REVIEW! NEVER MIND THE MEEK; PEOPLE WHO REVIEW WILL INHERIT THE EARTH!
Chapter the Eleventh
Draco had never been this terrified in his life. Not even all his bloodcurdling experiences when he'd accidentally upset his father put together could equal the cold panic that engulfed him every moment Harry lay as though dead. His beautiful mate was a pallid bump that marred the covers of the cheery blue hospital sheets, the raven locks staining the pillow at the head of the bed. Nearly thirty hours had passed, and Draco could sense that something had happened to Harry, something beyond his usual visions. Madam Pomfrey gave him sympathetic looks when he told her this, holding back tears, but she told him only time could tell. Dumbledore was no help either; he sighed, gave Draco a few words of hope, and told him that only time could tell. Snape and McGonagall and Flitwick and Lupin and Granger gave him pep talks and said that only time could tell.
Draco had never hated a phrase so much in his life.
Weasley, surprisingly, didn't say a word. He just looked like a Dementor was nearby and, for once, kept his mouth shut.
And Draco hated that, too.
Draco figured that hate was a good way to distract himself from the terror. So Draco found things to hate as he waited beside Harry's prone form. He hated the smell of the hospital wing, and the texture of the sheets. He hated Hermione for biting her lip while she visited Harry, and for bringing Harry's books with her to record his missed assignments in the funny singing plan book that, funnily enough, Draco also hated. He hated Ron for being silent and pale, and for not thinking to bring Harry's books for him. He hated Dumbledore for being so optimistic and for twinkling and for wearing brightly colored robes. He hated Snape for being so dour, because didn't he know that positive vibes were known to help patients regain consciousness? He hated McGonagall for being so clean, and Molly Weasley for trying to comfort him, and Arthur Weasley for steering her away from him, and Lupin for giving him worried looks and all of Harry's Gryffindor friends for coming to visit Harry.
Draco hadn't rested at all since Harry had stiffened and began to scream and bleed. He knew he looked awful, and that he really should eat some of the food that the house elves had brought him, but the thought of eating when his mate might never eat again made him feel nauseated.
Dumbledore was very worried about Draco. He had asked Snape to lace the food with a mild sedative, so that the Chimera would get some badly needed rest, but Draco refused to eat. He just sat, hour after hour, in the chair next to Harry's bed, gripping and twisting Harry's sheet between pale fingers.
With no positive signs from that front, Dumbledore was glad at least that Mundungus had made some progress. Though Mundungus' shady business associate didn't actually have access to the rare dragon's blood, he did know someone who might be able to find some. Snape was becoming more and more snappish as he saw his hard work edging near towards ruin, so Dumbledore hoped that the friend of a friend of a friend could get a hold of the substance.
Flitwick had designed a flawless levitation spell that would not affect the power flow of the spell.
Lupin had gathered all the necessary items and people.
They had a time and a place to perform the spell.
And every effort would be obsolete if Harry didn't wake up.
Lucius Malfoy was coming close to panic. He had been working ceaselessly to find out how to steal this Chimera, but he had no idea of how to go about it. He didn't know where or when or how the Light was going to have this person, so he could not even begin to devise a plan. As he strode through the damp corridors of the rotting Riddle Mansion towards his master, Lucius began to fear for his life.
Wormtail opened the door to the sitting room and ushered Lucius into the room. The aristocratic man hid his disgust behind a well crafted mask and went to his knees to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes.
"You may rise." Voldemort said in his slimy, hissing voice. Lucius obeyed immediately.
"How is your work coming on the Chimera plan?"
Lucius forced himself not to shake in terror. He knew that the Dark Lord probably already knew how the plan was going, but was asking to see if Lucius would lie to him. "Not very well, my lord. Please forgive me, but I simply do not have any specific information from which to work."
Voldemort smiled cruelly. "Well, that certainly is disappointing." Lucius had to force himself not to shudder again. Nobody should smile at such a large disappointment unless they knew something incredibly juicy. "Tell me, Lucius, you are very familiar with your family tree, are you not?"
"Yes, my lord." Lucius had the sinking feeling that he knew what this talk was really about.
"Good. Tell me, when do you plan to bring your son to me?"
"Soon, my lord. As soon as he finishes school."
"Hmm… well, I wish to see him sooner than that. You will bring him for a visit this Saturday."
"Yes, my lord." Lucius bowed.
"You may go. I expect you to have some progress on the Chimera plan next time you report."
"Yes, my lord." Lucius knelt and kissed Voldemort's hems before backing swiftly out of the room. Walking quickly, but not so quickly as to draw suspicious looks from the few Death Eaters that were in the mansion, Lucius walked to the boundary of the anti-appariation wards and brought himself quickly back to Malfoy Manor.
He had work to do. It took a good bit of planning to betray the Dark Lord without getting killed.
The first thing Harry noticed when he awoke was that he didn't feel alone like he used to when he woke up in the hospital wing. Ah. He thought. Draco's with me.
"Draco?" His voice cracked with dryness.
Draco sat straight up from where he had been slumped. He hurriedly grabbed the glass of water on the bedside and helped Harry take a few sips.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Harry asked when he had finished drinking. "I need to talk to him. It's important."
"I'll get him." Draco said. He planted a relieved kiss on Harry's forehead and hurried to find the headmaster. He didn't have to go far, as Dumbledore was on his way already. "He's awake!" Draco said excitedly. "He says he needs to talk to you."
Dumbledore hurried to Harry's side. "Harry, my boy, are you alright?"
"If Chimera are supposed to be so lucky, who the hell peed on my parade?"
There was a moment of silence before Draco began to laugh rather hysterically. Harry looked at him worriedly and pulled him down to sit on his bed.
"Harry, Chimera are said to have luck. They never said that meant they had good luck. And besides, you have had several incredible runs of good luck that have gotten you out of sticky situations. Perhaps it was just time for you to have a run of bad luck. The universe prefers to be in balance, you know."
"Humph." Harry replied. "Oh, and you might want to know that Voldemort knows some of what's going on."
Draco stopped laughing. "What does he know?" Dumbledore said urgently.
"He knows about Draco. He also knows that we are doing the spell, and that Snape is making a potion for us."
"Does he know about Snape's spying?"
"No. He knows that Snape doesn't know what the potion is for, and I wouldn't let him see Snape in your office, and by the time he gained enough control over me to manipulate my body, I passed out."
Dumbledore got to his feet. "Thank you, Harry. I need to tell Professor Snape immediately so that he can prepare for this. Is there anything else urgent that Voldemort knows, or can we discuss the rest later?"
"I don't think there's anything else, but I cannot be sure." Harry said quietly, remembering the hands pulling apart the seams of his mind. It was funny that it had hurt so much then, but Harry didn't even have a headache now. The rips that Voldemort had made were still there—Harry could feel them, somehow—but he seemed to be healing nonetheless.
Dumbledore hurried from the hospital wing to warn their best spy of the recent development. Harry watched him go before turning to Draco.
"I'm sorry." Harry said before his mate could say anything. "I didn't mean to worry you."
Draco closed the mouth he had opened to yell at Harry with a surprised snap. "How did you know what I was going to say?"
"I am having a bit of trouble keeping my legilimen powers under control. I could hear it in your thoughts. And I really am sorry."
"Why is it that you seem to have all these collapses, but all that happens to me is that things go all glowy when I get angry or upset? I have been watching your gold aura for nearly over thirty hours now, by the way. It kept fluctuating while you were out."
Harry thought for a moment. "Well, if you were created to keep me from hurting anyone, then I would say that your powers would have to be less flashy."
"I suppose. I better still be able to light things on fire with my mind."
Harry laughed. Draco watched his mate's animated face with relief. He leaned forward and caught Harry's mouth in a long, gentle kiss that didn't stay so gentle for more than a few seconds.
"Mr. Malfoy! Harry has been extremely ill! If you would kindly keep your lecherous paws to yourself until he is well again, that would be greatly appreciated."
Draco pulled back and sent a dark scowl at the medi-witch. "And how long will that be?"
"Well, I won't know until you allow me room to check my patient, now will I?" Madam Pomfrey shot back at the irritated Chimera. "Shoo, you are in my way."
"Harry!" came an exclamation from the door.
"You're finally awake! Took you long enough, mate." Ron said, following at Hermione's heels as the girl hurried up to give Harry a hug. "How do you feel?"
"If you would kindly allow me to examine my patient, you would know how he feels." Madam Pomfrey said in exasperation as the two Gryffindors sat down on the sides of Harry's bed.
Ignoring the medi-witch, Hermione said, "Harry, was it Voldemort again? It seemed a bit different from your average vision, though the alarm spell certainly tried to blow a gasket."
"Blow a what-sit?" Ron broke in.
Harry ignored the mechanically-challenged boy. "Voldemort tried to pry apart my head with a crowbar. He was looking for information about the spell."
"Did he get any?" Hermione asked intently.
"What's a crow-bar?" Ron asked.
"Yeah. I didn't give him anything about Snape, though, so we still have a spy in the inner ranks."
"If you would move!" Madam Pomfrey interrupted. The teenagers ignored her again.
"Are you alright, though?" Hermione said. "Do you have a headache?"
"No, surprisingly enough, I don't. I can feel where he was digging around, though. It's not a comfortable feeling, but it doesn't hurt, exactly. It just feels a bit sore is all." Harry said thoughtfully. "Do you think it's possible that I might do the same thing to him, only in reverse? I could find out so much from his head, especially if I was really gentle."
"You are not going into Voldemort's head." Draco said flatly.
"And, remember, Voldemort is a very skilled Oculumens. There is no guarantee that you would be able to get in anyway." Hermione said, always practical.
"Yeah, mate, I hate to agree with Malfoy on this, but I really don't think you should even try. We can still do fine without the information, but we can't if we lose you." Ron said.
"Mr. Weasley! Get yourself out of my way this instant!" Madam Pomfrey was really annoyed now. "I need to see to Mr. Potter, and it would be best if I saw to him immediately! Now move, before I move you myself."
"Oh, sorry, Madam Pomfrey. I didn't see you there." Ron said as he stepped back. The medi-witch gave him a murderous look, but immediately began checking Harry's health. She seemed reluctant to let him leave, but after lengthy diagnostics that made sense only to her, she declared Harry in excellent health, if a bit dehydrated.
With that auspicious news, Hermione and Ron went to the other side of the screen Madam Pomfrey had placed around his bed while Draco helped Harry into his clothing. In reality, Harry helped himself into his clothing while Draco tried to keep it off of him.
"C'mon, you two! What is taking you so long?" Ron said impatiently from behind the screen.
"I don't think you want to know." Hermione hissed quietly at the redhead.
"What? Oh. Eww…"
"You are so clueless sometimes."
"I am not!" Ron retorted. "Just because I don't pick up on all the subtleties in life doesn't mean I am clueless."
"Oh, really? Ron, you are a boy. Did you know that they estimate that the average male thinks about sex at least once every six seconds, and that they have a tendency to relate most things to either sex or food? If that's a normal boy, and you cannot pick up on the fact that Draco hasn't gotten any in almost two days, what does that say about you?"
Draco and Harry stopped moving behind the screen to listen to the pair.
"We don't think about sex that much!" Ron said defensively. "And just because we are more controlled by our hormones than girls doesn't make us clueless!"
"You missed my point." Hermione said calmly.
"What? I did not—"
"Hey, Weasel, when's the bachelor party?" Draco broke in, walking around the screen with Harry smirking by his side.
"The what?" Ron said blankly. Hermione, as usual, was two steps ahead of her friend and blushed a bright red at Draco's question.
"The bachelor party." Harry supplied helpfully. "You know, your last hurrah before you get the old ball and chain."
"The old what? Why on earth would I need a ball and a chain?" Ron asked, confused. Draco turned to Harry with an equally blank expression.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you two really need to take Muggle Studies. The ball and chain was an old prison device in which a prisoner was attached to a short chain with a heavy iron ball on the end. The purpose being, of course, to make escape rather difficult."
"What on earth does that have to do with…Oh. Those Muggles are a creative lot. Disgusting as all get-up, but creative nonetheless." Draco said. Hermione scowled at him, but let the slur on Muggles go.
"I don't get it." Ron said. What does a ball and chain have to… a bachelor party? My father has pictures from his friend's but he won't let me see them because… oh. Oh!" Ron turned red as he figured out what Draco had been talking about. He studiously avoided looking at Hermione, who was laughing at the look on his face.
Later that night, Draco and Harry lay naked on the furry rug in front of their fireplace, talking comfortably about any and all topics that crossed their minds. They had discussed Snape, their powers, their friends, how Dumbledore had explained their absence from classes (rather contagious cases of the rare and dangerous Mephisophlesimumpeles), the Sorting hat, secret passage ways, and invisibility cloaks. They sat in silence for a while, Harry comfortably sprawled over Draco's body, before the blonde broke the quiet.
"I have a question for you. Remember the first time we met, in Madam Malkins? Why were your glasses held together with tape?"
Harry was quiet for a moment. Draco, knowing this was not something Harry wanted to talk about, extended his legilimens powers just far enough to touch his mind with the soothing warmth of love. Harry smiled slightly at the effort. "My cousin broke my glasses."
"How?" Draco asked when no more explanation was forthcoming.
"He punched me in the nose."
"He what?" Draco sat up straight, startling Harry into coming to his knees.
"He punched me in the nose. Broke my glasses again. My aunt and uncle weren't too keen on replacing them, so I used tape."
"They wouldn't replace your broken glasses? I knew they were poor from your clothes, but I didn't think they were that poor."
Harry smiled at the startled look on Draco's face. As a rich only child, Draco was probably not used to thinking about replacing something so basic as a pair of glasses. "No, they had plenty of money. I was just a bit of an inconvenience to them, so they didn't like to spend money on me."
"An inconvenience? You? Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, were an inconvenience to Muggles who probably would be dead now without you?
"They don't much like magic." Harry replied lightly, trying not to get upset. "Could we talk about something else, please?"
Draco stared at him a moment longer before changing the subject to a safer topic. I am not through with this. Draco thought. He may not want to talk about it and he may not think it's a big deal, but it's a big deal to me.
Dumbledore waited in his office for Mundungus to arrive. Snape waited tensely beside him, muttering dour threats about what he would do to the scoundrel if his potion went to waste.
"Do calm yourself, Severus. He will get here."
"And if he hasn't procured the blood? This potion was not exactly easy to make, you know!" Snape snapped back at the headmaster. "And I would prefer to have this done before the Dark Lord calls me, as he probably will, thanks to Potter's little stunt."
"Now, Severus. It is hardly Harry's fault." Albus chided gently, ignoring the vitriolic look on the Potions master's face. The secret door to his office opened abruptly, expelling the rumpled figure of Mundungus Fletcher. "Ah, Mundungus. Did you acquire the blood?"
Mundungus smiled a rather grimy smile and held up a vial. "Couldn't get much, and it cost an arm an' a leg, but I got it!"
Snape snatched the vial from his fingers and swept from the room without a word.
Albus smiled after him. "Severus is a bit on edge today. Lemon drop?"
The next morning, Harry and Draco woke to the annoying sound of knocking on their door.
"Why is it that we can never just wake up slowly?" Draco grumbled as he searched for a robe so that he could answer the door without shocking whoever was pounding on it. Not that they wouldn't deserve such a shock, but Draco preferred not to flash his gorgeous body at any old person.
"We're just too special to sleep in." Harry replied sleepily, enjoying the pale view walking around the bed. "At least they knocked this time. I don't think I'll ever get over the fact that Snape has seen me naked."
"Ugh." Draco replied, jealousy conflicting with disgust in his expression. He yanked open the door. "What could possibly be so important that you had to disturb my rest?" He snapped, the Malfoy arrogance dripping from his every word.
Lucius Malfoy raised his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?" He said to his startled son.
"Father!" Draco yelped. He cleared his throat and pulled on a calm mask. "What brings you to Hogwarts at this ungodly time on a Saturday morning?"
"Do I need a reason to visit my only son? Or a reason to enter that son's room?" Draco suddenly realized he was blocking his father from entering the room.
"Well. It's a bit of a mess in there. Shall we go for a walk?" Draco asked, panicking. I have to give Harry a chance to get out of the room! He thought frantically.
"In your robe?" Lucius's eyebrows hadn't yet left his hairline. "Move aside and let me enter."
"It's a lovely day outside. Why don't we go for a stroll around the lake?"
"It's snowing outside. Move aside, Draco." Lucius knew there was something in the room that Draco didn't want him to see. He searched his mind for whom it could be, and suddenly realized the obvious: Draco had found a mate and was feeling territorial or unsure about it. "I would so like to meet your mate, Draco."
The young blonde froze. "Would you?" he said awkwardly. "Umm… if you give me just a moment, I will go get him. I don't believe he is dressed yet."
Lucius stifled the urge to smirk at that. "Please do get him." Draco closed the door gently, turned around calmly, and went abruptly into panic mode.
"Shit. Fuck. Shit. Oh god! What the fuck do we do? I am going to die. You are going to die. I am going to be spitted over a fire and roasted like a chicken! The Dark Lord won't have to worry about killing you because you will already be dead!" Draco flung himself around the room, pacing and worrying his hands, as Harry watched with amusement. Draco tripped over a shoe, stubbed his toe on the end of the bed, and cursed some more. Harry finally couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.
Draco spun around. "What the hell is so funny?" he demanded.
"He doesn't have to know it's me, you know." Harry replied. "Haven't you been paying attention in charms lately? We can do an illusion charm. It won't hide the scar, but we can make sure my bangs hide it."
"An illusion charm? Can you do an illusion charm? I haven't been paying much attention in charms lately."
"I wonder why?" Harry said, grinning lasciviously. He pulled out his wand, waved it at himself, muttered something softly, and concentrated hard for a moment. Draco didn't see any difference for several seconds, but then Harry's features shifted, his skin and hair lightened, and when he opened his eyes, Draco could see that his eyes had changed to a soft brown. While still attractive, Harry was no longer very noticeable; he looked like a normal wizard, albeit one that had just woken up. "Good, huh?" Harry asked at the startled look on Draco's face.
"I thought you could only change one feature at a time."
"I modified the spell a bit. We might want to let your father in. Oh, wait. I need a new name. What's my name?"
"Umm… Henry. Henry is close to Harry. Henry…"
"Evans. That was my mother's maiden name."
"Right. Be really polite and formal." Draco opened the door to admit his rather imposing father. "Father, I would like you to meet my mate, Henry Evans."
An hour with a polite smile screwed on that Harry was positive Lucius could see straight through was definitely enough for Harry. Two hours later, Harry was getting a cramp in his cheek from his bland smile. Three hours later, he was starting to panic. How in the hell do they spend so much time talking about absolutely nothing? He asked himself. Surely they can't go on for much longer! He thought desperately.
Lucius wasn't entirely sure what to think about his son's mate. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, and thank Merlin he was a wizard rather than a Muggle, but he seemed rather bland and stupid. Lucius wasn't sure the boy would be able to deal with Draco's temper tantrum and the jealous rages he was sure to have as Henry happened to be mildly attractive. Draco is going to chew him up and spit him out before long. It is truly a shame that the boy won't be able to add to Draco's arsenal. Draco will need all the protection he can get after tomorrow.
Finally, Lucius decided that Draco's mate was entirely useless. With that out of the way, he said goodbye to his aristocratic son and swept smoothly out of the room. He headed towards the dungeons, allowing Henry to close the door behind him.
Harry waited a few seconds, peaking out the door, to make sure that Lucius was truly leaving before he closed the door and dropped the illusion spells. He slid down the door to plop onto his behind.
"Whew. That was a lot more effort than it should have been." He said to Draco.
Draco grinned at him. "I know I told you to be polite and formal, but I didn't mean you had to play dead."
"What are you talking about? I was not playing dead. I just thought maybe I should come off as kind of uninteresting, so he doesn't really notice me." Harry said defensively.
"Oh, sure, you meant to come across as slightly dim witted." Draco answered teasingly.
"Hey! Mr. Amazing Bouncing Ferret, I would watch who you call dim witted if I were you."
"You can only wish to be me." Draco stuck his shapely nose into the air. "Alas, your aspirations are doomed to fail, as no other can achieve such perfection."
Harry refused to respond verbally to that. Instead, he opted for a nice shag to muss up all that pristine perfection.
Approximately one hour later, at eleven-oh-three, the two Chimera became aware that someone else was pounding rather insistently on their door.
"I got it last time. It's your turn now." Draco said sleepily from under Harry.
"What if it's your father again?"
"Tell him you finally knocked me off and you have been lying in wait to wipe him out too." Draco shoved at Harry. "Get up, you lazy sod!"
"I'm getting around to it." Harry griped as he fumbled lazily for Draco's cast off robe. He rose and stumbled towards the door, pulling on the silk garment as he went. "What is it already?"
"Mr. Potter." Harry gave a yelp and yanked the robe closed. "I sincerely hope that you do not plan to make your nudity a habit." Snape said acidly.
"Er… Professor. What are you doing here?" Harry asked, Draco laughing behind him at his red ears.
"Nothing I would be doing by choice. It seems, Mr. Potter, that you are incapable of being on time even when the occasion calls for your exulted presence."
"What?" Harry asked blankly. "It's Saturday. I don't have any classes to be late to. And why would you come—"
"You are an imbecile. How the headmaster expects you to save the wizarding world, I do not know." Snape gave Harry one of his famous glares, the kind Harry hadn't seen too often since they had come to their civil working relationship. "Today is Saturday, and it is nearing noon." Harry's face remained blank, and Snape gave an exasperated sigh. "Noon on the day of the full moon?"
"Oh! Oh, shit! The spell is today! Fuck!" Harry said as enlightenment hit.
"Language, Mr. Potter." Snape snapped at him.
"Wait, what is today?" Draco yelled from the bathroom.
"The spell!"
"Oh, fuck!"
"Just hurry up! You will be given clothing to wear when you get there, so just get decent." Snape turned to leave.
"Wait, Professor! Where are we doing the spell?" Harry yelled as the man swept away down the hall.
"In the Great Hall." He answered sourly.
"On a Saturday morning?" Draco said, yanking on a pair of trousers. "Is secrecy really that unimportant?"
"Apparently." Harry replied, admiring Draco's chest as he moved. "Right. Clothing. Need clothing to get to Great Hall."
Hermione was in a frenzy of academic curiosity. After dogging Lupin's footsteps until he, exasperated, allowed her to help him set up for the spell, she began trying to unveil the mysterious purpose of the procedure.
"The lavender I can understand, this is some sort of a protection spell after all, but I simply don't understand why we have to have so many blood elements. Protection implies avoiding blood, rather than coveting it, so I just don't understand why we need the blood-fire lilies and the dragon blood and the bloodied dagger. This is so complicated." She turned to Lupin, who was carefully anointing herbs with drops of Snape's potion. "Where exactly did you get the spell? What was the book called?"
"What book?" He asked distractedly.
"The book, or scroll I suppose, that had the spell. Do you remember what it was called?"
"There was no book. They gave me the spell directly."
"Directly? They wrote it down?" Hermione asked excitedly. "May I see it? I would really like to study it, plus there are many things you can learn by the style of writing, little things mostly, like small aspects of their culture."
"No, they didn't write it down. They put the spell directly in my mind. Rather uncomfortable, like when they gave me the Surugan language. Made my head feel rather full." Lupin straightened. "Sorry, Hermione, but I don't know how they did that either."
Hermione closed her mouth, disappointed.
"Ah, Remus! How is the spell coming?" Albus strode up, already dressed in the white robe that reminded Hermione of the ancient Roman outfits only with a huge hood. Remus turned to answer him, but Hermione caught sight of Ron timidly entering the hall.
"Ron!" she called him over. "Isn't this exciting?"
"Erm… yes, I suppose it is." Ron responded, looking awkward in the rather revealing toga-like outfit that exposed most of his chest and was much shorter than the average pair of shorts. I don't suppose Ron has worn shorts much. Hermione thought to herself. Which is such a shame, as the boy has a nice behind. Shocked by her rather uncharacteristic thought, Hermione blushed and turned away, unconsciously mimicking Ron's blush when he noticed her outfit.
Harry and Draco ran in, breathing hard, at that point. Draco took one look at their red faces and immediately came to the right conclusion—the sexual tension between the two was making itself known to the oblivious Gryffindors. About time! Maybe when the girl gets laid regularly she won't spend every minute in the library.
Harry, of course, took one look at the pair of red faces and came to a conclusion that was close but not entirely right. "Hey, guys. Embarrassed about the costumes?" He eyed Ron's toga and Hermione's… lingerie. Well, Harry supposed it wasn't supposed to be lingerie, but he didn't think women outside of a Victoria's Secret magazine wore clothing like that regularly. Hermione wore a white skirt that hung incredibly low on her hips, was tight around her hips and buttocks, and was loose and flowing on her legs and ended about mid-thigh, showing far more of her legs than the boys were accustomed to seeing. Her top was even more revealing, as it was a bit like a flowing white sports bra with designs on incredible cleavage. Hermione's hair in the front had been woven into tiny braids that clung to her head while the rest of her chestnut mane flowed down over her back, and her make up had been down with an uncharacteristic amount of black kohl.
Basically, smart, nice, cute Hermione Granger had been turned into a sort of mythological babe, and Ron Weasley had no idea how to handle the change.
"Oh, good, you are here." Remus said, catching sight of Harry and Draco. "You need to change. Here are your Shenkihas."
"Our what?" Draco asked with a laugh.
"Shenkihas. The traditional formal dress of Surugan male adults."
"I have a quick question." Harry said. "If these things are traditional male outfits, is Hermione's outfit traditional for women?" Harry wondered with a slight shudder if Professor McGonagall was required to wear that outfit. If so, it would be a scarring experience. And I really don't need anymore scars. Harry thought ruefully.
"No, no, of course not. That is the outfit of a virgin girl that is still, well, on the marriage mart, I suppose you would say." Hermione blushed an even deeper red. "The older women and those that are…erm… no longer maidens have a different dress."
"Thank Merlin for that." Draco drawled as he and Harry went to change. "I would like to avoid nightmares."
When the boys returned, the Great Hall was full of the spell's participants and students. Dumbledore had set up a partition that blocked off half of the Great Hall for the use of the students, who were milling around with food, looking at the activities with curiosity.
"Oi! Harry! What's going on? Are you feeling better?" Dennis Creevy yelled at him as he passed.
"I'm feeling fine. Spell." Harry answered unhelpfully.
"Harry! Come, you and Draco need to stand here." Remus called, looking frantic.
Harry dragged Draco towards the center cleared out space and away from the food he had been reaching for. Ignoring Draco's grumbling ("Honestly, Harry, starving me is not the answer to your deep rooted self esteem issues") Harry stepped into his place and looked around.
All thirty people stood in a ring around the two Chimera. Lupin stood at the southern end, with Dumbledore at the northern, and the others dispersed in a girl-girl-boy pattern. The tiny girl stood at the western pole of the circle, and the pregnant woman at the eastern. Fred and George were on opposite halves of the circle, as were Padma and Pavarti Patil. McGonagall, Snape, Molly, Arthur, and Tonks were there, as well as other members of the Order, Seamus, Dean, an aloof looking Blaise Zambini, Ernie McMillian, Justin Finch-Fletchy, and other students. Harry and Draco stood a few feet apart, with a sharp-looking knife between them, a rather wicked-looking dagger and a beautifully crafted sword next to them, forming a shape that seemed like a triangle that was missing its point. A fine grey dust lined a circle behind all the participants and smelled, to Draco's slightly enhanced nose, to be a mixture of lavender, gardenias, and blood. It was a strange scent, and somehow felt rather exotic.
"Alright, are we ready to begin?" Lupin asked. "We need to begin precisely one minute before noon, when Professor Dumbledore will vanish the ceiling to allow pure sunshine on the circle. Everyone link hands like so," He demonstrated with Tonks, who stood next to him, before picking up a long white streamer and wrapping it around each pair of wrists around the circle, linking them all together. "And stand up as straight and tall as you can. Harry, Draco, you two will be powering most of the spell, so I want you to keep one palm connected and the other one flat facing the missing point of the triangle while we are doing the spell." They nodded. "Good. Alright, as for the rest of you, this will feel very strange. As I understand it, you will get a feeling of stretching, as though something were just out of reach. Though this may be a bit uncomfortable, do not drop hands with your neighbors or the spell will fail. I do not have any idea whether that will lead to any bad consequences, but I don't want to take any chances." He glanced at the ceiling. "Ready?"
Dumbledore mumbled something very soft under his breath, and the ceiling disappeared, not that they could actually see the difference. The only way they could tell that the ceiling was gone was the rather chilly draft that wafted down towards the circle of wizards.
As the clock struck twelve, Lupin began to chant. Flitwick levitated the three daggers from the sidelines so that they floated just below the level of the Chimeras' arms. Hermione listened as hard as she could to the strange language Lupin spouted out in a singing sort of tone, but she couldn't find any similarities to any language she had ever heard, nor, she found, could she exactly remember the sounds. The strange words seemed to flood out in streamers, surrounding the participants and binding them together and to the Chimera in the center.
Harry and Draco didn't feel anything at first. They watched with their Chimera powers as Lupin's words really did form golden bonds between the people. When the bonds connected everyone in the circle, the light thickened at the four poles of the circle and began to shoot streamers towards the Chimera. When the first one connected, Harry felt a tiny something at the edge of his mind that reminded him unpleasantly on Voldemort's last attack. This time, however, the magic touched him gently, testing the waters of his mind, before seeping in and taking root somewhere that felt strangely deep to Harry. As though that had been a signal, more and more touches of magic entered his mind, filling his vision with a haze of gold. The magic began connecting him to Draco after it took root in Harry's mind. He glanced over to his mate to see that Draco was also surrounded in magic, and that he had a dazed expression on his face.
Suddenly, the bonds between the people in the circle snapped taunt. Harry and Draco gave identical yelps of surprise as the light began pulling from that deep space. The magic strained towards the missing point of the triangle, and Harry nearly fell to his knees at the yank of magic from within him. He heard Draco cry out again as the magic surged, and suddenly he could feel the other people in the circle. They were startled, and slightly fearful at the strain within them. Harry could tell that an infinitesimal amount of power flowed from each person towards him and Draco, but most of the power condensing at the point of the triangle was being forcibly removed from the two Chimera.
Just as Harry was starting to panic at the drain of his energy, there was a strange, almost painful snap, similar to a joint popping back into its proper place, and the light bonds vanished. All that was left was the cloud of power at the point of the triangle, which simply stayed in place for a moment. Behind him, Harry could hear Lupin continuing to chant the spell in the strangely lyrical language, and there was an incredibly bright flash that seemed to suck in the power of the sun to blind everyone in the Great Hall.
And when Harry's eyes cleared, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen was standing at the point of the triangle.
