"Thank you all for coming tonight. I'm sure you have many questions, and I regret to say that I will be able to answer very few of them. I know a few of you are completely in the dark, and came here as an act of faith. Hopefully at least, I can shed some light on why we are all gathered here. But again, I doubt that any of you will leave entirely satisfied. Nevertheless, I will do my best to tell the full truth as we have learned it thus far.
"Each of you have already sworn an unbreakable oath, or signed an unbreakable confidentiality agreement similar to a fidelis charm, that will not allow you speak of tonight's events to anyone unless certain circumstances permit, including, but not limited to casting the appropriate wards before speaking. Please realize that this is deadly serious, not only in order to safeguard your life, but those of everyone else in this room, as well as the rest of the wizarding world.
"Before I get down to the specifics of what we are all about, I'd like to start off with a history lesson, so please bear with me. Look around the room, and you will notice that all of us present have fought in the last wizarding war, some of us on one side, and a few from the other. Several even fought in the previous war. Every few decades, the wizarding world erupts in catastrophic violence, usually led by a charismatic and utterly insane wizard. What lessons can we learn from these disasters? When most of us were in school, the sorting hat would have had us believe that the lesson was unity. As the saying goes, "United we stand, Divided we fall." That's a good lesson, one which we, as in wizarding-kind, continue to fail to learn, time and again. Our deepest divide, wizarding born vs. muggle-born continues to persist even to this day. There are reasons for it. Some say it's racism, but that is oversimplification. Look around at wizarding society. We have been trapped in the vestiges of the 19th century for over a hundred years. And why is that? Because the overarching culture is created by those who are born and bred to it, natural conservatives, who created the secrecy act to prevent their destruction by fearful, ignorant muggles of the dark ages. These pure bloods and some half bloods are brought up from birth to understand the magical world, the culture, the hierarchy, and their place in it. But what of muggle borns? We are ignorant of the entire society and our place in it, until age 11, when suddenly we are told that we must abandon everything we know and start an alien life, in an alien culture. The purebloods react to these aliens in their midst with reactionary conservativism, trying to protect their institution from the foreign invaders that perpetually pop up. Whereas the muggleborns fight to find their place, unable to comfortably return to the world from whence they came, their education completely inadequate to allow them to function in the muggle world, yet never entirely comfortable in the trappings of the magical, and never accepted into its hierarchy. Is it any wonder that Tom Riddle was pushed to the breaking point? Is it any wonder that magical/muggle relations festered and erupted in violence? Is it any wonder, that in contemplating the disparities and contradictions of our world such otherwise brilliant men such as Grindelwald and Dumbledore lost their minds? No my friends, it is not.
"So, let's talk about the last war. Why did one side win, and the other lose? Old Snakeface's team had the home field advantage; ability to call upon large reserves of disgruntled purebloods, fearful of the loss of their way of life as their numbers declined in comparison to that of muggleborns and halfbloods. Money, large numbers of supporters in the ministry itself, willingness to use terror tactics and engage the darker side of society. Old Twinkletoes' side also had adequate money, supporters in law enforcement, and, well. Fuck it. Old Twinkletoes' side had shit going for it; a mad, paranoid, secretive leader, and a core that was at best, a vigilante social club. There was no structural organization per se, and no plan for maintaining peace and order in the country. A leader who refused to lead is not worth much. Oh, and old Snakeface? Also a secretive paranoid madman, but at least he had an organization and a plan.
"Again, so why did one side win and the other lose? When I was younger I thought it was sheer dumb luck. Sheer dumb luck had won the first war after all, when some dumb homemaker spell of Lily's that never should have worked at all recoiled on Snakeface and knocked him for a loop for a decade. So when the second war came around, what was the plan from Twinkletoes? Oh yeah, create a martyr who will willingly die for the cause. OK, fine, that part is not so hard, muggle terrorist groups train suicide bombers all the bloody time. But of course, Dumbles fucked that up too. His so-called plan involved never telling anyone anything, especially about the most important thing of all- the scattered pieces of Snakey's soul that had to be destroyed before we could off the scaly freak. And let's not forget the fiasco with the elder wand; any plan that relies on the right people ending up in mastery of a specific piece of wood at a specific time, in a bloody warfare situation is insanely stupid. Oh, and finally, fighting a war using school children in a country full of able-bodied adults? So not cool. Only the most amazing luck could have resulted in any part of the sugar-fiend's so called plan actually working.
"But then I realized, that no, while luck was absolutely huge, what really won the war was that certain people were simply pushed too far. Everyone has a breaking point, and not realizing this was Voldies' greatest weakness. We could have figured out the horcruxes on our own, and even the nonsense with the deathly hallows based on the shit that Dumbles left us, but no way could we have done any of the rest of it were it not that certain people were pushed too far. And then they fought back. Number 1: Snape, a spy for Dumbles for years and years, pushed by Voldie to the breaking point when he went after the woman Snape was obsessed with, Without Snape's critical information, the order of the phoenix would have been even more of a complete waste of air and space. Moreover, it was Snape's protection and running interference when he was headmaster that protected the children and allowed them to re-form the DA, so they were capable not only of fighting in the battle of Hogwarts, but surviving said battle as well. So that's 1. Number 2, Draco Malfoy. Yes you. Snakeface seriously didn't understand people at all. He thought that everyone could be controlled by fear or money. Your family obviously didn't need money, but by making you complicit in the torture and murder of others, he thought he could force your obedience. Yeah, not so much. I remember how you were unwilling to turn us in when the snatchers caught us. And I heard how you treated the prisoners in the dungeon when no one else was around. You allowed the prisoners to escape, when you could have stopped it. If we'd died in Malfoy Manor, that would have been that. But you didn't let that happen, all because you'd had enough. And 3. Narcissa Malfoy. You managed to put up with Snakeface and the effects he had on your husband all through the first war, but the second time 'round, it was so much worse, wasn't it? Because this time, your son was also entrapped, and you saw how it was destroying him. That was your breaking point. More so than the use of your home as his personal torture chamber and revel-central, it was the harm to your family that pushed you to the edge. And so you acted, at the battle of Hogwarts. Without you, Harry would not have been able to kill Voldie. Let' s not forget too, all the other DeathEaters who must have been pushed to their own personal brinks as well, who fought when Snakeface was alive, but who promptly threw down their wands the second they were convinced he was dead.
"So yes, the lessons tonight are about three things, Luck, Unity, breaking point. Everything and everyone has a breaking point. When it is reached, they will snap. And then they will fight back. We are here tonight, old friends and old enemies, in the spirit of unity. Because we are now engaged in a slow race against time, a battle for the survival of all wizarding kind. An enemy as yet unseen, forgotten by the ages, engaged in a very long game. It was only by sheer luck that we learned of the threats (and, yes, they are multiple), to our existence. We will tell you of these threats shortly, and I hope you have all undergone the washout period Harry told you about beforehand, otherwise, this whole exercise will have been a waste o f your time.
"But first, I wish to remind you of one final threat that I have nor yet spoken of. This does relate to all my themes tonight. Muggles, Muggles have been killed in all of our wars, from Merlin's day to Grindelwald to Voldie's return, They are killed by the dozens, by the hundreds. The cover-up to hide our existence from muggles is stretched thinner each and every time we kill another one of them in circumstances difficult to explain. Sooner or later they will figure it out, or else the authorities themselves will snap. They will reach their breaking point, and they will destroy us completely. Trust me, they can. Magic is wonderful, but never underestimate their weapons and their will. We are a threat to them, an alien threat possessed of powers they can never have. They will be right to be afraid of us, to hunt us down and kill us. We must not allow this to happen. We must reach out and bridge the gap between our cultures. We must convince them we can live with them, that their laws apply to us, and ours to them. That we have something of value to them, just as they have things of value to us. We must end the secrecy, For only unity will prevent our extinction.
Our work is cut out for us, I want you to think on all that is said here tonight and decide – can you work with your past enemies? Can you disrupt your life for a dangerous and secret enterprise? Are you willing to risk everything for an uncertain and perilous future? If the answer is yes, we will be happy to have you, and if the answer is no, then go with our good wishes, have a glass of pumpkin juice before you leave this room, and your life will return to normal. We won't blame you in the slightest.
"And now, Harry will explain to you all we know about the pumpkin juice, followed by Luna to talk about our impending extinction and our theories on the suspect behind it. We will wrap up with Draco Malfoy to speak on the various dangers posed by muggles to the magical world, and what we propose to do about this.
"Thank you."
~~~~~.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o~~~~~~~~
"Well, that went surprisingly well."
"I guess you of all people, would have to be an optimist."
"None of the hexes landed. That's something to be thankful for."
"If they had, your stupid Gryffindor friends would be in a world of hurt right now."
"Seriously, though. How many years has it been? Why do they all have to still be acting like little children? Haven't they learned anything?
"Asks the woman stamping her foot like a 2 year old."
"Touche."
"Moreover, have you forgotten already how you acted the day I first walked into your office?"
"Ouch. Damnit Malfoy, stop being right."
"You know you love it."
"Conceited arse."
"Oh god." Harry rubbed his forehead in disbelief. "I know you two are pleased with yourselves, but can you please save the flirtation for after Luna and I have gone home?"
"But I was quite enjoying the byplay." Luna poked her head out of the kitchen and spoke up for the first time, "Did you know that you have an infestation of prongtoed fugs under the sink?"
"I'm not surprised. It would explain why my drain cleaner keeps vanishing." Hermione sighed with a straight face.
"Alright, can we please call this meta session to order?" Harry whined.
"Fine. Spoilsport."
"Wanker"
"Boys! Hush. Do you think this meeting was a success?"
"My father thinks you're insane. But he admires your ambition, if not your ultimate goals. He and mother are also deeply displeased about the oath you made them swear."
"The Muggle-borns were freaked to see the Malfoys there. The former order members were upset at your takedown of Dumbledore, and well, who else is there?"
"I thought it was very informative." Luna spoke quietly, "Neville is in, but you knew that already, didn't you? George is in, but only if you bring in more Weasleys. The Ravenclaws need to run the math for themselves. But you could tell. No one outright thought our conclusions were wrong."
"They didn't like the bit about the Pumpkin Juice."
"Neither did you."
"Point taken. So how do you propose we proceed from here?"
"Luna has drawn up a few notes on the skills of each new recruit and how each can be used to best advantage, As you can see, not only does the recruitment of George give us a new outlet for the merger of magic/muggle technology, but also will allow us to exploit his research on charms for adapting some of my own inventions to work using less magical input. Ms. Whitten, Wendy is an up and coming journalist who can help us add our own slant on news items reported in the Prophet. Draco and I intend for her to cover our soon to occur clash in the ministry, while Andie Fuller and Sarah Mitcham, we expect will prove useful to guide the wording of the bill we are trying to see passed. Everyone knows that the aides are the ones who do all the real work anyway while department heads just reap the credit."
"What a horrible place."
"Ah, but Potter, it has always been a haven to those with money, so easy to grease the wheels of government. Only ill-bred peons like you cannot appreciate the beauty of such a system."
"I really hate you, Malfoy."
~~~~~~~~.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o~~~~~~~~~
"Someone's going to get killed."
"Oh Lucius, haven't we had enough bloodshed for two lifetimes?"
"Asks the woman who was just brewing a lethal potion for Draco's girlfriend last week."
"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy! There are so many things wrong with that statement I don't even know where to begin."
". . . One of the Ravenclaws, I think."
"Probably that Whitten girl." Narcissa sighed with regret, finally acknowledging her husbands words.
"Yes. She did have the look." Typical Ravenclaw, only satisfied when they've fully understood a problem from all possible angles, heedless of the consequences. Heedless of who took note of their quest. To such as she, the answer was all; discretion instantly forgotten in the search for knowledge. Even Gryffindors sometimes admitted that actions had consequences, before they actively chose to disregard them.
"We will have to watch her. Discretely, of course."
"Of course. The how of it will prove most enlightening."
"Shall I speak to Draco?"
"I don't think that will be necessary." At Narcissa's questioning look, he continued. "You don't think it just a little odd that the core of the group was Potter's cronies and us? Nary a Hufflepuff to be seen? But then, the young Ravenclaw neophytes?"
"The Lovegood girl. . . ."
"Oh yes. The Lovegood girl." Lucius smiled mirthlessly, the shadows in his eyes recalling the time she had spent as their involuntary guest. "More ruthless than I would have given her credit for. I'm dead certain she recruited those three girls because they are expendable. And unconnected to her other little friends. What better way to test the enemy? I'd bet half our vault on the fact that Granger and Draco know what she's up to. Little sacrificial lambs. Because we have to know more."
"But Potter?"
"Probably hasn't got a clue." Lucius sniffed in disdain. It was probably a good thing for the Wizarding world that Granger was in charge of this insane venture. Potter had simply never had the stomach for the down and dirty of the real world. Hard to believe the sorting hat had ever considered Slytherinifying him. Granger, on the other hand, had thoroughly proven that she was willing to get her hands and soul dirty if that was what it took. Such a fascinating girl. No wonder his son seemed to spend more time in her company day by day. "Potter probably thinks Luna recruited her three little friends because one of them works for the Prophet and the other two as aides in the ministry. And sure, that will make them useful. But only if they can first prove as discreet as they are knowledge hungry."
"And what role do we play in this? We can hardly be seen to publicly support Draco's political forays." They both knew that would prove ultimately detrimental to the scheme. "And it's not as though we can recruit new bodies to the cabal." The oaths they'd sworn had seen to that. "Come to think of it. How is it that Draco was able to speak tonight? I was under the impression that she'd sworn him to an oath of secrecy?"
"Both good questions indeed, my dear." Lucius sank further back into his chair, "They didn't have a choice but to include me after I discovered that they were hiding something." He remembered that awkward night only too well, "Nor you, after you became aware of Granger's condition. So one might conclude they do not have a plan but to put the best face on it possible and pretend we were always meant to be involved. But, if truth be told, I strongly suspect that this rapid expansion of our new social club is not of Granger's doing. It reeks of Potter and his doe-eyed idealism. Ravenclaws aside, they are trying to build a family. Each of us with different skill sets, experience, outlook, but yet with a shared bond. You saved Potter's life, Draco saved Granger's and the rest of the Gryffindor children fall in line behind their leaders." He shook his head, "still, I suppose we can't be any more of an insane family than the phoenixes were." A resigned shrug. "As for Draco, I can only presume, she must have freed him from his oath." If only he could think of a way to exploit that for his own advantage. Or, better yet, learn exactly how she undid such a complex spell. They weren't called unbreakable oaths for nothing.
"Do you believe the stories they spun?" It had been a very clever patter, she'd give the Granger girl that. But they'd been blinkered by the best in their sordid past, and if the dark lord had taught Narcissa anything, it was to be skeptical about grand speeches and promises.
"I believe parts of it." Lucius responded judiciously. "I'm not convinced by their methods or their ultimate goals." He shuddered. In fact, it went against ever fiber of his being to even consider that that statute of secrecy might become obsolete in his lifetime. "But for now, we must bide our time. Stay alert for changes in the wind."
"I just worry about Draco. He works so hard. He hardly ever spends time at the Manor anymore. Maybe I should ask him to include some more of his friends in this new club?"
"Matchmaking, Cissy?"
"Expanding his options. It can't be good for him to spend so much time with that. . . woman. What about the Greengrass girls? They always seemed to have good heads on their shoulders."
"Good luck with that, dear. The eldest, Daphne, is dating the Bullstrode girl. And the younger. . . has changed since you last had them over for tea. Trust me, she would not be interested in the drudgery that Draco's new hobby entails."
"Oh well. It was just an idea." Narcissa sighed, "I think it is time to retire for the night? Coming?"
~~~~~~~~~.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o~~~~~~
"Oof. Alright 'Mione, I'm off for the night, gotta get home before the baby sitter kills the twins."
"Oh! Right, sorry Harry for keeping you here so late! Are you doing ok. . . what with, you know?"
"Ginny living at her parents' house? Yeah. It's actually a relief. I just wish. . . things had turned out differently."
"Well, you know, whatever you two decide to do, I'm behind you all the way." Hermione gave Harry a quick hug and peck on the cheek before showing him the door.
"Hermione."
"Oh Luna." Hermione winced as she turned to face the other woman. "I'm so sorry."
"It's ok, really." Luna put on a bright, albeit blatantly forced smile, "You know what I did and why. But please, please don't ever tell Harry. I don't want him to look at me differently."
"Whereas you know that Hermione would have done the exact same thing as you had she known the proper patsies." Draco interrupted. "Don't worry Lovegood, we're all in this together." Unspoken, the words, they all expected to burn in whatever hell might await for such as they.
"Acceptable sacrifices." Hermione muttered, as if to herself. "Harry would say there is no such thing."
"And that is why it is us three here now." Draco snorted. "Never thought I'd see the day when I'd say I'm glad it was you, Lovegood, who had it all figured out. But I am; you're just the ally we need." Everyone always had underestimated her, even he. Until that fateful day when he went down to the dungeons to find her slumped against the wall, her blond hair shining like a beacon, even in the half-lit gloom. He'd seen so many die in those dungeons, but she survived. Even though he knew she was not there merely to ensure her father's cooperation but because the Carrows had been afraid of her influence at school. Those dreamy eyes concealed a keen intelligence and a master strategist. A fact only confirmed when she went on to take over her father's paper, and, while continuing to turn out clever truths disguised as fantasy, slowly began buying up shares in the Prophet. Any day now, she'd become a majority stockholder through various paper fronts and dummy corporations; he couldn't wait to see what havoc she'd wreak on the publishing industry then.
"Yes," Hermione agreed. "I just wish I had thought to come to you myself first. I'm so sorry, Luna for not bringing you into the loop until Harry did."
"It's quite alright, Hermione." Luna blinked, "I have the feeling that we're going to be great friends from here on out! It is, after all, iridescent tatterwing mating season. And you know what that means!"
"Indeed. Goodnight Luna. Until next time."
The door had hardly snicked shut when Draco was rising from his seat. "Well, I guess that's it for tonight then. Get some sleep Granger. We've got a busy week ahead of us."
"As if I could ever forget." Hermione sighed. "All work and no play." She rubbed a weary hand across her eyes. "Sometimes I wish I could sleep forever."
"Hmph." Draco snorted, quietly. "Come off it Granger, you and I both know you don't get more than five hours a night. The only one you're remotely fooling is Potter." Seriously though, later that night in the stillness of his own bed, lulled by the dark of night, and the quiet of his own breaths, he'd remember. Remember waking up to night terrors not his own. Gasping breaths, racing pulse, cold sweat. He remembered her routine. Even now, after they'd severed the connection that had bound them, the memory enough was all it took to set his pulse to pounding. Oh yes. He knew exactly how much sleep she got. Or didn't.
Somehow, it felt lonelier now without that connection. Annoying as it had been to constantly feel the tics and twitches of another life, the exhaustion and blurred vision of a maladapted system, it still. . . He'd felt closer to her than he'd ever felt to another woman. And he had to admit, he'd enjoyed torturing her at night, after the echoes of her sobs had woken him, by retaliating with his own elevated pulse, his own quickened breath, sweat sheened skin, as he'd wanked off. It had been titillating really, a secret exhibitionism. Never really certain if the link they'd shared would choose to transmit those moments or not, but always wondering if the tickle in his chest was the sensation of her blush. If the pants that fell from his lips were his own or hers. Fine. Yes, he could admit it. He was perhaps a bit of a pervert. But it had been so long. And. . . well, there really weren't very many good reasons for it when you put it quite like that. Oh well.
He missed her. The sensation of her 24/7. Pathetic. Embarrassing. He'd die of shame if he ever had to admit it. She could never know. They were co-conspirators, and that was it. If his heart had twisted just a little when she'd sat him down and painstakingly and carefully unwove the so-called unbreakable vow that bound him as her silent servant; severed another of the bonds they shared, well then that was a secret that would go with him to his grave. She'd made him, Potter, Lovegood co-captains in their endeavor, lamenting that they had no symbolic Hufflepuff. Equal. And free. If he so desired, to tell the world. Free to pervert their politicking at the Ministry to his own ends, not hers. And yet, here he stayed, not yet ready to admit that he envied her dream, yet not willing to deny her a hope of achieving it.
In his more lucid moments he worried he might care too much for her. In his dreams, she was there more often than not. Bleeding, or pale as the grave, shining scars and bony ribs. Bossy voice, night terrors and all. She must have known she didn't even need the oath to bind him anymore. He had already given her too much of himself to ever turn back now.
TBC