Chapter 42
"Just stay out of our way and we'll do our best not to hex you to death," they heard a Slytherin sneer to another student as they rounded the corner to the Entrance Hall.
"It's all you, Draegon," Andraste said, giving Draco a small smile. He nodded and walked ahead of Andi and Severus, towards the student that he knew to be a trouble causer even by Slytherin standards.
"You are at a distinct disadvantage, Slade," Draegon said, positioning himself so that his vampiric form was towering over the boy that had given Andraste so much trouble the night before. "You see, I have very little patience for idiocy, and you apparently have the misfortune of being an idiot. I suggest you all listen to me very carefully," Draegon said, glaring harshly at the students around him. "Your professor put it nicely this morning, now I'm going to put it honestly. You will learn to cooperate with each other. You will learn to work together, and you will learn to do it with a smile. My dear friend seems to believe that each and everyone of you actually possess the ability to be decent human beings, or I would not have agreed to put my own life on hold to help her with you miserable prats. I, for one, stand beside what she said. I can be a great ally to any of you, or a friend to none of you. It is your choice, but I will not," he growled, giving Andi and Severus a quick look to see the reassuring approval on their faces, "I repeat, I WILL NOT tolerate ignorance. Thanks to Mr. Slade here, magic is forbidden until 8 a.m. tomorrow, so you will all be carrying your things to your new quarters the muggle way. Now, follow me."
Andraste and Severus watched with impressed amusement as Draco, in his new form, led the grumbling students away. "I think he's going to do just fine," she said hopefully.
"You gave him a second chance at life, Andi," he whispered low, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "One would hope he can handle it from here, what do you say we…" he said, leaning into her as he made his suggestions.
"Severus!" she replied, attempting to chide him but finding her voice caught in her throat as her cheeks began to burn a red somewhere between embarrassment and lust. "You don't have to go, but I do. This was my idea, remember?" Andraste walked away from Severus quickly, catching up with Draco before she lost all of her willpower and forgot about Unity House completely. "The password to the house is 'Integrity'," she told the students as they approached the normally unused section of Hogwarts. "The door is charmed to only allow professors and those that live here in, just as your normal dorms are set to prohibit your access."
"Mrs. Andraste," Hermione piped up as they walked into their new home. "Who was that a painting of? I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"His name was Aedon Kamler," she said, resisting the urge to stiffen enough that only Severus and Hermione were able to see the change in her demeanor. "You'll notice that this particular painting does not move or talk, and I promise you all," she smirked, "that it is better that way. Now if there are no other questions, the girls dorms are down that hall and the boys are that way," she said, pointing down the hallways that led off of the large common room. "Find the door with your year level printed on it; that will be your room for the next two weeks. I would suggest you all go make yourselves comfortable and start to get to know each other. The more of a headache you make this, the longer you're going to end up staying here, even if that means making every student in this school a permanent resident of Unity House."
"I want everyone back down at one for lunch," Draegon added as the students headed to their dorms. "Miss Granger, my quarters are through that door. Please meet me there after you drop your things off." Hermione blushed and nodded before continuing down the hall with the other girls.
"Draco," Severus seethed quietly, "if you even think about..."
"Can we talk about this in private, please?" Draegon interrupted, and then headed towards his own quarters without waiting for responses. They followed Draco into his new living room, Severus obviously already angry as they both waited for him to talk. "Could you at least sit down?" Draegon asked as he took his own seat.
"If you abuse your position in any way, Draco," Professor Snape began, "I will personally…"
"Severus," Andraste interrupted quietly as she pulled him towards the couch, "let's see what he has to say."
"Thank you, Andi," Draco replied, his insecurity at the situation clear in his eyes as he stared between the floor and the two professors. "Professor Snape," he began, "I should probably start by telling you that I heard your conversation with Granger last night. I wasn't trying to listen because I had no idea that you were Draegon, but I did hear most of it." He hesitated for moment, looking up to find nothing more than blank expressions on his companions faces. "This is my chance to do things differently, and I really want to. I don't want to be my father…I know, I mean the entire school knows that you two are close to the Gryffindors, those three in particular, and it seemed kind of like Granger was close to you as Draegon too." Draco took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he was going to say, and then continued, talking much faster than he was before. "You said I could tell one person that you said was okay, and I think it should be her." Severus stared at Draco with suspicion, but Andraste was the first to reply.
"I'm very proud of you Draco," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "I know this is hard for you, but you made the decision based on what's best for everyone, not just what you want. That goes a long way in showing me that I was right by trusting you." "Say something reassuring, Severus," she whispered into her husbands mind, but he was spared the necessity by a knock at the door.
"Come in," Draegon said, barely loud enough for Hermione to hear.
"Hello all," she said, offering greeting to her two professors before turning to the one she knew as Draegon. "You wanted to see me?"
"Sit down," Severus said, answering before Draco had the chance. Once Hermione had settled herself in a chair, the older man continued, ignoring the look of confusion on her face. "What you are about to hear can not leave this room, Hermione. That means no telling Ron or Harry, is that understood?" The young girl nodded as Severus turned to his wife. "You're the secret keeper, so you are the only one that can tell her, Andi."
Andraste's eyes flicked briefly from the two men in front of her and then back to the apprehensive girl that she had become so close to. "Why don't you two make the rounds? I want to talk to her alone."
"He told you, didn't he?" Hermione started as soon as the other two left the room and she had moved over to the couch next to Andi. "I was going to tell you, I swear. I just…Oh God, Andi, I'm so sorry," she said, collapsing into tears and wrapping her arms around her professors neck. "I'm glad he's dead, I swear I am."
"Hermione," she whispered softly, trying to gently console the girl and yet still bring her back to the intended topic. "Look at me, honey." Andraste gave her a moment to wipe the tears away, and then continued. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. He did tell me, and all I had to say is I'm glad that you talked to someone, but Hermione; that's not what I need to talk about."
"It's not?" Hermione questioned as blush rose to her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I just assumed. But I guess you wouldn't need to be a secret-keeper to talk about that would you?"
"I'm thinking probably not, though if you need to talk about it, I always have the time."
"Um, well," Hermione stuttered, clearly embarrassed by her own outburst, "I think talking to Draegon helped, but what did you want to talk about?"
"Actually, we need to discuss Draegon. There's some things that we feel you should know."
"I'm not in love with him, I swear," Hermione said quickly, stumbling through her promise. "I don't even like him like that anymore."
"That's definitely a good thing," Andraste replied, "but that's not what I wanted to talk about either." A fresh blush rose up on Hermione's already red cheeks as she put her head in her hands and concentrated on the floor.
"I'm going to just shut up now."
"I'm not sure," Andraste laughed, "but I think that might be for the best." Andi straightened her demeanor a bit, and then continued. "Hermione, this is very serious, and you have to handle this as carefully as possible. No one can even suspect that everything might not be what it seems." Hermione nodded and listened intently as Andraste began to go into detail of everything that happened, starting with Severus originally being Draegon to how Draco came about playing his current role. "I really think he wants to change, and I'm asking you not to hold who he was against him. You need to remember, it was him that suggested you be told, and he knew that we were only willing to tell one person." Hermione sat back and closed her eyes for a moment before looking back up at Andraste.
"So you're saying that Ron was right?" Andraste began to laugh lightly at the flimsiness of Hermione's response, but quickly regained herself.
"Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying. Just out of curiosity, did he mention how he knew?"
"Yeah, he said he could tell as soon as Draegon started playing guitar. Only Snape is that bloody brilliant," she said, doing her best impersonation of her red-headed friend. "He had a hard time believing that there could be two people on the planet that played guitar that well. Oh, and he said something about the way Draegon was holding the guitar was the same way Professor Snape does. But he also said he doesn't care as long as he plays for us again."
"I'll see what we can do about that then," Andraste said. "But in the meantime, could you please let Draco start with a clean slate? You're the only one that knows, and if you could it wouldn't even hurt for you to show him a little support. It would mean a lot to me."
"I'll do what I can, Andi. But there's a condition."
"And what would that be?" Andraste asked with mock wariness.
"Don't ever tell anyone I was hitting on your husband. Because Ewww."
"You have my word," Andraste dead-panned, and then they both broke out laughing. The two chatted for a few minutes about less than important topics before Severus knocked at the door to announce their presence and then came in without waiting for a reply.
"All of the students are settling, and seem to be behaving for the most part. How is everything here?" Hermione studied Draco for a moment, seeing an uncertainty in him that she had never seen before. Gone was the cocky boy that she had hated for so long, and in his place, even in Draegon's form, was a terrified kid desperately looking for reassurance.
"Andi," Hermione said quietly, "could you drop his charm?"
"It's up to him," she replied, looking to Draco for an answer.
"It's fine," he mumbled, shuffling his feet against the floor much the way students tend to do when they've been sent to the headmaster's office. Draco's form melted back into how she knew him to look as Hermione stood up and walked over to him with determination that made Andraste proud, and then held out her hand for him to shake. He stared at her for a moment, as if unsure what he was supposed to do, and then tentatively placed his own hand in her outstretched one.
"You made the right decision, Draco," Hermione said, addressing him by his given name for the first time. "I'm glad you're on our side now."
"Thank you Gra- Hermione. You know," he said, his eyes only briefly leaving the floor to glance up at her, "I'm sorry for…"
"It's part of the past," she interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "What matters is the now, and now there's no reason for us to be any less than friends. I know what your doing is hard, and I'm here if you need to talk," she gave Severus and Andi a quick glance. "You know, to someone your own age."
"You really must spend a lot of time with Professor Andraste," Draco replied, smirking in a much more friendly way than he used to, "you sound just like her."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Hermione beamed. "But I'm going to go settle in. I'll see you at lunch if none of you need me before then."
"Thanks Hermione," Andraste said as the younger girl headed towards the door. "Could you stop and remind Harry he's supposed to be in my office after lunch?"
"Sure," Hermione replied, smiling mischievously. "Detention or tutoring?"
"Whichever."
"Then detention for missing tutoring it is."
"We'll see you later," Andraste laughed. Once all good-byes had been said, Severus turned to Draco with a gentle reminder that he should behave in a way appropriate to his role as Andraste changed his appearance back to the vampire the students expected to see. Soon the two professors had left him to settle in as well, and were on their way back to their own room.
"So what's on the schedule for today's lesson?" Severus asked as Andraste flopped herself down onto their couch.
"I figured we could kill two birds with one stone. I'll start teaching him how to use my shields, and you can start teaching me how to use a wand."
"I was thinking about that," Severus finally answered after a few moments. "His wand may not respond to you."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Andraste replied flippantly. "If all else fails we can go get a new one."
"Very true," he said, looking around the living room with worry. "But how much stuff is going to get broken seeing if all else has failed?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Andraste laughed.
"Have you ever seen a wand react badly to someone? I heard that Mr. Potter managed to destroy half of Ollivander's before he found one that worked for him."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest, that if you can behave this time, we switch and you can try my wand. If it doesn't work for you then we'll know that you need to go get a new one in Harry's form before we start teaching you how to use it."
"Works for me," Andi said, as she got back up off the couch and headed to their private lab. A moment later she returned carrying four of the vials that she had marked as the potions made for her and Severus. Soon after they had each drank their first one, Severus walked over to his own form and pulled his wand out of his robe.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Severus incanted, pointing his wand at a throw pillow and causing it to hang in midair. "This is one of the first spells a student here learns." Once he allowed the vase to settle back onto the table, he handed the wand to Andraste. "Now you try."
"Easy enough." Andraste repeated the charm that Severus had used and put the wand through identical motions, only to have the spell that should have levitated the pillow spark and fizzle. "Well, I guess that answers that question," she said, handing Severus' wand back to him.
"Just as I thought. I suspect finding your appropriate wand is going to be a task indeed since you don't normally use one. I also suspect, however, that once we find you one it will concentrate your magic even more."
"So let's go get one after lunch," Andraste said, shrugging her shoulders and heading towards the door. "Speaking of, it's time to eat."
"Andraste," Severus reminded gently, "the potion first."
"I love you, honey," she replied without stopping.
"The potion, Andi!" Severus demanded firmly. The only answer he got was a light laugh as Andraste walked out and towards the Great Hall – still in his body.