DISCLAIMER: THE BOOK BELONGS TO J. I HAVE ONLY BORROWED BOTH CHARACTERS AND PLOTLINE.

CHAPTER 47

Dear Harry,

Just received your letter and hating you right now. School in France sounds like a lot of fun I'm totally wishing that I was there with you right now.

Fred is currently trying to climb over my head, so forgive the smudges that you see; they are due to his escaped drool while thinking about a certain Miss Venus Reynalds. He wishes you'd write more about our favorite teacher in your next letter.

I've been busy with some stuff lately, stuff that I can't talk about apparently and life has been rather hectic for me. But, *drumroll please* I finally asked Cho out and *another drumroll* she said YES! She's amazing, you were totally right about me asking Hermione for help, it worked wonders, now Ron says he is fully inspired by me! Can't write more or people are going to vomit around me, they say I'm quite the sap!

I hope you're fine with all the stuff that's been happening to you and just waiting for you to finish the damn year so you can come back to Hogwarts where we all miss you. Oh! Ginny wants say hi and to please write back to her brothers saying that Miss Venus is NOT available and is WAY out of their league!

Love,

Darren Potter.

Nearly three months had passed and Harry found himself swamped with work, especially now that he had other people's work to do as well.

Sometimes while walking in the corridors he would find himself being deliberately banged into or pushed around but nothing more threatening. He was still kicking himself for not being more courageous, still unable to figure out why those four boys affected him so badly.

Other than that, their work had improved drastically and Mr Odin's harsh words had ceased to have any effect on them. In fact they had become quite formidable in DADA and could battle it out effortlessly with the best, surprising a lot of skeptics. Their professor Caerwyn Jones, a quiet man had started to partner them off with two or three people at a time.

The best surprise however had been when a month ago when Professor Fletcher Garret, Weapons Master had taken them to the lake outside in the evening telling them it was time for their first class with him.

He stood before the lake and asked them if they knew about the sword called the 'Excalibur.'

"It was given to King Arthur," came Draco's prompt reply "By Merlin himself."

Fletcher shook his head "No, you are not entirely correct Mr Malfoy, for it was the Lady of the Lake who had done so. The Lady of the Lake of Avalon had brought it out in time of peril and had been the one to give it to him."

He then pointed at the lake and said dramatically "This is part of the legendary lake itself" looking at the shimmering surface and shocking the two boys he continued "It is where you will find your own weapons."

So saying he asked each of the boys to wade into the lake until the water was waist high and to simply wait. They stood shivering in the cold wondering if the Professor was pulling a fast one on them or this some kind of sick endurance test.

After a long time, almost losing the feel of their legs they saw two glowing spots appear beneath the surface of the water in front of them, "Grab at it quick!" the Professor cried out and reflexively they plunged their hands in and drew out the objects.

Harry held a stunning bow and arrow which shone a brilliant golden color in his hands and his mind blanked out so that only one word could be heard loud and clear,

'Falatheil.'

Fingering the fine craftsmanship of his weapon he thought of the word and knew its meaning instantly 'The Huntress,' was its given name.

Beside him Draco had also gasped simultaneously, holding on to a deadly looking dagger with a black blade and he whispered,

'Aegiess,'

a soft look coming into his eyes, 'The Bringer of Protection.' The dagger glowed with an unearthly blue and his grip on it tightened.

"Your weapons can be called upon with their given names whenever you are in need of them, from now on I will teach you how to wield them and will help you discover the powers that they possess" said the Professor looking irritatingly calm on such a momentous occasion.

And so the strenuous training began with early morning jogs around the grounds every single day.

Things were proceeding smoothly when a few weeks later something strange happened that acted as a trigger for a new vision that Draco saw.

They had been sleeping peacefully after a tiring day, when suddenly, they were both roughly woken up finding themselves bound and gagged and were being carried off from their beds.

They found themselves locked in cages in a room they had never seen before when a low voice from behind them suddenly cried out 'Morsus' and they felt a small stabs of pain shooting over their body, very mild in effect but still frightening.

Cowering from the shock of it all they started to whimper and the same voice said 'Legilimens.' They found their minds being ruthlessly invaded and being caught unawares, they didn't have time to build barriers, thrown off guard completely.

Every single one of their greatest fears and embarrassing moments were laid bare for the perpetrator to see. Fighting desperately, it took them nearly ten minutes to recover their senses and stop the invasion.

"Enough!" rang out a familiar voice and in walked in a scary looking Miss Reynalds, the dimpled smile had vanished and it's place was a look of disappointment "Ten minutes!" she rapped out "Ten minutes precious time to completely strip your mind bare, if I was really the enemy, by now your family and friends would be dead and your plans all revealed."

"Remember" she was tapping her foot angrily "if you ever were to find yourself as a war prisoner, either do your best to escape or kill yourself before they get to you if you can't protect yourselves from them."

"Pathetic!" She sniffed and walked away leaving the two confused boys now feeling ashamed and a bit lost; Harry was dimly thinking of what Fred would think of his Miss Venus now.

After trudging back to their rooms and falling into a restless sleep, Draco saw complete blackness and entered his vision.

He was standing in front of a towering black building surrounded by Dementors, floating silently above in the dark skies, when suddenly he heard evil laughter ring out in the dead of the night, causing his hair to stand on end. About six people whose faces he couldn't make out came bursting out of the building screaming and whooping with unsuppressed mirth.

The scene changed and he saw what looked like those same people standing in the middle of a burning village, the lady of the group viciously stepping on a dead body in front of her, gasping, Draco fought to resurface from the vision as he witnessed the bloody scene of total massacre of what looked like many innocent people, adults and children alike.

"No!" he cried out and found himself waking up drenched in sweat and swallowing bile, Harry who had been woken up from the scream, got up and taking one look at Draco ran to him. Asking him what had happened, Draco described the nightmare he had been witness to and squeezing his eyes shut he turned away from Harry, the smell of charred bodies still fresh in his mind.

Harry saw that Draco was visibly shaking and felt helpless; he sat beside him and tried talking to him in a soothing voice, holding him gently till he stopped shivering and had completely calmed down.

Getting up to go to his own bed, Draco stopped him and looking embarrassed asked Harry to stay. Harry knew the effort it must have taken the proud boy to ask for help and wordlessly climbed in beside him, drawing the blanket over them and holding him till he slowly fell asleep.