Harry Potter and the Elemental Mage – Volume III: Acceptance
This is Volume III of a four-part saga.
Though they grow into their magic each day, the Guardians haven't learned the extent of the enemy's power. They struggle to keep up as their limits and fears are tested to extremes they never dreamed.
Featuring Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and more.
Chapter 1: Of Rebirth and Revenge
Hermione lay on a rough stone surface. When she opened her eyes, she discerned nothing but blurs. It took several blinks before her vision cleared and she could identify one of the blurs as the figure of Ron Weasley, who was slowly sitting up from the ground.
"Ron," she whispered as she struggled to raise her head. "You're …"
He was on his feet quickly and he came to help her sit up. She clutched his knitted jumper and pulled him close, a few tears leaking from her eyes.
"I'm … I'm so sorry–"
Ron's chest began vibrating as he laughed. He gave her a squeeze and she looked up at him in surprise.
Ron looked … different. He had the same hair, nose, freckles, and yet … his blue eyes gleamed down at her, and they were happy. Happier than she'd seen Ron in years, since long before the war. She could just make out the smallest hint of silver around the blue of his eyes, which seemed brighter and … deeper?
"You're okay?" she managed.
"Hey, I'm not gonna pretend that wasn't the most painful thing I've ever felt in my life, Hermione, but I'd do it again in a second to feel like this." Ron grinned and it was more contagious than ever. He brushed the tears off her cheeks and Hermione couldn't help grinning back in sheer relief.
"Hey there,"
A hand on her shoulder made her turn. Harry's green eyes sparkled with tiny violet accents and his smile lit his face like a firework. Hermione threw her arms around both wizards without another thought. She'd been to hell and back with these boys but now she was connected to them in a way she never dreamed. If the war lasted ten more years it couldn't've bonded them like this.
After a long moment Harry and Ron released her, and Hermione managed to get to her feet. She'd barely steadied herself before Blaise caught her up in his arms and spun her around in circles, making her squeal.
She looked down at his grinning face; Blaise often smirked because he loved to tease her, but this grin was different. His chestnut brown eyes, now tinted with scarlet, gazed at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She knew how scared he'd been and how he endured for her. She tossed her arms around his neck and felt a pulse of raw power between them like a glowing ember.
Blaise kissed her on the forehead when he finally set her down. He joined Harry and Ron, who were talking over each other, and Hermione ran to Theo just as he managed to stagger to his feet.
Theo gazed down at Hermione, not smiling, but staring at her as though she'd just given him the answer to the meaning of life itself. He slowly reached out and touched her cheek. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was for his pain, but how grateful she was that he held on. She'd felt a terrifying moment when he lost all hope and wanted to let go, and she thought she might lose him.
She didn't need to speak. His deep blue eyes seemed to read her soul through her eyes like a centaur, and she knew he understood. They reached for each other at the same moment and Theo wrapped her tightly in his arms. His breath was uneven as though he'd just finished a race.
Perhaps the physical closeness was making the bonds even stronger; Hermione found it nearly impossible to pull away from any of the wizards. Only the gnawing inside her heart for a final missing piece could make her slowly extract herself from Theo's warm embrace and turn in search of Draco.
She believed for months now that she had feelings for him, perhaps even since the Battle. She dreamed of him, looked for him in crowds, and kept half an eye on him constantly when they were in the same room, wondering why he stayed so far away. His former sins were more than compensated by his bravery in the last weeks of the war, and she no longer believed he was the bully she grew up with.
The instant Draco pulled himself from the ground, he stumbled over his feet to get to her as fast as possible, not even bothering to brush debris from his robes.
Hermione couldn't compare the feeling of being in any place as she could to being in Draco's arms. His perfect hands held her as if she were made of glass. His tousled hair caught the moonlight beautifully, and his silver-grey eyes now ringed with pale gold showed her all the secrets of the universe in a single glance.
His arms were home.
Hermione believed she could conjure a Patronus the size of the moon.
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"We have a problem," Ron's voice piped up, drawing everyone else suddenly out of their reveries. Ron gestured east, where the first pink tinges of sunrise appeared.
"Ginny," Harry said worriedly. "If we don't get back soon, she's going to McGonagall."
"Have we really been out here all night?" Blaise squinted at his watch, confused. "I didn't think we walked that far–"
"We didn't." Theo commented with a smile. "It was just gone midnight when we climbed the hill; it took us a few hours to wake up. I'm glad the centaurs were guarding this place."
Hermione finally tore her eyes away from Draco's. She kept one of his hands in hers and extended the other to Theo, who took it and reached for Blaise next. Blaise grinned and grabbed Harry's hand, who reached for Ron.
Ron looked thoughtfully at Hermione and Draco, and he did something that Hermione wouldn't have believed yesterday. He grinned.
If that wasn't strange enough, he extended his other hand to Draco, who took it without question. When the circle completed, Hermione felt a pulse of magic move between their joined hands, and for better or worse, she knew their bond was sealed.
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They Apparated just outside the Hogwarts boundary with a clear line of sight to Hagrid's hut. Hermione dropped Theo's hand and led her chain of Guardians – will I ever get used to thinking they're MINE? – through the protective enchantments back into the Hogwarts grounds.
Ginny immediately came tearing out of the front door and across the lawn. Hermione wondered if she'd been up all night waiting for them. Ginny jumped into Harry's arms, and he squeezed her tightly.
"Harry, your eyes …" Ginny breathlessly studied her boyfriend. "… they're gorgeous!"
Everyone laughed, hardly able to contain the incomparable happiness they all felt. Ginny's gaze moved among the others; she seized her brother's head and pulled it down so she could stare at his eyes.
"You're turning silver! I was right, you're totally an airhead!"
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Though they'd been out all night, the group could hardly imagine sleeping – for the Slytherins especially, it would mean separating from Hermione. Draco noticed, oddly, as much as he didn't want to separate from Hermione, he didn't care for the idea of splitting from the other Gryffindors either. Did the bond exist between all of them, and not just with her?
After scarfing a quick breakfast, the group returned outdoors during their free period since it was proving to be a beautiful day. No practices were scheduled, so they spread out in the middle of the Quidditch pitch on several conjured quilts. They relayed the bonding ritual to Ginny, who wanted every detail. She was utterly thrilled that she guessed all their elements correctly.
"You think you got that lightning bolt 'cause you're so full of energy?" she teased her grinning boyfriend. "If I cursed Theo would he get a raindrop scar?"
"I'd like to see a great mound of dirt on Malfoy's forehead," Ron joked. Hermione poked him on her boyfriend's behalf, though she couldn't stop grinning herself.
"Earth is more than dirt," she chided Ron. "It includes plants, stones, trees …"
"How 'bout a great yellow daffodil?" Blaise teased as he pretended to draw on his friend's forehead. Draco batted his hand away with a growl.
Hermione continued smiling as the wizards teased each other, but she felt guilty for causing them so much pain. She couldn't keep it to herself for long; they collectively reassured her that they were perfectly fine, and Blaise pointed out she didn't hurt them by choice.
"Your magic chose us for a reason, Hermione, it seemed to know we'd survive," Theo added gently. "I think the pain we felt was largely our own, simply amplified by the connection."
"I know everything you felt," Hermione answered softly. "But I was detached from it … I couldn't feel it myself, exactly, but I knew it was there. I know how hard you all fought."
Slytherins weren't known for showing emotions – except perhaps fury or arrogance – but the three Slytherin wizards could hardly stop beaming with all their newfound fondness for her. She finally turned bright pink and smiled down at her hands.
Ginny laughed at her. "You better get used to the center of attention, O Sorceress."
Hermione groaned and laid back on her quilt. Harry poked her knee and whispered, "You're It," making Ron chuckle.
Theo decided to draw their attention. "I've learned something quite interesting. The alchemist theorised after the bonds were complete the Guardians' skills would become more prominent, hence part of the need to complete the bonds in the first place–"
"You told me it would be exactly the same after we completed the bond!" Hermione glared over at Theo, who simply grinned at her.
"Did I not tell you exactly what you needed to hear, Hermione?"
"You Slytherin liar!"
Hermione snatched her wand and pretended to curse Theo, who fell backwards with a fake, high-pitched squeal of pain while everyone else chuckled lazily.
"Theo never lies, love," Draco reassured her. "Even if the truth hurts, he'll always pick it over a lie."
"Correct," Theo said proudly as he sat back up and dusted his sleeves demurely. "Actually, Hermione, what I said to you was that I believed the bonds would become stronger versions of what we already had, which was absolutely true."
The Mage huffed loudly in fake irritation and laid backwards again, head in Draco's lap.
"Anyway," Theo went on, adopting his only-slightly-annoying know-it-all voice. "According to the legend, I'm supposed to be the one with the wisdom–" he ignored Blaise's snigger "–to guide the Mage's soul. Like other things we've encountered in the legend, I think this is surprisingly literal. We knew the bond was important because Hermione would split her magic among us to stabilise it. I believe her magic literally came from her soul, because when she began the bonds, I could see it."
"We all saw that light glowing around her," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, but that was only temporary. As she reached out to each of us, our own souls lit up in response and then we merged with hers. I believe she literally gave us her magic by transferring pieces of her own soul. Now that we share her magic, I can see it in all six of us."
"WOAH!" Ginny nearly leaped to her feet in excitement and gaped at Theo. "That's the coolest thing I've ever heard! It was even better than a marriage; I mean, you literally melted your souls together–?" Her face screwed up suddenly. "Oh, Good Godric, my boyfriend is a horcrux again …"
Ron promptly burst out laughing as Harry stared bemusedly at Ginny, wondering if he should laugh or not.
Theo tilted his head at Harry. "Er … again?"
"Voldemort survived death 'cause he had horcruxes hidden all over," Harry responded. At the blank look on Blaise's face and the bewildered one on Draco's, Harry clarified, "A horcrux is an object that stores part of your soul. Remember Ravenclaw's tiara, Draco?"
"Salazar," Draco breathed. "That was part of his soul?"
"Yep," Harry said laconically. "That's what we were doing all year – hunting horcruxes. Neville got the snake, which was the last one, and Snape left me a memory … Dumbledore told him that when Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby, he unintentionally turned me into a horcrux. So, when he killed me at the Battle–"
"He killed the piece of himself inside you," Theo finished, gaping at Harry. "Merlin, that explains so much …"
Harry nodded. "Someone's magic living in their soul makes sense; Dumbledore even told me way back in first year that Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me, 'cept I didn't know that meant I was a horcrux then."
Blaise scratched his head. "Does that make all of us Hermione's horcruxes now?"
Hermione sat up quickly. "It absolutely does NOT. A horcrux is a dark object, created by splitting one's soul through committing vile acts of murder, and there's this awful set of spells that you have to perform–"
"This situation is rather unique," Theo said plainly. "I don't for a moment believe it's the same thing, or that Hermione's soul contains any Dark magic."
"Well, not if you can see our souls," Ron said in an odd voice. "What do they look like, anyway?"
Theo squinted at Ron slightly. "Your soul used to look different; after Hermione's bonded with yours, it … er, shifted. I suppose if I gave it a colour it would be white, whereas Blaise's is scarlet and Harry's more purple, but that's not quite accurate. It's like trying to describe an entirely new emotion. I don't know if an appropriate English word has been invented yet.
"But I think I can do more than just see it," Theo continued slowly, still peering interestedly at Ron. "If I'm supposed to be the one who guides Hermione's soul … I think I know how it was meant to react with yours. I feel as though I can understand your magic, and your Guardian role."
"How's that?" Ron questioned curiously.
"You're the Strategist for sure … you know the underlying makeup of things. You understand form, meaning, and stability–" Ron nodded, impressed. "You've a knack for design and … something else. Perhaps structure? If our group were a single person, I believe you would be the skeleton, Ron. There's certainly more to be learned; I'm anxious to study this–"
"Great, Theo's gonna become our soul expert," Draco teased.
Blaise laughed. "Good luck hiding secret crushes from Theo now, mate."
Draco snickered as he stroked Hermione's hair. "He never kept them secret to begin with anyway."
Theo looked offended. "Would you prefer I'd stayed clear and let you continue to court Hermione with your irresistible mixture of avoidance, nonsensical gifts, and standoffishness?"
Ginny and Hermione laughed as Draco grumbled as he checked his watch. "I think it's time for class now …"
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On Saturday Ron's Griffins beat the Nifflers, though narrowly. Ron tried to blame Draco, who frequently got distracted as he kept flying in the direction of the stands to check on Hermione instead of chasing the Snitch. But Harry, who'd been sitting next to Hermione, defended Draco by reminding Ron he'd let in three goals when his eyes were on their bushy-haired friend instead of the Quaffle. Hermione's offer to sit out the next game made them all voice firm denials; they insisted if she didn't remain within eyeshot it would be impossible to concentrate, but Draco wondered if he'd catch the Snitch faster next time if he simply had Hermione with him on his broom during the game.
Hermione had wondered if Draco would become more protective or less after the bonds, and it turned out to be a pleasant mixture of both. He still wanted to be around her constantly – hardly different from the other wizards – but he never worried for her safety if one of her other Guardians was with her. In fact, the constant contact between her and the others might've made Draco jealous if he weren't part of the bond. Hermione ignored the odd looks she received throughout the day as she walked the corridors holding hands with Ron or Harry just as frequently as her boyfriend. Theo tossed an arm around her shoulders regularly as they studied, and it was rare that Blaise wasn't right beside or behind Hermione like an extension of her shadow.
Ron ordered his team to train for their last match against the Manticores almost every other evening, but Hermione was no longer required to sit on the hard benches in Draco's direct line of sight. Instead, she did most of her reading in their third-floor common room curled up in Blaise's lap. Theo began calling Blaise her suit of armour; Harry called him her straitjacket.
Despite the teasing, nobody minded that Blaise kept close to Hermione as much as possible. The "wolf" inside him seemed to have grown stronger, and his instincts to protect her were only satiated by contact. Blaise joked that he could walk around Hogwarts all day with his eyes closed but he could still reach out and grab Hermione instantly if a speck of danger was nearby. He found it hard to concentrate on anything at all unless she was less than an arm's length away, and Draco quickly got past his old jealousy since the bond affected his friend differently. At the end of the day, Blaise wasn't interested in fighting Draco for her affections.
Ron thought Blaise was exaggerating his protective instincts, until Professor Gangrous began changing up the structure of their Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons. The professor discovered that Hermione and several other students had an interest in curse-breaking and began switching off student duels with "Dark detection simulations." Their hyper-realistic professor set up a line of random objects on a table and taught the students detection spells to find the dangerous item among the harmless ones. The Guardians had to practice their poker faces any time Hermione approached the table, because Blaise's eyes would immediately jump to the cursed object no matter how well it was hidden.
In some lessons Professor Gangrous would cast subtle spells or curses on three random students so the rest of the class could practice finding and removing them. In the first lesson, Blaise knew immediately that Ernie MacMillan was under a curse that made him dangerous. He turned out to be right; Ernie was cursed so his skin would burn anyone who touched him. It was Harry who successfully removed the curse, earning him twenty points for Gryffindor. In the meantime, Draco discreetly restrained Blaise with a Body-Bind to stop him attacking Ernie outright when Hermione got too close to him.
Though they were all preparing for NEWTs, Ginny enthusiastically helped Theo as he dug through more material regarding the Mage legend. They studied bits and pieces of the Mage Elementum scattered throughout the minimal resources they managed to track down – some were sent by owl from a confused but helpful Narcissa – and they noticed some of the verses were translated differently. Theo believed the copy from the Black library should be taken as the "true" version, but they agreed to trust his alchemist book since it contained such a close copy. Unfortunately, the discrepancies with other research materials meant they could learn little in other books, to Theo's great frustration.
Hermione tried not to get involved. Her magic had calmed, she'd appeased her Guardians by completing the bonds, and she wanted nothing else to distract her from her final weeks of school.
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Like most of the NEWT students, Hermione and company spent the Easter holidays at Hogwarts. April disappeared quickly between Quidditch practices, revisions, and carefully avoiding Pansy Parkinson in the corridors. During their last Transfiguration lesson, the irate Slytherin expressed her jealousy towards Hermione by transforming the brunette's fingernails into dragon talons. Even the excitable Professor Switch was unable to counter the spell right away and Hermione suffered almost two entire hours without being able to hold a quill.
On the last Saturday of April Ron stood up at breakfast and made an announcement.
"No books today! We're going to Hogsmeade and we're gonna buy Dungbombs and drink our way through the Broomsticks and eat our way through Honeydukes! Drop it, Theo."
This last was addressed threateningly at the tall Slytherin reaching for his Arithmancy book. He grumbled and looked to Hermione for support, who glared at Ron.
"We're running out of time, we still have so much to do, and only weeks left–"
"Nope, Weasley's right!" Draco snatched Hermione's bag away and ignored her cry of protest whilst dangling it out of her reach. "We're all gonna end up with melted brains if we don't take a break."
Harry and Blaise cheered in support while Ginny laughed at them. Ron beamed at Malfoy, which would've been an odd sight two months ago, and quickly followed his example by swiping Theo's bag.
Hermione and Theo prepared to Summon their bags back but paused when Draco leaned in to press his warm forehead against Hermione's.
"If you so much as touch your homework today," he hissed threateningly, "I'm not kissing you for a whole week."
Hermione growled at him while he sniggered at her. It wasn't fair that his kissing skills had only improved since they bonded, and he knew it. Ron, meanwhile, dangled Theo's bag in front of him tantalisingly.
"You better not touch your homework today Nott, otherwise I'll kiss you!"
"Aw, but Ronnie, how could you possibly resist how handsome he is?" Ginny teased as she ran her finger up and down Theo's arm. Harry and Draco made gagging sounds and Blaise burst out laughing. Theo batted his eyelashes at Ron, who turned purple.
"I'll gladly leave my books alone for a day …" Theo leered as he innocently leaned towards Ron. "But only if I'm granted a kiss from a ginger beauty–"
Everyone around the table choked with laughter as Ron's purple face contorted into a very odd shape. He quickly pulled Ginny to her feet and tossed her towards Theo.
"Problem solved!"
"That's cheating, mate," Harry laughed.
Ginny, despite her own blush, stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Theo's cheek quickly.
"There! Now you're obligated to leave the books, but …" She spun on her heel to face her brother. "Next time you want the swots to take a day off, you have to kiss Theo!"
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Once Harry and Ginny returned from Gryffindor Tower having safely stowed all confiscated books, quills, and notes from Hermione and Theo, the chattering group made their way through the enchanted waterfall in the direction of Hogsmeade. Blaise had his arm thrown across Hermione's shoulders while Draco held her other hand, and she rolled her eyes at them as they amended the List of Things We'd Rather Kiss than Ron Weasley.
"Bulstrode?"
"Think I'd rather kiss Weasel. How 'bout Potter?"
"Damn, that's a tough one … Ginny might cut off my–"
"Ouch, good point."
"– yeah, I reckon the Giant Squid wouldn't be too bad, but kissing Weasley would be preferable to kissing a Blast-Ended Skrewt …"
"Well, alright, I reckon Weasley probably won't sting me with his lips–"
"Stop talking about my lips!"
While Hermione and Ginny got distracted by a conversation, Blaise told Draco under his breath that the Daily Prophet released another article about the Ministry's search for the Mage. The Unspeakables revealed their latest discovery: they were now certain that the witch they sought attended Hogwarts. Draco nearly called off the excursion, but Blaise reassured him they wouldn't let Hermione go anywhere alone.
The group spent an enjoyable, sugar-filled hour in Honeydukes. Hermione smiled inwardly at the horrified looks her parents would surely sport if they saw the amount of candy she sampled. They decided to split before heading off for drinks. Hermione and Theo were allowed into the bookshop with a firm one-hour limit while Draco and the rest of the Gryffindors were given a similar warning about Quality Quidditch Supplies. Meanwhile, Blaise made his way to the Post Office to owl his mother in Italy.
A while later Draco turned a corner and found Hermione mindlessly Transfiguring rocks into chipmunks. He raced over to her with a crease on his forehead.
"Why're you alone? Where's Theo?"
Hermione huffed in irritation, "Theo wouldn't let me pay for my own books, and he sent me outside to make me stop arguing with him." Draco snorted in amusement.
"He can afford it, you know. He's the last of the Nott line; he's probably the tenth richest wizard in Britain."
"That's not the point, I can support myself–"
"And Theo likes having friends to spoil." Draco said firmly. "Trust me love, he's thrilled to buy a fellow bookworm more reading material."
Hermione smiled to herself as she realised it was the same as Harry buying sweets for Ron over the years.
"Well, alright. Did you leave the others shopping for Quidditch stuff?"
"As much as I like Quidditch gear, I wanted t–" Draco's eyes closed mid-sentence and he slumped to the ground.
"Draco?!"
Hermione caught him just before he hit his head. He was Stunned.
She gripped her wand and started to look around furiously, but she was grabbed roughly by the hair and dragged to her feet.
"Well, looky here it's the Mudblood what bewitched Malfoy …"
Hermione gasped and stumbled as her hair was pulled backwards. She tried to turn but a large hand wrapped around her throat and the other seized her wand arm. She was dragged backwards into a tight, dark alley between two buildings.
"It's your fault Vince got killed, you little Mudblood bitch," a deep voice hissed in her ear. The hand on her throat tightened and Hermione tried desperately to hex him, but his grip on her arm was too tight and she couldn't aim.
"G … Goyle …" Hermione choked.
"You and Potter, you always put your nose where it don't belong!" he snarled. "You kissed up to Draco and made him turn on us and now you're getting to ALL the Slytherins! I shoulda crushed you years ago–!"
Hermione saw spots dancing in front of her eyes as she struggled for breath. She reached inwardly for her magic but found a mere flicker where there used to be a glowing light.
Blaise, she thought desperately. Come back …
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