Call of the Circle

by RoBoC

During the summer after his fifth year, Draco Malfoy has an encounter that will forever alter his world.

40. The Hardest Lesson

Nott gave a sniff and Etean looked from his drawing for a moment, but just a moment. Nott was still held firmly asleep by the remnants of the spell. Etean sighed; he had overdone it…slightly. His intention had been to knock him out for a couple of minutes, not the rest of the night. Had Granger not been there…but that was a thought for another time, overdone or not, the result of the encounter would be the same. Anytime now, soon hopefully, Nott would wake up, and he would not be happy in the least.

Etean returned his attention to the parchment in front of him, to his drawing, and sighed. "Eigho: The protector of body and mind." He whispered the glyph's meaning as he finished, adding the final patch of colour. It was one of the thousand or so Valkar marks that Etean could read off the top of his head. As symbols went, it was not really that important, no more so than any other at least, except of course for the fact that Etean didn't have any other Valkar glyphs tattooed on his arm. That blasted tattoo! It had been months since he had even thought about it. The current problems had pushed it almost totally from his mind. At least, that was until last night. Etean drew his sleeve up and looked at his forearm. The skin surrounding the tattoo had almost returned to normal, but was still slightly inflamed. It didn't sting anymore but that was little comfort, it shouldn't have stung at all. Etean knew what it was, just a tattoo, if made a little more permanent by the way he had drawn it on. There was nothing about it that was unusual, so why had it hurt him? The question frustrated Etean a great deal.

The tattoo was forgotten in an instant as Nott shifted in his sleep. Etean focussed on him and knew he was waking up at last. His attention turned to the room's other bed. The smaller of the sixth year bedrooms in Slytherin held only two beds. Etean, having the impression that there were rather more sixth year boys in Slytherin at the moment than was normal, assumed that this room had not really been meant as a bedroom at all. It had the look of an oversized cupboard about it. Blaise, the bed's occupant, gave a tremendous grunt, a sign that he was also about to wake up. That wouldn't do. The conversation that was to come needed to be private, though it wouldn't be quiet.

Looking around, Etean saw through the gap in the curtains that Blaise was still asleep, but, he reasoned, there was no sense in taking any chances. He curled his fingers, not quite clenching his fist completely, and concentrated for a moment. A purple ball of light formed on his palm at his command. Etean flicked his wrist, sending the ball high over his head. He reached out mentally, seized it at the apex of its flight and flicked it hard. The spell shot unguided through the gap in the curtains around Blaise's bed. Etean didn't look round but he heard and felt it detonate on target. Blaise's breathing slowed as the spell pushed him into a deeper sleep. An army could march through the room now and he would be none the wiser.

'He'll sleep through his alarm,' thought Etean, 'but he'll get over it.'

Nott stirred again and opened his eyes. He looked about him and frowned in confusion. 'Here we go,' Etean smiled.

"Good morning," he said, making Nott tense. "You're in your bed, in case you were wondering."

Nott sat up and stared at him, his face was like thunder. "What?" he snarled.

"I carried you here," Etean continued as though he hadn't heard him. "You could stand to lose some weight, by the way." He smiled at Nott, a genuine sign of his enjoyment of the look on his face. After a moment, he schooled his face into a stern expression. "I think the words you're looking for," he said coolly, "are 'Thank You, Theo.'"

Nott balked. "Thank you?" he hissed, barely able to speak by the sound of it. "You want thanks? You bastard!" He made to leap out of the bed, but Etean had expected no less. Nott soon found that he was in a slightly more annoying position than he thought: he couldn't move. Etean had fastened the blankets across him quite securely. Realising this in short order, Nott gave up struggling and looked about him. Etean guessed he was searching for his wand.

He smiled and shook his wrist, dislodging Nott's wand from his sleeve and catching it neatly. "Looking for this?" he said brightly.

Nott glared at the wand, his face blanched with anger. "A thief, too, are you?" he roared.

"I thought I had better keep hold of this for the moment. I imagined that you'd be…rather emotional when you woke up."

"You think this is emotional?" spat Nott. "You wait till I get out of this bed, then I'll show you emotional."

"Is that so?" Etean smiled. "I don't think I'll be letting you up for a while in that case."

"What the fuck do you think you are playing at?" Nott bellowed, struggling again. Etean pushed a surge of anger aside as he stood up. Nott tugged and pulled at the sheets but failed to free himself. Out of breath, he gave up. "Release me!" he barked.

Etean allowed his expression to darken. "I would advise you, Theo, if you harbour any desire to remain my friend, to always remember precisely who I am. I may look like the other students, attend classes and do my homework like the rest, but that is where the resemblance ends. I am not someone who will take orders from the likes of you, am I being clear, Theo?"

Etean spoke slowly and kept his eyes drilling into Nott's. Nott, for his part, held the stare with only the merest of trembles. In the end, he exhaled slowly. Etean watched him try to rein back his temper. "You…" he faltered for a moment, breathing out more of his temper before he continued. "You call yourself my friend after what you did to me? You're delusional."

"Am I?" He smiled. "I don't think so, Theo. Just what did I do to you?"

"You know full well you prick…"

Etean sent a surge of white fire through his eyes, getting the desired effect. "If I won't take orders, what on earth makes you think I will accept insults?" He withdrew the fire, focussing on Nott's eyes again. "Now, you were saying…and choose your words carefully, Theo," he smiled.

Nott swallowed; he seemed to be making an effort to control himself for the moment. "No offence intended, my lord," he said with only a trace of sarcasm. "But you interfered in my business…"

"Spoiled your fun is closer I'd say," Etean interrupted him. "What was I supposed to do? Just ignore your little antics?"

"You weren't supposed to be there at all. And there were no antics, Etean, we were just…" he paused and his eyes darted warily to Blaise's bed, "talking." He finished simply, "If you had paid more intention before sticking your nose in you would know that."

Etean jabbed Nott's wand at Blaise's bed, opening the curtains. The slumbering form of Blaise lay snoring, twisted in his blankets in the early morning sunlight. "You needn't worry about being overheard," he said, looking back at Nott, "I've seen to that. So you can forget about covering your neck." He twirled Nott's wand slowly in his fingers, the tip glowed bright, leaving a glowing trail of fading fire in the air behind it.

Nott eyed it warily. "I don't need to explain myself to you, Etean."

"No," said Etean in a quiet whisper, "you don't." He stood slowly and set Nott's wand down on the chair. "Well," he straightened his cloak on his shoulders, "I think that will be an end to our conversation then."

Etean turned to leave. Nott struggled hard again against his sheets. "Hey," he squealed as Etean took hold of the doorknob, "you can't leave me here like this…"

Etean spun and in less than a second was back at the bedside. With a vicious kick, he lifted the chair and the wand into the air. Reaching out, he snatched the wand and spun to level it at Nott's eyes as the chair landed with a clatter. "I warned you, Theo," he pushed his anger down into the wand, making the tip glow with restrained energy, "Never…presume to tell me what I can or cannot do!" Nott recoiled and winced in fear. Etean let himself rant. "Now…RIGHT NOW…I want you to forget anything and everything you thought you knew about me. I am Lord Etean, not some little lost puppy that you can just tow about on a lead…" Etean stalled himself. He held his pose for a five count then stepped back. He let Nott see him slowly exhale his rage as he spoke in a tone that would sound like he was talking to himself. "No," he breathed. "No…that won't do at all. Calm down my Lord…calm down." He kept his face stoic as he turned back to Nott. "You'll have to forgive me. I…don't take well to orders and I became emotional." He made sure his voice sounded shaky. Etean turned and started to pace at the end of the bed, changing his tone again as he spoke. "Emotions are an annoying thing, don't you think? They have a distracting habit of getting in the way of good judgement, don't you agree? Sometimes," he sighed, "Sometimes they can get the better of me." He smiled at Nott coldly.

Nott swallowed. It took him a moment to recover himself again. Etean watched out of the corner of his eye as his breathing slowed gradually. "I have no idea what the fuck you think you're talking about," he said at last, his voice had a slight tremble, "and I don't know what you think you are doing, but I promise you, you will regret it."

Etean raised an eyebrow. "Will I?" He leaned his head to the side. "Perhaps. But I thought you wanted us to be allies…to be friends?"

"Friends don't attack one another Etean," said Theo sarcastically. "If you were my friend you wouldn't have interfered last night, you would have…"

Etean turned and levelled the wand at Nott again, stopping him cold. "What I did," he said in an even tone, "was save your skin, Theo."

"Save me?" Nott laughed, never taking his eyes of the tip of the wand, "Are you nuts? Just what did you save me from?"

"Yourself." Etean lowered his arm and leaned on the pillar of Nott's bed. "If I hadn't come along and interrupted you and Granger…talking, then in short order you would have found yourself in a world of trouble."

"I don't…" Nott started.

"Don't interrupt me," Etean cut him off. He didn't raise the wand, but Nott's eyes darted to it all the same. "It isn't polite." Etean stood up again and turned, pacing slowly to stand in a spot in the middle of the bottom of the bed. He laid his hands on the heavy, dark wood and leaned forward. "As I was saying," he switched tones once more, to keep Nott off balance, "you were about to get into a hell of a lot of trouble, and the funny thing is that you don't even realise it. You were all alone in a dark dungeon corridor with Granger, a girl for whom you have a baffling and quite disturbing fascination, and who, unless I am very much mistaken, despises you thoroughly." Nott opened his mouth to object, but Etean didn't give him the chance. "Now," he continued, "despite what you might think, I heard more than enough of what went on in that corridor. If I hadn't come along when I did," he leaned down to Nott's eye level, causing the bed to creak slightly beneath him, "you would have raped her, Theo."

Nott gasped in astonishment, "I…"

"It's a harsh word, I know, but I prefer to call a spade a spade. You would have raped her," he repeated, seeing the same flash of fear in Nott's eyes as they darted to Blaise once more, "and that would have been a bad thing," Etean finished.

Nott laughed and tried to look innocent. "You're deluded," he said, sounding more than a little worried, "I told you, we were just…"

"Talking?" Etean ignored his own words about being polite and interrupted him. "Yeah," he snorted, "and I'm a house elf. You can forget the lies, Theo. If I were going to turn you in, you would have woken up with Dumbledore bearing down on you…or an Auror or two."

Nott seemed genuinely surprised by this. "Aurors?"

Etean cast his eyes up to heaven. "For the love of…" He looked down at Nott. "Didn't it occur to you that what you were about to do would have consequences?" He laughed, not waiting for an answer. "When last I checked, rape was a crime and not one that the authorities take lightly. Did you really think you were going to get away with it? Did you even think at all?" He laughed again. "I mean, of all the girls you could have picked, you chose Granger?" He spat the name. "Granger? Of all people, why her? The girl is blessed from on high for Merlin's sake. Gryffindor prefect…teacher's pet…probably Potter's little love pet too for all I know. One word from her and you'd have half the school lining up to pound you into oblivion, and you actually thought you could just have your way with her and get away with it?" he chortled. "What did you think? That she'd look up into your eyes when it was all over and say, thank you? Please, Theo, tell me you are not that simple."

"I could have handled it," said Nott through barred teeth. He seemed to believe it.

Etean did not. "Could you? I wouldn't be so sure in your place. Cleaning up the mess would be difficult at best…the memory charms…the…healing spells…but that's only if you weren't caught…and if you were caught?" He shuddered to convey his point. "Tell me, Theo, honestly, would it really be worth it? Risk expulsion, arrest and even imprisonment…all for her? Would one messy little tryst be worth throwing your whole life away?" Nott didn't answer. He just stared straight ahead, grinding his teeth. After a moment Etean laughed. "What's wrong, Theo? Don't have an answer? Not even a spare insult to throw at me?" He laughed. "Is it that hard to admit that I'm right? Is 'thank you' such a hard thing to say?"

Now Nott spoke. "If you are waiting for me to thank you, Etean," he looked at him again, "you will be waiting for a very long time."

Etean nodded. "I can wait," he said, straightening up. "Patience is a virtue, after all." He raised Nott's wand and said the counter curse inside his head, freeing Nott from the bed. Nott threw the blankets off and sat up. Etean turned away and rolled his shoulders to loosen them. "By the way," he said in an air of casual ease, as if the entire preceding conversation hadn't occurred, "I have been thinking about your offer." He turned back to see a confused expression on Nott's face. "You do remember or little chat a few weeks ago?"

"I do," Nott said coolly.

"Good," said Etean, "because I have decided to turn you down."

Nott leapt to his feet, nearly tripping over the sheet as he turned to face Etean. "You what?"

"Yes," said Etean with a smile. "Quite so."

Nott reeled. "Are you going to explain why?" he asked, clearly stunned.

"I don't see that I have to explain myself to you, Theo," said Etean, sending Nott's words back at him. He saw the moment of panic in Nott's eyes before he turned and left.

He paused outside the door to seal it then headed up the stairs. Annabelle, Pansy and Millicent were standing in the Common Room. Annabelle and Millicent were talking, Pansy was just scowling as normal.

"Are you heading for breakfast?" asked Millicent in a mewing voice when she saw Etean. He nodded and made to move past them. "Hold on," Millicent said, "we'll come with you." Pansy turned on her heel, Millicent made to link Etean's arm until, at a glare, she thought better of it. They were almost to the door when Millicent stopped. "Aren't you coming?" she said to Annabelle, who had remained where she was standing.

Etean took note of her scowl as she spoke. "No, I'm waiting for Theo." She looked at Etean. "Have you seen him?"

"No." Etean lied, suppressing a smirk as he heard the faint sounds of the bedroom door banging far below them. "But," he said, raising Theo's wand into view, "I did find this on the stairs…it looks like his."

Annabelle's eyes narrowed as she looked at the wand. "That is his." She frowned. "Where the hell is he, though?"

Etean shrugged. "Well, if you find him," he tossed the wand to her, "you may as well return this." Annabelle caught the wand and was still frowning as Etean turned and followed Pansy out of the Common Room.

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Hermione stared at the plate of scrambled eggs that was slowly cooling in front of her. She couldn't think of a single thing that she felt less like doing right now than eating. She hadn't been able to come up with enough excuses to shut her housemates up, however. So here she was, surrounded by jovial Gryffindors, trying valiantly not to wretch at the smell of her breakfast.

"Not hungry, Mione?" Lavender asked. "You haven't touched your breakfast."

On any other morning, Hermione would have scolded Lavender for calling her that. The stupid nickname annoyed her to the core, though people persisted in using it from time to time. Today it barely even registered. "No," she said flatly, pushing her plate away and standing up.

"What's wrong?" Lavender asked, a look of deep concern coming to her face. Ginny beside her looked worried too, but she didn't ask. Instead, she laid a hand on Lavender's arm. Getting her attention, Ginny shook her head slightly, looking at Hermione all the time. Hermione managed a weak smile at Ginny before she turned and left the hall. No sooner had she left than she heard Lavender's whispered voice behind her. "What is up with her?" Hermione guessed she was talking to Ginny. She didn't hear what answer, if any, Ginny gave her, and, to tell the truth, she didn't care. She would have answered Lavender's question, if she had known the answer. Well, she did know the answer, and that was the problem. What was wrong? Everything was wrong! The truth was that it would've been simpler for Lavender to ask her what was right.

A bunch of chattering little kids blocked her path out of the Great Hall. A seemingly endless line of them were galloping through the doors in twos and threes. Hermione sighed as she came to a halt to let them pass. Where was Draco? Her treacherous mind threw the question at her again. Hermione barred her teeth and growled under her breath. She wanted to scream 'I don't know!' at the top of her lungs in an attempt to silence her mind. Her head hurt. 'And these noisy little bastards aren't helping,' she thought. 'Fuck, why must they be so LOUD?'

Losing her patience, Hermione pushed forward through them, nearly knocking down two Hufflepuff girls who hadn't seen her coming. Normal Hermione would have apologised instantly, normal Hermione would have made sure they were alright, but this was not normal Hermione. This Hermione was only marginally aware of the collision and forgot it within seconds of it happening. The sight that greeted her in the Entrance Hall nearly made her collapse on the spot. Etean had just appeared from the Dungeon steps.

Hermione's legs turned to lead, stopping her in her tracks. She watched him climb the last two steps followed closely by Millicent Bullstrode and Pansy Parkinson. The second she saw him, her ears were filled with the now familiar growling that he seemed to trigger. Hermione watched as he walked across the Hall toward her. Time appeared to slow to a crawl. It felt as if he had been walking toward her for hours when he finally looked at her. Hermione's breath caught in her throat as his icy stare levelled her.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it isn't polite to stare, Granger?" Millicent's voice sounded in her ear. Hermione jumped, she knew that the question was directed at her, but her brain wouldn't engage enough for her to come up with an answer. Etean stopped three feet from her. "What the hell's with her?" Millicent asked in a joking tone. Hermione felt a finger stab into her arm. "Hey, maybe someone's petrified her." Millicent giggled. Pansy laughed, Etean merely smiled.

Finally, Hermione remembered how to speak. "Can I talk to you?" she asked Etean, getting a raised eyebrow in response. "Alone?" she added, feeling Millicent's smart remark coming. Etean stared at her for what seemed like forever, his eyes grew colder with each passing second. Hermione felt her heart slow until she was barely aware that it was beating at all. All she could hear was the constant growl in her ears that she was trying desperately to ignore. Etean didn't answer her, instead he turned his head slightly to his left and then flicked it, a signal for Pansy to leave. To Hermione's astonishment, Pansy just nodded and left. Etean nodded at Millicent and she too walked away without a word.

His eyes darted about the Entrance Hall for a second before he spoke. "This is as alone as you are going to get, Granger." The sound of his voice turned her gut to ice. "So talk," he commanded.

"Well…I just…"

"What?"

Hermione swallowed, she wanted more than anything to look away, but his eyes held her. "I just…wanted to say…t…thank you." She got it out finally.

Etean shook his head slightly and scoffed. "You're welcome," he said, and brushed past her.

She was free, his eyes weren't drilling into her any more. The growling sound faded and her thoughts returned. The question that had been annoying her all night came back as a scream in her mind. "Wait, Etean!" she said, turning to face him.

Her heart nearly stopped altogether as he rounded on her. His eyes flashed white. "What?" he growled.

Hermione shut her eyes, unable to bear his eyes. "Why did…did you save me?"

Etean laughed. "Save you?" He reached up and lifted her head. She opened her eyes and looked into his. "Let's get one thing straight, Granger." He released her chin, but held her eyes. "I didn't save you. You were only a detail, and a slight one at that. What I did was stop Theo from doing something that nobody…nobody should ever do to another living soul."

"But the way you just attacked Theodore…I mean, he's your friend isn…"

"Friend?" Etean laughed again. "Now that's a joke."

Hermione frowned. "But…"

"If he were my friend, I wouldn't have had to stop him," Etean cut her off. "No friend of mine would ever dare…" His jaw rolled in anger for a moment, then he glared at her and his eyes flashed again. "What kind of person do you think I am?" he asked. Etean turned away before Hermione could even open her mouth. Apparently, he didn't want an answer. He took two steps, long enough for Hermione to catch her breath, before he stopped. "No," he said, rounding on her again, "answer that."

Hermione couldn't answer. She shut her eyes. "I don't know," she said quietly.

"Good," Etean said firmly, and he was gone.

Hermione stood rooted to the spot, unable to move. The growl faded as Etean entered the Great Hall, giving her a moment of silence. The moment passed in a second, however: the growl rose again, different now. It stirred anger in her stomach. She felt eyes on her and she turned. Theodore Nott had appeared from the Dungeon stairs. He looked flushed, still straightening his tie when he saw her. Hermione's hand found its way to her pocket and her fingers closed on her wand as she took a step back, shaking with anger. Theodore took a single step toward her, the same hungry look returning to his eyes. Hermione tensed, her fingers tightened on her wand further. She was an inch from drawing it when Theodore jumped. His face blanched white as someone appeared behind him. Hermione recognised Annabelle Turner's blonde head as she laid a hand on Theodore's shoulder.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Hermione heard her ask him before she turned and darted up the stairs to the Arithmancy corridor. It was almost a half an hour before the class was supposed to start but Hermione knew that Professor Vector never locked her classroom. She'd be safe in there, safe from predatory Slytherins at least.

Hermione entered the deserted classroom and sat down in her usual desk at the front. She opened her bag and pulled out her book. As she did, she caught sight of the study journal she had made for Draco and sighed. Slytherins! In the nightmare that was her life of late, she was surrounded by Slytherins. Hermione sat in silence for what seemed like forever, trying desperately not to think. In the end she had busied herself, burying her nose in the Arithmancy text when the door of the classroom opened and Professor Vector swept in. Hermione looked up but the Professor was nearly on top of her before she even saw her. When she did, she jumped.

"Oh my!" Professor Vector clasped her hand to her heart. "Good gracious…Miss Granger? What are you doing here?"

Hermione shrugged. "Just reading, Professor. I was early for class and I…"

"You really shouldn't have just walked in here, you know," said Vector in a stern tone. "I leave the door unlocked because I trust my students, but I hardly want them sneaking up on me."

"I didn't sneak up you, Professor," said Hermione quickly. "I was just sitting here reading."

"Yes, yes, I see, I see." The Professor caught her breath and straightened up. "Well, carry on then, in silence if you please. I have to prepare for class." The Professor bustled up to the top of the class and sat down behind her desk. She let out a sigh and cast a stern eye in Hermione's direction before pulling out a scroll of parchment from a drawer and starting to write furiously. Hermione sighed.

'Typical,' she thought to herself. It seemed she couldn't even sit in an empty room without getting into trouble. Glumly, she returned her attention to her book and carried on reading where she had left off, her mind hardly registering the words before her. Gradually, she became aware that she wasn't alone. People drifted into the classroom and sat down. A couple of them spoke to her, but all she could manage was a soft grunt in return. The bell rang. Professor Vector stood up and, with no preamble whatsoever, launched into another lecture concerning quantum variables and how they behaved at higher dimensions.

"To fully comprehend the changes that are going on in this transformation," she said, indicating a series of equations that she had drawn on the board, "one must of course remember that, as the sub-quanta reduce to zero, the variables in the higher dimensions balance, and, in essence, cancel each other out. We must be careful, however, not to disregard them entirely for they have a nasty habit of cropping up later." She pointed further down the board. "Many a time I have had to correct students work in which an careless and improper treatment of a single variable has led to error."

Hermione made an effort to follow the Professor. She understood what she was talking about, or at least she thought she did. It had certainly made sense when she had read about it in the textbook. It was just that the Professor's voice seemed to drone. Hermione felt her eyes start to droop. Every time she blinked it was as if the Professor skipped large chunks of her lecture. The words she was saying didn't join up. Eventually, Professor Vector's voice faded into almost nothing, just a faint hum somewhere in front of her. Then she heard it, the voice far louder than the lecture,

"WE CAN SEE YOU!!"

At the sound of the voice from her dream, Hermione woke up with a start. In her moment of fear and panic, she let out a startled shriek. Remembering where she was, Hermione clamped her hand over her mouth. The students around her hissed and muttered in surprise. There was a great hubbub in the room. Hermione's cheeks burned with embarrassment as she looked up. She had been expecting to see Professor Vector glaring at her but she wasn't. The Professor wasn't even looking at her. Her eyes were fixed on something behind Hermione, at the back of the classroom. The other students had turned too and were also focussed on the back of the room. None of them were even looking at her.

Hermione turned slowly to see what all the fuss was about. She let out another astonished yelp when she saw,

"Draco!"

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The Training Room door opened. Draco felt a strange tug at the Ether as it swung inward, if felt like a sudden breeze. He looked up to see Etean enter. His face was blank and bore no expression. The door swung closed behind him as he crossed the floor to stand beside Antoine's body. For a long moment, Etean just stood there, looking down at him. Draco thought he saw a moment of sadness touch his face.

"How did he die?" Etean asked. Draco shifted and pulled the now dirty pillow from beneath him and held it up so Etean could see it. Etean looked at it and nodded. "I see."

"I could…couldn't just leave him lying there like that," said Draco in a hoarse voice. "Not dead…not alive…existing without being…I…" He dropped the pillow as he ran out of words. It took him a moment to compose himself. "Tell me about him," he said at last.

Etean frowned. "What?"

Draco shrugged. "Did you know him?" he asked.

"Yes." Etean nodded.

"Then tell me about him." Draco looked at Antoine. "What was he like? Did he…did he have…a family?"

"What does it matter?" Etean asked, turning away from Antoine's body. "If I told you he was a wanted murderer, would it make you feel any better? What if I told you he was a devoted husband and father of three small children?" Draco gulped as Etean hunkered down next to him. "Or what if I told you that he was just a man. Not a bad man, and not a particularly good one either, simply a man who was no better or worse than anyone else. Does that make a difference to you?"

Draco thought about it, at least he tried to. A lump formed in his throat. "No," he croaked, "not really."

Etean nodded. "I didn't think it would," he said. He looked at Antoine again, and to Draco's horror, he laughed quietly.

Draco gasped in disbelief at Etean's callousness. "You think this is funny?"

"No," said Etean, "not at all. It's just that it occurred to me that this is the second time I have been in a room, looking at this man's dead body." He looked at Draco, all thoughts of him taking this as a joke vanished as Draco saw the emotions that Etean was no longer bothering to hide. "It doesn't get any easier with repetition," he said quietly. "Hold out your hand."

Draco wordlessly obeyed and held his hand out, palm up. Etean raised his hand, and, with a single extended finger, drew a glowing silver circle in the air above Draco's palm. Something about the way he did it made Draco unafraid, though he had no idea what was going to happen. Etean raised his palm, holding it flat against the glowing circle. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment. The circle flashed and started to shrink. Slowly at first and then rapidly, the glowing ring collapsed in on itself with an alarming flash. Draco jumped and shut his eyes, then he felt something land in his palm.

Draco opened his eyes and gasped as he looked down. Sitting on his palm was a tiny silver butterfly on a fine silver chain. It glittered in the light from the crystal overhead. Draco felt a lump form in his throat as he looked at it. It reminded him of...he looked up at Antoine for a moment, then back to the thing in his hand.

"What?" he asked, not able to say anything more.

"A token," was Etean's reply. "An imperfect reflection of a unique beauty." Draco frowned. He looked up to see Etean roll his eyes. "Yeah, it sounds like nonsense, but I couldn't think of anything else to say." He rolled round to sit on the floor, rested his elbows on his knees and sighed. "You earned that last night, Draco."

Draco scoffed. "By doing what, exactly?"

Etean jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Antoine's body. "You dealt with that," he said in a flat tone, "and you did what was right even though it wasn't easy. A lesser man would have spent the night scrambling to escape from here. A lesser man would have gone out of his way to avoid dealing with the problem…you didn't. Last night was hard, but it was important."

Draco was past arguing. "Whatever."

Etean's expression became darker. "No," he said in a cold voice, "not whatever. Just as I said, last night was the hardest lesson I will ever have to teach you, and, despite what I know you are thinking somewhere in that head of yours, I didn't do it for fun. Nor was I motivated out of any desire to mess with your head."

"No?"

"No! I did it because it was necessary for you to understand…" Etean trailed off for a moment and looked at the door that led to the Academy. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet. "Come on," he said, offering Draco his hand, "I have something to show you."

Draco felt that there was no sense in arguing so, careful not to damage the tiny butterfly, he took Etean's hand and allowed him to haul him to his feet. Etean turned and walked to the door, pushed it open and stepped through into the gloom beyond. Draco steeled his nerve and looped the chain of the butterfly around his neck before he followed him. He was careful to stay as far from Antoine as he could as he crossed the room and was almost running when he entered the door. He felt a sudden sense of falling as the shadow surrounded him momentarily before his feet hit the floor on the other side. Draco staggered and caught the wall for balance. He looked up and saw Etean looking at him. "You could have warned me," he grumbled.

Etean turned and walked off without comment. Draco looked up to get his bearings. He was in the Academy, certainly. The rough cut stone walls and flaming torches brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. Other than that, he had no clue where he was, there were no landmarks for him to recognise. Etean was disappearing in the distance before Draco remembered that he was supposed to be following him. He took off at a run to catch up.

They were not going far as it turned out. Draco had just caught up to Etean when he stopped outside of a door. Etean looked at Draco and nodded toward the door. "Go in, take a look, but touch nothing!" he said in a stern voice.

Draco swallowed before he stepped forward and pushed the door. It opened silently to reveal the room behind. Draco blinked as he stepped inside. Unlike every other room in the Academy that Draco had ever seen, this one was not dark and shadowy, this room dazzled him. Thousands of points of light sparkled from every inch of the wall. They created an eerie sort of silver light that seemed to radiate a sort of solemn respect. The room itself was cylindrical with high walls. In fact, it seemed to have no ceiling at all. The sparking lights continued up as far as Draco could see. The sight took his breath away.

"Look at them," Etean commanded from the doorway behind him. Draco stepped forward toward the twinkling lights and gasped. They were not lights at all. On closer inspection, he saw that each and every one of them was a tiny silver statue something like the one Etean had just given him. There were hundreds, thousands of them. They were all strangely similar though no two were exactly alike. Draco saw tiny silver icicles, delicate little feathers and even some tiny animals, rabbits, cats, birds, too many to name.

"One for every man and woman that has ever lived and served The Circle." Etean's voice sounded like it was from a dream. "They all faced the same challenge that you faced last night, and they all paid the price. This place is here so that we always remember that price. It ensures that we never forget just what it means to be a member of the Circle." He paused and took a breath. "All of us, Draco, have the power to do what you did last night, every…single…one of us. From the most powerful member of the Council, right down to the lowest initiate. It's some sort of twisted irony that most people who join the Circle do so out of a desire for power. Ironic because few ever realise that the power they seek is right in front of them from the start. The skills needed to kill the way you killed him last night are amongst the first that we learn, though you can understand why we avoid mentioning it."

"I never…" Draco started, but surrounded by so many perfect things, he was unable to continue. He jumped slightly when Etean laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him round.

"The skills I have shown you are merely tools," said Etean. "They are the means by which you will achieve you end goals. Those goals will ultimately depend on you. Used the way I taught you, your skills are completely harmless, but perverted…" He paused to let Draco's mind fill the gap. Draco looked down and caught the butterfly. He held it in his palm and looked at it. In here, it glowed like all the rest. Looking at it sparkle, Draco suddenly knew what Etean meant. "You wanted me to show you how to kill your father Draco," Etean paused and looked Draco in the eye, "now you know that I already have."

Draco's felt as if his insides had turned to ice. "I never realised…" he said in a shaky voice.

Etean nodded. "Power, true power, comes from your mind, Draco. That is the most deadly of weapons. It is deadlier than any spell, more lethal than any other weapon in existence. Your mind can't be destroyed unless you are. The skills you have learned are a part of you now, Draco." Etean reached out and closed Draco's fingers around the butterfly. Instinctively Draco tensed, not wanting to crush it…again. Etean took him by the wrist and held his fist before his eyes. "What is this? What can it do?"

The questions stirred a memory in Draco. He thought back to the day he met Etean, recalling his explanation of what real power was. Draco remembered that it had made no sense to him then. But now…"What is it?" Etean repeated. "What did it do?" He released Draco's wrist. Draco stared at his hand. Slowly, he opened his fingers and looked again at the butterfly. It was so impossibly delicate that it was hard to believe that it wasn't alive. Draco half expected it to decide to fly away at any moment. Draco felt the urge to hold it, keep it, possess it and in that moment, it all made sense.

Draco closed his hand around it again. "It's my fist…and it killed someone…" he said quietly as a single tear dropped out of his eye.

Etean smiled. "Now," he said, "you have learned the hardest lesson. The power we have, the power you sought, has a price. Last night was just a deposit, a down payment, on what you will owe before the end. To kill a person, any person, is to destroy something beautiful and irreplaceable. Who they are doesn't alter what it is to kill them." He sighed. "This was the hardest lesson because it can't be taught, can't be said in words. You just have to know it," he reached out and pressed his fingers into Draco's chest above his heart, "in here."

Draco swallowed. He looked Etean in the eye. "I understand."

Etean smiled. He touched the butterfly gently for a moment. "One day, this will hang here." He gestured to the walls. "After you're gone it will remain and take its place amongst the rest." He reached inside the neck of his robes and pulled on a tiny silver chain that Draco had never noticed he wore. He tugged it out and showed it to Draco. On the chain was a tiny silver snowflake that sparkled in the light of the others. Etean looked down at it, then back to Draco "So will this," he said. Draco's eyes moved from Etean's snowflake to his butterfly and he realised what it all meant. That what he was feeling, what he had done made him part of something in some strange way, something bigger than him, something wonderful and terrible at the same time. Etean tucked the snowflake away. "Now," he said as he straightened his robes, "I think we can make that deal that you wanted to make yesterday. That is," he looked Draco in the eye again, "if you still want to…Do you?"

Draco paused. He looked back down at the butterfly in his hand. Could he do it again? "I don't know," he said, "maybe."

Etean reached out and took hold of his shoulder. "Sounds like you have some thinking to do in that case." He patted Draco's shoulder. "In the meantime, we had better leave. This is not a place we should linger." He turned and ushered Draco out the door. They turned and retraced their steps, passing down the corridor in silence. Draco was drifting in thought and was somewhat glad not to have to talk for the moment. They reached the door that led back to Hogwarts. It was the only open door so even Draco could recognise it. He braced himself and stepped through, this time expecting the sudden falling sensation. He had reached the Training Room before he remembered what would await him on the other side. To his surprise, the room was empty. Antoine's body was nowhere in sight. He turned to Etean, confused. "Someone has to clean up your messes, Draco. Now," he pointed at the door, "class!"

Draco's jaw dropped. "Class?"

"Yes," Etean laughed, "class. This is a school, remember? Unless," he smirked, "you want to just go back to your little hideout?"

Draco hadn't even considered going anywhere, let alone back to a classroom, but the alternative wasn't all that pleasant either, now that he thought about it. He shook his head. "No, not in the state I left it in I don't."

Etean smiled. "It was in quite a mess."

Draco frowned. "You saw it?"

"Yes," Etean nodded, "I put it right for you, took quite a while, too."

"Oh," said Draco. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." Etean waved him off. "Now," he looked at his watch, "you had better hurry. You're already late."

Draco looked at his watch. If his mind was working, then it should be Friday morning. He concentrated and tried to remember his timetable. Friday meant Arithmancy. Etean was right, he was almost an hour late. He noticed the state of his robes and scowled. By the time he changed and made it to the class it would be all but over. Draco didn't know if he was ready to face the school yet. So much had happened to him in just the last day that he was close to being overwhelmed by it. He didn't need the whispers and the questions that awaited him out there on top of everything else. He looked at Etean, ready to argue the point but Etean didn't give him the chance. "You have to go back sometime, may as well be now."

He had a point, Draco imagined. Eventually, he would have to go back out there. He would have to face them. He took one more look at the spot where Antoine had fallen, tucked the butterfly pendant inside his robes and followed Etean out the door.

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Etean watched Draco disappear out the door of the Common Room. He needed no extra sensory perception to know the turmoil that was still going on in his mind. The doubt and uncertainty would fade over time as he grew to live with what he now knew. Etean sighed in relief. It had been close, closer than Draco would ever know, but he had passed the test.

The Final Test it was called, simply because for the majority of people, it was the last test to pass before they completed their training. Those that passed it took their place within the Circle. They were trusted and tasked with the protection of civilisation itself. Those that failed…but Draco hadn't failed, he had passed the test. Maybe now he would stop looking outward for someone to blame, stop looking for excuses to stop him making tough choices. He was a part of the Circle now and it was time he realised just what that meant. Members didn't have the luxury of excuses. They could never forget the responsibility that they had because they stood apart from the rest of the world. They alone accepted the charge of protecting the world from itself. If that meant that they had to kill and destroy a life then they had to do it, knowing what it was they were doing. They had to know the price of accepting their role. Draco didn't understand it all yet, but he was beginning to. He still had his choice to make and Etean had to let him make it. He hadn't lied when he had told Draco that he would help him kill Lucius, but Draco had to consciously make the choice now that he knew the truth. If he could make it, then he would be ready. He knew the truth, but now Draco had to understand the truth.

Etean let his mind wander in thought. The truth was all that mattered, all the lessons and the lectures were irrelevant, they were just words. The Circle was bigger than words, it was a living thing with a will and a purpose all its own, each member was just a part of the greater whole. They came and went, lived and died but the Circle was forever. For one thousand years it had endured. Empires, wars, plagues, evil in all shapes and sizes, had come and gone but the Circle had remained. It had survived because its members hadn't let it die. They had held on to one another and to the truth that bound them. That single truth: the simple beauty of life and its agonising frailty had held them together stronger than any oath ever could. That was why members weren't required to take any oath or make any pledge, it wasn't necessary. Whatever personal motivations had driven them to accept the offer and join the Circle, the training made them see the choice for what it was – a sacrifice.

Draco's journey wasn't over yet, though. He had a long way to go toward an uncertain fate, but he would get there. One thing Etean was sure of, if Draco died in this endeavour, it wouldn't be by his hand. No, this was going all the way to the end now, there was no other way.

Etean's thoughts were interrupted when the door of the Common Room opened again and Nott came storming in.

"There you are," he snarled, bristling with pent up rage. "Where the fuck have you been hiding all morning?"

Etean took a moment before responding. He used the time to rearrange his thoughts, setting Draco aside for the moment. "Around."

"Where?" Nott demanded. "I looked all over the place."

"Not well enough, apparently." Etean made to walk past him.

Nott raised a hand and blocked Etean's path. "Where do you think you're going?"

Etean glared at his hand, and then at him. "Anywhere I like, now get out of my way." He kept his voice even and stepped forward again.

Nott grabbed hold of his robes. "No, you're not," he hissed. "Not yet!"

Etean paused and made his voice sound like ice. "Let go of me."

Nott didn't release him, instead he tightened his grip. "No," he said, "we need to talk."

"No, we don't." Etean mentally invoked a strength enhancing charm as he lifted his hand and took hold of Nott's. "I told you to let me go, Theo," he said quietly. "That was me being polite." He squeezed hard, exerting pressure on Nott's knuckles from the side. "This isn't!" he finished, smirking as he heard one of Nott's knuckles snap and pop out of alignment. Nott howled and released his grip. Etean turned his wrist over, maintaining the pressure for a couple of seconds before he released him. Nott staggered back, cradling his hand and swearing profusely. Etean turned to leave.

Nott called out to him. "Wait," he said, the pain evident in his voice, "you're making a mistake."

"No, Theo," said Etean, turning back to him, "you are. The same mistake you have been making since I met you."

"I…"

"Your mistake," Etean interrupted with a degree of satisfaction, "was assuming that I am someone that you order about…I am not! What I am is smarter than you thought, Theo."

"I never said you weren't smart," said Nott.

"No." Etean smiled. "You just thought it…bad idea. Did you really think I was going to fall for your little speech? Your generous offer?" he scoffed. "As if your word alone would be enough to make the Dark Lord trust me…please!" He paused. "But it did make me think of just what it would take." Nott tried to say something, but Etean carried on, talking over him. "It would take more than the word of one Death Eater's son…a lot more. The Dark Lord doesn't trust easily if at all. He'd need proof of my loyalty to him, proof of my worth." He paused, as if in thought. "Those I can manage on my own…or fuck up on my own, either way, I don't see a need for you, Theo." Etean turned away again, more to hide his smirk than to leave. 'Come on, Theo,' he thought, 'connect the dots!'

"You're not as smart as you think, Etean," Nott said at last.

'Excellent!' Etean schooled his features and turned round. "Excuse me?"

Nott laughed, then winced. "You still…OUCH…still need me."

"How so?"

"I'm your way in, your only link to them." Nott straightened up. "They don't know you, but they know about you. You have power and influence. You could be useful to them, but you might be a problem, too." He shrugged. "Who's to say that they won't just decide to be rid of you? Kill you off before you get the chance to be a problem?"

Etean pretended to consider this for a moment. "You…could have a point." He dangled the bait…

And Nott jumped at it. "Yeah," he said, visibly relieved. "Without me, you have no way to be sure that they won't just step on you when they see fit. But, if you work with me, maybe we can both prove our worth."

"You mean I can prove my worth while you just stand there and hope that being my friend will be enough to save your neck." Nott didn't respond. Etean looked pensive again. "Alright," he said finally, "do it!"

Nott frowned. "Do what?"

"You want to be my way in? My link to the Death Eaters? Then do it, be the link."

"I don't understand."

"Well, then I'll spell it out for you. I want you to set up a meeting for me. I want to meet them…face to face."

Nott paled. "You what?" he asked, almost shaking. "Why?"

"I don't plan on empty promises, Theo, and I don't take risks with my life blind. If I'm going to get into this, I need to meet them…see them…talk to them."

"I…I don't know…"

"I didn't ask what you knew, nor do I care. I want a meeting with the Death Eaters and I want you to set it up."

Nott opened his mouth, but it was a full five seconds before he spoke. "I'm…not sure that I can do that."

"No?" Etean shrugged. "Well, in that case, you aren't much use to me, are you?"

"It isn't that simple, Etean…"

"Well I'll make it simple for you. If you want to be my friend, if you want to be the one that delivers Lord Etean into the Dark Lord's service, then I want a meeting. If you are going to be my connection to them, then you have to find a way to make it happen. How you do it is up to you, of course."

"Well I…" Nott was really shaking now. He sighed hard. "I'll…"

"Yes or no?" Etean pushed. "I don't have time for this shit."

Nott sighed again and shut his eyes. "I'll see what I can do," he said eventually.

"Good," said Etean, turning to leave again. "Now, you will excuse me." He paused halfway to the door. "Sorry about the hand," he said without turning round. "You should maybe have it looked at." He left without a word more and was halfway out of the dungeons before he allowed himself to smile. 'Got him,' he thought.

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Draco had never felt so uncomfortable walking through the corridors of Hogwarts. Everywhere he went there were whispers and stares. It had started when he had entered the Common Room: there had been a sudden quiet. Every conversation had come screeching to a halt and they had all stared. Draco had had to fight the urge to turn and run back out the door. He hadn't been that embarrassed since the now infamous ferret incident. The one and only thing that made the experience bearable was the fact that none of the other sixth years had been there to witness his 'triumphant return.' The laughter in his head at that thought had nearly deafened him as he changed into fresh robes and climbed back up to the Common Room to find it deserted.

"They all ran off," Etean had said as he handed him his bag.

"Off to spread the gossip no doubt," was his answer. Damn this school, they were fast. Every corner he turned revealed more staring faces. The word of his return was spreading before him like a tidal wave and here he was, marching morosely through the corridors in its wake. He wished the ground would just open up and swallow him. Every shadow looked so inviting. He could step into one and just disappear – literally if he put his cloak on. He sighed, no, that would be the easy way out. That would mean taking a step back and he couldn't do that. He owed it to himself not to take that step. He owed it to his mother, too, and to Antoine. He felt a lump in his throat as he remembered the face of the man he had killed. The pictures flashed before Draco's eyes, the butterfly…Antoine…Antoine's face. He had just laid there, his eyes staring straight ahead looking at nothing. Draco couldn't believe the way he hadn't even struggled when Draco had smothered him. That was the hardest thing to think about, the way he had simply…stopped. Draco came to a stop outside the Arithmancy classroom and shuddered. "Here we go," he whispered to himself and he opened the door.

Professor Vector was in the middle of her lecture. Draco heard her say the words, "…quantum transformations," before she saw him and came to an abrupt halt. There was a murmur of confusion from the class. They didn't understand what had derailed the normally implacable Vector. Draco started to count, waiting for the full blast of it to hit him. He hadn't got to three when, nearly as one person, the students turned and saw him. There was a burst of whispers, he even heard one or two startled shrieks as he felt fifteen pairs of eyes lock on and bore into him. He fought to stop himself blushing in embarrassment and kept his eyes fixed on the Professor.

When nothing happened, he cleared his throat and searched for something to say. The murmur from the class started to gain volume as he spoke. "I'm…sorry to disturb the class Professor, but I eh, seem to be a little late." He put on a false smile.

Vector looked as though he had just slapped her. Her mouth hung open in astonishment. "Mr. Malfoy," said the Professor in a strained voice that was all but a whisper. Draco's eyes slid closed for a moment but he bit his tongue. Vector seemed to have lost the power of speech again. "Yes," she said at last, "yes…s…sit down." She nodded to an empty seat. Draco sat down, wanting to get out of the spotlight. It didn't do much good, however. Every eye followed him, the whole class continued to stare, including the Professor. Draco glared at a couple of them as hard as he could until they caught on and looked away. "Right," said the Professor, coming to her senses at last. "Where was I?"

Vector looked around at the class, none of which were paying attention to her and scowled. The Professor tapped her wand on the lectern forcefully. Gradually, the class turned away from Draco and faced forward, all but one. Draco noticed that Hermione hadn't turned away from him. She was sitting in the front row with an odd expression, somewhere between surprise and relief. Her honey-brown eyes were wide as she stared at him. Despite the fact that he was still feeling very much in the spotlight and not comfortable in the least, Draco found that he didn't mind Hermione staring at him at all. She could look at him all day if she wanted to. Vector didn't share Draco's feelings, however, she clucked her tongue harshly when she noticed that Hermione wasn't paying attention.

"Miss Granger, do you not feel that the exploration of N-th degree astro-mathics is worthy of your attention?"

Hermione jumped and spun round, taking her lovely eyes with her. "Sorry Professor," she said quietly and hung her head slightly in embarrassment. Even from behind, Draco could tell she was blushing violently. He grinned and turned his attention to the Professor. He was instantly lost as to what she was talking about, joining in the middle of the lecture probably didn't help. Hermione had been right, he was way behind. As he listened to her drone on, his head started to hurt with the effort of ignoring the sly, corner of the eye looks he was getting from the students around him. He noticed Hermione sitting rigid in the front seat and allowed himself to half think that she was fighting the urge to turn round again. The thought made him smile. It almost made the rest of the class bearable.

Finally it was over. Ten minutes before the bell, Vector wrapped up her lecture and opened up the floor for Q and A. Nobody asked a question, though Draco had the impression that there were one or two things they would like to ask, just nothing relevant to the class. Vector seemed to accept that they didn't ask her anything to mean that they had understood the lecture. She beamed at them for a moment, excused them from homework and then, with a sideways glance at Draco, she bustled out of the room.

Draco sat back and waited for the barrage to begin. One by one, the students packed up their books and left. There must have been something on his face that scared them because not a single one stopped to ask him anything. He did get a lot of searching looks from the Ravenclaws, but, he supposed, that was just their nature. Before he knew it, they had all left. Only he and Granger remained. She was packing her bag with her back turned to him. Draco stood and stooped to pick up his bag when he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up to see a blur of auburn hair rushing at him. Before he could register what was going on, Hermione collided with him. Draco staggered back as her arms wrapped around him and squeezed.

The sheer enjoyment of the hug had barely registered in his head when Hermione broke away. She stepped back and looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. Draco smiled as he saw her lip quiver slightly. He was about to speak when her face hardened. There was movement and the left side of Draco's face exploded in pain. The sound of the slap echoed off the walls. The force of the blow made Draco stagger before he regained his balance.

Draco looked up to see tears running down Hermione's face. She was pointing a finger at his face. "Don't…" she stammered. "Don't you…don…" But whatever it was he wasn't supposed to do she never said. Draco was about to ask her just what the hell was going on when she surged forward again. Draco tensed instinctively then instantly forgot everything in the world as she pressed her lips to his and kissed him. The sensation of her lips on his sent a flash down his spine. His knees wobbled for a moment before his body realised that his mind had gone AWOL and took over. His arms coiled around her and returned the kiss, gently teasing her mouth open so he could savour the exquisite flavour of her that so intoxicated him.

The kiss might have lasted for an hour or a minute, Draco couldn't be sure. He wasn't aware of anything in the world that wasn't part of her mouth. He squeezed her harder and deepened the kiss further. How could he have gone so long and never known what this was like? Five years? Had he even been alive before?

All too soon, Hermione pulled free of him and backed away. Draco relaxed his grip on her as his mind restarted but didn't release her completely. He longed to kiss her again but managed not to out of an act of sheer willpower. He was expecting her to panic and bolt at any moment and didn't want to push his luck. Hermione didn't seem to want to get away from him though, in fact he felt her move slightly and settle into his arms. Draco looked at her and felt her eyes start to suck his soul in when he had a horrible thought and tensed automatically.

Picking up on the change, Hermione's lip started to quiver again. "What?" she asked quietly, barely making a sound. She seemed nervous, almost anxious.

Draco smiled. "Nothing," he said playfully, "I was just wondering…"

"Yes?" she prompted, seeming even more anxious. She looked so timid and cute at that moment that Draco felt as if he would melt on the spot.

He forced himself to tense again, just to see her reaction. "Well, I was wondering whether the pattern was going to continue."

Hermione frowned. "What pattern?"

"Well…" Draco had to force himself not to smile. "First you hugged me…then you slapped me…then you kissed me. Good, bad… good. I was just thinking whether I should be expecting a kick in the groin anytime soon?" He lost the fight and smiled wide. The look on her face was priceless. She frowned and half smiled at the same time. Draco noticed the weird way it made her nose wrinkle up. He focussed and tried to burn it into his memory. She was about to answer but Draco couldn't hold out any longer. He leaned down and covered her mouth with his once more. This time he managed to retain some sense of sanity, though it was a close thing. The taste of her filled his head and sent his mind spinning slowly toward limbo once again. He was all but ready to give in and lose himself in bliss when he tasted something else on her lips. Surprised, he pulled back to look at her. She was crying! Tears were streaming out of her eyes and covering her face. Draco licked his lips, tasting her tears on them. For one horrible moment, he thought that she was crying because he had hurt her, or that he had misread her, but that didn't make sense, she had kissed him.

"Hey," he said softly, lifting his left hand and gently wiping at her face with the tip of one finger. "What is it?"

Hermione shook her head and a huge sob went through her. "I don't know," she whimpered, "I was so worried about…I mean I went to your room last night and saw…"

Draco caught on. She had seen the state of his room and thought…well, who could say what she thought, but, given what she had seen, it couldn't have been good. "Oh," he said, painting a reassuring smile on his face, "sorry…that was…oh it doesn't matter. I didn't mean to scare you, though."

Hermione continued to sob and sniff. "It isn't just that…it's…everything…I don't kn…know…I…" She was babbling. If she hadn't been so upset, Draco would have thought it was adorable but as it was…

"Shhhh" he said, pulling her to him and holding her as tightly as he dared. Hermione buried her face in his neck and continued to sob. She seemed to be letting out all her pent up fear and pain in one go, and boy was there a lot of pain in her. Draco had no idea that she was so upset inside. He had no clue as to what he could say to help her so he said nothing at all. He just stood there holding her in his arms and praying that he was helping her somehow.

Draco lost track of how long they stood there, but it was a long time. Gradually, painfully slowly, Hermione's sobs slowed and she calmed down. Draco started to slowly stroke her back in an attempt to soothe her further. At last she stopped crying and pulled back. "Sorry about that," she said as she wiped her eyes clumsily. "I don't know what came over me I…"

"Don't worry about it," Draco said, smiling at her. Hermione looked at him with those amazing eyes, made no less mesmerising by being red and puffy. Her lip trembled and Draco thought for a second that she might cry again. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him again, just for a second.

"Thank you," she whispered after their lips parted.

Draco frowned. "For what exactly?"

Hermione shrugged slightly. "I don't know," she said. "Just for being here I suppose, and," she laughed, "and putting up with me. I think…think I needed someone to…"

"Hold you?" Draco finished for her. Hermione nodded, Draco smiled. He couldn't think of a single thing right now that he would rather do. "Anytime!" he said. Hermione blushed at that point, something that Draco found completely ridiculous and absolutely perfect at the same time.

"I might just take you up on that," she said, blushing harder as if she hadn't realised what she was saying. Her eyes darted away from his rapidly and came to rest on the top of his head. "Hey, your hair?" she said inquisitively, running her fingers through it gently.

The sensation made Draco shiver. "I was wondering when someone would notice," he said in a cheeky voice when he had gotten himself under control again.

Hermione smiled.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. The sound shattered the moment. Both of them jumped and seemed to realise that they were standing in each others arms, sharing a tender moment, in a classroom that would shortly fill with students. Hermione stepped back and shook her head, "I guess we missed lunch," she said.

Draco smirked at her attempt to start a normal conversation. "I wasn't hungry anyway," he lied. Thinking about it, he was famished. He hadn't eaten since supper the night before – and it had been a long night. Draco arrested his mind as it started to relive the previous night. He turned his attention to more immediate matters: where the hell was he going now? Did he have another class?

"What?" said Hermione, looking at him with a worried expression.

Draco realised he was frowning. "Oh," he said, relaxing his face, "I was just wondering what class I had next that's all."

Hermione nodded then leaned her head to the side as she thought. "None, I think," she said, "I don't anyway…the only N.E.W.T. classes on Friday afternoons are Divination and…Muggle Studies, I think. You don't do either of those." It was a statement, not a question.

Draco smirked. "You sound awfully sure of that, Hermione," he said jokily. "How do you suddenly know my timetable better than I do?"

"Simple." Hermione shrugged. She dug into her bag which she had retrieved from her desk and pulled a small book out. She tossed it to him. "Making that helped."

Draco examined the book. He saw instantly that it was the study journal Hermione had promised to make him, the one that was supposed to help him catch up in his classes. Merlin that was fast, she had only said she'd make the thing last night. Draco flipped through the book. Page after page of colour coded blocks, each one devoted to a different subject: Blue for Transfiguration, Green for Potions, Red for Charms, etc. There seemed to be an awful lot of them. "Hang on," he said in a slightly alarmed way. "You haven't left anything out have you?" He looked up at her. "Like sleep, maybe?"

Hermione frowned. "You sleep at night, Draco," she said bossily, "and you have an awful lot of work to do if you want to catch up. I didn't realise just how much until I went through my notes. Take Potions for example…" Her voice was picking up speed. Draco got the impression that she was building up for a full scale tirade.

He raised his hands in surrender. "OK, I get it." He sighed and looked at the journal again. "Where do I start?" he said in a flat tone.

"The beginning, silly," said Hermione, "where else?" She reached out and snatched the book, opened it at the first page of coloured blocks and showed it to him. "I put Charms first thing. I usually start with Charms, it gets your mind worked up for the other subjects. Arithmancy is next, it's a tougher subject and takes a lot of work so it's best to get it over with before you are too tired."

Draco laid a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. "I think I get the picture," he said. "Well," he took the book from her, "I had better get started, I suppose."

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, you probably should." Draco bent to pick up his bag. "Erm," said Hermione, chewing her lip nervously. "You em…want some help?"

Draco smiled. "I think I need help," he said, laughing inside his head at the double meaning that he was sure Hermione wouldn't get. "But we can't stay here," he said as the second bell rang, signalling that classes were about to begin, "we'd best find somewhere quiet, don't you think?"

Hermione nodded and lifted her bag. Draco opened the door and gestured for her to take the lead. Outside, there was a second year class waiting for Professor Vector to arrive. Just as Draco expected, they fell silent and stared the second they saw him. Hermione paused and looked at him with an expression of sympathy. Draco just shook his head and tried to ignore them. "Where to?" he asked Hermione in the brightest voice he could muster.

"Prefects' Common Room?" suggested Hermione.

Draco thought about it, there were bound to be some of the Prefects in there, but he couldn't avoid them forever. "Fine," he said, walking past Hermione. He wanted to spend as little time in the public eye as he could. "Let's go," he finished over his shoulder.

A/N: Well, he's out…at last. I know how some of you feel, I have felt like screaming at him many a time – yes I am THAT crazy, I did come up with this thing after all.

There are a few of you out there that are apparently desperate for answers, I won't bother repeating the question –growl- but really, do you want me to just tell you flat out? Nah, that's boring. Rest assured there is a reason for EVERYTHING that happens, there are answers but so far nobody has seemed to ask the right questions! :P Seriously though, in my head there is a whole back story that is running the show – Etean is real, he talks to me. Oh wait, that's crazy isn't it?

You may have noticed that the updates are getting longer. The last two (this one and the previous) have been like a third longer than any others so far. The reason is that I have the remainder of this thing (monster, beast, tome?) planned out but the damned thing keeps growing as I see the gaps I need to fill. I'm running just to keep up with my own head!!! So be patient, we WILL get there.

I'm outta here for now guys!

Peace, and thanks to all reviewers and to Raela Koira for beta(comma)-ing :P this beast, love ya!