Etean watched the pebble skip and bounce across the surface of the water, plink…plink…plink…splash. He paused as his fingers squeezed the next pebble. His eyes scanned the horizon, trying to lose himself in the endless rippling surface of the lake. A strong wind from the mountains was whipping and chopping the water, lifting jets of icy spray from the crests of the waves. His mind buzzed, the same thought, the same question repeated in his head over and over, 'is one life worth risking millions?' Looking at it from the Council's point of view, it was a simple matter, one life weighted against the whole world? Of course the decision was hardly worth considering, the only problem was deciding at what point the decision should be made. That was their view on it. He laughed to himself, it had been his view when this had started but now? His head tilted back and he shut his eyes, now things were not that simple.
He thought back to the academy, to the Council meeting where this had all started, the debate, the vote, the decision. Looking at it now, it struck him just how cold and detached the meeting had been. Council meetings took place in a darkened room that was, for want of a better way of putting it, a different world. Standing there, dressed in black, shielded by impenetrable shadows and blissful anonymity it was surprisingly easy to reduce peoples lives to simple statistics. In there, people were just facts and figures, survivors and casualties of war. This war they had chosen to fight. He opened his eyes and hurled the stone across the lake as hard as he could, grimacing as a muscle in his shoulder complained at the effort. He rubbed his shoulder, the pain faded slowly as he hunkered down to pick up another stone. His eyes scanned the horizon again,
"Don't make me kill you Draco," he whispered. The dull ache in the back of his head grew more severe, he could feel his pulse pound in his ears. 'Concentrate Etean, get the better of this,' His teeth ground and winced as the pressure built up and the dizziness returned. He sighed, his…condition, was becoming a problem more frequently as Poliakov had said it would. Being surrounded by so many untrained and undisciplined wizards was taking its toll him. He had never spent so much time around people like these, he had never been allowed to. Still it was a simple problem, one that was easily treated.
In his mind he repeated the incantation, waving his hand in the air as he did. His fingers closed around the goblet as it materialised. He drank its contents in one go, the bitter taste threatened to make him gag but he forced it down. The potion settled in his stomach and he felt the wave of heat spread out inside him as it started to work. The pain in his head faded to a more manageable level and he stood up. Turning his back on the endless expanse of the lake he headed back toward the castle. As he crossed the grounds his attention was drawn to a group of students standing around in a loose circle beside the gamekeepers hut. Curiosity got the better of him and he changed direction to head over to them.
Etean stood above them on the slope to get a better view of what they were doing. The gamekeeper – Hagrid, was that his name? – was standing in the centre of the circle holding one end of a strong looking rope leash. The other end looped around a wooden pillar and then attached to a…Etean stared, he didn't know what it was but it was big. It must have been over six foot tall and that was while sitting down. It mostly resembled an oversized bear but Etean had never heard of or seen any bear with claws the size of the ones this thing was brandishing about. It was making wild swipes in the air, just missing Hagrid's head. Even for a man his size, if a single one of those blows connected…Etean shook his head at the thought. Hagrid was either unaware of or had no trouble accepting the peril he was in. He was busy lecturing the class, using small words, about the properties of the beast.
Etean turned his attention to the class. Most of them were rapt with attention, though their attention was not on Hagrid but rather on the thing he was holding. They were staring with morbid terror, waiting for it to break loose and charge them. Etean shook his head in disbelief, this was an actual class here? His eyes paused on one student in particular. Ginny Weasley was sitting at the far side of the class, looking at him. Etean caught her eye and smiled, she smiled back then jumped as the beast roared. Hagrid tugged and heaved on the rope but whatever had annoyed the thing had made it really angry. Hagrid was fighting a losing battle to calm it down. The class jumped and backed away. There followed a tense moment as the thing continued to tug and pull at its rope. Etean almost without thinking reached into his robes and drew his wand. Finally Hagrid managed to get a better grip on the rope and, with an impressive show of physical strength he got it to sit back down, but it still wasn't happy.
"Ye'd better be going," he called over his shoulder to the class, "I don't know what's spooked him, but ol' Marvin here's in a hell of a temper," the class didn't need to be told twice, they broke and headed away. Some of them were practically running as they headed up the hill to the castle. Ginny hung back, moving closer to Hagrid. Surprised by her bravery, Etean moved down so he could hear their conversation,
"Do you need any help Hagrid?" she asked quietly,
"What?" he turned to look at her, "No Ginny, you'd best be gettin away from here, I'd better see what's upset him," the creature gave another yelp and started to struggle again. Hagrid tightened his grip on the leash but he wasn't fast enough, the beast lashed out and caught Ginny's arm, she let out a squeal as the blow sent her flying to the ground,
"Marvin!" Hagrid hollered, reaching up to grab at its collar. Etean moved down the hill, reaching out to calm the creatures mind. Animal minds were never easy for him to comprehend. They were too primitive, there was always too much instinct, especially when they were mad as this thing was. He pulled back and shook his head, it was no use. There was only one way to deal with this. Taking another step forward he raised his wand and launched a stunner at the creature. The spell hit it dead in the chest and detonated, visibly slowing the thing but not stopping it. Hagrid turned and shouted at him to stop but Etean ignored him and fired again. This time the creature fell unconscious to the ground.
"What did ye do that for?" Hagrid roared stooping down to examine the thing. Etean started at him for a moment,
"To stop it from hurting you," he moved over towards Ginny, "It was trying to kill you, you know?"
"No he wasn't, Marvin wouldn't hurt a fly, he was just upset is all," Hagrid stated to shake and shove the beast, trying to wake it. Etean knelt beside Ginny, her arm was slashed open. She pulled away as he reached out to her,
"Let me take a look," he said quietly. She let him take her arm, he gently pulled back the fabric of her robes and frowned as he exposed the wound, "Well," he said over his shoulder to Hagrid, "It is unfortunate then that Ginny isn't a fly." He raised his wand and held it over her wound, "This might hurt a little," she looked up at him and nodded, he lowered the tip of his wand to touch her arm and whispered, "Hippocratus," Ginny winced once as the spell repaired her arm, the wound closed leaving only the faintest trace of inflamed skin,
"Thanks," she smiled at him. Etean stood up and offered her his hand. She accepted and he pulled her up. Behind him Hagrid stood up, Etean turned to see the man towering over him, Hagrid looked down at Ginny,
"Ye alrigh'?" she nodded,
"I'm OK," he seemed relieved,
"He didn't mean it," he pointed at the sleeping Marvin, "He's always been such a gentle thing out in the woods, I don't know what got into him," Etean scoffed,
"Maybe he didn't appreciate being taken out of the woods," he looked down at Marvin, "or maybe he had a problem being tied up and put on display. Not everyone likes being a spectacle," He looked up at Hagrid's massive face, "You should maybe remember that in future,"
"He's no 'arm," Hagrid sounded like he really believed what he was saying. Etean just sight and walked away, pulling Ginny along by the hand he still held. Once they were away from Hagrid's hut, Etean slowed his pace and looked at her,
"Are you sure you're OK? That thing didn't get you anywhere else?" she shook her head,
"No, it was just my arm that's all,"
"Yeah, well you were lucky. That monster could have killed. What the hell does that oversized idiot think he's doing?"
"Hagrid is a good teacher," she pulled her hand free of his, apparently offended by his tone, "He just gets carried away sometimes,"
"That's not the way I hear it. According to quite a few people here, he's as mad as he is stupid. I hear he seems to enjoy playing with ridiculously dangerous creatures, the more dangerous the better," she frowned,
"They aren't dangerous," Etean looked back at the distant giant shape of Hagrid standing over the immobile beast, he shook his head,
"Maybe not to him," he looked down at Ginny's torn robes, "but the rest of us don't have his…gift for dealing with beasts like," he pointed at Hagrid, "whatever that is," he paused, "What is it anyway?" Ginny turned around and looked behind her,
"HE is a Boartha and his name is Marvin,"
"Marvin?" he raised his eyebrow, Ginny nodded,
"Yes, Marvin. He's Hagrid's newest pet,"
"Pet?" Etean stared, Hagrid's voice drifted on the air. He was still trying to wake the thing, "And I thought Menai was crazy,"
"Who's Menai?" Etean froze,
"What?"
"Who's Menai?" she repeated,
"Wh…Oh, just someone I know," he shook his head, "Nobody really, how's your arm?" she sighed,
"Its fine," he stared at her, "really it is," she rubbed her forearm gently, "You did a good job of fixing it," she looked over at Hagrid's hut again, "I hope you didn't hurt him with that spell,"
"That thing is big enough to crush your bones in its teeth and your worried if a stunner harmed it?" she shrugged, turning back to him,
"Apparently they're sensitive creatures,"
"And you're not?" Etean's tone became playful, "Sensitive I mean?" Ginny smiled,
"Oh, I don't know about that. For example," she paused for a moment, then stepped forward, laying her hand on his chest. Etean raised an eyebrow at her, she dropped her voice to a whisper, "right now,"
"Yes?" he smiled,
"I'm starving," she grinned pushing him aside she stepped round him, turning to walk backwards along the path as she headed away from him. Etean recovered his balance and followed her,
"Is that right?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded,
"Well, we can't have that now can we," he stepped up to her and offered her his arm, "Will you allow me to buy you lunch?" she frowned,
"Buy? Lunch is free here," he feigned surprise,
"Is that so?" he grinned, "Excellent, then I can afford to be all the more generous. Are you coming?" she hesitated then took his arm and allowed him to lead her towards the castle. After a few steps she paused, "What?" he asked,
"Where are we going?" he frowned, not following her, "I mean I'm not going to be welcome at the Slytherin table and I doubt you will be at the Gryffindor one,"
"Is that so?" he tugged her forward again, "What do the Gryffindors have against me?" she shrugged,
"Nothing…well except…"
"Except?"
"Well, you did put Harry in the hospital last Friday, some of them… might have a problem with you because of that," Etean raised an eyebrow,
"Do you have a problem with that?" she shrugged,
"Well, I don't think that you hurt him on purpose, and besides, you didn't do any permanent damage. All the same, some of the Gryffindors don't see it that way," Etean considered this for a moment,
"You have a point," he clucked his tongue, thinking, "Fine, we'll just have to make other arrangements then,"
"Like what?"
"I'll think of something," he grinned at her.
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Hermione's voice wavered as she spoke the password to get past the Fat Lady's portrait. She bit her lip, folding her arms around herself as she entered the Common Room, trying to stop herself from shaking. Lavender and Pavarti were sitting, bent low over a table working on some chart or other but she didn't stop to talk to them. The sunlight streaming in the window reminded her of her dream. The image of the baby's face flashed before her eyes and brought back the sense of utter despair she had been resisting all morning. She felt the tears rise up again for the hundredth time since she had woken up and she knew that this time she wouldn't be able to stop them. Lowering her head, she rushed past her friends and headed up the stairs to her room. Inside she dumped her bag and threw herself down onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow. She shook as the dream played over again in her head. The images flashed past rapidly, the room, the baby, her mother, the pain. Hard as she tried she couldn't stop them. With them was the single certainty that the dream had left her, that she wouldn't see her baby grow up. Somewhere inside her she knew that it was only a dream, that it wasn't real, but she couldn't escape the fear and misery of losing her child.
Hermione had no idea how long she lay there. She wasn't aware of anything around her for a long time. Then she felt the bed sag as someone sat beside her, a hand touched her on the shoulder and she heard Lavender's voice,
"What's wrong Hermione?" she asked quietly. Hermione lifted her head out of the pillow,
"Nothing, I'm fine," she could barely even say the words, her voice wouldn't co-operate with her,
"You're not fine, you're upset," the bad sagged again as Pavarti joined them, sitting down on the other side of the bed to Lavender,
"Are you worried about missing Potions this morning?" she asked,
"What?" Lavender asked her,
"Dean told me. Is that it Hermione, is that why you're crying?" The question jarred in Hermione's mind, she had forgotten all about missing class. She had had other things on her mind. She shook her head,
"No, it's not that,"
"Then what is it?" Lavender slowly started to rub her back, "Come on, you can tell us whatever it is," Hermione sat up, facing Lavender and wiped her eyes. She managed a weak smile before shaking her head,
"No…it's silly, I'm just being silly," she tried to laugh but instead she started to cry again. Lavender put her arm round her,
"Hey, come on, it's alright. Tell us what's wrong," Pavarti shuffled closer to her,
"Tell us what's upsetting you," Hermione shut her eyes and lifted her head, trying to stop the tears from flowing. Lavender gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze, Pavarti put her hand on her knee. Hermione took a deep breath, they weren't going to quit. She lowered her head and stared at her hands as she spoke,
"The reason…the reason why I missed Potions was because I fell asleep in the library. I went there to study and I fell asleep," she paused, her lip quivered, "I had…a dream," the tears started again and shut put her head in her hands.
"A dream?" Lavender asked quietly, "What kind of dream?" Hermione shook her head,
"I don't know," she said through her fingers, "I've never had a dream like it. It was so real, everything was real. It was like it was really happening to me,"
"What was happening to you?" Pavarti moved closer to her again. Hermione took another deep breath and swallowed against the lump in her throat before she answered.
"I was…lying in a bed. I was holding a baby…my baby in my arms," Lavender's face lit up, behind her, she heard Pavarti gasp quietly,
"A baby? You had a baby?" Hermione nodded,
"A daughter," Lavender frowned,
"But…that's good, a good dream isn't it?" Hermione didn't really hear the question, the image of her daughters face was all she was aware of,
"She was so tiny, so beautiful…so perfect…" she stopped talking as the tears overwhelmed her again. Lavender gave her another squeeze,
"Hey, stop that. That sounds like it was a lovely dream," Hermione shook her head,
"No," she wiped her eyes again, "You don't understand. Something was wrong, something terrible,"
"What? What was wro…" Lavender stopped mid word and covered her mouth with her hand, "Was there something wrong with the baby?"
"No," Hermione shook her head again, "With me. There was something wrong with me. I was sore all over. It was like something was tearing me apart from the inside,"
"But," Pavarti said, "If you had just had a baby, you were supposed to be sore,"
"I know that, but this was different somehow,"
"How do you know," Lavender smiled, "have you had a baby that we don't know about?"
"No, of course I haven't, but…"
"But what?" Hermione shut her eyes and lowered her head,
"I don't know, I don't understand it but I just know that something was wrong. I looked down at my baby and I knew that I wouldn't be there to see her grow up, that I would be…"
"Dead?" Pavarti asked, her voice sounded nervous. Hermione nodded, tears flowing freely again. Lavender pulled her into a full hug, Hermione buried her face in Lavender's robes and sobbed hard.
"Shhh, it's OK Hermione, it was just a dream. It was only a dream," Lavender repeated it over and over, rocking her gently on the bed. After a minute Hermione drew back wiping her eyes,
"I told you it was silly," she let out a tiny laugh, Lavender shook her head,
"It isn't silly, dreams can be upsetting sometimes,"
"What do you think it means?" Pavarti asked from behind her, Hermione turned round look at her,
"What?"
"What do you think your dream means?" Hermione frowned and shook her head,
"How should I know? It doesn't mean anything, it was just a stupid dream," Pavarti frowned,
"Maybe but," she turned and clambered off the bed. She ran over to her trunk and opened it, "according to Professor Trelawney," she rummaged about in the trunk, "all dreams have meaning," she stood up, holding a book. "We just need to find out what this one meant, it might help you understand it," She came back and dumped it onto the bed. Hermione read the title,
'An Exploration of the Sleeping Mind'
And the author – 'S. Trelawney', she scoffed,
"I don't believe in all that Divination nonsense Pavarti,"
"It isn't nonsense," said Lavender picking up the book. She opened it,
"Hey, this is mine!" she turned and glared at Pavarti, "I have been looking for this book all summer. I never said you could borrow it," Pavarti smiled and blew her a kiss before pulling it from her hand,
"I'm nearly sure you did Lavender," she said innocently, "last year sometime," Lavender scowled and pulled the book back. She opened it on her lap,
"Yes well," she thumbed through the pages, "I'll have it back now thank you. Now let's see, babies, babies…ah here we are," She started to read, "Babies are a portent of good fortune, they signify a change for the better in your life, unless of course the dream occurs under a Saturnine moon,"
"Oh, interesting," Pavarti chimed in, Hermione raised an eyebrow,
"A what?" both girls looked at her,
"A Saturnine moon!" they said in unison, "it's when the moon is in Saturn, it's a very interesting Astrological time," Lavender finished in complete seriousness. Hermione frowned, Saturnine Moon? Yes, this was why she had dropped the subject. Lavender continued reading about dreams about babies, with the occasional question and comment from Pavarti. In no time they were in full flow. Hermione couldn't help but be cheered up by their absolute enthusiasm for Divination. SG1 and SG2, Silly Girl's 1 and 2, that's what she had nicknamed them, privately of course and now it was obvious to her why. They really didn't seem to notice that every third thing they said was a contradiction of something else. Hermione actually laughed to herself as they argued about the importance of some astrological conjunction that was, or wasn't in effect. The three of them spent the rest of the lunch break like that.
A/N: Ok guys this was turning out to be a long chapter so I decided to split it in half. Here's the first bit for you.