- Room of Requirement, 9th of June 1996 –

The past few months had moved by at an alarmingly fast rate. MERLIN came together at least twice a week, and to Draco's utter surprise, Umbridge hadn't found them yet. In fact, she didn't even seem to know about MERLIN's existence. In the first timeline, the group had been discovered sometime in April, the pink toad's minions slithering through the halls like tadpoles, hiding in obscurity while trying to catch members of Dumbledore's Army. Draco could barely believe his own eyes in the beginning of May when he took one look at the quidditch calendar Harry had hung up in their dorm, and nothing had happened. Blaise had found him, mouth open wide, blinking rapidly at the schedule of quidditch matches and jokingly asked if Draco was that scared of playing against Gryffindor.

And so, they spent their days sneaking in and out of the Room of Requirement, straining their magical cores in order to practise their skills. To hone their magic, and learn to defend themselves and their families.

Thankfully, one night, Neville had the brilliant idea of being more direct and specific when asking the room to fit their needs. One such idea, was to ask if it could make a set of extra exits connecting straight to the four Hogwarts common rooms, meaning they no longer needed to walk through the castle to find their way home after their secret meetings. Once, Pansy had nearly caught Hermione and Daphne quite literally appearing in the Slytherin common room. But the castle's magic aided them, confounding anyone who was looking at the newly created entrance and the people walking through. Not a single one of them was caught in the hallways after curfew afterwards, and Draco was starting to believe this tiny change in history had made them untraceable to Umbridge and her band of idiots.

With Neville's discovery in mind, Hermione eventually figured out how to use the room's magic to offer them an entrance from their dorms and an exit, as long as no one exited through the Room's main door onto the seventh corridor at least. If they did, the room's magic faltered, and they would be one step closer to being caught.

All of MERLIN now entered and left as they pleased, using the space as their fellow common room, banners representing all four houses adorning the room. Most evenings, a few of the members would meet to do their homework, the room providing them extra parchment when needed. The Gryffindors had set up an exploding snap tournament, and both Draco and Harry had lost their eyebrows during one of the games. This in turn led to them having to fight off Daphne who was attempting to paint them back on with magical make-up.

For the first time in his Hogwarts career, Draco truly felt like he was part of something more. Something better. A group of friends that would be able to change the world, perhaps.

As usual, time and fate were not as easily bent to his will as he would like. Time kept flowing, the hours ticking away, and events beyond the blond wizard's control were set in motion. Not that Draco had truly bothered with saving Trelawney's job or stopping Firenze from taking over her Divination classes. He had been too busy training, too unsure of any repercussions this might have on the future. After a while, he'd decided to let the divination professor's fate play out on its own. At least McGonagall had taken in her distraught colleague, and the seer spent her days trailing behind students in the hallways, predicting their impending doom, as she always had. To his horror, her eyes had lingered on him more than once, and Draco couldn't help but wonder if she, like Luna, saw the old timeline lingering in his veins. If she could still see a glimpse of that bright green light that had come for him the day he'd held Hermione's time-turner in his hands and flicked it over and over again to end up where he was now.

Dumbledore had once again lost his position as Headmaster, this time due to the discovery of Hagrid's half-brother Grawp in the Forbidden Forest. When Umbridge couldn't find MERLIN, or the Room of Requirement, she had decided there were bigger fish to fry. Dumbledore, Hagrid and Grawp had been ordered to leave the premises by what seemed to be the Minister's private guard one evening during dinner. They were nothing more than a group of power-hungry witches and wizards, according to Susan.

But Draco knew better.

None of them were aurors or in any official Ministry paybooks. After all, Amelia would have a fit if some of her most trustworthy aurors would side with the Minister in such a public display of power. Draco recognised quite a few of the guards as they strutted into the Great Hall to dethrone Dumbledore, acting as if they owned the place. Hermione too shivered as she watched them enter the hallways, the dark magic nearly oozing off them. Moldypants had already wormed his way into the Ministry, but the Minister himself was too stupid to see it.

After Dumbledore's spectacular exit, Hogwarts had been a living hell under Umbridge for most of the student population, especially those not privy to the peace the Room of Requirement could offer. The Weasley twins had once again taken one for the team and decided to drop out of school and take their N.E.W.T.s at the Ministry sometime in June after letting their combined genius loose on the toad in pink. Both Fred and George, as well as Peeves, had done their best to give Umbitch hell after all. To this day, she had not managed to find all the curses spread around the castle and was therefore unable to adorn any clothes in her favourite colour pink, unless she would want said clothes to combust into flame spontaneously. No one wanted to be a witness to that. The first time it happened, was right when Umbridge was walking into the Transfiguration classroom, sitting in on one of McGonaggals classes. Blaise and Harry had turned absolutely green seeing the toad's naked bottoms as they attempted to enter the classroom behind her.

"Draco? Are you alright, mate?" Harry's hand clasped his shoulder, a worried look in his eyes as he pulled his best friend back to the present. "You seem to have been out of sorts all evening."

Draco shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He often felt himself wandering these days. Analysing the differences between the timelines. Wondering what step to take next.

He swung his arm around his best friend, giving him a noogie. "It's nothing. Just worried about O.W.L.s tomorrow, that's all." It was an easy lie, but he was unsure how much longer Harry could be fooled when he noticed the scowl on the Boy Who Lived's face after he let go of him. Ever since the end of last year, Draco could tell Harry was growing suspicious. Perhaps, Mione was right... Sooner or later, he would need to tell him what he'd done. How he'd deemed himself the Master of Time and Fate itself. He could only hope his best friend would forgive him.

"He's just scared he will lose against Mione," Daphne quipped as she approached the boys, wiping the sweat off her brow after her duel with Blaise. They had been training and duelling one-on-one all day to prepare for their exams. Even though they had been assigned partners at random, somehow Draco had ended up against his girlfriend. The smirk on Mione's face when their names were the last ones pulled out of the hat, however, made him feel like it had not been as random as it seemed. Clever witch. A simple charm would have done the trick to ensure that they would end up against one another.

"Don't underestimate him," Ron yelled from the sofa behind them, having overheard Daphne. Cedric and Angelina Johnson were finally finished healing a nasty cut on the ginger's arm after he'd been just a second too late to dodge Harry's cutting curse in their duel. Even if the youngest Weasley son had been no match for the Boy-Who-Lived when it came to brute force and raw magical power, Ron knew how to strategise. He'd lasted a whole twelve minutes in combat against Harry, a feat even Draco had not succeeded in. Watching Ron battle Harry, Draco had finally understood how the youngest Weasley son had been the third part of the golden trio. Harry had always been the brash, raw power. Mione was calm and collected and used her intellect to get them out of sticky situations. But Ron, Ron had been the one to go to when everything else seemed lost. Any challenges he'd faced, he'd overcome not with strength or careful planning. All it would take was a single calculated look, a split second just like when he was playing wizard's chess, and he'd known his opponents' weaknesses.

Luna clapped her hands together and smiled widely, two watermelon earrings bouncing up and down in her excitement. "Now, for the last battle of the evening, Malfoy vs. Granger. I'm taking bets, starting with those in favour of Hermione winning!" The blonde seer winked at Draco as Daphne ran up to her quickly, throwing in five galleons.

Draco groaned as the magical coin purse started jingling with more and more money. Luna had definitely seen something, and he knew for certain his girlfriend was going to wipe the floor with him if the Ravenclaw was so eagerly taking bets.

"Don't go easy on me," Hermione warned him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple before they met up in the middle of the battlefield the Room had provided for them. The group had chosen an outdoor landscape for their practice duels, much like the forbidden forest, but with fewer trees so their fellow members could observe the battle. Even the air in the room seemed more crisp, an earthy scent hanging in the room as the ground beneath their feet consisted of a patchwork of dirt, mossy roots and rocks.

"I wouldn't dream of it, love," Draco purred in her ear before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and letting her go.

Flustered, Hermione sputtered at him that he'd better watch his back before they both turned around and positioned themselves on opposite sides of the field. The tension was palpable in the air as both Slytherins looked at each other, neither one willing to lose.

"Ready?" Dean Thomas yelled.

Both Draco and Hermione bowed, keeping an eye on one another as they did.

"Begin!" the Gryffindor announced.

Hermione did not waste any time thinking about what spell she would cast, her voice cutting through the silence as she quickly swept her arm to the side. "Bombarda!" she yelled, aiming at a giant boulder next to Draco, trying to disorient him with the debris hurtling through the air.

The once peaceful landscape immediately morphed into a war zone and Harry erected a shield in front of the spectators in the knick of time. He shook his head and smirked at his friends' obvious desire to win.

Throwing up a shielding charm of his own, and jumping to the side just to be safe, Draco managed to dodge her attack, and in one fluid motion, he threw a silent cutting curse at her wand arm, aiming to disarm her swiftly.

The two of them kept throwing spells back and forth rapidly, neither one backing down no matter if they got hit or not. Twirling, dodging, and running, the two Slytherins seemed to be equally matched. Both were panting heavily past the ten-minute mark, their faces glistening with sweat. Draco had long since thrown his sweater to the side, and Hermione had transfigured her skirt into a set of pants barely two minutes into the fight. Since most of the field had been reduced to rubble, there was barely any place left to hide, nearly bringing them to a stalemate. Their magical reserves were running low, having poured too much magic into too many spells all day as they helped their fellow students hone their skills. They could perhaps last another five minutes, but no longer, before one of them would surely run out of magic.

Hermione peeked out from behind the last boulder standing on her side of the field, her eyes ablaze with determination. Draco could see the calculating look in her eyes before she aimed her wand straight at him. Expecting another bombarda or cutting curse, Draco was caught off guard when he didn't need to run. His girlfriend had only aimed a subtle flick of her wand in his direction, but no obvious spell or enchantment came, at least not at first. The red colour he associated with her offensive attacks was completely absent. He had no clue what she'd done until the air shimmered before his very eyes and he could feel the bubble-head charm wrapping around his head.

"Mione, what on earth-" he started, only to be cut off by another spell.

"Aguamenti!"

To Draco's utter horror, the bubble-head charm instantly started filling with water and he started spluttering as he tried to cancel the spell, casting silently since he'd lost his ability to speak unless he felt like drowning. Completely drenched once he managed to poke through his girlfriend's clever charm with his own Surgito charm, he caught the smirk on Hermione's face. He was impressed with her creative use of seemingly harmless spells, never having seen her use it before. She must have kept her strategies to herself just for this occasion. Truly the smartest witch of their age.

But two could play that game.

"Fine," he grumbled, drying himself with a quick charm. "Sonorus!" he yelled, aiming his wand towards his own throat in a bluff, but instead guiding his magic somewhere entirely different to throw Mione off. He'd not managed to pull this type of misdirection often, but he was filled with so much adrenaline, that he barely needed to guide his magic at all.

"What is that going to do?" Earnie Macmillan wondered from the sidelines, clearly confused, looking back and forth between Blaise and Harry, expecting some sort of explanation. Both Slytherins were frowning at their friends in utter concentration, the latter muttering potential strategies under his breath.

"Bombarda," Draco whispered to everyone's surprise, as his voice was not magically enhanced at all. After that Sonorus spell, he should not have been able to whisper. He could see their eyes, following his wand arm which was aimed at the boulder Hermione was standing next to.

When the rock exploded, the blond was glad he'd protected his own ears first with a quick shielding charm. The Sonorus charm combined with the Bombarda was absolutely deafening and he could feel the vibrations of the sound waves rolling through his body. Mione fell down on her knees, covering her ears in pain and complaints and groans rose from their fellow MERLIN members observing the match. Perhaps he'd overdone it a little…

Hermione struggled to get upright, her hands scrambling in the dirt as she crawled on her hands and knees. She turned to face him, mud and blood smudging her face. If looks could kill, he would have been a dead man. Finally regaining her footing, the brunette aimed her wand at his feet, turning the ground beneath him into ice before he could respond. Another spell followed quickly after. "Depulso!" she commanded.

Draco got banished backwards, landing harshly on his backside, and sliding over the ice until he smacked into the stump of a fallen tree. He grunted in pain. That would definitely bruise. Completely dazed from the impact, he didn't realise that Hermione was prowling closer to him, her wand trained on him still. "Herbivicus," she stated calmly.

The tree's leftover roots started growing at a rapid pace, ensnaring him in a wooden grasp, and making him unable to move an inch. The only thing that wasn't covered, was his face.

"Ready to give up?" Hermione quirked an eyebrow at him as she stood in front of him, admiring her work of art. Taunting him further, she picked up his wand that had flown from his hands as he had been thrown back and twirled it in her hands in victory.

Draco grinned at her in defiance. She truly had cornered him. Anyone but him would have been beaten a long time ago. Merlin, at this rate she might even be able to outsmart Harry. But what his girlfriend didn't know, was that both he and Harry had mastered the use of their animagus abilities a few weeks earlier, just like she herself had. Mione's vision had become impeccable, and her movements were more agile than they had been before. She even seemed to have developed an uncanny sense to determine if someone was lying or not. Harry too had increased agility, but his main strength was his stealth. His disillusionment spells were completely undetectable. He'd achieved true invisibility. And Draco… Well. They all assumed he was just very good at blocking out magic and taking at least ten stunners to the face before they actually started affecting him. The other two-thirds of the silver trio had even started putting bets on how many he could take before he faceplanted into the floor. But what he hadn't told them, was that he'd suddenly found an affinity for fire .

"You might want to take a step back, love," he drawled as Hermione started approaching him, ready to come and get him out of this mess by undoing her spellwork. "Unless you'd enjoy getting burnt."

Hermione paused, understanding flashing in her eyes. She knew he'd learnt how to breathe fire as a dragon in the past few months. But she didn't think he'd be able to control the element while he was a mere wizard.

Draco closed his eyes and tried to feel for the magic within. Much like when he was an animagus, the magic would swirl in his chest, the energy and heat rising rapidly before he breathed out. " Incendio ."

The other members of Merlin gasped and started scrambling backwards towards safety, despite Harry's protective shield around them. Ron stumbled over the back of the couch he was still on, as fire magic suddenly enveloped Draco, burning the wooden cage Hermione had built for him.

Hermione raised her arm protectively in front of her face, squinting her eyes to look at him even though the bright fire blinded her.

"Bloody hell!" Ron and Seamus yelled at the same time, both Gryffindors peeking carefully over the edge of the couch, making Lavender and Alicia smack both of them in the back of the head for their foul mouths.

"He did it," Harry whispered in awe, before grinning from ear to ear and fist-bumping Blaise.

Still in the middle of the duel, Draco had no time for distractions or his friends' encouraging cheers. He figured that he needed to close the distance with Hermione if he truly wanted to win since she had the upper hand if they kept duelling at long distances. He reached his arm towards her, stretching his fingers and putting the last of his magic into the wandless spell. "Carpe Retractum!" It was as if magical threads poured out of his fingertips, encircling Hermione. He closed his fist and roughly pulled it backwards, taking the witch with it.

Hermione was quite literally swept off her feet and flew towards him, landing in his embrace with a loud oomph. He wrapped one arm around her back and put his other one at the back of her head to keep her safe. The pair stumbled backwards for a second, before steadying themselves.

"Thank you for returning my wand, love." Draco easily plucked it out of her hands, both of her arms now trapped between his chest and her own.

"You're welcome, darling." Hermione tilted her head. Her cheeks were flushed from the duel, mud and grime still covered her cheeks, and the smell of smoke and burnt wood hung around them. Draco had never loved her as much as he did now. She was strong. Determined. Loving. Incredibly intelligent. Loyal to a fault. And best of all, she was his, as much as he was hers.

Leaning down to kiss her, Hermione pulled back right before he could dazzle her, her eyes searching his.

"Thank you, for falling into my trap."

Draco's eyes widened as the brunette closed the distance between them, kissing him before catching his bottom lip between her teeth. "Incarcerous," she whispered quietly as she pulled back again, her breath tickling his face.

Instantly, his arms flew behind his back, now bound together by tight ropes, as were his feet, making him fall down on his knees before her. Thankfully, Mione had also cast a cushioning charm right before he smacked into the floor. He might have broken both his kneecaps if she hadn't.

Triumph graced her features. "Now, how much galleons did we earn, Daph?" Hermione asked her best friend, turning to the rest of MERLIN with a smile on her face as she wiped her brow.

"You're absolutely incredible," Draco murmured, only loud enough for her to hear while the rest of their friends started celebrating. Daphne and Luna jumped and squealed excitedly at the galleons they'd made, making him grin.

Hermione smiled softly, shook her head at their friends' antics, and kneeled beside him, undoing the ropes around his hands first. "You weren't too bad yourself, Malfoy."

Author's note:Hi everyone. I know it's been a few months, and I'm terribly sorry. This story has been difficult for me, but I think I'm finally finding a way to finish it. This chapter, and a ton of others have been written months ago, to be honest with you. I just wasn't satisfied with where it was going. Wasn't satisfied with my writing. With anything really. It's been a tough couple of months and I barely had any inspiration. I've had/have some deaths and illnesses in my close family and I was not in the right mindset to write. I wanted to do this story justice. Wanted to do you justice.

For all those worrying if this story and my other one will be finished, do not fear. All I need is a little time to get my thoughts back together and spend time with my loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, as I tried going for a more descriptive battle with a more creative use of spells. Some of them might be less known, as I used the Harry Potter Wiki to help me with the spells I needed for this chapter. Please do consult that one when needed :)

As always, love, Naiadx