draco smirked. “Enough to tell people where to go,” he said proudly, and winked when she couldn’t help but giggle.
“What’s going on?” she asked as he swung her out of the way of another crowd.
He nodded at her and tugged at a sleeve of a passing girl. “Shto proishodit***?” he asked.
The girl laughed. “Innostranets****?” she asked happily and didn’t wait for an answer. “S dnem rozhdenya, Moskva! Vosemsot shesdesyat dva goda segodnya*****!”
Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to look at Hermione. “It’s Moscow’s birthday today. Eight hundred and sixty second, apparently.”
Hermione hit herself on the head and muttered, “Of course!” as another wave of people threatened to run them over. She looked up at him. “So where did you learn to speak Russian, again?”
“Not as much speak as understand, really.” Draco shrugged. “Father used to conduct some... business here,” his face turned dark, “so mother and I visited a couple of times.” His face suddenly turned mischievous. “But since it’s a holiday, we should really celebrate, yes?”
Hermione laughed as he pulled her through the crowd back in the direction of their hotel. She could see the Bolshoi Theatre tomorrow. Tonight they’d celebrate a foreign city’s birthday the way they celebrated everything. Not that she minded. After all, she had always really disliked crowds.
*Careful!
**Happy birthday, Moscow!
*** What’s going on?
**** Foreigner?
*****Happy birthday, Moscow! Eight hundred and sixty two years old today!
2
Title: The Third Rome
Author: ayane_tsurugi
Rating: G
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 350
“You know, I don’t think it would be so bad to be a Muscovite.”
Hermione, thoroughly surprised that those words could have come from Draco’s mouth in that order, nearly choked on her chocolate muffin. “Excuse me?”
“I have discovered a latent desire within myself to be a Muscovite,” Draco said, entirely nonplussed by her surprise. His expression was distant, as though he was actually imagining himself there, most likely wearing three parkas and at least four pairs of gloves.
The two of them were sitting in a small café in Muggle London, where they’d been meeting for lunch every day for nearly five months after a chance encounter at the bookshop nearby had revealed to each of them that the other was not nearly so detestable as they remembered. Until that afternoon, Draco had never even indicated that he knew where Russia was located.
“Has being a Malfoy not been torture enough on your complexion? I’d think you’d be quite attached to the little bit of pigment you have.”
He waved this off. “It’s not as if I can get paler, right?”
“Not a hypothesis I’d want to test.” He continued to stare at some point beyond her right shoulder, not seeming to have heard. “Why would you want to move to Russia? That certainly wouldn’t be my first choice.”
His eyes focused on her then. “That’s exactly the point, Hermione. It wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice. It’s the perfect place for a new beginning.”
She wasn’t sure what to think of that. “A new beginning.”
“I could start over. A new job, with a boss and co-workers that don’t resent me for being alive. Hell, I could give myself a new name if I truly wanted!”
She felt a ball of unexpected anxiety forming in her stomach and pushed the rest of her muffin away. “And a new lunch date?” He studied her for a moment without speaking. “Is there nothing tying you here anymore, Draco?”
For the second time that afternoon, he surprised her, a warm smile forming on his lips. “Nothing that couldn’t come with me.”
3
Title: Too Much
Author: alexajohnson
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None. (Note: for anyone who cares, Olga Kern is actually a real famous pianist, so I didn't make that up! :D)
Word Count: 350.
Moscow International House of Music. Balcony seats, front and center.
Hermione can hardly believe they’re here, and considers it a miracle Draco managed to get tickets. Olga Kern is a rising star, and Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto is a staple in the repertoire, a guaranteed crowd pleaser. This piece helped her through a rough spot in her childhood, and to be hearing it in Russia, performed by a Russian pianist-it is almost too much.
“Pinch me, Draco,” she mutters as they sit down. “I need to feel something real.”
The mischievous quirk to his grin alerts her to his intentions, and when he squeezes her bum, she rolls her eyes. “Predictable.”
“Hey, you didn’t specify where,” he says, grin broadening. “Besides, no one saw. If we’re sitting this close for an hour and a half, you can’t think that I'll keep my hands to myself.”
She laughs. “I wouldn’t expect you to. But if I’m preoccupied, blame Rachmaninoff.”
“Too bad the interfering bastard’s dead, or I’d give him a talking to,” he says, and then a serious expression covers his face. “I understand why you like him, though. I enjoyed the preludes I learned when I played piano.”
“Do you regret quitting?”
“Not really,” Draco answers, shrugging. “My father insisted I study music in order to be well-rounded, but I didn’t have the patience. He let me stop after a couple years, and I was happy because that left more time for Quidditch.”
“I wish my parents had that philosophy,” she sighs. “I would’ve loved piano lessons, though at least I could listen to music. I’m not sure I would’ve made it through my grandmother’s death without this piece.”
“Well, I’m glad I can give you another association.”
She leans over to kiss him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
The lights dim and talking fades while the orchestra tunes.
As the hall fills with thunderous applause and the conductor and Olga Kern walk onstage, she reaches over to take his hand, waiting in breathless anticipation until the soft, ominous opening chords in the piano transport her to another place entirely.
4
Title: The Beautiful Square at Midnight
Author: somandalicious
Rating: G
Warning(s): SUBTEXT
Word Count: 350, much to my aggravation
There is a coldness that lies within Hermione Granger and it has little to do with the legendary chill of Moscow. Yet, she pretends it is the temperature and as she walks along the sprawling bricks of the Red Square, she pulls her coat tighter. It’s easy to ignore the loneliness that echoes with the footfalls of her boots, and she calls it determination instead. There is a war to win and she has no time to dwell on the past and its regrets. Information needs to be exchanged, targets supervised, and roles to play. Frivolities such as feelings and affection are a weakness that she cannot afford. She couldn’t fail the ministry, so she failed her heart.
Saint Basil’s Cathedral looms into the twilight sky; a colorful beacon of history and hope, reminding her that this isn’t her home. It’s a foreign land flourishing, but veiled with bureaucracy and distrust. Not so unlike herself.
Then he’s standing in front of her and she remembers the warmth of his blonde hair and the hot ash of his eyes, candent mouths upon flushed skin, whispered promises and strumming caresses of heartstrings.
There is frigidness in Draco Malfoy’s voice and it has everything to do with her espionage. He portrays indifference, as if they never shared a history and with icy fingertips, he accepts the parchment. It’s difficult to stand next so close and not throw her arms around him in effort to seek the companionship that ghosts between them. He nods a farewell, nonchalance is the mask he bears because there is a war to win, after all, and he has no time to entertain her apologies. He has Portkeys to catch, a dossier to deliver, and moves to make. Leisure such as enjoying the festivities with her not part of his agenda. She had failed him but he won’t let her fail the Ministry.
Thoughtlessly, she reaches for his hand and there is a hotness that she feels through her gloves. His eyes meet hers; he understands.
There is a fire in Hermione Granger’s heart and it is Draco Malfoy.
5
Title: Ghosts in the Park
Author: mister_otter
Rating: G
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
When Draco’s note arrived by owl post, Hermione was tempted to ignore it altogether or to send a suitably terse reply.
We aren’t speaking she wanted to write. I never want to see you again. The problem was that she did want to see him, very much.
Leaving her office in the Ministry of Magic’s Moscow consulate, Hermione walked through Tsaritsino Park as snow drifted with the falling dusk.
Ahead of her on the vast parkland, a figure moved over the dead grass, almost indistinguishable from the shadows. Moments later Draco stood facing her in the grey and white silence, while around them bare tree branches shifted and swayed.
”This park is full of ghosts,” he told her. “I acknowledge that I could be one of them-but so could you, Hermione.”
”What makes you think I’m anything like you, Malfoy? We are nothing alike.”
”You told me that you loved me. Has that changed?” he asked.
Compelled by her honest nature, Hermione gave one brief shake of her head. No.
“Then, we are alike.” A triumphant smirk lifted the corners of Draco’s mouth. ”Because…I love me, too.”
Hermione stared as his words sank in. Then, “You bloody great git!”
Laughing, she reached out to swat him, slipped on the light dusting of snow and fell, dragging Draco with her.
“That line sounded familiar!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been talking to George Weasley again, haven’t you?”
”George isn’t such a bad sort. He advised me that a bit of humor might charm you.”
They lay wrapped in each other’s arms on the cold earth of the park, chests rising and falling in tandem with their breath and heartbeats. Two weeks apart-too bloody long.
“There really are ghosts here, you know,” Draco murmured. “Long dead tsarinas and their equally long-dead lovers. And I feel like one of them--without you. I love you, Hermione. Could you forgive me?”
”There’s nothing to forgive,” she replied, realizing as she spoke the words that they were true. “Our quarrel was as much my fault as yours.”
“Take me back?” he whispered.
“You’re already there.”
6
Title: All Our Tomorrows
Author: greenschist
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Hermione tipped her head back and peered up at Ostankino Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in Europe. The tower was brightly lit against the night sky, and she could see snow swirling around the top.
Hermione shivered, but it was a pleasant feeling. It wouldn't have been a true Russian holiday unless it snowed.
"Cold?" Draco's breath was hot against her ear and gave Hermione another, even more pleasurable, shiver. He said a surreptitious warming charm, his wand hidden in his sleeve, and Hermione was at once as comfortable as she would been in front of a roaring fire.
"Not anymore." She reached with one mittened hand to brush the snowflakes from his blond hair before they could melt.
He caught her hand and kissed the thin strip of skin exposed between her mitten and her coat sleeve. "Good."
"I'll miss this city." He kept hold of her left hand, so with her right, she smoothed his scarf and played idly with the black buttons on his coat. "After this week, I think Moscow will always be at the top of my personal 'Most Romantic Places' list."
"Mine, too." His thumb rubbed circles in her palm. He leered, but the look in his eyes was loving. "St. Basil's Cathedral has completely replaced that supply cupboard where I first got your top off."
Hermione snorted. "I completely agree." She placed her hand solemnly over her heart. "And I'd rather be at the Bolshoi Theatre than in the grocery where you first told me you love me."
Draco laughed, and Hermione saw the people around them glance over and smile at the sound.
"I guess our romantic getaway was long overdue, huh?" he asked.
She nodded. "I can't believe we have to go home tomorrow. Good-bye, romance; hello, sneaking out of the Manor before dawn so your mum won't know."
He tugged her mitten off, tucking it into his pocket.
"Draco?"
"Let's make a deal." He slipped a solitaire over her ring finger and Hermione gasped. "Marry me, and I'll do my best to make all our tomorrows as romantic as today."
7
Title: Cold Hands, Warm Heart
Author: bookishwench
Rating: PG
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“I’m cold,” Draco said, but the constant chattering of his teeth made the last word seem to have eighteen syllables.
Hermione was no better off, so all she did was nod and draw her scarf tightly over her face. Moscow was beautiful in the midst of one of its many snowstorms, like a scene from the Nutcracker, all whirling white flakes against a backdrop of multi-colored onion domes. Unfortunately, she’d prefer to watch the spectacle through the window of a posh restaurant with a mug of kvass in front of her.
As it was, they were trudging through the city at midnight, frozen to the bone, trying to track a wayward Yeti that had somehow escaped the confines of the Moscow Magical Zoo. The Russian wizards were thinly staffed due to an influx of Persian Pixies in the southwest of the county, and when the head of their Animal Control Department had called Hogwarts for help, Hermione had received an enthusiastic recommendation from their Care of Magical Creatures teacher as “Th’ best yeh could find fer th’ job. She’ll enjoy it!”
Draco wasn’t requested, but she’d chosen him as back up, and he’d agreed to come. Now, here they were in the middle of a blizzard in January. Hermione was silently bemoaning her inability to get Draco to ask her on an actual date and that her own attempt at asking him involved searching for a crazed Yeti in subzero temperatures. Just as she was about to give the whole thing up as a bad job…
“Stupify!”
He’d shot the spell over her shoulder, landing it directly between the Yeti’s eyes as it had appeared only a few feet from them in the blinding whiteness, jaws spread wide. She stared at it, shaken, but sent pink sparks into the air to signal the zoo to pick up their wayward charge.
“Can I for Merlin’s bloody sake buy you a damn drink now? Preferably a hot one?” he asked, teeth still chattering.
Despite of the weather, she laughed and nodded. Moscow might not turn out to be so horrid after all.
ooo
REMEMBER: Vote for the NUMBER of the drabble, NOT the title. It just makes it easier on the mods!
Poll
NOW, for voters! If you’d like to participate in our side challenge this round, in a screened comment, please rank the 3 drabbles YOU think will place in the top 3. PLEASE use the NUMBER of the drabble, NOT the title.
You may also leave feedback for each drabble if you'd like. This will be helpful for the participants as they continue through this challenge. Since no one will be eliminated, writers will be able to use their feedback to improve week to week. Thank you!
Top 3 Drabbles:
[1]
[2]
[3]
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This Week's destination: Tokyo, Japan
Voting Ends Friday, November 6th at Midnight EST (GMT -4)
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Here's your boarding pass for A Trip Around the World
Click the Pass to Read & Vote!
This Week's destination: Moscow, Russia
Voting Ends Friday, November 6th at Midnight EST (GMT -4)
Welcome to the fifth week of voting for Round 5 of Dramione LDWS-Rumble Edition!!
A couple of things to remember when deciding which drabbles to vote for (most and least favorite):
Guidelines:
The “feedback” option.
As a voter, you have the option of leaving a brief statement about why you voted the way you did, for both most and least favorite. You can also leave feedback for ALL drabbles in a screened comment if you wish. Your feedback will then be given to the drabble writer (if they want the feedback) ANONYMOUSLY.
Example: Most - #40: the ending was brilliant - OR - Least - #57: the ending fell flat
Now that all of that is done… We present the drabbles for week 5!!
RULES
[1] Choose your most favorite and least favorite drabbles. Favorites will receive +1 point per vote, and least favorites -1 point per vote. Each drabble’s MF and LF scores will be added together. Drabble with most points wins!!
[2] Points will be awarded to the top THREE (3) drabbles, Mod’s Choice, and any other awards we want to throw in!
[3] You may NOT vote for yourself.
Voting ends at 11:59pm, Friday, November 6, 2009.
PROMPT:
AROUND THE WORLD with Draco and Hermione!!
This stop: Moscow, Russia! Pick a fact - any fact (historical, a festival, local color - whatever) and incorporate it into your drabble. Drabbles must be EXACTLY 350 words.
Sadly, marlaichen is boarding a plane bound for home and won’t be traveling with us anymore. We wish you the best of luck!!
Two people did not submit drabbles and are ineligible for rewards this week:
thebigdisaster
moxicrimefightr
1
Title: Happy Birthday!
Author: midnight_birth
Rating: PG
Warning(s): Nothing.
Word Count: 350
Hermione was pushed violently aside by a group of people waving flags and singing a foreign tune yet again, and Draco had just enough time to catch her before she hit the ground. She had always disliked crowds, and she was still completely incredulous how, upon landing in Moscow, she suddenly found herself in a jungle of screaming, singing, dancing people dressed in red, blue and white and all going somewhere, though it seemed not to matter where.
“Akkyratno*!” Draco growled, and one of the young men in the crowd swung around and screamed cheerfully, “S dnem rozhdenya, Moskva**!!!”
“I didn’t know you spoke Russian,” Hermione said incredulously, pressing herself as close to Draco as she could as he stood unmoving as a stone wall among all the people.
Draco smirked. “Enough to tell people where to go,” he said proudly, and winked when she couldn’t help but giggle.
“What’s going on?” she asked as he swung her out of the way of another crowd.
He nodded at her and tugged at a sleeve of a passing girl. “Shto proishodit***?” he asked.
The girl laughed. “Innostranets****?” she asked happily and didn’t wait for an answer. “S dnem rozhdenya, Moskva! Vosemsot shesdesyat dva goda segodnya*****!”
Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to look at Hermione. “It’s Moscow’s birthday today. Eight hundred and sixty second, apparently.”
Hermione hit herself on the head and muttered, “Of course!” as another wave of people threatened to run them over. She looked up at him. “So where did you learn to speak Russian, again?”
“Not as much speak as understand, really.” Draco shrugged. “Father used to conduct some... business here,” his face turned dark, “so mother and I visited a couple of times.” His face suddenly turned mischievous. “But since it’s a holiday, we should really celebrate, yes?”
Hermione laughed as he pulled her through the crowd back in the direction of their hotel. She could see the Bolshoi Theatre tomorrow. Tonight they’d celebrate a foreign city’s birthday the way they celebrated everything. Not that she minded. After all, she had always really disliked crowds.
*Careful!
**Happy birthday, Moscow!
*** What’s going on?
**** Foreigner?
*****Happy birthday, Moscow! Eight hundred and sixty two years old today!
2
Title: The Third Rome
Author: ayane_tsurugi
Rating: G
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 350
“You know, I don’t think it would be so bad to be a Muscovite.”
Hermione, thoroughly surprised that those words could have come from Draco’s mouth in that order, nearly choked on her chocolate muffin. “Excuse me?”
“I have discovered a latent desire within myself to be a Muscovite,” Draco said, entirely nonplussed by her surprise. His expression was distant, as though he was actually imagining himself there, most likely wearing three parkas and at least four pairs of gloves.
The two of them were sitting in a small café in Muggle London, where they’d been meeting for lunch every day for nearly five months after a chance encounter at the bookshop nearby had revealed to each of them that the other was not nearly so detestable as they remembered. Until that afternoon, Draco had never even indicated that he knew where Russia was located.
“Has being a Malfoy not been torture enough on your complexion? I’d think you’d be quite attached to the little bit of pigment you have.”
He waved this off. “It’s not as if I can get paler, right?”
“Not a hypothesis I’d want to test.” He continued to stare at some point beyond her right shoulder, not seeming to have heard. “Why would you want to move to Russia? That certainly wouldn’t be my first choice.”
His eyes focused on her then. “That’s exactly the point, Hermione. It wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice. It’s the perfect place for a new beginning.”
She wasn’t sure what to think of that. “A new beginning.”
“I could start over. A new job, with a boss and co-workers that don’t resent me for being alive. Hell, I could give myself a new name if I truly wanted!”
She felt a ball of unexpected anxiety forming in her stomach and pushed the rest of her muffin away. “And a new lunch date?” He studied her for a moment without speaking. “Is there nothing tying you here anymore, Draco?”
For the second time that afternoon, he surprised her, a warm smile forming on his lips. “Nothing that couldn’t come with me.”
3
Title: Too Much
Author: alexajohnson
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None. (Note: for anyone who cares, Olga Kern is actually a real famous pianist, so I didn't make that up! :D)
Word Count: 350.
Moscow International House of Music. Balcony seats, front and center.
Hermione can hardly believe they’re here, and considers it a miracle Draco managed to get tickets. Olga Kern is a rising star, and Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto is a staple in the repertoire, a guaranteed crowd pleaser. This piece helped her through a rough spot in her childhood, and to be hearing it in Russia, performed by a Russian pianist-it is almost too much.
“Pinch me, Draco,” she mutters as they sit down. “I need to feel something real.”
The mischievous quirk to his grin alerts her to his intentions, and when he squeezes her bum, she rolls her eyes. “Predictable.”
“Hey, you didn’t specify where,” he says, grin broadening. “Besides, no one saw. If we’re sitting this close for an hour and a half, you can’t think that I'll keep my hands to myself.”
She laughs. “I wouldn’t expect you to. But if I’m preoccupied, blame Rachmaninoff.”
“Too bad the interfering bastard’s dead, or I’d give him a talking to,” he says, and then a serious expression covers his face. “I understand why you like him, though. I enjoyed the preludes I learned when I played piano.”
“Do you regret quitting?”
“Not really,” Draco answers, shrugging. “My father insisted I study music in order to be well-rounded, but I didn’t have the patience. He let me stop after a couple years, and I was happy because that left more time for Quidditch.”
“I wish my parents had that philosophy,” she sighs. “I would’ve loved piano lessons, though at least I could listen to music. I’m not sure I would’ve made it through my grandmother’s death without this piece.”
“Well, I’m glad I can give you another association.”
She leans over to kiss him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
The lights dim and talking fades while the orchestra tunes.
As the hall fills with thunderous applause and the conductor and Olga Kern walk onstage, she reaches over to take his hand, waiting in breathless anticipation until the soft, ominous opening chords in the piano transport her to another place entirely.
4
Title: The Beautiful Square at Midnight
Author: somandalicious
Rating: G
Warning(s): SUBTEXT
Word Count: 350, much to my aggravation
There is a coldness that lies within Hermione Granger and it has little to do with the legendary chill of Moscow. Yet, she pretends it is the temperature and as she walks along the sprawling bricks of the Red Square, she pulls her coat tighter. It’s easy to ignore the loneliness that echoes with the footfalls of her boots, and she calls it determination instead. There is a war to win and she has no time to dwell on the past and its regrets. Information needs to be exchanged, targets supervised, and roles to play. Frivolities such as feelings and affection are a weakness that she cannot afford. She couldn’t fail the ministry, so she failed her heart.
Saint Basil’s Cathedral looms into the twilight sky; a colorful beacon of history and hope, reminding her that this isn’t her home. It’s a foreign land flourishing, but veiled with bureaucracy and distrust. Not so unlike herself.
Then he’s standing in front of her and she remembers the warmth of his blonde hair and the hot ash of his eyes, candent mouths upon flushed skin, whispered promises and strumming caresses of heartstrings.
There is frigidness in Draco Malfoy’s voice and it has everything to do with her espionage. He portrays indifference, as if they never shared a history and with icy fingertips, he accepts the parchment. It’s difficult to stand next so close and not throw her arms around him in effort to seek the companionship that ghosts between them. He nods a farewell, nonchalance is the mask he bears because there is a war to win, after all, and he has no time to entertain her apologies. He has Portkeys to catch, a dossier to deliver, and moves to make. Leisure such as enjoying the festivities with her not part of his agenda. She had failed him but he won’t let her fail the Ministry.
Thoughtlessly, she reaches for his hand and there is a hotness that she feels through her gloves. His eyes meet hers; he understands.
There is a fire in Hermione Granger’s heart and it is Draco Malfoy.
5
Title: Ghosts in the Park
Author: mister_otter
Rating: G
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
When Draco’s note arrived by owl post, Hermione was tempted to ignore it altogether or to send a suitably terse reply.
We aren’t speaking she wanted to write. I never want to see you again. The problem was that she did want to see him, very much.
Leaving her office in the Ministry of Magic’s Moscow consulate, Hermione walked through Tsaritsino Park as snow drifted with the falling dusk.
Ahead of her on the vast parkland, a figure moved over the dead grass, almost indistinguishable from the shadows. Moments later Draco stood facing her in the grey and white silence, while around them bare tree branches shifted and swayed.
”This park is full of ghosts,” he told her. “I acknowledge that I could be one of them-but so could you, Hermione.”
”What makes you think I’m anything like you, Malfoy? We are nothing alike.”
”You told me that you loved me. Has that changed?” he asked.
Compelled by her honest nature, Hermione gave one brief shake of her head. No.
“Then, we are alike.” A triumphant smirk lifted the corners of Draco’s mouth. ”Because…I love me, too.”
Hermione stared as his words sank in. Then, “You bloody great git!”
Laughing, she reached out to swat him, slipped on the light dusting of snow and fell, dragging Draco with her.
“That line sounded familiar!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been talking to George Weasley again, haven’t you?”
”George isn’t such a bad sort. He advised me that a bit of humor might charm you.”
They lay wrapped in each other’s arms on the cold earth of the park, chests rising and falling in tandem with their breath and heartbeats. Two weeks apart-too bloody long.
“There really are ghosts here, you know,” Draco murmured. “Long dead tsarinas and their equally long-dead lovers. And I feel like one of them--without you. I love you, Hermione. Could you forgive me?”
”There’s nothing to forgive,” she replied, realizing as she spoke the words that they were true. “Our quarrel was as much my fault as yours.”
“Take me back?” he whispered.
“You’re already there.”
6
Title: All Our Tomorrows
Author: greenschist
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 350
Hermione tipped her head back and peered up at Ostankino Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in Europe. The tower was brightly lit against the night sky, and she could see snow swirling around the top.
Hermione shivered, but it was a pleasant feeling. It wouldn't have been a true Russian holiday unless it snowed.
"Cold?" Draco's breath was hot against her ear and gave Hermione another, even more pleasurable, shiver. He said a surreptitious warming charm, his wand hidden in his sleeve, and Hermione was at once as comfortable as she would been in front of a roaring fire.
"Not anymore." She reached with one mittened hand to brush the snowflakes from his blond hair before they could melt.
He caught her hand and kissed the thin strip of skin exposed between her mitten and her coat sleeve. "Good."
"I'll miss this city." He kept hold of her left hand, so with her right, she smoothed his scarf and played idly with the black buttons on his coat. "After this week, I think Moscow will always be at the top of my personal 'Most Romantic Places' list."
"Mine, too." His thumb rubbed circles in her palm. He leered, but the look in his eyes was loving. "St. Basil's Cathedral has completely replaced that supply cupboard where I first got your top off."
Hermione snorted. "I completely agree." She placed her hand solemnly over her heart. "And I'd rather be at the Bolshoi Theatre than in the grocery where you first told me you love me."
Draco laughed, and Hermione saw the people around them glance over and smile at the sound.
"I guess our romantic getaway was long overdue, huh?" he asked.
She nodded. "I can't believe we have to go home tomorrow. Good-bye, romance; hello, sneaking out of the Manor before dawn so your mum won't know."
He tugged her mitten off, tucking it into his pocket.
"Draco?"
"Let's make a deal." He slipped a solitaire over her ring finger and Hermione gasped. "Marry me, and I'll do my best to make all our tomorrows as romantic as today."
7
Title: Cold Hands, Warm Heart
Author: bookishwench
Rating: PG
Warning(s): none
Word Count: 350
“I’m cold,” Draco said, but the constant chattering of his teeth made the last word seem to have eighteen syllables.
Hermione was no better off, so all she did was nod and draw her scarf tightly over her face. Moscow was beautiful in the midst of one of its many snowstorms, like a scene from the Nutcracker, all whirling white flakes against a backdrop of multi-colored onion domes. Unfortunately, she’d prefer to watch the spectacle through the window of a posh restaurant with a mug of kvass in front of her.
As it was, they were trudging through the city at midnight, frozen to the bone, trying to track a wayward Yeti that had somehow escaped the confines of the Moscow Magical Zoo. The Russian wizards were thinly staffed due to an influx of Persian Pixies in the southwest of the county, and when the head of their Animal Control Department had called Hogwarts for help, Hermione had received an enthusiastic recommendation from their Care of Magical Creatures teacher as “Th’ best yeh could find fer th’ job. She’ll enjoy it!”
Draco wasn’t requested, but she’d chosen him as back up, and he’d agreed to come. Now, here they were in the middle of a blizzard in January. Hermione was silently bemoaning her inability to get Draco to ask her on an actual date and that her own attempt at asking him involved searching for a crazed Yeti in subzero temperatures. Just as she was about to give the whole thing up as a bad job…
“Stupify!”
He’d shot the spell over her shoulder, landing it directly between the Yeti’s eyes as it had appeared only a few feet from them in the blinding whiteness, jaws spread wide. She stared at it, shaken, but sent pink sparks into the air to signal the zoo to pick up their wayward charge.
“Can I for Merlin’s bloody sake buy you a damn drink now? Preferably a hot one?” he asked, teeth still chattering.
Despite of the weather, she laughed and nodded. Moscow might not turn out to be so horrid after all.
ooo
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Here's your boarding pass for A Trip Around the World
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This Week's destination: Moscow, Russia
Voting Ends Friday, November 6th at Midnight EST (GMT -4)