Harmonia Nectere Passus Ch. 10
Draco led Granger down to the dungeons, anxious excitement welling inside of him. He hadn't imagined that he'd have company for the next eleven days, especially not company he enjoyed. "Hostibus propius!" he whispered to the barren stone wall.
The wall promptly sprang to life and the stones drew away revealing the passage to the Common Room. It was dim and dank, the moisture from the Lake above creating a bone chilling dampness as they entered the Room. Draco was used to it, preferred the coolness and eerie emerald glow to most anywhere else in the castle.
He removed his cloak and tossed it over the back of one couch, flopping himself ungracefully into the leather cushions. He waved his hand to the nearest couch. "Make yourself at home, Granger."
For her part, she was looking around the room in obvious wonder and apprehension. Her eyes darted from the portrait of the winding serpent on the mantle above the fire, to the tapestries of medieval Slytherin heroes fighting the same battles over and over again. As she unclasped her own cloak, Granger walked to the window, the light filtering through the Lake's depths casting an ominous green glow over her petite features. She was gazing into the depths, watching a pair of grindylows chasing one another when a mermaid swam up out of nowhere and smashed her fist against the window, letting out a screech. Granger stumbled back and fell, caught completely off guard.
Draco went to her side, where she was laughing uncontrollably at her own silliness. He stood over her and looked down at her, amusement evident in the small smile that adorned his face. "Well, if I had known you were going to fall for me so easily, I would have tried to trip you up a long time."
Granger let out a fresh round of laughs at that and Draco's ego swelled a little at his ability to draw a hearty laugh from the broken girl. He put his hand out to lift her and she tugged him down with her. She put her feet out and up against the wall, the cold drafts of the dungeon floor swirling around them. Draco wasn't accustomed to girls behaving in such strange ways. Pureblood females were groomed from an early age to become prim and proper women, rarely letting loose and playful. He had certainly never lain on the cold stone floor of his Common Room and stared out of the window above them.
"What was it you wanted to show me?" he asked, remembering that she'd told him she had something to share.
Granger reached into the front pocket of her Muggle sweater and retrieved an old and tattered piece of parchment. She handed it to him and he raised his eyebrow, turning it over in his hands and finding it entirely blank. She pointed her wand at it and tapped. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
Draco watched as words appeared across the page:
Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
Are proud to present
THE MARAUDER'S MAP
He unfolded the map and a surprisingly intricate and detailed depiction of Hogwarts spread across the parchment. His eyes wandered and he found the Slytherin Common Room, two little dots depicting he and Granger sitting in one corner. "What the…?"
"Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter. The Marauders. They created it using a strong Homonculous Charm. It's a useful item to have…but dangerous as well," she explained, reaching over to point at the two of them huddled in the corner.
"How did Potter never catch on when we were in the Prefect's bathroom?" he asked, watching the three other students who'd stayed for Christmas' dots mull about the castle.
"He did, once. He questioned me. I told him we were arguing about who would get the use of the bathroom. That's when I told you we couldn't go there anymore."
Draco stared at it. "So the Room of Requirement is not on here…but he can watch me go anywhere else?"
Granger nodded next to him. "And does…frequently."
"How did you manage to pry this from his hands?" he asked, eyeing the secret tunnels she'd mentioned prior.
"I snatched it from him last night and told him I was going to follow you. And then this morning, we didn't have a chance to really speak before they left. So I kept it…along with his Invisibility Cloak. I'll have to give them back, of course. He's probably already angry that I kept it," Granger replied, smirking slightly.
"Why are you showing this to me?" he asked apprehensively.
"I think if we can manage to duplicate it, it will be useful in assisting with your task. And I would also like to put a charm on it so that any time we're together, it automatically diverts us away from each other," she said, taking it from him and staring at it before tapping it and mumbling, "Mischief managed."
"You want to use trickery against your best friend?" he teased, nudging her shoulder.
Granger shrugged. "It would be a lot easier to spend time together, working on this, if we aren't being watched every second."
"I'm impressed. How very cunning, deceitful, Slytherin, of you," Draco replied, crossing his hands over his stomach and closing his eyes, the coolness of the room making him shiver.
"I've been spending entirely too much time with you," she gave a gentle chuckle.
"I disagree. We haven't spent nearly enough time together," he said before his brain could censor his mouth.
She hummed, also closing her eyes. "Who would have thought three months ago that we'd become friends?"
Draco kept silent. He'd hoped that three years ago. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm a different person, watching my life take place from afar…" she whispered quietly.
He thought about this for a moment. "Would you like to be?"
"Be what?"
"Watching your life from afar?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, wrinkling her brow in confusion.
Draco smiled slightly. "Have you ever heard of astral transmutation?"
"The basic concept, yes. But it's not plausible," she argued.
"Do you trust me?" he asked, leaning up on one elbow to look down at her.
She opened her eyes and studied his face for entirely too long. She didn't trust him. He could understand, given her mental state and attack that she wouldn't trust anyone. "Do you trust that I wouldn't let harm come to you?" he rephrased, feeling only a small pang of hurt.
She nodded, looking into his eyes solemnly. "Yes. What does this have to do with astral transmutation?"
He lied back against the cold stone once more and put his hand between them, palm up. "Give me your hand."
Granger hesitated for a moment and he ran a finger over her clothed arm. "Let me take your hand and listen to me carefully."
She put her hand in his and he intertwined their fingers, turning his face toward the ceiling though his eyes were closed. When he spoke, his voice was low and soothing, slow and calm. "Breathe in and out very slowly, evenly. Clear your mind of everything but the sound of my voice."
He listened as she drew deep breaths and then exhaled slowly. "Breathe until you can feel your mind disconnecting from your body. In and out. You should feel a warm feeling envelope you, like a heavy blanket. When you feel that, squeeze my hand. Keep breathing in…and out."
They lay on the floor of the Common Room, their feet propped on the stone wall before them, hands clasped between them for what felt like an eternity to Draco before she finally squeezed his hand. "Good. Give into the sensations. Feel the vibrating of your magic within you. When you feel as though you are shimmering, squeeze my hand."
He calmed his own mind, slipping more readily into this state than she had, years of practice under his belt. He felt a weak squeeze to his hand. "Visualize yourself bringing your hand up and touching your cheek, but do not actually move your arm."
He could feel her magic, mixing with his own between them, flowing from her hand into his. "Focus every bit of energy you have into leaving your body. Envision yourself sitting up, but do not move. Keep breathing in and out."
Draco felt the separation of his astral body as he sat up, looking down at his physical body. He waited a moment and Granger sat up as well, opening her eyes and gasping in surprise as she looked down at her body resting beneath her. "What is happening?" she asked, panicked.
Even in their astral bodies, their hands were clasped and he gave her an encouraging squeeze. "Astral transmutation."
"This isn't possible," she said, looking around them.
He stood and put his hands out for her to pull herself up as well. She looked frightened and he held both of her hands as they looked down at the shells that normally encased their consciousness. "It's okay. It's perfectly safe."
Granger looked down at their clasped hands and lifted them, seemingly surprised that they were still solid. "How?"
Draco shrugged, relishing the feel of her tiny hands grasping his. "I don't know. How do we practice Occlumency? Or use wandless magic? The ability flows through you. It's in your magic."
She looked down and her eyes followed a long thread of silver, swirling mist that connected her to her physical body. Light was shimmering off of both of them and she lifted a hand to touch his face. "It's…eerie. You're already to pale, but the light radiating from within you looks positively ethereal."
Draco smiled at her, taking in the way her skin was radiating light from within in exactly the same fashion. He noticed for the first time that she had freckles splashed over her nose as they blocked the light coming through her skin. Her hands were warm, made warmer by the vibrating heat that seethed just below the surface of her skin.
"We should go back…your first time can be really tiring," he mentioned, cringing at the innuendo within his statement.
"How?" she asked, toeing her physical body.
"On three, open your eyes. Actually open them," he instructed.
She took a deep breath and nodded. "One…two…three!"
They opened their eyes as the same time and they were both back in their physical bodies on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. Granger sat up, genuine excitement on her features. "That was brilliant! I want to do it again!"
Draco laughed and stood up, brushing his clothing off and flicking his wand in the direction of his dorm. A small vial flew from the cracked door and into his hand. "Drink this."
"What is it?" she asked, standing on her own.
She swayed where she stood and grabbed her head. "Whoa."
Draco smirked. "It's Pepper-Up."
She took it and downed it in one go, groaning as she handed him the empty vial. "It'll get easier, the more you practice. You can go pretty far and you can transmutate without projecting the way you look."
"So you'd be invisible?"
"Yes. More effectively than Potter's Cloak. Only problem is that you have to be lying down, in a hypnogogic meditative state," he explained, placing a hand under her arm and helping her to the leather couch.
He conjured a glass of water and handed it to her to drink and she looked at him, a gleam of fascinated cunning in her eye. "Draco. Do you understand what this means?"
He raised an eyebrow. She gave him a pointed look. "Between your capabilities as a Legilimens and this…exacting revenge on Lavender Brown just became much easier."
"What are you thinking?" he asked, amused that Gryffindor's little lioness had an underlying Darkness about her.
"Psychological torture… and I know you've already used a particularly Dark piece of magic against Pansy…but perhaps she deserves a little more," she replied as though it were obvious.
Draco let out a genuine, rumbling laugh at that. "We need to get your strength up if you want to do this right. You were feeding off of my magic quite a bit to do it this time."
Granger looked down at the water in her hand with a frown, her eyes focused as she thought this over. She lifted the glass to her lips and threw back the liquid in one go as a seasoned alcoholic might throw back a bottle of Ogden's. "Come to think of it, I do feel a little hungry!"
Draco smiled widely and held out his hand for her to take. "Let's sneak down to the kitchens and get you something to eat, shall we?"
She kept her hand firmly in his and a smiled played at his lips as they walked toward the kitchens. There weren't enough other students to worry about being caught together and only Sybill Trelawney had remained for an adult presence in the castle. Draco couldn't remember the last time he'd felt true camaraderie with someone else. He'd been isolating himself since the start of term. Even Theo had left him alone since the night he'd used Legilimency on him.
But here was Granger. His direct opposition. His true equal. This witch had the power to be his downfall, but she was determined to be his redemption. He had no idea why she was so intent on helping him—all he'd done was be kind to her when she needed it. He was a Death Eater, tasked with killing the most important figurehead in the wizarding community in Europe in centuries.
o-o-o
They retrieved some food and headed up to the Astronomy tower to eat it.
"I prefer to be outside these days…perhaps we could take a walk tonight?" Hermione mentioned.
Malfoy looked over at her, caught off guard. "You want to take a walk outside?"
She shrugged. "There are five of us here. And the three others are first and second year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws. I'm not particularly worried about them—as evidenced by the fact that I have walked around with you inside the castle all day."
They sat in the bright tower and Hermione used a warming charm to heat them as he set up a spread of food for her. "I know you won't be able to eat much…if you try, you'll probably get sick. But try to eat a couple bites of each thing."
She eyed the food warily, picking at the bread of the sandwich. She lifted a biscuit to her mouth instead and ate it slowly. "How did you learn astral transmutation?"
Malfoy swallowed his bite and looked at her. "It's exceptionally lonely, being Draco Malfoy…you may not be able to tell, since I've spent the better part of our time here flanked by morons. But…I've had a lot of time to think…to meditate. I discovered it by accident at first—I thought I'd died," he gave a small laugh.
She felt her heart twist at his admission and she felt a surge of protectiveness she didn't quite understand for him. Hermione thought of her last five and a half years at Hogwarts. The last time she'd been truly without friends was the beginning of first year. Harry and Ron had seen her through everything since then and she'd grown to love Harry as a brother and thought she'd loved Ron as more. She couldn't imagine what she would do if she didn't have the two of them by her side, the three holding each other up through thick and thin. Hermione lost her appetite as she thought of how terrible a friend she'd been since her attack. She was here, making merry with the enemy and a fresh wave of guilt washed over her. She hadn't let them in to her little secret, despite knowing they would have been sympathetic, would have shown her the unconditional love they'd always had.
"You need to eat," Malfoy prodded, unwrapping a bowl of stewed apples. "Just a few bites."
Hermione looked up at him and took a single small bite of apple. She watched as he leaned back against the turret and silently, pleasantly, ate his roast beef sandwich. She had difficulty wrapping her mind around the fact that, while Harry and Ron were her friends—and always had been, Draco Malfoy was quickly becoming her best friend. He knew more about her, knew her deepest secret, had more in common with her. He had said that he considered her an equal, and she knew as she stared at the way his jaw worked while he ate, the way he stared pensively out over the snow clouds, that she considered him her true equal counterpart as well.
She loved Harry and Ron both, but Malfoy was the perfect balance for her. Calm, even, quick on his feet, witty, intelligent to a fault. He was never lazy—he experimented with magic, despite having grown up with it and clearly appreciated it in a way she could understand. Though he loved Quidditch as much as the next guy in school, he never bored her with Quidditch talk. Their conversations were always about their childhoods, their likes and dislikes, literature they'd read. He was sophisticated and could keep up with her rapid thoughts and she seldom had to explain anything to him. He was loyal and unlike Ron, never tried to make her jealous or belittled.
Malfoy turned to look at her and offered a small smile, a questioning eyebrow at her gaze. Hermione knew then that there was no way this friendship was going to end well, but she couldn't bring herself to stop it from happening.
o-o-o
