Beyond the Sea

by Phoenixofslytherin

Things didn't go quite to plan in the Battle of Hogwarts and in the two years that followed. Hermione Granger was kidnapped, Voldemort was victorius and things seemed hopeless. After her daring rescue, a new uprising begins. The members of the new resistance are diverse, and unexpected relatioships are forming. Will they succeed and claim victory where everyone else has failed?

10. Dancing

Hi everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely couple of weeks. Here we are then, I couldn't leave Harry and Theo in the pickle they'd gotten themselves into last chapter for too long, I hope you all like the way things work out for them here.

When I start a story, I'm never really able to write to a plan, but I do have certain scenes in mind, and the scene in this chapter is one that I've been imagining right from the beginning of this whole story. I hope you all like it!

Thank you as always to my wonderful writing partner champagneandliterature, your help and support on this story is beyond amazing as always.

The song everyone ends up dancing to in this chapter is called Everlong, and it's by the Foo Fighters if anyone wants to check it out.

Thank you once again to all of our readers, you are all the best. I'd like to thank every single person who has read this story so far, and if you've read it and left kudos and or a comment or review, then we both love you forever more! Thank you all for your continued support.

Here we are then, just a little trigger warning on this chapter, there is a very brief mention of past drug and potion addiction and a minor present relapse, its mentioned, admitted to and then everything moves on, and it's not going to be a major theme in this story.

See you all in two weeks! Love Claire, (phoenix!) XXxx

Beyond the Sea Chapter 10 - Dancing.

Hermione

Hermione breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Draco disappeared up into the air. Pansy huffed irritably as she watched him go, then stepped outside onto the patio herself. "Oh my Gods!" she shrieked, "Ron, come out here! The temperature's finally dropped. It's sooooo cool now!" Pansy held her arms out and spun around in circles as Ron followed her out into the now cloudy afternoon.

Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion at the abrupt change in the weather. "This is so weird," Ron said, his voice floating in through the open doors, "there wasn't a cloud in the sky when we came in earlier. Draco was right too. Look, those are thunderclouds, there's a bloody big storm building up there."

"Well, it's about time, dammit!" Pansy laughed, sounding utterly delighted.

Hermione's confused frown deepened. The timing of the break in the heat and the impending rainstorm struck her as extremely odd. As Draco had hinted, they had all just seen Ginny and Blaise bond, and their element was fire. Was it really possible that their bonding had caused the abrupt end to the seemingly never ending heatwave?

She narrowed her eyes at the enormous elemental magic book. She had been reading it on and off over the last few days and hadn't found anything in its pages that would suggest such a thing was possible, although she was still only half way through the book. The ancient text was difficult to read, and her current mental fatigue meant that she was making slow progress and needed to rest her eyes after every couple of pages.

She glanced at her wand, laying almost tauntingly on the table beside her. Her magic was still very erratic, and every spell she practiced took a lot out of her, but she was working every day to regain as much magical strength as she could. "Accio book," she said, enunciating every syllable clearly while waving her wand. The book creaked as it rose up into the air, and she gasped with joy as it floated towards her. Her magical strength had slowly started to return over the last few days, but this, today, was another new improvement.

Unfortunately, however, her spellwork wasn't yet perfect. She huffed irritably, as despite her best efforts, the book fell to the floor with a crash. Ron hurried to her side as she closed her eyes in frustration. "Hey," he said soothingly, stooping to pick up the enormous tome, "that was a lot better. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're improving a lot, that book wouldn't have moved at all the other day."

"I know,'' she admitted. Despite her partial failure, she couldn't help but smile. "It's definitely an improvement. Thank you." Ron hefted the book onto the sofa beside her, and she opened it then looked up at the sound of Pansy berating Draco in the garden.

"You're supposed to be flying!"

"Yes. I was flying, but now I'm not. I'm going to get struck by lightning if I stay up there. There's going to be one hell of a storm in a minute, the air is charged with static already. Look!"

Hermione stifled a laugh as Draco stepped into the lounge looking disgruntled. His usually perfect hair was standing straight up on end and as he touched the metal broomstick holder, there was a crack of static electricity and he flinched as a spark flashed from his hand to the ground. "Fuck!" he muttered, shaking the sting out of his fingers then looking up to meet Hermione's eyes. His gaze softened at her amusement. "Hermione, I really am sorry for losing my temper a few minutes ago. I don't usually do that. Not these days anyway."

Hermione nodded, automatically dropping her eyes down to the floor. "That's okay," she said, forcing herself to look back up at him. "You didn't feel quite so intimidating when you deferred to Pansy anyway."

"Draco's a pushover when you get to know him," Pansy confirmed. She dipped a rather dirty hand into the water jug on the table, spread the water over both of her hands, then stood on tiptoe to stroke them over Draco's still flyaway hair. "That's better. We can't have you looking like a mad professor, now, can we? That's Theo's job." She paused, her gaze turning thoughtful, "do you think he'll be okay? Did you see his eyes just now?"

Draco nodded, taking Pansy's wrists and turning her hands over. He frowned at the dirt streaked over her palms then wandlessly vanished the remaining water in the jug. "Yep. Totally glazed over. But the way the storm's gathering out there, I don't think we have too much to worry about. Hopefully, Harry can sort him out. At least Potter has some experience with Theo's past dalliances. This won't come as a complete surprise to him."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked sharply, waiting while Draco refilled the water jug from his wand, then poured fresh water into everyone's glasses. "He has no experience with any of that, to the best of my knowledge. Thank you."

Draco frowned, opened his mouth to speak then appeared to change his mind. "What I mean is, the clouds are waiting. When he and Harry bond, there's going to be one hell of an electrical storm."

"Wait a minute!" Hermione could feel her eyes growing as round as saucers, "is this sudden break in the heatwave really because of Ginny and Blaise?! And is there something I'm missing about Harry and Theo's pasts?"

Ron frowned. "Yeah, come on, mate, you were all about us being open and honest a while ago. You were the one who said we need to share our information. What do you know that we don't?"

Draco looked irritated as he perched on the sofa opposite Hermione with a sigh. "Fine!" he huffed, "I'd say that Ginny and Blaise caused the heat to break, yes. I'm as sure about that as I am about the sudden surge of productivity in the garden being due to the Earth bond you and Pansy made the other day. Did you know Doris laid an egg this morning?"

Pansy blinked as Hermione narrowed her eyes in bewilderment. "Who's Doris?"

"One of Pansy's geriatric chickens."

Pansy picked up the nearest cushion and threw it at him. "Draco, I have ten very productive chickens and four old girls. Why, oh why, must you only ever mention the older ones? And how do you know it was Doris's egg?"

"It had her name on it," Draco quipped, then laughed at Pansy's exasperated look. "She was laying it when I went out to collect eggs for breakfast. There were none in the fridge. She's the only white chicken in there now, so she's easy to identify."

"Good for Doris," Pansy said, looking proud. "How did it taste?"

Draco frowned. "I've no idea. She was only halfway done, and she went all flappy, flappy at me," he wriggled his hands in an impersonation of chicken wings and Pansy burst out laughing. "I beat a hasty retreat, and had cereal for breakfast instead."

"And this is why he's not particularly intimidating Hermione," Pansy laughed. "If he ever gets above himself, just throw a bird at him. If he really pisses you off, make it a hippogriff."

Hermione snorted with honest, genuine laughter while Pansy bent double and slapped her hand on her thigh. "Frightened of Doris. Honestly, Draco!"

"Yes, well, we all have something that scares us, don't we?" Draco sniffed disdainfully, and Hermione giggled even harder. Pansy was right, somehow Draco didn't seem quite so threatening now that she knew that one of his weaknesses was livestock. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, going back to the elemental bonds, you and Ron make an Earth bond, the garden grows like mad, and we get mutant chickens laying eggs everywhere. Blaise and Ginny, well, their bond's been threatening for days. Weeks really, pretty much exactly as long as this heatwave's lasted. The magic ramped up the pressure on both of them over the last few days, and the heat broke the British temperature record. Theo and Harry, they're both water, their bond is now imminent and there's the rainstorm to end all rainstorms brewing in the sky. Are you telling me that all of this is just a coincidence?"

Ron looked aghast as he stared at Pansy. "I think you might have a point," Pansy conceded, crossing to gaze out into the garden once more.

As she stood looking up into the sky, the cottage walls began to glow red. Hermione glanced across at Draco, then back to the walls, which pulsed once with a deep, vivid scarlet, then returned to their usual soft white. "Wha... What was that?" she asked, hating the fear that had crept into her voice.

Draco rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Umm," he said, glancing awkwardly at Ron. "They say there are three levels of bonding. The first level occurs when an elemental couple kiss, the next level occurs when they consummate that initial bond sexually, and the last level happens when the last couple consummates their own bond and seals everyone in together."

Ron's top lip curled up into a pained grimace. "You think that was," he screwed up his face and pointed at the ceiling, reminding Hermione strongly of when they were sixteen years old, and Ron had strongly voiced his disapproval of Harry kissing Ginny.

"I'd say they just announced to the whole house that they had sex, yeah. Sorry mate," Draco said with a wide smirk.

"Oh! Bloody hell!" Ron shook his head, looking horrified as Pansy laughed and shifted closer to him. "So when we," he gestured between himself and her, "you know... when we do…. it…. the walls will glow like this, and everyone's going to know why?"

"Looks that way!" Pansy laughed at Ron's stricken face. "Oh, come on, it could be worse. I've just had to put up with you lot waltzing around inside a memory that was obtained while I was fucking Dolohov. At least when the two of us do it, it will be private, not to mention a hell of a lot more meaningful!"

Hermione didn't think her eyebrows could rise any higher without permanently disappearing into her hairline. Ron looked thoroughly touched by what Pansy had just said, and from the way they were both looking into each other's eyes, she could tell that they cared deeply for one another. It eased her mind slightly to know that the couples around her weren't just bonding because the elemental magic had forced them together. There did seem to be genuine affection behind all of their relationships. She swallowed hard, unsure of what that meant for her and Draco, then forced her mind back to other easier subjects. "Can we just go back to talking about Theo and Harry for a moment, please?" she asked, "because we all seem to all be overlooking the obvious here." She scratched her head, choosing her following words carefully, not wanting to offend anyone. "Am I the only one who thinks it's strange that they're both men? While I can't vouch for Theo, Harry's never once mentioned the slightest inclination towards liking men."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully. "The keyword here might be "mentioned", Hermione. Harry has certainly looked at men in the past, he's experimented a little too, and Theo's been openly bisexual since we were in school."

Pansy nodded her agreement. "Harry and Theo have kissed at least twice before now," she confirmed. "Harry obviously hasn't told you."

"Nor me!" Ron said, turning incredulously to Pansy. "How the hell do you know that?"

Pansy shrugged. "Theo told us. The first time it happened was during fifth year of school, just before Harry got together with Ginny, and the second time was during the Battle of Hogwarts. It's why they've been so studiously ignoring each other the entire time they've been here, they've already got history. Harry was waiting for Ginny to leave him for Blaise, and as you saw, it's been an incredibly difficult, arduous break up. But, when she finally made the move he let her go graciously, we all witnessed it. Theo wouldn't act while Harry was still attached to Ginny." Pansy broke off as the walls of the cottage glowed once again, this time with a pulse of bright, white light, and the first flash of lightning split the sky outside. "See?" she asked, "Ginny choosing Blaise left the way clear for Harry and Theo to admit their feelings for each other. Staying so quiet has been killing Theo inside, so he's been doing what he always does when things get rough." Pansy flinched as lightning flashed and thunder clapped loudly overhead. "He's been burying himself in terrible coping strategies to blot out the fact that he's been in love with Harry for years."

"That's a huge improvement," Draco observed, using a summoning spell to retrieve the cushion Hermione had just banished to the far side of the room.

"I know!" She grinned excitedly, and for the very first time, she felt a glimmer of her old self returning, the girl she had been before the war and its following months of captivity had drained every last spark of life from her soul.

"Do it again."

Hermione bit her lip, focusing hard as she lifted her wand. "Depulso," she said, and the cushion soared away from her and thumped down onto the coffee table.

"Now bring it back to you."

"My summoning charms aren't quite as good," she admitted hesitantly.

"Give it a try anyway," Draco encouraged, his eyes alight with happiness at her success.

"Fine. Accio cushion," Hermione muttered, and the cushion returned smoothly to her outstretched hand. She frowned, then looked at Draco in confusion, but he just smiled softly and dropped his eyes. "Did you," she rubbed her temple and felt a very faint tingle disappear. "Did you help me do that?"

"Yes and no," he admitted, and she sighed. "Give me a straight answer, please, Draco. Did you help me cast that spell?"

She watched as he moistened his lips with his tongue. "Try it again."

Glaring at him, she banished the cushion with considerably more force than she had previously managed. Frowning, she summoned it back to her then huffed out a long breath as it landed effortlessly back in her lap.

"That was nothing to do with me," Draco said, looking inordinately proud of her efforts.

"I don't understand," she admitted, levitating the cushion into the air and holding it aloft easily with her wand. "This is too much improvement to happen without outside support."

"Alright, I did help you, but not with the spell itself. And I only helped you the first time. I simply removed the doubt that was blocking you and the fear that you wouldn't be able to perform the spell. The magic and the success was all yours."

Hermione scowled as she crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. "You went into my mind without my permission?"

Draco sighed wearily. "No, Hermione, I'd never do that. I know you have no reason to trust me just yet, but can you at least try to believe that I mean you no harm? Self doubt clouds all magic, just like it can cloud everything in life. Harry tells me you're not a Legilimens or an Occlumens, so you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but it's like a haze or a fog that surrounds your aura. I just waved it away, and I didn't need to enter your mind to do that. Here, I know you'll probably jump at the chance to hex me, cast something at me. Let's see how your magical strength is doing now."

Hermione's eyes clouded with remorse as she watched him. He looked genuinely upset that she'd thought he would invade her mind without asking. Maybe he did care about what she thought, just a little bit. Resolving to not jump to the worst conclusions every time he spoke in the future, she nodded.

Her first few attempts at a hex were weak, feeble even and Hermione winced, hating that of all the people in the world to see her try and fail to produce offensive magic, it had to be Draco Malfoy. After her third failed attempt to hit him with a tickling charm, he pursed his lips and held up a hand. "Try and hit Pansy instead," he said, "or Ron. I think we need to start small, and I know I make you nervous. Let's try it on someone you're more comfortable with. Maybe make it a drying charm for them, though," Draco said, trailing off with an affectionate grin.

Hermione glanced at the door and couldn't help smiling as well. Ron and Pansy were standing on the patio. Ron was holding Pansy close as they danced to silent music in the pouring rain. Ron spun Pansy out, and she shrieked with laughter as she stumbled through the puddles, and he pulled her back against him again.

It was lovely to see them both so carefree. It was a stark reminder that despite the ongoing dire predicament of the war they were all in, they were still very young, only just out of their teenage years. "I once danced with Harry like that, you know," she mused, "when we were on the run in the tent. It was just the pair of us, Ron was…. away, and it was just beautiful."

Draco nodded, a faraway smile on his face as he watched Ron and Pansy kiss. "When this is all over, I'll take you somewhere. This rain reminds me of it, there's a waterfall in Bali. I once went there with my parents and I always swore that when I was older, I'd take my wi-" Draco's eyes bulged wide in alarm, then he abruptly closed his mouth, "I said I'd go back there one day. If you'd like that of course, I mean, no problem, if-" he muttered then abruptly spun around at the sound of wild laughter.

The lightning flashed again. Mere seconds later a rumble of thunder reverberated loudly through the static charged air. Theo and Harry ran up the garden path, splashing water in their wake, holding hands and laughing loudly. At the sight of Ron and Pansy kissing in the downpour they both skidded to an abrupt halt. Theo levitated the firewhisky bottle in through the patio doors and Draco stretched his hand out automatically for it. "Catch Malf- oh you did." Theo grinned and Hermione watched in amazement as Theo held out his arms and Harry stepped forwards into them.

"What in the name of Merlin, are you lot doing?" Ginny's incredulous voice called out of an open upstairs window, making Harry laugh loudly.

"Come on, Gin, we all need some more fun in our lives! Come and join us," Harry called. Hermione gasped as Ginny landed on soft, catlike feet in the garden, having jumped out of the window of the bedroom above.

"Jesus, Merlin, Bloody hell, Ginny! Seriously!" There was a swirl of black smoke that cleared slowly in the saturated air.

"I slowed her down!" Harry said indignantly as Blaise appeared beside them. Giggling at his stunned look, Ginny grabbed his hand, threw her already dripping hair back and stepped into his arms as the rain continued to pour down. "You can't just jump out of windows whenever you fucking well decide you-!"

"She does stuff like that," Harry said, looking entirely unsurprised by her antics.

"Yes. Egged on by you apparently, Harry! Bloody Gryffindors!" Blaise muttered, holding Ginny closely despite his stuttering admonishments.

"Have you all lost your minds?" Draco asked, uncapping the bottle in his hand and taking a hearty swig of the firewhisky inside.

"Yep," Theo asserted, cheerfully kissing Harry on the mouth, "Come on, Blondie. Get your arse out here!"

Draco lifted a brow in silent invitation to Hermione, and she licked her lips in an attempt to buy herself time to think. "What do you say? No kissing, I promise."

Hermione watched the antics in the garden longingly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd done anything like this, and she was sorely tempted. Not quite tempted enough to take the hand that Draco was offering, though.

Ginny solved the problem for her. Just as Draco was about to turn away, she marched into the lounge, leaving a trail of mud and water droplets across the floor. "Up!" she said, helping Hermione to her feet then leading her outside. Ginny grabbed hold of Draco as well, then she gently shoved Hermione towards Blaise and twirled Draco around herself. "Too bloody uptight the pair of you!" she said, laughing as Draco winced in the freezing cold rain.

Pansy pointed her wand at the stereo in the lounge, and a loud, slightly discordant rock song began to play. Blaise gave Hermione an exasperated look, and she shrugged. He held out his arms, and she stepped into them, letting him hold her gently against him. The rain was wonderfully refreshing, especially after the dry, dusty heat that had been so uncomfortable for so long.

She wondered briefly if she should be dancing with Blaise like this, he was Ginny's boyfriend now, of course, but Ginny had been the one to push them together, so she couldn't be upset by the idea. Hermione frowned, remembering the last time Blaise had held her in his arms on the night he had rescued her, but that memory was easy enough to push away. Maybe she was starting to heal after all.

Hermione turned her head against Blaise's chest, watching Ginny drag Draco enthusiastically around the patio and the open affection in his eyes made her smile. Her opinion of him was beginning to change. He certainly didn't seem to be the sullen, moody, and bullying boy he had been while they were in school anymore. "He doesn't bite, you know," Blaise said, and she nodded in reply. "And, unless the pair of you kiss, you won't set off any bonds."

She turned around in Blaise's arms, gazing at Draco, and it was as if she saw him as he truly was for the first time. His guard was down, he was surrounded by people he trusted which meant he could just be himself. Hermione decided she quite liked this new, carefree, softer version of him. He spun Ginny in circles making her laugh, then he visibly tensed as he noticed Hermione watching him.

He turned around slowly, tall, tousled, and absolutely dripping wet, as they all were, but with an expression on his face that she couldn't quite read. After a moment, though, she realized with shocking clarity what she was seeing. It was fear.

Draco Malfoy was just as afraid of her as she was of him.

She gasped, suddenly aware that he was once again choosing to leave himself unguarded around her. He'd done that over and over again lately, and so far, all she had done in return was meet his honesty with suspicion and unfair accusations.

Draco offered her his hand again, and this time she accepted, stepping hesitantly away from Blaise. Time seemed to slow down as she crossed the flooded garden to take the hand he offered. He felt like a magnet drawing her towards him. She looked deeply into his eyes and he once again kept his defenses low enough for her to see the trepidation he felt. He smiled softly as she finally accepted his embrace.

Hermione's whole body trembled as she slipped her arms around his waist in return. Neither of them spoke. She just laid her head against him, listening to his steady heartbeat and feeling the regular rise and fall of his chest. The rain continued to crash down, and bits of the song they were slow dancing to reached her ears. "And I wonder… if everything could ever be this real forever..."

Draco felt real. In a world full of uncertainty and where unimaginable danger lurked around every corner, Draco, at this moment in time, felt like her island of safety. Her face screwed up as she willed herself not to crumble, but despite her best efforts, a tear slipped down her cheek and Draco silently tightened his grip around her in acknowledgment. As he stroked his hand over her back, Hermione felt her body convulse into unbidden sobs. Draco dropped his face against the top of her head, and she sagged against him, powerless to hold herself back anymore. "If anything could ever feel this good again…"

Everything she had been bottling up for so long was threatening to come spilling out in an overwhelming rush. In the past, she had felt good. Now, she just felt like a shadow of her former self. She wanted to get back to how she'd used to feel.

The will to continue to fight the war had left her the night Blaise had brought her here. It had died as surely as the two Death Eaters that Blaise had killed right in front of her had. But now, it felt as if it was coming back. "And I wonder, if I sing along with you…." Could she let Draco Malfoy help her recover? He was undoubtedly helping her right now. It felt good to be in his arms, and given that during her captivity, she'd sworn never to let another man touch her ever again, that was quite a revelation.

Draco felt safe. His arms felt like security blankets around her. His scent was strangely familiar, and as Hermione's tears started to fall freely, she recognized parchment, freshly mown grass, and the hint of something that at age sixteen she hadn't quite been able to identify. Her eyes widened in surprise. Draco smelled exactly like her sixth year Amortentia had. The unknown smell had simply been him.

"Hey," he whispered, holding her closer, tighter, precisely the way she needed him to. "Hermione, it's alright. I've got you. You're safe, you can let it all out with me."

"But it's not alright, is it?" she managed in a breathless, shaky voice. "Nothings alright? Right now, it feels like nothings ever going to be alright ever again."

"It will be," Draco said fiercely. "I promise you it's going to be. Now that you're admitting you're not fine, you can start to heal. Believe me, I know something about healing. You're safe here, with all of us. We're all together as we should be now." As the constant rain continued to wash over them, Hermione started to shiver. In answer, Draco simply picked her up and carried her back inside.

Ten minutes later, sitting on the sofa wearing Pansy's spare dressing gown with a towel wrapped around her sopping wet hair, Hermione sighed. Draco passed her a glass of cordial with a small measure of firewhisky in it, and she sipped it gratefully as the others milled around drying themselves off. Pansy led Ron upstairs, both of them giggling like teenagers, and Ginny and Blaise disappeared a few moments later.

Hermione stared at Theo and Harry in utter bewilderment. They were the only ones still outside in the downpour, sitting on the patio swing seat, holding hands and passing the bottle of firewhisky back and forth between them. As Hermione watched, Theo leaned over to kiss Harry tenderly, and as he pulled away, Harry turned his head in her direction.

She flushed at having been caught watching them kiss, but Harry just smiled then shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. Theo turned his head following Harry's line of sight and gazed at her as well, a silent question burning in his eyes.

Hermione smiled as she nodded her approval. If Harry wasn't going to be with Ginny, then all she wanted was for him to be happy. Ginny looked overjoyed now that she had finally gotten together with Blaise, and Harry, well, if the way he was gazing at Theo was anything to go by, he was also, finally, right where he needed to be.

Draco sat down beside her, unlaced his boots, then turned sideways, opening his arms silently to invite her to him. She moved over, accepted his embrace, and laid her head against his chest once more.

Hermione was dozing when Theo and Harry finally came in from the garden. "Alright 'Mione?" Harry asked, and she nodded sleepily, yawning widely against Draco's chest.

Draco lifted his glasses, looking up from the book he was reading to study Theo intently. "I'll go tonight," he said, "you can have the night off."

Theo frowned. "It's my patrol-"

"Mate, you're pissed. Not to mention whatever the hell else you've been taking earlier. You were as high as fucking kite when we went into the Pensieve. He'll take one look at you and see it, and you're not being crucio'd on my watch."

Theo stared at Draco for a long time. "It was muggle weed. Combined with a hefty dose of numbing potion. It's all worn off now."

Draco nodded while Harry narrowed his eyes, looking concerned. "I appreciate you telling me that, but I'm still doing your patrol tonight. You can take mine in return tomorrow. Anyway, you two can enjoy an evening to yourselves now, can't you."

Theo smiled. "Thanks mate." He took Harry's hand and half turned away then paused. "Be careful, yeah?"

"Why?" Draco eyed him sharply.

Theo sighed. "The only pair left is you two. Pansy and Ron are Earth, they bond, and the garden has a huge growth spurt. Ginny and B, Fire. The heatwave breaks. Harry and myself, Water. We bond and we get a monsoon. You and Hermione are air. What comes on the air, Draco?"

Hermione stared at Theo in confusion. Draco took his reading glasses off and rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't know. Stop being cryptic."

"Change," Theo stated as if it were obvious. "They say change comes on the wind. All I'm saying, is watch your back. I've had a bad feeling for a while now, and the other day it was confirmed. Something's building. I've been inside a few peoples minds recently, carefully, of course, I had to go somewhere you see, I couldn't stay here, it hurt too much to be around Harry while he was still with Ginny, and Pansy obviously isn't an option now, so I've been, well. You don't need to know the details of where I've been. Just believe me when I say that something's coming, and when it does, it's going to be fucking enormous."

"Theo," Draco said, swinging his legs around so he could sit up, "I have a fairly good idea of where you go when you disappear for days on end, and actually, I think we do need to know those particular details. Tell me what you've found out."

Theo glanced at Harry then continued. "Fine. I've been splitting my time between Nott Manor and Chateau Lestrange. My father is part of Dolohov's little group of rebels too, but he won't admit that to anyone, least of all me. He's nervous, and he wants out of the Death Eater ranks, has done for years. So does Dolohov. So does Rowle, Selwyn and the male Lestranges, as you saw in the Pensieve earlier. I also think we may have Yaxley wrong, but I need to confirm that. I've been hanging around with Rabastan and Thorfinn mostly, they both smoke a lot of weed, which coincedently, they buy from my father, and there's been quite a few opportunities to get into their minds. Did you know that Antonin can use Legilimency on the Dark Lord, Draco?"

"No!" Draco said, looking startled. "I didn't think anyone could do that! Even Severus failed!"

"Dolohov's good. And, I saw what he witnessed when he went inside The Dark Lord's fucked up head. The Lord of Doom knows something's going on. Bass let slip the other day that Antonin's warned them all to be careful, that he's watching everyone because he's suspicious. I can't give you any more than that yet, but we all need to watch our backs. Alright? Out of all of us, I think he'll go for you, Draco, you're closest to him, and I don't want to lose you."

Draco narrowed his eyes at Theo. "Are you telling me that you've managed to infiltrate Dolohov's rebel group?" he asked, looking impressed.

Theo shifted uneasily from foot to foot. "I wouldn't say it quite like that. It's just that my father says things to me that he wouldn't normally tell others, and Bass, well, when he's stoned, he's not all that careful. Neither is Thor. They think I'm having a rough time and that I just want to get shitfaced, so they've both been lowering their guard around me. Antonin won't touch anything mind altering. He's like you, cool, calculating, and brilliant, the same goes for Rodolphus and Selwyn, so I know what they say isn't clouded by drugs. Draco, there's one more thing you need to know about Dolohov. He's biding his time, he senses The Dark Lord is weakening, just like you do. He's waiting for the right moment to strike. Somehow, we need to tell him we're doing the same because if we can join together on this, I reckon our victory is in the bag."

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