Chapter Seven

We were silent the whole way down to defense against the dark arts, each in our own worlds. We got several odd looks from passing underclassmen. I was sure the Gryffindor Princess and Slytherin Prince walking together was a sight to behold.

"There you are, Hermione. Class is—Malfoy?" Harry started as we walked in. He, Neville, and Ron were staring between Draco and I, confused looks on their face.

"We ran into each other outside the door," Draco said, glancing at me. I eased out my breath, grateful for his quick thinking. Slytherins were definitely helpful when you needed a lie on the spot. Draco moved to sit with his friends while I took my spot between Ron and Neville. The class went by incredibly fast considering I didn't pay attention to a single moment of it.

"Can the Heads stay back, please?" I looked up from packing my bag to stare at my cousin. Lavender shot me a dirty look as she passed, obviously thinking I was spending too much time with her new crush. I almost laughed. That would be so beyond disgusting.

"What's going on between you and Monetti?" Ron asked, looking at me with raised eyebrows. "I thought you hated him?"

"I don't hate him," I sighed. "I just—"

"Ms. Granger." I glanced back at Leonardo to see Draco already beside him. He motioned for me to hurry up. I stuck my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes and motioned for me to hurry again.

"Did you just stick your tongue out at a teacher?" Ron asked in awe.

"I'll talk to you later." I swung my bag onto my shoulder. I reached Leonardo, but he didn't start talking until my friends were gone. His eyes leveled with mine, a small smirk on his lips.

"I felt an oddly large magical surge about twenty minutes before class started," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

"I was putting up barriers. If a Lupo comes to Hogwarts we'll know."

"That's great, but I should tell you that I wasn't the only one to notice. All of the professors felt it. You need to be careful."

I grimaced. "I will." The last thing I needed was attention from the professors.

"You should also know that I talked to Alexiares."

"Oh?"

"He wants to talk to you."

I snorted. "Does he now?"

"I know you aren't exactly happy with him, but he needs your help Guida Suprema. He sounded rather desperate." I furrowed my eyebrows, rolling that sentence through my head. Alexiares was never desperate. He was always calm and collected, which was why he was going to make a great Padrone.

"How do I contact him?" Leonardo pulled a coin from his pocket.

"Hold this and reach out to him. He's waiting for you." I took the solid muggle fifty-cent euro coin from his hands. The metal felt warm against my fingertips.

I turned away from the two men and closed my eyes, pressing the coin between my thumb and forefinger. I took a deep breath and dropped the walls around my mind. Alex? I thought into the void. I felt his presence instantly.

Hemera. Meno male! My breath caught as I heard my brother's voice for the first time in four years. He sounded so much older than I remembered. Ero preoccupato che non avrebbe parlare con me. I smiled. He was right to be worried I wasn't going to talk to him. I'd seriously considered never talking to him again.

Leonardo mi ha appena detto hai bisogno di aiuto, I said by way of explanation. It was true. Leonardo really had waited to tell me he needed help until then.

Your accent is not as good as it once was, sister.

I choked on a laugh. The last time we'd talked he'd said I would lose my accent. I could hear the smile in his voice, the twinkle in his eyes. My heart ached to apparate straight to Italy and envelope him in my arms and never let go again. Never.

I'm sorry, Hemera. The smile in his voice was gone, replaced with regret.

Me too. I shoved the tears back. I had to get through this conversation without crying. It would only make Alex sadder. How were the funerals?

I heard him give a mental sigh. Mamma e papà era bellissima. I nodded though he couldn't see me. Of course our parent's funeral was beautiful. I was sure the entire dinastia went, and most of Volpe and Drago. Riccarda era più breve di quello che avrebbe dovuto essere.

I expected that, for it to be short. She would have too, I said, trying to comfort both him and myself. Did people go?

Even some Lupo dared show their face.

I nodded again. That helped me feel better. The Serpe had crossed a line killing Riccarda and all of Italy knew it. I pushed away my feelings. This wasn't the point of our conversation. What was it that you needed Alex?

We have reason to believe that Adriano has left for London.

I gasped. Not him. Anyone but him. I'd take the assassino over him any day of the week. What? Why would he come here? What business does he have?

We think he's trying to find you.

But there's already an assassino here to kill me.

A sympathetic Serpe came to us in desperation. Apparently, the Lupo and the Serpe are not as close as they seem. The Lupo want you dead, but the Serpe want you alive. They always have. They believe they have a way to brainwash you, turn you against your own dinastia. Adriano went to London to claim you.

I started pacing, my mind whirling. Can you trust this information?

Alessandra checked his mind and he did not lie. I cursed to myself and kept pacing. Alessandra was another Fenice Sacerdotessa. Her specialty was digging in people's minds. She never could have missed something. I'm coming up there before he can get to you.

I froze, completely and utterly shocked. But the Counsel—

Doesn't matter. I'll see you soon, Hemera. Ti amo.

"Wait. Alex," I said aloud. "Alexiares get back here." But he didn't answer. He was already gone. "Merda." I threw the coin onto Leonardo's desk and dropped my head into my hands. How had everything gone so wrong so fast?

"What happened? What's wrong?" Leonardo asked, pocketing the coin once again.

"Adriano happened." Leonardo paled.

Draco frowned. "Who's Adriano?"

I dropped my hands to glare at the far wall. "The man that killed my grandfather and my parents," I answered, anger beginning to simmer. "He's the Padrone of Serpe."

"How could he be coming here? The Counsel would never approve of a portkey in the middle of a war."

"I get the feeling they didn't," I growled, my fist clenching as the simmering raised to a boil. How dare this man come to claim me? I wasn't anyone's property.

"Wait, who's the Counsel?"

"Because the magical community is split we can't really have a ministry in Italy," Leonardo replied calmly, "so we have the Counsel. Every Padrone sends ten representatives every year. They meet in Rome, where they've met for centuries. They deal with the mundane things of the magical community: portkeys, floo networks, muggle sightings, etc. It's a boring job, but there always seems to be people who sign up for it."

"So this Padrone didn't get permission from the Counsel to portkey across borders?" Draco asked.

"Probably not," Leonardo said, sighing. "The question is why is he bothering to come? He already sent an assassino after you."

"It was the Lupo that sent the assassino. Apparently, Adriano still wants to turn me to his dinastia."

"Which he couldn't do if you were dead," Leonardo finished for me. "And we all know how he likes to do his own dirty work." He started pacing and I thought he looked a load like his father in that moment.

"What's your brother doing about it?" Draco asked. His magic was just as still and full of concentration as his face.

"Oh, well he's going to come here illegally, too."

Leonardo paused, staring back at me. "The Counsel will never allow that."

"That's why I said illegally."

"They're bringing the war to a country that has just barely began to recover from its own war."

I turned to Draco. "Didn't I say the word 'illegally'?" Draco nodded, smirking slightly.

"Does Alexiares realize how stupid he's being?"

I thought about telling him off for saying something bad about my brother, but he had a fair point. "Probably not."

"So now you have three people after you, right? One to kill you, one to kidnap you and one to stop the other two," Draco said, ticking them off on his fingers. It made me feel incredibly tired for the second time that day. If I made it through this I was going to sleep for a very long time.

"That sounds about right."

"Which one's going to get here first?" Draco asked.

"The assassino," Leonardo answered. "McGonagall told us all right before you put up the wards that the Ministry sent word that the assassino escaped. He might have gone through Hogwarts records."

I bit back a curse. "That would have been nice to know twenty minutes ago." I said, narrowing my eyes at my idiotic cousin.

He shrugged defensively. "I figured it didn't matter very much when he came."

"I need to make the wards stronger, push more magic into them." I glared at him. And he was claiming Alexiares was the stupid one. I closed my eyes; reaching out to the walls I placed earlier and quickly reinforced them.

"McGonagall is bound to notice that," Leonardo murmured, looking around like he could see the magic pulsing around us.

"It's either endure a few questions from McGonagall or die. You pick."

Leonardo rolled his eyes. "No need to be dramatic."

"Maybe if you hadn't kept this from me for twenty minutes I wouldn't have to be," I shot back.

"Alright, calm down," Draco said, putting his hand over mine and squeezing it gently. All thought swept from my mind for a moment. I desperately tried to pretend like a simple touch of his hand hadn't just reduced my thoughts to nothing. This was getting ridiculous. "Are the wards up to standard now?"

"Yes."

"And is there anything else you need to tell us?"

Leonardo shook his head. "No." He turned to me, "It's probably best if you go rest up. We have a long few days ahead of us."

"Then we're going to go," Draco said before I could tell my cousin he was being ridiculous. "Do you mind telling Flitwick that we're both doing something for you and so won't be in class?"

"I'll let all the teachers know that you two are doing a special project for me. It'll give you a good alibi in case you have to disappear sometime in the next week."

"Thanks." Draco tugged my hand a bit, sending a jolt down my spine and making me look at him. "Let's go."

I sighed. "I'm not done being mad at you, Leo."

"You haven't been done being mad at me for a decade or so."

I cracked a smile despite myself. "Just let me know if anything happens, okay?"

"Same goes for you." I nodded and let Draco drag me towards the door. When we left the room, he let go of my hand but remained close enough his fingers brushed mine occasionally. Every time they did I felt that jolt of lighting flash through my body.

I had to admit it. I liked Draco Malfoy. Manache, I fancied him. I felt like hexing myself. How could my heart betray me like this? Now was not the time to start falling for a boy that had only recently become an ex-enemy. And an English ex-enemy at that! It would have been better to fall in love with a nice Serpe boy that didn't agree with the decisions of his Padrone. Not that I was in love. It was just a fancy. And I could get rid of a fancy. Couldn't I?

When we got to our dorm, Draco took my hand again and pulled me over to the sofa. He sat us down and pulled me to his chest in a gentle hold that almost made my heart melt.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he started to rub his hand down my arm.

"I'm not really sure," I admitted, trying not to think about the feeling of his hand traveling across my skin. "It hasn't really sunk in yet."

"I guess you weren't kidding about being powerful. Everyone seems to want something from you."

"Considering some of them just want me to die, it's not very flattering."

Draco's arms tightened around me, pulling me ever so slightly closer. "You aren't going to die, Hemera." I smiled against his chest and let myself breathe in his scent: cinnamon and snow and a hint of salty sweat. I could breathe it in all day. I hadn't realized I'd snuggled in closer until I felt his cheek on the top of my head.

"You smell nice," I murmured, turning into his chest more. The second the words were out of my mouth I wished I could take them back. I felt my cheeks heat and wanted to run away as fast as I could, but his hand reached up to touch my hair and he turned his head so his nose was buried in the curls. His magic began to move ever so slightly faster and was once again filled with a hundred emotions I couldn't name.

"And you smell… intoxicating."

I blinked. What? "I didn't shower this morning," I said, not really sure how to reply to something like that. No one had ever called my smell intoxicating before. I never thought anyone would.

Draco chuckled, his voice thick. "You have no idea how amazing you are, do you?" That ridiculous comment made me look up at him, but I knew the second I did that it was a mistake. His eyes were like molten silver. I felt a herd of elephants start stampeding through my stomach.

"I, uh," my voice came out breathy and not at all like I usually sounded, "I, um, really should, uh, take a shower. I'll, uh, I'll talk to you later, yeah?" I scrambled out of his hold and walked up the stairs as fast as I could. When I reached the bathroom, I rested my head against the back of the door.

What just happened? Why was I wishing I hadn't run away? And why did I have a sudden urge to find out what it was like to kiss Draco Malfoy?