disclaimer: No...I do not own any of the characters from Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a genius! also...while I do use the main characters of the Harry Potter stories, there are a few characters that belong to me, namely Thomas Crowe, Isabeaura and Katrina.
(I will try to be better about updating this story. Now that I'm done with the wedding- I have a bit more "free time"!!)
Please enjoy! And feel free to review, I love feedback! Again- sorry for the long wait!
-boots26
"As we have been covering shielding spells this term, today I would like to talk about an ancient magic shield. Who here can tell me what the bond of blood refers to?" Remus Lupin carefully turned to face his students. Harry's eyes widened at the sight of the fresh scars that marred his professor's body. There was a deep slash across his right cheek, which covered about three faded scars beneath it. It wasn't uncommon to see the werewolf this way, but Harry could never seem to get used to it.
"Professor Lupin- sir- isn't the bond of blood a charm?"
"Yes and no - but that was a good start Neville…five points to Gryffindor" Neville smiled broadly but detracted it as his eyes met those of Draco Malfoy, who raised an arrogant brow and stared the lanky boy down with a look of malice that had become a Malfoy family trademark.
"Curious thing- blood…"
Hermione's eyes steadily shifted from her book up to meet those of her pale professor's. It felt as if he was speaking directly to her. "Now- the bond of blood works like a charm as it must be spoken by the activator but it will do no good unless certain factors come into affect following said charm. Does anyone know what those factors are?" Professor Lupin tried to keep himself from looking at Harry too much, after all- the boy owed his very life to the bond of blood cast by his mother and he didn't want to put Harry on the spot. Hermione raised her hand with a sense of growing apprehension.
"Sir- for the bond of blood to work, the speaker of the charm must sacrifice themselves for the family member they are attempting to protect. Furthermore, the bond is only sealed when a remaining family member, bearing the same blood, accepts that person into their home as their own."
"As usual Miss Granger, you are correct and very thorough"
"But sir- why…"
"As many of you know, much ancient magic remains something of a mystery to wizards, even today…" His eyes narrowed on the bushy haired witch as he continued. "In fact, there are some who speculate that the incantation may have unknown properties. Some say that the bond of blood might also be an affective tool of the dark arts"
At this, all eyes turned to the lanky werewolf.
"The bond works as a shield and what do shields do? They protect us. And what feeds the bond more than anything?"
"Love" Harry spoke softly, barely raising his head.
"Precisely Harry" Draco snickered and began making sloppy kissing sounds while Crabbe and Goyle erupted into fits of laughter. "Five points from Slytherin…for disrupting my class" Draco's eyes snapped up at his teacher like the piercing jaws of a Peruvian Vipertooth.
"So- what happens when someone replaces love with hate?" he continued, " Let's not forget that hate is a powerfully profound emotion-" Hermione watched him attentively as he droned on about the history of the bond and its ties to ancient Norse runework; he seemed unsure of himself as he spoke- as if he was considering what not to divulge.
"I would like to stress that there is very little proof to suggest that a wizard has ever used the bond of blood as a tool of the dark arts…" Professor Lupin's face suddenly became darkly serious "I am told it would rank as an unforgivable curse"
The room was so still at that moment, you could have heard a snail swallow.
"I would like you all to prepare two rolls of parchment on a shielding spell of your choice for next time. Class dismissed." The students silently gathered their things and shuffled out into the hallway. Hermione watched Professor Lupin delicately climb the stairs to his office, limping slightly as he shut the door behind him.
Severus Snape eyed his pathetic first year students as they struggled to prepare an absurdly simple burn-healing potion. Yet another year of dunderheads, he grimaced, rubbing his temples in annoyance. Winter holidays were approaching and though his life would be blissfully free of said "dunderheads", he knew that the Headmaster was planning to resurrect the Order, meaning that his life would not be free of Potter and where there was Potter, there was undoubtedly an insufferable know-it-all, followed closely by a sniveling Weasley or two or three or six! He cringed and folded his arms across his chest. How would Potter take it, he wondered as a wicked smile spread across his lips; how would the "boy who vanquished the dark lord" take the news that Voldemort was indeed alive and well? Severus suddenly felt his face grow cold.
"Tom Riddle" he mumbled under his breath. As he stood to pace the rows of his classroom, a number of questions weighed heavily on his profound mind. Did Voldemort know of the connection? If so; how long had he known? And perhaps, most urgently- what would he do next? Was Hermione truly at risk? Severus had not spoken to Hermione in weeks since that night in his rooms. He deliberately avoided her, though she didn't seem to be making any effort to communicate with him to begin with. In fact, she hadn't even looked at him since that night and she seemed to have put the whole business of "uncovering the truth" behind her. Just that morning he had seen her cavorting about with Potter and Weasley as they had for seven years, prattling on about the holiday plans and idle school gossip. He envied their naivety. Not that Harry Potter hadn't been through a number of trials and tribulations; but the three always managed to maintain a certain amount of trust in each other that made the "evils" of their world seem very trivial in the face of their honored friendship.
"Watch out! It's gonna blow!" A Hufflepuff boy shouted just as an explosion of purple smoke and orange liquid erupted from a trembling cauldron. Professor Snape turned around just in time to observe the cauldron practically burst like a balloon.
"Mr…"
"Pearl, sir…Nathanial Pearl"
Severus raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Mr. Pearl…any relation to the infamous Neville Longbottom?"
"Why yes sir- Neville is my second cousin…er, twice removed…er"
"Clearly blood is thicker than the charmed water you should have used to stabilize your potion!"
The small Hufflepuff meekly bowed his head "yes sir"
"Ten points from Hufflepuff for incompetence, now- clean it up"
Snow crunched beneath their feet as the trio made their way down to Black Lake to collect aged mer-moss for their Potion's final. In truth "mer-moss"; which clung to the stones at the edge of the lake, was nothing more than gelled saliva left behind by merfolk, who used the stones as tongue scrubbers. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil followed closely behind them and were soon joined by Neville Longbottom. Unfortunately, there was also a rather motley crew of Slytherins gathered at the other edge of the embankment.
"Careful not to fall in Longbottom! Wouldn't want the merfolk to mistake you for a grindylow and try to house train you!" Pansy Parkinson threw her head back with a shrill laugh.
"Personally- I think you and your friends should be more terrified of the Lake Snake" Theodore Nott snorted, shooting Hermione a particularly nasty glare.
"Don't pay them any mind Neville" Hermione's eyes were warm and reassuring. Harry and Ron gave each other a knowing glance. They hadn't forgotten what Hagrid said, though they hadn't exactly gone out of their way to research the supposed lake monster.
"Now Neville, how do we identify it again?"
The boy took a deep breath and let a light smile settle over his face before pulling out a small shovel-like instrument. "Well- you see, mer-mucous is um.."
"Moss" Parvati squealed.
"I'm sorry what?"
"Mer-MOSS…can't we please call it moss instead of mucous?"
"Oh…oh, yes- of course." The tall wizard cleared his throat. "Mer-moss tends to be sort of a bluish green color, not to be confused with your average lake moss which is more a yellowish green. I'm going to use this little muck shovel to scrape it off the rocks- you see it can be rather-"
"HELP!!!! Ohhhh! It's got me! It's the lake snake! It's got me! Help!" Draco Malfoy screamed from the water's edge and looked as though he was being pulled by his arm into the menacing lake. "It's got me Potter! Please!" A look of terror spread over Draco's face as if he truly expected to meet his end.
Hermione broke from the crowd of gawking Gryffindors and advanced towards the water, unraveling her scarf from her neck. "Hermione- what are you doing?" Ron tried to grab her wrist but she pulled it swiftly away from him.
"He'll drown Ron!" She screamed. And before she knew what she was doing, Hermione had freed herself of her coat and jumped head first into the lake! At this point, Draco casually pulled his arm from the eerily dark water and the group of Slytherins broke into hysterics.
"Did you see that?! She actually jumped in!"
"Just like a Gryffindor to be so stupidly heroic!" Theodore Nott chuckled dryly. "Everyone knows the Lake Snake would never attack a pureblood!"
Thomas Crowe, who did not want to appear concerned, said nothing but kept his eyes fixated on the undulating water.
"Hermione?" Ron gulped.
"Has she come up for air yet?" Lavender and Parvati were very flustered and scanned the water frantically.
"I swear Malfoy- if she's harmed-" Harry clutched his wand in his fist.
"I'm fine" A sopping wet Hermione emerged, hip deep in sludgy freezing water, her eyes burning with anger. Harry grabbed her coat up from the ground and waded knee deep into the lake to help her out when suddenly Hermione's face went very pale as she looked down at the rippling water.
"Mione- are you alright?"
"Don't move Harry"
"Why?" Harry's eyes went wide as something lightly brushed his ankle. "What was that?"
"Don't move".
Red eyes flashed open and feverishly studied their surroundings. Lord Voldemort; the dark wizard whose very name both muggles and magic-folk feared to even think let alone speak; woke from a horrifying nightmare and quickly rose up from his bed.
"Katrina" His voice was raw and when he spoke her name it sounded more like a question than a statement. The Dark Lord shook away the remaining visions of her face and crossed the room to a small table where there was placed a rather substantial bottle of a silvery potion and a small tumbler. The potion; which glowed brilliantly against the dark walls of the room, had been brewed from unicorn blood, asphodel and hellebore syrup and though it had helped restore his life, it tasted foul and often left the scent of death lingering in his cavernous mouth. As he carefully poured the viscous liquid into his glass, he ran a hand over his serpentine face and silently cursed his own weakness of mind.
Tom Riddle remembered all too well the "final" battle, which had left him so utterly in ruin. Harry had followed him deep into the Forbidden Forest, to a clearing where Bellatrix LeStrange and Lucius Malfoy had cast a powerful binding curse. Up to that point in the battle, everything had worked out to his advantage. Though there had been heavy casualties on both sides; the Order of the Phoenix had been hit particularly hard, losing a number of "high profile" Aurors, he had "the boy-who-lived" right where he wanted him…
"Potter" he mumbled, greedily gulping the potion.
It had all been perfectly planned to the very last moment until a rogue Patronus charm interrupted his concentration and gave Harry an opportunity to effectively disarm and strike at him with a destructive spell the likes of which he had never seen. And then there was nothing but the faint sound of his bones breaking and a woman chanting an eerily familiar tune; a song he knew yet couldn't place.
With a raspy hiss, he downed the rest of the potion and took a seat behind a desk, which had been placed in his hidden room at Malfoy Manor. Many believed he had truly perished in his last battle with the "celebrated" boy wonder and though he was quite worn from the experience, he was also left immensely intrigued by it. When the unknown spell first hit, he felt a tremendous warmth envelope his senses and then a cold snap- as if his soul had been virtually ripped from his body and his blood drained from every vein. By all accounts, a spell of such tremendous power should have succeeded in destroying him; and it wasn't until he had partially recovered that he was able to discern an unseen flaw- not in the spell's execution but rather in its conception. He strongly suspected the spell had been an "original" creation and due to its nature; would have been cast using a small amount of its creator's blood, though he was still unsure of his speculations. It had also occurred to him that he had, in fact, not been hit by one blast- but rather by a combined casting. Clearly the golden trio had planned for the final attack- which not only confirmed what he had long suspected of Severus Snape's questionable loyalties- but gave him a new objective…to eliminate the annoying trinity that time and time again had devastated his plans.
As he mulled over the possibilities, a sinister smile spread across his thin lips. The Weasley boy would be easiest to eradicate. However, if he was right about the spell… Hermione Granger could prove to be an even greater problem than Potter himself.
The sky had turned from a soft white to a deepening gray.
Nobody moved… they barely breathed.
Hermione kept her eyes focused on the slithering form as it writhed up and down in the murky water. Even the Slytherin students respected the young witch's concern and remained motionless on the other side of the bank. Suddenly, a large serpent burst up from the water and loomed at least eight feet above the surface! Its scales were as black as the night itself and its ominous eyes glistened like daggers as the rippling water reflected up into them.
"It's the Lake Snake Harry! Run!" Ron yelped from the nearby rocks and Neville looked as though he might faint. Harry's eyes were wide with panic as the serpent lurched forward, hissing like a swarm of frenzied locusts.
"That's right Wheezlebee…" The arrogant drawl of Draco Malfoy momentarily masked the dreadful hissing. "Everyone knows the Lake Snake was always meant to finish what the Basilisk started!" He chortled defiantly and inched closer to the water's edge for a better look at what he hoped would be Harry Potter's demise.
"That's just a myth Malfoy…" Hermione shouted, her teeth chattering together slightly from the cold.
"Is it?!" He smiled haughtily, "And I suppose the Basilisk was just a myth before it killed that filthy mudblood girl!"
The snake lunged dangerously close to Harry and tilted its head to strike.
"Hassssh-ahhhssshh-shesssh…"
"Parseltongue won't help you Potter- the snake can smell your filthy half-blood!"
A look of horror fell over Hermione's face and before she could consider the consequences, she hurriedly pushed through the stagnant water and forced her way in front of Harry, incoherently screaming something that might have been "stop".
"Hermione- No!" Harry protested but the young witch remained steadfast.
She placed her trembling hands over her mother's necklace where it rested patiently against her chest, and waited for the sting of the snake's wicked venom. As suddenly as the snake had emerged, it stopped, gracefully bowed its head and retreated back into Black Lake.
Nobody moved… they barely breathed. Ron's face darkened as he caught eyes with Harry- who appeared just as bewildered as everyone else. Draco was in fact, so shocked by what he had seen that no words could fill the uneasy silence and he found himself backing away from the Lake with a feeling that the whole world had somehow been turned upside down. His look of panic did not go unnoticed by Thomas Crowe, who genuinely seemed concerned for Malfoy's sudden frailty of mind and quickly set to work at helping him to his feet.
After a few minutes, Albus Dumbledore appeared, followed closely by Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and a very uneasy looking Professor Snape.
"Mr. Potter- Mr. Weasley…come here at once" Minerva's sharp voice pricked at the silence like a needle.
"Miss Granger?" The Headmaster gently called to Hermione but all she could hear were echoes of her past.
Mudblood, muggle born, dirty blood…
Was she?
Professor Snape approached the lake but stopped as Hermione turned, her eyes meeting his from where she stood, still hip deep in the water. His eyes were black pools of uncertainty and frustration. A plethora of thoughts ran rampant through his mind. What was she thinking? What had just happened? He glanced momentarily at Draco- a shivering heap of confusion.
Hermione's body was so numb from the cold and her mind so in shock by what had just occurred that she was unable to move a muscle. She just stood there- stiffly clutching her mother's necklace in her icy hands- relinquishing any warmth she once felt to the bitter cold. Severus wanted very much to hold her but didn't know how.