A/N: tried to get this up earlier, but it was a close call. I really struggled with this took me quite a lot of hours to get this onto the page. Do let me know what you think :) Welcome to all the new readers by the way!

10. It's Dark Outside

224. Mistletoe Mistletoe is an interesting plant as it is a hemiparasite, meaning it can grow on its own and create nutrients via photosynthesis, but can also act a parasite, lodging its roots in the trunk of the host-tree and taking up nutrients from it. Though it can grow on its own, the overwhelming majority of mistletoe plants is actually found growing on trees. It's often seen on apple trees and also, but much more rarely, oak trees. Because of its rarity oak mistletoe was greatly admired by the ancient Celts and Germans. Celtic druids used to harvest mistletoe on the sixth night of the moon with a golden sickle. Mistletoe harvested on the winter- or midsummer solstice is significantly more potent.

Mistletoe can be used in potions, though only when carefully brewn because of the toxicity of the plant. Hung from the ceiling and spelled it helps ward off those with evil intent. The berries have the power to aid in forgetfulness potions. It can when prepared differently, also bestow life and fertility upon a drinker or wearer.

"You okay after yesterday, Granger, you seem to have bags under your eyes?"

"Hmm? Yeah." She rested her chin on a fist and studied her ruffled stack of parchments.

The great hall slowly dripped full of students grabbing breakfast, but most teachers were already sitting at the head table. Dappled sunlight streamed through the stained glass of the hall.

Draco touched her shoulder briefly. "Your hair is a mess, well more than usual," he pushed a lock of it from her shoulder, "and you've hardly touched your scrambled eggs." He took a piece of toast off a nearby rack.

She pushed the egg around her plate with her fork. "Yes mom. I'm just working on some schedules for my E.L.F. pupils. I'd like to meet them all before the midterm preparations even start." She looked up at him. "Are you... free tonight? I need to look something up in the library and I could use your help."

"I seem to recall you basically know the catalogue by heart." He took a bite of the toast he was holding. "What do you need me for?" he asked with toast-laden cheeks, inadvertently spreading crumbs over the parchments on the table.

Hermione dusted them off. "Do you mind? And though I wish I could say you're right, I need something-" she lowered her volume, "something that I think might not be in the usual catalogue."

"Ooh," cooed Draco, "Granger breaking the rules? No way I'm missing that. Is it about yesterday?"

"The marks on the trees, they bother me."

"How come?"

"They were runes."

"And?"

"I didn't recognise them."

"So you're bothered because you didn't know something," he chuckled, "come off it Granger."

"No, that's not it. I took my N.E.W.T. in Ancient Runes, surely I should have recognised one, or more, even if I do not remember their exact meaning."

Draco joined her on the bench and swallowed his toast. "Fair enough. What has the Gryffindor princess come up with?"

"I think it's connected to the damage and the adder, perhaps even the pulsing cold. And... that moment when I lay there against the tree and all my energy just..."

"Guess we have a date tonight then," said Draco matter-of-factly.

Hermione flushed. "It's not a date, Draco, and you know it," she admonished. "Speaking of dates, how's the Astoria project?"

Now it was Draco who gained some colour in his cheeks. "Well, I wanted to ask you about that."

"Me?" she snorted, "seriously Draco?"

His cheeks turned a little redder. "You're good with people and... well. You first noticed she was looking. I don't know- you've had some long term stuff and... you know, never mind."

"Draco I'm not laughing at you, I was just surprised you'd ask for my advice on this."

"How do I ask her out?"

"Go and talk to her, be you, be kind. Be the you you've become, not the you some people think you still are. You're both Slytherins, there's bound to be some opportunity somewhere in the common room, when she's free to talk to. Try to get paired up during a lesson or something."

"I just really don't want to mess it up." Then he laughed. "Also, don't look, but it seems Snape is keeping an eye on you again." He glanced to the head-table., where the raven haired professor quickly bent to the side. "Oh, now he's talking to professor Sprout, probably wondering what we did and didn't do yesterday," Draco winked. "He seemed peeved that I kidnapped his assistant."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I'm going to ignore that remark. Also, what happened yesterday was serious, Draco. We were lucky that blasted serpent didn't lash out and that the centaurs were in our favour."

"Well, you just go work on your schedules and study those potions you'll be teaching together with sour-face over there this afternoon."

This only earned Draco a disapproving look. "Draco! He is still your godfather!"

He stood before holding his hands up in a surrendering pose. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He smiled to himself. "Thanks for the advice anyway," he took a piece of toast from Hermione's plate, bent over gently carefully and kissed her forehead. "Not that I couldn't have come up with that myself, naturally."

"Sure, Draco."

.~-~-~-.

Though she had spent at least 3 hours and part of her lunch break going over the potion's she'd help teach this afternoon, Snape had asked her to sit in the back and take notes during both classes. He'd also hardly spoken to Hermione, merely told her he was not inclined to time out of the Wednesday prep session to teach her the [A1] potion they'd missed.

Draco seemed to have been right about Snape's current acidity, he was indeed rather sour. However, when the second hour was finished, Hermione did get a chance to – awkwardly – thank him for bringing back her bag.

She'd spent her dinner working her way through a steaming hot roast chicken pie with vegetables – and lukewarm pumpkin juice. When she'd only just returned to the school McGonagall had said that she would be very welcome at the head table if she'd like to. However, Hermione thought it might be nice to join a table of students she would be helping over the course of the year during some for the meals, to meet them in a more laid-back way.

During the lunch she'd had a nice time, surely, but in the back of her mind she was racking her brain over the glyphs, while absentmindedly poking her fork at her pie.

.~-~-~-.

"So what did they look like up close?"

"Not quite hieroglyphs, not quite traditional futhark runes," mumbled Hermione while leafing through a book. To the left she grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled something down. "Here, these are a few I remember."

With half her attention still focused on the book, she handed it to Draco, who studied the marks with a furrowed brow.

One heaving motion later Hermione closed the tome she was holding and shoved it back on its shelf. She looked around, dove behind the edge of the row of cupboards to be sure there was nobody else.

"Hermione stop behaving like you're not allowed to be here looking for something. You're making look suspicious like this," urged Draco "it's the restricted section, mostly for students, not forbidden. You're not for anything dark to carry out yourself right. I bet they wouldn't mind you searching around. Better still, why don't you just tell them and let the staff solve it?"

"What, and also have to explain why we were there at that time and how we knew about that clearing? How did you even discover that, what were you doing so far of the beaten path?"[A2]

"I was looking for some stuff for a potion I'm making. What are you looking at?"

"I've left my old schoolbooks in the staff storage units in the deep part of the castle, wasn't feeling like getting them, so I'm first looking at the copies of schoolbooks I've used."

"For what?"

"Hmmm, not in this one either," she murmurs to herself.

"Draco, you didn't take ancient runes but where do you normally see them, the runes?"

"In books? On stone? On parchment?"

"Yes, and the runes we saw were on full grown trees."

The blonde wizard was slowly catching on, realisation of the oddity of the situation dawning on his face.

"They're not mentioned in any of these schoolbooks, which only confirms what I already thought; they were Ander runes."

"What are those?"

"Historically illegal runes only a handful of smaller branches of old families are rumoured to know. They are activated by the family sigil, and can only be used on a carrier that is strong enough, like one of those full grown trees."

"But which spell was carved into the trees?"

"I'm not sure, it was too dark and I wasn't well," she said distractedly, looking around herself as if she expected to see the answer floating in the air. She got more and more puzzled. "I just know they're dangerous and they only work for those families, others will work against you, which is another reason why they are very risky. One wrong placement and.. oh dear... who knows what could happen? We really need the restricted books."

.~-~-~-.

The young Malfoy just turned a corner around one of the creaking shelves in the restricted section when he found Hermione bent over a dilapidated looking black leather book almost engulfed in thorny vine of red gilding along the spine and covers. She folded it open and a gust of wind and years of dust blew off the side of the table.

"Draco...," she breathed, completely drawn in by whatever secrets lay between the pages.

"They were leech runes, energy depleting from magical places. Someone is trying to break through the wards."

A/N: Hi please leave a review if you'd like, I'd love to get some before I post the next chapter.

shout out to lyght861, your reviews made me smile :) and Jaybat for always being so consistent and kind. Also hi to peccavi, you said you were a new reader, welcome! :) and to all the others for r&r'ing I appreciate it so much, it makes all the time I put into this worth it :D