A/N: There are some naughty bits in this chapter…you have been warned.
Chapter 6: Of Discoveries pt.2
"So, Professor, you said there was something you needed to talk to me about?" Philomena asked nervously. She was certain that whatever they needed to discuss was bad news. She braced herself for impact.
"Yes there is. I'm sure you, all of you in fact, are wondering what happened in Hogsmeade," he paused as all four students nodded their heads, "Well there is a perfectly good explanation for it. You possess a powerful, ancient form of magic called the Niveus Lux Lucis, the translation simply meaning White Light."
"That would explain the glowing," said Philomena with a little laugh.
Dumbledore nodded and then continued, "The White Light has been passed down through your family line for centuries. The first appearance was recorded around the 9th century however many magical historians believe it had occurred many times prior to that occasion. Of course that was before reliable recording practices were established."
"So does everyone in my family have it or just me?"
"It appears that it lays dormant in the blood line until it is needed. It usually makes its appearance when Dark Magic threatens to destroy our world. The sole purpose of the power is to sense and destroy the source."
"Well why didn't one of my parents use it against Voldemort during the first war? Then," she stopped glancing briefly at Harry before finishing weakly, "nothing bad would be happening now."
Dumbledore sighed, he really was getting tired of having to ruin young people's lives, "There would have been no one to carry on the line. You see, the White Light is more than just a power that inhabits the blood of your family; it is a spirit. In essence, you are being possessed by the spirit of the Pagan goddess Nivea—the goddess of white magic and light. Do you know why it lays dormant in the blood?"
Philomena's mind raced thinking of all the possible reasons. She thought back to her experience in limbo, of the voice and the force that held her. When she heard the voice, she had tried to follow and when the force grabbed her and restrained her, she was scared. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized the force hadn't grabbed her as suddenly as it seemed. It sort of slowly wrapped around her, like a hug. The force, which she now knew was a Pagan goddess' spirit, had hugged her to keep her away from the voice. Wait a second…family line, blood, hugs; Philomena's face took on a look of surprise before she blurted out loud, "We're related! She's my ancestor?"
A confused expression took the place of the surprised one, "How is that even possible?"
"Yes, she is your ancestor. As for how it came to be that way, there have been many accounts passed down from word of mouth eventually reaching the ears of someone wise enough to write them down. The generally accepted version is known as "The Fall of Nivea." She was known to don disguises and walk amongst the mortals of her time. It was on one of these trips that she happened across a young Greek man, named Manolis. They fell in love and from their union a child was born. Their union was kept secret fearing the punishment for Nivea's actions, as the gods and goddess were not to have direct contact with mortals. Unfortunately, Keres, the goddess of darkness and rage, found out about the lovers. She had been in love with Nivea from the beginning and was blinded by jealousy when she saw the two lovers together. She told the other gods and goddess of Nivea's betrayal out of spite. Their punishment was the death of Manolis. Nivea's heart became hard and vengeful. She swore an eternal oath to bring down those whose hearts were filled with darkness and evil. Then she took her own life and her spirit inhabited the body of her child. I believe your mother is a descendent of that child."
"How could she not be? She's of Greek heritage and her maiden name is Manos, which was derived from the name Manolis," she paused as her friends gave her a look that clearing said how-do-you-know-that.
"My mother is very big on her Greek heritage and has done some research on her family. Does my mother know about all of this though?"
"Yes she does. A journal that has been handed down from generation to generation has a full account of it. The spirit communicated everything to the author of said journal and they wrote it down. The journal is currently in your mother's possession."
"If she knew about this all along, why didn't she tell me sooner?"
"That is a question that only your mother will be able to answer. Your family has been invited to stay at Grimmauld Place for Christmas; I suggest you ask her then."
"I'm not so sure I care what her reason was. She should have told me. This isn't something that you keep a secret," Philomena yelled. How could her mother keep something this important from her? They were like best friends; they told each other everything. Philomena had even told her mother about her sexual confusion. It hurt knowing that she was more honest with her mother than her mother had been with her. Hermione squeezed her hand, "Mena, I'm sure she has a good reason."
"Yeah, she probably just wanted to protect you," added Ron.
Harry looked at his friend, knowing exactly how she felt. Having things happen to you and not know why, having people kill your family and ruin your life and having no control over any of it, sucked—plain and simple. He looked away, choosing to stare out the window instead while he spoke, "Maybe she wanted to save you the pain of being the person with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Maybe she just wanted you to be a normal teenager, with normal problems, not the girl inhabited by the vengeful spirit of her goddess ancestor."
"Oh Harry," Philomena whispered as she reached out to touch his hand.
"I'm fine," he said quickly then turned to the headmaster and asked, "So what exactly does all this mean?"
"Mena, you will need to have extra lessons to learn how to control your power. The White Light is extremely powerful and must be used with caution. You were very lucky that Madam Pomfrey was able to save you, but you may not be so lucky next time. Nivea cares for you and she is blinded by her need to protect you from evil the way she couldn't protect Manolis. In her eagerness to protect you, her powers may actually kill you, which is why she lay dormant in your mother."
"She's an only child and had no children at the time, so if my mother died, she would have died with her."
"Yes."
"But, I could still die because now I have brothers who could host her."
"Yes."
Philomena laid back in the bed with her eyes closed, trying to hold in the tears that threatened to escape. This was too much for her; she couldn't handle all this and she didn't want it. She heard movement and opened her eyes to see Dumbledore standing, "I'll leave you four to your thoughts. I believe you shall be discharged tomorrow afternoon. You will be excused from your classes on Friday so that you may speak to your professors and retrieve your make-up assignments."
"Professor, what do I do if Nivea tries to take over and I don't want her too?"
"I can't imagine a situation in which that would occur over the next month, but if you feel her awakening, try to speak to her, calm her down. Put her at ease by telling her you can handle the situation yourself, that is all I can tell you though, the rest you'll have to find out from the journal," with that he turned and left them.
"Did that really just happen?" Philomena spoke, her voice full of disbelief.
"Yes, it did. You handled that rather well," Harry said with a laugh.
"How so?"
"Well when I found out about the prophesy, I smashed a lot of shiny things in Dumbledore's office. When I first heard it, I took it as a death sentence, that not only had my parents died over words but I probably would too and I got very angry. Now, I see it as a leg up, because I don't think Voldemort ever did find out what it actually said."
"Did Dumbledore get angry?"
"No, I'm sure after I left he just repaired it all anyway. Don't worry, the initial shock eventually goes away. It fades slowly into acceptance," Harry responded with a lopsided grin.
"Are you ok?" asked Hermione not knowing anything else to say.
"Well, I'm possessed, I killed a bunch of people and will do it again, and I'm probably going to die within the next year, yeah I'm ok," her voice cracked as she finished and the tears she'd been holding in flooded down her face. Hermione climbed into the bed with her and held her close, smoothing her hair, trying to soothe her, "Please don't cry, Mena. Everything will work out, you'll see. You'll be ok."
At that moment, Ron's stomach made the loudest noise ever. Philomena looked up and gave a little snort of laughter.
"You guys have been here for awhile it's probably close to dinner time. I'll be fine you should go eat something. Especially you, Ron, before that monster under your shirt decides to eat you instead."
"Ha. Ha. You're not funny and we aren't leaving you until Pomfrey kicks us out. So you are just going to be stuck with us," Ron stuck his tongue out when he finished.
Philomena just rolled her eyes and cuddled closer to Hermione, listening to the other three as they spoke about all the things they would do over break. She had missed her family so much and as much as she dreaded the talk they would be having, she wanted to see them desperately. She couldn't wait to introduce Hermione to them either. It would be awkward for all involved but she knew her family loved her no matter what. Ron mentioned something about his older brothers Fred and George possibly staying there as well and Philomena made a mental note to keep them away from her twins as they were bad enough already. Her tears and slowed down considerably by this point and she had relaxed into the comfort of Hermione's arms. She listened to the rhythmic beating of her heart, felt the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and before she knew it, Hermione was gently shaking her awake.
"Hey sleepyhead, we have to go but I will be by tomorrow when you get released. Okay?"
"Mmm, kay," was all that Philomena could muster for a response. It made Hermione smile and she bent down and kissed her goodnight before leaving with the boys to go get dinner.
It was way after curfew and rather far from his domain but Draco Malfoy was not worried. He walked with a purpose. She had sent him a note telling him that she needed to speak to him, that it was very important. She told him to come to the seventh floor and walk past the section across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times. When he got to the tapestry, he opened the note, "What was it I was supposed to think about?" He scanned the note quickly finding the sentence he was looking for; he focused on that thought as he walked passed three times. As he made his final pass, a door appeared in wall. "Cool," he whispered as he grabbed the handle and opened the door. The sight before his eyes was rather surprising. In the room, there was a large canopy bed, a raging fire in the fireplace, and a large sofa. There were candles all over the room and rose petals scattered over the floors and the bed. Draco looked at the note again, and then at the room, "This can't be right." He turned and headed straight for the door when a soft voice called out to him.
"Leaving so soon, Draco? We haven't even talked yet."
The voice left chills running rampant down his spine. He turned to face the voice and found himself staring at the most beautiful sight ever. Philomena was standing in the doorway that led to what he could only assume was a bathroom. She was wearing candy apple red lacy lingerie and a snow white, silk robe. Draco was dumbstruck; his brain had officially stopped working the moment he laid eyes on her. He couldn't even think well enough to formulate the words 'no I'm not going anywhere'. Philomena laughed quietly as she stared at the boy across the room from her.
"Are you going to stand all the way over there and stare at me all night or are you going to come over here and sit on the couch with me?" she asked seductively as she walked over to the couch and sat down. He willed his feet to move but they didn't budge. What is the matter with me? It's not as if you've never seen a girl in her knickers before. SNAP OUT OF IT! Draco mentally yelled at himself. Philomena beckoned him over. He took a deep breath, walked over to the couch, and sat down next to her with his hands in his lap.
"Now that's not so bad is it Draco?" she placed her hand on his knee and slowly moved it up his thigh to his hands, taking one of them into her own.
"So, you wanted to talk to me about something, Mena?" Draco asked looking into the fire. Philomena grabbed his chin with her free hand and turned his face towards her own, "Yes, but I'm over here. What do you think of the room?"
"It's very lovely, bit more decked out than I expected though."
"Well that's because I wanted this to be special."
"Our talk?"
"Oh Draco, haven't you caught on yet?" Philomena paused has he shook his head no.
"I like you, a lot," she pulled his face towards her and kissed him.
The second their lips met, Draco melted. His world exploded and all that was left was her. Sure, he had kissed other girls before but it had never felt this good, this right. He removed his hand from hers and placed it on her neck, stroking her cheek with his thumb. Philomena moaned into his mouth as she felt his tongue against her lips. She parted them, allowing him access. Their tongues glided across each other slowly, sensually, hands had begun to roam seeking out new territories to explore. Philomena began to disrobe Draco, their lips only leaving each other to pull shirt over his head. She ran her hands over his lean, muscular torso sending a fresh set of chills down his spine. They stayed like this for a few more minutes when suddenly Philomena pulled away.
"Mmmm, what's the matter?" Draco asked.
"Nothing," she planted a light kiss on his lips, teasing him with her tongue, "You want to take this over there?"
He followed her eye line directly to the bed, "Only if you do."
Philomena stood and walked over the bed. She took the robe off and let it slide down her arms and pool at her feet. Draco stood and followed her, kicking his shoes off along the way. He wrapped his arms around her and began to kiss her again, slowly leaning her back down onto the bed. Their bodies were laying flat against each other as they kissed passionately. Philomena hooked her leg around Draco's and flipped them in one swift movement without breaking the kiss. She began to move her hips slowly over Draco's groin. The unexpected movement caused him to gasp in pleasure. Philomena took note of the hardness growing underneath her and went to undo his belt. Draco's eyes shot open and his hands immediately stopped hers.
"What are you doing?" he asked breathlessly.
"I just figured you'd be more comfortable with these off," she grinned as she grazed his hard-on with her hand. His hips bucked involuntarily.
"I'm fine with what we are doing now. We don't have to do anything else," he hoped that would be enough and they could get back to the kissing. He had only done more than that once in his life and he had regretted it ever since. It was a drunken mistake over the summer with Pansy and it had left him feeling dirty and stuck with a stage 5 clinger.
"But I want to," she looked at his flushed face and saw anxiety and nervousness there, "Draco, have you never done this before?"
"I have but only once before, and it was a mistake. I hardly even remember it to be honest," Draco replied. He had only told a very select few people that. He was no Slytherin sex god though many of his fellow classmates, males and females alike had dubbed him as such.
"Well then, let me make it up to you. I'll take good care of you, I promise," she said. He opened his mouth to protest but she immediately covered it with her own and began to kiss him with more fervor than before. She undid his belt buckle and pulled it off in one swift motion, pausing only for a second to tease the skin just below the waist of his pants with her fingertips. She undid the button and carefully lowered the zipper. She kissed him all the way down his torso as she pulled his pants down with her letting them join her discarded robe on the floor. She slowly crawled back up his body planting feather-like kisses all over his stomach and chest. Soon she was straddling him, working her hips in agonizingly slow circles as she kissed his neck and teased his earlobes with her tongue and teeth. She sat up and unhooked her bra, revealing herself to Draco. She leaned in to kiss him again, her breasts grazing his chest as she did. Draco was positively panting, as far as he was concerned this could go on forever. He was far too nervous to do anything more than run his hands up and down her back while holding her close to him. The feel of her skin on his had every part of his body awake and tingling from the sensations. Then he felt her hands slowly tugging his boxers down and he tensed up. She kissed his stomach again before she took him into her mouth. Draco's hips bucked slightly. She licked the shaft slowly before making circles around the head. After several minutes of licking, sucking, and stroking Draco was at that point. Just as he was about to release, the sensations stopped. He opened his eyes to see Philomena removing her panties. He licked his lips in anticipation. She straddled his body, hovering just inches above him. They stayed that way for a moment, just staring into each other eyes, then, she lowered herself onto him. As he felt himself enter her he cried out, "Oh Mena!"
THUD
Draco Malfoy was awakened by the hard reality of the stone floor meeting his face as he tumbled out of his bed. Groaning loudly he began to untangle himself from the sheets which during the course of the night had managed to wrap themselves completely around his legs and torso. I have to stop waking up like this, he thought as he finally freed himself from the sheets. He looked down to find his silk pajama pants tented. Sighing he grabbed his toiletries and headed to the bathroom to relieve some tension. As soon as the door to the bathroom clicked shut, Goyle pulled back the curtains on his bed. He had gotten used to Draco moaning in his sleep since he had been doing it every night for the past two weeks. However, this night was different; this was the first time that he had been able to understand what Draco had been moaning about or rather who he had been moaning about. He dressed quickly and raced out of the dormitory in search of Pansy.
Philomena was so excited about leaving the Hospital Wing she could hardly stay asleep. As of this moment, she had been up three times today. First, when the sun began to rise, the light had shone right in her eyes. After she finished watching that, she drifted back to sleep for a couple of hours until she heard Madam Pomfrey moving around. It was only nine though so she went back to bed until eleven when she decided it was late enough to start getting ready to leave. She had on jeans and a red shirt with a white zip jacket. She walked over to the mirror on the wall and quickly pulled her messy curls into a loose bun and applied her makeup. She looked at the clock. Only a few more minutes until lunch and then I'll be free! Those were the longest few minutes of her life. She was sitting in a chair with her head on the bed dozing when Hermione entered. Hermione bent to kiss Philomena on the head when her eyes opened suddenly. Both girls screamed, jumped back, and then realizing what just occurred started laughing hysterically. Madam Pomfrey came rushing out of her office, "What is going on in here?"
"Nothing Madam, we just startled each other," explained Hermione slightly red in the face.
"Yes, well, you're free to go Mena. Good day ladies," she said as she went back into her office.
"Would you like to grab some lunch?" Hermione asked as they exited the Hospital Wing.
"Sure, I haven't had lunch yet."
They reached the doors to the Great Hall and Philomena went to open the door, but Hermione held her back.
"What?" asked Philomena.
"Well, I should warn you first. Word travels fast around here, if no one is supposed to know everyone knows."
"So everyone knows," Philomena swallowed hard, "Everything?"
"The only thing that people know about is what happened in Hogsmeade."
"Oh well, that's not so bad. I was worried that someone overheard us yesterday. I definitely don't want everyone to know about that."
"Well, you'd think that it wouldn't be so bad but since you've been in the hospital and no one's been allowed to see you," Hermione paused.
"Surely they know that, since they know everything else."
"Yes they do, but it's like that game telephone. Someone saw what happened, told someone else, and here we are two weeks later and you are some superhuman samurai warrior!" Hermione exclaimed.
Several things went through Philomena's mind as Hermione shouted that last statement, none of which was anger. Her face contorted strangely for a second and Hermione hugged her closely thinking that she was going to start crying. Philomena's body began shaking uncontrollably. Hermione pulled back worried that the news had possibly awakened Nivea only to find Philomena laughing so hard there was no noise. Hermione thumped her on the arm, "That's not funny! I thought you-know-what was happening!"
"HAHAH! Oh come on, Mione. A superhuman samurai warrior, really? That's not funny at all?"
Hermione thought about it for a second before she too disintegrated into laughter, "Well, I suppose it is more humorous when you know that's not the truth."
"So can we go in and get some food now, I'm starving."
"Gosh you sounded like Ron just then," Hermione teased as she ran into the Great Hall with Philomena chasing right after. The second the students noticed who had just entered, it got deathly silent. Students openly stared at Philomena, whispering to their neighbors. Hermione turned to look at Philomena who had a shocked look on her face for about two seconds before smiling and walking over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Ginny.
"Well, I've never. I'm supposed to be a samurai warrior and this is the reception I receive upon my return," Philomena huffed, folded her arms, and stuck her nose in the air. The Gryffindors all erupted into laughter at her comment. The other tables went back to their previous conversations but continued to steal furtive glances in her direction throughout the meal. Philomena however was enjoying the company of her friends too much to pay any attention to the gawking students.
Draco Malfoy was sitting at the Slytherin table pretending to eat his lunch. He wasn't actually paying attention to what Blaise was saying but he would nod his head every so often when he could tear himself away from pushing his food around his plate. He heard the doors to the hall open and shortly after that, the hall became silent. His head shot up looking towards the doors knowing who he would see there—Philomena. She looked amazing and healthy. She's wearing red and white too, he thought to himself with a slight smile on his face as his mind wandered back to the dream he's had last night. Feeling his pants becoming a little tighter, he decided to think of other things, like Snape, naked. Yup, that did it. He smiled as he looked over at Philomena; however, she wasn't looking at him when she smiled back. She was smiling at Hermione as she joined the rest of her friends at the table. Within seconds, the table was laughing and joking as if nothing had happened. The dopey grin fell from his face. She hadn't even looked in his general direction. He continued to stare at her, mentally willing her to look at him. She was still smiling and it made him smile despite his surroundings. Blaise roughly roused him from his musings with a elbow to the ribs.
"Ow! What the hell?" yelled Draco as he rubbed the area where he knew a bruise was already forming.
"Incoming," was all Blaise said.
Draco turned to see a very angry Pansy storming up to him. He fixed his best Malfoy sneer just as she sat down to his right.
"You'd better just watch yourself Malfoy," she growled at him.
"Well hello to you too Parkinson," he glared back at her.
"Don't get smart with me! I know all about you and your little slut of a Potions partner."
"I haven't the slightest clue what you are talking about," he said through gritted teeth. How dare she call Mena a slut! Ugly, pug-faced…
"Are you listening to me, MALFOY?"
"No, and I will continue to not listen to you as long as you speak nonsense to me," and with that he and Blaise stood and walked out.
"You should be careful with her. You know she's crazy," warned Blaise.
"I know that, Blaise. Was I that obvious?"
"Just now, yes you were quite obvious, but in the past not at all. Pansy's not bright enough to have just come up with that from today."
"Oh no," Draco dropped his face into his hands and groaned.
"What did you do?"
"Well, it's a bit embarrassing," Draco started.
"I'll try not to laugh then," Blaise said with grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"Sure you will. I have been having very vivid dreams about Mena and I do believe at some point I might have said her name aloud. It's possible that someone overheard," Draco said as quickly as possible growing ever pinker as the grin on Blaise's face continued to expand.
"How long have you been having these, vivid dreams?" Blaise coughed to cover a slight snort of laughter.
"Almost two weeks now," Draco's eyes moved upwards to stare at some random point above Blaise's head.
"Are you or are you not an accomplished student in the art of magic?"
"I am," Draco replied slightly confused at this new line of questioning.
"Well for Merlin's sake if you are going to be moaning people names in your sleep, use a decent Silencing Charm next time!" Blaise scolded him with an angry whisper as they had just reached the entrance to the Slytherin dorm.
"As much as I'd like to hex you for being a prat right now, that's actually a decent bit of advice."
"Well of course it is, I know everything," Blaise said half-joking. He turned away from Draco to head towards his bedroom when suddenly he found himself flat on his back. He looked up to find Draco laughing at him.
"Trip Jinx, I just couldn't help myself."
Four Hours Later
Philomena sat in the girls' dormitory holding a note that just been dropped off by owl. The owl was Draco's, and so was the script on the parchment addressing it to her. My name looks so pretty when he writes it, she thought to herself before opening it.
Mena,
I need to speak to you about our project. Can you meet me in the Astronomy Tower? I am going to be there working on another assignment around 8 o'clock.
Draco
Philomena read it through another time then folded it and placed it in her robe pocket. Reading the note left her with a slightly uneasy feeling though. It was short and to the point just like Draco's notes were, but she couldn't think of what class he would be in that would require him to be in the astronomy tower. That wasn't the only thing that bothered her either; Draco had used their first names. The last time they spoke, he had used her surname. What could have changed his mind about being friends? It made sense to discuss the project before break considering she had done no work in the past three weeks and they hadn't met in over a month. It just seemed odd, but she figured she ought to go anyway because if it was about their project and she didn't show up, she was no better than him skipping out on research. That made up her mind. Besides, if I go, I can ask him why he's been acting all weird, she thought and went to tell Hermione.
It was a quarter til 8pm and Philomena was making her way to the Astronomy Tower. When she arrived, it was completely empty. She figured he was running late and settled for gazing at the stars. It was a perfectly clear night and a beautiful crescent shaped moon had risen. She heard the door to the tower open and shut. However, when she turned around it was not Draco that she saw. Pansy Parkinson stood glaring angrily at her with three fellow Slytherin girls standing behind, each looking equally as angry. One she recognized as Millicent Bullstrode, but she did not know the names of the other two.
"Parkinson, what are you doing here?"
"I came to set you straight."
"Excuse me?"
"I know about you and Draco! Don't try to play stupid. Keep your mudblood loving hands off of my boyfriend."
"First, he's not your boyfriend. Second, there is no me and Draco, we are just working together in Potions. Not that I need to explain myself to you anyway, if we were together it'd be none of your business."
"If you aren't together then why are his roommates complaining of him moaning your name every night?"
"I have no idea! I've been in the hospital for damn near three weeks, idiot! If you are so worried about it, why don't you ask him? He'll be here in soon."
"Actually, he won't. I sent that note to you."
Philomena mentally kicked herself. No wonder that note didn't sound like him.
"Well if that's the case, I'll just be leaving," and she made to leave but they blocked the door and Pansy pushed her back.
"You're not going anywhere. We aren't finished with you yet. I don't think I've made myself clear enough and I want to make sure this sticks."
The three girls began to walk closer to her shooting jinxes. A protective bubble surrounded her. She hadn't done that. Suddenly she started to feel funny and began to breathe faster. Uh oh, not now, she thought to herself. She remembered what Dumbledore had said to her yesterday, breathe calmly and try to talk to Nivea. Nivea, please calm down. You can't handle this for me. I need to take care of this myself. She could not feel the change letting up so she tried a different angle. If you take of my body and kill these girls, who are too stupid to do any real harm to me, I will go to jail. I will be there until I die and good luck defeating Voldemort behind bars. You don't want that to happen, do you? She felt rather than heard a response, No, but you will not receive my help in this situation if you should need it. You will learn young one. The protection spell disappeared and Philomena was now in control of her body once more.
Pansy and company were still throwing jinxes and hexes her way but the looks of shock were still clearly plastered across their faces. They had not seen Philomena draw her wand or say anything before that protective bubble appeared. They backed up a bit but regained their confidence when the protection spell disappeared. Philomena tried to battle them all at once but she was out of practice. She had taken a few hits and was bleeding from her left arm.
"STUPIFY!" she yelled as she pointed her wand at one of the girls. It hit her square in the chest and she tumbled out the open door. Another girl went to check on her fallen companion and then there were two.
"Expelliarmus," said Millicent Bullstrode in a gruff shout. Philomena was already in a crouch so she rolled to the right to dodge the spell. She shouted a stinging jinx in Millicent's direction just as Pansy aimed a stunning spell at her.
"HA!" shouted Pansy triumphantly. She walked over to Philomena's unconscious body and punched kicked her in the face, bruising her cheek and busting her lip. Pansy removed Philomena's cloaks and placed then right in front of her face. Before she and Millicent left to find the other two girls, Pansy pointed her wand at Philomena and shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!"
"Good luck getting out of that one," grunted Millicent and with that, they left.
Draco was in the dormitory alone, sitting on his bed, reading a book when Pansy walked in looking extremely pleased with herself. Her face was slightly pink and her hand was cold when she touched him. His face curled up in disgust as he removed her hand.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" he asked not caring what the answer was.
"Because I've fixed everything, no one is going to come between us Dray," she leaned in to kiss him and he backed away from her.
"What do you mean by that? What did you do?"
"I've taught that filthy, mudblood lover a lesson. One she won't soon forget."
Draco couldn't control himself and in one swift motion, he had Pansy up against the wall with his hand around her neck.
"Where is she?"
Pansy struggled to free herself but did not answer. He released his grip on her neck and settled for shaking her violently.
"Where is she!" he yelled.
Pansy stomped on his foot and when he was distracted pushed him away from her, "I know how to keep my mouth shut!"
She ran from the room before he could grab her again. If only she were a man, he would have beaten the shit out of her. He began to pace his room trying to think of the possible places Philomena could be. It would have to be somewhere away from the general population; somewhere a fight could go unnoticed. Somewhere Philomena wouldn't be stumbled across anytime soon. He paused mid-stride, Pansy's hands had been cold and her face was pink. She had been outside! Dear Merlin, it was below freezing, if Philomena was outside, she could freeze to death if no one found her. He ran to find Blaise.
"Blaise, a word," he said and turned on his heel and walked back to his room.
Blaise entered behind him looking worried. He shut the door, locked it and placed a silencing charm around the room.
"Draco, what's wrong?"
"Mena, Pansy's done something to her. She wouldn't say what, but I think she's left her outside somewhere."
"Draco it's winter, if she left her outside," Blaise began.
"I know, we have to find her."
They began to throw on their winter cloaks and headed out the room to the Entrance Hall.
"You search outside and I'll check the Owlery and the Astronomy Tower, send your Patronus if you find her," Draco said before running up to the Owlery.
Draco ran as fast as he could without drawing too much attention to himself. He glanced at a window and noticed that it had started to snow. He sped up. It had been about fifteen minutes since Pansy came into his room. Who knew how long it had taken her to get back? His face burned as the blood rushed to his face in anger. I think I'll put Millicent under Imperious and have her beat the crap out of Pansy, he smiled evilly as he considered this plan. He had finally reached the Owlery and a light layer of snow covered the stairs. He checked all over but saw no signs of Philomena so he dashed out almost breaking his neck when he slipped on an icy step. The Astronomy Tower was all the way on the other side of the castle near Gryffindor Tower, even running at full speed it would still take him at least ten minutes to get there and that was if the stairwells were being helpful. I probably would have done better flying outside the castle, he thought ruefully. When he finally reached the Tower, it had been at least a full half an hour. He climbed the steps praying that she would be there and sure enough, there she was covered in snow on the ground. Her cloaks lay right in front of her face, which was slightly bluish. He went to pick her up but her body remained rigid.
"Finite Incantatum," he said and Philomena's body went limp in his arms.
"T-t-took y-you l-l-long e-nou-nou-gh," she stuttered into chest as he held her close. He pointed his wand at the cloaks and placed a drying and heating spell on them before wrapping them around Philomena shaking body.
"Expecto Patronum!" he shouted and a small white puppy jumped from the end of his wand, "Find Blaise outside on the grounds and bring him here."
The puppy wagged its tail and flew off the top of the tower.
"I th-th-thought only Ha-Harry c-c-could d-do th-that."
"Well shows what you know then. Come on lets get you inside where it's warm."
He lifted her up into his arms and carefully descended the steps until he was at the bottom of the stairs. He continued to hold her close. She shifted in his arms and looked up at him. She had a black eye, a busted lip, and her nose, cheeks, and tips of her ears were very pink. He smiled at her, "You look like a battered Christmas elf."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Now if you had said I looked like a Smurf we would have had some issues, mostly medical."
"Smurf?"
"It's a muggle children's TV show all about little blue woodland creatures, similar to elves."
"What were you doing up here?"
"I got a note from you saying to meet you here to talk about our project."
"I didn't write you a note and in the future I don't have any classes that would require me to be up here."
"Obviously, you don't. Pansy wrote the letter. I knew something was up because she addressed it to me as Mena and signed it Draco."
"Well what's so wrong about that?"
"The last time we saw each other you called me McKellen and you signed your note Malfoy."
"About that," Draco began but stopped when the door burst open and Blaise came in with matching facial redness as Philomena.
"Is she alright?"
"I'm fine," she made to stand up but found that she couldn't feel her feet; "My feet are numb."
"Well you have been outside for over a half and hour without a cloak."
"Pansy left you out there without a cloak!" Blaise yelled in disbelief. Sure, he knew Pansy was crazy but what she had done to Philomena was just plain psychotic.
"Yes, the little slug put them right in front of my face but as I was unable to move, I could only look at them."
Blaise thought about this for a moment be saying, "Well since we can't hit her, do you think we could coax Millicent into it?"
"I was thinking the same thing earlier,"
"I doubt that would work. Millicent is the one that gave me this," she pointed to her left arm were there was frozen blood crusted to her shirt and arm.
"Okay then forget Millicent, I'll hit her my damn self, after we take you to the Hospital Wing," said Blaise as he helped Draco get Philomena up.
"No, no Hospital Wing. I'm fine, trust me."
"Mena, you're bleeding and you almost froze to death," Draco tried to plead with her.
"I'm fine; just help me back to the Gryffindor Common Room."
"But," Draco began but Philomena cut him off.
"Please Draco, I just need to get in front of a fire. Hermione can patch me up. Please."
Her entire face was pleading with him and her eyes seemed to bore right through him. How was he supposed to turn that down?
"Fine, but if I hear that your leg has been cut off due to undiagnosed frostbite, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Draco, you sure about that?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure that Potter and Weasley will probably crucify me and Granger will probably kick me in an inappropriate place for touching her girlfriend."
"Well as long as you know what's in store for you," he laughed and then added, "I'm going to have to take a rain check on seeing that. Besides, I have some hexes to bestow." He bid Philomena farewell and wished Draco good luck then headed back to the dorms. Philomena's feet were warming up but now she couldn't walk because of the pins and needles feeling that was sending painful tremors up her legs. Draco carried her dutifully all the way to Gryffindor Tower. They arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady about five minutes later, Philomena gave her the password and she swung open muttering something about the young couples acted today.
"Your decorator should be sent to Azkaban," Draco quipped when he saw all the red and gold. At the sound of his voice, three heads popped up from the couch. Harry and Ron looked as though they might commit murder and Hermione looked jealous and hurt.
"What the fuck did you do to her?" shouted Harry as he rushed at him.
Draco backed up against a wall but before he could say anything, Philomena had come to his defenses.
"He didn't do this. Pansy and her crew did."
"What?" all three Gryffindors asked.
"We'll explain in a minute. Draco, can you put me down over there in that chair?"
He nodded and walked over towards the fireplace and gently set her down in an overstuffed chair. He fixed her cloaks then went to sit on the floor by her chair. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were glued to their spots. What the hell was Malfoy playing at being so nice to Philomena? Hermione moved to sit first and slowly the other two made their way back to the couch to listen to their story. When they had finished, the three Gryffindors on the couch were speechless. Draco had nearly killed his "girlfriend" and had saved Philomena.
"What's your deal, Malfoy? Why are you acting so civil all of a sudden?" asked Hermione.
"I'm not civil to everyone mind you. I just," he closed his eyes and sighed, it was now or never, "I'm just tired of it all. There's no fucking point to it anymore."
"What do you mean, Draco," Philomena asked attempting to coax more out of him.
"There are more important things in life than fighting over petty bullshit," he turned to face Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "Look, I'm sure you probably hate me with every fiber of you beings but I just want you to know I'm sorry for the things I've said and the way I've treated you all in the past. I don't expect you to believe a word of this but I do mean it. I'm not asking for your friendship; I'm just asking that you don't see me as Malfoy anymore."
Harry spoke first, "No more fights and name calling?"
"None, I mean when you think about it, it's rather primary school," he chuckled a bit to himself.
"I think we can handle being civil to you if you in turn are civil to us."
Draco nodded and repeated the gesture he had made their first year; he reached his hand out to shake Harry's. Harry looked at the hand remembering the first time he was in this position. The first time he had turned down Draco's offer of friendship, this time he would accept his offer of a truce. Harry grasped Draco's hand and gave it a firm shake. Draco smiled, and then said, "Well, it's late; I think I'll head back to my dorm and help Blaise." Philomena laughed as he exited the portrait.
"What's so funny?" Ron asked
"Blaise is currently hexing Pansy and her evil minions," Philomena answered in between giggles.
"Oh, well they deserve it," said Hermione as she closed the distance between them so she could look at Philomena's wounds.
"You think I could get away with a simple concealment charm?"
"Yeah, these will have to heal on their own anyway. Just don't forget about your lip because if you smile too much it might split open again. Let me see that cut on your arm."
Philomena removed her arm from under the cloak. Hermione looked at it for a second before deciding it was a wound she could handle herself. She muttered a cleaning spell followed by a healing spell. The skin had closed up leaving only a thin white line as a scar. Hermione smiled at her handy work then kissed it, "All better."
"Good, thank you," Philomena yawned.
"You should get to bed; you have a long day ahead of you," warned Harry.
"I know, I have to get all my assignments from the professors. I haven't even begun to pack yet."
"We haven't either," said Ron and Harry together.
"You already know I've finished packing," said Hermione when they all looked at her.
Philomena tested her feet by tapping them lightly on the floor. When she didn't get that horrible pins and needles feeling, she stood.
"You need any help," Hermione asked as she put her arm around her.
"Nope I'm good now. Night boys," she said as she and Hermione headed up to bed.
"Night!"
A/N: Whew! That's probably the longest thing I've ever written. Sorry it's late but reality kicked in and I actually had homework to do. I'm kind of iffy on the dream sequence so tell me what you think about it. Next chapter should be up in about a month maybe sooner as I will be on Thanksgiving break for a week with nothing better to do.