A/N: I know it has been a very long time since I posted a chapter, I've had
this chappie for a long time and just haven't posted it because I wasn't
all that happy with it, plus I've had a few other ventures. I have a new
fic coming up soon too! Hope to see you all there. Huggles and Snoggles!
*~*Previous Chapter*~*
She knelt down beside his body ignoring the pain in her knees. The
tears began to form in her eyes and then the old man shot up and turned
to Meryn. He opened his eyes glowing red he spoke, "The Silver Dragon
and the Black Snake are destined to be united. Until the Bloodlines
are joined neither family will be at peace. As told in Prophesy The
Black Dragon will be born. The Black Dragon will rule above all others.
All who oppose him shall be destroyed. All of those who shall not
follow will be annihilated. So it shall come to pass, so it shall come
to be."
***
"Deimos!" he shouted at the door as his black robes billowed into the room. He screams were ringing in his ears as he stalked into her chambers. He swept to he bed and not so gently shook her by her shoulders, "Quiet! What is the meaning of all this noise?"
Her eyes opened suddenly, tears streaming down her face she stopped in mid sob, "Charlie?"
If was now Snape's turn to be startled, "Not quite."
Meryn threw her arms around the Potion's Master and began to sob into his robes. "It was horrible. Just horrible."
Snape's body stiffened, the physical contact was unnerving, "Miss Kingsley, stop your snivelling, it was just a dream."
She stopped in mid sob once again and looked into his black eyes with tears streaming down her face, "No." she said softly. "No it is not."
Snape looked down his nose at her.
"It's not, it's as if I'm there," she pulled away from him and Snape straightened his robes. "Every time I close my eyes it's there, every time I let my guard down it haunts me." The tears began to fall once again, "I just want to forget but it's like I'm not permitted to." Her face fell into her hands as she sobbed.
Snape felt his expression soften yet his voice remained hard, "That's because you let it."
Meryn looked up at him her hazel eyes filled with tears her brows furrowed in confusion.
"You have the power to let it consume you. Don't let it." With that Snape turned and left her chambers his robes billowing behind him as they did upon his entrance.
Meryn sat in the darkness as she pondered what the Potions Master had said. Slowly her crying ebbed away. It was strange; he had not comforted her in any way yet she didn't feel so frightened.
"Severus is right you know?" The voice from the shadows made her jump.
"Professor Dumbledore, you startled me." Meryn jumped.
"My apologies." The Headmaster came and sat beside her on the bed, "You have let yourself be consumed by this guilt, this fear, this sadness. There are things that you need to put your full concentration into. By allowing these emotions to control you, you have lost control of yourself."
Meryn sighed, he was right. "But Professor," she began, "how can I just forget?"
"I am not telling you to forget, by doing so you are forgetting a part of your life. Don't let your actions in the past rule the decisions you make now. Don't let other people's errors statute your existence. You are in control of your life."
"I can't control everything." Meryn looked sadly up at Dumbledore as she tugged at the ends of her hair.
"This is true my child," the Headmaster's eyes saddened, "but you must learn to live with what you have."
A smirk began to spread across Meryn's face. Perhaps the Headmaster was right.
"But," Dumbledore began his eyes began to twinkle, "I wouldn't bring this conversation up again with Severus, He's bound to have you scrubbing cauldrons if you do."
***
He sat pondering, "Why now?" he spoke aloud to himself, "Why after all these year, after all my searching must she have come back?"
"Who's come back my love?" Ahriman jumped at the sound of his wife's voice.
"No one." he said.
"It must be someone," he face began to darken, he was hiding something.
"Its just business." He tried; he was going to have to think quickly if he was going to have to fool her. "Have you heard from your father?"
A bleak far away look spread across her face, "No."
"I see." He said. "Perhaps you should write him a letter."
"Yes." Merriam's eyes were still distant as she walked from the room.
Ahriman began to massage his temples. It was getting harder and harder these days to keep Merriam from finding out. He sighed, from remembering. He knew she must have been fighting the memory charm after all it had been almost twenty years now. Perhaps it was time he thought. Perhaps it was now the time to tell Merriam she had a daughter. Ahriman's fist made contact with the mahogany desk in front of him.
"Damn it!"
After all of the years of careful planning and manipulating everything would be ruined, and there was only once man that could be blamed. Lucius Malfoy. He cursed himself slightly as he saw the picture on the Daily Prophet. He was seen yesterday at the Leakey Cauldron, the picture on the front page showed a picture of him drawing his wand on Lucius Malfoy. Ahriman pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.
After all of these years in hiding why had it chosen now, of all times from his daughter to get that dagger why now. The Ministry was cracking down on all of those who had any connections to Dark Magic. It was bad enough that he had to keep his wife and home unplottable but now his daughter, his heir would be taken away from him for good. To be. he couldn't even think about it. It was after all out of his power. His fist crashed down on his desk as his gaze bore into to wall opposite him.
It was the voice of his wife that brought him out of his thoughts. "Ahriman?" Her voice was like silk, "What is wrong?"
He looked up at her as she stood next to his chair, "Nothing my love, just the newspaper."
Before he could take the paper out from under her gaze she gasped, "Ahriman, you're in this picture, with Lucius Malfoy and his son." she paused looking at the picture with a wrinkled brow. "Who is that girl? She looks so familiar."
Snatching the paper from his wife's hands he threw it bitterly into the fireplace. "That would be, the upcoming addition to the Malfoy family."
***
Draco sat in front of his father in his office at the ministry contemplating the scene he had witnessed earlier that day.
"Father?" he began, "Who was that girl?"
Lucius smiled at the boy in front of him; so much potential it was sad how little he did know. "I thought you would have asked by now?"
Draco looked at his father; he was very different while he was alone with his family then when others were around, even towards his family.
"I thought better of it until now."
"Lucius raised his eyebrow at his son, "Yes, well."
The door flung open.
"Malfoy." The man spoke, not realizing Draco's presence "Have things been going according to plan?"
Lucius raised his eyebrow and looked down his nose at the man standing in front of him, "As well as to be expected."
"Good." Avrey replied. "There is rumour that there will be a meeting tonight."
"Excellent." Lucius smirked, "All is going according to plan."
Draco stood suddenly to announce his presence.
"Sit down boy, no body told you to stand," Lucius Malfoy spat at his son.
Draco sat down in surprise.
"Now, will you be more careful," Lucius turned his attention back to man standing in front of the door, "It could have been the Minister in here for all you know.".
Avery sputtered.
Lucius turned to sneer at his son, "I trust I don't need to tell you that this does not leave the room?"
"Yes father." Draco complied. It was like there were two different men within his father. Lucius could not show his emotions in front of those who could use it against him and to outsiders Lucius Malfoy seemed to have distaste for his family. Behind closed doors however, it was different he was Draco's father and Narcissa's husband they were his weakness. Although the reasoning behind Lucius' transformation was clear to his son it still stung, and Draco sat silently in the chair before his father his eyes trained to the wall opposite him as the two men continued.
"Now," Lucius said his fingers steepled under his chin, "is there anything else you needed?" His slate eyes bore into the man before him.
"No." Avery frowned narrowing his eyes he took a swift step towards Lucius' desk and bowed down and whispered into Lucius' ear.
Draco strained to hear without appearing as though he was eavesdropping. Lucius raised a pale eyebrow as Avery straightened and exited the room.
"Father-" Draco began.
"Grab your cloak, we must go."
***
It was morning. The castle was beginning to wake, but a girl with much turmoil within was already stalking its walls. Meryn did not fall asleep after Professor Dumbledore had left, although his words had strengthened her she did not dare close her eyes again. This time her dream had been different, this time her grandfather had spoken. He had spoken the words that Ahriman had spoken the day before within her chest was such a strong feeling of foreboding that Meryn found it almost hard to breath.
She ran her fingers over the carved chest which held the dagger within, the hair on the back of her neck stood straight as the lid slowly opened. What did this have to do with her, why was she chosen? Professor Snape had tore from her room the moment he had laid eyes upon the weapon. She wanted to know what all of this meant. She lifted the dagger from its casing and she immediately felt the power rush through her she closed her eyes and magic radiated from the dagger and bled into her. The power felt enormous but not all together wrong, she could feel the cold steel beneath her fingers as she touched the icy blade. Meryn opened her eyes to find her vision was in different shades of red, startled she dropped the dagger as it embedded its self into the floor her vision returned to normal.
Meryn looked down at her shaking hands vowing never to touch the dagger again until she found out what had just happened meant. Falling to the floor beside the weapon Meryn began to wish once again she had just retied those tethers just a little bit tighter.
***
It was barely dawn when Draco arrived at the Summerhouse in the south of France and he was barely able to enjoy the fresh air for a few moments when he felt a sudden pull. For a moment all he could think about was getting to the sheath he had stowed at the bottom of his trunks. He moved though the large Manor house as though his robes were on fire. Skidding to a halt in his appointed rooms he found what he sought hovering mid air over his open trunks. Draco slowly approached the jewelled sheath, his breath caught in his throat. Encircling his elegant hand around it he was hit with a sudden jolt of energy. It was as though he could feel every single particle of air that surrounded him, it was as though he could hear every word that was spoken for miles; it was as though he could see beyond seeing. Draco closed his eyes trying to sort out exactly what was happening, what he saw upon doing so was nearly as puzzling as his heightened senses. It was as though he was seeing though someone else's eyes.
I beautiful jewelled dagger was imbedded in the hard wood floor before him, the room was still slightly dark, the sun out the window to his right was just peaking over the horizon. He couldn't control his movements but upon observing them he tried to solve the mystery of whose eyes he was seeing from. As soon as the power came to him, it jolted away from him again. Upon opening his eyes Draco found himself lying on the floor, the sheath still firm in his hand.
With shaky breath Draco stood Placing the Sheath carefully on his desk, unaware of what had been going on around him and although he would never admit it out loud he was a little shaken. He sat down his body heavy on the finely carved chair, he wanted answers and his father wouldn't give them, now that he was in France with his mother's family he would perhaps find some of these answers. Draco pondered why his father was keeping these things from him, what was this great secret, he new that his impending bond with Meryn Dragonis would be soon; the next full moon by his calculations. His mind weighed heavily down on him, this union was profoundly looked upon by his father, there was no turning back from it, however a marriage was not something he had planned on happening for him anytime soon.
Draco frowned as he thought about the girl. She wasn't bad looking, in fact he found he had a hard time looking away from her, but there was something else, when he was near her he had the sudden urge to want to protect her, to keep her safe, to shelter her from the gaze of other men. It felt almost like a spell, it neared obsession, his didn't like it, the lack of control made his skin crawl. He looked about the room for the first time since he had come to the summerhouse. It had been like it had always been, much like Malfoy manor it was full of expensive belongings, however the home in France had a lighter air to it. This house had belonged to his great grandmother. His silver eyes gazed out the large window and into the bright French sky.
***
Meryn tried to slow her breathing as she reached the far end of the Quidditch pitch, she'd had the bright idea to go for a morning jog, something she had never done before, but with the amount of nervous energy she had within she thought it best to disperse it some how. She had somehow managed to make it as far as the end of the pitch before feeling like she was going to loose a lung and decided to lie down on the grass. She looked up at the early morning sky and thought. She thought of things that she never thought in a million years she thought she would be thinking about. She was thinking about the implied marriage that Lucius Malfoy had mentioned the day before. Meryn frowned at the thought of Marrying Draco Malfoy, it wasn't that he was not a handsome boy, it was merely the fact she'd only just met him. However after the episode in the headmaster's office she realized she had little choice in the matter. If she refused.
The suffocating feeling returned to her slightly and she unconsciously massaged her throat. She lay on the grass of the pitch regaining her breath for quite a while before she stood up making her way back to the Castle. Today her lessons would begin, she would know in a few weeks time what classes she would be taking. Hopefully things would not be as dramatic as they had been so far for her. How could she marry someone if she didn't love them, how was any of this possible. She felt as though she were in some sort of novel where everything went wrong all at once and nothing could save her from her fate. The early morning sky was dotted with clouds but the sun shone across the grounds. The grass still dewy and the back of her shirt were mildly wet but still she didn't mind. Meryn looked up at Hogwarts castle as her mind continued moving over her endless thoughts.
"Charlie, where are you when I need you," she whispered.
*~*Previous Chapter*~*
She knelt down beside his body ignoring the pain in her knees. The
tears began to form in her eyes and then the old man shot up and turned
to Meryn. He opened his eyes glowing red he spoke, "The Silver Dragon
and the Black Snake are destined to be united. Until the Bloodlines
are joined neither family will be at peace. As told in Prophesy The
Black Dragon will be born. The Black Dragon will rule above all others.
All who oppose him shall be destroyed. All of those who shall not
follow will be annihilated. So it shall come to pass, so it shall come
to be."
***
"Deimos!" he shouted at the door as his black robes billowed into the room. He screams were ringing in his ears as he stalked into her chambers. He swept to he bed and not so gently shook her by her shoulders, "Quiet! What is the meaning of all this noise?"
Her eyes opened suddenly, tears streaming down her face she stopped in mid sob, "Charlie?"
If was now Snape's turn to be startled, "Not quite."
Meryn threw her arms around the Potion's Master and began to sob into his robes. "It was horrible. Just horrible."
Snape's body stiffened, the physical contact was unnerving, "Miss Kingsley, stop your snivelling, it was just a dream."
She stopped in mid sob once again and looked into his black eyes with tears streaming down her face, "No." she said softly. "No it is not."
Snape looked down his nose at her.
"It's not, it's as if I'm there," she pulled away from him and Snape straightened his robes. "Every time I close my eyes it's there, every time I let my guard down it haunts me." The tears began to fall once again, "I just want to forget but it's like I'm not permitted to." Her face fell into her hands as she sobbed.
Snape felt his expression soften yet his voice remained hard, "That's because you let it."
Meryn looked up at him her hazel eyes filled with tears her brows furrowed in confusion.
"You have the power to let it consume you. Don't let it." With that Snape turned and left her chambers his robes billowing behind him as they did upon his entrance.
Meryn sat in the darkness as she pondered what the Potions Master had said. Slowly her crying ebbed away. It was strange; he had not comforted her in any way yet she didn't feel so frightened.
"Severus is right you know?" The voice from the shadows made her jump.
"Professor Dumbledore, you startled me." Meryn jumped.
"My apologies." The Headmaster came and sat beside her on the bed, "You have let yourself be consumed by this guilt, this fear, this sadness. There are things that you need to put your full concentration into. By allowing these emotions to control you, you have lost control of yourself."
Meryn sighed, he was right. "But Professor," she began, "how can I just forget?"
"I am not telling you to forget, by doing so you are forgetting a part of your life. Don't let your actions in the past rule the decisions you make now. Don't let other people's errors statute your existence. You are in control of your life."
"I can't control everything." Meryn looked sadly up at Dumbledore as she tugged at the ends of her hair.
"This is true my child," the Headmaster's eyes saddened, "but you must learn to live with what you have."
A smirk began to spread across Meryn's face. Perhaps the Headmaster was right.
"But," Dumbledore began his eyes began to twinkle, "I wouldn't bring this conversation up again with Severus, He's bound to have you scrubbing cauldrons if you do."
***
He sat pondering, "Why now?" he spoke aloud to himself, "Why after all these year, after all my searching must she have come back?"
"Who's come back my love?" Ahriman jumped at the sound of his wife's voice.
"No one." he said.
"It must be someone," he face began to darken, he was hiding something.
"Its just business." He tried; he was going to have to think quickly if he was going to have to fool her. "Have you heard from your father?"
A bleak far away look spread across her face, "No."
"I see." He said. "Perhaps you should write him a letter."
"Yes." Merriam's eyes were still distant as she walked from the room.
Ahriman began to massage his temples. It was getting harder and harder these days to keep Merriam from finding out. He sighed, from remembering. He knew she must have been fighting the memory charm after all it had been almost twenty years now. Perhaps it was time he thought. Perhaps it was now the time to tell Merriam she had a daughter. Ahriman's fist made contact with the mahogany desk in front of him.
"Damn it!"
After all of the years of careful planning and manipulating everything would be ruined, and there was only once man that could be blamed. Lucius Malfoy. He cursed himself slightly as he saw the picture on the Daily Prophet. He was seen yesterday at the Leakey Cauldron, the picture on the front page showed a picture of him drawing his wand on Lucius Malfoy. Ahriman pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.
After all of these years in hiding why had it chosen now, of all times from his daughter to get that dagger why now. The Ministry was cracking down on all of those who had any connections to Dark Magic. It was bad enough that he had to keep his wife and home unplottable but now his daughter, his heir would be taken away from him for good. To be. he couldn't even think about it. It was after all out of his power. His fist crashed down on his desk as his gaze bore into to wall opposite him.
It was the voice of his wife that brought him out of his thoughts. "Ahriman?" Her voice was like silk, "What is wrong?"
He looked up at her as she stood next to his chair, "Nothing my love, just the newspaper."
Before he could take the paper out from under her gaze she gasped, "Ahriman, you're in this picture, with Lucius Malfoy and his son." she paused looking at the picture with a wrinkled brow. "Who is that girl? She looks so familiar."
Snatching the paper from his wife's hands he threw it bitterly into the fireplace. "That would be, the upcoming addition to the Malfoy family."
***
Draco sat in front of his father in his office at the ministry contemplating the scene he had witnessed earlier that day.
"Father?" he began, "Who was that girl?"
Lucius smiled at the boy in front of him; so much potential it was sad how little he did know. "I thought you would have asked by now?"
Draco looked at his father; he was very different while he was alone with his family then when others were around, even towards his family.
"I thought better of it until now."
"Lucius raised his eyebrow at his son, "Yes, well."
The door flung open.
"Malfoy." The man spoke, not realizing Draco's presence "Have things been going according to plan?"
Lucius raised his eyebrow and looked down his nose at the man standing in front of him, "As well as to be expected."
"Good." Avrey replied. "There is rumour that there will be a meeting tonight."
"Excellent." Lucius smirked, "All is going according to plan."
Draco stood suddenly to announce his presence.
"Sit down boy, no body told you to stand," Lucius Malfoy spat at his son.
Draco sat down in surprise.
"Now, will you be more careful," Lucius turned his attention back to man standing in front of the door, "It could have been the Minister in here for all you know.".
Avery sputtered.
Lucius turned to sneer at his son, "I trust I don't need to tell you that this does not leave the room?"
"Yes father." Draco complied. It was like there were two different men within his father. Lucius could not show his emotions in front of those who could use it against him and to outsiders Lucius Malfoy seemed to have distaste for his family. Behind closed doors however, it was different he was Draco's father and Narcissa's husband they were his weakness. Although the reasoning behind Lucius' transformation was clear to his son it still stung, and Draco sat silently in the chair before his father his eyes trained to the wall opposite him as the two men continued.
"Now," Lucius said his fingers steepled under his chin, "is there anything else you needed?" His slate eyes bore into the man before him.
"No." Avery frowned narrowing his eyes he took a swift step towards Lucius' desk and bowed down and whispered into Lucius' ear.
Draco strained to hear without appearing as though he was eavesdropping. Lucius raised a pale eyebrow as Avery straightened and exited the room.
"Father-" Draco began.
"Grab your cloak, we must go."
***
It was morning. The castle was beginning to wake, but a girl with much turmoil within was already stalking its walls. Meryn did not fall asleep after Professor Dumbledore had left, although his words had strengthened her she did not dare close her eyes again. This time her dream had been different, this time her grandfather had spoken. He had spoken the words that Ahriman had spoken the day before within her chest was such a strong feeling of foreboding that Meryn found it almost hard to breath.
She ran her fingers over the carved chest which held the dagger within, the hair on the back of her neck stood straight as the lid slowly opened. What did this have to do with her, why was she chosen? Professor Snape had tore from her room the moment he had laid eyes upon the weapon. She wanted to know what all of this meant. She lifted the dagger from its casing and she immediately felt the power rush through her she closed her eyes and magic radiated from the dagger and bled into her. The power felt enormous but not all together wrong, she could feel the cold steel beneath her fingers as she touched the icy blade. Meryn opened her eyes to find her vision was in different shades of red, startled she dropped the dagger as it embedded its self into the floor her vision returned to normal.
Meryn looked down at her shaking hands vowing never to touch the dagger again until she found out what had just happened meant. Falling to the floor beside the weapon Meryn began to wish once again she had just retied those tethers just a little bit tighter.
***
It was barely dawn when Draco arrived at the Summerhouse in the south of France and he was barely able to enjoy the fresh air for a few moments when he felt a sudden pull. For a moment all he could think about was getting to the sheath he had stowed at the bottom of his trunks. He moved though the large Manor house as though his robes were on fire. Skidding to a halt in his appointed rooms he found what he sought hovering mid air over his open trunks. Draco slowly approached the jewelled sheath, his breath caught in his throat. Encircling his elegant hand around it he was hit with a sudden jolt of energy. It was as though he could feel every single particle of air that surrounded him, it was as though he could hear every word that was spoken for miles; it was as though he could see beyond seeing. Draco closed his eyes trying to sort out exactly what was happening, what he saw upon doing so was nearly as puzzling as his heightened senses. It was as though he was seeing though someone else's eyes.
I beautiful jewelled dagger was imbedded in the hard wood floor before him, the room was still slightly dark, the sun out the window to his right was just peaking over the horizon. He couldn't control his movements but upon observing them he tried to solve the mystery of whose eyes he was seeing from. As soon as the power came to him, it jolted away from him again. Upon opening his eyes Draco found himself lying on the floor, the sheath still firm in his hand.
With shaky breath Draco stood Placing the Sheath carefully on his desk, unaware of what had been going on around him and although he would never admit it out loud he was a little shaken. He sat down his body heavy on the finely carved chair, he wanted answers and his father wouldn't give them, now that he was in France with his mother's family he would perhaps find some of these answers. Draco pondered why his father was keeping these things from him, what was this great secret, he new that his impending bond with Meryn Dragonis would be soon; the next full moon by his calculations. His mind weighed heavily down on him, this union was profoundly looked upon by his father, there was no turning back from it, however a marriage was not something he had planned on happening for him anytime soon.
Draco frowned as he thought about the girl. She wasn't bad looking, in fact he found he had a hard time looking away from her, but there was something else, when he was near her he had the sudden urge to want to protect her, to keep her safe, to shelter her from the gaze of other men. It felt almost like a spell, it neared obsession, his didn't like it, the lack of control made his skin crawl. He looked about the room for the first time since he had come to the summerhouse. It had been like it had always been, much like Malfoy manor it was full of expensive belongings, however the home in France had a lighter air to it. This house had belonged to his great grandmother. His silver eyes gazed out the large window and into the bright French sky.
***
Meryn tried to slow her breathing as she reached the far end of the Quidditch pitch, she'd had the bright idea to go for a morning jog, something she had never done before, but with the amount of nervous energy she had within she thought it best to disperse it some how. She had somehow managed to make it as far as the end of the pitch before feeling like she was going to loose a lung and decided to lie down on the grass. She looked up at the early morning sky and thought. She thought of things that she never thought in a million years she thought she would be thinking about. She was thinking about the implied marriage that Lucius Malfoy had mentioned the day before. Meryn frowned at the thought of Marrying Draco Malfoy, it wasn't that he was not a handsome boy, it was merely the fact she'd only just met him. However after the episode in the headmaster's office she realized she had little choice in the matter. If she refused.
The suffocating feeling returned to her slightly and she unconsciously massaged her throat. She lay on the grass of the pitch regaining her breath for quite a while before she stood up making her way back to the Castle. Today her lessons would begin, she would know in a few weeks time what classes she would be taking. Hopefully things would not be as dramatic as they had been so far for her. How could she marry someone if she didn't love them, how was any of this possible. She felt as though she were in some sort of novel where everything went wrong all at once and nothing could save her from her fate. The early morning sky was dotted with clouds but the sun shone across the grounds. The grass still dewy and the back of her shirt were mildly wet but still she didn't mind. Meryn looked up at Hogwarts castle as her mind continued moving over her endless thoughts.
"Charlie, where are you when I need you," she whispered.