Title: Needed
Chapter 25
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Sailor Moon, and Silverfall belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Warning, this chapter is pretty sappy.
Modified: May 10, 2009.
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Groggily Serenity shifted in her bed, trying to get rid of the awful light shining down on her from the window.
"Serenity, get up! Get up!" Ginny threw away her covers, and stood over her, an exasperated expression etched onto her face.
"Why, oh why, did I get stuck in waking you up?" Ginny bemoaned as she saw the silver-blond haired teenager turn over and bury her head into her pillow.
"Need help?"
Ginny turned around to find Draco Malfoy, buttoning up his white-collared shirt, leaving an ample amount of his skin for the public to view. He was a breathtaking sight, and Ginny Weasley had to remind herself for a moment that this guy is a Slytherin, and had made fun of her back in her first year.
"If you must," Ginny sighed and stepped back to let the 17-year old work his magic.
Draco smirked in reply before sauntering over to the bed, looking at the sleeping girl. Sitting beside her, he stroked her hair softly and surely before bending down to look at Serenity's sleeping face.
He smiled, a small smile, but one that Ginny caught sight of and took in a breath before remembering to breath. She had never really seen Draco Malfoy smile like that before. She could almost see what Serenity had seen in the Slytherin boy.
"Wake up, Serenity. It's time to get up," Draco whispered, ghosting his lips over Serenity's ear.
She simply smiled before nuzzling deeper into her pillow, making Draco chuckle softly.
Brushing back the strands of hair that fell over her face, Draco leaned and pressed his lips on her cheek. This made her sigh, and she blinked her eyes open, smiling wider at the sight of Draco's smiling face.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Serenity raised her arms up, wrapped them around Draco's neck, and greeted Draco with a chaste kiss. He scowled lightly, making Serenity giggle.
"Morning breath."
"Well it's a nice way to wake up," Serenity said in reply and looked over his shoulder to see Ginny staring at them with barely contained amusement.
"You know we're going to run late, if you don't hurry." Ginny said in greeting.
"Well it's a good thing Draco helped pack my stuff yesterday night." Serenity smirked before reluctantly releasing her hold from Draco and got up.
"Good on you, but you made us miss breakfast!" Ginny retorted, huffing before she fled the room.
"Breakfast?!" Serenity shrieked, pouting as she opened her trunk to retrieve her muggle clothing, "Well that sucks."
"That's what you get for waking up so late."
She frowned at the smirking face before stalking out of the room and into an open bathroom.
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The Hogwarts Express experience was not as grand as she expected it to be. Maybe it's because of everything else that she had been through, or maybe it's something else, it didn't matter. But when Serenity saw the red train, the throng of the crowd, and the slew of luggage, she felt as if she just wanted to get this whole event over with. Therefore, with a resigned sigh she turned around to face her friends only to see that they were no longer there.
"Where did they go?" Serenity said aloud, and began straining her neck, standing on her toes, and trying to see over the head of a number of nameless wizards and witches.
"Hey Serenity."
Serenity nearly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she was faced with an amused Neville Longbottom standing beside Luna Lovegood.
"Neville, don't do that!"
"Sorry, sorry."
"Don't worry, Serenity. There are no Blibbering Humdingers around," Luna said airily, eyes dreamy as she fiddled with her wand.
"Ah, that's good then," Serenity nodded, smiling at the Ravenclaw.
"What were you looking for?" Neville asked, ignoring what Luna commented. He still wondered if Luna simply said those things to lighten the mood, or she was really serious.
"I lost sight of everyone," Serenity sighed.
"Well we'll help you look for them, won't we, Luna?" Neville turned to her, who nodded.
"It won't take too long, they're over there, you know?" Luna pointed to an open window of the train.
Sure enough when Serenity and Neville turned to that direction, they caught sight of the red haired Weasleys gathered around an open window of the train. Amongst them were a bushy-haired female and a white-blond haired male.
"Well that's a relief," Serenity sighed, "I don't see why they left without me..."
"They probably thought you were following them," Neville gathered his trolley and began pushing it through the throng of people.
"Or Wrackspurts made their brain go fuzzy," Luna helpfully added.
Serenity blinked at this and figured why not?
"That makes sense," Serenity nodded, much to Neville's chagrin.
Along the way, Serenity overheard a number of whispers and pointed stares. All of which had the names of Malfoy, traitor, and will pay. It didn't take a genius to come to the conclusion that the school knew what happened over the summer. And it would seem that the Slytherins had taken badly to this new development.
"What happened at the Ministry, is it true?" Neville murmured beside her, his eyes sweeping over the students in the train.
"It depends, what did you hear?" Serenity stalled as they passed over a small group of Slytherins.
"Malfoy helped you guys out of the Ministry. He went against Death Eaters – V-V...You-Know-Who himself."
Serenity remembered how Draco had run in front of her when Voldemort arrived, and tried to defend her himself. That is, until he was knocked away and a swarm of Death Eaters descended on him.
"Yes, he did." Serenity choked out.
Apparently, this was the right thing to say, because Neville gave a satisfied nod in answer.
"I can get used to him."
"Me too." Luna said her dreamy state curiously absent, as she revealed her serious side.
"Thank you," Serenity said in reply, smiling at her friends.
The small group of three finally reached the compartment, and slid the door open, stepped inside, and let the door slide behind them, shut.
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The Great Hall was eerily tense after the Sorting and announcements had been made.
Quite a number of students were staring at the new DADA Professor, and his odd dress robes – it was an odd design of red, purple, and gold. He was also smoking his pipe, emitting green and blue smoke; sometimes the puffs would create small animals for his own amusement. And then while he ate, he would remarkably set his pipe in mid-air, still puffing away, before turning his attention to his meal. These made a great deal of students stare at the man in awe – it was a well-known fact amongst wizards and witches that wandless magic was not an easy feat.
Whilst a number of students focused their attention on the new Defense Professor, Elminster, as he wanted to be called, the others focused their attention on Draco Malfoy.
The students already knew that Mafloy and Moon were in a relationship. A few were skeptical that it would last any longer pass summer, and a number were doubtful that Malfoy's intentions were true. But after the events that had taken place at the Ministry, they were wondering.
Out of all the Houses, the Slytherins were the ones that took the news the hardest. Since the Slytherins were divided into factions, the ones that did not support Malfoy's relationship were already giving the 'Prince' a scathing look. Unfortunately, they had yet to find a replacement leader, what with the Seventh Year graduating and all. While those who supported Malfoy were now wary of the Malfoy's actual intentions. A few who supported Malfoy the previous year only did so, because they thought that it was part of his scheme to retrieve the runaway girl that belonged to the Dark Lord. Now that they found out that he did it purely out of love... well, that was a different matter. The Slytherins slowly but surely began to question themselves, and Malfoy all over again.
"Congratulations on making Head Girl, Hermione," Serenity commented, as she heaped a pile of mashed potatoes onto her plate.
"Yeah, congrats," Ron and Harry mumbled through a mouth full of food, causing several occupants nearby to frown in disapproval.
"It'll be a shame that you have to share dormitories with the ferret," Ron added, shooting a sympathetic smile at her girlfriend.
Oddly enough, despite what happened in the Ministry when Ron and Hermione had tentatively fixed their broken relationship, not everything had resolved itself. Yes, they held hands or pecked each other's lips from time to time, but it was cold... as if they were simply in the relationship for lack of anything better to do. Somehow, it was wrong.
But no one said anything. To them, it was better than how it used to be.
"You haven't been listening, have you, Ron?" Hermione dryly accused, her eyes focused more on her plate than on actually conversing with her 'boyfriend'.
"What are you on about?" Ron asked, blinking at his plate as he skewered his pot roast.
"What she's trying to say, mate, is that Malfoy isn't Head Boy." Harry said, amused.
"What?!" Ron blinked, and looked at his best friend and then turned his head around to stare at Malfoy, "If it's not the git, who is it?"
"Blaise Zabini," Serenity answered, "Draco turned down the offer. I still don't know why he did..."
"Bloody hell, I don't even know who Zabini is!" Ron complained and started looking at all the boys in the Slytherin side, "And Zabini is a Slytherin, right?"
"Yes, Ron. Zabini is a Slytherin," Harry chuckled softly.
"So which one is he?"
"The one right next to Draco," Serenity smiled, amused, as she watched the redhead zone in on Blaise Zabini.
"And to think I never noticed him," Ron mumbled to himself.
"Zabini is only ever active when he has reason to be." Ginny commented.
"And how do you know this, Gin?" Ron zeroed in on his little sister.
Ginny chose not to comment as she instantly began to chat excessively to a floundering Neville Longbottom, who shot an apologetic smile at Ron.
Serenity saw this and couldn't help but chuckle alongside Harry and Hermione.
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Days flew by, and the Slytherins had found themselves with a new leader for the group that didn't support Draco Malfoy – one by the name of Harper, a sixth year. He had only become the leader because the Slytherins had pressured him too – basically he was blackmailed and threatened with bodily harm if he refused. This proved to be a great help to Draco's side, because of the inept and lack of respect that Harper carried with him compared to Draco Malfoy's cool confidence.
"Things are looking up for you, Malfoy," Blaise commented as he walked with the Slytherin to their Potions class.
"Whatever do you mean, Blaise?" Draco lifted an elegant eyebrow.
"You almost have all the Slytherins on your side again," Blaise rolled his dark eyes, a smirk playing at the edge of his lips, "And the school knows it."
Draco smirked, "Of course, it's not like Harper has the same charm and wit as I do."
"You're so full of yourself," Blaise commented before turning into the NEWT Potions level classroom.
If Draco's smirk could have grown wider, it did. With a nonchalant mask finally coming into place, the Slytherin Prince strode into potions.
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By the end of the week, everything had been brought down to a semblance of normalcy. It was normal to see Draco and Serenity together from time to time, as it was normal to see the two around the Golden Trio, or see Serenity join Draco in the Slytherin table, and even in their Common Room. Draco had yet to enter the Gryffindor Common Room, something about not wanting to catch their Gryffindor tendencies, but it didn't bother them one bit.
What was not normal was their Defense Professor. Professor Aumar or Elminster, was... different. He was eccentric, one could say. Not like Luna Lovegood, but he did come close.
He would teach the students about magic. But not like any of the professors had done before. He told them that wands were simply used as a focus of magic, but not magic itself. That magic is everywhere, and in everything. He taught them many things, and when he was contested he simply laughed and said that they would need to be more experienced and knowledgeable to completely understand. This confused a lot of the students, but many of the Ravenclaws found his words to be interesting.
What was strange was that whenever they entered the classroom, he would seemingly talk for hours on end, and demonstrate with wandless magic. Yet, when they left the classroom for the next class, filled to the brink with new concepts and ideas, only the allotted time had passed. It was strange, and no one completely understood why that was. It was as if Professor Aumar had placed them in some sort of temporal loop to give his class more time.
But it couldn't be, right?
Nevertheless, the week flew by turning into weeks. And nothing extraordinary occurred. There was the occasional pranks, fights, spats, etc. But nothing life altering or serious.
Until the Daily Prophet came.
The Burrow Attacked!
When Hermione's face read the headline of the Daily Prophet, she felt numb, she felt fear, she felt worry, she felt everything and nothing. She felt her senses close. She couldn't see, blinded by tears and a feeling of nausea, she was lightheaded and her nerves were frayed. She was a mess, she knew, but it didn't matter. All she could think about was what she read, what she saw, and what her memories consisted of - her beloved parents.
With a cry of despair, Hermione closed herself up once more.
Watching the bushy-haired witch cry in distress, Harry quickly pried the crumpled newspaper and displayed it on the table. His green eyes quickly widened and he sharply looked at his best mate to watch his reaction.
It wasn't good.
Ron's blue eyes widened, his mouth agape, as if he was in disbelief.
"Mr. and Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, please come with me." McGonagall's soft voice punctuated the air as she approached the table.
As one, the four rose and left the table and the Hall, following the solemn woman to the Headmaster's office. Behind, Serenity and everyone else that cared to pay attention watched them with sympathetic hearts.
On the paper were the words: Molly Weasley (47) and her son, Percy Ignatius Weasley (21), found dead.
Above the caption was a picture of Percy Weasley staring unblinkingly at the camera with Molly Weasley hunched over behind him. It would appear that Percy had died trying to protect his mother, only to have failed in the end.
In the end, Percy lived up to his name, as a chivalrous knight.
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The news of the Burrow being attacked caused the Gryffindors as a whole to fall into silence. They were mulish and were gingerly stepping around the four, on how to act or speak around them.
The friendship between the Trio were falling fast, and no one knew how to stop it. Hermione had gone back to her old self, seeking solace from her books alone. Ron had evaded his friends, musing to himself about Quidditch strategies. And Harry, Harry holed himself up or went on walks by himself, thinking about how it was his fault that all of this happened.
Ginny, at best, was the easiest to approach – not having the same solid friendship as the Trio. Therefore, Serenity had approached her first and foremost.
"Ginny..." Serenity tentatively began.
"It's like before, except worse." Ginny dryly stated..
"Yeah. From the short time I was staying with your family, I noticed how Mrs. Weasley could bring the family together," Serenity said and then broke into a small smile, "And she's a force to be reckoned with, if anyone tries to defy her."
"I loved her so much," Ginny weakly proclaimed.
"Any child would if they ever met your mother, Ginny," Serenity soothed, drawing the redhead close and hugged her just as Ginny broke down into tears.
Although Ginny had managed to pick herself back up, putting on a brave front. The others were not so lucky, as the Golden Trio continued to fall apart. The loss of Molly Weasly was a hard blow, and no one knew what to do.
"Ron probably blames Harry in some way," Serenity bitterly told Draco one night as the two huddled close together on top of the Astronomy Tower.
"Why do you say that?"
"Ginny told me that Harry managed to save his dad before, when he dreamt of an attack back in fifth year. So Ron is blindly thinking that Harry did this on purpose, not warning the Order and all about the attack," Serenity explained.
Draco simply huffed in annoyance, holding the girl close to his chest.
"Well he's always been an idiot."
Serenity chuckled and rested her head against his chest.
"Hermione isn't taking any of these deaths well," Serenity confided, eyes turning sad, "She lost the Grangers, and now she lost Mrs. Weasley. She spent so much time with the Weasleys that she began to rely on Mrs. Weasley as a mother, and the Burrow as a home away from home."
"I could see that," Draco murmured, resting his chin on top of her head, "The Weasleys are more a family than mine was..."
"They sort of reminded me of mine," Serenity whispered.
Serenity felt the male tense a bit before he held her tighter in his arms.
"Tell me?"
And Serenity, surprisingly enough, did. She told him of her family – Ikuko, Kenji, and Shingo. How she had a loving family, though they had their disputes. How her mother and father were loving but strict, and in her father's case, overprotective. Her brother was annoying, but she was fond of him.
In the end, she didn't notice the tear stains falling down her cheeks until Draco wiped them off with his thumb.
In turn, Draco told Serenity about his defective family. It wasn't a picture-perfect family, but he told her how he cared the m. His father was cold, dead-set on serving Voldemort, and blood purity. His mother, while she loved him, loved his father more. It was a reason why she never went against him, and worked in the shadows if she decided to help her only son. It was a failed relationship between the three of them, but he would never regret it. His family in some obscure way meant a lot to him. Perhaps this is what they meant when they say that blood is thicker than water?
The two spoke softly of their families all through the night, and by the time dawn crept up, the two were fast asleep, cuddled against one another, and the Slytherin cloak wrapped around them both.
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Mid-October dawned bright and early as Serenity sluggishly pulled herself out of the Common Room. It had taken awhile, but Harry had finally come around to speaking, and willingly allowed himself to move on. She only wished the same could be said for Hermione and Ron.
Come to think of it, she hardly saw Hermione at the meal tables. And she hadn't been by the Gryffindor Common Room since that unfortunate news on the Daily Prophet.
As for Ron, she only ever saw him at meal tables and once or twice in the Common Room. Now he was rumored to spend more of his free time on the Quidditch Field. That, or holed up in his room.
Their behaviors caused a lot of problems within their classes. Hermione would pair herself up with someone that is far away from the other two. Ron would pointedly ignore the Professor until he is forced to pair with the last remaining student left unpaired. And Harry would simply pair himself with either Serenity, or if she's not in the class or not paired with Draco, he would choose someone from another House.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, this would soon be irrelevant when one day this crazed pace came to a halt by the still mysterious and quirky Defense Professor, Elminster Aumar.
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"Professor?" Serenity and Harry intoned at the same time.
The gray-bearded Defense Professor had earlier asked the two Gryffindors to stop by his office after dinner, and they complied.
His office was something the two would expect a Ravenclaw to have in their room – books, tomes, and scrolls. There was a staff leaning against the wall, and oddly enough there was his usual pipe hanging in mid-air, continuing to puff livid green and blue smoke.
"I would like to take you two under my wing for a brief time." Professor Elminster requested, "I have spoken to your Headmaster, and he agreed."
"The Headmaster?"
"Us?"
The two said aloud, taken aback. They didn't think that they would have anyone else to teach them after Professor Flamel, but it appears they were mistaken.
"The attacks have gotten worse, have they not?"
"Of course they have!" Harry shouted, distressed by the sheer memory.
After the Daily Prophet's printing of the Burrow being attacked, more had followed, making the students worry for the welfare of their families.
With the Ministry still unstable, they had to make do with the supplies available to them, and try to rebuild while at the same time protect their people. Whilst difficult, the Order tried their best with the any available resources they had left.
"Then I shall teach the two of you."
"But why me?" Serenity voiced aloud. It made sense that Professor Aumar would offer his guidance to Harry. However no one, save for a select few, knew of her true nature of attending Hogwarts. It didn't make sense how Professor Aumar would freely offer his services to her.
"Because Mystra wills it," Professor Aumar succinctly replied.
(Mystra?) Serenity shot Harry a look, who simply shrugged.
"Then..." Serenity and Harry shared another look before replying as one, "we accept."
To be continued...
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