Hey all! Here is another chapter for ya!
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Chapter 14
"Tom, what are we going to do when Harry and I, and Sirius of course, have to go back to the Order? I mean I know that we have two more weeks before we have to go back, but what are we supposed to do? After everything that's happened, how are we supposed to act?" Hermione had taken the moment during her almost daily lessons with Tom and Neville to ask about what was going to happen after their real summer ended. Despite making that promise to herself just three days prior, she couldn't help but feel trepidation at the thought of being around the organization that openly follows the man who was solely responsible for the assassinations of her family and perpetuates the selfish beliefs of complete and controlling power. They didn't believe in peace and equality; they actively sought to disparage and decimate the two notions. And they would do and did anything to seek their end goals, including murdering an entire family and force one of two last living members into a repulsive marriage for their own profit. "What are we supposed to do about the love potion situation? How are Harry and I supposed to fight off those effects?"
The Dark Lord will never openly admit this, but he appreciated the moments where he could provide great council to Hermione when she needed advice. "You will have to act as if you know nothing. We will talk about this again before you leave, and at length, so everyone is aware of what they will have to do once you go back. But, with that being said, the Order—especially Dumbledore and the Weasleys—cannot be let in on that you and Harry are truly knowledgeable about who you are and what is and has been happening, especially about the potentially botched love potions. And speaking of love potions, Lucius is working with Severus, Bella, and Draco on that spell he discussed with us at our meeting last week. I've been assured by the lot that it will be ready by the time the three of you are to leave. Don't worry, my dear," Tom said with something akin to a comforting smile. "You and Harry will be just fine. Now, how are your occlumency shields? Has Bella and Cissy been training you kids appropriately?" Without waiting for a response from the young duchess, the Dark Lord immediately delved into Hermione's mind but instead saw darkness before being painfully pushed out with force intense enough to nearly to make him topple over in his chair. Upon settling himself, he looked up to a smirking witch and a wide-eyed wizard.
"Nice try," Hermione said, smugly.
After his moment of shock, Tom grinned widely and something akin to evilly. "Your true potential of magic beginning to show itself. When did it start expressing itself?"
"This was actually the first time. Just lots of practice and meditation," she said simply. "Bellatrix was starting to annoyingly pout about the amount of time I spent meditating," Hermione said flippantly before morphing her expression into one of confusion. "What do you mean by 'expressing itself'? You talk as if magic is its own entity." The young witch noticed that her brother about this as well as she witnessed him perk up at the question.
"That is because, dear one, magic is essentially its own entity. It is its own being. A being that is forever connected to their witch or wizard, physically and emotionally. Think of it as your core, as the personification of your true self. No lies. No masks. Just you, naked and bare. It feeds off your emotions and thoughts and it physically reacts. Accidental magic is an example of this. Magic doesn't just happen; there has to be a cause. When you were younger, you had a multitude of moments of extreme emotions: angry, scared, sad, happy. Was there a moment that you remember where you felt any of those emotions that resulted in some form of magical reaction?" Tom inquired after his explanation.
Hermione contemplated the question and began searching her memories for something to pop out. Then her eyes lit up. "I don't remember it exactly but I do remember being extremely upset. I was crying and then there was glass, shattering everywhere—all around me. But I don't remember why I was so upset, that part is hazy."
"Curious," Tom said thoughtfully. He had a theory but he wanted more information. "Neville, do you remember anything similar?"
"Actually, I do," said wizard replied immediately. Hermione's melancholy reminiscence reminded the boy wizard of a happier one that he had. "It was one that sparked my interest in herbology. It was before my parents, Frank and Alice were tortured. Our manor had a rather sizable conservatory. It was filled with magical and muggle plants and flowers. We used to spend most of our time there. I don't remember what it was, but for reason, I was so happy and then every flower in the room bloomed and brightened up the room. It was truly…magical." The young prince smiled softly at the memory and Hermione couldn't help but smile as well. She could practically picture it herself.
"I had a feeling that you would have a similar experience as your sister," Tom said, interrupting the short moment of calm and blissfulness. He drew their attention to himself. "Even though not exactly the same, but still, very similar. The both of your magics expressed themselves to an extreme level, practically unheard of for children of your age. That is just a small representation of your true potential. I'm sure that, as since you two are maturing, your magic is allowing itself to reveal their true selves because your bodies are now able to handle such intensity. With just a little more practice, the two of you will be able to do similar situations at a magnified level in a much more controlled and balanced way. Maybe something the two of you could do over these next two weeks is focus on this," Tom offered, "in your free time of course," he said coyly.
"Oh, of course," Hermione said with a sarcastic tone and grin.
After their diplomatic lesson turned advising meeting, Hermione's and Neville's curiosity were piqued at the ability to recreate those moments—though for Hermione's case, not so recreate—and magnify them to a greater height. Not really noticing that Neville ventured off on his own, Hermione made her way to one of her true happy places that helps Hermione center herself. Firstly, before focusing on her magical capabilities, she wanted to explore the idea of magic being its own entity. Settling herself in her favorite spot in the library, Hermione began her usual routine of meditation. However, instead of focusing on mental shields and protecting her mind, Hermione chose to focus on her magic. Picturing her magic as an independent being, though dependent at the same time. She tried to see a mirror image of herself, but she couldn't. The light brown eyed witch felt something but she could grab a hold of it. Frustrated, Hermione snapped out of her meditative trance. She sagged and laid down on the floor on the spot she was seated on. It vexed her, but, however, she had to remind herself that this was her first try at attempting to configure her magic's 'physical' form. She was, however, pleasantly surprised that she was able to get as far as she did.
Over the next few hours, as Hermione continued her meditated practices and attempts, in on the completely other side of the manor, Neville went to his happy place. Despite the estate having its own, rather giant, garden, Black Manor had its own conservatory. And once there, instead of focusing on his magic itself like his sister, he opted to focus on recreating that happy memory. Centering himself, he closed his eyes and breathed slow and deep breaths. Eyes still closed, Neville focused on his childhood memory and smiled at the feeling the happiness all over again. Concentrating on that feeling, he pushed the feeling and magic outwards, releasing it. After a moment more, the young wizard opened his eyes only to be disappointed. He was hoping to see the entire room light up as it did in his memory but he only managed to cause a scattered few of plants and flowers to either grow or bloom, not the entire room. As he frustratedly sighed, he didn't notice that he had an audience until they spoke up.
"You're not going to achieve your goal by huffing and puffing; it will only make it harder to do so." Neville swiftly turned around at the familiar voice and found Bellatrix standing there, a short way away from the entrance. "What's making you concentrate extremely hard on and then becoming frustrated?"
Sighing, Neville plopped down in the closest armchair while Bellatrix gracefully and amusedly sat down in an opposite one of the wizard. "At the end of our lesson with Tom, it turned into a sort of advising meeting. He mentioned something about magic being its own entity that expresses itself as a reaction will of our personal being. He explained that an example control and had extremely high emotions. He had us recall a memory of ours that we did just that. That's why I'm here; after recalling our memories, Tom said that we had an exponentially large amount of magic at one moment at such a young age. Tom thinks that with little practice, since our magic is reaching maturity, we would be able to react to the moments or cost similar ones, exponentially."
Nodding her head, "Well, Tom does have a way of encouraging others to strive to soar above heights that they never thought they could ever reach. What was your memory?"
"Mine was lighting up an entire conservatory and causing every flower in the room to bloom brightly. I was happy, but I can't remember why, but my parents were there too."
"Wow," Bellatrix said with an impressed tone, "that is definitely something. Definitely was more than I ever did when I was little." Neville smiled at the compliment. "And it explains why you are frustrated."
"You know," Neville said after a moment, "Hermione's was more interesting than mine, intense too."
"What do you mean?"
"Hermione said that her memory was when she was extremely upset. She was crying and then there was shattered glass everywhere, but she didn't know why she was upset," he said with a shrug.
Bellatrix furrowed her brow before they raised slightly. "That was the day I had to take Hermione to the Grangers. Neither of us wanted her to go. She was so upset. We were in one of our sitting rooms, a family favorite actually. It was the one that directly leads to the back patio; most of the walls were glass windows. She was sobbing, begging to stay, and in her justified tantrum, she caused every single window and piece of glass in the room to exploded. Though, somehow there was a bubble around us, so none of the shards of glass his us. She was protecting us while she was destroying the room." She had spoken as she was looking out one of the windows, clearly locked in that memory.
"Whoa."
Over the next couple of days, Hermione continuously practiced and meditated wanting to feel and see her magic. She also made a few attempts at creating a similar reaction as she did when she was younger. Even though hasn't been able to see a corporeal version of her magic, she was able to make a breakthrough on her magnified magical abilities. At the thought, Hermione smiled to herself.
"What is making you smile so sweetly? I thought that was my job," Bellatrix said with a mischievous smile.
"You think so highly of yourself, don't cha," came the amused retort. The couple had been doing their daily morning stroll, enjoying the tranquil quiet early dawn. "I was just thinking about something I've been working on this past few days."
"Oh, and what would that be little dove?" Bellatrix asked. She already had an idea as to what it was considering she has already witnessed Neville doing the same.
Instead of verbally responded, Hermione halted the pair and turned to her love. Looking deeply into Bellatrix's eyes, she leaned in and gave the woman a soft and loving yet passionate kiss and let down her barriers. She, then, projected her thoughts into her love's mind. They were standing there in that exact same spot, looking at each other deeply before Hermione uttered three powerful words. Pulling the memory back, the teen pulled away from Bellatrix who was mesmerized.
Bellatrix opened her mouth to speak before stopping short as she looked behind the witch, and looked all around her. Every single flower around them and apparently beyond that were blooming. Looking back down to her witch, "wha…how?" She was at a complete loss for words; she was just simply mystified.
"Well, Neville has told me of your assistance in helping him with his abilities and goals to light up the conservatory and recreate his childhood memory. And so, I've been practicing and with my breakthrough, I wanted to surprise you." Hermione said with a blush and sheepish expression.
"How did you achieve this breakthrough? This is just…wow," Bellatrix spoke still entranced. "And that projection?"
"I actually got the idea from the Patronus charm," she said simply. This caused the dark witch to furrow her brow. "As you know, the Patronus charm requires a strong happy memory to be able to cast it, especially a corporeal form. "Bellatrix nodded her head in confirmation. "Well, I took the idea and used my happiest memory, or moment rather and projected it outwards and…" she gestured around her to the flowers. "And the memory that I projected into your mind is my happiest memory. It was the time we first exchanged our 'I love yous'," Hermione said shyly.
Bellatrix immediately grinned brightly. She beamed with love and adoration and pride filling her eyes. "Oh, my love," she said, "this is bloody fantastic!" And picked up the witch by her hips, twirling her around, causing the teen to laugh at her girlfriend's antics. "And you have grown so much in such a short amount of time. I am so proud of you, little dove!" Bellatrix exclaimed as she set the witch down on her feet. Hermione gave the woman a bashful smile, not accustomed to such praise. "And you got all of this," the dark witch around her, "based on the requirements for the Patronus charm?"
Smiling again, "umm, yes. I used my happiest memory and that feeling," Hermione said, wrapping her arms around Bellatrix's torso. "The feeling of pure happiness filled with love and safety and then I called for my magic to express those emotions outwards. And you get this…"
"Hermione," Bellatrix spoke with adoration, "I don't even have words to express how this makes me feel. One day, after we have properly bonded, I will be able to express as you can now. But for now, I will have to settle for being speechless and lovingly and adoringly attentive."
"No more is needed, Bella," Hermione softly replied before giving the dark witch a chaste kiss.
Bellatrix smiled at the teen, "come, the others would want to see this."
A frustrated teenage wizard let out another annoyed huff. Neville was irritated that he still had not been able to recreate his memory of the blooming flowers at his emotions. He had spent hours every day for the past week working and focusing on willing and magnifying his magic. But he was yielding no results, even with some help from others. Currently, he was in the library with Harry, Draco, and Narcissa. His three comparisons were amused as they looked upon the struggling boy; his dramatic antics were a sight to behold. "Neville, you need to relax. You're focusing too hard on the recreation of that moment. Focus on the emotion instead," Narcissa advised the boy.
Nodding, Neville breathed deeply and closed his eyes. He solely focused on the emotion that he got from that memory: pure happiness. Smiling at the feeling, he called his magic to express his happiness. Willing it to magnify it, the wizard opened his eyes and pushed his magic outwards, and in that instant, every single herbology book in the grand library flew out and floated around them slowly and over the four occupants. Smiling, finally able to achieve success, not in the way he originally intended, but still a success. After a few more moments, Neville gracefully returned each book to their original home.
"That's fantastic Neville," Hermione exclaimed as she and Bellatrix stood just inside the room, having witnessed the act. She walked up to her brother, hugging him warmly. "I am so glad that your hard work paid off. You finally did it!"
"Finally?" He asked, confused, "wait, you've already done it?"
Laughing, "well yes, but it wasn't shattering a room full of glass. But really I just did it today myself."
"Oh okay," Neville said as she he smiled again, "what did you do then?"
"Oh, she only made every flower in the garden bloom brightly," Bellatrix said before Hermione can speak some sort of simple and humble description. She looked at her little dove, eyes twinkling with mirth and love. All of the others gapped at the young witch.
"Whoa," they all said simultaneously.
Looking sheepish at the attention, Hermione cleared her throat. "Neville, there is something that I want to try. But we need to move to a different room."
"Okay, lead the way," Neville said simply.
Hermione looked to the others, "please come too," she asked simply. And with that, the teen witch led the group to the drawing room. This room was typically darker than the rest of the room in the massive home, and it was rarely ever used.
Upon entrance, Hermione guided Neville to the center of the room while the others slightly scattered around the pair. Leaning in, Hermione softly whispered to Neville so none of the others heard her words. "I want you to focus solely on that pure happiness you had earlier, nothing else. And then when you have that, focus on connecting it with mine. Will it to connect it mine, okay?"
"Okay," he replied softly.
Hermione grabbed her brother's hands and closed her eyes, causing Neville to do the same. Breathing deeply both witch and wizard focused on that one pure feeling. With time, they found it and called for their magical connection to latch onto that happiness. And then reached out to their sibling, and they felt it pulse around them. And suddenly, the pair heard gasps. Not letting the sudden noises distract them, the siblings opened their eyes to find that they were glowing a golden hue. After that, Hermione noticed that they were surrounded by a soft glow and that the room was no longer dark and gloomy, but was now bathed in an ethereal and warm luminescence. She looked back to Neville and saw that he too noticed what was happening. The pair looked at each other in amazement at what they have been able to do and the new possibilities that they may achieve. the siblings couldn't help but smile at the idea.
