Disclaimer: Harry Potter Universe © JKR. Simple as that.
A/N: Heh, thankies to the reviewers. Now, for some real plot development! I just realized that my plot was sketchy at best. It is a little disjointed, and rather hard to follow. I now have Elementals, a Storm Mage, a Goddess Incarnate, Void Magic, and a little girl that seems to have nothing to do with the plot. Now, I have to coalesce these subplots into one big plot. There's so many twists I might as well be writing a roller-coaster. Well, here goes nothing, on with the show!
Double Trouble
Chapter Eighteen
"I don't understand. . ." Hermione sighed, resigned. "A dragon?" The fuzzy darkness surrounding her yielded no answers, though she begged them to issue forth with every fiber of being. "I don't know where it came from. Where did it come from?!"
"From you, silly." A soft voice broke into her musings. A tiny figure stumbled through the darkness. "Where do you think Guardians come from? Not from the air, of course."
Hermione stared at the figure. "Melody?"
The girl nodded, "Yes, Hermione. I'm Melody."
"But. . . how did you get here, wherever here is? I mean. . . and . . . how can you. . . you're only two! You-you have a rather large vocabulary." Hermione stared at the girl.
"Ah, but on the Ethereal Plane, one is not confined by one's age or body. Here, they are determined not by mere physical attributes. No, rather, it is your soul that travels this plane. So here, my soul is not in it's two- year-old body, so I am not restricted to the handicaps of being two." Melody nodded, smiling.
"But you-you look like yourself." Hermione stuttered.
"No, actually, I have no respective form. I appear as this because this is what you expect to see, therefore this is my form, to you. To another, I may appear as an old woman, or even an infant, because that is what they would expect me to look like, and that's how I would look." Melody grinned, "It's complicated."
"Okay." Hermione sighed, it had definitely been a memorable summer anyway. "So, what were you saying about Guardians? I mean, I don't have a Guardian, do I?"
"Of course you do, everyone does."
"Even Harry?"
"Well. . . Harry's different. He doesn't need a Guardian, he has something stronger protecting him."
Hermione nodded, his mother's sacrifice. "So, I have a Guardian. The Draconis Trima? I know Draconis is Latin for Dragon. But Trima. . . that's not a word that is English, Latin, or French. What is Trima?" Hermione felt a little stupid asking the girl before her for answers. *She * was supposed to be the know-it-all. As a matter fact, her intelligence level must've plummeted, because she hadn't really shown that she was a know-it-all since she went to the Burrow about two weeks earlier.
"Trima. . . well. . . er. . . I can't really explain that to you."
Hermione suddenly did a double-take. "WAIT A SEC! What are you DOING here???!!" She screeched, staring at the girl.
"Oh well, I guess Draco never mentioned I'm a Medium, not to mention a Seer, right?"
"You're a Medium? And a Seer?" Hermione's jaw dropped. "But. . . you're so young!"
Melody snorted, "Look, haven't you seen that a Gift is not necessarily determined by age? You are the youngest Storm Mage, and a Goddess Incarnate to boot."
Suddenly, pieces began to fall into place. "That's why Draco wanted to bring you. Asking for Immunity wasn't for him, it was for you! Malfoy Senior was going to start using you. You're gift had been made apparent." Hermione looked at the child in front of her with awe.
Melody nodded, her eyes sad. "He's always protected me the best he could." She jerked her head up, "Hermione, we must leave. It's no longer safe here. We must get to safety." Her little voice was urgent.
"But, how do I leave?"
"The way you came." Was the answer, just before the child faded out.
"Wait! The way I came!? Melody?!" The darkness seemed more ominous, somehow colder. Hermione felt the stirrings of panic. "How did I get here?"
A blinding flash of light startled her, and suddenly, she was awake, a scream dying on her lips.
***
Lucius dragged into the house, cradling his arm. His eyes gleamed with a mania borne of long hours of struggle.
"What happened to you?" Peter asked, incredulously.
"None of your concern, Rat!" Lucius snarled. "I need to see our Lord."
Peter glared, "He's in his study. . . I would suggest you not disturb him unless it is indeed urgent." He shuddered suddenly. He'd learned the hard way, with a Crucio.
Lucius sneered, then made his way to the winding staircase. He looked up the stairs with a sigh, and then began the long trek up the stairs.
***
"Mel?" Hermione croaked, struggling to stand. Her eyes were adjusting to the harsh light, and what she saw made her gasp. Pansy lay unconscious not a few feet from her, and Melody was facedown on the ground. "Oh Gods, Mel!" Hermione stumbled forward, falling to her knees by the prostrate child. Tears clouded her vision, as she turned Melody onto her back. The girl gave a little whimper, and Hermione almost laughed giddily. "Mel. . . Gods your alive!"
"Mione?" Her baby voice was thick, "Hurt, Mione. Want Bubby." The girl slowly opened her eyes, cobalt orbs locking on hers with an intensity that shocked Hermione. "Seen. . . seen. Mione. . . seen. . . hurt." Her babble made no sense, but Hermione could see that the girl was indeed hurt, and going into shock.
"It's okay, Mel. Here. . ." Hermione gathered the child in her arms. "Where does it hurt?" She asked, trying to keep the girl awake.
"Head. . . tummy. . . want Bubby-eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" The girl suddenly wailed, screwing her face up, tears marring the pale cheeks.
"SHhhhh. We'll go and find him." Hermione cooed, uncertain to whether she should move the girl or not, but opting for the former, because leaving her wasn't an option.
***
"My Lord." Lucius bowed deeply, scraping the floor.
"I trust you have the girl?" Voldemort replied coldly.
"Well, there was a problem. . ." Lucius straightened, squaring his shoulders.
"What sort of problem?"
"A big one. . .My Lord."
***
"Harry? Draco? Ron?" Hermione carefully avoided the broken glass of the window. "Where is everyone?"
A groan from her right sent her spinning around. "Who's there?!" She demanded.
"Hermione, not so loud, please!" Draco's voice washed over her, filling her with relief. Hermione almost began to sob, and Melody was squirming to get down with all her might. Draco materialized, a little worse for the wear, but still coherent. Hermione strode over, quickly handing Melody over.
"Melody!" He breathed, hugging the girl tightly. "Gods, I was so worried!"
"Bubby, I's seen." Draco drew a shaky breath, "I's seen bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Mione helps us. But bad. Bad daddy. Bad scary man."
Hermione sighed. "Lemme guess. Lucius and Voldemort are planning your ultimate demise and my capture. Wow. Life's great." She grinned sardonically. "Now I know how Harry feels."
"And how do I feel exactly, because at the moment, I'm not sure to be glad I'm alive, or curse the Gods because I didn't die. I've got a killer headache, and Ginny isn't helping anything."
Hermione whipped around, flinging herself at Harry, pulling him into a bone- crushing hug slightly reminiscent of Molly. Draco scowled. "Hey, I certainly didn't get that reception." He accused darkly.
Harry grinned, "I'm the Hero."
"And what am I? Chopped Liver?" Ron stumbled in from the kitchen, pale and shaken, but fine otherwise. "Y'know, I do believe Bill and Charlie are going to be upset to know we defeated an entourage of Deatheaters without them. It *was * on their to do list."
Hermione launched herself at Ron, hugging him too. Then something occurred to her. "Where's George?" She asked softly, her eyes going huge. "And Sirius. . . and Fred. . . and Remus. . . and your Mum and Dad?"
Ron sighed. "Mum and Dad are currently in the backyard, Dad is keeping Mum from using all sorts of terrible curses and hexes on a few leftover Deatheaters. Sirius and Remus are interrogating. I haven't seen Fred, or George for that matter."
Ginny stumbled down the stairs, bumping into Harry. "They're upstairs, making certain none of their products are destroyed."
Hermione sighed in relief, then scowled, "Oh sure, make sure the supplies are fine, ignore his girlfriend."
Suddenly Draco stared around, "Where's Pansy?" Crabbe and Goyle were sitting on the floor, rubbing their aching heads.
"Oh, damn! She's outside." Hermione turned, striding back into the front yard. Pansy lay where she had before. Hermione sighed, kneeling next to the girl. "Pansy?" She didn't respond. "Pansy? Pansy!" Hermione turned her over, she was breathing, but wasn't moving otherwise. "Oh no!"
"What is it?" Draco looked at Pansy, his heart beating furiously. "Why isn't she waking up."
"She. . .uh, well, she may be. . . erm. . . knocked out, y'know." Hermione said, unconvincingly.
***
"A dragon?" Voldemort stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that complicates things a little, but. . ." He turned back to Lucius. . . "Don't worry, we'll get her."
"But, My Lord? How?" Lucius bit his tongue.
"It is strange that her Guardian is a Dragon. Fitting, though, I suppose."
"Why's that, My Lord?"
"Dragons are grand Guardians, with one major character flaw. The person they are tied to shares a deep bond with them. Corrupt the Dragon, corrupt the girl."
"But how to corrupt a Dragon?"
"By making it doubt itself."
*__________________________________________________________________ *
A/N: Well, didn't get as far as I wanted, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Don't forget to RR.
Love,
~Me~
A/N: Heh, thankies to the reviewers. Now, for some real plot development! I just realized that my plot was sketchy at best. It is a little disjointed, and rather hard to follow. I now have Elementals, a Storm Mage, a Goddess Incarnate, Void Magic, and a little girl that seems to have nothing to do with the plot. Now, I have to coalesce these subplots into one big plot. There's so many twists I might as well be writing a roller-coaster. Well, here goes nothing, on with the show!
Double Trouble
Chapter Eighteen
"I don't understand. . ." Hermione sighed, resigned. "A dragon?" The fuzzy darkness surrounding her yielded no answers, though she begged them to issue forth with every fiber of being. "I don't know where it came from. Where did it come from?!"
"From you, silly." A soft voice broke into her musings. A tiny figure stumbled through the darkness. "Where do you think Guardians come from? Not from the air, of course."
Hermione stared at the figure. "Melody?"
The girl nodded, "Yes, Hermione. I'm Melody."
"But. . . how did you get here, wherever here is? I mean. . . and . . . how can you. . . you're only two! You-you have a rather large vocabulary." Hermione stared at the girl.
"Ah, but on the Ethereal Plane, one is not confined by one's age or body. Here, they are determined not by mere physical attributes. No, rather, it is your soul that travels this plane. So here, my soul is not in it's two- year-old body, so I am not restricted to the handicaps of being two." Melody nodded, smiling.
"But you-you look like yourself." Hermione stuttered.
"No, actually, I have no respective form. I appear as this because this is what you expect to see, therefore this is my form, to you. To another, I may appear as an old woman, or even an infant, because that is what they would expect me to look like, and that's how I would look." Melody grinned, "It's complicated."
"Okay." Hermione sighed, it had definitely been a memorable summer anyway. "So, what were you saying about Guardians? I mean, I don't have a Guardian, do I?"
"Of course you do, everyone does."
"Even Harry?"
"Well. . . Harry's different. He doesn't need a Guardian, he has something stronger protecting him."
Hermione nodded, his mother's sacrifice. "So, I have a Guardian. The Draconis Trima? I know Draconis is Latin for Dragon. But Trima. . . that's not a word that is English, Latin, or French. What is Trima?" Hermione felt a little stupid asking the girl before her for answers. *She * was supposed to be the know-it-all. As a matter fact, her intelligence level must've plummeted, because she hadn't really shown that she was a know-it-all since she went to the Burrow about two weeks earlier.
"Trima. . . well. . . er. . . I can't really explain that to you."
Hermione suddenly did a double-take. "WAIT A SEC! What are you DOING here???!!" She screeched, staring at the girl.
"Oh well, I guess Draco never mentioned I'm a Medium, not to mention a Seer, right?"
"You're a Medium? And a Seer?" Hermione's jaw dropped. "But. . . you're so young!"
Melody snorted, "Look, haven't you seen that a Gift is not necessarily determined by age? You are the youngest Storm Mage, and a Goddess Incarnate to boot."
Suddenly, pieces began to fall into place. "That's why Draco wanted to bring you. Asking for Immunity wasn't for him, it was for you! Malfoy Senior was going to start using you. You're gift had been made apparent." Hermione looked at the child in front of her with awe.
Melody nodded, her eyes sad. "He's always protected me the best he could." She jerked her head up, "Hermione, we must leave. It's no longer safe here. We must get to safety." Her little voice was urgent.
"But, how do I leave?"
"The way you came." Was the answer, just before the child faded out.
"Wait! The way I came!? Melody?!" The darkness seemed more ominous, somehow colder. Hermione felt the stirrings of panic. "How did I get here?"
A blinding flash of light startled her, and suddenly, she was awake, a scream dying on her lips.
***
Lucius dragged into the house, cradling his arm. His eyes gleamed with a mania borne of long hours of struggle.
"What happened to you?" Peter asked, incredulously.
"None of your concern, Rat!" Lucius snarled. "I need to see our Lord."
Peter glared, "He's in his study. . . I would suggest you not disturb him unless it is indeed urgent." He shuddered suddenly. He'd learned the hard way, with a Crucio.
Lucius sneered, then made his way to the winding staircase. He looked up the stairs with a sigh, and then began the long trek up the stairs.
***
"Mel?" Hermione croaked, struggling to stand. Her eyes were adjusting to the harsh light, and what she saw made her gasp. Pansy lay unconscious not a few feet from her, and Melody was facedown on the ground. "Oh Gods, Mel!" Hermione stumbled forward, falling to her knees by the prostrate child. Tears clouded her vision, as she turned Melody onto her back. The girl gave a little whimper, and Hermione almost laughed giddily. "Mel. . . Gods your alive!"
"Mione?" Her baby voice was thick, "Hurt, Mione. Want Bubby." The girl slowly opened her eyes, cobalt orbs locking on hers with an intensity that shocked Hermione. "Seen. . . seen. Mione. . . seen. . . hurt." Her babble made no sense, but Hermione could see that the girl was indeed hurt, and going into shock.
"It's okay, Mel. Here. . ." Hermione gathered the child in her arms. "Where does it hurt?" She asked, trying to keep the girl awake.
"Head. . . tummy. . . want Bubby-eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" The girl suddenly wailed, screwing her face up, tears marring the pale cheeks.
"SHhhhh. We'll go and find him." Hermione cooed, uncertain to whether she should move the girl or not, but opting for the former, because leaving her wasn't an option.
***
"My Lord." Lucius bowed deeply, scraping the floor.
"I trust you have the girl?" Voldemort replied coldly.
"Well, there was a problem. . ." Lucius straightened, squaring his shoulders.
"What sort of problem?"
"A big one. . .My Lord."
***
"Harry? Draco? Ron?" Hermione carefully avoided the broken glass of the window. "Where is everyone?"
A groan from her right sent her spinning around. "Who's there?!" She demanded.
"Hermione, not so loud, please!" Draco's voice washed over her, filling her with relief. Hermione almost began to sob, and Melody was squirming to get down with all her might. Draco materialized, a little worse for the wear, but still coherent. Hermione strode over, quickly handing Melody over.
"Melody!" He breathed, hugging the girl tightly. "Gods, I was so worried!"
"Bubby, I's seen." Draco drew a shaky breath, "I's seen bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Mione helps us. But bad. Bad daddy. Bad scary man."
Hermione sighed. "Lemme guess. Lucius and Voldemort are planning your ultimate demise and my capture. Wow. Life's great." She grinned sardonically. "Now I know how Harry feels."
"And how do I feel exactly, because at the moment, I'm not sure to be glad I'm alive, or curse the Gods because I didn't die. I've got a killer headache, and Ginny isn't helping anything."
Hermione whipped around, flinging herself at Harry, pulling him into a bone- crushing hug slightly reminiscent of Molly. Draco scowled. "Hey, I certainly didn't get that reception." He accused darkly.
Harry grinned, "I'm the Hero."
"And what am I? Chopped Liver?" Ron stumbled in from the kitchen, pale and shaken, but fine otherwise. "Y'know, I do believe Bill and Charlie are going to be upset to know we defeated an entourage of Deatheaters without them. It *was * on their to do list."
Hermione launched herself at Ron, hugging him too. Then something occurred to her. "Where's George?" She asked softly, her eyes going huge. "And Sirius. . . and Fred. . . and Remus. . . and your Mum and Dad?"
Ron sighed. "Mum and Dad are currently in the backyard, Dad is keeping Mum from using all sorts of terrible curses and hexes on a few leftover Deatheaters. Sirius and Remus are interrogating. I haven't seen Fred, or George for that matter."
Ginny stumbled down the stairs, bumping into Harry. "They're upstairs, making certain none of their products are destroyed."
Hermione sighed in relief, then scowled, "Oh sure, make sure the supplies are fine, ignore his girlfriend."
Suddenly Draco stared around, "Where's Pansy?" Crabbe and Goyle were sitting on the floor, rubbing their aching heads.
"Oh, damn! She's outside." Hermione turned, striding back into the front yard. Pansy lay where she had before. Hermione sighed, kneeling next to the girl. "Pansy?" She didn't respond. "Pansy? Pansy!" Hermione turned her over, she was breathing, but wasn't moving otherwise. "Oh no!"
"What is it?" Draco looked at Pansy, his heart beating furiously. "Why isn't she waking up."
"She. . .uh, well, she may be. . . erm. . . knocked out, y'know." Hermione said, unconvincingly.
***
"A dragon?" Voldemort stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that complicates things a little, but. . ." He turned back to Lucius. . . "Don't worry, we'll get her."
"But, My Lord? How?" Lucius bit his tongue.
"It is strange that her Guardian is a Dragon. Fitting, though, I suppose."
"Why's that, My Lord?"
"Dragons are grand Guardians, with one major character flaw. The person they are tied to shares a deep bond with them. Corrupt the Dragon, corrupt the girl."
"But how to corrupt a Dragon?"
"By making it doubt itself."
*__________________________________________________________________ *
A/N: Well, didn't get as far as I wanted, but it seemed like a good place to stop. Don't forget to RR.
Love,
~Me~
