Part 2: Evalesco

Stirring into awareness, Draco drowsily blinked his eyes open to find Hermione's sleepy stare on him. Remembering what had happened the night before, he felt her magic as surely as his own with her close proximity. A hesitant smile pulled up the corners of her mouth as she stared at him.

Voice thick with sleep, she said, "Hi."

"Hello."

Draco had yet to determine—and couldn't quite tell by the atmosphere between them—whether he was meant to feel awkward. The crescent on his wrist tingled, and when he shifted his arm, it shone a shimmery silver. Eyes widening slightly, Granger brushed the tips of her fingers over the mark, shooting a jolt of energy coursing through him.

Swallowing, she asked, "Do you feel any different? After last night?"

"Yes." Reaching for her hand, he peered at her identical mark before pressing his lips to the skin of her wrist. When she released a sharp exhale, he smirked. "Do you?"

"I'm not… certain," she gasped when he sucked on the marked flesh, grazing it with his teeth. Lips parted, she breathed, "I think so." Her face grew flushed, and Draco had to distract himself from the thoughts that she was nude beneath the covers, given he wasn't yet certain of her opinions on morning sex.

Focusing instead on the magic, alive and vibrant through his veins he said, "Look at this." With minimal conscious effort, he drew the affiliation out, allowing the silvery magic to hover above his hand, gazing up at it. "No moon."

Indeed, the sun had already risen beyond the balcony, and Granger's lips curled with a smile as she floated her fingers through the magic. Reverent, she breathed, "That's fantastic. I wonder if I'll ever be able to access some of the affiliation, given how bonded our magic is."

"I think you could," he replied, allowing the magic to flutter away. "You might need to practise—but if anyone can make it work, it'll be you."

Her cheeks wore a dull pink flush, and she shifted her face towards his pillow. "I appreciate that—but if the affiliation was always what set the Lunae Ortus apart—"

"Then it's about time a Lunae Amor learned to harness it," he finished with a crooked grin before ducking in to plant a kiss on her lips.

Though he made to withdraw after a chaste kiss, her hands instead came up to graze the stubble on his jaw, and she kissed him in return, deep and sensual. Against his lips she whispered, "I had a nice time last night."

"So did I." Pulling her closer, his body flared to life, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when she reached a hand down to grasp him beneath the covers.

Dragging her fingers along his hardening length in a few languorous pumps, she asked, "Do we have anywhere we need to be this morning?"

Managing a choked, "Definitely not," he slipped two fingers between her legs, finding her already wet. With a smirk, he kissed her again and murmured, "This is exactly where we need to be right now."

When Granger shifted him onto his back and climbed atop him without preamble, his eyes rolled. Proclivity for morning sex was a definite plus.

When they descended from the Lunae tower sometime around mid-morning, Hermione couldn't keep a flush from her face with the way Malfoy was staring at her. Between the night before and that morning, she felt more sated than she had been in a long time, her limbs weak and watery. She couldn't help but return his secretive smile.

Jarring her from the unclean narrative floating through her mind was Elias Bergen's sharp, "Lunae Ortus—Lunae Amor. I bring news."

Straightening in an instant, Hermione turned towards the central sitting room where Bergen stood with Glenneth; Malfoy schooled his expression with a nod. "Yes? What have you learned?"

"We've discovered an old, abandoned Alba stronghold." Bergen wore a strict expression as he stared between them. "It's difficult to say without going in how recently it's been used, but we didn't want to go too far without informing you. How would you like to proceed?"

Glancing at her for a brief moment, Draco announced, "We will investigate it. Today. If there's a chance of finding something that might prove useful, we need to take it. How do you know it's abandoned and not simply warded to appear so?"

Adjusting his robes, Bergen stared around the small group. "We were able to trace any human activity through the past few years, and nothing turned up."

Hermione frowned, considering the thought. "We're sure this method of tracing is valid?" The last thing they needed to do was to walk right into an Alba base without being adequately prepared. Because an encounter with Alba would not only reveal their presence in Italy, but also their knowledge of the connection between Alba and Avance.

Bergen dropped his head into a deep nod. "Yes, Lunae Amor. The trace has been confirmed by the high mage."

Malfoy clapped his hands together. "Then we proceed—and we will bring a guard presence in case of trouble. Any of the Nocturnus Guard who are not on shift protecting the castle."

"Yes, Lunae." Bergen nodded again. "I will speak with Dagomir, and we will prepare to depart in one hour."

Levelling another significant look her way, Malfoy confirmed, "One hour." With a grimace, he turned to leave the room in the direction from which they'd come, and once they were in the spiralling stairwell back to the Lunae quarters, he said, "I'm not even going to ask if you want to stay back."

Smiling, Hermione mused, "That's wise of you."

Shaking his head, he said, "It sounds as if it isn't dangerous. But you never know—it could be ancient."

"It likely is," she agreed, twisting her mouth to the side. "There could be traps and ancient spells we don't know how to disarm." Smiling, she added, "Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Fascinating," he echoed, making a face. "You're such a Gryffindor I can't stand it. Just promise me you aren't going to run into something fascinating and get yourself sliced in two."

"That," she breathed with a wince, "is a mental image I could have gone without."

Matter-of-factly, Malfoy lifted his brows and proceeded to throw some things into a rucksack. "Well, now you'll think twice before running into something fascinating, won't you?"

Huffing a breath through her nose, she muttered, loud enough so he could hear, "Tosser."

A cocky grin split his face.

Gazing upon the exterior of the Alba stronghold, Draco felt a sharp frisson of nerves creep along the length of his spine. Granger stood at his side, her expression significantly less certain than she had been an hour earlier when she had joked about the possibility of unknown curses hidden within.

The guard contingent was likely overkill, but Dagomir insisted they were knowledgeable in the detection and disarming of curses—and that they had all taken an oath to defend their Lunae Ortus and Lunae Amor with their lives. Draco had grimaced at the thought; if the stronghold had been abandoned for some indeterminate length of time, he didn't anticipate anyone losing their lives today. But if there was information to be discovered, they needed to take the opportunity before the situation changed.

The building itself was loaded with protective wards and enchantments, and Draco waited by Granger's side as the mages broke through them with skillful ease. He was reminded of his first visit to Italy with Bergen, when they had ventured into the shady underground basement of a dilapidated vineyard to meet with an equally shady contact.

Everything to do with Alba felt shady, if he was honest. But as they had always been the self-proclaimed sworn enemies of the Nocturnus Order, that was to be expected.

He could only hope they didn't come across any members of Alba—and pray to Merlin they didn't trigger anything with their presence. The last thing he needed was for Alba to realise the extent of what they had learned about Cosette.

The entrance into the stronghold was a door so covered in twisting vines and branches it would have been easy to overlook. Crumbling stone turrets stood across the fortified walls, and from his vantage point, Draco could see where the stronghold could have been utilised in battle. Narrow balistrariae interrupted the sturdy walls of the battlements, and watchtowers stood tall at the corners, the nearest missing a large chunk from its side.

Feeling trepidation course through him, he exchanged a look with Granger; her fingers brushed against his, and he gave her hand a squeeze.

A drawbridge hung, lowered on rusty chains, several of its boards rotted and broken. Once Glenneth announced he had broken through the last of the protective enchantments, a handful of the Nocturnus Guard ventured down the length of the bridge. Blowing out a breath, Draco stepped forward, Granger at his side and Hugo and Elias Bergen at his tail.

Hugo hadn't looked entirely well when the group assembled to leave, and Draco smirked at the thought. Perhaps he wouldn't have wanted to throw a party the night before had he realised they'd be exploring an old Alba fortress the next afternoon. Once inside the stronghold, tension lingered in the air, at odds with Draco's magic and leaving him with a deep sense of unease.

The group divided in two, and Draco's half descended a staircase carved from stone, the steps so ancient the material itself had been worn into a smooth depression in the centre of each step. Tangled vines hung from the ceiling where they had broken through the cracks in the stone, and puddles of stagnant, murky water lingered every so often. The only light was from their wandtips, casting ominous shadows on the walls as they walked.

At his side, wide-eyed and tense, Granger whispered, "This is unpleasant."

Behind them, Hugo scoffed. "That's putting it mildly."

Firing him a glare as if spoken words would draw forth Alba from the walls, Draco ventured farther on. Their half of the guard was proficient in scouring the pathway for spells as they walked ahead, but so far nothing had turned up.

A damp, mildewy scent pervaded the entire space, and as they made their way into a larger chamber, a labyrinth of pathways led in every direction. In one corner, a series of chained cells stood, questionable stains on the floor, and Draco was glad he hadn't had time to eat a large meal.

"It looks like they left in a hurry," Granger observed, gazing around the room. Following her lead, he nodded, stepping towards a large wooden table covered in assorted magical and non-magical miscellanea. A few torches had been haphazardly cast aside and long since burned out, a handful of abandoned coins he didn't recognise, and some small burlap sacks. A sword leaned against the far wall, and Hugo drew it from its sheath with a grin.

Frowning, Draco watched, half expecting something to leap out at them—the other half of him expected Hugo to somehow injure himself.

"There are some books here," one of the guards called, and Draco strode towards the bookshelf, rifling through the ancient tomes; a smirk pulled at his lips at the concentration on Granger's face as she stacked several books on the table.

One of the covers boasted an emblem of the sun rising over the horizon, and Draco's heart leapt with a jolt; it was the same image that was stitched into the leather sheath of the sword Hugo had found.

Granger whispered, "Should we take the books?"

Hesitating for a moment, Draco nodded. "If this place is abandoned, they won't need them anymore." Turning backwards, he said pointedly to Hugo, "Leave the sword."

With a forced press of the lips, Hugo hedged, "My question is what were they doing fighting with swords when they had magic?"

"The history between Alba and the Nocturnus Order is messy," Glenneth answered, stalking forward to inspect the books Granger was collecting into her beaded bag. "A rivalry bore on for centuries between the two—it was vicious, and it was bloody. For many an age, they cared only for causing harm to the other—no matter the method."

A sneer curled Draco's upper lip at the thought. "And now they're back. Joy."

"The more we can learn about them, the better we can identify their motives now," Granger mused, sweeping through the bookshelf for anything else she could take.

The mage stalked after the guards where they began advancing down several of the branching pathways. "It will not do to linger."

Nodding, Draco stepped to Granger's side, making to follow, when several things happened at once.

Glenneth jumped back, startled; a few of the guards tore around the corner from alternate passageways; and a man at the end of the nearest corridor released a strangled shout.

Drawing his wand in an instant, Draco stepped forward as one of the guards shouted, "Lunae, no!"

Heart racing, he scrambled ahead just behind the other guards; at the end of the passage was a dead end, and one of the guards lay on the ground, an arrow protruding from his chest. Dark blood seeped from the wound and stained the silver embroidery on his uniform. Gaping, Draco found himself thrust backwards against the wall in the narrow corridor.

"A trap," one of the guards hissed, gesturing to an indenture in the wall where the arrow had originated. Turning to another guard, he muttered, "Get Richards back to see a healer."

The second guard nodded before grasping the arm of the injured man—Draco didn't dare think otherwise—and Disapparated.

"Lunae, we need to get you out of here. I'll alert my father and Dagomir," Hugo growled, casting his Patronus in an instant. Vaguely, Draco watched for a moment as the small fox twisted and drifted away.

The group dashed back towards the main chamber, and to his relief Granger still stood with the mage and several guards.

From the opposite corner of the room came a scuffling sound, and heart pouding from the occurrences of the previous moments, Draco whirled towards it, lifting his hand on instinct. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and without even realising what he was doing, a sphere of white magic burst from his hand, racing in the direction of the noise.

The affiliation burst and broke on a stone pillar in a great rumbling collapse of dust and rubble. Startled and wide-eyed, he huffed an exhale, unable to look away from the destruction he'd wrought. Fear and trepidation tingled at the ends of his nerves, his hand pulsing with raw magic as he stared down at the shimmer of his fingers.

"Fuck," Hugo choked, dragging Draco back by the arm, "Lunae, we've got to go."

Slowly, as if in a delayed reaction, the ceiling began to crumble where the pillar had supported it, great chunks of stone falling to the ground with a cacophony of chaos; blinking rapidly, Draco had time only to meet Granger's gaze and see her reaching for him before she was side-along Apparated from the room. Moments later, Hugo's fingers tightened around his own arm and he was pulled from the collapse in a twist of magic.

Malfoy had been borderline catatonic since they had arrived back at the Nocturnus castle, staring blankly out the window, his hands clenched tightly together in his lap.

Taking up a seat in the chair across from him, Hermione leaned forwards. "Are you okay?"

Throat bobbing with a thick swallow, he nodded. "Yes." Meeting her gaze for a fleeting instant, he added, "Trying to wrap my head around everything."

A somber-faced guard had walked into the room half an hour prior to announce that Richards, the guard who had been injured in the arrow trap, had not survived. Hermione's eyes still stung at the thought, at the knowledge the man had been lost in an effort to keep the rest of them safe.

Brow furrowed, Malfoy had nodded with a grim, "Thank you for letting me know."

She had only swiped at her eyes, lost for words; she hadn't even known his given name.

"So much effort into scouring for magic—that trap he triggered was Muggle." Dropping his head into his hands, he bit out, "What do I say to his family?"

Quietly, she said, "That he was killed in the line of duty, protecting his Lunaes. That he was a hero today; he could have prevented others from meeting a similar fate if there were other traps." She glanced away, sucking in a breath, and hedged, "You released the affiliation. Was it intentional?"

He looked up, unfurling the fingers of his marked hand as he shook his head. "It was not. I heard something—and it just…"

"I heard it too," she whispered. "But I don't know what it was."

With a grimace, he looked square at her. "If it was a person—if they were Alba—we're fucked."

Unable to deny his words, she turned to stare through the window. If a member of Alba had been in that basement, they would have not only realised the truth of the situation—that the Nocturnus Order was investigating them—but also that Draco was in possession of the full lunar affiliation. The moon had been nowhere near accessible in that dank basement. "Elias said the stronghold was abandoned. Or, at least, it hadn't been used in at least a few years. But from the looks of things there, it had been much longer than that."

The despair and self-loathing tinging his tone broke something within her as he muttered, "And I destroyed it. So if they ever do go there—Hermione, it will look like an act of war."

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she nodded then rose to take up the seat at his side. "There's nothing we can do right now about what happened today." Fear lingered below the surface of her skin, but she steeled her countenance, pulling his hand into hers. "All we can do now is move forward, however that looks."

Malfoy only continued to stare at his hand. "I'll speak with the high mage—about learning to hone it and control it. Based on what we saw today, Alba isn't playing around, and the better equipped we are to deal with them…"

When he trailed off, his jaw clenched in a hard line, she nodded, dragging her thumb across the back of his hand. "We'll be prepared, Draco. I'll study the books we found today—some of them aren't in English, so we'll need some help on that front… but anything we can learn will be beneficial."

Silently, he pressed a kiss to her temple, then left his forehead to linger against the side of her head. Scarcely above a whisper, he breathed, "I don't think I'm ready for this."

"Neither am I." Tears of despair and anguish stung at her eyes. A man had lost his life—and she had a terrible feeling he wouldn't be the last. "I thought one war was enough for a lifetime. But we'll deal with this all however we must." Turning to look at him, she implored, "And we're in this together. For better or worse."

Hermione could see the pain in his gaze, but when his eyes shuttered, he nodded, stoic. His fingers entwined with her own, and with a grimace, he muttered, "Or worse."

Author's Note: Here we gooo, Part 2! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you all for reading! I don't always have time to reply to reviews, but they all mean so much to me and I'm so grateful so many of you are along for the ride with me. It's about to get exciting (I hope)!

Alpha love to Kyonomiko and LadyKenz347, and beta hugs to ravenslight!