He popped a lemon drop in his mouth and leaned back in his chair. He had reacted badly to discovering Harry in his office, right in front of him, and his misstep had cost him dearly. Not only had his attempt at Legilimens tipped his hand and garnered Harry's enmity, it had also cost him The Elder Wand. He had a backup wand of course, but he'd been using the Elder Wand so long he felt naked without it.
The question was, how could he get it back? He would have to disarm Harry in order for it to obey him again, but how to get Harry to pull the wand on him? The boy never pulled out a wand if he wasn't in class. Careful observation and subtly interviewing his associates confirmed it. If he asked for the wand back would the boy give it to him willingly? When he pulled it out he could disarm the boy as he did so. He would be more inclined to simply steal the killing blow from Tom when their inevitable confrontation took place, but he already knew he could not. It would be Tom who killed the boy. That would give Tom the Elder Wand, and that simply would not do. It was imperative he reclaim it. Although... if Harry didn't have the wand with him when he went to Tom, all Albus would have to do was kill Tom after he killed the boy – the very thing he had worked all these years for anyway. Even so, it galled to not have possession of the wand. No, he wanted the wand now.
How to procure the thing if the boy refused to return it though? If it came to it, he could Imperius the boy to get him to pull the wand out. It was a distasteful thing, but the Greater Good must be served. He would have to alter the boy's memory of the event as well. It would be impossible to guide the boy to suicide now, but it may be possible to misguide him into rushing toward Tom unprepared. That would amount to close enough to suicide to suit the Greater Good.
He had time though... if he waited until Harry's group of friends had solidified they might provide an alternate means of persuasion - especially if he found a love. That would be perfect, the obviously chivalric boy would do anything for a love. Yes, that would be best. He would wait. There was no chance for his original plan to succeed, but stoking the boy like a cannon and pointing him at Tom would be far quicker. He would use the time to refine the plan to get the Elder Wand back. Let the little shit enjoy his fattening, and rush toward the butcher's wand.
He popped another Lemon Drop into his mouth and relaxed some, his course set. It was a shame the Weasley boy had turned out to be such a disappointment, he'd had such high hopes for his original plan. Ronald's unique blend of jealousy and pride and stupidity and laziness would have ensured Harry was ready and malleable.
He sighed as he remembered that morning's discussion with the boy. Three short years had been all it took for Ronald to solidify into a useless lump. He was so out of his depth he couldn't even rein his shame and fear in enough to concoct a decent revenge. If the idea he'd given the idiot played out as he suspected it would, the resultant isolation Harry would face would be an excellent first step. Step Two would isolate him further, after another month for Step One's effects to simmer. When the Champions were chosen, Harry Potter would be seen as a cheater, a gloryhound, and a liar. With luck, that might cut him off from the populace at large and reveal who his true friends - and possibly love interests - were.
He longed for the days when you could simply make it look like an accident and the DMLE couldn't prove otherwise. It made him glad Gellert wasn't alive to see it, Albus might just have joined him if he'd asked at this point.
"One more thing to do." He told himself. "One last great deed, and my legacy will be secure."
It was sad that Harry Potter had to die. It was sad that whoever had the misfortune to capture his heart would suffer worse than death before death, but the Greater Good must be served.
"Heir Longbottom? May I occupy a moment of your time?" Duncan's voice whispered from the next bed over.
Neville sat up and opened the curtains. "Duncan, we did this already, please call me Nev. We're mates, yeah?" Neville grinned internally at that. It had only been a week and a half since they'd talked the first time, but Duncan was such a good guy it felt like they'd known each other for years.
"Yeah I know, but it's official House stuff I need your help with. I'm completely out of my depth with this." He held up a scroll.
"I don't think you'd be out of your depth at the bottom of the ocean, but I'll help if I can." Neville paused to peek through the other curtains at the other two dorm mates, but they were both asleep. He turned back to Duncan. "I was going to suggest you cast a privacy shell around us for House business, but you already did, didn't you?"
Duncan just grinned back at him.
"Alright, what can I help with?" Neville grinned back.
Duncan handed him the scroll, and he unrolled it. He felt his face go slack and his eyes wide as he read it. "Duncan! This is a betrothal agreement to DAPHNE GREENGRASS!"
"I know." Duncan said with anguish in his voice. "What do I do with it?"
"What do you mean, 'what do I do with it'? She's the most beautiful girl in all of Britain, Duncan! You sign it, you marry her, and you have lots and lots of sex forever until you die from it."
Duncan laughed. "Nev, that's what YOU would do with it."
"Damn straight it is. Sadly, it's clear she fancies you."
"What do I do about it though? I mean, I've never spoken a single word to her, Nev. Not a single word. How could I possibly know even who she is, let alone whether or not I like her?"
"You don't know about betrothal contracts?" He asked.
Duncan shook his head. "No, this is the first I've ever heard of them. I mean, I was taught just about everything else about House business, from manners to duels and interactions between Houses, but... I guess they didn't plan on me getting one of those before Christmas. Fergus's note attached to it just said 'Good Luck'."
"That's.. a bit odd, since your Father is Head of House, and betrothal contracts are negotiations between Houses - taken care of by Heads. Typically the wants of the people getting betrothed are not even considered because they're not relevant. Betrothal contracts are essentially contracts used to secure alliances, trade agreements, or to join Houses for protection. They weren't ever about two people falling in love."
Duncan's face twisted and he recoiled. "That's horrible!" He spat. "Parents would make their children get married to someone they didn't even know?!"
He nodded. "Yes, but don't forget that only a few Houses even use these anymore. They were popular in times of war or famine, when joining two Houses would mean the survival of both. Two people would sacrifice their happiness for the lives of their whole families."
Duncan's face relaxed immediately. "Oh." He said. "Yes, I suppose that does make sense. I don't think that's what she's after though."
"No, likely not. Actually, it's a very unsurprisingly Slytherin thing to do if you think about it. You're insanely popular with the ladies - no, don't try to deny it, I see how they look at you. You are, end of argument. Daphne is not a dumb girl. She can also see that, so she does this -" He held up the scroll, "In order to bypass the crowd and go straight to winning the prize they're all after - namely you. Tactically, it's genius. Unfortunately, if she had bothered to speak to you even once, she'd have known it was a wasted effort."
Duncan sighed. "Is there a way to say 'no thank you' in an extremely polite, please come talk to me kind of way?"
"Yes, actually."
Duncan brightened. "Really?"
Neville had to grin. "Just reply to Lord Greengrass that your House doesn't practice betrothal contracts. Assure him that no contracts from any party will be entertained, and let him know that you are open to courting any interested parties personally. That would force him to tell Daphne that she has to meet you and get to know you and do the work herself. It would put all of them on the same even footing, contractually speaking."
"You're genius, Nev! Thank you, Heir Longbottom, for your sage advice." Duncan grinned at him.
"Grew up having this stuff drilled into my head by Gran." He shrugged. "Just glad to be able to help. I could help you draft your reply if you want, too."
"That would be aces Nev, thanks... There is one other thing I'd like your opinion on, but it's personal, not House related."
"Any time, of course." He replied.
"Weasley. He's been quiet the last week and a half since I publically humiliated him. I just want your opinion on whether you think he's actually learned the lesson and is going to grow up and be a decent man or if you think he's more likely to harbor a grudge and is really just staying quiet to plan some kind of revenge."
Neville snorted. "Oh revenge, definitely. I wouldn't worry about it though."
"Why not?" Duncan frowned.
"Well, it's Ron. Whatever he plans will be cruel, but honestly he's not that smart. You'll probably see it coming a long way off. Besides, you've got me and Luna to watch your back." He smiled.
Duncan grinned back. "Thanks, Nev. That means a lot to me. G'night."
"Us too, mate. G'night."
Neville closed his curtains and rolled on his side in abject despair. Duncan was a good mate, but the woman of Neville's dreams - often literally - had offered herself to him permanently, and instead of realizing the gift he'd been given, Dunc had asked him how to get out of it. He could only imagine the look of icy disdain that would put on her face when she found out that she would have to lower herself to being among the rest of the girls. It simultaneously gave him a thrill of vicarious laughter at her expense, made him unbearably sad, and turned him on no end.
He took out the picture of Daphne he kept under his pillow and looked at it. It was one of Colin's better pictures, it captured the sun on her face, the breeze in her waterfall of golden hair, and the haughtiness in her eyes.
Not for the first time he wondered what she would say to the number of times he'd called her name in the throes of solitary passion.
He made sure his curtains were shut, and cast a sound barrier around him.
In that night's fantasy, he made her beg for him before he satisfied her. He found it to be a much hotter fantasy, and it sparked something inside him.
Neville helped him draft his reply letter to Lord Greengrass and made sure he used all the proper terminology so he didn't sound like what he actually was - a boy ignorant of the subtleties of polite society. A huge weight lifted off his shoulders once that was finished, and he put the letter aside to read again later that day and make sure it said what he wanted it to say.
He quite liked hanging out with Neville. Neville was far smarter than he let on, and had no compunctions about letting him know when he was being stupid. He liked that a lot. As much as he tried not to be stupid, he failed. His continued random episodes proved that, if nothing else. He still had no bloody idea what caused them, but thankfully they only seemed to happen when nobody else was around - at least so far.
He and Neville ate most of their meals at the Ravenclaw table while they talked with Luna. Neville found Luna's eccentricity a little difficult to deal with, but he warmed to her over time, even if he didn't quite understand her.
Harry and Neville had Herbology - Neville's favorite class - first period, so they wished Luna a good day and headed down to the greenhouses after breakfast.
"Have you ever thought you might have been better off as a Hufflepuff, Nev?" He asked as they walked toward the greenhouses.
Neville looked at him. "Honestly, yeah. I wouldn't have had to be too cowardly to do anything about Ron myself while living in the home of the brave. Still quite ashamed about that."
"Huh. I was thinking sort of the same thing, really. It seems like a relaxed place to be, and we wouldn't have had to be family with Ronald."
Neville looked ahead at some of the Hufflepuffs who were also headed to the greenhouse for their shared class. "Wouldn't have anything to do with any of the generously endowed ladies from Hufflepuff, would it?"
Harry laughed. "Well no, actually, but now that you mention it... I'm not immune to their charms."
Neville laughed back at him. "That is the most polite way I have ever heard anyone refer to breasts, Dunc. I'm going to steal that, just so you know."
"You're welcome! Best of luck mate, glad to help." He grinned.
Two of those very same charming ladies ambushed him just inside the greenhouse.
Susan and Hannah stood on either side of the greenhouse door and stepped in front of him when he and Neville entered.
"Might we have a word, Duncan?" Susan asked. He shot Neville a look that said 'Help!', but Neville cocked his head to one side and looked at him through raised eyebrows. He might as well have painted "I TOLD YOU SO" on his forehead. No help forthcoming there.
He sighed internally and outwardly smiled. "Of course, ladies. After you."
He followed Susan and Hannah around the side of the greenhouse and out of sight of the rest of the students.
"If I could ask you ladies to please keep your hands where I could see them, I would appreciate that very much." He asked before they had a chance to say anything.
"Uh... alright. That's a little odd." Hannah frowned.
"Yeah, what's that about, Duncan?" Susan also frowned.
"I apologize for the necessity of my asking, but I've been informed there are several plots to stun and potion me. Your names were not among the conspirators, but prudence dictates I take caution."
"What?!" Susan's jaw dropped.
"That's horrible!" Hannah said, her face scrunched in disgust.
"No-one has tried anything yet thankfully, but I'm hoping the more people I tell that I know about it, the less likely it becomes."
"If anyone does try anything like that, you come tell me immediately, my Aunt is head of the DMLE and I can have her here to investigate in minutes." Susan said angrily.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" He asked, surprised.
"Of course! For anyone, really. It's bloody illegal." Susan scowled.
"Well thank you, I appreciate it even more knowing that it isn't a personal favor."
"Actually, it's a bit ironic, but personal favours are what we wanted to talk to you about." Hannah said as her cheeks turned light pink.
He smiled. He hoped it wasn't more undeserved attention. He liked Hannah and Sue, but he wasn't sure why he was getting all the attention he was, despite what Neville had said. "Please continue." He prompted.
"Well..." Hannah took a deep breath, and he locked his eyes on hers, lest they be pulled downward by her charms. "We were wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with us next weekend? If you don't have a date already?"
"Hm." He muttered as he thought about it. "Before I say yes or no, could you both answer a couple of questions I have?"
They both nodded.
"Okay good." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I've never been on a date before, but I have older sisters who have. As I understand it... isn't a date supposed to be between two people? Isn't the point for them to get to know each other better?"
Susan nodded and blushed slightly. "Usually."
"I've never been on one before either, but that's what I think too. Susan and I are best friends, and we agreed we wouldn't mind sharing if you already had things to do and didn't have time to go with us individually." Hannah explained.
"Oh. That was very considerate of you both, thank you. Next question: Doesn't it being a 'date' carry underlying... romantic expectations?"
Both Susan and Hannah blushed and looked away, but Susan answered anyway. "Yes... that was sort of why we wanted it to be one."
"Oh." He struggled for a moment then to get the thought of both of them naked out of his head. He cleared his throat to cover it. "Well then let me make a counter-proposal. You are the first to ask, and since I don't really know either of you very well, I would love to go with you individually and spend the day getting to know you better. After that if either of you still wants to go on a... date... we can talk about that later? It's just... you may not want any romantic expectations involved after you get to know me better. Either way, I would love to have more friends even if you don't want any dating. Is that sensible to you?"
Susan nodded. "I'd like that. You should know I probably won't change my mind about the date."
Hannah nodded at Susan's statement as well. "It's not the snogfest I was hoping for, but I'll take it."
He could feel heat rising into his face. "Umm... you ladies can decide between yourselves who gets which day, then let me know when you'd like to go. I've never been to Hogsmeade either, so I don't really know what to do there."
"That makes even more sense then," Susan said, "Any girl you take on a date there will expect you to have a plan of action, and if you've never been, you really can't, so we'll show you around. Then when you take us on our dates we can leave it to you."
"Be sure to take notes." Hannah winked at him.
He smiled the best he could and bowed slightly with his arm out to allow them to precede him to the greenhouse.
Susan and Hannah went to their spots to get ready for class, and Neville leaned over to whisper to him.
"What was that about?"
Harry just hung his head. "You were right, I apologize for scoffing. Apparently, against all reason, I appear to be popular with the ladies." He whispered back. "They both asked me to Hogsmeade next weekend."
"What, together?"
"One each day."
"Was going to say, that sounds like a really good weekend."
"Going to have to scrub my brain with soap now, thanks Nev."
"What are friends for?" Neville grinned at him cheekily.
Harry held his eyes shut, as he'd been instructed. "Where are we going, Luna?"
"If I tell you it won't be a surprise, will it?" She answered. She led him by the hand, and he could hear they walked through various hallways for ten minutes or so. They were in a large open space when she told him to sit down and open his eyes.
He opened his eyes, and they were back in the Great Hall.
"Luna... this is where we started." He looked at her with one eyebrow raised.
"I know," She smiled a sheepish little smile at him, " I just wanted to hold your hand for a while."
He laughed and gave her a hug. "I appreciate the prank Luna, but you could just ask you know."
She wrinkled her nose. "That wouldn't be as much fun."
"Never change, Luna."
"I have to, clothes get smelly after a few days."
"That's why I prefer nudity."
Luna's eyebrows shot up and her cheeks tinged pink.
"And that would be a win for me." Harry grinned and wrote a 1 in the air with his finger.
Luna smiled back at him again. "Losing is fun too sometimes."
"You don't have to tell me, I've lost every time until today."
"And you've had fun doing it. That's the important part. Anyway, I also wanted to talk to you about Hermione -" She stopped talking when he put up his hand.
"Just going to make sure she's not standing next to you while we're talking about her." He whispered in Luna's ear.
She nodded, and Harry closed his eyes to concentrate. He roused his blood and felt the swirl of power through him as he began to Resonate. He focused on pushing the magic into his eyes, then opened them again.
"Oh wow!" Luna breathed in an awed tone of voice.
He scanned the Great Hall and didn't see any distortions - until he looked behind him. There was a Hermione-shaped warp on the bench next to him.
"Good evening, my queen." He said with a smile. The warp shot off the bench and ran straight out of the Great Hall. He couldn't smell or hear any clue she was there.
He let the magic drain from his eyes and looked back at Luna. "Good thing I checked. You were saying?"
"How did you do that?" She was still looking at his eyes.
"Do you promise not to tell anyone else?"
"I promise." She nodded eagerly.
"My mother is a dragon."
"Your father is the strangest, bravest man I've never met."
Harry laughed. "I would love to tell you the entire story, Luna. I hate that I have to keep it from you, but until you can shield your mind from invasion I just can't."
"Friends who give homework are the best!" She grinned at him. The hunger in her eyes made him think she just didn't like knowing there were secrets she didn't know.
"So, about Hermione?"
"Right. Not this weekend - this weekend is your big Hufflepuff dating weekend - but next weekend, the seventeenth and eighteenth I want to find a room and prepare a small party for Hermione because her birthday is on the nineteenth."
Harry grinned. "She is our light in the darkness."
Luna grinned back at him.
"Okay, so we should be looking for a place to hold it. Looking for a decent gift also gives me a mission in Hogsmeade. Will you be there this weekend as well?"
"To do a bit of shopping, yes. I already have her gift though."
"Brilliant." He grinned at her. "Any ideas what she might like?"
"Your naked body."
"Aaand that's you back to winning." He said as he felt a blush creep up his neck.
"Well she would."
"Okay okay, that's enough. I don't want to make any flamingoes jealous."
Luna just grinned at him. "You're cute when you blush."
He cleared his throat, grabbed the conversation and wrenched it back on course. "So, seriously, no ideas then?"
Luna tilted her head to the side. "Hmmm... Most girls like jewelry...Hermione has always been in the number one spot here though, ever since my first year, and she's far, far ahead. Maybe she'd like a book on advanced magic? Something she can't get from the library? I'm not sure."
"Thanks, Luna. That's more than I had to go on. This party is going to be just you and me, isn't it. She doesn't talk to anyone else."
"There is one other person, a House Elf named Lammy. I overheard Lammy talking to other Elves about her when I was in the kitchens last year."
"Nice. Okay, so three people. That's not bad. Have you already talked to Lammy?"
Luna shook her head. "Not yet. I wanted to tell you first so you could do your shopping."
Harry nodded. "Thanks Luna, I appreciate-" He stopped when Luna smiled and waved at one of the Beauxbatons ladies. She noticed, and came to sit beside Luna.
"Bon soir, Luna." She said with a smile. "Qui est l'homme?"
Harry smiled. "Duncan MacFusty, a votre service, mademoiselle."
"Tu parles francais?" She asked, surprised.
"Pas recemment, comme personne d'autre." He looked back to Luna. "I'll go talk to Lammy and let you chat with your friend." He looked back to the newcomer. "C'est un plaisir de vous recontrer, mademoiselle. S'il vous plait profiter de votre sejour."
He stood and bowed to the two ladies before he walked from the Hall.
That was wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! How the hell did he know she was there?! She had all three nondetections on! He had done something to his eyes though, that might have had something to do with it. Terrifyingly vibrant green with vertical pupil slits. It had made him look like a lizard wearing a Duncan suit.
She shivered at the thought, and decided to go to the library. The only different thing had been his eyes, so maybe he'd learned to partially transfigure himself? If so... what animal's eyes could see through Disillusionment?
She gnawed her thumb as she walked briskly into the Magical creatures section and pulled books from shelves. She started with the best-looking candidate, 'Catalogue of Creatures and their abilities'.
Her thumb started aching after half an hour or so, and she realized she still chewed on it.
It took a further two hours, but by eliminating any non-reptilian and non-feline creatures, she managed to reduce the list of in-depth subjects to four. The book on Zouwu said that Disillusionment was an effective technique for hunting them, so she crossed that off her list immediately. The research said Kneazles were known to alert their owners to Disillusioned people, but also said they were ineffective at hunting Mokes, so their ability to detect Disillusioned people was probably down to superior smell and hearing. Mokes, while able to Disillusion themselves, were best hunted during mating season, when they were all visible. That meant they couldn't see each other in order to mate, so it likely wasn't Mokes either.
She sighed in frustration and pulled the last book toward her, 'Draggons Moste Dangerouse'
"Antipodean Opal Eye Dragons are well known to see through all Disillusionment spells." She read, "So when hunting these creatures it is well advised to use physical camouflage measures."
Well, she thought, that's a definite yes. That couldn't be what Duncan was using though, as his eyes had not turned the well-known colourful swirls that identified the Antipodean Opaleye. Two other breeds were known to see through Disillusionment, the Hungarian Horntail and the Hebridean Black. She would have loved to narrow it down to a specific species, but the upshot was that Duncan could transfigure his eyes into dragon eyes and see through Disillusionment.
That was not okay.
It wasn't even really that he could see her. She would know now to run when he did the dragon eyes thing. No, what really made her mad was the fact that he could do it and she couldn't.
She got up and paced back and forth. Her thumb started to hurt again and realized she had resumed chewing on it. She switched thumbs as her thoughts raced back and forth through her head like her feet raced back and forth on the floor. She HAD to learn that. The trouble with it was that she was nearly finished the entire curriculum of Hogwarts, and partial self-transfiguration was not part of the curriculum. That meant she would have to learn it from Duncan, but that meant she would have to stop following Duncan – No, she admitted in a burst of self-honesty, she didn't follow him. She stalked him. She was a stalker. She sighed again. She would have to stop stalking Duncan and talk to him. Visibly. Face to face. That meant putting up with her stupid body distracting her while she tried to learn important things.
What to do, what to do?
It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time alone with Duncan sharing knowledge. Quite the opposite. He seemed willing to put up with her. She wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. Should she be formal like he was? Should she treat him like a friend? HA! She had no clue how to treat him like a friend in any case. If she let her guard down she might start feeling him up again. She supposed she could treat him like a lover, he'd been in her fantasies enough. It wouldn't really matter amyway, she'd fuck that up immediately just like everything else - not that he could ever be attracted to her bloody bird's nest and donkey face. Sometimes she was fine with how she looked and accepted it as reality and just got on with it. Sometimes though, an increasingly often sometimes, her chest ached and her heart squeezed and need filled her every cell. Need to be wanted, need to be looked at... to be… something. Something she couldn't identify.
Stupid puberty shit.
"Hey Dunc, want to go to an empty room and teach me your dragon eyes thing?" She asked the bookshelves. It sounded terrible. Needy and forced and incredibly not casual. Not that it should be casual. You were casual with friends and she didn't have any. Had never had any. If she made a formal request would that be better? Could she do that at all even? He treated her like she was a Lady, but she absolutely wasn't. Just a filthy mudblood with the poise and nobility of a flobberworm who was desperate to learn what he knew.
She sighed. Now both her thumbs hurt.
"There's no help for it, bushybeaver. You need what he has, you have to go get it. No matter how embarrassing it is, no matter how much you have to run away and masturbate afterward. You need it. Go get it."
She sighed again, her path forward decided. She cleaned up and replaced the books on the shelves and put her list away. She did not look forward to her next conversation with Duncan, even though her heart raced and her palms got clammy when she thought about it. Maybe because her heart raced and her palms got clammy.
Fucking MacFusty.
Not bad enough he'd fucking humiliated him in front of the entire school population, no. He might have even been able to forgive that if that same very thing hadn't also then procured MacFusty the eyes of every single decent female in two fucking schools. Even his own girlfriend had dumped him so she could go sniffing after fucking MacFusty. Of course she said it was because he was a horrible person, but that never bothered her before. Besides, he saw how she looked at him. Her face practically screamed how wet she was for him.
It was alright though, his chat with the Headmaster had reminded him that MacFusty wasn't king shit. He was Ronald Bilius fucking Weasley. He ruled the school long before unnaturally strong MacArselick showed up. His stomach went weak when he remembered those shimmering green eyes boring into his. He still didn't doubt the green-eyed twat could break every bone he owned, but he was a wizard. His mind was his weapon, and his wand of course.
After he'd realized he could get revenge for what MacFucker had done to him and his reputation, it had been as simple as a talk with the twins. They were only too happy to tell him about the prank on MacFucker they had already planned. He might have enjoyed the prank as they had planned it if he didn't burn with hatred every time he saw the self-righteous bastard.
Fred and George were almost ready to put their prank in place, and that was why he snuck into the medical wing in the middle of the night. He would make a small modification to their prank, one that would increase his personal enjoyment of the prank immensely.
He took all the shortcuts the twins had taught him over the years, and made it to the Infirmary without anyone the wiser. He was even luckier there wasn't anyone in the recovery beds. He snuck into the side room filled with locked cabinets, and had to risk a small Lumos in order to see through the glass cabinet doors to find what he was after.
Third cabinet from the entryway, he struck gold. It was even a huge jar! Perfect amount for what he had in mind. He grinned to himself and took a deep breath in and out. He focused all his concentration on the spell in his mind, and with a stylish flourish of his wand, said "Alohamora."
The cabinet doors clicked as they unlocked, and he stopped himself from whooping with joy. He'd DONE it! Blasted tricky spell bowed before the might of Ronald bloody Weasley!
The jar was heavier than he expected, so he put his wand in his mouth and used both hands to pull it out of the cabinet. He cradled it in the crook of one arm like a baby, then closed the cabinet doors.
"Nox." He whispered. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light again before he attempted to move, as he would be in serioustrouble if he tripped and landed on the jar.
He crept quietly back the way he'd come and grinned openly as he passed through the portal into the common room. The banked fire in the fireplace threw just enough light to show him that he stood alone in the room. He set the jar down in the far corner, and crept up the stairs into Fred and George's room.
It took far too long for him to remove the core of their prank, but thankfully they'd explained how it worked, or it would have gone off in his face. When it finally came free, he made his way back to the common room.
He paused to put dragonhide gloves on, but It only took a few minutes to replace the filling Fred and George had prepared. He had to stop himself from giggling as he carefully poured the thick, syrupy, almost clotted liquid into their prepared container. He sighed with relief when the dangerous bit was done, and allowed himself a giggle then.
"Fuck you, MacLoser." He whispered.
He left the dragonhide gloves on as he carried the modified prank core back up to Fred and George's room. It was desperately fiddly to get the thing installed back into the prank casing properly with the gloves on, but he couldn't afford to not have the gloves on.
Finally, the thing was re-assembled and ready to go.
He stripped the gloves off when he returned to the common room, then spent another twenty minutes returning the jar to the medical wing and the gloves to the greenhouse before he was able to at last crawl into bed. He would be tired tomorrow and it would suck, but he couldn't wait to see MacFucker's face when that prank went off. With any luck it would go everywhere, and he'd be blamed for it. Hopefully it would spray around his little gaggle of french birds as well. Serve them right for turning him down and laughing at him. With a little smile on his face, Ronald relaxed and fell into sleep.
She used the brush on her hair while it was still wet, it was the only way to make it tangle-free and still have as little frizz as possible. The drying charm worked a great deal better than a towel as well, but the end result was the same as it always was. Her hair didn't want to succumb to gravity, and it refused to be smooth or silky.
Duncan took the brush from her fingers and put it on the dresser. He gently swept her hair to one side and planted tiny burning kisses on her neck while his hands slid around her body, across her ribs, down her stomach to her thighs. He knew where she wanted his fingers and teased her by not giving it to her. He kissed up the side of her neck, behind her ear, then sucked on her earlobe. She felt her skin grow hypersensitive while her stomach began to tingle, then the tingles were suffused with a violent, needy warmth that spread downward into her nethers.
He put one hand on her stomach and the other on the back of her neck, and gently bent her over until both her hands were on the dresser. He picked up the hair brush and ran the smooth, cool back of it in circles over the cheeks of her behind. As the first ringing SMACK of the hair brush impacted her right cheek, she was jolted from the fantasy and realized she'd just spanked herself with her hair brush.
She threw it on the dresser as she stood up straight to look at herself in the mirror.
"For fuck's sake, Hermione." She sighed. "You have to go and talk to him. You have to. Get yourself together. He could be another Michael for all you know."
"That's exactly what you're afraid of." Her inner honesty replied.
She dried her body off and dressed, then applied her nondetections and made her way to the Great Hall. She slid immediately to the side against the wall as the gathered crowd of students ate breakfast and talked amongst themselves. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply against the sudden wave of panic that washed over her.
"Dragon eyes." She whispered to herself. "You could have dragon eyes. See through Disillusionment. You're fine. Even if he doesn't like you Duncan wouldn't make fun of you. You're fine. Go over to the table and wait for him." She tried desperately to ignore the part of her brain that reminded her she'd thought the same of Michael.
She could see he was not yet present at the table, so she went and sat in her usual place. There was a box on the table up from her position, where Duncan and Neville usually sat when they weren't with Luna. A lot of people came to the table to look at the box and then left again. She stood on the bench to look at it, and saw there was a single word on the top: Duncan.
Right. So that would bear watching. She looked around at the faces in the Great Hall carefully as she tried to determine who had sent it.
Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Pansy Parkinson, Romilda Vane, and Lavender Brown all seemed to be watching the box like a hawk, but none of them seemed to be excited about it. In fact, they all seemed extremely put out, and glared at each other when they thought they could get away with it.
Hmph. As if stuck-up bitches like them had a chance with her Duncan.
As though thinking of him had summoned him, Duncan strolled into the Great Hall beside Neville. Every last girl who'd been eyeing the box immediately stood and attempted nonchalance as she strode toward the Gryffindor table where Duncan stood. She saw them coming and ran around to Duncan's side of the table to stand next to him. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper at his ear, but Neville drowned her out.
"And you don't think you're popular with the Ladies. Oblivious, they call that." Neville grinned at Duncan.
"Yes, thanks for hammering that home so very often, Nev. I'd be so much more oblivious without you." He bowed at Neville.
Somehow, hearing extremely polite sarcasm from Duncan made her chest feel warm. It made her fingers ache to run them through his hair and pull him into a cuddle. She quashed the feeling down where it belonged. She had Dragon Eyes to see through first.
By the time she had raised herself on her tiptoes to whisper at him again, the crowd of girls had already formed around Duncan, and she was drowned out again.
"Morning, Duncan!" Susan said with a smile.
"Morning, Susan." He smiled back.
"You going to open that, or make us wait around on tenterhooks for you to pull your finger out?" Pansy demanded.
Duncan turned around and smiled at her. "Good morning, Heir Parkinson." He saw the assembled crowd of girls, and his eyebrows rose. "Well... sorry to keep you all waiting, guess I should pull my finger out then."
Susan and Hannah both chuckled.
Duncan tried to lift the lid of the box, only to find that the front of the box was part of the lid and hinged at the back. He shifted his grip and tried again, and the top and front of the box lifted smoothly up and fell backward onto the table. As soon as the lid touched the table, a pie shell filled with thick, syrupy yellowish-green launched itself out of the box right at Duncan's face.
She tried to push him out of the way, but Duncan was just far too solid for her to move like that. Instead, she caught a flash of black as Duncan raised his hands. He held the sides of his robes clutched in his hands, and raised his arms to ten and two o'clock and blocked her view.
The sound of the pie as it hit him in the face was a wet, thudding splash, as if someone had thrown pudding at a wall.
Duncan spun around as soon as the disgusting mess had finished its flight, even as it dripped from his nose and cheeks. "Is everyone alright? Did you get any on you?" He asked, concern heavy in his voice.
"No, Heir MacFusty, you protected us all." Daphne replied with a horrified grimace. The yellowish-green syrupy pudding was undiluted bubotuber pus, and as they looked at Duncan's face it bubbled and distorted and turned into a lumpy parody of his normally handsome features. His eyes swelled shut, his lips expanded hideously, even his hands and neck became boil-covered misshapen lumps.
"Good, I'm glad." Duncan said, relieved. "Would someone be so kind as to lead me to the Hospital wing? I'm afraid I can't see anything just now."
Susan simply gripped his elbow in her hand and walked with him to the exit of the Great Hall. Hannah went with her at Duncan's other elbow, and left the rest of them to return to their seats. Daphne left with a look of shame on her face and a slight tremor in her hands. Pansy returned to her seat and just wiggled in place. Romilda and Lavender left the Great Hall entirely. They didn't follow Duncan to the Hospital wing though, they just went back in the direction of their dorms.
That left her standing there where it had happened. Not a single drop of pus had even made it to the floor. Duncan had taken all of it. He'd collected in his robes what hadn't landed on his face. She shook her head and breathed through the squeezing feeling in her chest. When she was able to open her eyes again, she noticed two things. The first thing was the Weasley twins giving each other significant looks.
"That... was not how that prank was supposed to play out, George." Fred told his twin in a low voice.
"No... no it wasn't, Fred." George replied, shock and disgust written on his face.
The second thing she noticed was the message written in lipstick on the underside of Duncan's 'gift box' lid.
It said "All my love, Lavender."
After a few moments' debate, she ditched breakfast and went to the Hospital wing to sit with Duncan and make sure Susan and Hannah kept their mitts to themselves. They were shooed away by Madam Pomfrey because she had to neutralize and clean wherever Duncan had been contaminated with the pus, and that meant taking his clothes off. Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey left his boxers on, so that was disappointing, but she did like the look of his legs. They were just the right amount of hairy, but also lean and powerful and the muscles rippled whenever he moved. Even though it made her heart race, she couldn't really enjoy the show because she was worried about him. His face and hands and most of his torso were all bloated and misshapen and lumpy. He looked terrible.
She knew he would be alright, of course. The pus was horrible and painful, but didn't deal any real or lasting damage. Even though she knew that, it still hurt to look at him.
Michael wouldn't have protected her. He wouldn't have protected any of them. He'd have tried to get out of the way. That was twice Duncan had done that. She decided then that it was probably mean of her to compare him to Michael. She still didn't want to spend any time with Duncan - even though she really did - but decided he really wasn't likely to betray or mock her. He just didn't do that kind of thing.
She hadn't thought Michael would either, but she had to admit she didn't really pay attention to his behaviour.
Madam Pomfrey sprinkled Neutralizer Dust all over him, and waited for it to react with the pus and remove its ability to affect bare skin. Then she took a cloth soaked in a citrus-smelling astringent and wiped him down everywhere.
"That should take care of any active effect of the pus, Mister MacFusty. Now just a boil-reducing potion and you should be back to normal by morning."
"Banfmmm." Duncan said. His lips and face were so swollen he couldn't pronounce anything.
"Now don't bother talking until morning, you can save whatever you have to say until then. This will feel a bit uncomfortable, but it's the best way to get a potion into you." She slipped an oversized straw between his puffy, grotesque lips, and attached the other end to a funnel. "It's also going to taste awful, so be prepared. The whole thing down the hatch if you please."
She poured the potion into the funnel, an entire jar of it, and Duncan swallowed the whole thing without a single noise of complaint.
She waited until Madam Pomfrey had gone, then crept next to him and cancelled her Nonsonus.
"It was a Fred and George prank." She told him, "But they looked at each other and said that wasn't at all how it was supposed to go. I don't think they would have used bubotuber pus, it isn't like them. I think it likely they will come apologize. I think they suspect their prank was tampered with. The inside of the box said 'All my love, Lavender', but I happen to know for a fact that Lavender doesn't have the patience or knowledge to tamper with their prank successfully. She was dating Ronald Weasley until recently, though. Just thought you should know. Don't try to talk, just rest so you can get out of here."
She left him with that to think about, and hoped he came to the same conclusion she had - that Ronald had modified his brothers' prank and tried to blame it on his ex-girlfriend. For a simpleton like Ronald, it would have seemed like two revenges in one, and therefore irresistible. Time would tell.
She also wanted to know if Duncan had recognized the bubotuber pus before he had shielded everyone from it. She was willing to bet he had, and she liked what that said about his mind.
A whole week! Seven entire days she'd been stalking Duncan just trying to find a moment alone to talk to him! The poor boy was constantly, constantly! surrounded by other people - Most of them girls just looking to sink their fangs into him. It annoyed her that he was always polite and gracious about it. She could see it wore on him. It was even worse that week because of the pus prank in the Great Hall. Even Daphne Greengrass had taken to trying to corner him alone. Yes, she acknowledged the irony of complaining that other girls were doing exactly what she was doing, but she also didn't care.
She had finally caught him alone after their last Transfiguration class, so she'd followed him to a disused corridor on the fifth floor.
What the hell was he doing there? He'd better not be meeting any girls in any unused classroom!
Unfortunately, an unused classroom was exactly where he went. He stopped outside the door and looked around to make sure he was alone and there was no-one following him. Luckily he did so without using his dragon-eyes thing.
He cast an unlocking spell on the door, then ducked inside the room and the door closed again immediately. Silently too, she noted. She had a bad feeling about the whole situation.
She stood outside the door for a moment as she wrung her hands. Who was it? She hoped it was Greengrass. She didn't think she could handle it being anyone else. Greengrass was beautiful and smart enough to be respectable. She couldn't really complain if it was Greengrass. Anyone else though...
She looked both directions down the hall to make sure no-one was coming. She cast Silencio on the door, then opened it slowly. She could see Duncan's hair unbound as it flowed over his naked shoulders and back. He knelt on a sofa that faced away from her, so that was all she could see of him. What was he doing?
She closed the door behind her, locked and sealed it against anyone else who might want entry. She crept closer to him slowly, aware that he could see her if he was using his dragon eyes. She stayed ready to run and hide. He didn't turn, however. He was intent on whatever it was he was doing. She crept closer and closer, almost close enough to touch the sofa, almost close enough to see...
Her wand was snatched from her grasp, and she became visible.
She jumped with a shriek, and whirled to see who could possibly... And stared into beautifully deep green dragon eyes.
"Give it back!" She yelled at him, her hand out.
He raised an eyebrow.
She suddenly realized she was alone in a locked, sealed room with two Duncans, and both her knees went weak. She felt her heart begin to race and her breaths came quickly.
Burning kisses. hands sliding down her skin.
She felt heat rise from her chest into her face and steal her her voice and temerity.
"I will gladly give it back, on one condition." He said to her as he held her wand by its tip, ready to hand it back to her - and just out of reach.
Things he could want ran through her mind, and somehow they all involved nudity.
"What?" She squeaked.
"Promise to stay here and talk to me. Visibly." He smiled at her.
"That's IT?!" She clapped her hands over her mouth.
He laughed. "Well, I'm open to suggestions, but yeah I just wanted to talk to you, get to know you."
She looked at him numbly. Why? Why would he bother to get to know her? Because you're not desirable, stupid! Came the answer. He doesn't want you here for romance or even just blazing hot sex. You don't rate that. He's just being nice to you. Take it, it's better than you'll get anywhere else.
"I don't understand." She said slowly as she shook her head. "Why? Why me?"
"Well, I'd love to answer that for you but that's a conversation, and you haven't agreed to my condition yet."
She sighed. "Fine then." It was something. It was better than nothing. It was what she needed to learn his dragon eyes thing. That was what she wanted... wasn't it?
He handed her wand back to her, and she realized he must have cast finite on her. He took out his own wand and pointed it at the second version of him on the sofa, and it turned into a desk on its side. The desk then floated off the sofa and into the corner of the room.
"That was a desk? This was a trap? For me?" She whirled and glared at him, unsure whether to be angry or flattered.
He shrugged. "You've been tailing me for a while. I've been getting sad waiting for you to come talk to me. So yeah, I set a trap for you. Worked too." He grinned.
She blushed again. It had worked, damnit. "That goes back to my first question. Why? Why me?" She was sure her face was lobster red. She wanted to be invisible again. Her voice came out small and plaintive too. Fucking embarrassing.
He crossed in front of her and sat at one end of the sofa. He spat a gout of white-blue flame at the fireplace, and the wood caught immediately. As her eyebrows rose, a warm crackling fire glowed from the fireplace. He sat back against the sofa and put one ankle across his other knee.
"Why not you?" He asked.
She snorted. "Oh please. As if I'm not painfully aware of my own faults. Because I'm ugly. Because I'm lame. Because I have little patience and prefer books to people. That's why not."
He smiled. "Alright then. Why you? Because you've looked out for my wellbeing at least twice already. Because your actions speak of honour and care far more loudly than others' voices cry out their own virtues. You may think yourself ugly all you like, that's your right. I think you're quite pretty, inside and outside. I didn't know you were lame, I'm sorry."
"Pffff." She huffed. "Not your fault. Troll's fault, Weasley's fault, Dumbledore's fault."
"A troll?! What happened?" He sat up straight, concern etched on his face.
A part of her rebelled and begged her not to tell him. It would be embarrassing and she would cry and it would hurt and he would reject her and she would be alone again. Another part of her overrode that part and simply whispered Dragon Eyes.
"I... don't want to tell that story, but... I'll make you a deal."
His frown let up some, and the air in the room felt less heavy. "What kind of deal?"
"Well first answer me a question - did you just breathe fire to light the fireplace? Is that what I saw?"
"Yes." He smiled sheepishly.
"Okay then. I did just want to learn your dragon eyes thing, but now I want to learn that too. Can you teach me to see and breathe like a dragon?"
His eyebrows raised all the way. "You want to learn?"
She nodded.
"Well then - I will agree with one additional fee. It will take a long, long time to teach you that. You and I are going to have to spend every spare moment together. That's a significant investment on my part just for a story, so I want one more thing into the bargain. I want you to let me do the one thing my instincts have been screaming at me to do since the moment I laid eyes on you. It'll only be once, and I'm not going to tell you what it is, you're just going to have to trust me."
She didn't like the sound of that. Part of her mind went straight to sex, and the other part went straight to Michael and free homework. She ended up torn in the middle.
She did have her wand though, she could just hex him... Dragon Eyes. Dragon Breath.
"Alright... I'll trust you once, but if you break that trust..."
He nodded solemnly. "I understand."
"Alright, do your thing first and then I'll tell you the story."
He stood in an instant, and crossed the floor back to her. He held out his hand to shake, so she did.
"We have a bargain." He said seriously as he looked into her eyes. He didn't have the Dragon Eyes anymore, just his regular bottomless green pools. She did her best to shove her trepidation down where it couldn't control her and stood stiffly but patiently as she waited to be molested.
She was half-relieved and half-disappointed when he slowly and cautiously stepped into her and enfolded her in his arms. That was all. He just stood there and held her gently. One hand cradled her head to his chest and stroked her hair. She felt his face rest gently on the top of her head.
He touched her. It wasn't a quick shoulder squeeze. It wasn't a handshake. He held her. Cradled her, even. He held her close to him, as though she were precious.
The instant that thought entered her mind, her eyes began to sting. She could feel her spine weaken, and her arms lifted behind him to clutch fistfuls of his robe. She expected him to drop his arms and back away then, but he didn't. He just kept his arms tight around her like an impenetrable shield. Her chest clenched as unfamiliar feelings blossomed there.
Warm. Safe. Home.
Her arms tightened around his ribs of their own accord and she pressed herself into him. The desperate emptiness in her chest that she kept pushed far, far down surged upward and overtook her. She didn't realize she was sobbing until she heard her own voice, and by then it was too late to stop it.
All the while, he just held her. He wasn't disgusted. He wasn't ashamed. He didn't ask for anything.
He just held her while all her pain came out like the flood from a burst dam. He was immovable and she clung to him as the tide of it pushed and pulled at her, and gradually... slowly... the waters receded. Her sobs grew further apart, the roaring emptiness smoothed away. She felt like she was left standing on a floodplain as the clouds parted and the sun poked through. She felt... calmer. Better than she had in a long time.
"Why?" She hiccoughed before she brought her breathing under control again. "Why would you hug me?" She looked up at him again, very aware of how close his face was to hers.
"I wanted to." He smiled at her. "Thank you for letting me."
"But... why?"
He shook his head with that same smile. "There is no reason, Hermione. No ulterior motive. I wanted to. That's all. Ever since I saw you on the train, my first instinct was to hug you. I've been sitting on it ever since and it feels really good to finally satisfy it. You feel really good. You smell great too."
She felt heat creep up her cheeks at that. Good thing she was already a hideous mess. She made the mistake then of looking at his chest. She had gotten tears and snot all down his front.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She reached in her pocket for her wand to clean him up, but he put his hands on her shoulders.
"Hermione," He said softly, "Relax. I care about you, not this. You matter. This doesn't."
"No I don't." She replied in a small voice.
"To me you do."
"But why? You don't even know me. Nobody does."
He smiled that self-satisfied little smile again. "Because I want to."
What was she supposed to do with that? Didn't he realize the hell he set himself up for? No, she corrected herself. Knowing him, he probably didand just didn't care. The thought put a giggle in her chest.
"That's why I'm hoping we can be friends. I want to hang out with you, spend time with you, get to know you, swap stories with you, share new experiences with you. You've already shown you have my best interests at heart, how could I do less?"
Tears threatened her eyes again. Not because he offered her something she dared not dream of, but because he meant it.
"I'd like that." She half-whispered.
"Good! Settled then. Even if we weren't going to be spending all our time together, we'd be spending all our time together." He grinned.
"I suppose I should tell you about the troll then. We had - have - a deal."
"Before you do, I need to give you a caveat."
She frowned. "A caveat?"
He nodded. "For being my friend. It might be dangerous. There are some people who want to kill me. Not at school, just out in Britain in general. I would very much like to tell you the whole story because I'm not fond of secrets, but knowing it would definitely put you in jeopardy unless you can shield your thoughts well. Until you can, I simply can't tell you, for your safety and mine."
"You... You're not kidding."
"No. You can ask Neville, I gave him the same caveat. He's working on his Occlumency now, him and Luna if you want to join in."
"I already was. I... might join in occasionally. If they don't mind being near me."
"Luna likes you. She said she smiled all day when you called me Poetry Boy because it reminded her. Neville just never met you really."
"Luna likes me?" She looked up into his eyes again.
He smiled and nodded at her. "It's not that hard to believe, you know. You're a good person, Hermione."
"It's just... new."
"Not that new. I like you too, you know. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone I didn't like." He smiled at her.
"Are we friends then?"
"If you want me, I'm yours."
"If that were true, we'd be a lot more than friends." She whispered to herself. "Friends then." She said aloud. He smiled back at her, and she could see his cheeks redden.
Part of her mind wondered if he'd heard her whisper, and the rest of it smashed that part down because with that legendary level of embarrassment it didn't bear thinking about.
She pushed him (and he let her) backward to the sofa and made him sit down, then she flopped down at the opposite end.
"It was first year, Halloween night, during dinner. I'd been having a... difficult time through the first two months."
"Difficult time how?"
She sighed. She really didn't want to get into her utter lack of friends, but she did promise. "Are you cognizant of muggle school? Wait, yes you are, you said your sisters went to one."
"Yeah, that." He smiled.
"I attended one between five and eleven when I got my Hogwarts letter. I read a lot as a child, partly due to not having any friends, and partly due to wanting to do well at school. So I was always ahead, I always knew all the answers. The other kids didn't like that. Called me Teacher's Pet and the like."
"I can not understand that. All this knowledge all around them, and they seem absolutely bent on ignoring it all. I thought it was just me being strange. Sorry, continue."
She smiled at him. One more thing they had in common. "So long story short, I just thought I was the odd one in school. Then when my Hogwarts letter came, it seemed like that was the explanation for the whole problem. I was a witch, so naturally I didn't fit in with the rest of the kids. I was so relieved. I would go to a new school with kids like me, and everything would be great."
"Knowing what I've seen of it so far... ouch." He grimaced.
She smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, that. I got along with the rest of my dorm alright straight away, we were all kids in a new place and sort of afraid. When classes started however... I had memorized all the texts for first year in the summer beforehand. Right back to teacher's pet and 'insufferable know-it-all'."
He laughed. "Really? They criticized you for knowing too much in a school? I don't think I'll ever understand pin- er, huma - er, people."
"Insufferable know-it-all was from Professor Snape."
He laughed again. "A bloody professor! I'm sorry queen, I don't mean to laugh, but that's just so ridiculous I can't even stand it."
"No, go ahead and laugh. It is, it really is. Anyway, so I had to deal with that shit for two months, and it came to a head that Halloween day in charms class. We were learning Wingardium Leviosa, and I'd already learned it long before of course. I just couldn't stand to watch Ronald's efforts."
"Weasley?"
"That very shitbag. He was trying to club a feather with his wand while yelling the incantation incorrectly and got red in the face doing it. I corrected his pronunciation and wand movement, and instead of a thanks he started screaming obscenities at me. I mean, I was trying to help him and he acted like I'd kicked his mother into a meat grinder. That was the last straw. I grabbed my bag and left the class. Went to the girls' loo and bawled my eyes out for hours."
"Can't imagine having to put up with such idiotic backwardness. I'm so sorry." He smiled understandingly at her, and she returned the smile. She was talking about herself to a friend, who listened, and understood. It was probably never going to happen again, but Merlin's beard it felt good.
"Not your fault. So finally I didn't have any tears left and decided to leave, but there was a horrendous crash. I looked out under the stall door, and what did I see? A bloody great full-grown twelve-foot-tall Paranthropus Montis, using a tree as a club and just smashing up the loo for the fun of it."
"Wait wait wait. The wards keep everything even mildly troll-related out of the building, I read it in Hog-"
"-warts: A History! I read that book so many times." She grinned at the thought that someone else had done sensible reading.
"Me too! So how in the Nest did a full grown Paranthropus Montis even get into the - Wait, someone had to let it in, of course. Even if the Headmaster didn't do it himself, the wards would have told him about it, because the Headmaster has control and knowledge of all the Wards. So it was either the Headmaster, or someone did it for him, but either way he knew about it."
"My conclusions exactly! I was terrified at the time, and screamed like a twelve-year old girl."
"You were a twelve-year-old girl."
"It was still dumb. I should have shut my mouth and made a run for it when it was distracted. I didn't, and it bashed its way through the stalls with its treetrunk of a club. The last one that I was in got broken and sort of knocked over. I scrambled out through the bottom and tried to run, but I didn't watch to see if the troll was distracted so of course it wasn't when I finally ran. It caught me with the treetrunk on my left leg and broke my knee sideways while it sent me out into the hall."
"Ouch. How did you get away?"
"I didn't. It bashed me out of the bathroom and I knocked my head on the stones in the hall. I remember seeing people coming toward me, and then I woke up in the infirmary. I remember looking at my knee and seeing it back in place, with a big brace on it. There was a cane beside the bed too. I started to get scared, and that's when I heard the Headmaster tell Madam Pomfrey not to 'waste a good potion on a mudblood'."
She was looking right at him, right into his eyes when it happened, so she knew she hadn't imagined it. His jaw set and the muscles rippled, and his eyes shimmered like they had suddenly turned into green pearls. The air over him distorted as well, just like it had in the Great Hall.
"That... makes me incredibly angry." He said in a soft, dangerous voice. "His only job is the safety and wellbeing of every student."
"Can't say I was best pleased either. I had to learn to use a cane with all the stairs in here. Naturally the other students thought it was great fun to 'trip' over my cane and yell at me for being clumsy. Broke my nose once against the stairs. When I finally got to go home for Christmas holidays, I told my parents everything and begged them - begged them - to send me to school in France or Germany or anywhere but Hogwarts."
"They didn't, since you're still here."
She smiled at him again. She wanted to curl up against him. "We can't afford to move to the continent. It would take years to build up a decent practice again, and we can't abandon our patients like that. I'm sure you understand." She said in her father's condescending, dismissive voice.
"Practice?"
"My parents are both dentists."
"Oh. Now I understand. So you were stuck coming back here to all the shit and pain, and with a bad knee as a welcome gift. Unless I miss my guess, that year you learned your invisibility and just disappeared. Better than dealing with idiots who hate you for learning in a school."
"And then shitheads like Weasley targeted me whenever possible because they couldn't most of the time, and shitheads like Malfoy made fun of me for it."
"I admire your strength."
That made her laugh. What a joke. "It takes great strength to get picked on and put down and not defend yourself." She said bitterly.
"It does. It takes great strength of will to endure that and not lose the core of yourself. You kept your love of learning. You kept your wits. You kept your personality, even as every comfort was ripped from you. You have great strength, Hermione. More than you realize."
She felt heat creep up her face again. What do you say to that? Luckily, she didn't have to think of anything.
"Why do you want to See and Breathe as a Svurtr?"
"Svurtr?"
"Black Dragon. Dragons don't know that word, it's a human word. Black dragons simply know they are Svurtr."
"Oh. How do you know that?"
He didn't answer, he took out his wand instead and floated the desk to the floor between him and the fireplace. A swift motion later, the desk became a beautiful black dragon two feet tall with intricate little scales and gorgeous amethyst eyes. It had a tiny scar on one side of its face, and what looked like a bite out of the webbing of one wing.
"That's beautiful." She told him.
"That's Mother." He told her. "I didn't come from one of her eggs, obviously, but she found me when I was just a tiny thing, maybe a year old. I was being eaten by an eagle. She ate the eagle instead, and raised me until I was ten."
Raised by a dragon? An ACTUAL DRAGON?! Wait, was it other dragons who wanted to kill him?! That's why he couldn't share secrets until she learned Occlumency? Did dragons even have Legillimensy? They would have to have intelligence if one raised him... wouldn't they? Merlin's fucking dicebag, how much did they not know about dragons?
"Is it dragons who are hunting you? Is that why you can't tell me everything?"
He smiled and shook his head. "No, no Svurtr would bother with a single pinkskin - human - unless he or she had offered great offense. Like, wiped out a clutch of eggs or something. Then that human would die, and that would be the end of it. No, it takes humans to rage about an idea."
"So it's humans who are out to kill you."
"A group of wizards and witches."
A group of wizards and witches out to kill... Death Eaters, most likely. She didn't think there were any other groups of witches and wizards who wanted to kill people, at least not in Britain. If that was so, then why would they want...
"Ohmyfuckinggodyou'reHarryPotter." It just came out. She hadn't even meant to say it out loud.
He looked at her for a long moment, and she was half-afraid he would do something to her. He'd said it was a secret for her protection and his, but would he... what? Obliviate her? She supposed he could. Would he? Would she mind, really?
He sighed. "I should have seen that coming." He said sadly, "I'm sorry, but now I have to offer you an unpleasant choice, for both our sakes."
She didn't like the sound of that.
"On the one hand, I could use a memory charm and change that part of the conversation... but honestly that's no guarantee. You're very smart, Hermione, and would probably figure it out again in a matter of days."
"And on the other hand?" She was tensed, ready to run, but she really didn't like her chances. Even if she'd had two good knees, he was incredibly strong and nearly a foot taller than she was.
"On the other hand, you need Occlumantic shields. Unfortunately there's only one way to give you those shields, and it will still take days of hard practice. I'm so sorry, Hermione. I should have seen where this conversation was going. I said too much. I underestimated you, and for that I am truly sorry."
"Well that I'll let you be sorry for. Underestimating me, I mean. What's this other choice with the shields?"
"I really really think you should pick the memory charm option. The shields... that's permanent. I would have to change you. Permanently. It's not -"
"Change me? Change how? To be like you?" A wild hope surged through her. A chance to not be herself anymore? How on magic's green earth could she ever pass that up? That would be like getting everything she'd ever wanted, with dragon eyes and breath as a bonus.
"Yes, you would have to drink some of my blood. It would change you. It would hurt. You would scream."
"Then I'll scream. I'll hurt. I'll change. Just from the little I've told you, you should already know I want that more than anything."
"But... I like you. As you are." He sighed.
"I like you too, and you're already changed. So whatever is going to change, it isn't my mind or my personality, is it?"
"Maybe. I really don't know, since I was only a year old when it happened to me. Maybe it did change who I was. In any case, I'm not doing it tonight, so you'll have to sleep on it. I don't want to be responsible for you hating what I've done to you years from now." His face was wracked with worry and guilt. "It could affect your lifespan, it could affect your ability to have children, I don't know. Really, the memory charm might be the better option."
Okay, that was a fair point. She did want children someday. Wanted to live past thirty, too. "Will I still be able to learn to see and breathe from you even if we just do the memory charm?"
"Yes, of course. It will take a lot longer, but I would even if we didn't have a deal." He scraped his clawed fingers backward through his hair in a gesture of frustration, and she saw it. It was just a brief flash, but there was no mistaking it - A pale white scar on the right side of his forehead near the hairline - in the shape of a lightning bolt.
She crawled over to him in a flash, and before she knew it she had straddled him and pulled his hair back from the scar. "You really are." She whispered.
"Yes." He sighed. "I really am. And without Occlumantic shields, any death eater could pull that from your memory and hurt you to get to me."
She relaxed and sat on his knees. "Is that your main argument? The thing you're really afraid of?"
"Well yeah, I don't want anyone to hurt you to get to me."
She shook her head. "You haven't read up on their tactics then. It wouldn't matter whether I knew or not. If we're friends I'm still in danger. So are Luna and Neville, and they don't know."
"Shit! Really?"
"Death Eaters are evil, Dunc - Harry? Duncan. I should keep calling you Duncan."
"Yes. Please."
"Death Eaters are evil. They'd Apparate into my parents' house and make dad watch while they rape mum before they kill them both, just to flush me out, and by extension you. There's nothing anyone can do about it except kill them all. They believe that they are the only worthwhile lifeform on the planet and that everything and everyone else are only here to be their slaves and playthings."
He drew a deep breath and looked down at his lap. "I...They really are an Affliction. I won't let anyone threaten you or Luna or Neville. Nor your families."
"I've read about Legillimensy. I don't look people in the eyes anyway, except for you. You already know I won't tell anyone. You're safe with me, Harry. Safe as can be, anyway. Safety is an illusion."
He quirked one corner of his mouth into a lopsided grin and looked up at her through raised eyebrows.
She couldn't help but smile. "Yeah I know. See you back here tomorrow after lunch?" It was a Saturday so there weren't any classes to get in the way.
He raised his arms and pulled her closer to him, and took a deep breath while buried in her neck.
"Yeah, okay. Sleep well."
He stood up and let her slide down his body to touch down on the floor gently.
"You too." She said. "Thank you, by the way."
He frowned. "For what?"
"For being you to me." She smiled. She felt heat creeping up her face again, so she cast her nondetections and hurried from the room back to her hideyhole.
She had some serious thinking to do.