Chapter 17 - Preparations

Occlumency sessions with Severus were exhausting at best and utterly torturous at worst, but every time he felt himself on the verge of quitting, Draco simply reminded himself of why he was going through everything and how it could be worse, and then redoubled his efforts to do well. At the end of each session, though Severus made no comments on how he did, Draco was certain that he was making process. The one and only time he had commented was after the first session, wherein Severus uncovered some...ahem...compromising information regarding Draco's recent meetings with Hermione.

The headmaster had been visibly shocked to find out what his godson was up to, of course, but other than questioning Draco as to whether anyone else knew about these meetings and then cautioning him to get into the habit of shielding his mind more often for practice, Severus hadn't said a word about them. This, more than the discussion they'd had earlier on regarding the list, was far more telling as to where his "true loyalties" lay.

In any case, after a full week of these sessions taking up his evenings, and furthermore not hearing anything from Hermione regarding the book he'd lent her—or other things—Draco felt like he deserved some time to himself to rest up. Before, he thought that he'd appreciate these sessions with Severus as something to do, and to an extent he still did, but there was something to be said for solitude from time to time.

Unfortunately, the one time that he actually would have relished being alone, it was not to be; just that evening, he finally got an owl from Borgin and Burkes asking him to come and pick up his latest purchase—the kracken egg.

Burning the letter in the fireplace of his common room, Draco determined that since he was getting the egg tonight, he might as well see if he could make the exchange the very next day, which was a weekend. True, he'd have to re-read his notes and make sure that he had all his facts straight before attempting what he was going to, but all in all he felt well-prepared.

His plan was simple: keeping in mind that he was allowed full access to Severus's private potion stores, Draco intended to take some gillyweed to breathe underwater, and then he would swim to the mer-kingdom at the bottom of the lake, wand at the ready, and see if he could bargain with the merpeople. From what he studied in the books about them, the relationship between merpeople and wizards was an unstable one, and largely varied from case to case. For instance, Draco knew that the merpeople had highly respected Dumbledore, agreeing to participate in the Triwizard Tournament a few years back and some of them had even attended his funeral. Of course, Dumbledore had been exceptional in every sense of the word, so this didn't say much about them in general; however, Draco was betting on the fact that since he was a Hogwarts student, all of whom had only ever treated the merpeople with (wary) respect, they wouldn't be so quick to point spears at him or anything. Besides which, if necessary, he had one more slight trick up his sleeve, something that he had also paid a hefty price for.

As long as Moribund has it ready for me, Draco thought. Though reluctant to use the dealer's services again after what he had charged for the duplicate key to the vault, Draco had no choice if he wanted to better his chances of communicating with the merpeople. All he knew for sure was that his savings were being used up rapidly, and that if he continued at this rate, his own private vault would be virtually empty by the time he graduated Hogwarts.

Not that he or anyone could think that far ahead into the future, though.

Packed and ready, Draco made his way to the Room of Requirement, into the Vanishing Cabinet and out in front of his house, and then finally apparated to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Once there, he headed for Borgin and Burkes first to pick up his order. As always, business in the shop was easy, since, because he was a Malfoy, he was a highly respected client of theirs and his needs generally came before the needs of other customers. Draco only hoped it was his family's wealth and not their reputation that the shop respected though, since to be respected for being a Death Eater didn't sit well with him, no matter what it got him nowadays.

The kracken egg was a large, perfectly-shaped sphere with rough markings etched on the outside. The krackens, for all that they didn't qualify above a "beast" classification by the ministry, didn't have a complex culture but they did have a complex language, full of a series of calls and sound waves that could only be distinguished underwater. From what limited knowledge was written about them, Draco had learned that the parent—usually only one stuck around until hatching time, generally the fathers—spent months at a time etching their "sounds" onto the surface of their eggs, either to influence the genetic development of the young or to warn other underwater beings away from the egg. No one knew for sure the reason, but the results were the fine markings on the egg's surface, which in themselves looked impressive since the material of the shell was thick and rock-like. All were unique, but there were certain signs Draco knew to look for to make sure that the egg was the genuine thing, and this one appeared to be.

Not that Draco had been going for getting a real kracken egg, but his discussion with Hermione and her reference to him "cheating" had made him think that perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing with merfolk. After all, he didn't know much about them enough to assume that they'd fall for a fake, so it was better to be safe than sorry. As for whether the kracken actually managed to live in the Black Lake or not...well, that wasn't his business.

Paying for the genuine article had of course cost him, but Draco opted for quality above anything else. So the purchase was worth it, all in all.

Transporting it would be a bit of a problem though, since of course it was too heavy to lift and would be conspicuous anyway. Transfiguring himself a wheelbarrow, Draco only hoped he wouldn't be seen by anyone who might question him what he was doing with the egg. But, after all, he was only going across the street to Moribund's, and then he would apparate straight home, so he wouldn't be staying in Knockturn Alley long. The real problem would be where to keep it and how to get it to the lake at Hogwarts without anyone noticing, but he had to focus on one problem at time.

Slowly levitating the egg onto the wheelbarrow, Draco then lifted up the handle and trudged with it outside of Borgin and Burkes. Luckily, few wizards were around this late at night as the shops would be closing soon anyway, so he encountered no one as he made his way into Moribund's. As soon as he entered the shop though, it was very clear that he ought to have been worried about the inside as well, as Moribund wasn't alone. The old wizard was just stepping out of his backroom with...Crabbe?

Draco halted in his steps, just barely casting a quick invisibility charm over the wheelbarrow and egg before Crabbe was fully in sight and could catch a glimpse of it. Moribund obviously had but, with a sly and curious smile, he stood back and simply remained silent. As for Crabbe, he was no less surprised to see Draco than Draco was to see him. Keeping in mind that he should have the superior position over Crabbe at all times, it was Draco who questioned him first.

"What the hell are you doing here, Crabbe?!"

Crabbe, confused and a bit nervous at being caught, swallowed a lump in his fat throat.

"W-what about you Draco?" he questioned, surprising Draco with how, for once, he had actually dared to question him. Draco had no idea where his new bout of bravado came from, but he wasn't pleased by it.

However, since refusing to tell Crabbe would only cause him to be more suspicious, dimwitted though he was, for once Draco decided to answer his question—with a lie, of course. "On a mission for the Dark Lord, obviously. How else would I be out of Hogwarts?" He glared darkly at Crabbe. "How exactly did you get out?"

Crabbe looked more and more uncertain by the minute, though the defensive irritation of his eyes didn't change. "I got permission from Professor Amycus for a pass out. He told me to pick up some things for him while I'm at it."

Draco leaned against the front counter, hand on his hip in a disinterested, superior fashion. "And what business would you have outside of Hogwarts, Crabbe?"

"I—" But at this point Crabbe clamped his mouth shut, clearly unwilling to say more.

Rather than press the issue and reveal his curiosity though, Draco instead rolled his eyes, dismissing the matter. "If you're done here, then leave, Crabbe." And while it was on the tip of his tongue to threaten to tell the headmaster about this as he would have for, say, Potter back in the day, Draco knew that he wouldn't get anywhere by threatening his so-called "friend". Best just to let Crabbe stew over Draco's reaction for a while and rot in his own confusion than take things further and risk a confrontation now.

Crabbe, for his part, though still looking irritated at Draco, wasted no time in scrambling to leave the store. He actually tripped over the wheelbarrow handle on his way out, but just to get out of there quickly and avoid looking more ridiculous, he didn't stick around to question it.

Once he was certain that Crabbe was gone, Draco undid the invisibility charm and turned back to Moribund, who for his own part just looked amused. "Quite a spectacle, Mr. Malfoy. I must say, I'm not used to such things in my store. Most people conduct their business in quiet around here." And he glanced towards his wall of skeletons, as though telling a private joke.

Ignoring his morbid sense of humor, Draco strode forward, taking out yet another bag of galleons—the requested price for his item. "You have my order ready?"

Moribund's eyes lingered on the bag as he nodded, then slowly reached behind him onto an obscure shelf and took down a small container. Inside was a ring, cast in silver and with an emerald stone. Draco hadn't much cared for what the aesthetic design would look like, but he could see that Moribund was definitely creative with his work, if not overly expensive. The band was shaped like a snake going around Draco's finger, but as long as it worked, Draco didn't mind what it looked like. Setting it upon his finger, Draco was pleased to see that it was also a perfect fit.

"Does it work?" he asked, setting his hand over his bag of galleons before Moribund could reach for it.

Moribund grinned. "Of course, Mr. Malfoy. You know my products are always top quality."

Draco sniffed, then took out his wand. "Serpensortia!"

Instantly, just as it had in second year when he had been up against Potter in Lockhart's Dueling Club, a serpent appeared on the floor of the store. Moribund watched in bemused interest as Draco turned to it, and then began to speak.

In truth, what he was thinking to say was to ask the snake to crawl over into the wheelbarrow, but the words coming from his mouth sounded nothing like English. Instead, what Moribund and any other observer would have heard was perfect Parseltongue, and the snake understood it as well and obeyed. Draco then ordered the snake to crawl out of the store, which again came out as Parseltongue, and again the snake obeyed, heading for the door.

Obliterating it, Draco turned back to Moribund and slid over the bag of galleons, convinced. "And this will work for any language of magical creatures, right?" he asked, not specifying which language he wanted it to work for in general.

But Moribund, having already pocketed the bag, merely grinned and said yet again, "Of course, Mr. Malfoy."

Having gotten both the egg and ring safely back to Hogwarts without further incident, Draco decided to leave the egg in the Room of Requirement, since obviously no one would think to look there for it—or even be able to find it if they did. As for how he was going to get it down to the lake the next morning, he determined that a combination of a levitation and invisibility charm would have to do, although of course this involved him remaining in deep focus on both spells. As long as he didn't encounter anyone like Crabbe, Goyle, or Pansy, he should be able to get there without any trouble. In fact, just avoiding them in general would be a good thing, with or without the egg.

Confirming that he had the gillyweed he needed as well as a pair of swimming trunks with a pocket for his wand, Draco then set everything up so that it would be in place for tomorrow. His plan was truly and finally coming together, and yet...

It felt incomplete somehow, like there was something he was missing. On the surface, he realized of course that there were high chances of it not working, but since it was his best shot at getting the goblin-made steel now, did he really have a choice? If Hermione said that that item would be important, than it truly must be, and as such it was worth the effort to try and get it.

Wait a minute—Hermione! That's what Draco felt he was missing: her input!

Excited despite himself, he quickly took out his wand and summoned his patronus, this time having no trouble at all in getting a full sized peacock to appear. Disguising his voice just in case she was with Potter or Weasley, Draco quickly sent her a message asking if she was available to talk.

A few minutes later, the now-familiar otter finally swam back, sitting up on its hind legs and nodding its head in a rather...cute way to greet him. "Hello Draco. Yes, I'm free. What's up?"

Smiling like an idiot, Draco then proceeded to tell her about his entire plan from start to finish, outlining the steps in preparation he had taken for everything. At the end, he finally paused for a bit of breath and then sent out the last part of the message that he really wanted to communicate: "So, do you think it'll work?"

It was no surprise that Hermione took longer to answer this time, no doubt having to take in everything that Draco had told her and then review her own stores of knowledge to determine whether or not it would work. Still, Draco waited patiently for her response, pacing back and forth like the impatient schoolboy that he was. Finally, the otter did come back, though the message was much shorter than what Draco had expected.

"How much will you be putting yourself at risk for this?"

Draco blinked uncertainly and waited to hear more, but when the otter then faded away after delivering that message, it was clear that it was all Hermione had to say.

Considering his answer carefully, Draco summoned up his patronus again. "No more than how Potter put himself at risk in the Triwizard Tournament, I'd imagine. Possibly less. Why?"

"Because I don't want you getting hurt," came the instant response. "All things considered, this list shouldn't be asking you to risk your life like that. Even Harry and I aren't doing that, for Merlin's sake! If you were dealing with other wizards, I'd accept that you could take a few risks, but with merpeople there's no telling what they'll do or how they'll react!"

Draco paused to think over what she said, and he had to admit that she did make sense in a way. After all, for all that death eaters weren't squeamish about using the Killing Curse, often times they didn't. Because they were sentient and highly intelligent as a species, they were able to recognize the value of keeping something or someone alive, whereas anything classified as a "beast" didn't make that distinction. Granted, the merfolk were only classified that way by choice, but it did nevertheless allow them certain freedoms to be identified as such—for example, not having to pay the same penalty for what would essentially be murder. Much like a hippogriff or dragon could inadvertently kill a wizard because they didn't make the distinction between prey and not-prey or enemy and friend, merfolk were more or less entitled to the same amount of ignorance.

Draco technically didn't need Hermione's permission to go through with anything, but nevertheless he would have felt better if he'd had her approval on his plan. However, there was no sense in trying to convince her since Hermione Granger would have a logical counterargument to anything he said. Ordinarily, this would irk Draco to no end because he did not like being contradicted and yet...apart from his mother, no one had ever shown the same amount of concern over his safety that Hermione was currently showing. In more than one way, it warmed him greatly to know this, and his response came out sounding gentler than what he otherwise could have said.

"We've already discussed this and I've come too far to back out now," he began. "I know it's taking a risk, but if I want to find the sheath, this is my best chance."

"I know that, Draco, and I understand that, but..." A long pause followed, but the otter still remained in place so Draco knew the message wasn't over. "...I've been thinking it over since we last spoke about it and I don't like it at all. Putting yourself at risk is foolhardy, and this is something that you're doing alone so it's not like when Harry went down there and we had everyone around in case something went wrong."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Draco replied back. After all, she usually had the answers for everything...

"Isn't there...someone you could bring along with you? As a lookout or just in case something goes wrong?"

Draco gave it some thought. Severus definitely should have been an option, but what Draco was doing was definitely "questionable" and they'd already agreed since back when Severus had given him the list that he himself shouldn't be involved in anything regarding it. As for anyone else though...

"No one I'd trust," Draco replied quite honestly.

When the otter finally swam back, Draco could swear that the first thing he heard was a sigh before Hermione spoke. "I'm not okay with this in the slightest, but I can tell there's no changing your mind. If...if anything happened though, do you at least have a plan for getting out of there? You haven't mentioned that yet."

Draco in fact hadn't thought that part out yet—which just went to show how far ahead in planning Hermione was as compared to him—but now he definitely was going to start thinking something. Not wanting to lie to her about that though, he sent back a patronus informing her that he'd give it some thought and let her know the next morning before he went out if anything came to mind. Draco knew that it was hardly the response she'd want to hear, and yet...it was all he had at that moment.

And so, though still on very uncertain terms, they concluded their discussion there and then, leaving Draco to brood (and worry) over what to do next.

A/N: This has been a mostly Draco-centered chapter yet again, minus that patronus bit at the end, but I hope that no one minds this even though we've come a-ways in the story. Timeline-wise in Deathly Hallows, we're still in November, and fans can check and see that Rowling didn't really have much happen during this time. The next big thing for Harry and Hermione plot-wise is in December with their trip to Godric's Hollow, so until we get to that it's pretty much a Draco-centered plot that's moving forward in this fic. We will get there though, but I'm hoping that no one minds the slow plot progression here...

Also, everything regarding the kracken details are 100% made up by me since Rowling literally didn't write anything on this. Again, I hope no one minds though. As for the "translator ring", which is what I'm going to call it from now on, it's also 100% made up by me, since this also isn't something that Rowling's mentioned. Considering how even us real life muggles have translator devices though, I figure that wizards for sure must have some, though I've decided to make them extremely rare and expensive. Draco will have one from now on though, so...yeah, there's that! (But as I'm sure that more than a number of fans will love the idea of Draco speaking parseltongue (like I do), I'm sure this won't be a problem.)

Follow~Favourite~Review(s)!

And, if I may give a shout-out, on the last chapter I received a review from a Guest reviewer mentioning this story as a help to isolation. Reading that not only surprised me, but made me extremely happy, as that's kind of the point of why I came back on fanfiction after literally years of inactivity and a sort of hiatus. Initially, I began writing this story as a help to myself to spend time and keep me sane, but I'm really shocked with how it took off and want a fandom its managed to build in just over a month. I'm super grateful for everyone who likes and enjoys this story, and can only hope that everyone continues to follow it through and likes the direction that it's going. So...thank you sincerely to everyone who's reading and especially those who are reviewing—it's a coping process for all of us! 3