Title: Fire and Powder
Chapter: 8
Disclaimer: See chapter one, yo.
Note: Hello again lovely readers! Thanks for over 600 visits two days, that's seriously amazing. I said I was going to wait to post my chapters until they were more substantial in length, and I somewhat succeeded in doing that. This one at least is over the 2k word mark, but hopefully the next ones will be even longer, I just felt this one ended at a good place. Thanks again to Tonks-666 for betaing the first 3/4ths of this! Any existing errors are entirely mine, I was too anxious to post this, haha. Enjoy.
"Redemption is not perfection.
The redeemed must realize their imperfections."
- John Piper
Hermione and Draco stared at the woman, identical dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
"There's no need to look so surprised," the woman said, moving to take a seat in a more luxurious looking chair on the other side of the table.
Hermione and Draco shared a look.
"You—you can see me?" Hermione stuttered.
"Of course, querida, now take a seat," the woman instructed, motioning to the seats across from her.
Draco regained his cool before Hermione did, and he slid into one of the chairs around the table, feeling incredibly confused.
"But how?" Hermione was still gaping.
"Sit, Granger." Draco was growing impatient. He wanted answers.
"Lo siento, where are my manners?" The woman pointed to herself, smiling widely. "I am Señora Pina."
Draco reached a hand out to the Spanish woman, remembering his own manners. "I am Draco, and my…companion is Hermione. Can you explain what is going on?"
Hermione had managed to calm herself and was now sitting in the chair next to Draco, eying the woman warily. She had become accustomed to not being seen by anyone except Malfoy, and it was disconcerting for this woman to suddenly be able to see her. Could this mean she wasn't really dead? Was that even possible?
"Of course, you must be very confused," the woman's smile broadened, yellow teeth reflecting the candlelight.
"That's an understatement," Draco muttered to himself. Señora Pina pretended not to hear him.
"I'm very sorry for your passing, dear," she said to Hermione.
Hermione's heart sank in her chest as all the hope that had welled up inside her since entering the shop abruptly left her body. She felt the prickling of tears and willed them away.
"You!" The woman turned to Draco, her smile disappearing. "You killed this poor girl!"
Draco scowled. Who was this woman to attack him? She knew nothing about his life! How dare she assume he was in the wrong! She didn't know anything! He wanted to hex this woman—punish her for thinking she could tell him anything—but he caught a glimpse of Granger in his peripheral vision, saw the tears welling in her eyes, though they didn't fall. Anger was suddenly replaced by something much sharper, which clenched his heart in a way that almost made him almost want to apologize.
No. Never. He would not apologize for something he hadn't wanted to do in the first place. This is war, he repeated to himself.
He pushed the thoughts abruptly to the back of his mind, resorting to the mask he'd perfected over years of dealing with the Dark Lord.
"You don't know the full story, Señora, but yes she is dead, that much is clear. What's not clear is why, despite that fact, she's sitting next to me right now." Draco folded his hands on the table in front of him, all business.
Señora Pina allowed the hostility to leave her eyes, instead trying to assess the situation. "Si, I have suspicions, yes." She retrieved her wand from a pocket in her purple robe and pointed it at Hermione.
In the blink of an eye Draco had produced his own wand and had it trained on the woman.
The woman raised her eyebrows, surprised. Hermione was equally confused, why would Draco ever be compelled to protect her? Didn't he kill her just a few days ago?
"Lo siento, I should have warned you," the woman held her wand in surrender, and only when it was pointed away from Hermione did Draco replace his in his robe. "I wish to check the young lady for spells or charms, is that okay, querida?"
Draco noticed how she pointedly asked Granger, not him, for permission. He slumped in his seat, embarrassed at having overreacted. He'd protected Granger, for Merlin's sake!
Hermione nodded at the woman and held still as she waved her wand intricately, a faint pink glow emitting from the tip, growing stronger as it moved towards her. The light swirled around, wrapping tightly around Hermione like a rope. "Ah," the woman commented.
"What?" Draco asked, but the woman ignored him.
Señora recited an incantation and the pink light faded. She redirected her wand to Draco, speaking softly in Latin. The pink light appeared again, similarly embracing Draco like a rope.
"It's the same," Hermione commented. She searched her mind for what it could mean but continuously came up blank. She'd never read anything about this! How was that even possible?!
"Do you know what it is?" Draco asked anxiously.
The woman nodded. "Si."
They watched impatiently as the woman abruptly got up and exited through the back door.
"Wait—where do you think you're going?" Draco demanded. "You can't just leave! Excuse me—"
"Draco!" Hermione scolded, grabbing his arm. "Shhh! I think she's coming back."
Draco scowled at her, but did nothing to remove her burning hand from his bicep. And she did nothing to remove her hand.
Hermione was right, within seconds the woman was pushing the door open again, her arms full with a rather large, old, leather book. She set it on the table with a clunk, dust spewing out of the pages like a cloud.
"I have never seen this particular spell before," Señora Pina explained, opening the book and skimming quickly through the pages, searching for something. "But I have heard legends."
"Legends?" Hermione asked, once again scouring her brain for any hint of what this woman was talking about. She had to have studied it at some point! She'd studied everything! Draco watched the confusion play out on Hermione's face, the frenzy in her eyes as her mind ran through ideas. Her hand tightened on his arm and Draco gripped the armrest as a warm sensation seemed to travel from her fingers through his entire arm.
"Nodum de Animae," the woman stated, running her finger over a section of the large tome.
Hermione worked out the Latin translation in her head. "Soul knot?"
The woman nodded. "Si, Knot of the Soul, very ancient, yes." She pushed the book towards them, pointing out the Latin heading. Hermione and Draco leaned closer to read the text.
Nodum de Animae, Spell, 600 ad,
Nodum de Animae, or Knot of the Soul, involves the uniting of two individual souls. It is the strongest of soul bonding spells, for it transpires after the death of one of the involved souls. The spell is performed by a third party, whom performs Nodum de Animae on one of the individuals who is to be bonded. The first bonded soul invokes the rest of the spell when he or she performs the killing curse (see Avada Kedevera) on another individual whose soul will thus be bonded to their killer. Their souls are intertwined, and the second will usually appear to the other as a ghost until redemption is achieved.
Very few cases of Nodum de Animae have been studied. It can be traced back to 600 ad, when rulers would perform the spell on quarreling subjects, resulting in either cooperation or death for both parties. If the two spirits achieve full redemption, then the second spirit can return to life. If the two spirits cannot reach full redemption, then both souls must pass on.
Nodum de Animae lost popularity beginning around the turn of the 12th century, and has scarcely been seen since.
Draco's head was spinning. He was under a bonding spell? To Granger? And either they both live or they both die? How did this happen? Who would have wanted this to happen?
Hermione was equally overwhelmed. The hope that swelled in her chest at learning it might be possible to come back to life was immediately squelched by the equal possibility of imminent death—for both of them.
"I'm sorry, but what does this mean?" Hermione asked, pushing the book back towards the woman who was looking at them appraisingly.
"It is confusing, si, querida. Someone has cast Nodum de Animae on you," the woman looked pointedly at Draco, "and your souls are bonded."
Hermione's hand dropped finally from his arm as though she suddenly realized it was there. "But who?" she asked, turning to Draco. It was him that the spell was performed on, not her. "Who would want to do that to you? Why?"
Draco scowled. Who wouldn't perform something like this on him? That sounded like the better question. "Is this dark magic?" he asked, needing clarification.
Señora Pina shook her head, "No, no, dark magic is a modern concept. In the time this was used there was neither dark nor light magic, though, si, many of the same principles are at work as in today's dark magic."
He pondered the list of people that could be responsible. "A Death Eater, possibly," he listed. "Or The Dark Lord, in retribution for not following orders."
"He punished you for not killing Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, looking at him with widening eyes.
Draco didn't even bother asking how she knew so much about his activities with the Dark Lord. Potter probably spread his secrets all around the Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione gasped suddenly as a realization hit her. "Dumbledore!"
"Yes, Granger, I failed to kill Dumbledore, how astute of you," Draco drawled, scowling angrily.
"No! Dumbledore cast it! He knew you were going to kill him, and he cast it to prevent you from actually killing him!"
Draco was startled by her revelation. "That's…absurd," he said, not really believing himself. He knew Dumbledore suspected him—the old coot seemed to always know everything that went on at Hogwarts—but was he certain enough to cast an ancient spell to prevent himself from actually dying? Draco considered this, and realized that Dumbledore was crazy and brilliant enough that of course he would do such a ridiculous thing. Draco mentally shuttered at the thought of being trapped with the old wizard instead of Granger. He almost felt thankful that he hadn't killed Dumbledore when he was supposed to.
"It's not absurd and you know it," Granger told him.
He did know it.
"The book mentioned full redemption, can you clarify what that means?" Hermione asked, questions swimming rampantly through her brain.
"Ah, si, full redemption," Señora began, staring off into space. "Full redemption is very powerful, yes."
"Yes, we've gathered that," Draco huffed, exasperated. "But what is it?"
Señora looked Draco sharply in the eye, annoyed at his impatience. "Full redemption means total…how you say reparative? Reparation? For your sins. The spell is involves one person killing another, but only the body is dead. The souls are bound, in the act of killing, and souls cannot die. If you can fully redeem your sins…" she paused, looking pointedly at both of them, "together, then you, querida, can return to the living." Her face hardened and she stared back into space. "But if you fail, you both pass on."
"What sins?" Hermione asked, trying to fully comprehend the situation.
"No se, I do not know, querida, only you know. You both must make up for your trespasses."
Draco massaged his temple. He was most definitely getting a headache. This would be the death of him—literally. Make up for his trespasses? The majority of his life had been composed of trespass after trespass! This was simply not possible.
"Both of our sins?" Hermione clarified.
"Si."
Hermione was distraught. "All of them?"
"I cannot say for certain, querida, but I would say the largest trespasses should be your focus. I can think of one right now." Señora's dark eyes narrowed at Draco.
"How? How can I redeem myself for killing her if the only way to do just that would be to bring her back from the dead? And you just said I can't do that until I redeem myself! It seems rather contradictory from where I'm sitting!" Draco exclaimed, ready to pull his hair out with frustration.
"I can only help you ask the right questions, I cannot give you any answers," Señora responded calmly.
"Who can give me answers, then?"
"Only you can," she responded simply.
Draco had had enough, his fist slammed down onto the table with a loud bang, causing Hermione to jump in her seat. Draco almost felt sorry for scaring her until he remembered why he was angry. To hell with bloody manors, this woman was crazy!
"Lo siento, I see I've upset you," Señora said, abruptly standing from the table, pulling the large tome into her arms.
"Wait!" Hermione shouted, glaring at Draco for his childish outburst. "What should we do?"
"You need to reach full redemption." The woman was moving swiftly towards the back room. "And soon."
"How soon?" Hermione asked, holding her breath.
Señora Pina turned towards them one last time, "Soon. A spirit cannot exist in between planes for very long. Maybe a month, but no more."
Hermione's heart sank. Draco pressed his face into his hands.
"May luck be on your side," the woman said eerily, the back door shutting softly behind her.
End Note: To be continued within the next few days. Reviews make me write faster :)