The rest of the week proved just as difficult as that first day – not only were the lessons themselves harder than ever, but Snape wasn't the only professor expecting his N.E.W.T. students to use nonverbal spells, and said students found themselves reverting to first-year material in an attempt to grasp the basic technique. Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Ginny were currently holed up in their study room version of the Room of Requirement, and Harry was attempting to make a spare bit of parchment fly wordlessly – he thought perhaps starting with the normal incantation and repeating it in a progressively softer tone might work, and he was almost down to a whisper.
"Wingardium-"
"Harry, I swear to Merlin, if you say Wingardium Leviosa one more time," Hermione muttered from where she was bent over her Potions text. Beside her, Draco was deeply immersed in his Transfiguration essay, whispering to himself as he checked his information against the notes they'd taken in class the day before.
"Hermione," Harry whined as his parchment fluttered to the tabletop and lay still, "I was doing so well!"
"I could hear the incantation, Harry," Hermione said exasperatedly.
"I was getting quieter!" Harry protested.
"Oh, shut up, you two," Ginny cut in. "Herms, cut the boy some slack – at least he was trying. Harry, yes, you were trying, love, but I think it might be time to find a new technique."
"Ginny Weasley, peacemaker extraordinaire, ladies and gentlemen," Draco drawled. In response, Ginny balled up a piece of parchment and threw it at his head. He caught it easily and smirked. "Did you forget I'm a Chaser, Gin? You'll have to try better than that if you want to hit me."
"Hmm…shall I take you up on that?" Ginny replied, raising her eyebrows playfully and drawing her wand.
"No thanks, I'm good," Draco said with a wink. Many people underestimated Ginny because of her size, but Draco knew better – the petite redhead's impressive wand skills had only grown thanks to the D.A. meetings, and her signature Bat-Bogey Hex was downright terrifying.
"Honestly," Hermione said, though she smiled a little.
"Speaking of Quidditch – when are your trials, Captain?" Draco asked Harry, putting a deliberate teasing emphasis on the final word.
"Saturday morning," Harry said with a groan. "Tons of people have already signed up."
"But that's good, isn't it?" Hermione asked.
"Good in the sense that we've lost half our team, yeah – but honestly, how many of those who signed up can actually play Quidditch? How many do you think signed up just because I'm the captain?"
"You won't know until Saturday, unfortunately," Ginny said with a shrug. "Let's just hope we've got some good Beater hopefuls, yeah? Replacing Fred and George is going to be tough."
"What about you, Drake?" Harry asked. "When are Slytherin's trials? And who's your new captain, anyway – isn't Montague gone?"
"Yeah, and so is Warrington – Gryffindor isn't the only team who needs new Chasers," Draco said. "Higgs has left as well, so we also need a new Seeker. The only people left besides myself are Crabbe, Goyle, and Miles Bletchley, our Keeper – he's our new captain, and our trials are on Monday after dinner."
"Isn't Bletchley in my year?" Ginny asked. Draco shrugged.
"Just because I'm in the highest year doesn't mean I automatically get the badge," he said. "I remember talking about this last year with you, Harry – they don't like to give two authority positions to the same person if they can help it, since there's so much extra responsibility involved with each, and I'm already a prefect. Crabbe and Goyle were knocked out of the running when they failed fifth year – not that I'd want either of them for a captain in the first place anyway. Besides, Miles has been on the team for a few years now – good Keeper, knows what he's doing – and he's an alright bloke; I think he's a good choice."
"I thought Adrian played for Slytherin as well?" Hermione questioned.
"Reserves, but he's out of school now too," Draco replied.
"Oh – how's Daphne doing, then?" Daphne Greengrass was a Slytherin student in their year – she'd been seeing Adrian Pucey since at least the beginning of her fourth year, and they'd both joined the D.A. after a Death Eater attack on the Hogwarts Express severely injured Daphne's younger sister Astoria. In spite of having the D.A. in common, the Gryffindors still didn't know the other girl all that well, as she was rather quiet and reserved. Draco winced.
"She's…ok," he said slowly, though he sounded like he didn't believe it. "I don't think she really has too many friends here, to be honest – she was always hanging around with Adrian and his mates, and obviously they're all gone. She and Tracey are friendly enough, but I'd hardly say they're best girlfriends or anything, and obviously no one wants to be around Parkinson or Bulstrode."
"Are we going to continue with the D.A.?" Ginny suggested. "Maybe that might help her a bit."
"I think we should," Hermione said. "The whole point of the group was to prepare ourselves against the Death Eaters and Voldemort, and that threat is still very much alive." They were quiet for a moment as they thought of the latest attack, a five-family slaughter reported in the Prophet only just that morning. "It'll be hard with our workloads, but if we can make it work, we should."
"I'll see if I can gauge who's interested," Harry promised. "At the very least, I'd like to get back into training again."
"Me too," Ginny agreed, her hand going to the hilt at her waist where she kept her new knife. "I need some more practice with this." She removed the blade from its sheath and held it up so that the metal gleamed in the firelight.
"We don't need the D.A. to practice with our knives," Draco said, reaching for his own. "Anyone up for a break?" Harry readily agreed, and though Hermione was a little reluctant to leave her lengthy Runes translation for later, she eventually gave in and stepped aside to allow the room to shift into their familiar training ground.
"You girls start, and we'll go from there?" Harry asked. As Ginny hadn't had her knife long, they never jumped immediately into free-for-all fights, instead letting Ginny first battle one-on-one with Hermione, who was closest in size. Harry would then join in, sometimes on Hermione's side, sometimes on Ginny's, and Draco, who was the most skilled of the four and could knock aside a dangerous blade almost instantly with a casual flick of his wrist, policed the encounters and was available to jump in if something went wrong.
"Sounds good," Hermione agreed, her knife in one hand and her wand in the other. "But only for half an hour…"
"We know, Lotte, we know," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Now let's practice!"
On Saturday morning after breakfast, Draco returned to his dorm in the dungeons, looking forward to some uninterrupted time to work on his homework. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were on their way to the Quidditch pitch for the Gryffindor trials, and Blaise was doing some observation for a Care of Magical Creatures project until lunchtime, and Draco knew that wasting the time would be a very foolish thing indeed. He started with his Potions essay, which was already half done, and had finished that and moved on to Charms when the dormitory door opened.
"Just the person I was looking to talk to."
Draco's head whipped up in shock, but he kept his expression carefully neutral as he took in the sight of Theodore Nott standing in the doorframe.
"Excuse me?" he said.
"I wanted to talk to you, Black," Nott repeated. Draco refrained from raising his eyebrows – he wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure that was the first time Nott had ever called him 'Black' instead of 'Malfoy'.
"What did you want to talk about?" Draco questioned. "Not to be rude, but I'm a bit busy for a chat…"
"I wanted to ask if you'd help me with the Charms homework, actually," Nott said smoothly, striding across the room and taking a seat on his trunk as if he'd merely commented on the weather. Draco couldn't help it – his eyes widened.
"You want me to help you with the Charms homework?" he repeated. "Are you daft?"
"Not in the slightest," Nott replied. "I'm finding myself a bit…at odds with the material, as it were, and I know for a fact you're the best in our year at Charms."
"No, that's Hermione," Draco said, frowning slightly. "It's my best subject, yeah, but she's still the best in our year."
"Like Granger would willingly speak to me," Nott said dismissively.
"And I would?" Draco replied with a snort.
"You're speaking to me now, aren't you? Besides, Granger's not in my Charms class, nor is she in my house – you, however, are both of those things." Nott did have a point. Even if Hermione would deign to speak with him – which, given how terribly he'd treated her in the past, was highly unlikely – they weren't in the same class. There were enough people taking N.E.W.T. Charms to necessitate two sections of the class – Draco and Nott were in the same section, along with Harry, but Hermione was in the other, and even though the two classes were covering the same material, it was always best to find study partners from your own sections, just in case.
"What's your endgame, Nott?" Draco asked. His housemates often did things with ulterior motives in mind, and Nott definitely fell into that category.
"Just a better mark in Charms," Nott said, feigning hurt. "Although I suppose I could always help you revise for Transfiguration in return – I'm not your precious Granger, but I did still get an O on that exam."
"Keep your comments about my friends to yourself, or I shan't help you," Draco insisted. Nott shrugged.
"Fine. I won't say anything about your friends."
Draco was still suspicious – Nott hardly ever said a kind word to anyone, and he'd made Draco's life difficult from the moment they arrived at Hogwarts – but what if he really did just need some tutoring? Draco would look like a right arse if he rejected a housemate in need of something he could so easily give – after all, as convoluted as their ways could be, as tense as their relationships were, Slytherins looked out for their own, didn't they?
"Alright," he conceded. "I'll give you a two-week trial, and we'll go from there. Fair enough?"
"Fair enough," Nott agreed, already taking out his Charms textbook.
"Right, then – I suppose we should start with Aguamenti, since we went over that in class yesterday…"
Over the next few weeks, Harry and his friends were kept busy with homework, Quidditch, prefect rounds, and training sessions, and September quickly melted into October. Classes remained difficult, and they had very little free time, but they did manage to get in a D.A. meeting during the last week of September – the group was quite a bit smaller, as several former members had finished school and a handful of others had decided not to continue, but those who returned were more than happy to put aside their schoolwork for an hour or so to practice their dueling. They used the last ten minutes to practice their Patronuses, the silvery animals chasing each other around the Room of Requirement as their casters looked on in obvious delight, and everyone was feeling very satisfied when they called it quits for the evening.
On the first Monday in October, Harry, Draco, and Hermione each received a summons to Professor Snape's office for eight o'clock that evening.
"What d'you think Snape wants with us?" Harry wondered as the trio made their way down into the dungeons. Neither Gryffindor nor Slytherin had Quidditch practice that evening, so they hadn't had to do any last minute rescheduling, but the notes hadn't given any hints as to Snape's intentions.
"No idea," Draco replied, hefting his bag up a little higher onto his shoulder. "Hope it doesn't take long, though – I still have to finish that Herbology assignment." He reached the door first and rapped smartly on the wood with his knuckles, then pushed it open when Snape bade them enter.
"Well, you're on time, at least," Snape said. "Sit." He pointed to three plain wooden chairs in front of his desk, which the trio took with some reluctance. The chairs were as uncomfortable as they looked.
"The headmaster wishes for you three to begin studying Occlumency," Snape said before any of them could ask why they were there. "What do you know of it, if anything?"
"It's a way to block your mind so others can't read it," Hermione said.
"A rudimentary definition lacking several important points," Snape replied. "'Reading minds' might be the term some use to define those who can practice Legilimency, but that is a dangerous misconception – the mind is a layered, complex thing, and as such, both Occlumency and Legilimency are similarly complicated. A skilled Occlumens can successfully hide their thoughts, as if behind a wall or in a vault, but it takes immense concentration and willpower, and it cannot be done if you cannot first control your emotions. Emotions, however powerful they might be, are a weakness that any good Legilimens knows to prey upon – wear your heart on your sleeve, and your secrets won't stay secret for long. The task only becomes more difficult if you are under pressure – at the other end of an adversary's wand, perhaps, or weakened in any way, physically or mentally."
The teenagers looked at one another, slightly chagrined. Occlumency sounded both difficult and worrisome.
"Why does Dumbledore want us to learn this, Professor?" Draco asked.
"It goes without saying that you three are prime targets in the war against the Dark Lord," Snape said. "I don't think I need explain why; you should all know that by now. If any of you were to be taken, you can guarantee that the Dark Lord would be very interested in what you know – and he is not so kind as to ask you for it. Your competence with wands is acceptable enough, but you must be able to defend your minds, which are both far more valuable and far more vulnerable."
"But why are we here, specifically?" Hermione pressed.
"Because I am to be your teacher," Snape drawled. "Do keep up, Miss Granger. The headmaster and I are the only learned Legilimens at Hogwarts – it is arguably more difficult even than Occlumency to learn, and far more so to master – and the headmaster is far too busy with other matters to teach you himself. I believe he has other intentions with you three, but he would not divulge what, exactly, and as they do not apply to this lesson, I see no further reason to discuss them at this time.
"Eye contact is crucial to Legilimency, and as such, I shall face only one of you at a time. You may attempt to block me however you see fit, but be warned – the more energy you focus on physical spells, the harder it becomes to defend your mind. Now, which one of you is going first?"
The teenagers looked at one another, having a silent conversation with their eyes, before Hermione finally stood up and said, "I'll go." Snape nodded curtly.
"Stand in the center of the room. You two – off to the sides, and no interfering. As much as you will want to, this is a battle you must learn to fight on your own." With that ominous instruction, Harry and Draco dragged their chairs over against the far wall, where they could properly watch both Hermione and Snape.
"On three," Snape said. "One…two…three…Legilimens!"
At first, it didn't look like much was happening, but the boys soon saw Hermione's brow furrow in concentration, a small whimper escaping her lips as she tried to fight off Snape's attack. They obviously couldn't see whatever memories she was trying to repress, but the whole situation looked decidedly uncomfortable. After a few minutes, Hermione managed a cry of "Protego!" The shield was strong enough that it broke Snape's concentration, and Hermione collapsed to her knees, sweat pouring down her face.
"Acceptable for a first attempt, but you let me see too much before you managed a block," Snape said. "I had no idea your first bout of accidental magic was so…powerful." He smirked a little as Hermione flushed – the incident in question had nearly burned down her old house.
"Potter." Snape jerked his head towards the spot where Hermione had recently stood, the curly-haired Gryffindor having taken a seat next to Draco. Harry took his place and raised his wand, bracing himself.
"Legilimens!" Snape shouted.
Harry was not nearly as successful – Hermione and Draco could both see that Snape broke through very quickly, and Harry looked as though he were in pain. Try as he might, he couldn't fight off the attack, and Snape only retreated when Harry accidentally sent a Stinging Hex his way.
"Your first assignment is learning to clear your head, Potter," Snape said. "Practice every evening before bed – I will know if you haven't at our next session." Harry nodded shakily, his face just as sweaty as Hermione's, and stumbled to his empty seat as Draco took his place. For a moment, Snape looked almost hesitant, but he quickly hid the expression behind a mask of indifference and chanted the spell once more.
Harry and Hermione knew right away that this battle was different – not thirty seconds had passed before Draco shouted, "NO!" his expression defiant and determined. If either looked uncomfortable now, it was Snape, who seemed to be struggling with something, and it was a full two minutes before he wrenched his wand away and broke the spell, Draco staggering backwards with a look of shock on his pale features.
"So that's what happened," he whispered, so quietly that Harry and Hermione almost didn't hear him.
"How what happened?" Harry asked.
"Don't," Snape spat, then again, almost pleading, "Don't."
"That was private," Draco said.
"So was mine," Snape replied. "But now you know."
"It wasn't my intention to reverse the spell," Draco said quietly. "I'm sorry."
The two Gryffindors looked at each other in disbelief. Draco had not only fought off Snape's attack, but had actually reversed it? And what exactly had he seen that had Snape so distraught?
"Don't be," Snape said vehemently. "It was my mistake, and it is my burden and mine alone. You did what you were supposed to do."
"But-"
"Draco, be quiet," Snape hissed. He sighed and pressed his long fingers to his temples, then looked back at his godson.
"Don't make the same mistake I did," he said, his gaze flickering so briefly to Hermione that only Draco caught it.
"Never," Draco vowed. Snape must have seen the fierce determination and truth in the younger Slytherin's eyes, because he merely nodded in acceptance and motioned toward the door.
"I will let you know of the next meeting time," was all he said before he all but pushed the trio out the door.
"Er…what exactly just happened?" Harry asked, nonplussed.
"Not here," Draco muttered, hurrying along the corridor to the nearest empty classroom. Once he was satisfied that it was indeed empty, he ushered them inside and shut the door firmly, then began pacing, his shoes kicking up little clouds of dust as he walked back and forth.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, reaching out to place her hand on his arm. Draco stopped pacing and looked at her.
"He went straight for my memory of the garden," he said. Hermione's mouth formed a small 'o' of understanding.
"Our security question," she said.
"Yes. But that belongs to us, and only us – even if it was just an exercise, I wasn't going to give him that. So I forced him out – hard enough that I reversed the spell and saw one of his own memories, one that I don't think he ever intended anyone else to see. I think I only saw what I did because he was too shocked that I'd actually reversed the spell to begin with."
"What did you see?" Harry asked. Draco looked up, his expression upset.
"The ending of his friendship with Mum," he said. "I saw the day he…the day he called her a Mudblood."
A/N: Ouch...that memory had to come back at some point, didn't it? What'd you think? Also, we're getting very close to the reveal of the Gryffindor/Slytherin ring clue, so if you have any last-minute guesses, now's the time to get them in!
Thank you, as always, for the follows/faves/reviews, & for reading! You guys are the best!
JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. In case I don't update again before then, I'd like to wish you all a happy Memorial Day weekend. Please R&R, & enjoy! :)