Chapter 19

With each passing day Draco could not deny the small feeling of dread building up in his stomach. Why he agreed to help her he still did not understand himself. Over the week he carefully selected which memories and their coordinating emotions he would focus on to make the lesson easier. He knew it was going to be a challenge to passively let her in, instead of shutting her and everything out.

He had on his usual school uniform without the robe. Unlike the female uniform jumpers that were v-neck button up style, the male jumper was a v-neck pull over. Both styles were long sleeved and relatively form fitting. So, there was no way his mark would accidently show.

Pacing in front of the wall three times, the door to the Room of Requirement appeared and he entered. He found Granger their already. The room was empty, so he thought. 'I need two separate places to sit comfortably across from each other, so we can learn.' The room conjured two cushioned arm chairs, textured in soft velvet like material and actually comfortable to sit in as he discovered. He motioned for Hermione to take the other seat opposite of him, "You don't need your wand for this. All that is required for now is concentration and direct eye contact." He told her.

"First lesson: getting used to mind searching. Peek into my mind, with the Legilimens." He instructed and waited. When their eyes finally met he could feel the 'pull' of the spell as she invaded. It was the same sensation as the moment of falling asleep. For a moment there was only dark and nothingness. No memories. No emotions. He been able to resist the urge to force her out, but his mind shield was up. Taking a deep breath, he released his hold momentarily. Like a curtain covering a stage, the dark nothing disappeared and surrounding them was a memory.

"What is this? I thought I was going to be sent to Durmstrang Institute." A young eleven year old Draco asked in an irritated tone of voice as he held up an unopened Hogwarts acceptance letter in his hand.

"Your mother feels much better having you attend a school closer to home." Lucius Malfoy answered, as the three of them sat in the dining hall eating breakfast.

"Why should that matter? I'm away from home at either school. I'll return home for the holidays, regardless of what school I go to. Please, mother, reconsider?" Draco asked, keeping his manners.

"Our decision has been made. You will go to Hogwarts, just like we did." Narcissa answered coolly.

Draco's face turned into sudden anger. "This is ridiculous. Father, you said it yourself that Hogwarts was a pitiful excuse for a school. That Durmstrang was more dignified and practical in their teaching. I won't be going."

Lucius gave Draco a sharp look, "Yes, you will."

"NO. How could you do this to me? I thought you wanted only the best for me. I don't deserve this." Draco shouted. He crumpled the letter in his hand and tossed it onto the floor, before running out of the dining hall.

Draco retreated to his bedroom suite, slamming the door shut. A startled hoot made him turn his head rather quickly to look around. He found a female Eurasian Eagle owl (younger Aquila) perched on a faux tree limb in the center of the room. He approached the bird and saw it had a note attached to its leg. He carefully removed it. It read, 'Happy 11th Birthday Draco. We love you.' signed by his mother and father. He dropped the note to the floor, still upset at them.

He grabbed the nearby leather glove that hung on another faux branch and put it on. It was so long, it covered half his arm. Then carefully he approached the owl and got her onto his forearm. He was suddenly grateful for the extra coverage. She was kind of heavy.

"Let's take you out and see what you can do." He said to her and made his way to the back courtyard. As he sent her out into the air for the first time he watched her fly in circles, remind him of the eagle constellation.

"Aquila…Aquila, return." He called out to her and the bird descended back onto his outstretched arm. His lips had a real smile upon them.

Draco brought the memory to a close and shut Hermione out, enveloping them in total dark nothingness once more before she was 'thrown out' of his mind.

Hermione wasn't sure what to say when Draco arrived, but that didn't matter. Before she could greet him when the door opened again, he had already asked the room for chairs that were almost unreasonably far apart from each other. She obediently sat and listened to his instructions. His voice stern yet reserved reminded her a bit of professor Snape. Once he finished and their eyes locked she whispered, "Legilimens," and felt as though she were being disapparated into a dark void. She stood in the void, feeling constricted and uncomfortable. He must be still blocking me, she thought.

Then the memory Draco chose played out before her. She stood off to the side of the immaculate dining room, across the table from the pint-sized Draco. Looking around at her surroundings, she couldn't imagine this to be the same Manor that she had been tortured in. This room was more bright and homely. She thought to herself how pint-sized Draco looked kind of cute at that age. But then he started his tantrum about which school he was to attend…same old Draco. She followed the 11 year old to his room suite. Typical boyish looking decoration and very tidy. She saw the gorgeous owl, but scowled when he threw the signed note from his parents. He should have been more grateful. She followed again when Draco took his owl out for a flight. She couldn't help but giggle at his expression on his when he named his owl in that moment, he looked happy for once. Rather adorable compared to the whiny little prat from earlier.

As Hermione was brought back to reality, she figured it be best not to comment on how spoiled he was as a child or how cute he was back then. So she wiped the grin from her face and cleared her throat, "Well that was very interesting, and Aquila is a very pretty owl. Are you going to quiz me on anything?" She asked expectantly.

"Thank you. I named her after the eagle constellation, family tradition." Draco replied, leaning back against the cushioned arm chair. He felt relieved. Having her in his head hadn't been as bothersome as he had anticipated.

"No need for a quiz. I'm not a professor. Like I said, searching a mind is easy when doing so consciously. However that doesn't help your situation really. Your parents will be unconscious when you attempt to manipulate their dreams." He noted and got an idea.

"That's it!" He exclaimed sitting up. His chair transfigured into a futon.

"Do it again, this time with no eye contact. Use your wand if you need to. Whisper the incantation. With no eye contact necessary, you'll be able to practice manipulating your dorm mates' dreams. I imagine with practice you'll be able to do this to your parents without speaking the charm." He said and leaned back onto the futon so he was lying mostly down with his torso propped up at a bit of an angle.

One arm hung over his stomach and the other was draped over his eyes momentarily before he removed it and opened his eyes to look at her. Realizing she was probably going to reject the idea of manipulating/ invading her dorm mates dreams. He was looking at her, bracing for the Gryffindor rubbish of how to do such would be morally wrong. Yes, it was kind of unethical but it wasn't as bad as potentially causing her parents insanity because she didn't prepare properly.

Hermione thought for a moment. Manipulate my dorm mates' dreams? Would she really be able to do such a thing? Yes, she had to! It'd only be minor tweaks of course; nothing terrible…she'd simply be practicing. Maybe if she talked to Ginny about it, she'd be a willing participant? Or perhaps it would be better off that no one known. All these thoughts swirling around Hermione's head would have made her dizzy had she not been sitting down. She brushed away some hair from her face and sighed, "Alright, how to I manipulate someone's dreams?"

She saw and almost shocked look on his face and she scowled at him, "What? Did you think I wasn't serious about this? I might not be a Slytherin like you, but when it comes to my family and loved ones, I'll do just about anything for them." She said sternly.

Draco hated to admit that he really had no idea how to manipulate the mind in a dream state, only that logically it could be done. Memories could be erased, altered, re-seen, or falsified. Surely manipulating a dream was no so different.

A hairline grin peeked out at the corner of his lips when he heard her retort. Granger had tenacity that was an admirable quality. He rested back against the futon and said, "I have no idea how to manipulate a dream. I was only taught how to shield my mind, so Dumbledore wouldn't see what I was up to. My training was adequate so even Snape couldn't get inside my head. The man persistently badgered me for answered I wasn't going to share." He said which indicated that it wasn't Snape that taught him Occlumency.

His face shifted in expression very subtly. It became really sober and his eyes kind of distant, "He was furious when he couldn't see my mind. He kept offering his help, which I refused. Finally he cornered me and…I was furious when he said he had been made to take an unbreakable vow for me. As if to say I wasn't enough for the task I had been chosen to do."

He looked at Hermione, "I guess there are some things not worth doing, even if your life or the life of your family depends on it." He went back to his normal demeanor as he relaxed against the couch, closing his eyes.

"Come on Granger, we don't have all night. I'm already letting you in my mind; I refuse to let you into my dreams."