Disclaimer: Alas, but no. They are not mine.
*I'll bet you would never guess that this was still slash*
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"How? What? Where?" The prince seemed unable to finish a single question. Finally, he settled on the one dealing with the matters closest at hand. "How did I get there, and how did I get back?"
"You never left," said Ginny. "My mirror only shows an illusion."
"Everything that I saw wasn't real?" asked Draco.
"It was real. You simply weren't actually there. I mean, you were there at one point, but just a moment ago, you never left our garden," said Hermione. Draco looked up, surprised to hear her voice. He had not noticed her and Ron's entrance.
"Where was `there'?" asked the prince.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Ron, in a slightly arrogant tone.
"Witchcraft? Wizardry? I don't understand."
"And it won't be the last time," said Ron, under his breath. Draco looked like he was about to respond, rather angrily in fact, when Hermione began to speak again.
"Hogwarts is the school that both you and Harry attended," she said.
"I have never gone to a school," said the prince.
"Too good to mingle, hm?" commented Ron.
"If you-"
"You're attention, please!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Please continue, madam," said the prince, while Ron looked a bit sulky.
"It is the school you went to from when Harry was 11 to when he was 17," continued Hermione.
"Not when I was 11 to 17?" asked Draco.
"You need to ask where you were for seven years?" chortled Ron.
"Ron, one more time and I'm going to have to ask you to check on how dinner is coming," said Hermione, her temper nearing the surface. Ron nodded, but tossed a look to Ginny as soon as Hermione's back was turned. Hermione decided to ignore this, and continue with her story.
"I will start from the beginning. I do not know everything. I do not know why you left Harry's heart in pieces when you up and left one day. I do not know why you would not come back. I do not know why those I consider my family have been given a gift that you now stand a chance to receive." She paused for a moment, ensuring that she held the prince's attention.
"For seven years, both you and Harry attended this school. You began as enemies from nearly the first day you met. For years, you clung to the hatred that had developed so prematurely. Neither of you noticed initially when you crossed the fine line from hate to love. It may not have started out as love, but that is how it finished. I remember the terror in Harry's voice when he told me how he felt. He was so afraid of what I might think of him, or worse, what you would do to him if he found out. He is incredibly strong, but years of neglect left him emotionally vulnerable."
At this point, Draco looked as if he wanted to say something, perhaps to ask Hermione how anyone could have neglected such a creature, but she gave him no opportunity to interrupt.
"I was not there when Harry reached his breaking point. He could not hide the way he felt anymore, and in the sixth year, he revealed his true feelings. Thank anything worth thanking, because you felt the same way. Or, the same in enough of a way for you to begin a relationship. You were never blatant, but never hidden. Both of you had come to accept what you had, and eventually you began to cherish it. As time went on, people used the term `soul mate.' I don't believe in using adjectives that are so imprecise. You cannot determine from the stars who you belong with. But even I could not deny the way you complemented each other perfectly. The blacks and whites or your personalities blended perfectly together, but not in the gray sense. You retained the individuality that made you so unique and perfect for each other, yet you were in every sense one.
"The trouble started near the middle of your seventh and final year at school. Harry would often speak to me or Ron about you becoming ... distant was the word he used."
Draco once again looked like he wanted to speak, perhaps this time to protest, but a withering look from Ron convinced him to hold his tongue a little longer.
"He said you would often leave at night, and not return until morning. If he asked you about your nightly wanderings, you answered briefly or not at all. He, ahh, also mentioned something about, well, um, you seeming rather ... ~tense~ while, ahh ..." Hermione trailed off.
Draco easily got the reference however, and a flush tinged his pale face. Ron and Ginny snickered, and Hermione threw them a poisonous look.
"Anyway, things kept getting worse. You would get strange letters, and you never told Harry who they were from. You became more and more distant, and distracted. You started vanishing for days at a time, instead of just at night. Whenever you were there, you and Harry rarely spoke, at least, not about anything important. Harry told me that you refused to discuss what would happen after graduation, and that while asleep, you had nightmares where you screamed until he woke you up.
"Eventually it reached the point where nobody could talk to you anymore. One day, not too far before the day you left, Harry confronted you about everything, and demanded an explanation. It was hard for him to talk to you as he did, to open his heart and soul and pour it out before you as he did. He said he thought he had you. For a moment, he said, you were going to tell him everything. Then you closed off again, and two days later, you packed your bags and left."
Hermione paused again, as she caught sight of Draco's face. During the course of the later part of the story, a strange look had come over it.
"And what is our prince contemplating?" asked Ginny, not quite able to keep the scorn out of her voice.
"When you spoke just now, it was as if ... never mind, it was nothing, please continue," said Draco.
Hermione looked unconvinced, but she completed her story anyway.
"At the end of our seventh year of school, the Dark Lord attacked. It was expected of course, but there was nevertheless a horrible surprise. When Harry went to fight him, he discovered you on his side. Harry had never really believed that you would join with Him. He had been trying to convince you to join the Order of the Phoenix, a group of Aurors who fought against the Dark Lord. But, you did not. Harry never actually fought you, but it tore him apart to know that he was fighting against what you had felt was the right side. For a moment he actually wondered whether he himself had chosen wrong. If you would give up everything for a side, then maybe he was on the wrong one. But it the end, he saved us all, and was able to defeat the Dark Lord. It was for a price, though. So much time has passed, and nobody really knows what happened, but as far as the best theororists offer, many spells were placed before the Great Battle, to be enacted once the outcome was determined.
"When He fell, it was as if it was a command for all of his followers to follow him in this respect too. It was as if a suicide pact had been formed amongst his closest subjects. The moment he hit the ground, the wave of instantaneous death that followed made His reign of terror all the more horrible. True, those that followed him had chosen to do so, but they did not deserve a unanimous death." Hermione bowed her head.
Draco looked stricken, and even Ginny and Ron were extremely subdued.
"When Harry found you-"
"Stop," commanded Ginny. "He does not deserve to know what happened to Harry when he found him."
"I wish you would stop telling me what I do and don't deserve. You're sister said herself she didn't know anything. You don't know me," said Draco coldly. Ginny quieted once more.
"She does have a point, though. I will not go into what happened to Harry after you died. But I will tell you what happened to all of us." She paused for the last time.
"The other spell in the air was the opposite of death. It was the promise of eternal life, and it was given to Harry, Ron, Ginny, myself and others. Whether the Dark Lord created this as punishment, or somebody else as a gift, nobody knows. But here we are, nearly 1,000 years later. In fact, in a few months, it will be exactly one millennium since His fall," she concluded.
An awed silence hung for a moment, until the prince spoke at last.
"But how then, am I here?"
"There are many things I do not know. I do not know why you were reborn, but I do know the reason for your magic."
Draco's attention was rapt again.
"You were born into a Muggle, or non-magical family. You grew up into a life where magic was not known. But the magic inside of you ran so deeply and so strongly that it had to manifest itself, and it did so in the form of your wings, and faire magic. For years you lived as if you were out of place, because you lived in a world where you did not belong." Draco gave a small gasp as the truth of his life was revealed.
"The last thing I can tell you is based on something I again know little about. I do not know why Harry came to you, or why he is offering you a second chance. My only guess is that his love for you was more important than what happened in a past lifetime. And he is giving you a second chance, to be with him, forever. What you need to find is your immortality. You finished on the wrong side. You must prove yourself to Harry that you are ready for the right one. I do not know how you must do this, but you must have it done by midnight on the 1,000 anniversary of the fall of the Dark Lord, when the full circle has been completed. I do not know for certain, but I believe that Harry has devised a way to return to that date, and capture part of the immortality spell to give to you," she finished.
"But you had better prove your worth. I won't let you betray him again," said Ginny.
"Harry will not be hurt on your account," agreed Ron.
"I want Harry to be happy, and that includes him having you in his life, but if you are not everything he believes you to be ..." Hermione trailed off.
"I understand, and I thank you for everything you have given me. I will leave now, and try to find whatever I need to," said Draco, who turned to leave.
"Wait. Take my mirror with you," said Ginny, handing him the exquisite hand mirror.
"Thank you," he said, before heading out of the garden. It seemed that even if the Weasely's didn't like him, they seemed to be ready to accept him. With a lighter heart, and a considerable store of knowledge, Draco set out once again.
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A/N: Thank you:
Twins of Destiny and Fate, Lilith, Darkmoon, *pie*, mandé, and Ninsetta Tristel Sundar. Really, thank you. :)
*I'll bet you would never guess that this was still slash*
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"How? What? Where?" The prince seemed unable to finish a single question. Finally, he settled on the one dealing with the matters closest at hand. "How did I get there, and how did I get back?"
"You never left," said Ginny. "My mirror only shows an illusion."
"Everything that I saw wasn't real?" asked Draco.
"It was real. You simply weren't actually there. I mean, you were there at one point, but just a moment ago, you never left our garden," said Hermione. Draco looked up, surprised to hear her voice. He had not noticed her and Ron's entrance.
"Where was `there'?" asked the prince.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Ron, in a slightly arrogant tone.
"Witchcraft? Wizardry? I don't understand."
"And it won't be the last time," said Ron, under his breath. Draco looked like he was about to respond, rather angrily in fact, when Hermione began to speak again.
"Hogwarts is the school that both you and Harry attended," she said.
"I have never gone to a school," said the prince.
"Too good to mingle, hm?" commented Ron.
"If you-"
"You're attention, please!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Please continue, madam," said the prince, while Ron looked a bit sulky.
"It is the school you went to from when Harry was 11 to when he was 17," continued Hermione.
"Not when I was 11 to 17?" asked Draco.
"You need to ask where you were for seven years?" chortled Ron.
"Ron, one more time and I'm going to have to ask you to check on how dinner is coming," said Hermione, her temper nearing the surface. Ron nodded, but tossed a look to Ginny as soon as Hermione's back was turned. Hermione decided to ignore this, and continue with her story.
"I will start from the beginning. I do not know everything. I do not know why you left Harry's heart in pieces when you up and left one day. I do not know why you would not come back. I do not know why those I consider my family have been given a gift that you now stand a chance to receive." She paused for a moment, ensuring that she held the prince's attention.
"For seven years, both you and Harry attended this school. You began as enemies from nearly the first day you met. For years, you clung to the hatred that had developed so prematurely. Neither of you noticed initially when you crossed the fine line from hate to love. It may not have started out as love, but that is how it finished. I remember the terror in Harry's voice when he told me how he felt. He was so afraid of what I might think of him, or worse, what you would do to him if he found out. He is incredibly strong, but years of neglect left him emotionally vulnerable."
At this point, Draco looked as if he wanted to say something, perhaps to ask Hermione how anyone could have neglected such a creature, but she gave him no opportunity to interrupt.
"I was not there when Harry reached his breaking point. He could not hide the way he felt anymore, and in the sixth year, he revealed his true feelings. Thank anything worth thanking, because you felt the same way. Or, the same in enough of a way for you to begin a relationship. You were never blatant, but never hidden. Both of you had come to accept what you had, and eventually you began to cherish it. As time went on, people used the term `soul mate.' I don't believe in using adjectives that are so imprecise. You cannot determine from the stars who you belong with. But even I could not deny the way you complemented each other perfectly. The blacks and whites or your personalities blended perfectly together, but not in the gray sense. You retained the individuality that made you so unique and perfect for each other, yet you were in every sense one.
"The trouble started near the middle of your seventh and final year at school. Harry would often speak to me or Ron about you becoming ... distant was the word he used."
Draco once again looked like he wanted to speak, perhaps this time to protest, but a withering look from Ron convinced him to hold his tongue a little longer.
"He said you would often leave at night, and not return until morning. If he asked you about your nightly wanderings, you answered briefly or not at all. He, ahh, also mentioned something about, well, um, you seeming rather ... ~tense~ while, ahh ..." Hermione trailed off.
Draco easily got the reference however, and a flush tinged his pale face. Ron and Ginny snickered, and Hermione threw them a poisonous look.
"Anyway, things kept getting worse. You would get strange letters, and you never told Harry who they were from. You became more and more distant, and distracted. You started vanishing for days at a time, instead of just at night. Whenever you were there, you and Harry rarely spoke, at least, not about anything important. Harry told me that you refused to discuss what would happen after graduation, and that while asleep, you had nightmares where you screamed until he woke you up.
"Eventually it reached the point where nobody could talk to you anymore. One day, not too far before the day you left, Harry confronted you about everything, and demanded an explanation. It was hard for him to talk to you as he did, to open his heart and soul and pour it out before you as he did. He said he thought he had you. For a moment, he said, you were going to tell him everything. Then you closed off again, and two days later, you packed your bags and left."
Hermione paused again, as she caught sight of Draco's face. During the course of the later part of the story, a strange look had come over it.
"And what is our prince contemplating?" asked Ginny, not quite able to keep the scorn out of her voice.
"When you spoke just now, it was as if ... never mind, it was nothing, please continue," said Draco.
Hermione looked unconvinced, but she completed her story anyway.
"At the end of our seventh year of school, the Dark Lord attacked. It was expected of course, but there was nevertheless a horrible surprise. When Harry went to fight him, he discovered you on his side. Harry had never really believed that you would join with Him. He had been trying to convince you to join the Order of the Phoenix, a group of Aurors who fought against the Dark Lord. But, you did not. Harry never actually fought you, but it tore him apart to know that he was fighting against what you had felt was the right side. For a moment he actually wondered whether he himself had chosen wrong. If you would give up everything for a side, then maybe he was on the wrong one. But it the end, he saved us all, and was able to defeat the Dark Lord. It was for a price, though. So much time has passed, and nobody really knows what happened, but as far as the best theororists offer, many spells were placed before the Great Battle, to be enacted once the outcome was determined.
"When He fell, it was as if it was a command for all of his followers to follow him in this respect too. It was as if a suicide pact had been formed amongst his closest subjects. The moment he hit the ground, the wave of instantaneous death that followed made His reign of terror all the more horrible. True, those that followed him had chosen to do so, but they did not deserve a unanimous death." Hermione bowed her head.
Draco looked stricken, and even Ginny and Ron were extremely subdued.
"When Harry found you-"
"Stop," commanded Ginny. "He does not deserve to know what happened to Harry when he found him."
"I wish you would stop telling me what I do and don't deserve. You're sister said herself she didn't know anything. You don't know me," said Draco coldly. Ginny quieted once more.
"She does have a point, though. I will not go into what happened to Harry after you died. But I will tell you what happened to all of us." She paused for the last time.
"The other spell in the air was the opposite of death. It was the promise of eternal life, and it was given to Harry, Ron, Ginny, myself and others. Whether the Dark Lord created this as punishment, or somebody else as a gift, nobody knows. But here we are, nearly 1,000 years later. In fact, in a few months, it will be exactly one millennium since His fall," she concluded.
An awed silence hung for a moment, until the prince spoke at last.
"But how then, am I here?"
"There are many things I do not know. I do not know why you were reborn, but I do know the reason for your magic."
Draco's attention was rapt again.
"You were born into a Muggle, or non-magical family. You grew up into a life where magic was not known. But the magic inside of you ran so deeply and so strongly that it had to manifest itself, and it did so in the form of your wings, and faire magic. For years you lived as if you were out of place, because you lived in a world where you did not belong." Draco gave a small gasp as the truth of his life was revealed.
"The last thing I can tell you is based on something I again know little about. I do not know why Harry came to you, or why he is offering you a second chance. My only guess is that his love for you was more important than what happened in a past lifetime. And he is giving you a second chance, to be with him, forever. What you need to find is your immortality. You finished on the wrong side. You must prove yourself to Harry that you are ready for the right one. I do not know how you must do this, but you must have it done by midnight on the 1,000 anniversary of the fall of the Dark Lord, when the full circle has been completed. I do not know for certain, but I believe that Harry has devised a way to return to that date, and capture part of the immortality spell to give to you," she finished.
"But you had better prove your worth. I won't let you betray him again," said Ginny.
"Harry will not be hurt on your account," agreed Ron.
"I want Harry to be happy, and that includes him having you in his life, but if you are not everything he believes you to be ..." Hermione trailed off.
"I understand, and I thank you for everything you have given me. I will leave now, and try to find whatever I need to," said Draco, who turned to leave.
"Wait. Take my mirror with you," said Ginny, handing him the exquisite hand mirror.
"Thank you," he said, before heading out of the garden. It seemed that even if the Weasely's didn't like him, they seemed to be ready to accept him. With a lighter heart, and a considerable store of knowledge, Draco set out once again.
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A/N: Thank you:
Twins of Destiny and Fate, Lilith, Darkmoon, *pie*, mandé, and Ninsetta Tristel Sundar. Really, thank you. :)