"No, I don't think that should go there," Hermione repeated for the third time. Draco growled under his breath, this was one stubborn witch. He took a deep breath and tried again,
"Listen Hermione, we have to say something about Doref's work before you start talking about how Dumbledore decided to take his approach and modify it to support his own ideas. Doref's second postulate formed the basis of every major theorem Dumbledore proved,"
"I know that, but Doref was wrong, just plain wrong. His theories didn't work. The changes Dumbledore made were all necessary to correct the flaws in his basic ideas. Talking about him at the start like that will make it sound as if Dumbledore was just finishing what Doref started. How can we say something like that?"
"It doesn't say that at all," he closed his eyes, 'Lets try this one more time,' "We are discussing how Dumbledore came up with his theories. Right of wrong, Doref's work was a big part of the foundations of Dumbledore's research. We have to at least mention him in that context," Hermione shook her head,
"I don't see why," Draco laughed,
"You were the one who wanted to be thorough here remember? Look this is our introduction. We are supposed to be setting up the basis for our entire essay. I just think we should start by giving some discussion of the background, the state of things before Dumbledore started his work. We have to tell the story of why he started, then we can explain what he actually did,"
"You want to tell a story?" Draco picked up the roll of parchment that they had been working on and started to read over it,
"Yes, a story," he finished reading, "I admit, it's boring. It lacks the mystery and suspense I normally look for in a good story. But it's a story nonetheless," he dropped the parchment and smiled at her, she smiled back and turned the parchment round to read it,
"So what way do you think we should tell this 'story' then?" her tone was slightly sarcastic but he ignored it,
"Well…the first two paragraphs are fine," he pointed to the lines of text as he spoke, "it is a good idea to start by explaining why the Animagus transformation baffled wizardkind for so long and how the potential dangers involved necessitated a deeper understanding of the underlying changes that take place. But then we have a problem, we can't just go from that to saying that Dumbledore solved the whole thing,"
"But he did,"
"Yes, but not alone he didn't. There were dozens of wizards that worked on the problem for decades before Dumbledore. We have to give Dumbledore's work its proper context, especially," he reached down and pulled up the skeleton plan of the essay that Hermione had come up with, "since you plan on going into so much detail regarding his proof later," Hermione leaned forward,
"But we don't have room to talk about all of them. If we try we'll end up with a dozen scrolls instead of three, so what do we do?"
"We don't have to talk about all of them, we just have to mention them. We can use Doref as an exemplar for the rest. It may as well be him seeing as how we have to mention him later on anyway," Draco picked up is book and opened it to the page on Doref. He stood and moved round to stand beside her, making it easier for both of them to follow what he was indicating, "So, we mention, briefly, that Doref was the most successful of Dumbledore's predecessors, we say that his work had flaws but we don't go into details, they come later, when we are discussing the actual proofs." Hermione looked at the plan again, then looked back at the essay, she nodded,
"That could work,"
"Yes, and that way when we mention Doref's postulate and the holes it leaves, it will make more sense and we won't have to bother explaining it," Hermione looked at the essay, then at her notes and finally up at Draco,
"That could be the better way to do it I suppose," Draco stood up straight and folded his hands behind his head,
"Thank Merlin!" he said, "She finally listens," she scowled at him,
"I always listen, Malfoy," she dropped the parchment and took up her quill, "It just happens that that is the first intelligent argument you have made all day," she stretched in the chair and paused to rub her neck before starting to scribble feverishly. Draco realised that he too was stiff. He checked his watch, they had been here working for over three hours. He couldn't remember the last time he had done this much schoolwork in one afternoon. It turned out that he had been right, properly motivated, he could do quite well in his studies after all. 'Properly Motivated?' he thought to himself, he knew what had motivated him…her! Somehow, having her around made this pile of boring drivel seem interesting. A slight smile forced its way on to his lips, he was enjoying himself. This wasn't how he had planned on this afternoon going, he had had…other ideas, but it was fun nonetheless. He yawned, stretching his arms wide.
"Do you know how long we've been at this?" he asked. Hermione didn't look up, she paused from her writing just long enough to glance at her watch,
"Time flies when you're having fun," she said idly. 'What?'
"Excuse me?" now she looked up, "Time flies?" she seemed puzzled,
"It's an expression," she raised an eyebrow, "You haven't heard it before?" he shook his head, she smiled, "I guess it's just a muggle expression then," she shrugged and went back to work,
"What does it mean? Time flies when you're having fun?" she looked up again as he moved back to the table. She opened her mouth, then paused before answering,
"Well, it means that, when you are enjoying yourself, time seems to pass more quickly," Draco ran this through, it still made no sense to him,
"Nonsense! A muggle expression you say?"
"Uh-huh, a pretty common one too," her attention returned to the essay. Draco shook his head again,
"I just don't understand muggles. It's like they're a completely different species or something," he sat down, "Can I ask you something?"
"Go on then," she kept her attention focussed on the parchment in front of her,
"What was it like? Growing up around muggles," she looked up and shrugged,
"Like growing up, I don't know,"
"But it had to have been different, weird?" she shook her head,
"It didn't seem weird to me. It was just how things were, how they were supposed to be. Remember, growing up at home, I didn't even know about wizards or Hogwarts,"
"Oh…right. But now you do know, so what's it like going back…home?" she bit her lip, thinking,
"It's…different,"
"How?"
"Well little things mostly. You'd be surprised how weird it can be to live in a world without magic," Draco didn't follow,
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'll give you an example. During the summer, I was playing with Crookshanks and his claws tore one of my favourite shirts. Nothing major, right? Simple to fix," he nodded,
"Yeah so?"
"So, how do you fix it without magic?" Draco thought about it, how would you fix something like that? He shook his head,
"How did you do it?" she smiled,
"I didn't," he frowned, she kept talking, "I tried, muggles have this thing called sewing, I read all about it and it seemed easy enough but…"
"But?"
"Lets just say I will never wear that shirt again," she laughed, another thought occurred to him,
"Hermione?"
"Yes,"
"How do your parents feel?" she looked up,
"About what?"
"Well, I mean, they're muggles. So…what do they think about you being a witch, about the whole wizarding world?"
"Oh that. They took it pretty well I suppose. I mean I know it must have been a big shock to them at first but they got over it,"
"And they don't…mind that you're a witch?" she shook her head,
"Well, my dad was a bit…freaked at first. I remember when I got my letter. It was addressed to me so I read it first, then I showed it to Dad. He said it was a joke, he told me it was just some silly prank my friends were playing on me. He even burned the letter on me," Draco's eyes widened,
"Really? So what happened," Hermione dropped her quill,
"Well, I was mad. Something in me told me that the letter was real. I told my mum when I saw her later that day. I remember crying and calling Dad awful names," she laughed quietly,
"What did your mother do?"
"She told me to dry my eyes and to go out and play and forget about it. Next day, two letters arrived. Dad wanted to burn them again, I kicked off saying that they were mine and that they were real. Mum got involved and they had a row. They sent me to my room, I couldn't hear what they said, but they argued for the whole morning before they had to go to work. After they were gone, I looked for the letters but they must have taken them with them.
"That night, they came home and sat me down. Dad said he was sorry. That they had checked it out, the school put stuff in the letters that go to Muggle-borns so that the parents will be able to do that, phone numbers and things,
"What are 'phone numbers'?"
"Sorry," she giggled, "I forgot. Muggles use things called phones to communicate over long distances. The ministry have people trained to use them. Muggles whose children are selected for Hogwarts can call up and ask questions and things. My dad rang up and found out that the letters were real. He said that they had discussed it, and I could come to Hogwarts if I wanted to, and here I am,"
"But your father didn't want you to come?" Hermione shook her head,
"I think he was just worried because he didn't understand what it was all about. Once he knew it was a real school, and that it was safe he accepted it, they both did. They love me for what I am. They know I'm happy here and they're happy that I am happy,"
"They aren't worried at all?"
"Why would they be?"
"Well, they can't have any idea what goes on here, in this world,"
"They're pretty OK about it really. They know about wizards, they know they can do magic and they're pretty smart, they know that some pretty unusual stuff can happen with magic but they don't know many details, they don't know about…"
"Voldemort," he finished for her. She shuddered when he said the name, "Sorry, I'd forgotten how much of a reaction his name causes," she frowned,
"How could you forget something like that?" her voice was quiet, he shrugged,
"I just don't think about him much if I can help it. They don't know about…him then?" she shook her head,
"No, I didn't tell them anything. That would scare them," he looked at her as she stopped talking. Her face had visibly paled at the thought of Voldemort, he didn't blame her. She shook herself and picked up her quill from the table. Draco noticed her hand was shaking as she tried to continue writing,
"Hey," he reached out and held her hand, "It's OK to be scared you know. We're all scared," she looked up at him, he could see the fear in her eyes, a lump formed in his throat,
"Are you scared of…him?" she asked, he barked out a tiny laugh,
"Of course I'm scared of Voldemort, what do you think I am, crazy?" her face became serious,
"No but…I mean, you're supposed to be…"
"What?" he asked, slowly rising to his feet, leaning forward on his hands, she drew back from him, "What am I supposed to be?"
"You're supposed to be…" she hesitated again,
"Spit it out!" he glared at her,
"You're supposed to be on his side!" she looked down, avoiding his eyes, "Your father is," she added quietly. Draco lowered his head and shut his eyes. His teeth ground together. He felt sick. She was just the same as all the others, she looked at him and saw Lucius' son, nothing more. He turned and sat on the table, his eyes were drawn to his wrist. In his sleeve he wore cufflinks bearing a rather unique design. A silver dragon wound into the shape of the letter 'M', the Malfoy family crest. It had always inspired him, a sign of strength and power. That was what being a Malfoy was all about wasn't it? It didn't make him feel strong now, now it made him feel empty.
"I am not my father," his voice was little more than a whisper. He heard her stand up, she moved round the table to him,
"I know you're not…"
"No you don't," he looked up at her, "You look at me and you see him, you see another Lucius Malfoy,"
"No I don't, I see you," he shook his head,
"You don't act like it," he straightened up, keeping eye contact. "Who am I?" she looked confused,
"What?"
"It's a simple question Hermione, if you know that I am not my father as you claim to, then you must know who I am,"
"You're Malfoy,"
"That's right," he looked away from her, "I'm just Malfoy and do you know what that means?"
"No," she shook her head, "What does it mean?" Draco laughed, it sounded hollow to his ears,
"That's my point, I don't know anymore," he raised his arm so she could see the cufflink, "You see this? I used to think this was what I was, the perfect little Malfoy. But now…" he trailed off and shut his eyes again,
"Now what?"
"Like I said, I don't know anymore," he stared down at the Malfoy crest, "I have worn this crest every day for over two years now and I have just realised that I have no idea what it means. I have been Malfoy all my life, it's all I know how to be. How can I be anything else?"
"You can be anything you want to be Malfoy,"
"Can I?" he stood up and turned to face her, "We'll see about that won't we. I do know one thing though." His voice dropped to a gravely snarl, "I am not Lucius, and I am not on Voldemort's side in anything," it was true, in his heart he knew it. But saying it aloud made it sound all the more real to him. A cold determination settled over him, his mind was made up. Hermione winced slightly at the sound of Voldemort's name but he ignored it, he let the silence linger for a moment before he spoke again, "Now, I think we're done here for today don't you?" she nodded slightly, "Fine then, I'll see you later," he picked up his book and headed for the door,
"Malfoy," she called out after him. He looked over his shoulder at her,
"Yes?"
"I…I'm sorry I upset you," he sighed,
"It's hard to upset a Malfoy Hermione," he opened the door and left.
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Etean entered the Great Hall for dinner. His eyes instantly moved to the Gryffindor table, to one Gryffindor in particular. There she was, resting her head on her hand, clearly the worse for wear after the afternoon. He smiled as he headed to the Slytherin table, 'That's what you get when you drink wine like water.' He sat down and looked over at her again, she looked back at him and smiled weakly before she yawned and shook her head. Based on the way she grabbed her temple, Etean could tell that it hurt. He let an expression of exaggerated mock sympathy spread across his face. She saw him and pouted. He shook his head and winked at her, 'Hangovers are a bitch,' he remembered.
Pansy leaned over and said something he didn't quite hear,
"Pardon?" he turned to her,
"I asked if you'd seen Draco," Etean shook his head,
"Not since this morning why?" she shrugged,
"I haven't seen him since Defence class, he's been missing all afternoon," Etean frowned, 'A lot on his mind I'll bet,'
"He's probably around somewhere," he shrugged and started to load his plate with chicken and chips,
"Hey," Millicent appeared behind him and sat down next to him, "where were you for Defence class?" Etean's eyes darted to the Gryffindor table for an instant,
"Busy," Millicent looked suspicious,
"Busy how?" Etean laughed,
"Just busy Millicent. Why? Did you miss me?" Millicent blushed,
"No," she growled, "but McGonagall did. I think she'll have some harsh words for you later," Etean looked up at the staff table. McGonagall was sitting there talking to Hagrid, he shrugged,
"I can handle her,"
"Your funeral," Pansy added, turning her head as Draco entered, "Where have you been all afternoon?" Draco stopped short and scowled at her,
"Studying," Pansy and Millicent both stared at him, the snarl in his voice even made Etean look up,
"Have a good time did we?"
"What were you studying?" Pansy asked, Draco ignored Etean's question and glared at Pansy,
"Arithmancy if you must know," he sat down, "not that it's your business," he picked up a fork and stabbed a hunk of chicken. Millicent turned to Etean,
"I guess he really did enjoy himself huh?" Etean smiled and turned back to his dinner. Verbally, he carried on the conversation with Millicent and Pansy, mentally his mind turned to Draco,
'What's got into you?' he sent. Draco looked down at his plate,
'Nothing, it's just been a weird day,'
'Did you think about what I said earlier?' Draco looked up, chewing a mouthful of chips,
'What do you think?' he swallowed and picked up his goblet, 'What else would I be thinking about?'
'And?'
'And I'm starting to think that what I want doesn't matter in this,' his eyes became colder than Etean could remember seeing them, 'Since this started people…you have been manipulating me. Now you want to give me a choice?' Etean actually smiled, even telepathically, the sarcasm was almost tangible. Etean pushed out, slowing time to a crawl. He dropped his fork and leaned forward.
'Yes Draco, a choice. The only choice you, or any of us have. Live or die,' Draco shook his head,
'Don't give me that psychological bullshit Etean. I know you don't care whether I live or die, I'm not that important,' Etean nodded,
'From the perspective of the Council that's true yes. My view on the matter is pretty irrelevant. But the question is, is your life important enough to you for you to fight for it,'
'OK,' Draco pointed a finger at Etean, 'If I'm going to stick with this, I want to know what you mean by fight,'
'You know what I mean Draco,'
'No, I want specifics. Exactly what will I have to do? How do you expect me to beat Voldemort?' Etean sat back and allowed time to accelerate back to normal speed. Perhaps he did deserve to know what he was facing,
'OK then, I'll show you,'
'How? When?' Etean skewered another chip,
'Later,' he sent, turning back to Millicent.
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Draco was nervous. He paced back and forth, over and over across the floor of the Training Room, waiting for Etean. He had been waiting here for twenty minutes, was this guy ever on time for anything? He checked his watch, it was nearly midnight, nearly time for his duel with Weasley. He wasn't sure if it was still on, he had beaten Weasley once today already, but he had a feeling that Weasley would still want to duel. Draco's teeth ground together. He really wanted to smash something. Maybe that would let him get his head straight. The dull emptiness inside him was still there. He shook his head. The fact that Hermione saw him as his father shouldn't have been a surprise to him. He had acted like a perfect little copy of Lucius for his entire life here. Still when she had said it…
The door opened and Etean entered,
"You took your time," Draco snarled at him. Etean paused, he reached into his robes, took out a small black leather book and tossed it to Draco.
"Read it," he turned to leave,
"Hey," Draco called after him, leafing through the book, pausing to examine a page full of magical equations that would scare Vector, "What the hell is this?"
"The Ascension," Etean turned round, "It explains the ritual in detail, everything you need to know about what you'll have to go through,"
"This?" Draco flipped the page again, more equations, "What the hell good will reading this do?"
"It will let you know what's coming, you have to understand that before you can understand what will be required to do," Draco snapped the book shut and glared at Etean,
"No, I want to know now what I am going to have to do," he waved the book in the air, "Never mind this bullshit. WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?" he roared, hurling the book at Etean. Etean raised his hand and the book stopped mid flight. With a flick of his finger, he sent the book shooting back at Draco. It collided with his ribcage and winded him,
"That is what you must do,"
"What?" Draco managed to squeak. Etean flicked his finger again and the book shot over to land in his hand,
"This," he held it aloft, "explains the Ascension ritual in all its glory. This tells you what Voldemort will do to you, and what he will do to himself in pursuit of the Ascension. And I just showed you what you will have to do to stop him," Draco rubbed his soon to be bruised ribs,
"Throw a book at him?" Etean smiled,
"No you idiot. Try thinking for once, how did I throw the book at you Draco?"
"How the hell should I know?" Etean rolled his eyes,
"Take a wild guess," he held the book aloft, "No, better yet, take a proper look," Draco pushed his mind out, experiencing the Ethereal world. He saw the flowing glow that was Etean's abatile. He could see Etean's arm extended but couldn't see the book, "Now watch," Etean lowered his arm, Draco saw his abatile shift but it didn't follow his movements. Where his arm had been, the shimmering glow remained in place. Draco pulled his senses back, the Ether faded and he saw the book floating in the air,
"How did you do that?" Etean sighed,
"It's tougher than it looks, but you will learn," he flicked his wrist, sending the book flying back to Draco at a more gentle pace this time, "Telekinesis is the next stage in your training. Once you have mastered telepathy, when you have sufficiently strengthened those mental muscles of yours, I can begin to teach you how to physically interact with your surroundings through the power of the Ether," Draco was confused,
"How is something like that supposed to let me destroy Voldemort?"
"Simple really, as I told you, the Circle has manipulated and controlled the fate of the world for the greater part of a millennium by knowing when to push and where. You will defeat Voldemort by applying that very principle,"
"I don't follow you," Etean paused, clearly re-arranging his thoughts.
"Well try to follow this. Voldemort has survived to become as strong as he is by never lowering his guard. The entire Wizarding World has been trying to destroy him by attempting to overcome or circumvent his defences,"
"And that's not what we're planning on doing?"
"No, as is described in the book, the final and most crucial stage in the ritual will take place not in this world but in another,"
"Another world?"
"Yes, sort of. We believe that it was originally part of this world but it was separated millennia ago,"
"How?" Etean shrugged,
"We really don't know but it doesn't really matter. In this other world, which we call Etheros, the Ether is constantly in flux. Power moves and discharges in a far more chaotic manner than it does here. These massive forces are what Voldemort must channel to accomplish Ascension. He will take you there and you will and tied to an altar," Etean looked at Draco, a mental image of a fiery mountain appeared in his mind. It appeared that he was soaring through the air above an active volcano. Etean continued,
"The magic involved in the final stages of the Ascension is extremely volatile. In order to control it, Voldemort will have to create a…a sort of bubble around you," the vision, Etean's imagination of the ritual continued to play in Draco's mind. The pinnacle of the mountain started to glow, Etean started to pace, "Now, within this barrier, Voldemort will be able to have complete control over the Ether. He will be able to channel it to consume your soul and elevate his. But it will take all his strength, more power than he has ever had to draw on before. It is possible that he will be unable to create it at all,"
"What if he can't?" Etean's eyebrows raised,
"You'll be the first, and last to know,"
"Oh,"
"Yeah…oh. Anyway we think that he will manage it alright, that is when you need to act,"
"And do what?" Etean smiled,
"Push him away, into the barrier,"
"That's all?"
"Yes," Etean nodded, "Sounds easy doesn't it, and if you can do it, it will be. All his efforts will be on the ritual and the barrier, he won't be able to protect himself. He will collide with the barrier and destabilise the magical forces within it. The barrier will collapse, its energy will discharge through him, quite literally tearing his soul apart. End of Dark Lord," The vision vanished in a blinding flash. Draco took a deep breath, it sounded so simple, too simple,
"It can't be that easy,"
"Well, before you reach the final stage, you will be put through a lot," Etean pointed at the book, "That explains most of it. You will have to endure a great deal of pain and suffering and come through it with enough strength left to act at the right moment,"
"If I," he swallowed, "manage it, what happens then?" Etean frowned,
"Well, then we, or rather you have a problem. The barrier discharge will cause quite a blast, and you'll be stuck at ground zero. If you don't free yourself and get away from there…"
"I die," Etean nodded. Draco shut his eyes, so that was what he had to do. Learn to move things using nothing but his mind? It sounded impossible. Still three months ago, he would have said that telepathy was impossible, and that his father would never attack him. He looked down at his hand, slowly closing a fist. If Etean noticed his new found ability to move he didn't say. Draco looked up to see Etean staring at him, "Do you think I'm strong enough?" there was a tremble in his voice,
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here. I would have killed you the day we met in your bedroom. You can do this Draco, and I truly believe that you are strong enough to survive it. So," he offered him his hand, "what do you say?" Draco looked into Etean's eyes, he could see no lie there but so what? Etean could probably sound convincing enough to make him believe anything. But had Etean ever actually lied to him? 'Fuck it!'
"Ok, let's do it then," he reached out and took Etean's hand. Etean nodded,
"I would still advise you read that book by the way," Draco looked at it, his eyes were drawn to his watch,
"Shit!" he shouted, "I was supposed to be duelling with Weasley ten minutes ago,"
"Again? Didn't you beat him once already?"
"Yes, but tell him that," he moved round Etean and headed to the door, "Are you coming?"
"I still don't see the point of this," Etean turned to follow him, Draco shrugged as he stepped into the corridor,
"Consider it a training exercise."