Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark violation is intended.
Added note/disclaimer: I also use quotes from other places. If you find a quote that wasn't cited, please notify me.
"If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees."
Year Two: Part Two
The Chamber of Secrets
-1-
On the Hogwarts Express
Draco was looking forward to getting on the train. Aran, Layla, and Draco thought it best that no one go against Lucius for a while, seeing as he was furious. Draco had heard his parents whispering behind closed doors, and on one occasion, he and his siblings had found their bedroom door locked. Neither had come out the whole day – not even to receive a fire-call from the Minister himself.
Draco could not stop laughing after the Minister had left. The poor man had had such an affronted look when Draco informed him that Lucius and Narcissa were otherwise occupied. Layla had suggested that Fudge call in later that day. Then Aran had to open his mouth and say, "Oh, I expect they'll be willing to chat with you after they finishing shagging like mad bunnies."
Draco had gone white and choked.
Layla had started spluttering apologies and hasty excuses to the Minister claiming that Aran had addled his brains after an accident with his broomstick. Which, of course, had sent Draco off into hysterics.
The poor Minister had left utterly shocked and appalled. Draco wondered how his father would smooth that one over. After all, it was not highly ethical to allow young children in the know about the birds and the bees. Especially not when it was their parents.
Ah, well, Draco hated that he would miss the flustered look on his father's usually impassive face. Aran had once blithely suggested that Lucius had been the virgin on the wedding night and Layla had gaped at him, dropping her ladle into the brass cauldron while Draco had nervously laughed, asking what their mother must've been.
Now, walking down into the Hogwarts Express after stowing away his luggage and his siblings' luggage, he ushered them toward Ginny ordering them to stay put. He glared at the two to ensure they knew he was being absolutely serious with his command. Then he walked off to find his group of friends. As it was, Hermione found him first, in a state.
"Oh, Draco!" Hermione cried, throwing her arms around his neck, causing a passing Seventh Year prefect say to them: "Aren't you two a little young to be starting on that?"
"Er… Hermione?" Draco said with none of what he thought was his usual wit.
"Harry and Ron missed the train! They're not here!" she wailed. Draco's eyebrow went up without any conscious thought on his part.
"There, there," he said. "Maybe they'll jump on Harry's broomstick and ride to Hogwarts." Draco tilted his head. "That sounded so wrong."
"Yeah," said Hermione. "It did."
"Well then… I'm sure they'll be okay. Come on; let's find a compartment just in case they're on the train playing some prank on us."
Draco and Hermione might have happily spent the rest of the train ride in blissful conversation of their studies if a woman had not stumbled into the compartment and sat on Draco's lap.
"Oh my goodness!" she said. "I do apologize. I'm dreadfully clumsy, I daresay."
"Um," said Draco, wondering what to do.
Hermione looked on rather amused. She cleared her throat and said, "I'm Hermione Granger… and you are?"
"Oh! I'm Abby – short for Abigail as you obviously imagine!"
"Yes, of course," drawled Draco. "What other name could we possibly imagine?"
Hermione looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well," said Abby, "I don't rightly know. As it is, I am a new professor. Perhaps we'll see each other again, no?"
She crashed into the compartment door as she tried to back out. When she realized it was closed, she whipped out her wand to open the door before walking out, with as much grace as she could before tripping over her own feet.
Draco started laughing. "Oh God!"
"That poor woman! She must be addleheaded or something," Hermione observed.
"I hope she won't be teaching us anything – how would we learn?"
"Well, we'd learn how not to trip over ourselves," Hermione said in a sincere tone. "Also we'd learn not to walk into doors, walls, and – and –"
"Plates of armor," Draco suggested.
xxx
"Do you think they'll know straightaway?"
There was a moment's pause.
"No."
"I suppose… but if they could get through that passage full of the best tricks their teachers could set up… they'll find out."
"You forget that these are children."
"They don't truly see themselves as children, you know."
"I suppose not."
There was a hesitation.
"Do you believe they'll discover everything before we're ready for them know about it?"
"If our people do their job right and not get sidetracked by other things…"
"Such as each other?" came the sly suggestion.
"No, such as killing each other."
"They were in love once, remember?"
"Yes, but they were young then and she wasn't quite as silly and he wasn't quite as depressing."
"You mean cheerful and – and – and –"
"Depressing?"
"Solemn!"
There was a long pause.
"I rather doubt that solemn describes him accurately."
"It's better than depressing."
"Yes, well…"
"I think it best they do get – er – sidetracked, as you so put it. It will stop any suspicions from arising in overly suspicious minds."
"Was not the charade planned just for that occasion?"
"It's not a charade. It's the truth."
"There are no known successful… arrangements between a mortal and one of us."
"Perhaps not… that is why I think it best they get sidetracked. After all, the best plans are those that allow for the unplanned."
"The plan must go on."
"Oh, it will. We'll see it to it. After all, more is at stake here than a mere whim of Shae's."
"Oh really? And pray, tell me what the mad so-called Fate told you?"
"Oh, Shae hasn't told me a thing. I just know it myself."
"So what's at stake, hmm?"
"Why, the fate of the Universe… and of our existence."
-2-
Doomed, I say!
Neither Draco nor Hermione were really anxious how Harry and Ron would arrive. Draco was sure that they would find a way of entering rather dramatically. Hermione was, perhaps, the more anxious of the two.
So when Lee Jordan claimed, on the other side of the table, from where they were quietly discussing, (in which it means, laughing at), Lockhart, who was sitting next to Abby, that Harry and Ron had just been expelled because they had arrived in a flying car, Hermione proclaimed it utterly ridiculous, and got the password from a prefect sitting nearby.
Draco turned his attention to the first years as they walked into the room, looking scared, excited, or bored. He decided not to listen – except that Harper was sorted into Slytherin, and Luna Lovegood into Ravenclaw. Then his siblings were called forth.
"Malfoy, Aran!" called McGonagall.
At the Gryffindor table, Angelina Johnson said, "I didn't know you had a sibling, Draco."
"Siblings," Draco corrected her.
"They're twins like us," Fred and George added.
"With the exception that one of them is a girl and the other is a boy… what's taking that bloody hat so long?"
"He'll be in Slytherin, won't he?" asked Seamus, "I mean, we all know Malfoys are usually sorted into Slytherin, with the exception of you, Draco."
Almost as to spite Seamus' words, the hat opened at the brim and shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!"
"I'm doomed," said Draco in a very weak voice. "Oh, I'm so dead."
"So melodramatic, Draco," said Hermione, shaking her head in some amusement.
"I hope Layla's in Gryffindor," Draco said. "I mean… if Aran can get in…"
"Malfoy, Layla!" McGonagall called.
Layla made her way serenely to the hat and the stool. She calmly picked it up and sat down with as much grace as she could manage as she slipped on the hat.
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat screamed.
"What!" Draco said. "Oh, I'm so really doomed."
"What are you talking about, Draconius?" Aran asked loudly.
"Draconius?" Lavender Brown giggled. "Oh, it's so exotic!"
Draco's head made a lovely thunk sound as he proceeded to introduce his forehead to the wooden tabletop, muttering, "Doomed, I say, doomed!"
xxx
"Come on," Hermione said, when the feast was finally over without a sign of Harry or Ron, despite that they'd waited for them. "We're going to go find them."
Draco got up without another word. Yet, they seemingly had a very silent and private conversation.
"Don't hurt them, if they've done anything remarkably stupid – like crashing a flying car," said Draco, finally.
"I won't." Hermione shook her head. "Bloody gossipmongers! I mean a flying car? Preposterous."
"It's the Magickal world, love."
"I know. That's why I might yell at them a bit. You won't deny me that, will you?"
"No, not all."
"Good."
And with that the two friends continued on their way in silence until they came upon Harry and Ron standing in front of the Fat Lady.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Hermione as she made a mad dash toward the two boys. Draco walked behind a little more sedately, observing that they suited each other, certainly. He sighed, fingering a lock of his white blonde hair.
"…ridiculous rumors…expelled for crashing a flying car," Hermione was saying as he reached them.
"Well, we haven't been expelled," Harry said.
"You're not telling me you did fly here?" Hermione said, sounding so much like their Head of House, that Draco looked fearfully over his shoulder. Then almost to make up for it, he said, "Wattlebird," to the Fat Lady.
"Skip the lecture and tell us the new… password," Ron finished, looking at Draco. "Wattlebird?"
"Hermione got it from a prefect." He looked at her and silently said, I told you they'd fly to Hogwarts
"Yes, but you said they'd use Harry's broom," Hermione said, and then blushed furiously. Draco grinned at her, suddenly realizing he was slightly taller than her.
"Come on, love, lighten up," Draco told her, just as the portrait door swung open to reveal what looked like the entire Gryffindor House.
"Brilliant! Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow –"
"Yes," Draco drawled, "but at the moment our rather inspired heroes have retired from being your entertainment and wish to go to bed." Draco gave both Ron and Harry a rather pointed look.
They both nodded.
"Yeah – a bit tired," Ron said.
"Night," Harry said as they walked up the stairs.
"I thought you weren't going to stop me from yelling at them," Hermione said, continuing up the stairs with Draco.
"Did you really want to be caught yelling at them like a common fishwife in the middle of the common room, or would you prefer to yell at them in the privacy of the dormitory? Yell at them tomorrow, when they think they've gotten away with it."
"All right," said Hermione and she turned to walk down the stairs.
"Night, love," Draco called after her, opening the door only to be nearly bowled over as Seamus, Neville, and Dean flew through the door.
"Unbelievable!" said Seamus.
"Cool," said Dean.
"Amazing," said Neville looking awestruck.
"Yes, Harry Potter is a God. Don't wet yourself from the excitement of his presence," drawled Draco.
"Draconius, you break my heart, really," said Neville sarcastically and they all gaped at him in astonishment.
Neville's hands flew up to his mouth in horror. "I – I'm sorry!" he squeaked. "I didn't mean –"
"No, it's all right," said Draco, grinning. He walked over to Neville and slung his arm around the other boy's shoulders. "Keep that up and we'll make a wit out of you, eh?"
"So, what was that 'love' business between you and Hermione, hmm?" asked Seamus.
"Oh, nothing, really," said Draco. "We're just friends, you know."
"Right," said Dean. "Spill, mate. What's going on between you and Hermione?"
"Nothing! We're only twelve for Christ's sake."
"Hmm… defensive, are we?"
"How do you know I don't like someone else?" Draco demanded, upset at being called defensive.
"Draco," Harry said, grinning, "you never pay attention to girls."
"Neither do you," Draco retorted.
"But I'm not totally blind. We're twelve – that's old enough to think about those things."
Draco gave him a dirty look. "Would you really be interested if you had stood outside your parents' door for ages all summer long? I mean, if you want to know more about the birds and the bees, you're welcomed at Malfoy Manor over the holidays. My parents shall provide you with the most educational service about that."
"Are they really that bad?" asked Ron suddenly.
"They're like teenagers – only more rabid and horny," said Draco. Then he shuddered. "Ugh. Can we please talk about something else."
"You're a prude," said Seamus cheerfully.
Draco shrugged. "I'll get over it."
He wandered over to his bed, and sighed as he sank into the pillows and mattresses – of which he'd brought from the Manor.
"I can't wait for our classes to start," Draco said brightly. "I wonder if Hermione's willing to be study partners…"
"Draco, shut up! No talk of school!" Ron said.
Needless to say, all the other boys agreed.
-3-
Professor Useless
Draco slid into his seat next to Hermione the next morning and had reached for a bit of toast and pumpkin juice. Hermione had her nose buried in Voyages with Vampires, so, shrugging, Draco pulled out his own book – the newest Potion book he had, and started reading about acacia in love potions and 'psychic' enhancements potions.
"You two are just the oddest thing," said Fred, shaking his head, observing them.
"So, Draco, what say you to a bit of pranking, eh?" asked George with a sly look in his eyes.
Draco made a 'I'm listening' gesture.
Fred reached out for the dish of eggs with both hands, holding Draco's eyes.
Draco nodded imperceptibly.
"Excellent," the twins chorused.
Just then there was a slight commotion over at the Slytherin table, which was quickly resolved by Layla's quick spellcasting.
"Interesting," Draco murmured, just as Harry sat down next to him. Neither he nor Ron looked at him, but Hermione did, shooting him a glance, as she greeted Harry and Ron with a cool, "Morning."
Draco was impressed.
On the other side of the table, Aran was chatting away with another boy, leaving Ginny alone.
"…sending me a few things I forgot," said Neville on the other side of Ron.
Draco glanced upward as the first few owls made their way in, followed by the masses.
His mother's own owl landed in front of him, leaving him with a letter and some sweets from… Draco blinked.
"Hey," said Layla, right behind him.
"What're you doing here? Get back to your pit, snake," a Gryffindor sixth year said.
"Mind your own," said Draco sharply. "She's my sister."
The sixth year looked incredulous.
"Dad sent me this," Layla shoved a letter at him. "Show it to Aran as well."
"Mum wrote to me," said Draco. "She'll probably say the same thing as Father."
"I suppose," said Layla, slowly. "Is that a Howler?" Draco swung around to look and sure enough, Ron was holding in his hands a red envelope.
"What's the matter?" Harry was asking as Draco tuned in.
"I'd better go," said Layla, looking nervously at the envelope. Draco barely noticed her as she walked away from the Gryffindor table. Draco didn't see that Layla picked up her bag once she arrived at the Slytherin table, muttering something to the other Slytherins, before walking out of the Great Hall.
"Open it," said Neville.
Draco nudged Hermione. "Cover your ears," he advised her.
"Why?" she began, but Draco had already braced himself for the impact.
Molly Weasley was then heard, shrieking at the top of her lungs about how Ron stole his father's car, and the inquiry, and that Harry could've died – no how they both could've died, Draco noted, as he absently watched as eons old dust was shaken from the ceiling.
After a while, the envelope burst into flames and curled into ashes as Hermione closed her Voyages with Vampires with a snap. "Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you –"
"Don't tell me I deserved it!"
Draco sensed a shame and guilt radiating from both boys.
"Oi, Potter," said Draco slamming his shoulder against Harry's. "Don't kill yourself with guilt. Eat up."
Harry gave him a strange, wan smile, before shaking his head. "Not hungry."
"Eat," said Draco. "Don't make me spoon-feed you."
Harry sighed, but began to eat his porridge again. "It's my fault," he said. "Mr. Weasley's facing an inquiry…"
"I'll get Father on it," said Draco, and they all looked at him astonished.
"Draco, your dad hates ours!" said Fred.
"Yes, but my father doesn't hate me. I'm a spoiled brat. All I've got to do is demand it – or beg prettily and he'll get it for me."
"It must be nice being like that," Ron said gloomily.
"A promotion could be in the works," Draco suggested.
"No. Dad's happy where he is."
"Ah, well, worth a shot. Now, c'mon. We've Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first thing."
When neither boy moved, Draco impatiently hauled them both up, saying, "Up you go. Don't let it show you're flustered. Emotional outbursts get you nowhere, but strategy does, doesn't it Ron? Just like chess."
"Yeah," said Ron, suddenly seemingly feeling better. "Chess."
"I owe you a game," Draco added. "Tonight – no, better make it tomorrow night. I've got a hot date to keep tonight. Don't wait for me."
Ron and Harry looked at each other.
"Is he serious?" asked Harry.
"With him?" said Ron. "Who knows, mate."
xxx
Herbology was spent planting Mandrakes, which Draco found so curious he stuck his finger into one of their mouths, only to yelp in pain when it bit him. Hermione sniggered as she helped him extract his finger from the Mandrake's mouth. Harry didn't seem to be paying them any attention. Draco made a mental note to ask him later. Something about Lockhart… oh, of course… that. Draco's mind flashed toward his old life, where he'd mocked Harry about his fame…..
Too late to do anything about that, but at least, he could do it over again, Draco thought as he shoved a squalling mandrake into the earth once more.
"Transfiguration next," said Draco to Hermione, as they left the greenhouse. She nodded as they headed off toward the Transfiguration classroom.
In Transfiguration, they were to transform a beetle into a button, but only he and Hermione seemed to be having any type of luck.
Harry kept waving his wand frantically trying to aim it at his scuttling beetle. Draco shot a look at Hermione, before she rolled her eyes at him. He grinned, pleased.
Draco and Hermione left the classroom together, so busy talking about the correct way of Transfiguring something, they didn't notice that they'd left Ron and Harry behind them.
"Really?" said Draco. "Well, I suppose – I mean, this is simple stuff… as the heir to an ancient pureblood Wizarding family, I learnt this ages ago, so I know what we're doing, mostly."
"Did you?" Hermione said, looking fascinated. "What do you learn, anyway? No arithmetic or science or anything taught a Muggle schools?"
"Well, we learn science, certainly," said Draco, "but nobody's really that much interested into joining the Space Age insanity that's hit the Muggle world – we've been there, done that, but that's not really the point. We learn chemistry, I suppose – seeing as the properties of plants and whatnot. A lot of the magick is science-based, you know. I suspect some ancient Wizarding ancestor was some foolish Muggle who messed up on some kind of potion – or chemical experimentation, and found himself a wizard. After all, we've only a few differences from Muggles."
Hermione frowned. "Aren't we both humans?"
"Yes, I reckon so," said Draco. "But… well, like take cats, for example, there are an awful lot of different species to the cat family. We're a different species, but the same species. It's like the Neanderthal versus modern-day humans. We're… accelerated, I suppose, in the ranks of evolution."
"So… a bit like the X-men, I suppose," said Hermione.
Draco looked at her in surprise before grinning at her, "Oh, yes. Just like Magneto, Wolverine, and their lot."
"Why, Draco, I didn't know you knew about Muggle comics!" Hermione said laughingly.
"I prefer the Japanese comics rather than those. They're American, are they not?"
"Yes," said Hermione, "but they're rather entertaining at times. So which do you prefer…"
And so, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger found yet another thing they both liked, aside from their sick obsession with schoolwork.
Which meant that, both Harry and Ron were ignored throughout lunch. Again. Or at least, until Harry demanded their attention by loudly interrupting their absolutely inspired conversation about Shakespeare, Muggle comics versus the Wizarding comics, (in which Draco defended Martin Miggs while Hermione scathingly insulted the lack of research), and Potions, of all things, saying, "What've we got this afternoon?"
Draco and Hermione looked at Ron and Harry blankly, as though they'd forgotten they were there. "Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione checking her schedule.
"Why have you outlined all of Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?" Ron demanded.
"Ooh," Draco stage-whispered to Harry, "someone's jealous." He half-sang the word "jealous".
Ron went nearly as bright red as his hair, while Hermione blushed furiously.
"I'm not jealous," he hissed at Draco. "I just want to know why she's gone and outlined Lockhart in little hearts!"
"Well," said Draco after a pause, "she's a girl."
"I know that," Ron said.
"I think he means that she's a girl, Ron," Harry said grinning.
"Fine! Talk about me as though I weren't here," said Hermione.
"I give up," said Draco. "He's either a eunuch or blind."
Hermione went scarlet, and much to Harry's surprise, she giggled swatting at Draco's arm, almost flirtatiously. Draco looked down at her with a very odd look in his gray eyes.
"Come on," he said. "Let's go outside."
Much to Harry and Ron's mystification, Draco picked up not only his bag, but also Hermione's.
"If I didn't know any better," said Ron, uncertainly, "I'd say they fancied each other."
Harry looked at him sharply, wondering what he was going on about.
"Of course they fancy each other," he said. "Look at them!"
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, and shook his head. "Come on, let's go after them."
Draco and Hermione were sitting on a stone step – or rather, Hermione was sitting on the step and Draco was elegantly sprawled out next to her, rewriting his Herbology and Transfiguration notes into a neat, color-coded scheme, while Hermione sat reading Voyages with Vampires. Harry noted the way they sat together – both of their legs tangled up, but neither of them talking nor looking at each other, both rather lost in their own things.
Of course they fancy each other, Harry thought with a pang. He realized that he suddenly didn't want them fancying each other.
"Are you going to stand there, or are you going sit down?" asked Draco, suddenly looking up at him, leaning back against his elbows, a lazy grin curving up on the side of his mouth.
Harry suddenly wanted to sit down next to him, and so he gratefully sat down, as Draco rolled his eyes and went back to rewriting his notes.
xxx
It started out simply – it was just a mousy-haired boy holding a camera that caught Draco's attention, drawing it away from the absorbing task of writing everything he'd learned that day thus far.
"Hey, Harry," he said. "Some poor sod's moonstruck over you."
Harry turned to look. The boy went brilliantly red.
And suddenly Draco was lost in the grips of a memory from his past life.
Everyone line up! Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!
No, I'm not. Shut up, Malfoy.
You're just jealous.
Jealous? Of what? I don't want a foul scar right across my forehead, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, thanks.
x
You were always jealous of Potter's popularity, weren't you boy? Come to me, I'll give you all that you desire… come to my side…
Yes, I will…
Tell me what you want the most in the world.
Both of my parents' safety…
Indeed… but first, you must heed my command, boy. Kill him!
I will, my Lord…
Do not fail me.
I shan't…
x
And then he can see himself, reaching out for Harry, but his hand is covered in blood, and Harry is smiling at him as he reaches out, fingers clawed and plunges into Harry's chest and pulls out his still beating heart.
x
"Draco!" it was Harry's voice that brought him out of it.
Draco shook his head, horribly disoriented. "Go away, Colin," Draco snarled at the boy.
The boy blinked. "How'd you know that's my na–"
"Creevey, just go!"
When the boy didn't leave, Draco shoved his things into his bag and left, in a hurry, feeling the urge to throw up as more memories rushed their way through his mind. Why now? He wondered.
It's only the second year, child, Shae whispered consolingly in his mind. It's what you need to know of what's to come. Besides, you seem to be very resilient against my own charms on your old memories. You remember bits and flashes of what you knew right before…
Before what? Draco asked, but when he received no answer, he pressed his hands against his temples and cried out, "Before what!"
But no one heard him – or perhaps they didn't care.
xxx
When Draco slipped into Lockhart's classroom and Hermione hastily shoved her bag out of the seat she'd been saving for him, she whispered, "What was that all about?"
"I'll tell you later," he murmured.
"It wasn't a – you know –" Hermione lowered her voice even more, "vision?"
Draco nodded. "I don't understand it, though," he murmured back. "I'll tell you later."
Hermione bit her lip, but nodded as Lockhart began his class.
It was a complete disaster – a waste of a year, as Draco had predicted in the bookstore when Lockhart announced he was taking the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts.
It began with a very conceited test on – well, Lockhart, and ended with the disastrous Cornish Pixies.
"Can you believe him?" Ron yelled.
"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione, calmly.
"Hands on? Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing –" Harry said, trying to catch a pixie.
"Rubbish. You've read his books – look at all those amazing things he's done –"
"He says he's done," Ron muttered.
And Draco noted it all down.
xxx
Later, much later, Draco sat with Hermione by the fire. The common room was almost empty, as both Ron and Harry had gone up to the dormitory a while ago, leaving them to their schoolwork.
"Hey, Hermione," said Draco softly.
She looked up at him, curiously, her honey eyes warm.
"Do you like Professor Lockhart?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning slightly. "As a teacher?"
"No, I mean – as a guy," Draco said, almost shyly.
She blushed, opening her mouth to deny it, but then sighed. "Yes," she said, blushing. "Is that bad?"
"No," said Draco, with a faint smile. Hermione sighed and closing her book, she walked over to the seat he sat in, and squeezed in next to him, almost sitting in his lap.
"I know he's a professor…" said Hermione, "but look at all those things he's done!"
"Hermione," said Draco, softly, reaching up to stroke her cheek with a finger. "Listen, they're just books. Anyone can write a book and claim they've done something. Just the same way most boys respond to Veelas by yelling out the most ridiculous of things."
"Veelas?" said Hermione, puzzled.
"Yes… they're beautiful women, my father says. Few males can resist them at all. They can only resist they're very powerful – in mind and in spirit, or truly in love with their true soul mate, or…" Draco blushed suddenly and whispered, "if they belong to the… you know…"
Hermione looked at him blankly. Draco made a gesture she couldn't misinterpret.
"Oh!" she said. "Really?"
"Yeah." He paused. "Or if they're so young, they're still asexual."
"I suppose Aran would react to them, wouldn't he?"
"No," said Draco, moving so that their heads rested together. "He's in love with Ginny."
"Ron's sister?" Hermione said, surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah," Draco said softly.
"I just wish…" Hermione sighed. "Do you think I'm a silly little girl for crushing on my teacher?"
"No," said Draco. "It's bound to happen to the best of us."
"Even you?"
"I'll let you know if that ever happens," Draco promised her.
"Good."
"Just promise me, this," Draco said seriously. "Don't be blind to people flaws, even if you love them. It might save your life."
Draco leaned forward and kissed her very gently before he left, whispering, "Goodnight, love," in her ear.
She sat there, lingering in the warmth that he left behind in her seat, pressing her hand on her lips where her fair-haired friend had kissed her so gently it was a ghost of a kiss.
-4-
Curious Incidents
When morning came, it found Hermione waiting for Draco to come down. The first thing she did when she saw him coming down with Harry and Ron was grab him by the arm and drag him away for some privacy.
"Why did you kiss me?" she asked. "Do you like me?"
"Not like that," said Draco with a warm smile. "I kissed you because…" Draco shrugged. "It's what friends do."
"Kiss each other?"
"Sometimes," said Draco. "In the Wizarding world, if a friend kisses another they can exchange magick through their kiss. It's an old tradition, forgotten, mostly. It begins with a questioning and ends with an answer."
"But it's not done anymore?"
"No," said Draco.
"So then why'd you do it?"
"Because you're my best friend," Draco said simply. "And it forges a bond between two people so that they can share each other's magick if they ever need to. They can always find each other, no matter what."
"Oh." Hermione mulled this over. "Can we still –?"
"Too late for that, love. It's a one time thing," said Draco with a sad smile. "I should've explained it before I did it… but I forgot that you're not…"
"I'm not what?" Hermione asked, wondering what it might be that Draco could be saying.
"Pansy," Draco finished.
"Parkinson!" she said. "You kissed Pansy Parkinson!"
"Say what?" asked both Harry and Ron, looking at Draco in horror.
"Oh, come on – she's not that bad," said Draco. "I mean, she's a good kisser, I'll give her that… which reminds me… I need to go."
He'd forgotten about his promise to Blaise and suddenly cringed. He turned to Fred and George who had just wandered into the common room, looking incredibly sleepy.
"Hey," he said to them. "Tell me I was dreaming when we planted those items in the Slytherin common room."
"Er…" said Fred.
"Sorry," said George.
"Damn," said Draco. "Well… okay. I need to go… goodbye."
xxx
Draco waited impatiently for whoever would show up. He blinked when he saw Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Layla, and more than a handful of the first years.
Draco absently noticed that the group was larger than what he'd hoped. And more, a few from Hufflepuff, and four from Ravenclaw.
"Right," said Draco. "You realize what an espionage system means, right?"
"Of course," said Terry Boot. "You want us to spy on our Houses for you. You're willing to pay us for the information provided."
"And," Daphne added, with almost an imperceptible glance at both Crabbe and Goyle, "you'll keep us out of the reach of the Dark Lord should he rise again."
"Which," added Goyle, "you know he will. He's not stupid – and I highly doubt he wouldn't go without some…" Goyle grimaced, "preventives."
"Immortality or some semblance of it," added Crabbe.
Now the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws were gazing at the two boy in calculating glances.
"I knew it," Draco said, smiling warmly at his two oldest friends. "You might act dense, but you wouldn't be so dense to follow Nott."
"Of course not," said Goyle.
"But you didn't seem to want anything to do with us," Crabbe said finally. "Not that I hate Potter or anything myself, but we didn't really have anywhere to go."
"And with you being a Gryffindor, of all things," added Pansy. "It's just hard, you know? You were our leader – are our leader. For better or worse my allegiance is with you."
The Slytherins all nodded, and then the Ravenclaws agreed.
"Mine as well, and I suppose I'll keep at it after Hogwarts," said a Ravenclaw Draco recognized as Bradley. He was fourth year, Draco recalled, glancing at him appraisingly. "You sure you want to align yourself with me? A Malfoy?"
"Malfoys have the reputation of keeping their promise," said Bradley.
"And," added the girl next to, whose name, Draco recalled, was Mandy Brocklehurst. She was also a second year, like he was, "Malfoys have the reputation for siding or being both – Dark Lords or leaders of the light. My mother told me that you'll most likely be the latter than the former because Malfoys are a long time overdue to have a supporter of the light."
"Exactly," added Morag MacDougal. She glared at him, almost daring him to say otherwise.
"Okay," said Draco. "Just understand this – your job is to observe not to interfere. I'm going to teach you how to be a spy. I'll arrange for a meeting later on – at a later date. I'll pass the word on."
When Draco arrived at the Gryffindor common room once again, Hermione was waiting for him. "Where've you been, Draco?" she asked, suspiciously. "We had a study session."
"I… forgot," Draco said lightly, and Hermione frowned.
"Did you remember to take your potions today?"
"Yes, Hermione, I remembered."
"Good," she said. "I wouldn't want you getting sick."
"I'll try not to," Draco promised.
xxx
The only other noteworthy incident that happened that week was that Professor Binns, announced in class that he was retiring, as he felt… unappreciated. He told them, in his monotonous voice that he was only substituting until their new History of Magick professor was ready to teach them. However, since the professor in question had not said anything since the beginning of the term, he would continue his lessons as he saw fit. And yet, because it was said in such a boring tone, most students fell asleep or back into their stupor shortly after the second word. Hermione was distracted at the moment, as she was telling Ron and Harry off for having a mock sword fight under the desk with their wands, and so only Draco really paid attention to the announcement. There was nothing interesting that happened afterward until the weekend arrived, long at last.
When the weekend arrived, Draco woke up in time to hear someone telling Harry to wake up and something about Quidditch. For a moment he thought he should go and try out – as a reserve seeker, surely… but then decided against it. There was nothing to do for it. He wasn't going to play Quidditch this life around, he thought with a sigh.
And just on the heels of that, he remembered and shot up straight up in his bed, wild-eyed.
"Nott," he said, and proceeded to try to untangle himself from his blankets.
"Did you just say Nott?" asked Dean, wrinkling his nose.
"That horrible Slytherin prat?" added Seamus.
"His family's wealthy," Draco said distractedly, "that gives him an edge in Slytherin – plus, the Notts have been there for ages like my family. Except that Nott is a slimy bastard and Harry just went out for Quidditch. Nott'll have something to do, I can almost assure you."
"You think he's plotting something so soon in the year?" Neville looked at him incredulously.
"Well… I – yeah."
"So, what are we waiting for?"
"Good question," said Draco and started to hurry toward the door. He might have dashed out of the dormitory and the Tower itself had he not seen himself in the mirror.
Draco let out a horrified sound in his throat.
"Is that my hair?" he said, sounding appalled.
Seamus, Dean, and Neville burst out laughing.
"Oh, shut it you," Draco snapped, frantically searching for a comb. "I'm not leaving this room until my hair is back to normal."
"But, Draco," said Neville trying to keep a straight face, "it looks wonderful on you."
Draco was torn between laughing and preening under the praise.
He decided to ignore it altogether and proceeded to get rid of his Harry Potter-esque hair style, which of course, only set his dorm-mates howling with laughter.
xxx
Ron regaled Hermione with the story, who found it rather interesting. Draco spent the rest of the walk to the Quidditch pitch sulking over their amusement.
Draco swore when he heard the loud voices of the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams.
"Too late," he muttered.
In the end, he was right – Nott ended up being the one providing the team with the new broomsticks, and it was Nott who called Hermione a Mudblood and despite his warning to Ron to keep cool, he still used the same spell and ended up spitting slugs.
And of course, they dragged him to Hagrid's.
To which Draco hastily explained to Hagrid that Nott had called Hermione a Mudblood, and Ron had tried to curse him, but the spell backfired.
Hagrid hadn't seemed upset – except that Nott had gotten away with calling Hermione a Mudblood. Hagrid also pointed out, reasonably in Draco's opinion, that at least Ron hadn't gotten into trouble.
"It's a disgusting thing to call someone. Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-bloods anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out." Ron explained to Hermione.
"Besides," added Draco, "it's better to have the variation in your genes. Look at me – I'm pureblood, but I'm sick. I can't function properly without potions! It's from the inbreeding, they say. Some say it was a mistake, but it's more plausible that it's because my family is the pureblood family."
Ron looked at him, surprised. "You know," he said slowly, "I'd be surprised to hear you say that if I didn't know you this well now. You don't care about blood, though your family puts a lot of stock into it. So, yeah, I'd be shocked to hear you, a Malfoy saying something like, but you're not just a Malfoy – you're Draco." And then he proceeded to cough up more slugs.
Draco felt slightly tingly around his ears.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione looking at him curiously.
Draco shrugged. "Well… supposedly my family – this is rumor, no facts – my family is one of the original thirteen Wizarding families. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff – they took their own names, definitely, but they were among the Thirteen. So, that's about nine families left. The Potters were definitely among them, before the last your father, Harry, married a Muggle-born, so that means you're a half-blood, but technically you're a first generation pureblood because both of your parents were magickal. On the other hand, genetically, you're not a pureblood, but nobody but the fanatical count it like that, and so you'd have wait five generations before your family could be considered purebloods. Not only that, but it's only if you marry non-magickal folks that you're considered a half-blood. Which means, my family generally gets away with marrying the more magickal species, like vampires or veelas"
"Really? Malfoys marry veelas or vampires?"
"Well," said Draco, "they're magickal, so no one can say that Malfoy's aren't a purely magickal family, but are we pure human – no."
"Well that explains it," said Hermione, looking at him. "Because you don't look human. The first time I saw you, I thought you were an angel."
Draco laughed and found that he couldn't stop laughing at the idea of being an angel.
"Harry," said Hagrid, suddenly. "Gotta bone to pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos."
Draco frowned as Harry said, furiously, "I have not been giving out signed photos!"
Then he realized – "Oh, so that's what Nott was yelling about!"
"Didn't you hear him?" asked Hermione. "That first year, Colin Creevey wanted to take a picture of Harry and he wanted Harry to sign it. Nott heard him, and yelled it out for the world. I think he might've said something about you – but Lockhart walked over and –"
"He made me take the picture with him," said Harry, sounding bitter.
Draco blinked. "So, Lockhart's still spreading that around?"
"I was on'y jokin'" Hagrid said, behind them. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need the. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."
"That must've gone over nicely," Draco murmured.
"Bet he didn't like that," said Harry, at the same time.
"Don' think he did. An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" Hagrid asked. Draco gave Ron a cursory glance, before turning back to Hagrid. Behind him Ron shook his head. "Better not risk it."
Hagrid invited them to see what he was growing out in his small vegetable patch.
Draco studied the dozen or so large pumpkins, hopelessly amused at the sight.
"Gettin' on well, aren't they? Fer the Halloween feast… should be big enough by then."
"What've you been feeding them?" asked Harry.
"Giving them a bit of help, aren't you?" asked Draco, nodding toward Hagrid's rather flowery pink umbrella.
Hagrid quickly looked around, but nodded.
"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose," said Hermione.
"Done a good job of it too," said Draco.
"That's yer little sister said."
"Who?" asked Ron, looking at Draco, who only shrugged.
"Both," said Hagrid. "Layla and Ginny. Met them jus' yesterday. Said they were jus' lookin' round the grounds, I reckon they were hopin' they might run inter someone else at my house." Draco was amused to see Hagrid wink at Harry. "If yeh ask me, they wouldn' say no ter a signed –"
"Oh, shut up," said Harry, sourly as Ron snorted with laughter, spraying the ground with slugs.
"Watch it!" Hagrid said, pulling Ron away from his pumpkins.
"Maybe Layla wouldn't," Draco said, thoughtfully. "She certainly thinks you're… sweet. But not Ginny. Ginny's into my brother."
They walked back into the entrance hall, when McGonagall called out to Harry and Ron, telling them they'd be serving detention that evening.
"What're we doing, Professor?" asked Ron.
McGonagall told him he'd be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Filch without magick, and that Harry would be helping Lockhart answer his fan mail."
Draco watched with some amusement as Harry begged to be allowed to polish the silver.
"Certainly not. Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you."
When Ron and Harry walked into the Great Hall, seemingly utterly depressed, Hermione put a well-you-did-break-the-rules sort of expression.
"Well, it could be worse," said Draco, cheerfully.
"What?" asked Harry.
"She could be making you clean out Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She haunts the girl's toilet."
They stared at him.
"That's what I had to do last time I got detention."
"When did you get detention?" asked Hermione, suspiciously. "I don't remember you getting detention in all the time we've been here."
"Turned in my Potions assignment late," said Draco, rather cheerfully. "Snape wanted to humiliate me, I guess."
"You what?" they said.
"Oh, dear," said Draco. "Would you look at the time? I have to go!"
"Why do I get the feeling he's keeping something from us?" asked Hermione.
Ron shrugged, but Harry replied, "Because since when hasn't Draco kept something from us? Last year it was that he was sick… that he's a Se –"
"A you-know-what," said Ron, quickly.
"Well, I'm going to find out what it is," Hermione said, grimly. "He's our friend – we're his friends. He shouldn't keep things from us!"
xxx
"When did you turn in your Potions assignment late?" Hermione demanded when she spotted Draco, sitting by the fire and scribbling away on a parchment.
"When I was in the hospital wing – he took my assignments, but he wanted them the next class we met. I forgot about them, in all the excitement, and turned it in late about a week late."
"Oh," said Hermione.
"So, how do you think Ron and Harry are doing?" Draco asked, looking at Hermione.
She sighed, "Knowing Ron, he'll have complaints. Harry… well, poor Harry – Lockhart's…"
"A little off in the head," Draco said. He glanced back down at his roll of parchment. "Hey, Hermione?"
She looked at him, questioningly. "Do you think I can see your History of Magick essay?"
"Oh, Draco," said Hermione, despairingly. "Not you too! I mean, I had high hopes in you!"
"I know, I know. I've been… busy, lately," said Draco. "I just need an inch more."
"I wonder who the professor is – for History of Magick, I mean Binns announced that he was substituting for now until the new History of Magick Professor was ready to teach the class."
Draco shrugged. "We'll find out tomorrow, won't we? That's when she's due to show. I hope she's better than Binns at keeping us awake, though. I mean, really! It's almost not worth the effort of taking notes – we might just as well read our books."
"He – he does have a rather dry voice," said Hermione. "But I take the notes."
"I know," said Draco. "And we still need to color code them and place them in that what's-it-called-again?"
"Oh, yes. The binder. I'll give you my notes and you can charm a copy, yes?"
Draco nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Good. I'll draw up the study schedules for all of us," said Hermione. "Harry and Ron won't be too happy to know that we're plotting a study schedule."
"Yes, but I want good marks," said Draco, nodding.
Hermione wholeheartedly agreed.
xxx
Draco was still working on the study schedule when Ron and Harry walked into the dormitory. Ron was, of course, complaining about how he'd had to scrub the school trophies and how he'd spat out more slugs all over one of the awards.
"Well," said Draco.
"Don't say it," Ron moaned. "He made me buff up that Quidditch cup fourteen times. Fourteen!"
"Yes, it's a pity, isn't it?" remarked Draco, rather dryly. "How was it with Lockhart, Harry?"
Harry, much to Draco's surprise got up from his bed and plopped down on his.
"It was really dull until the end," said Harry. "Lockhart had me addressing his fan mail."
Both Ron and Draco rolled their eyes.
"It was almost over when I heard this really cold voice. It was positively creepy and it said it wanted to kill someone. So, I said 'What!' and Lockhart, of course, thought I was talking about his stupid book, but I told him about that voice," Harry said.
"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" Draco asked, pensively.
"D'you think he might've been lying? But I don't get it – even someone invisible would've had to open the door." Ron was frowning in the low light of Draco's wand.
"I know," said Harry, as he and Ron went back into their own beds, leaving Draco alone. "I don't get it either."
"Hmm," said Draco, the scratching of his quill on paper was the only other sound he made. "We'll figure out eventually, won't we?"
It was Draco's quill that lulled Harry to sleep.
xxx
The next day, they had History of Magick. Hermione and Draco were the only two who knew that they would be getting a new History of Magick teacher sometime during the year. Their knowledge of the new teacher caused them to be the least surprised of all the students when Dean started to open the door, only to find it already opening and a much harried looking woman blocking the way.
"Today," she announced, "History of Magick will be taught in the Great Hall!"
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, both equally shocked – not that they finally had the new teacher Binns had promised when he'd announced he was retiring as a teacher to the business of being a ghost, but who that teacher was.
It was the woman, Abby, from the compartment.
"I'm the new History of Magick professor," said Abby. "You may call me Professor Abby or simply Professor." She paused before continuing rather cheerfully, "Or, you may call me Abby!"
They looked at each other, surprised. None of them called a professor by their given names.
"Now, class, follow me!"
Slowly, they shook off their shock and followed the strange professor off to the Great Hall, where she promptly sat on the Head Table, and conjuring up several pillows so that they could sit at her feet.
"In the years of Medieval society, superstitions ran amok among Muggle society," she said. "There were more Goblin wars, and revolutions, but there was once a Dragon revolt. In those days, Dragons were much more talkative than they are now. Elemental magick was more common than that Latin-based wand-waving magick. While wizards were having assemblies and conventions throughout the world – due to the witch-hunts which were slowly beginning to rise in Muggle society, and the laws of Secrecy were being passed, Dragons and Goblins began a war. Goblins, I might point out, are among the reasons why the Muggles began to believe in demons and the such…"
"ABIGAIL!"
They all jumped, turning to see a very upset Professor Binns.
"Hello, Professor Binns," said Abby. "As you can see, I can take it from here."
"Yes," said Binns. "But I must ask you – what is a medieval Goblin warrior doing in the History classroom!"
xxx
"Well," said Hermione, looking at Draco. "We learned from Professor Abby and Professor Flitwick how to banish Medieval goblins back to the Medieval ages."
"That must be why they're so advanced," said Draco, dryly. "I'll be very glad if nothing else happens this year."
As it was, nothing did happen to Draco until October arrived and one day, Harry sat down and told Ron, Draco, and Hermione, "Nearly Headless Nick wants us to go to his Deathday party."
"You're joking," said Draco immediately.
"No, I'm not," said Harry.
"Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?" asked Ron. "Sounds dead depressing to me."
"I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those – it'll be fascinating."
"There aren't," said Draco, glancing at Hermione. "Most ghosts don't invite living mortals to their Deathday parties when they have them. In fact, we'd be the first to go to one in several centuries."
Of course, it was raining, and so most of the House was in the common room, where they all sat talking, reading, doing homework or trying to feed a salamander a Filibuster firework.
Harry was about to tell them more, when Fred and George succeeded in feeding the creature the firework. Percy yelled himself hoarse, but the salamander gave a spectacular display of shooting tangerine stars out of its mouth and escaping into the fire, where it gave out more explosions, and in the following commotion, forgot what he was going to say. Especially after seeing Draco and Aran actually ganging up on Fred and George while bonding with Percy to yell about how heartlessly cruel it was to torture the poor creature.
-5-
The Deathday Party and the Voice
Halloween arrived with Harry regretting his promise to attend the deathday party. The school was filled with lively chatter about the year's Halloween feast and the Great Hall was decorated with its usual live bats. It was rumored, as they gossiped in History of Magick, while Professor Abby cheerfully gave them a free period after a miniature lecture of the History of Samhain. She also conjured a miniature bonfire in the middle of the classroom after giving them all magickal marshmallows in the shape of little creatures, telling them they were going to have a mini-feast.
"I like Professor Abby," said Fred, later, when they were getting ready.
"Yes," said George.
"She's a beautiful and young woman with a lovely sense of humor. I'd profess my undying love, but I think she's beyond my reach."
"Go write a sonnet," said Draco. "Make it a Shakespearean sonnet about her lovely hair or something."
"What's eating you?" asked Fred.
"Nothing," said Draco, and went back to the papers in his lap. It turned out that the pile of papers were copies of his notes from all his classes and the copies from Hermione's notes, and he was going through them, compiling a huge study guide for the year's exams.
"You're mad!" Ron said, gaping at the massive amount of paper.
"I think he's very bright," said Hermione, giving Draco a glowing look.
Harry bristled without knowing why, and said shortly, "Well, I'm going for a walk!"
Ron, Hermione, and Draco looked after him in surprise.
"Was it something I said?" asked Hermione, bewildered.
xxx
"And I heard Dumbledore's hired a troupe of dancing skeletons!" Parvati giggled to Lavender.
They also marveled at Hagrid's giant pumpkins, which had been carved so that three large men could easily fit inside and discussed the possibility of a masquerade ball.
"Draco," said Lavender, "if there was any chance of there being a masquerade ball, would you go with me or Parvati?"
Draco looked up from his notes, which he was carefully spelling onto the strange lined Muggle parchment and adding the things from Hermione's notes that were not in his and stared at Lavender.
She blushed, ducking her head slightly, "I mean, would you – you know, ask one of us?"
Draco understood. "No," he said shortly, grabbing his things and stuffing them into his bag before heading off to a Lavender-and-Parvati-free area of the common room.
"What's his problem?" he heard her ask, miffed.
"I guess he's just a conceited jerk – not at all like his brother."
"Too bad…"
Then he didn't hear anymore as he gratefully went back to comparing his notes with Hermione's and building that study guide.
xxx
"…You said you'd go to the deathday party." Hermione's voice drew Draco out of the notes about the vague mention of a Triwizard Tournament in History of Magick, right in the middle of a lecture about the Dragon and Troll Rebellions and Wizarding Assemblies throughout the fifteenth century.
Draco blinked at Hermione's neat handwriting before bringing his eyes up to see Hermione looking prim and Harry's face.
His eyes rose when he accidentally overheard Harry's silent mental swearing.
My, my, Draco thought at them. Such language!
"Shut up, Draco," Harry snapped.
Hermione looked at Draco. "So," she began. "About that telepathic bond – is it ever going to go away?"
"No," said Draco. "But you're getting better at blocking each other out. Don't really see the need for it, at the moment, but I'm sure we'll all be grateful for it someday."
Hermione seemed to accept that.
xxx
At seven that night, Draco was dressed smartly in his robes and armed with a warming charm. He had warned Hermione, but had forgotten to tell Ron and Harry about the temperature and so only they were warm while Harry and Ron were shivering at the dropping temperature.
They passed the Great Hall and its enticing feast, heading down the corridor to Sir Nick's party. The corridor set an eerie scene, casting ghostly light over their own faces from the bright blue flames of the long black tapers that lined the corridor.
Horrible, Draco whispered mentally at them. The music's awful for us.
And, of course, that the music sounded like a thousand nails being dragged down a blackboard, it certainly was.
"They say that the dead hear it differently. It's like the regular music for them," Draco continued, aloud.
Ron shook his head, looking incredulous.
In the end, Draco amused himself by looking around, and seeing if could recognize any of the ghosts in attendance. He saw Moaning Myrtle, whom Hermione obviously didn't want to see. Peeves, of course, made her cry and scream at them, which Draco watched from afar, having drifted away from his friends to inspect something on the other end of the room.
He thought it was bad form when his attention was distracted from the Wailing Widow, as she told him she was called, and was just telling him about how she liked to scare Muggles whenever they visited or were nearby her haunting place in Kent – which was the point he was distracted by the headless horsemen.
"Sir Patrick," the Wailing Widow murmured at his side, and Draco nodded absently. "Head got chopped off in – "
She was interrupted by Sir Patrick's mock jump of surprise, and his head falling off again.
"I think," Draco said slowly, "I need to go with my friends."
"Yes," the Wailing Widow said. "You go on, then. Come by, if you're ever nearby and pay me a visit. Perhaps we'll play with the Muggles, eh? Confuse them as to how you can make me appear and converse with me as though it were normal."
Draco nodded, before heading off to his friends, just in time to hear Harry say they should go.
"But I was having an interesting conversation with the Wail – okay," Draco said, cutting off his own protest, almost abruptly.
They left, trying to be unnoticeable, but Draco managed to catch the Wailing Widow's eye, and she twitched a ghostly hand in farewell as they backed out of the room and were finally hurrying back up the passageway, heading for the entrance hall.
"Pudding might not be finished yet," Ron said, sounding hopeful, when Harry stopped shortly in the middle of the hallway.
"Harry, what're you –"
"It's that voice again – shut up a minute –"
"Listen!" said Harry urgently.
Draco looked at Hermione and then slid his eyes toward Ron. None of them heard anything, really. Then quite abruptly, Draco grabbed Harry's hand and unleashed his full telepathic powers on both Ron and Hermione.
"…kill…time to kill," the voice was eerie, and just as cold as Harry had said it was.
"It's moving up," Hermione breathed, looking directly at him.
"This way," Harry said, and began to run. Draco let go of his hand and the voice stopped.
"Wait," Hermione cried. "We can't hear it if you're not –"
"Harry, what're we –"
Draco managed to fully activate the link between them just in time for them to all hear through Harry's own ears –
"…I smell blood… I smell blood!"
"Oh dear," said Draco quietly, thinking that life was certainly much easier when he hadn't been friends with one Mister Harry Potter.
"It's going to kill someone!" Harry shouted.
"Harry, what was that all about?" asked Ron. "I couldn't hear anything unless Draco –"
"Look!" Hermione gasped, pointing down the corridor.
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware," Draco whispered, not even bothering to look at it, but recalling it in a flash from that other life… that alternative reality. He shivered, suddenly confused, terrified as he wondered which was real and which wasn't.
"Let's go," said Draco, suddenly, grabbing Harry by the arm.
"Shouldn't we –"
"We don't want to get caught here," Ron said, grabbing Hermione. "Trust me."
There was a rumbling as the people from the feast began to come up the stairs, heading toward them. Draco, who had, perhaps, subconsciously recalled this scenario, hurriedly yanked out Harry's Invisibility Cloak, tossing it to Harry and Ron, hissing, "Cover yourselves," while simultaneously pulling out his own Devil's Skin, and wrapping it around himself and Hermione, while backing up against the wall, trying to head as far back as possible.
He saw the blurred forms of Ron and Harry doing the same.
Draco didn't know how he managed to make them all get toward the very back of the crowd just as Nott yelled out the words that were a mere echo of the same words his voice had once uttered in his memory.
"Enemies of the Heir beware! You'll be next Mudbloods!"
Draco thought, as they slipped out of the way from the corridor and off to the side, that he could have cried at the thought that he was once the same way Nott was.
-6-
Disastrous Plots (part I)
"We need to go back," Hermione hissed at them.
Draco stared at her as though she were mad.
"Have you lost it?" Ron whispered harshly. "If we go back – they'll say we did it!"
"Look, won't it look more suspicious if we weren't there?" asked Hermione.
"No," said Draco. "We were at the Deathday Party, remember? So what if we went back to the common room without going to the Feast? No one's going to gainsay us – they didn't see us."
"I'm going back to the common room," said Harry.
"Me too," said Ron and his stomach rumbled.
"I'll fetch some food," Draco offered. "I know – Fred and George, remember?"
"Okay," said Ron, happily. "We'll go back, have some food, it'll be great!"
They began to walk to the common – although Draco slipped away, heading off to presumably get the food.
Hermione gave them all a hard-eye glare, saying, "Well, I'm going to go see what's happening!"
xxx
As it turned out, Hermione later told them that the teachers were worried. Hermione said that Filch had a nervous breakdown of some sort, accusing everyone of killing his cat.
"I think Dumbledore knows we were there, though," Hermione told them, sprawled out on one end of Draco's bed, as Harry and Ron both made themselves comfortable on the other. Draco sat in the middle.
"What's with my bed?" Draco asked, conversationally, "I mean, really – every time we have a strange conversation we end up in my bed."
"Well," said Ron. "It might be the silk sheets, the velvet pillowcases, the permanent privacy spells on the curtains…"
"Are you blushing?" Hermione asked, a little incredulously.
"No!" said Draco, much too quickly.
Ron and Harry exchanged knowing grins before leering at Draco, who shrank back, saying, "It's not what you think!"
"Then what is it?"
"Um… bad dreams?" Draco suggested.
"Well," said Ron. "At least I never hear you screaming in the middle of the night."
"Right," said Draco. "Can we get back to the subject?"
"Okay," said Hermione. "First off there was that voice – we heard it because you did something, Draco. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't hear it on my own."
"I accessed his hearing," Draco nearly mumbled, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Sorry – but I couldn't hear anything, and I didn't know what else to do, Harry," he added, looking at Harry.
"It's okay."
"Next," said Hermione, and blinked as Draco turned up with a sheet of parchment in his lap and his favorite quill in his hand, looking at her expectantly.
"Are you actually taking notes on this?" Ron asked, in disbelief.
Draco shrugged. "I suppose so."
"Next," Hermione said yet again. "Dumbledore said the cat was Petrified, whatever that means in the Wizarding world."
"It means frozen," said Draco hastily, as he scribbled onto the parchment. "Like in shock, or something. That usually happens if you come across certain types of Dark spells or creatures."
"Dark spells or creatures?" Hermione nodded. "Write that down."
"Already did," Draco responded.
"Is anyone scared?" asked Ron. "Are you scared, Harry? I'm scared."
"Of what?" asked Hermione, looking at him, baffled.
"Surely not of us," said Draco, with a much too innocent face.
"Sod off," said Ron, hitting him with a pillow.
"Hey! I'm weak and sick!" Draco protested, holding up a hand to ward the pillow off.
Harry frowned. "I thought you were taking your potions?"
"I am," said Draco. "But that doesn't mean I won't get sick. It's nothing really. Madam Pomfrey said the Immunosupport Potion is working the way it should." Draco shrugged. "So far, I'm pretty much the goal in Rorex's Syndrome. There're a lot of people putting money into the research that goes into the making of my potions."
"I thought you said it was rare," Harry said.
"I've never met anyone who has it," Draco said, with a shrug. "There's one or two other kids that have or had it. I'm the oldest. No one with Rorex's lived this long before."
Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked at him, aghast.
"It's not that much of a deal," said Draco, shrugging his slim shoulders. "I've lived this long, I'll probably live longer still. Provided, of course, I don't develop a malignancy in my body."
They looked at him.
"I thought you said you'd be fine – even if you did get one, with the treatments?"
Draco bit lip.
"Draco?" Harry asked him.
"Do you remember when my Dad came by in Diagon Alley to talk to me?"
Ron and Harry nodded. Hermione frowned, then her face cleared. "Before he and Mister Weasley fought in the bookshop!"
"Yeah," said Draco. "My dad wanted to tell me the results of some the newer medical exams I've had. Basically they say I couldn't survive the treatment itself. According to them, I'm dead if I develop a malignancy, and the problem is, I'm high risk. With the hemolytic anemia and everything else, it's nearly impossible for me not to get a blood malignancy anyway."
"So if you get cancer, you die," Harry said.
Draco winced. "I don't like the word cancer, you know. But basically, that's what they said. But I'll be fine. Really. Now, let's get back to the topic of Flich's cat."
"Um – right," said Hermione. "Dumbledore suggested we all go back to our common rooms after that. I don't think anyone saw me – or noticed me, anyway."
Draco nodded, before he frowned, glancing at his curtains.
"What is it?" Ron asked as Hermione murmured a few more words to make the light of her wand brighter.
"I think others are getting curious about why my curtains are closed," Draco said, dryly. "And considering that neither Harry nor Ron are in their beds…"
"I thought you were a prude," said Ron, nearly gagging at the suggestive comment.
"Who, Draco?" Hermione snorted. "Sure, he is. I think he spends more time thinking about it than Aran does. Which reminds me, Draconius, what's Aran's full name?"
"Don't call me that," said Draco. "Well, his middle name's Shelley."
"Oh, good," replied Hermione, almost jovially.
"Why?" Ron asked, suspicious.
"So then I can holler his full name in front of everyone if he makes me angry."
"Ah," said Draco. "I'd say you were after my own heart, but I'm afraid… it would mess up the friendship. It would never work between us, you know."
"Are you sure about that?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"So," Ron interrupted. "About Filch's cat…."
xxx
The attack on Mrs. Norris was all most of which anyone could talk about the next few days. Draco later said, Filch had to be into bestiality with Mrs. Norris, for him to throw such a fit over her supposed death. This shocked even Aran when he overheard Draco telling Hermione, Ron and Harry this particular train of thought.
"He's a squib – but I don't know what that means," said Harry.
Both Ron and Draco tried to stifle their laughter, but didn't quite manage it.
"It's the opposite of being a Muggle-born," said Draco, once he'd regained control.
xxx
As it happened, the attack had its effect on the students, Ginny in particular.
"Ginerva, love," said Draco, "you didn't know Mrs. Norris. She's was a menace, really."
Fred and George nodded frantically and Ron added, helpfully, "Honestly, we're better off without her. Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts."
"They'll catch the maniac who did it," Aran added, reassuringly.
Perhaps it really shouldn't have surprised Draco that Ginny calmed down at Aran's insistence everything would be fine.
"I can't believe your sister likes my brother," Draco whispered to Ron, later as they walked to the library on Wednesday.
"Yeah," said Ron. "If you'd've told me that two years ago, I would've sent you off to St. Mungo's."
"Me too," said Draco.
"I wonder what Hermione's up to," said Harry, joining them. "She's been doing nothing but reading these days."
"Maybe she's trying to read the library before the holidays," offered Ron.
Draco shot him a dirty look, saying, "She's researching, a concept you might understand if you ever bothered to do it."
"Someone's touché," whispered Ron, almost teasingly.
Draco glared. "I'm not!"
"You're not?" asked Harry, giving him a look of pure innocence as they walked through the doors of the library.
"Great," Ron moaned, the moment they set their bookbags down. "Can I borrow your composition for History of Magick, Draco?"
Draco shot him a look. "No."
"Oh, come on! I only need two more inches!"
"Ten days, Ron." Draco stood up and went to join Hermione, where she had disappeared into the labyrinth of bookshelves.
"Justin Finch-Fletchey ran away from me," said Harry, abruptly.
"He's an odd one," said Ron.
"Dunno why," Harry continued.
"Potter," someone said, getting his attention. Harry turned around and saw a Slytherin girl he didn't really know, but he vaguely remembered from when he first met Draco.
"Daphne Greengrass," she said coolly. "I was hoping Malfoy would be with you, as he usually is…"
"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out," said Hermione. "And there's a two-week long waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but it wouldn't fit into my trunk with all the Lockhart books." Hermione then noticed the girl. "Yes? What do you want?"
"Malfoy," the Slytherin said flatly.
Draco looked at her, raising an eyebrow. When she merely gazed at him impassively, he sighed, saying, "C'mon, Greengrass. Let's go."
Hermione, Ron, and Harry watched as Draco went off with the Slytherin, heading further back into the library, out of earshot.
"I think there's something he's not telling us," said Ron finally.
"Draco hardly ever tells us anything," Hermione said. "Most of what he tells us is really what we find out ourselves. I think he was nearly Sorted into Slytherin, you know. I know his family's been there for centuries… I'm not sure. There's something – off about him. Like he's not exactly real."
"Not real?" Ron echoed. "Oh, come on, Hermione! It's not like we're all just imagining him."
"No," said Hermione, slowly. "That's not the real I meant. I mean, it's almost as though he comes from somewhere else – like not this world or something. I'm beginning to think he's not of this time – for one thing, he knows too much. Some of the spells he knows are too advanced for a mere twelve-year-old. If anything, I'd guess he were eighteen already. But he's not a vampire or anything, so he would've aged, but he seems so much older in what he says, sometimes."
"He acts like a regular twelve-year-old boy," Ron pointed out. "I've never seen him acting older than what he is. Besides, if he weren't, how would he even be here? You can't cheat the books here. The registry books write themselves with magick."
xxx
Draco, of course, didn't hear them. When he came back from his conversation with the Slytherin girl, he looked slightly angry, saying that people were talking – claiming that Harry was the Heir of Slytherin, as almost everyone had heard Flitch accusing him, even though nobody had seen him when they had found the writing on the wall.
Once Harry heard the news, he knew that it had to have been that. Everyone was scared of him. Draco scoffed at the notion, saying the only one amongst their little group, was quite possibly him, as his family had been in Slytherin for as long as anyone could remember, with the exceptions being himself and Aran.
"Layla's is in Slytherin," Draco said. "I mean, I'm not sure why Aran's in Gryffindor, but I know that if we get any more sibs, then they'll all be in Slytherin. It's in our blood; I just got a choice. The Hat asked me if I wanted to be in Slytherin, and I said no, not really."
Harry looked mildly surprised. "Really? It said I would've done well in Slytherin, but it was going to be me in Gryffindor anyway."
Draco raised his eyebrows. "That's interesting. Anyway, Slytherin's Heir would have to be able to talk to snakes, anyway."
"Snakes?" Harry said, pausing. Ron and Hermione stopped shortly after Draco.
"Yes," said Draco. "Snakes. It's called being a Parselmouth, you know. Supposedly I ought to be one, but I've never been able to talk to snakes."
"Really?"
"It skips generations, but I'm guessing the gene's died out in my family," Draco said with a shrug. "It was supposed to pop up in me, but it never did. I guess my mother's Black genes overrode the Malfoy genes because I'm just a you-know-what."
"Seer?" Hermione murmured.
Draco cast a quick glance around them, before nodding. "Yes. That runs in my mother's side of the family."
"Interesting."
Harry bit his lip. "When I was ten, a boa constrictor told me it had never been to Brazil."
Ron, Hermione, and Draco gaped at him.
"A boa constrictor told you it'd never been to Brazil," Draco said, in a very faint voice.
"Well, yes. I accidentally set it on my cousin – that was before I knew I was a wizard."
"Right," said Draco. "The only thing a snake has ever said to me was something along the lines of being afraid of my skills since I very obviously understood it. I was three, so I'm not certain if it really happened or not. But that's completely different! You're Harry Potter – you're not supposed to talk to snakes."
Now Ron and Hermione stared at Draco.
"A snake told you that you were afraid of it?"
"Of my own talents," said Draco, dismissively. "It was a garden snake. Itty-bitty. And I was three, so again, I'm not really sure if I understood it, or if I imagined it."
"I didn't imagine it," said Harry, simply. "I just understood it."
"Right, then." Draco nodded. "There's only one way to find out." He pulled out his wand, and hissed, "Serpensortia!"
Ron and Hermione leapt back, giving Draco looks of horror, as a thick black snake erupted from his wand.
Apparently, Draco had forgotten they weren't alone, because he looked surprised when a girl, who'd merely walked by, gave a startled scream upon seeing the snake come out of his wand.
"Draco, what do you think you're doing?" Harry demanded.
"Nothing," said Draco, flatly, making an abrupt slashing motion with his wand and the snake vanished without so much as a pop.
"But you're a baby," said a Sixth year student. "How on earth did you do that? We haven't even mastered nonverbal spells yet!"
"I'm a Malfoy," Draco said flatly and with that, he turned around and walked off, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"We have to go after him," said Hermione.
"We'll be late for class," Ron pointed out.
"Who cares," said Hermione and Harry at once.
They both walked off, chasing after Draco.
xxx
"That's what you meant," said Ron, finally, when they caught up with him by the lake. "Last year – you said you were a Dark Wizard."
"I said I knew the Dark Arts…" Draco looked at the lake. "I'm afraid I'm not very good. I'm not a good person, do you know?"
"You are a good person," said Hermione.
Draco glared at her, then turned to a beetle making its way up a leaf.
"Draco," began Ron.
"Tintreg," Draco said harshly, aiming his wand at the beetle, which suddenly stopped and fell off the leaf and onto Draco's hand.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched aghast as the beetle writhed in Draco's hand.
"Fordon," Draco said, and the beetle stilled, falling to the ground, obviously dead. "That's what it means to be a Malfoy."
"Draco," Ron began, bracingly.
"No," said Draco. "I am a Malfoy. Your dad was right. We don't need a reason to be evil or cruel. We just are."
"No, he's wrong," said Ron, quickly. "You're not Dark, or anything else like that! Really. You're a better person than that."
Hermione nodded. "See, it's all right. Besides, if he comes back, then we'll be armed with what you know."
"So you want me to use those spells simply because it'll help you?" Draco demanded.
"No," said Harry. "And besides, you were only trying to help. Here, do the spell again – the serpent thing. Maybe I am a Parselmouth or whatever, but just because you know how to summon the snake and because some stupid Sixth year Ravenclaw said something doesn't mean anything."
Draco shrugged. "Sorry," he said. "I'm melodramatic."
"Oh, really?" said Ron. "We hadn't noticed."
xxx
The mystery of Mrs. Norris and the Chamber of Secrets had caught Hermione's attention. It didn't hurt that Harry found himself, as usual, in the middle of it. Nothing of interest really, happened, if anyone asked Draco that was.
What really did happen were two different things. One, Hermione decided they take on the roles of investigators. Draco decided since Hermione was going to become a detective, then he'd better take notes on all their possible clues.
He listed the names of those who were the likeliest suspects. He did not add himself nor Harry, but he did put the name Tom Riddle, which immediately caught their attention. Draco informed them that they should ask him later. It wasn't their time to know who he was yet.
Harry suspected it had something to do with him, but Draco refused to say anything more on the subject.
Hermione went far enough to ask the new History of Magick professor, Abby, what was the Chamber of Secrets. Abby, told them the historical facts – Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff began the school, and well, they worked together until Slytherin got annoyed at the others who allowed the Muggleborns into their Houses. Abby, however, added that the fact was, the Hat had been known to place a Muggleborn into the House. Slytherin's selectivity of Muggleborn was simply part of the myth the way they all claimed Dark Wizards came from Slytherin. She laughed, saying that some Dark Wizards, such as Grindelwald, which Dumbledore had fought and defeated, had come from Ravenclaw. Others had come from Gryffindor. Of course, Hufflepuff had yet to produce a truly great Dark wizard, but she expected it was because Hufflepuff selected those with empathy towards others. She went on to add the Slytherin families like the Blacks and Malfoys had been known to have the gift of Empathy.
"I know for a fact," Abby said, "throughout history Malfoys have had the gift of empathy and some have had the gift of Healing – the natural healing magick, where a single touch heals any wound. Almost like the phoenix's tears. The Blacks, however, are much more interesting, in that they have empathy and the abilities of Seers. The last true Seer came from the Black family. There has not been another Seer in many centuries." She gazed directly at Draco, and for a moment Draco thought she wore a different face rather than her own. "As it is such, the Chamber of Secrets was built for those who had Slytherin's blood. Some say it has to be his true heir, but Slytherin had a daughter – no one knew where she came from, except that she was a powerful Seer and Healer. She went on to have a son with her husband. Her son, unfortunately, was a bit of a womanizer, I'm afraid." Abby looked at Hermione. "He didn't care if they were Muggles or of the Wizarding world. In that case, there are many families who have Slytherin blood – they say Slytherin and Gryffindor eventually merged into one family, but others say it was Ravenclaw's family that merged with Slytherin. The myth of the Chamber, however, is a different story. The story goes they fought, Slytherin killed Gryffindor, and ran away from the other two Founders. But before Godric was killed, Slytherin created a Chamber which housed his fearsome monsters. Godric was to die in that Chamber, the story goes. The Chamber is to have held a monster of some sort which Slytherin's own heir can control. What it is, no one knows." Abby smiled, shaking her head. "Look at you, becoming all very silly over a story! All this is hearsay, not much proof of it was ever found and many a Headmaster and student have looked for the Chamber and none have found it. Even if Slytherin did make the chamber, he probably made two. One to distract from the real one and another, which is the real one."
And shortly afterwards she returned to talking about the Wizarding assemblies and the end of the Dragon wars, when they finally stopped talking to humankind altogether. The class went back to taking notes, and occasionally slipping into a tangent about the latest gossip, which Abby would immediately add to, before going back to the lesson.
Abby, Draco mused, made History fun. She had not tried to summon anything else from the past to give another hands-on lesson in history, although he rather thought she would attempt to get a time-turner to show them the historical events as they took place. Then she mentioned Dragon Magick, which was a quandary as it was almost lethal to any human being, and yet very, very useful. "The average human body cannot handle Dragon Magick." She raised her eyebrows, meeting Draco's eyes. "That is to say," she continued. "Anyone who does not have a certain gift or is favored by beings higher than mere mortals, cannot use it…"
Draco felt the blood drain out of his face.
We are of kin, Shae whispered in his memory – or was it in a dream? Draco wondered, as Abby went on to tell them that the medival wizards had declared Dragon breeding illegal shortly after Dragons stopped cooperating with them.
When the bell rang, Abby said, "Read the next chapter! And next class, we'll move away from the Dragon and Wizarding relations to medieval Wizarding politics!"
Draco gathered his things slowly, looking at Abby curiously.
"Draco, come on, mate," said Ron. "We're waiting for you."
"Yeah, okay," said Draco, shoving the rest of his things into his bag. Hermione stopped talking to Abby, and they walked out the door together, only to stop short as Snape stood just outside. He watched them as they hurriedly left.
xxx
"Why was Snape going to Professor Abby's classroom?" Ron asked, later.
Draco shrugged. "I don't know."
"I thought you were close."
"We haven't talked in about two years," said Draco, carefully. "I've seen him talk to my mother, but I haven't talked to him. I think he's a little angry at me."
"For what?"
Draco shrugged. "No idea."
xxx
Draco had continued the investigation on Mrs. Norris' attacker. He claimed there were scorch marks on the floor, and Myrtle had not seen anything that night. But, he remembered there had been water on the ground, and so whatever it was, had to have been something powerful or someone powerful.
He then mentioned that maybe Nott might have done it. He did not explain that Daphne – or Queenie, as she was now called, had told him that Nott had been acting suspiciously. She rather thought he had something planned.
"We'd need some Polyjuice Potion," Draco said, when he and Hermione finally outlined their plan of sneaking into Slytherin.
When Ron and Harry looked blankly at him and Hermione, they exchanged exasperated glances.
"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago."
"It transforms you into someone else," Hermione continued.
"But you need –" Draco began.
"Just think about it – we could turn ourselves into three Slytherins and no one will be none the wiser!"
"What if we're stuck looking like Slytherins forever?" Ron asked. "It sounds dodgy…. Like there's a catch to it…"
"Like breaking maybe fifty school rules?" Draco asked, once he seized the opportunity to get a word in. "Not to mention it's incredibly dangerous?"
"But we'd get into the Slytherin common room," said Hermione. "And, really, Ron – don't be silly; it wears off after a while… an hour I think."
"Yeah, but it's next to impossible," said Draco. "The recipe is in a book called Moste Potente Potions." He did not mention he had the book in his trunk.
"That'll be in the Restricted Section," said Hermione, thoughtfully.
"There you go; you'd need to get a teacher's permission – which is not happening!" Draco said.
"I never thought I'd see the day when Draco was the one against breaking the rules and Hermione was the one all for it," said Ron, amused.
"Fine!" Draco snapped. "We'll get the book."
Hermione smiled.
xxx
The next interesting thing that happened was during the Quidditch match. Harry won, of course, but the bludger had been tampered with and it broke Harry's arm. Lockhart, the stupid idiot ended up removing the bones in Harry's arm.
"I think he's the most incompetent teacher we have," Draco declared, later.
"Rubbish," said Hermione. "Look at everything he's done."
"You mean what he claims to have done," said Draco. "If I were him, I wouldn't brag if I'd done those things. I'd be happy I did them, but I wouldn't brag about it during class!"
"Did you get the book or are we going to have to get Lockhart to sign for it?" asked Ron.
"I got it," said Draco, pulling it out of his bag. "See?"
"Excellent," said Hermione.
"I wonder why none of us are in Slytherin," Draco said, handing the book to her.
Hermione opened it, raising her eyebrows when she spotted the note.
"This is your book."
"Yeah. Snape got it for me when I showed interest in the subject." Draco sighed, as he sat down.
"Wonderful," said Hermione. "We'll get started in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!"
"But –"
"Great idea," said Draco. "No one'll know we're in there as everyone avoids it."
And Harry was left wondering the same thing Draco said he wondered – why none of them were in Slytherin.
A/N: Okay, I've decided to break this chapter into two parts because otherwise I won't be able to upload it. So, next part is still from this part. I'm thinking I'll be doing that for some other chapters, but I'm not so sure. So, next part begins with section 7, Disastrous Plots (part II). It'll still be Year Two, Part Two, however. And the usual ending of a chapter (meaning the person who said the chapter quote) will be found there as well.
Citation/Disclaimer(s)/Reference:
1. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc: 1999.
2. Not really a disclaimer, but so much as a pointing out, the Devil's Skin is mentioned by Ron in "year one, part three." You might be hearing more of it eventually. Handy – as it allows the wearer to slip from one shadow to the next, without passing through the light. It's not as effective as an Invisibility cloak, and it comes from the original story – via vague mentions of it… so the effects there are mostly mine.
3. Another source for Rorex claims that he's not the demon of disease. In fact, he's the counterpart of the demon, Alath, who is. Truthfully, I don't know which one he is. I'd say he's an angel, but some sources state Rorex as the demon of disease and one source in angelic lore states that Alath is the demon of disease. Just an interesting tidbit of information for you.
Review Response:
Les Dowich
Eternity Phoenix: Did you actually read this, or did you just review? Don't think I don't know about your quote-hunting schemes! (Thanks for being my muse by the way...)
Lain
lietothedevil: Nice penname! Thanks for the compliment, and I recommend Erasing Time's Tracks by Hahukum Konn, if you have not read it yet. It is an excellent story, if you like stories that are similar to this.
Vampyre Moon
MissAlexRiddle
UnicornShadow
NinjaoftheDarkness: lol. Can you catch it in this chapter? Here's a hint: someone's jealous... :P
AmethystSiri
Mister Cody
Night Essence
bena24
Thank you so much for reviewing! I hope this chapter meets your expectations, and please, please let me know of any errors in this! I went through it three times, and I can't find anymore blatant errors, but I'm only human – one with very weak eyes, so I might have missed something. And speaking of mistakes, Les Dowich pointed out that J.K. Rowling spells Draco's grandfather's name as Abraxas, not Arabraxas. However, because this plot was adopted, and the original writer (writers?) seem to have abandoned the site (though I'm sure it's being read by them, and I hope I've met their expectations), I shall continue with the same spelling they used! I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I can tell you that the plan is for about twenty-three chapters (or parts, anyway), but it will probably be longer if I break chapters because I reach the limit (1000KB) or get really close to it, or I simply think the chapter is too long! This chapter (part) is about forty-nine pages long, not counting this note, and the other sections. Bear with me, please! I'll finish this, I promise you that! And you have my apologies for the long wait and for the long note. And as always questions, thoughts/opinions, constructive criticisms are all welcomed in a review, but are not required.
Keir
