I don't own HP. Wish I did, but I don't.
AN: I've separated this fic into two books, though it is staying as a single fic.
Book 1: Childhood - Ch. 1 - 33
Book 2: Adulthood - Ch. 34 - ?
XXX
Hermione frowned and looked up as Snape led Draco and Theo out of the sitting room. Just what did he want to speak about?
She closed her journal and reattached her brand new traveling quill to it. She jerked her head at the door and Luna nodded. As soon as the three Slytherins were gone she moved over to the sofa and settled herself next to Ron while Hermione made her way out of the room.
She silently crept up the stairs, wincing as newly healed skin stretched with each step.
Being splinched on the back of the thigh was a terrible place. The muscle had knit back together nicely, but the skin pulled whenever she went up steps, despite the cream Snape had left for her. She'd also been splinched on the left shoulder, but that didn't impede movement as much while it healed.
The door to Charlie's old room was closed and she pressed her ear to it, but only heard buzzing. She frowned and grumbled under breath.
"Stupid bloody Slytherins. Using spells I can't identify. What's wrong with normal silencing spells?"
Annoyed, she slipped into Bill's old room across the hall and closed the door most of the way. Maybe they'd say something when the door opened.
She didn't have to wait long before Draco slipped out. She watched as he put his own ear to the door before frowning in annoyance.
She couldn't help but smile at that expression, and she couldn't really say why.
She silently swung the door farther open and reached out, snagging Draco and yanking him into the room before quietly shutting the door again. With a few flicks of her wand and whispered spells the door was locked and the room was under a silencing spell.
She was surprised to note that her typical locking spell felt stronger than normal.
Curious, but with other things on her mind, she set that thought aside for later and turned around tp look at Draco, who now stood in a modified classic dueling stance, his wand aimed at her. Gone was the spoiled little boy she used to know, or even the confused and rather bumbling teen he'd been but a few weeks before.
No, now he looked calm and confident. His pale hair - in bad need of a haircut - fell across his aristocratic brow, slightly covering one glittering silver eye.
Her stomach did a flip as she met his gaze. She tried to push the feeling away, but unlike before, it refused to go far even as she got down to business.
"Well, Draco. What did Snape want?"
He studied her for half a second, then relaxed and slipped his wand back up his sleeve. She watched the way his wrist twisted and noticed with interest that he used the same method as Alianore Roux.
"You really should have been in Ravenclaw."
Her brows lowered in annoyance, "Draco..."
That made him smirk, "He was just giving Theo and me some warnings about Hogwarts and Slytherin House. Theo and I rather publically declared which side we're on and a number of people will take issue with that."
She studied him, taking in the tenseness at the corners of his mouth, even as his posture was relaxed.
"Is it really safe for you two there?"
He shrugged and looked away, inspecting a poster of the Weird Sisters.
"As safe as it was for Pansy, I suppose."
"Pansy's family has always been on the fence. Yours wasn't."
He shrugged again and went over to the window, looking out at the snow covered English countryside. "Point. But we also have Snape as head of house. He's playing both sides. He can't allow anything permeant to happen to either side on his watch. Besides, I know he's really against Lord Voldemort."
She frowned, while she'd never much cared for Snape, she was sure he was on their side, not that she had proof. It was just all the things she'd heard about Harry's mother and Snape from Uncle Remus. She didn't have all the information yet, but she had sketched out a rough outline. She guessed Snape had never expected his new master to go kill his old childhood friend - even if they were on the outs.
"How do you know for sure?"
He looked over his shoulder at her, then quickly looked back out at the snow, she saw his fists clench on the window sill.
Draco's next words came out in a single breath - almost.
"Hesawmeresearchingandgaveme-" he paused, nothing escaping his mouth for a moment, then he took a deep breath. "I was given a thing. It had a cure. Harry found me preparing last May. He slipped me into St. Mungos and-"
But she wasn't listening anymore.
A cure.
St. Mungos.
The silver dragon.
Dragon.
Draco.
Draco had snuck into St. Mungos, risking his life and his family's lives, to cure her. To save her life. And Snape had given him the tools to do so. She was guessing from a family tome.
Her mind flashed back to that old, battered tea set and its fading monogram in Snape's office.
Snape wasn't an old wizarding family name, but his father had been muggle. His mother wouldn't have tied her magic. And tomes followed the family magic, not the name.
His mother must have been the last of her line. Making Snape the holder of the tomes.
And he'd lent the tome to Draco.
So he could cure her.
So he could risk everything to save her life.
The idea rocked her world. She felt everything twist and turn.
She'd risked everything to save his mother, never expecting him to do the same, never knowing that he had already risked everything.
Risked everything and never told a soul. She was even guessing he'd told Harry never to tell. And Harry was honorable enough to keep that trust.
She realized Draco was still speaking, even as she struggled to form words
"-that's why I avoided you after the train. How could I hurt you by being around? I was the nephew of the woman that tortured you and killed your parents. A constant reminder of-"
Hermione felt her promise with him twinge, as he spoke about that nasty woman without actually naming her. She'd almost forgotten about their long ago promise. She quickly cut him off. "Tonks is her niece. Aunt Andy is almost her doppelganger. Padfoot has the same hair. Merlin, I have the same hair! Of all of us, you look the least like her! All you have is her aristocratic nose! How-how could you think avoiding me was the way to go!?"
He swung back around to face her. His mouth was hanging open, cut off in mid-sentence and his face was flushed red. His eyes glittered, looking like the small silver earrings Padfoot had given her for her birthday last year. He snapped his mouth shut and swallowed nervously, "Um, well, that's why I went chasing after you that day my hand was broken. I realized just how idiotic my avoiding you was and, um, well..."
He stopped talking and looked down.
She sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes.
Honestly.
"Let me get this straight. You risked everything to heal me after refusing to go with me to save Harry. You learned of my scars and set about avoiding me so as not to cause me pain. Then you realized that avoiding me was a mistake and, in trying to rectify it, you got your hand broken. After chasing me through t halls of Hogwarts. THEN you basically signed your own death warrant by defying the Dark Lord and refusing to get the mark. The mark he tried to give you after seeing something in Crabbe's mind that made him doubt your potential loyalty. I'm guessing now it's about your previous actions towards me. Yes," she said as his face grew surprised, "I heard about what actually occured during the Death Eater meeting from your mother. Didn't you read the article I wrote?"
He nodded.
She shook her head in disbelief even as she scrabbled for purchase in this new, shifting world.
"Why? What changed? Just two years ago you called me a mudblood!"
He shrugged and looked down at his feet for a moment before straightening his shoulders and taking a deep breath. Then he looked up and met her eyes, she felt herself sinking into those shimmering, silver depths.
"I changed. I don't know how. I don't know why. But I went from disliking you to respecting you. Somewhere even that changed. I think it started when I watched you jump out that window. But I didn't truly realize it until you were helping me to the hospital wing when my hand was broken. I respect you, I like you, I can't help but admire you. Your blood doesn't matter. Hell, nothing matters but that I view you as a friend, even if it's one-sided. Though I don't think so anymore. Not after the last five days. And with what my mother told me last night...well, I think we're stuck with each other in some form or another."
"Wait, what did your mother say last night?"
He stared blankly at her for a moment, then his skin - somehow - grew even redder.
"Oh, um, I didn't mention that?"
She shook her head.
He leaned back against the window and buried his face in his hands. She noticed his nails were also getting a little long and needed a good file. That and his hair were the only signs of grief she could see him displaying about his father. Maybe there would be more at the funeral, but that wouldn't occur until the Ministry released the bodies.
"I learned some of this when my father picked me up from Kings Cross back at the beginning of break. I had no clue it had already occurred, until my mother told me last night. But apparently the Malfoy magic curse is that we always crave more power. To the point where we willingly, and possibly unknowingly, tie ourselves to someone powerful. This can be magical or mental power. Doesn't matter as long as we respect and admire them. Like I respect and admire you."
She stared at him, once again in shock, her brain attempting to make sense of the words she had just heard.
"You-you're tied to me?!"
He simply nodded, not removing his hands from his face.
"From what I know, it's mostly one sided. I can't ever hurt or defy you, except in extreme cases. Like-like with my father. And Voldemort."
"Your father. He was tied to Voldemort?"
Draco nodded, and lowered his hands, "Yes."
"But the tie broke when Voldemort tried to kill you."
Draco nodded again, looking miserable.
"What-what does this tie entail?"
He shrugged, "I don't know exactly. Everyone has been rather vague on it. But I think it's different for everyone. I know Harry found me last night through his connection to you. And your connection to me."
Hermione let that sink in, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her mind clear.
There was her link to Harry, strongly held in place, connecting their souls together. But, when she looked around now she found a fainter chain, one barely visible in her mind, but much thicker the farther she followed it.
A moment later she was in a new place, in a mind that was not Harry's. It was, in fact, quite different from her brother's.
For a moment she saw herself out of his eyes. Her view was filtered through his mind and so she saw - to a degree - his own view of her.
She was beautiful. Her hair was lying in ebony waves around her shoulders, almost sparking with power. Her brown eyes glittered with emotion and her stance spoke of self-confidence and pride in her abilities. Even her conservative robes did nothing to lesson his appreciation of her figure.
She yanked back in shock. Breaking her connection to his eyes, but still staying in his mind. She was unable to comprehend the idea that someone as good-looking as Draco would see her as beautiful.
This-this is unbelievable…
His mind gave a shudder, then relaxed.
You're speaking in my mind.
You can hear me? Harry and I can only use images.
Her inner Ravenclaw began to take over, and she pushed back her uneasy feelings, trying to accept this new development. It wasn't like her life had ever been normal. And she had likely read his view of her wrong. Perhaps it was just teenage thing she'd read about in that muggle medicine book. What was it? Hormones? Yes, that was it. He couldn't really think she was beautiful. Not after seeing her scars.
I wonder how far away this works.
How about you go upstairs and I go down? Later we can floo back to your cottage at different times and check again.
She pulled back along the link, noticing it looked a bit like a chain, and that her end was now thicker and more visible.
When she opened her eyes her gaze immediately met Draco's.
"I don't think my father could do that."
She shuddered, "Harry had Voldemort in his mind for a bit. It was very unpleasant. I think your father would have mentioned if that was part of his chain. In fact..."
Thoughts tumbled through her mind, trying to find a place, but just making her normally tidy mind messy and disorganized.
Thoughts of chains, links, minds, connecting, and, finally, anchors whipped through. She remembered the work she had done on wands and the description Harry had given her of his time in Voldemort's head. The confession of his previously haunted dreams, and how they had stopped just five days ago, after haunting him almost every night for the past few months. Something she was still annoyed about, as he had never shared this information with her.
She needed to do some research.
And she didn't think the Hogwarts library would contain what she needed. The Malfoy library might, but the Ministry had the entire estate locked down as they did their 'investigation'.
And there was no way anyone would let her go to Knockturn Alley right now. Not after her recent article and the part she had played in the Malfoy Manor Battle.
No. She needed help. And that meant having a real meeting.
"Change of plans. You go upstairs. Ron's room is on the top floor. It's messy with Chudley Cannon posters on the wall. We'll test the link and then I'll bring the others upstairs. I think it's time to pool resources and figure some things out. We'll continue our talk on chains later. You're one of us now, I might as well equip you."
He frowned in puzzlement, but before he could reply she hurried out of the room, taking down her spells as she went.
A small part of her mind wondered if the strength of the locking spells was because she had already somehow suspected that Draco was tied to her. After all, if he was tied to her that meant he was partly hers.
And she protected what was hers.
No matter what.
XXX
Draco watched Hermione run out of the room and felt a bit of Deja vu. How many times now had he watched her run off now?
Still, this time was different. He knew she was coming back.
Also, he could feel her there, at the end of the chain. The weight was like a magical reminder of the agreement he'd made with Harry to stop Voldemort. A comfort, knowing that there were others out there, guarding his back as he guarded theirs. That he wasn't alone like his father had been.
As he left the bedroom the door across the hall opened and Snape emerged. He looked down his hooked nose at Draco and let out a small sound that was almost a sigh.
"Mr. Malfoy, you've got a good friend in Theodore."
Then he was gone, disappearing down the stairs in a swirl of black. Draco watched him disappear around the corner at the landing then entered the small bedroom to see Theo still sitting on the bed, an indescribable expression on his face.
Draco tested out the link with Hermione and sent a quick thought her way.
Need to talk to Theo. Then will go up.
Her response was instantaneous.
Okay. Bring him up with you.
Draco sat down next to his old friend and found himself wondering when they had stopped being close. The two of them had been almost inseparable growing up. They had always done everything together. There wasn't a day that went by that Draco didn't remember seeing Theo or sharing letters with him.
Well, not a day went by until a week before Draco's eighth birthday, when Theo's mother had died.
Draco still remembered Theo coming to his party. Theo breaking out into tears when he'd seen Draco receiving a hug from his mother. Theo angrily grabbing his gift and storming over to the floo before it could be opened. The sound of his best friend flooing away.
They hadn't spoken a word to each other again until they found each other sharing the Slytherin dorm. They'd pretended they'd never been friends. That they'd only moved in the same circles. Draco had Pansy, Vince and Greg. Theo had Tracey, Daphne and Blaise.
But, now, here they were, once more together. No one else around.
Theo's friends were safe and still his friends. Tracey, Daphne and Blaise off with their families, not connected at all to the battle that had occurred so recently.
Draco's were spread to the wind. Vince was in Ministry custody, about to go to trial, perhaps even be expelled from Hogwarts and locked up in Azkaban. Greg was Merlin knew where, grabbed by his parents and taken along as they fled after Voldemort. Pansy was trapped in her own mind, under a curse Draco knew had a cure, but that did not lessen the danger of it.
Skilled Mind-Healers were entering her mind every hour, obliterating nightmares even as they threatened to drive her insane. He supposed that he should send Skeeter a thank you note, her previous attack on Pansy and the necessary work to fix it was making the current process easier. But they still didn't know how she would be when the last nightmare was destroyed.
Pushing thoughts of Pansy out of his head he broke the silence.
"Snape says I'm lucky to have you as a friend."
Theo held up his arm and stared at the metal hand he had covered in a black leather glove. He twisted the hand this way and that, looking at every angle. Finally, he spoke.
"You know, I used to be jealous of you. Still am."
Draco felt uncomfortable. Of course Theo was jealous. He'd lost his mother at a young age, Draco still had his. Theo's father had tried to kill him, Draco's had died for him. Draco had two hands, Theo only one.
Draco would be jealous, too. Hadn't he been jealous of Harry and all his friends?
"I don't blame you."
Theo snorted, "Of course you don't. We're too alike not to understand each other. You did get my apple conversation, after all."
Now it was Draco's turn to snort, "You weren't exactly subtle. I wondered if you were really a Slytherin after that conversation."
"Hey!" Theo bumped his shoulder roughly against Draco, "I didn't know how much those Gryffindors had rubbed off on you! I had to tone down the subtlety!"
Draco bumped him back, "Liar."
"Fine, be that way," Theo said in a tone that made the past decade disappear. For a moment the two of them were once again six years old and arguing over which toys would join their army in the epic battle they were orchestrating.
Draco smiled, "So, are we actual friends again? Or do we go back to how we treated each other at Hogwarts?"
Theo shook his head and turned it enough to look at Draco, "We can't go back to that. Not after all of this." He waved his metal hand around the room, taking in the decor that was nothing at all like they had grown up with.
"Point," Draco said automatically.
Draco. Change of plans. Ron can't move. Come down and we'll test later.
Alright.
"That whole point thing is really odd."
Draco snorted, "I thought so too at first, but it's grown on me. Now, do you want to share what Snape said? Or should we head back downstairs?"
"Basics is that Snape is going to spend a lot of time with me this semester. Trying to get me to see the 'error' of my ways."
Draco's eyebrows rose, "Really? Why couldn't he say that in front of me?"
Theo shrugged and looked away, "Dunno."
Draco instantly backed off, afraid to ruin this new start to a friendship. "Alright, well, let's go on down."
"Why the rush?" Theo asked even as he stood up and followed Draco.
"Hermione said something about a meeting and getting us equipped."
"Equipped? With what?"
"No idea, but it's sure to be good."
"Point," Theo said, making Draco laugh. Theo had always caught on quickly.
Author's Note: There we go, the long awaited talk between them. As well as a surprise discussion between Theo and Draco. Sad that it took the death of Draco's father for them to reconnect.
Also, thank you so much everyone for all the good vibes over the past few days in reviews and comments. Ya'll are truly amazing readers and I couldn't be more lucky. Thank you.