Chapter 5 – Mórrígan and Taranis
Draco woke up on Saturday, Halloween's morning, and for the first time in two months he remembered something of his dream. Not much, mind you, but it was still something. The moment he realised that, he frenetically tried to cling to the memory. A desperation born of long weeks of restless sleep. Weeks of waking up with his brain pounding because memories tried to dig their way out of his mind and failed. So he fought to keep his hold on this one piece.
A face. A woman's face. A dark-haired beauty with soothing eyes. She'd looked at him with a tenderness that had slice through his very soul. Draco could still picture her soft smile, serene and radiant. That had been an angel's smile. Just thinking about her put him at ease. Like he had nothing to worry about as long as he could keep gazing into those calm pools. By the gods! If only he knew who she was. How he needed peace. Craved it. But peace was something he hadn't felt in a very long time. Not until last night.
With her.
Who could she be? He wondered. Then, he shook his head self-depreciably. It was only a dream. She was only a dream.
Sighing, he swung his legs over the bed's side.
On the other side of the room, Blaise raised his gaze from The Celts: Pantheon, Rites and Tales and sat up on his bed.
"Hey, mate! Hope you don't mind" he said, waving the book. "I wanted something to pass the time until you wake up."
Draco simply shrugged. The volume was the only worn-out thing he'd ever owned. It had been a gift from his mother when he'd left for Hogwarts seven years ago. It contained old Celtic tales Narcissia had read to him as bedtime stories. When her baby had been about to leave the nest, she had wanted for him to keep a piece of home.
"It's alright. I've read it at least a thousand times."
"I know. That's why I picked it up." He returned to his initial sprawled position. "Have you decided on a costume for tonight yet?"
Yawning, Draco rose from the warm sheets and started to get dressed. He shot his friend a look.
"Costume…? Ah, yes. Halloween's feast." He absentmindedly scratched his scalp. "I didn't really think about it."
The truth was, he'd had so much on his mind lately that an Halloween costume had ended very low on his priority list. Which made him think…
"Pansy and I came across some weird conversation during our patrol last night."
Draco related the peculiar encounter to the other Slytherin. When his tale came to an end, he looked expectantly at his roommate. Blaise blinked once.
"The Fates, destinies… If we didn't already know there were something odd going on in Gryffindor's house, I'd say it sounds like Trelawney's gibberish to me."
Draco snorted at that. His thought exactly. However, he knew enough about centaurs to be sure one wouldn't talk about something like destiny flippantly.
Draco sighed.
It'd been two months now since the start of term, and uncanny things kept piling up. The Sorting Hat's silence. The Golden Trio's strange behaviour around Ginevra. And Ginevra herself.
Everything was odd about her. She'd changed, gain a new depth. Draco had instinctively sensed it when he'd met her on the train. He'd reacted to it strongly. Then they'd learned she'd skipped a year. While even he, Slytherin to the core though he was, had to admit she was a clever girl, such thing had simply never been done at Hogwarts. Why couldn't she finish her schooling next year? What reason would convince their rule abiding headmistress to bend the school's tradition? And now there was her late night encounter with Firenze. Their talk about destiny. If he added his eerie dreams and the annoying sense of déjà vu he constantly had about Ginny Weasley to the lot, it was enough to drive Draco mad with speculation.
But it was no use splitting his skull over it right then. He'd better start thinking about a costume for the night's festivities. He didn't feel like going at all, but he'd grown up in a house where traditions surrounding all the year's major phases were supposed to be respected and celebrated. Skipping Samhain's feast? His mother would be appalled.
While the two young men got dressed for the day, Draco's eyes lingered on the book discarded on the bedspread. A slow smile was drawn on his face. He'd found just the right costume.
Half an hour later, as he and his friends silently made their way toward the Great Hall for breakfast, Draco considered passing the whole day buried in the library. Knowing he had a training session planned the next day for the Slytherin's Quidditch team, he thought wise to get ahead of his studies. Again, he cursed the last year predicament that had left him with so much catch up to do. Not that the present year was going to be a piece of cake either, although for an entirely different reason as he realised when they entered the Great Hall.
The large room, usually buzzing with noise in the morning, was unnaturally quiet. The students were whispering among themselves and the teachers at the head table looked remarkably subdued. The three Slytherins shared a puzzled look and went to take seats at their house's table. As soon as he sat, Draco turned to Astoria Greengrass, a fifth year and Daphne's little sister.
"Hey, Tory. What's the matter?" he asked, and Blaise and Pansy leaned forward to listen.
"There's been an attack in Diagon Alley yesterday night. Or so the word goes. Nobody seems to have any official confirmation yet, though. We'll probably have to wait for Monday's paper to be sure. It looks like someone overheard the teachers talking about it early this morning. They probably would have preferred to keep it quiet as long as possible, but… Well, we all know how fast news travel at Hogwarts."
The three older Slytherins nodded.
"Anyway," she continued. "If the rumour is true, they attacked a reading club."
That made Blaise gasps incredulously.
"A reading club? Why? What kind of target is that?"
"A cultural one would be my guess," Astoria answered. "It was a muggle's literature reading club. It seems quite a few of the club's members have been seriously injured… or killed." She fell silent.
That made them pause, and Astoria returned to her breakfast.
Just looking around, Draco could tell the news had a drastic effect on the staff and student body. It was a violent reminder to everyone of what was really going on outside the protective stonewalls of the castle. It was war, and many had forgotten that, numbed by the whirl their academic routine. It was so tempting to forget. If only he could. Draco sighed and started filling is plate, trying to ignore the stares thrown their way from all around the Great Hall. Of course, more than ever, the Slytherins were receiving murderous glares. And he, being the Devil's spawn in everyone's mind, was considered to be the worst kind of Slytherin. What a bunch of idiots! He thought, sensing his anger rising.
That was one more incitement for Draco to isolate himself in Madam Pince's closely guarded haven. Having suddenly lost his appetite, he rose from his seat and told his concerned-looking friends he'd be in the library.
A moment later, he entered the library under the suspicious glare of the librarian. That was almost relieving, though. At least, she was equally suspicious of all and every students who got near her precious books.
As the room was empty of student except for himself, he had not trouble finding a reclusive corner to settle in. Unfortunately, he was only twenty minute in his reading of Miranda Goshawk's Book of Spells for the Advanced Apprentice when someone dropped in the seat next to his. Draco didn't cover his displeasure when he saw who the intruder was. Graham Pritchard.
"Malfoy," Pritchard greeted.
Draco didn't bother to respond but heaved an annoyed sigh at him. The fourth year Slytherin seemed to considered him a second.
"You heard about Diagon Alley." It wasn't a question. When Draco still didn't respond, Pritchard continued. "I'm curious. Nobody knows much about it, but… You wouldn't happen to possess any more details about the attack, would you?" That made Draco narrow his eyes at him. A warning the boy didn't get apparently. "I know how… well connected you are" he added with a smile that tugged the corner of his lips.
Draco stayed silent for several heartbeats and looked around the library to make sure there was no one nearby before he asked quietly "You want some private info, Pritchard?" The younger Slytherin nodded, his eagerness clear in his eyes. "Follow me, then."
Draco rose from his chair and lead Graham farther back in the room, between the shelves' rows. When he thought they were far enough not to alert Madam Pince, he swiftly grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and shoved him up against the bookshelves. Then, he held him up there with a flick of his wand. He'd had enough of the nosy little prick.
"Listen to me and listen well because I won't say it again," he hissed in a low tone, pointing his wand at Graham's throat. "I want you to stop pestering me and tell your little friends to do same. You used the very last bit of patience I had left where you're concerned and I won't be held responsible for my actions if you push me further." He pressed him a little tighter against the shelves to make his point. "A word of advice, kid. If you have the least bit of self-preservation, stop nosing around Death Eater's business. You so don't know what you're poking at."
Draco abruptly let go of Pritchard making him stumble down. He went out from between the shelves without looking at the sprawled form on the floor and went back to his books. A moment later, he noted Pritchard's retreat from the library from the corner of his eyes and let out a sigh. He hoped the git had enough brain to realise what was best for him. Unfortunately, nothing was less certain since the boy was a little too close in character to the git he himself had been at the same age: arrogant, overconfident, self-centred and lured by the illusion of greatness of a madman. Trying to shake off the troubling thoughts, he dived back in his spell book.
The study provided an efficient distraction as he pretty much lost track of time. Nevertheless, around five o'clock, he closed his books and went back to the dungeon to get ready for the feast. He needed very little to constitute his costume, and what he lacked he could transfigure. Forty five minutes later, he joined Pansy and Blaise in the common room. Most of their housemates were already gone. He instantly smiled at Blaise's costume. How appropriate: a werewolf. A half-naked one at that.
"I love your costume. You'll be looking for Little Red Riding Hood, I take it?"
His friend answered with a side smile. A wolfish one, of course.
"Not so little."
Draco turned to Pansy. She wore a dark veil that stopped at mid-face and a black dress that would have been sedate if it weren't for the impressively low neckline. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. She smiled predatorily at him.
"I'm the Black Widow."
That's when he saw her apparently-bloodstained hands. Nice.
"What about you?" she asked. Both she and Blaise were trying to figure out is costume.
He wore a grey silk sheet, draped artfully on his hips, looking like he was covered by a rainy cloud. A thunderbolt-like sceptre in one hand, he also wore a silver chain with a large wheel pendant resting on his bare plexus.
"Blaise should be able to figure it out" he said, and made his way out of the common room, enjoying their puzzlement.
A moment later, they entered the Great Hall, and Draco noticed that the house-elves hadn't spared their efforts in the decoration department this Halloween. The occult atmosphere was a success. The tables had been moved in a banquet-like U setting with the Slytherin's at an extremity and the Gryffindor's at the other. At the centre was a stage that suggested there would be a band playing later. It seemed Hogwarts' staff members had gone out of their way to ensure the students' enjoyment in the circumstances, trying to keep their mind off the war. And it worked Draco noted as he took in all the relaxed faces around the room. Faces that had been much more anxious that very morning. He marvelled at the quick mood change until he spotted the angry glare Potter was throwing him. Draco shook his head. The guy was completely obsessive.
They'd arrived a little late, and the food was already on the tables. That's when Draco realised how starved he was since he hadn't eaten yet except for the few bites he'd had that morning. He really was ravenous. They sat next to Daphne and Theodore, and the blond-haired Slytherin immediately concentrate on filing his plate as much as physical laws would allow.
Once his hunger was sated enough for him to eat at a reasonable pace, Draco raised his face from his plate. Pansy and Blaise were looking at him a bit incredulously. Blaise shook his head.
"And here I thought I was the wolf."
Draco grinned.
"I was famished. I've put my brain in overdrive today, and such a great machine needs fuel, you know."
As the meal went on, Draco found he wasn't immune to the festive ambiance and started to relax and enjoy himself. Just like that, looking at the two people he considered as close as siblings, he realised he hadn't allowed himself to enjoy anything in a very long time. Not since his father had been captured at the end of his fifth year. That was what? Over a year and a half ago? It felt like a life time. Was he even the same person? And what good had it done to isolate himself? None. All it'd done was making him even more miserable.
Draco smiled while Pansy argued to Blaise that planning to spend the rest of his life in the penthouse of a hotel on a tropical island did not constitute a career choice. Of course, then Blaise tried to explain to Pansy how one could consider frequenting a beach full of monokini wearers a gratifying vocation. Blaise would say anything to annoy Pansy. For all his playfulness, the Zabini heir would be a great businessman because he had a gift to manage people. Draco just leaned on his elbows and enjoyed their word fight.
Before they knew it, the meal ended and the leftovers disappeared from the tables. A few minutes later, the musicians got on the stage and started to play. It took some time, but eventually the students went on the dance floor. It soon became obvious the young witches and wizards were determined to take advantage of the occasion and let out some steam. The floor didn't even start to unpack until ten o'clock. When he let his gaze stroll through the Great Hall, Draco's eyes caught sight of one of the dancing couples.
And he was fascinated.
Spellbound.
With Ginevra Weasley.
Since Slytherin's and Gryffindor's tables were separated by the stage, Draco couldn't have notice her until now. Now, he noticed her alright. She wore a long black dress that hugged her curvaceous body like a second skin, but the outfit was saved from being too licentious by a black cloak. It was long and covered in black feathers. The extremities were fixed to her wrists making it look like large black wings. And there was her hair. Breathtaking. She wore her long red mane down, and there were black feathers in it too. The contrast of black and red was simply too scrumptious for words. And that pale nacre-like skin. Her cleavage scooped in the black neckline looked like a jewel in a showcase.
"Good Lords! She's beautiful!" he murmured under his breath not realising he'd talked out loud until Blaise responded.
"That, she is! Glad you finally saw reason and decided to expend your tastes."
Draco didn't listen. He was too busy noticing she was dancing with Seamus Finnigan and that the arsehole was looking down her décolletage, forgetting that he'd been rather taken by the sight himself just a moment ago. What was she doing dancing with the Irish git anyway? It was quite obvious for anyone who had eyes that he didn't have a clue how to dance. An insane blast of jealousy came over him as he saw Finnigan lead his partner out of the dance floor to a quiet corner.
His increasingly violent thoughts were interrupted by his dark-haired friend getting up from his seat. Draco and Pansy looked at him inquisitively. Blaise smiled.
"I'm going to say 'hi'," he explained, nodding in Ginny's direction. "You're coming along?"
Both Slytherin prefects exchanged a look. Pansy shrugged.
"Why not?"
They got up and went after Blaise.
Finnigan was not longer with Ginny. She was sitting alone, not far from where Pavarti Patil, disguised as a mermaid, was chatting animatedly with Terry Boot. When the redhead noticed they were walking up to her, her eyes widened with surprise. She also looked a little nervous. Draco couldn't blame her. Having the Slytherin Royalty coming up to you when you were a lone Gryffindor was rarely a good omen. However, for two months now the little Weasley had been Pansy's partner in Potion, and the three of them had been civil enough to her. Well, if one considered to not insult her being civil, that is. In fact, the thought crossed Draco's mind that the three of them seemed to have been more civil to her these past months than Gryffindor's Golden Trio. The ludicrousness of it was almost enough to make him stop dead in his track.
Blaise stopped in front of the small lioness and offered her an engaging smile. That seemed to dissipate her apprehension. She smiled back.
"Good evening, beautiful! Your escort left you unattended? Shame on him! Leaving such a lovely woman vulnerable without proper protection… Tsk. Doesn't chivalry exist anymore? "
Ginny raised her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head at his dramatics.
"Seamus just went to fetch us some drinks" she started, and then she smiled mischievously. "And I'll have you know, Blaise, that I'm hardly ever vulnerable or without protection."
"That, I believe, love."
Blaise's easygoing behaviour succeeded at putting the younger Weasley at ease. She stood from her chair and considered his werewolf costume.
"I love your costume, by the way. You're on the hunt tonight, I take it. Anything on your trophy board yet?" she asked with easy humour.
Entering the game, Blaise sighed theatrically.
"Nothing yet, I'm afraid. The prey I'm after eludes me completely. I fear she's utterly indifferent to my best lure", he complained and stroked his bare chest to make sure she knew exactly what he considered his best lure.
Her impish air flourished even more. She leaned toward the large Slytherin beater, as if confiding a secret.
"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you. She actually choked on her veggies when she saw you arrived in that costume earlier. And her making a show of enjoying Terry's company is solely for your benefit."
As if on cue, Pavarti started laughing at something the seventh year Ravenclaw had said, which seemed to startle Boot who appeared not to understand her sudden hilarity.
"Interesting," he whispered, lost in his thoughts a second. Then he took a good look at Ginny, inspected her from head to toes. "I too love your costume. What are you supposed to personify? Some kind of fairy queen out to enthralled us, poor mortals?"
She smiled up at him, but when she opened her mouth to answer Draco cut in.
"Not a fairy queen, Blaise, a goddess. The Mórrígan, the Great Queen, the Crow, an Irish goddess of war and prophesies. In the form of a crow, she flies over the battlefields to gather those who died a violent death and take them under her wing. As a goddess of fertility, she's also known to initiate young warriors." He paused, remembering an old ode to the Phantom Queen. Looking straight at Ginny, he started. "Listen to the words of the Dark Goddess who brings wisdom and strength. Listen to the words of Her who has taken many names from Kali to Persephone…"
Her eyes on his, she took over.
"I am the passionate lover, the scarlet seductress who inspires love and despair to poets. I am the one who murmurs your name at the end of the journey. As the day dies, you find rest in my embrace. I am the fertile womb, mother of all things, and all things shall come back to me to be born again. I am the red forge that converts your demons in powerful weapons, so welcome my embrace and triumph! I am the glittering sword that guards you from harm. I am the velvet depth of the night sky, the swirling mist that hugs midnight with mystery. I am the chrysalis in which you shall confront your fears and from which you shall emerge vibrant, strong and new. Keep my love close to your heart and find in yourself the courage to become what you should."
For a moment, the four of them stayed utterly silent. Pansy and Blaise looked dumbfounded, as if wondering what the hell had just happened. For the life of him, Draco couldn't have said either. But something had happened. He kept staring at Ginevra, unable to do otherwise. He couldn't turn away from those large brown eyes that always seemed to touch him somewhere deep inside. She looked like she wanted to say something but was just as paralysed by the moment as he was. The tension between them grew so intense, Draco was sure he could have touched it. God! He wanted to kiss her. Instead, he cleared his throat.
"Why, I'm impressed. I didn't realise you were so knowledgeable about Celtic deities."
She smiled.
"Oh! But you know so little about me, Mr Malfoy… or should I call you… Taranis?" she asked.
It was Draco's turn to smile. Now he was even more impressed.
"Taranis, great celestial Gaulish god, master of wind and thunder. Also known as the God of the Wheel." She paused. "He is not exactly a well-known god. I'm surprised you'd think of him."
"Oh, but you know so little about me, Miss Weasley," he responded, his voice just a little above a murmur.
She considered him solemnly.
"Yes… yes, I'm starting to realise that."
Before either of them could place another word, a red tornado came and stood between them. Ronald Weasley, Draco observed, had turned an interesting shade of purple. Potter and Granger were not too far on his heels. Here comes the cavalry, Draco thought bitterly. Couldn't they have waited to interrupt? We're in the middle of something here. He looked up at the tall furious redhead with cool indifference.
"What's up Weasley? You don't look like you're enjoying the party very much" he added with an ironic side smile.
"Stay away from my sister, Malfoy! If you so much as touch a hair from her head, I swear you'll regret it!"
Draco knew he shouldn't taunt him, but… old habits die hard.
"Is that so?" He crooked his neck to look around Ronald at his sister. He gave her a hot once-over. "Funny, because should I ever touch your sister, and I can promise you it wouldn't her hair, I very much think I wouldn't regret it."
Draco had the time to see Ginny's freckled cheeks tint a cute shade of pink before his attention went to Potter who was restrained, barely, by Granger. And of course Blaise had to add his piece.
"I have to concur. Your sister's hot, Weasley." He turned to Draco. "I'm thinking we should issue an invitation to the lovely Miss Weasley for one of our famous Slytherin orgies. What do you say, mate? She would be a delicious addition, wouldn't she?"
Draco nodded.
"Mouth-watering, definitely."
Both hot-headed Gryffindor males were about to assault them when the Headmistress voice rang through the Great Hall. It succeeded in stopping them in their track.
"Goodnight, everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your evening." Everybody applauded their approval. "Before I let you go back to your respective dormitories, I want to make an announcement. Considering the… dreadful events the Widzarding World encounters these days, we decided to offer to all sixth and seventh years' students an Advanced Defence class on Saturday mornings, starting next week." The students started to whisper animatedly among themselves. McGonagall increased the volume of her voice to be heard over the noise. "The Department of Magical Laws Enforcement has agreed to send an Auror to take charge of the class. The students who are interested in attending are requested to inform their Head of House of their wish to do so sometime throughout the next week. Now, I bid you all goodnight."
Granger had used the distraction of the Headmistress's speech to drag her friends out of the trouble they no doubt would have sunk into. Draco paid them no attention. He was considering McGonagall's announcement. Additional defensive skills could come in handy. Especially in the precarious situation he found himself into. It all depended on what they judged as 'advanced'. He was already rather capable in that area, courtesy of his father's training. He guessed he would have to see for himself. He turned to his friends.
"What do you think?" Pansy asked, following Draco train of thoughts easily.
The blond shrugged.
"I think it doesn't hurt to go and see what it's worth."
On those words, they made their way out of the Great Hall with the rest of the crowd. As they went through the Entrance, Draco saw Terry Boot and Seamus Finnigan walking into their respective House direction. Ginny and Pavarti were nowhere in sight. When had they slipped out of the Great Hall? He hadn't noticed.
Mirroring his own reflection, Blaise frowned and asked "Did you see Ginny and Pavarti leave?"
"I saw them sneak out during McGonagall's speech. I think they wanted to go unnoticed" Pansy answered.
"Any guess as to what they're up to?"
"How would I know about Gryffindor night habits?" she retorted, rolling her eyes.
"Maybe it's some secret slumber party where they get to wear silky baby dolls. I like that idea" Blaise proposed, looking wishful.
"Maybe" Draco whispered, but somehow he doubted it.