Author's Note: Hi. I'm back after an inexcusably long period of writing this stupid chapter. Stupid, but important. I believe it is one of the most important chapters thus far. It clears up several rather large things that I may have had people confused about. So, let's get on with it.
DarkRaven-04: Oh, I'm so sorry for even making you think that that was the last chapter. It most definitely was not. I am estimating two or three chapters left, but you never know.
Alenor: Yes, our characters are going through quite a roller coaster of emotions.
Natty123: Yeah, I was actually surprised at the excitement the last chapter took on. It's as if it's writing itself.
Cold feet: haha.
Samantha Cameron: Glad to see a new name. And I'm glad you like it.
Darlightprincess: hands darlightprincess a tissue Don't worry. It will be all right.
Usuu Bishouji: I most definitely will.
Dracoluvsme2: That makes me so happy to hear. I'm really flattered.
Chibimecools: If you died I'd never forgive myself. Thanks for the enthusiasm.
GoddessofRa: laughs really hard Your review made me laugh and smile. I'm afraid I've never seen Charmed or Angel, but please feel free to give me the updates on them.
Sweetncute325: I'm so glad my humor is appreciated. A lot of people simply find me stupid.
Miss Mills: Anything for you, love.
Crash-kiks-ass: I'm really glad you like it. However, if I may say, I hope you're not just looking for romance in this romance because, while it's in there, and it's still coming, it's not what I set out to write. I set out to write a good story. So, I'm sorry to frustrate you and thank you for the eloquent compliment.
Chapter 23: A Lesson in MythologyHermione awoke from a restless sleep while the moon was still hanging in the morning sky. She turned her weary head on her pillow and closed her eye once more, firmly believing that all of the past events had been only a dream. That the dance and Lucius and Draco's flight had all been mere fantasy- a nightmare played by her cruel mind.
Yet, while she thought about it, she was just as glad this morning as she was distressed. Yes, Draco was gone, but he did in fact love her. The knowledge of that, plus the death of the one human being she despised most, made her heart nearly burst.
She finally resigned herself to waking up. It was inevitable anyway, wasn't it? She sat up on the bed and felt with her feet for her slippers, only to stub her toe on something hard instead. It was the journal still kept from months ago.
She hadn't recalled leaving it by her bed. In fact, she thought she had stored it in her trunk; but perhaps she had simply forgotten.
Hermione bent to pick up the journal, ready to replace it in her trunk before she realized that the book had been marked by a long thread hanging out the side. She pulled at the thread to flip open the journal to the marked page and her heart nearly stopped.
It was Draco's writing. Hermione knew instinctively having copied what seemed like hundreds of notes from him during her months of hiding in his dormitory. It was Draco's writing.
Moments passed before Hermione could adjust her mind to actually reading the words scrawled out on the page.
Good morning my dear, I hope your sleep was sweet.
Already word has passed my ears of the death of Lucius Malfoy and the culprit to be blamed. There had been a brief time when I second-guessed myself and truly thought I had gone unseen last night on the rooftop. But I certainly had not. The Death Eater circle is buzzing with news of the traitorous son of the respected Lucius Malfoy.
Therefore have I gone into hiding. I dearly wish I could tell you where but since I find that impossible, I will disclose only one fact. I am near. Perhaps not near enough to touch and see, but near enough to feel your presence and hold on to the hope that one day I will be with you again. And so, love, with that in mind, I bid you go though your day with a happy heart and a clear mind.
Draco Malfoy
Hermione lowered the page as if from a dream. Draco was indeed watching out for her and that alone could be her food and drink as long as she needed.
Once she readily recovered from the sheer shock of the words, she realized how dangerous this note was if found by the wrong people. She hurriedly wrapped it in a couple of her shirts and stuffed it in her trunk before getting ready for the day.
The school was in an uproar. Questions about Lucius Malfoy's death spread like wildfire and suddenly everyone knew all the answers. The most popular story was that Mr. Malfoy had come to find Harry Potter and Draco had gotten jealous, the two ending up in a fight as to who would murder the Boy Who Lived. Being Harry's best friend, Ron was terrified and spent the day chasing off anyone who had so much as a word to say to Harry. As Harry's wife, best friend and one known for her emotional outbursts, everyone was baffled at the collected attitude of Hermione. She went about her day smiling and nodding calmly at any questions about Harry's condition.
To be honest, she simply didn't care. She thought the frantic gossip so dull it was nearly unbearable. Of course, being the only person to truly have witnessed Lucius' murder, Hermione also found it amusing to listen in on all of the theories. Really, though, only one thing remained on her contented mind throughout the day, and that was that Draco had escaped this ruthless crowd. She hated to imagine what would have happened if he had stayed.
Not that he couldn't have handled himself. He was always one to have the upper hand on any situation. The rumors would be quieter, the whispers unseen, but they would have been present and the fear and paranoia in the innocent halls would have been overwhelming.
It wasn't until early afternoon that her information caught up to her. It was the middle of Transfiguration and Hermione was spacing considerably, gazing out the window at the empty sky, while material of switching spells was being pelted their direction.
Hermione's attention was finally pulled forward at McGonagall's sudden silence. A rolled note had appeared before her and she was reading it silently. She rerolled and tied it and held it in front of her.
"Hermione Granger," she called, "the headmaster would like a word with you in his office. Please deliver this note back to him."
Hermione slowly stood and walked to her professor, suddenly very afraid of what exactly the headmaster could need from her. She made her way hesitantly out of the room, the scroll in hand to return to the headmaster and walked numbly through the corridors, her mind buzzing with possibilities.
Did he know that Hermione had been there that night? Would Harry be there and would he have news about how to annul their marriage? Or could he possibly know where Draco was?
Hermione's heart froze and she stopped still in the hallway at the thought that ran through her head.
Could Draco be there? When she went up the winding staircase and into the headmaster's office would she actually see Draco? It made sense in her mind. What better place to hide from a group of Death Eaters than at Hogwarts itself. And, she thought, Dumbledore would undoubtedly believe Draco's story and side with him over everyone else. Dumbledore was sensible like that. After all, he had never failed them before.
Hermione's breathing had returned, but it came in shallow gasps and she slowly stumbled her way toward the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office. Hermione stopped in front of it. She didn't know the password.
She cursed and tried desperately to think. Had she been told? No, she thought. She definitely had not been told what the password was. Well, she thought, how was she supposed to get in if she didn't know the password?
"Great," she said, looking straight at the gargoyle, "How the hell am I supposed to see Draco if I can't even get past you?"
She looked around desperately, searching for something that could be an indication of the sweet Dumbledore currently preferred. Nothing came.
Then she looked down at the scroll in her hand. Why would McGonagall have wanted her to take the scroll? Hermione felt horrible for even thinking of looking at what Dumbledore had written about her to McGonagall. But, while the suspense was killing her of what was on the other side of the wall, her brain slowly became accustomed to the idea and before she knew it, her hands were untying the ribbon around the scroll and unrolling it slowly, her eyes taking in all the empty parchment, searching for words.
Finally, she reached text and unrolled faster, to begin at the top. It said this-
Minerva,
Please send Hermione Granger to my office. Also, I am running out of fizzing whizbees in my office so if you could send some up that would be splendid. Thank you.
Albus
Hermione blinked. Not a single indication of anything in this letter. McGonagall was daft. Why on earth would Dumbledore care to get this back? A completely generic request for a student and extra candy.
Hermione's eyes widened. This was it. McGonagall was glorious. Of course she wouldn't want the entire class hearing the headmaster's password, so she had counted Hermione's curiosity. Hermione inwardly kicked herself. Was this the reputation she had given herself? She really couldn't care less at the moment.
"Fizzing Whizbee."
The gargoyle sprang to life and hopped to the side, allowing a great gap in the wall, where Hermione slid herself past quickly.
She ran full speed up the stairs, jumping two at a time, thinking only of seeing Draco's face on the other side of the door at the top of the stairs. She reached the door out of breath and knocked frantically on the door.
"Headmaster?" she gasped through her teeth.
"Come in, Miss Granger."
She flung the door open…
Her face dropped at the sight of an empty office. No Draco. There was just Dumbledore sitting calmly at his desk. No indication whatever of her love.
She closed the door quietly and calmly regained her breath, exhausted for nothing. Her eyes rolled at the excitement she had built this up to. The headmaster had probably just wanted to talk about classes or grades. Something like that.
Hermione sat across from Dumbledore on the edge of her seat. She fiddled with her shirt and looked down at the corner of the room, fixing her eyes on a small dust bunny that sat stationary against the rug.
"Miss Granger?"
Hermione looked up, startled at the noise.
"Yes, Headmaster?" she asked quietly, redirecting her gaze toward Dumbledore. "You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes, I did." Dumbledore grinned and continued, "The past few days have been quite interesting, wouldn't you agree?"
Hermione nodded, "Yes. It's crazy. Everything about Lucius and what not."
"What I find even more incredible is that Mr. Malfoy junior simply disappeared."
"Rumor has it that he ran away after his father died… out of grief."
"I have heard other rumors, Miss Granger."
"Well, rumors are ridiculous. Especially these. They're completely unfounded and based on the bitterness students have against Draco for being a bully. Being a bully does not make someone a murderer."
"I never said anything about Mr. Malfoy being a murderer."
Hermione looked back at her lap and resumed playing with her shirt, twisting it around her fingers and rubbing a small stain toward the bottom.
"Miss Granger, I need you to tell me what happened last night."
"Well," Hermione said slowly, "the Valentine's Day Ball was last night, Professor. And, of course, the incident with Mr. Malfoy." Hermione was beginning to panic at exactly what Dumbledore was getting at. Did he know?
"Did you enjoy yourself at the ball?"
She was shaken from her thoughts.
"Yes," she said, "but I got tired and went to my room to get to bed early nearly an hour in."
"So early?"
"Yes, I wanted to be well-rested for class today."
Dumbledore smiled.
"You know, Miss Granger, that I can try to do something for you, if you need it."
"Is that why you called me here?"
"Or anyone else who needs help."
Hermione turned from him quickly and looked back at the dust bunny. Eyes averted, she said, "No thank you. I'm fine, Professor."
"What class do you have now?" Dumbledore asked, standing and crossing to his hutch at the side of the room.
"Transfiguration, Professor." Hermione looked up, slightly bewildered. He had, after all, just called her from that class.
"No, Miss Granger," he said, bringing a bowl of candy to the desk and setting it in front of her. "Look at the time."
Hermione looked up at the large clock on the wall. She was amazed to see that a half hour had passed. It had not seemed that she had been in his office for that long. Hmm… Hermione took a fizzing whizbee from the bowl and popped it in her mouth.
"I have Ancient Cultures in a few minutes."
Dumbledore nodded. "Important class. Not many people realize it, but we have to look at the past to know anything about our future, don't we?"
Hermione looked up at him questioningly.
"We really must pay attention to it, shouldn't we?" he continued, "It's a real shame when the more unpleasant history repeats itself, wouldn't you agree? When we had the information in front of us."
"Professor…?" Hermione looked up at him, uncertain and afraid of what he had just said.
"Go to class, Miss Granger," Dumbledore smiled and patted Hermione on the shoulder as she stood and walked to the door. "Here," Dumbledore outstretched his hand, filled with candy. "Something to snack on."
"Thank you, Professor."
Hermione, stuffing candy into her pockets, made her way slowly down the stairs, holding tightly on to the rail, and out into the hallway. Her brain hurt from taking in so much information and stress. She mused over just how unfair it all was while making her way to Ancient Cultures.
Quiet as she was, Hermione still managed to be noticed as she made her way, several minutes late, into the classroom.
"Glad you could join us, Miss Granger," the tall, Athenian woman said as Hermione entered. "I just spoke with Professor Dumbledore."
Hermione nodded and took her seat towards the back of the room. She was tired and wanted nothing else to doze through class, half-listening and taking no notes. She thought she might even sleep. Heck, she was feeling rebellious.
"This unit we will be covering mortals in the myths," the heavy accent went on in her deep euphonious voice. "We will begin with some love stories today for the ladies. I understand that gentlemen will be bored silly during this section, but in good time we will come to adventure stories. Now, I believe the myths about mortals are perhaps the most important for us, because they teach us lessons and give us models to judge our lives by. The deities are above the law and sufferings of a mortal, but reading about people who have the same weaknesses and joys as we do gives us a better template for our lives, don't you think?"
There was an incoherent mutter of agreement from the semi-comatose student population.
"I thought very hard of how to start this unit, and many stories came to mind," the rich voice went on, droning to a sweet lull that soothed Hermione nearly to sleep. "Some that I considered was the story of Psyche and Eros, a romantic story of a God falling in love with a mortal princess and all that they do to eventually live eternally together. However, I decide no. Another I thought of was the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, and how her curiosity ruined what could have been a happy ending for them. But I decide no for that one too. I apologize; I am losing your attention. The story I have decided to start this unit of mortals with is one of two very normal teenagers, much like yourselves, who let their romantic ideals take them to extremes. They loved each other passionately, even though their two worlds opposed and forbade them to be together, and died tragically. The story I have decided to teach you first is that of Hero and Leander."
Hermione was wide-awake in an instant and paying rapt attention. With the announcement finally made, a hundred words flooded Hermione's mind.
Hero and Leander… Ever since I read it it's been my favorite… Here they are, two lovers who don't just stand around moping because they can't be together- they take action… You can't deny the feelings of a broken heart…
Draco.
But perhaps the tale we need look into altogether is that of Mistress Hero and her Leander… Need I warn you against this? Her torch was blown out with a mighty gust and his body wracked in the unforgiving sea until the sun brought truth- and that truth is death.
The letter from Lucius.
Hero and Leander had been a subconscious topic in Hermione's mind for months now. It always seemed to come up. This obscure myth about two tragic lovers, and here it came up again. Hermione leaned further in on her chair and pulled out a pen and paper to begin taking notes, finally interested in the class.
"We should begin," the tall woman drawled out in a tone that would doubtless put everyone else in the class to sleep, "with the myth itself, as I remember it told to me by the story-tellers in the village I lived in. After I tell the story to you, we will analyze it. Sound okay?" Being met with no opposition, the professor continued on, "Okay. Two youths fell in love at a dance in Sestus." The woman spoke quietly and darkly, as if telling a story around a campfire, eyes wide and voice menacing, "Hero was a priestess from Sestus, and, out of her normal habitat, she became infatuated with Leander, a young man from Abydus, who took notice of her and gave her great attention. They very soon fell in love and he promised her, 'I will come for you.'"
The professor became slowly more animated, waving her arms about and racing back and forth across the classroom to indicate locations. "Because of the opposing sides of their homes and backgrounds, the two could not declare their love openly and so devised a way to meet. Every night, Hero would climb a high tower and light a torch that would lead her love to her. He swam the perilous waters of the Hellespont to be with her and for nights the lovers were together.
"But, one night, a great storm came," she threw herself about as if being tossed by a storm, "and, despite all warnings, Leander made his way across the straight once again. Halfway to his beloved, the wind blew out the torch lit to guide his passage and, lost in the waves, he drowned. Upon seeing his body washed ashore, Hero, heartbroken, cast herself from her tower upon the rocks below and died." She ended on a quiet, solemn note and made her way to the front of the room, gazing seriously at the students. "Good story, no?"
Hermione doubted if anyone else had even heard the story, but right now, her heart was pumping so hard she could hear her blood rushing in her ears and she seriously thought she would throw up at any moment.
As the myth had gone on, Hermione could see herself in Hero's place and Draco as Leander. Everything matched so clearly. They came from different backgrounds. As far as she could see, the muggle world and the Death Eater world were as far apart as Abydus and Sestus. They had been thrown together unaware, unprepared and out of their comfortable environment, allowing both of them to become vulnerable enough to fall in love. It had, in fact, been above the dance that they had articulated their love for one another. And now, Draco had promised that he would come for her.
Hermione could only think of the rest of the myth. Would Draco come every night? Would she be his guide? And would he eventually be killed in a storm, leaving her to follow his same destiny?
Only one thing she knew, and that was that she needed to get the hell out of this classroom. And now.
"Professor," Hermione stood shakily, "I don't feel well; may I go to the nurse?"
The woman raised an eyebrow for a moment, and after careful consideration, nodded quickly and returned her attentions to the class.
Hermione nearly ran out the door into the hall where she flung herself against the nearest wall and sunk to the ground, allowing the tears to come. She could not let her fate become this one. She could not allow history to repeat itself.
Only one solution came to her, and that was to go back to Dumbledore. He had promised that if she… or anyone else… needed anything, she could go to him; and now she needed help, or at the very least reassurance and comfort.
With the resolution to march to Dumbledore's office, say fizzing whizbee, and confront him about the Hero and Leander problem, she stood and made her way down the hallway.
Her route was shortened considerably when, upon turning the corner, she ran straight into Dumbledore. It reminded her of a strange incident only a year earlier. She shook her head slowly and tried to find the words she had resolved to say only moments before.
"Professor…?" she said urgently.
"Miss Granger," he patted her shoulder and straightened his robes, "Calm down, we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."
She nodded and took a deep breath.
"Do you know the myth of Hero and Leander?" she asked desperately.
"Yes, it's quite a good one."
"What went wrong?" Hermione asked, only to be met by a quizzical smile from her headmaster. "I mean, with how the story ends. Was it an error in communication, was Leander just stupid… I mean, why did they have to die?"
"Well," Dumbledore stroked his chin for a moment before replying. "I believe that Hero and Leander were young and whatever had happened, they would have made an adventure out of it. But, in this particular situation, I am afraid the blame rests upon Hero. Never once did she do anything for the benefit of the two of them. She did not leave her tower and she did not get a second torch." He blinked several times and continued, "So, Miss Granger, if Hero and had been a bit smarter- someone like you, perhaps- she could have altered their fate."
Hermione's eyes glazed over slightly as her brain frantically worked at what the headmaster had said. She was torn from her thoughts though by a small pat on the arm and a gentle nod before the headmaster was off down the hall once more.
So, if it was up to Hero, then it would be up to her, she decided. Hermione exhaled as the first plan she could think of came to her mind. She hurried up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room and flew up the stairs to her dormitory.
She dove on to her bed and grabbed at her trunk, pulling clothes out in a frantic search for the pile that held her well-worn journal. Finally coming upon it, she grabbed at a pen and ink and wrote in a furious scribble on the page opposite Draco's last note-
Draco,
Whatever you do, do not come here. I can wait as long as I must, but with the Death Eater situation becoming so perilous, I believe it unwise to risk your life. Wait, my dear, and one day we will be together again. Whatever happens, do not make me worry more than I already am.
All my love,
Hermione
PS Reread your favorite myth, my dear. I refuse to become another Hero and Leander.
End Note: There you go. The whole reason for the title and summary and purpose of the story in a nutshell. I promise in the summary that this is a mirror of the Greek myth Hero and Leander and, while you may have doubted it, I hope you now have an understanding to what I'm doing. Please review, and have a good day, pals.