- Great Hall, 9th of November 1995 –
The Great Hall was alive with laughter and banter that Thursday evening. Even the Headmaster seemed to have picked up on his students' good spirits and was happily talking to Professor Sprout and ensuring her he would find enough funds so she could build another greenhouse.
Draco and his friends had nearly finished eating dinner when Ginny and Luna finally came from their class with Umbridge, followed by the rest of the fourth year girls. Nearly all of them had the same irritated expression on their face.
Ginny smacked her bookbag down on the floor and kicked it under the table next to Harry, her Weasley temper barely in check. She seethed, her breath huffing as she struggled to control her outrage. Even Luna looked unhappy, a frown plastered on her face, which was quite peculiar, to say the least. Nothing ever seemed to faze her, yet Umbridge seemed to have gotten under the seer's skin.
"I swear, if I need to attend one more class in wizarding etiquette, I am dropping out of school," Ginny grumbled as she leant into her boyfriend who slung his arm around her shoulders and offered her a piece of potato he had pricked on his fork.
"No need to be hangry, love," Harry joked as he started putting food on Ginny's plate. "What did the pink-"
"Ahem."
Hermione eyed Draco as the scratching voice of the annoying toad-like professor pierced through their ears. She was standing right behind them and was addressing the people sitting at their table.
What now?
"Miss Weasley. Miss Lovegood. Why are you not joining your houses for dinner?" Umbridge asked, her hands clasped in front of her and her head tilted slightly at them, a frown plastered on her face. It almost looked as if she was genuinely concerned for her students, were it not for the fact that she handed out detentions left and right and everyone knew how much she truly loathed children.
"Because we would like to join our friends for dinner, Professor," Ginny mumbled, not looking up as she dug into her food, smiling gratefully at Harry for putting her favourites on her plate.
"I am sure you have plenty of friends seated at the Gryffindor table," the older witch answered, getting frustrated that none of the teens were actually paying attention to her.
"I do," the redhead said through her chewing, imitating her brother Ron's table manners because she knew it would annoy the senior undersecretary. "And I spent breakfast, lunch, and most of my classes with them today. So now, I would like to enjoy my dinner and catch up with my other friends."
Umbridge was bristling. "Miss Weasley, that will be detention for your-"
"There's nothing in the rules saying that we have to be seated with our own houses, Professor" Draco interrupted Umbridge, having enough of her bullshit. He'd never noticed her intrusiveness and being such a nuisance the first time around. Probably because he and his friends had not been the object of her wrath. "In fact, Headmaster Dumbledore has always encouraged inter-house friendships. Even stressed the importance of it."
"I'm certain that the rules can be changed," the toad quipped, still glaring at Ginny. "But I suppose, you are correct for now, Mister Malfoy, and-"
"Lord Malfoy." Draco smirked.
The whole Slytherin table went silent as Umbridge blinked down at the blond in front of her. The professor's hand twitched as if she was trying to keep it together. Looking down her nose at him, she put on the most fake smile the teens had ever seen. "Excuse me?" Her voice reached a new level of shrill resonance.
"My proper title is Lord Malfoy, Professor." Draco repeated, leaning forward. "Since you have taught us the importance of wizarding etiquette, I think it would only be right for you to address us with our proper titles." He offered his most charming smile. "After all, you and I will be working together at the Ministry once I take my place at the Wizengamot, will we not?"
This could go either way, after all. Either, she'd fall into his trap, and realise the truthfulness of his words. If not, then he'd probably just made sure she would be giving him detention for the rest of the school year.
"Quite right, Lord Malfoy. Your insights into wizarding customs are invaluable, as usual. I'm sure your father has instilled-"
"Please refrain from speaking about my father so lightly in my presence, Professor," Draco interrupted her as he unfolded from his seat, towering over Umbridge. For a split second, he could see fear in her eyes as she realised that he was more powerful than her. Both magically and politically. "I am sure you remember Lucius was cast out of the Malfoy family. So I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to him as such. I understand he and the Minister have always seen eye to eye, so you must know him well. Yet, I would prefer that our political alliance will not be based on Lucius' influence. Our goals never quite aligned."
"And what are your goals for the future of the Wizarding World, Lord Malfoy?" Umbridge asked. He could see the gears working in her tiny, shrivelled peanut brain. She thought he was proposing an alliance between the two of them. Oh, how dull.
"I'm afraid you will have to wait and see until I turn seventeen, Professor." Draco gave her a bow, but Umbridge could not be sure if he meant it mockingly or respectfully.
Three-quarters of the Slytherin table was eagerly listening to their conversation now, children of Death Eaters including. His words would find their way to Voldemort and his cronies, that was for sure. He was counting on it.
Hermione's hand found its way to the edge of his sleeve and she silently urged him to sit back down. Her magic tingled his skin as she lightly touched his fingertips, attempting to talk to him.
"What are you doing? " he heard her whisper into his mind. "Are you goading her, or are you trying to manipulate her? "
"I'm testing her ."
Smiling at Umbridge again, he said sweetly "I'm certain Miss Weasley does not need to attend detention for breaking a rule that doesn't exist, Professor?"
"No, she does not," Umbridge's smile was strained, her eyes cast downward and lingering at his hand intertwined with Hermione's. "Please carry on with your dinner, children."
Umbridge turned and stalked away, her shoulders eclipsing her neck as she joined her colleagues for dinner. Draco plopped down next to Hermione again, wanting some dessert.
"You shouldn't be aggravating her," Hermione whispered in his ear.
He shrugged and reached for a piece of apple pie. "Someone will need to put her in her place. And rather sooner than later. I do not want to find you and Harry going into the forest again to feed her to the Centaurs."
Not having expected that, Hermione choked on her drink and started coughing loudly. Ginny smacked her on the back worriedly.
"Are you serious?" his girlfriend frowned at him, taking a smaller sip of water to try and calm down her coughing.
He knew that he should try and get rid of the pink toad altogether, considering everything she'd done both at Hogwarts and during the war. But his primary concern was to figure out what evil plans she was concocting in this timeline. There was no Dumbledore's Army to go after like last time. But seeing as he was often reminded of the fact that some things were meant to happen, it wouldn't be too far-fetched if Dumbledore stepping down as Headmaster would be one of those moments he would have to live through again. Who knew what the Toad would come up with if she became Headmistress again?
Hermione cast him a worried look and he sighed, stealing some vanilla ice cream off of Harry's plate when he wasn't looking. "You have no idea what she's done, Mione. What she is capable of doing. She might not have the mark on her skin, but she will gladly follow Voldemort once he takes over the Ministry. She's the one to round up all the muggle-borns, take their wands, and imprison them for 'stealing' magic. She revels in it. I even heard that a Dementor tried to kiss her once and IT died." Draco winked at her, trying to soften the blow with a joke.
To no avail, it seemed. His girlfriend could not hide her disgust at his statement either way, and he could feel her magic crackling around her. Her fists were clenched on the table and she breathed deeply.
Draco offered her a piece of his apple pie as a token of peace. "It's alright to be angry, Mione. But don't worry too much. She will not have the chance to ruin the muggle-borns' lives this time around. I promise."
He tuned back into the conversations around him, his friends talking about Quidditch and trips to Hogsmeade as if there wasn't a worry in the world. Hermione caught his gleeful smirk when he heard Ginny elaborating on the twins' plans to put Umbridge in her place.
"I take it we have something to look forward to?" Hermione winked at him, realising that he'd seen the twins' plan in action once before.
He swung his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him while he finished off his apple pie. "You have no idea."
- Hogwarts corridors, 10th of November 1995 –
"Don't you think you've angered Umbridge enough?" Hermione scolded Draco as the silver trio made their way to the Room of Requirement the following evening. "She even came up with two new educational decrees! Now it's forbidden to eat at another house's table and any signs of affection between students is strictly forbidden!"
"It's not Draco's fault," Harry sighed, also displeased with the new rules. He and Ginny had both gotten detention when one of Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad students had found them sitting together under the tree near the Black Lake. Luckily, their Head of House had been able to intercept them before they reached Umbridge, and Professor Snape had made Harry and Ginny scrub some of the cauldrons in the potions classroom. Anything was better than needing to write with that blood quill. And at least Professor Snape let them talk and rake up some extra points if they did their job well.
"She would have come up with her new rules sooner or later," Hermione agreed, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was following them.
Harry looked sullen. "I just don't understand why Dumbledore-"
"Dumbledore needs to give Fudge a false sense of security," Draco replied as he studied the Marauder's Map, also making sure no one was following them seeing as it was so close to curfew. "The only way to do that is to make him feel like he's winning and that he's actually in control of the school through Umbridge."
"You seem to know a whole lot about the inner politics at the Ministry," Harry mumbled dejectedly. Raising his arms in exasperation, he continued, "No matter how many times Sirius tries to teach me, I just cannot for the life of me remember who's in cahoots with whom. All I remember are my own allies."
"Those are the only ones you should bother with," Draco assured him, putting his hand on his best friend's shoulder as they continued on towards the seventh floor. "You just sit there in your plum-coloured robes, be your powerful and handsome self, throw your fame around and make it seem as if you are clueless. Only then will we be able to trap anyone who opposes us. They need to think the Boy Who Lived is an idiot. You will be the bait, I will do the scheming for us, and Mione will do all the research. The Wizengamot won't know what hit them." He smirked.
"You've got it all figured out don't you?" Harry grinned as Draco paced back and forth in front of the tapestry, trying his best to conjure a giant room in which he could transform into his animagus form safely. Luna and Deandra had been right after all. He was immune to magic on a whole other level. There was no way of knowing if the room would be able to adapt to him as easily as it once had. Focusing and conjuring it was one thing. Having it change in a split second was more difficult than that.
When Hermione opened the door, the silver trio was greeted by sunlight streaming out into the hallway. There were grasslands and a cloudless blue sky as far as the eye could see. The brunette quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "We're not here to play Quidditch, are we?" she asked innocently.
Draco laughed and ruffled her hair. "I'm not that stupid, love. I wouldn't dare force you on a broom while you're unprepared. Besides, there are better ways of flying than on a broom."
Harry looked at his best friend in horror and gasped loudly, putting his hand on his chest in mock shock once he'd closed the door behind them, the wall turning back to solid stone so Umbridge and her squad couldn't find them. "Who are you and what have you done to Draco Malfoy? Better ways of flying than on a broom? Have you been hit in the head, mate?"
The blond chuckled and shook his head. "No. Let's just say I now know what it feels like to feel the wind brush against my wings."
Both Harry and Hermione blinked at him until his girlfriend pointed at him and shouted excitedly, a smile on her face. "I knew it! I knew I saw Deandra's magic take the vial from Sirius that night! At first, I thought it was just a trick of the light, but you've actually already found your animagus form!"
"Mate, seriously?" The eagerness was clearly showing in Harry's green eyes. "Why didn't you take us with you if you found a thunderstorm, we-"
"Deandra and Luna both advised against it," Draco sheepishly admitted. He too had wanted his friends to be there, so they could've all started this adventure together. "They didn't think a transformation in the Room of Requirement would suffice, considering Sirius would probably be the one to conjure the room and not think he'd need more space than usual."
"More space?" The Boy Who Lived twirled around, his arms spread wide, taking in the fields and the open sky above them. "You need this much space ?"
"If you actually want to fly tonight, then, yes. Step back you two." Draco shooed them away with the back of his hand until both of them were a safe distance away from him. Both Hermione and Harry looked at him eagerly and slightly amused, curious as to what he was about to show them.
Draco took a step backwards and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He hadn't transformed since the night he'd become an animagus. But it was supposed to be as easy as breathing. All he had to do, was remember the feel of wings on his back, and a protective scaly skin protecting his body.
Mere seconds later he was looking down at Harry and Hermione. Both of them were awestruck as they took in his animagus form.
"A dragon?! Wicked!" Harry yelled, already running towards him and trying to crawl his way up to Draco's back. "Let's go for a round! I hope I will transform into a creature with wings too! You have got no clue how envious I am, mate!"
The animagus' chuckle turned into more of a deep rumble as Harry finally managed to crawl up his side.
Hermione seemed contemplative as she studied him. "Silver scales," she murmured, reaching out her hand carefully to touch them. "Just like that night you saved me…"
Draco tilted his head at her, trying to follow her thoughts. "You've always had an inkling of what I would be, haven't you?" he asked Hermione, testing if his legilimency still worked when he was in this form. It had worked on Luna and Deandra, but everything still felt so new back then. Now he felt more in control, as he knew what to expect.
Both Harry and Hermione raised their hands to their ears and winced.
"Merlin, Draco," Harry laughed. "You better start practising your legilimency when you're in this form. You just tore down my occlumency walls and screamed at me, even though you were directing your thoughts at Hermione. I suppose dragon magic is a bit stronger than when you're just a wizard."
Draco let out a sigh and closed his eyes, indicating he was sorry.
"It's alright," Hermione assured him as she patted his left paw and let Harry help her up on his back. "But just for the record, let me conjure a proper saddle first. I do not want to fall to my death in the bloody Room of Requirement because my boyfriend and my best friend think it's fun to imitate a rollercoaster."
Harry mock saluted Hermione, "As you wish, milady!" making both of them giggle.
The silver trio spent the night flying around the expanded room and ended up testing out some of Draco's new magic. As they had already determined, he was way less susceptible to magic, even in his human form. Mione had even daringly tried to cast an imperio on him, but his iron will could not be swayed.
When he tried to use his legilimency, he broke through their occlumency shields without any issues but considering his friends could hear him screaming at them instead of softly whispering, they quickly gave up so they wouldn't end up with a headache.
"Even if you seem to be immune to even an impetus curse, it would be cool if you could use some of your other skills while in human form," Harry mused once Draco transformed back into a human for the final time. Soon, the three of them lay down on the grassy fields, the room making it as comfortable as possible for them to sleep on seeing as it was the middle of the night. Even the castle had learnt that walking the hallways at night could be dangerous.
"We'll have to ask Sirius if that's even possible," Draco agreed. "You think that's why he's such a good auror? He's sniffing out the evil in the world?"
"Think he goes to the loo with one leg in the air?" Harry replied.
Both boys grinned at each other and even Hermione couldn't help but giggle. "It would be wise to ask Sirius if any skills can be transferred to our human forms, seeing as Draco seems to be more resistant to magic in general. Being able to resist an unforgivable curse will already be advantageous in the war. His legilimency isn't as strong as a human, as it is when he's in his animagus form, however. So perhaps only certain traits are passed onto the human form? Either way, I'm sure that once you two set your mind to it, anything will be possible."
The trio talked some more, but soon Hermione snuggled closer to Draco, the witch already half asleep. He kissed her forehead lightly, making her smile and sigh softly before she fell into a deep slumber by his side while he ran his fingers through her curls gently.
"Do you think we will be able to use our animagi forms against Voldemort?" Harry whispered, careful not to wake Hermione up. His arms were crossed behind his head as he stared up at the sky which was slowly turning darker so they could all sleep peacefully.
"It definitely doesn't hurt if we can catch him and his death eaters by surprise," Draco said. "Why?"
Harry sighed deeply. "What if that is the power the Dark Lord knows not? Being an animagus? What if it is the fact that I can survive one of his killing curses? What if it is something else entirely?"
Draco bit the inside of his cheek. He and Mione had not discussed yet if they should be telling Harry what they had been up to these past few months after he'd used the resurrection stone. They still hadn't found the elder wand, after all. Mione's letters to Bathilda Bagshot had not helped them so far.
"Mione thinks she knows what the power is," he finally admitted. "You have the resurrection stone. The invisibility cloak. All you'd need is the elder wand, and you could be the Master of Death, Harry."
"Like the three brothers?" he asked, clearly surprised. He seemed to contemplate this for a second. "I suppose I am a Peverell. But the Master of Death? I might have cheated death once, and I might need to do it again, but to think I would hold all that power? All that responsibility? That seems nearly impossible."
"You've always been talented, Harry," Draco offered, "Your magical core is bigger than both mine and Mione's. You're Lord and Heir to multiple houses. You're the bloody Chosen One. Who knows what you are capable of?"
Both boys were silent for a while.
"Maybe Mione is right," Harry finally said. " Anything is possible. We can do this, right?"
Draco looked over at his best friend who had a frown plastered on his face. As if he was carrying the weight of the world. In a sense, Draco supposed that he was.
Yes. Anything was possible. He himself had done the impossible once before when he turned back time to bring back Hermione. To give them all a better chance at winning the war. And now that all three of them were together, they would definitely be able to do it again.
"We can," the blond agreed. "Together."
"Together." Harry smiled and let his eyes fall closed, finally able to rest peacefully.
Author's note:
Another chapter done. Next ones will be around Yule, and then I might do a bigger skip of a few months so we can get to the action the end of fifth year will undoubtedly bring.
Let me know what you think so far ^_^
See you all next week!