Chapter 11
"Bloddy Hell!" Ron spurted.
"Hi everyone," Hermione announced meekly unsure of how to explain their sudden appearance. She decided to leave it to Harry. She didn't think she could find a very logical way to explain how they just appeared inside the Library with all the anit-appararition wards that were in place.
"Harry? Hermione? Did you just apparate in?" asked Draco.
"No, there're anti-apparition wards all over this place. Even mum and dad or anyone can't apparate inside the house. The only apparition safe place is outside the property," explained Ginny.
"Oh, I remember what it is then," Lavender exclaimed. "You leapt!"
Harry smiled at Lavender. She wasn't at all a brainless blonde that everyone at Hogwarts assumed her to be. "Yes."
Lavender and Ginny squealed as the boys looked at them as if they'd lost their minds.
"Mate, do you mean that Merlin leapt you and Hermione in and out of the Library?"
"No, Ron, I mean that I leapt Hermione and I in and out of the library." Ginny and Lavender grabbed Hermione and started to bombard her with questions. How did it feel? Was it scary? Was it fun? They rambled on and on. Neville and Draco still looked confused because they hadn't heard of the term before.
"Harry, will you explain what this leaping is?" Neville pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Neville. Of course I will, but you all must swear to secrecy about what I am about to tell you. It's for your own safety as well as mine I assure you."
Nevilled agreed, but Draco was a bit hesitant. He didn't think he should listen to what Harry had to say for his sake as well as Harry's. He knew that if he was ever caught by death eaters or confronted by his father he didn't know how well he could protect his mind from all the knowledge he was learning in the care of Dumbledore and Harry.
"Maybe, I should go to my room while you explain this."
"What are you talking about? I trust you." Harry tried to assuage his worries.
"It's not that Harry. I know you must trust me when you allowed me to continue seeing Ginny, but I still haven't forgotten where I come from Harry. There is still a chance everything I hear or see can be used against you against my will of course. I am doing this for you as much as for me. I don't trust myself enough if and when the time comes to keep myself from saying everything I know about you. The less I know about what you can do, the better."
"Draco, how can you say that!" Ginny blurted out after she and Lavender quieted down.
"I'm sorry, love, but I am just telling Harry the truth. I have so far succeeded only in deceiving my father about where I am and about us, but in times of war and torture, I don't know if I can hold up to anything those maniacs would dish out."
"But, then that will go for the rest of us as well," Hermione tried to convince him. "We are all learning to fight against Voldemort and we are all here because fate has brought us here. We all have the same worries Draco, and I am sure Harry does as well," she smiled up at Harry to check if she spoke the truth about some of his fears.
"She's right you know," Ron added. "I don't think I'd ever thought of anything quite in that context, but I know that being Harry's friend puts me in danger as well as being potentially used to hurt Harry in a lot of ways that I don't think I could ever dream of. But you have to understand; our friendship means more to me that being hurt or used in order to get to him. The bond between us has gone beyond mere friendship; he's like a brother to me. And although we haven't been friends for long, you are bonded to us because of our destinies. Everyone in this room is very special to me," he paused a moment, looked at Lavender then each and every one of them in the room who was listening to him intently. "I know in my heart that I will do my best to protect him as well as anyone in this room and will not do it without a fight."
Harry was touched by Ron's sentiment. He knew there were times that Ron resented his money and fame, but he also knew he could never doubt where Ron's loyalty lied. He was a true friend in every sense of the word. More than a friend, he was his brother, part of his ever-growing family. He tried to peek into their feelings, but stopped himself before he could. He was going to go about learning how they feel the old fashion way: talk it out.
Ron's words made Lavender's heart flutter. She had to give him a hug and kiss. Ron blushed at her actions, but looked to Harry for help. Harry looked at him as if to say, "You're on your own with her."
"Okay, here's the deal. Whether I tell you or whether you learn of anything from someone else, the knowledge that you gain within these walls and from the training and our personal conversations are all potentially a weapon to be wielded not only against you or me, but also against the whole wizarding world that are against Voldemort. So it doesn't really matter much if you hear what I have to say. I am putting my trust in all of you not only because of our destinies, but because you are my friends, part of my family, which I didn't really have since I started to attend Hogwarts. So for better or for worse, you will have to share the burden that was thrust upon me at the age of one and if I have any say in it, I would like us to overcome this burden together as friends, as a team and most of all as a family. I believe that is the only way we can come out on top."
"Oh, all right. Tell me about it already!" Draco answered him almost angrily. He was afraid. He didn't know if he could live up to his destiny. He'd never had to work for anything so important in his life. Everything was either given to him or his father would take care of his problems for him. He'd never had a chance to work out anything for himself until he started seeing Ginny, until all the stuff about the prophecy happened. Now he was more frightened of failing these new friends even more than he had feared failing his father.
"Okay, I think some of you have heard me say something about leaping before." He saw some nods except from Neville and Draco. "Leaping is a form of travel, like apparating. However, there've been little known about it because the power is so rare, even in my family tree, that it hadn't been used for hundreds of years until now. I am the first since Merlin to have attempted and succeeded in leaping - going from one place to another. The anti-apparition ward does not apply because it doesn't need an apparition point, I could actually go anywhere as long as I could picture it in my mind's eye. It's like what the house elves use to travel, but I believe with a slight difference."
He looked at them and found that they were much too interested in what he had to say to notice that it was dinnertime. Even Ron who was fond of food did not notice when the clock struck six. Harry continued.
"As I was saying, there are differences in a way that the house elves can only transport themselves, but in leaping I can transport more than one person or leap someone to where I am."
"Harry, would you mind going back to your connection with Merlin. I believe I missed that part." Draco politely put in.
"Sorry, Draco. I forgot you weren't in the room when I first related the story. All you need to know is that I am a descendant of Merlin on my father's side. That is all I know. I have been training with Merlin since last year and have been learning things about me and my family that I am very proud of."
"No wonder you could do so many things." Draco let out dryly. It was as if he was a bit jealous not for the fact that Harry could do so many things, but for the fact that he had descendants that he could be proud of.
"Draco, you also have a lot of family that you could be proud of. One of your relatives from your mom's side was headmaster at Hogwarts at one time. Also, Sirius who is your mom's cousin was a very good man." He swallowed the lump that gathered in his throat. He thought he'd be able to mention Sirius's name without feeling so emotional, but he found he still couldn't.
He noticed at the same time he mentioned Sirius' name there was an odd feeling that reached him. He knew it wasn't his own. It brought him back to that night when he'd awaken with a jolt to feel such an overwhelming feeling of someone who was very disturbed, lonely and afraid. He opened his empath powers a bit to sense the people around him, but none of those feelings were coming from any of them. He tried searching beyond the library and he couldn't feel anyone nearby with the same feelings. It came and went like a flash of light. He tuned the others out again, but let himself open to anything and anyone that wasn't already present in the home.
"Is something wrong Harry?" Hermione asked obvious concern in her voice.
"I don't know. I just had the strangest feeling after I mentioned Sirius."
"I know you still miss him, Harry. All of us who knew him still miss him, except for maybe Snape." Ron tried to lighten the mood a bit.
"How do you guys know so much of where I come from?" Draco asked very interested.
"Well, you see we had a chance to see the Black family tree at one time and well, your mum was on there. She used to be Narcissa Black," Ginny explained gently.
"And, I don't know if it will make any difference, but you are somewhat related to Tonks and very distantly related to Ginny and Ron," Hermione added.
"What? Are we doing something bad then?" Draco asked almost disgusted at being with someone who might be closely related to him.
"Well, no. You two are safe. There isn't much blood connection left between the two of you." Hermione told them and there was a sigh of relief from Draco.
"So, anyway, Draco you need not worry about your descendants being all bad. There are a few good fruits from your family tree; I think you are also distantly related to Neville here. Most pure bloods are you know." Hermione added.
"Thanks, but back to leaping." Draco almost sounded like the old Draco. He was just a bit overwhelmed with all the information he'd received. How could he not know where his own family came from. He knew that his mum was from the Black family, but he didn't know that there were more connections than what was told. His father conveniently left out all the good people that were from his family tree. He felt as if he was the first to go away from the family tradition so to speak.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I think I just feel stupid about thinking I was the only one that was going to move over to the good side of the family tradition of dark magic."
"Don't worry about it. It seemed that everyone who did not follow the path were conveniently removed from the family tree. Anyway, back to leaping. Today was the first time I've tried to leap someone other than me to anywhere. We were at Fincayra."
"Where?" asked Neville.
"It's a land where Merlin is from. He's half Fincayran and half human. His father was ruler there for a while until he was pulled to the dark side by some type of spell and was killed when he was trying to compensate for all the wrong he'd done to Merlin and his family. Merlin's mum was human. She'd been welcomed to Fincayra and was known to be a healer. Anyway, Fincayra is where he spends most of his time after his destiny was fulfilled. It seems the seven songs of wizardy can be found there."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.
"Well, that the songs were never really written down. It was only passed down verbally from generation to generation. It was lost during the last few generations when one of the descendants was unable to pass it down to his heir. Since the songs were not passed, they were lost until another descendant can find it once again."
"Well, that settles it, Harry." Ron said in a serious tone. " You're the one who has to find it or else we're all doomed, but hey no pressure, okay." He smiled to soften the obvious yoke that Harry had to bear on his own.
They all looked at him expectantly knowing that even if they tried to help him find the songs, ultimately it was Harry who needed to find the songs in order for them to continue to try to decipher the meanings before they had to battle Voldemort.
"You know we'll help you anyway we can, but the only clue we were given was that it would be found within the walls of arbassa." Hermione reminded him.
"What's Arbassa?" asked Neville.
"It's a giant oak tree where Merlin's sister Rhia lived."
"She lived on a tree."
"No, more like in the tree." There was a collective "Oh."
"Well, Harry, maybe you can leap us all to Fincayra and we could help you find the songs," Ron suggested.
"Well, yes, but the only problem is I'd have to leap you one at a time or practice with one more person each time. I've tried leaping Hermione and myself, so I should practice with three and we'll add on each time. I don't want to try to leap you without me because there is still a chance you will end up in a different place than intended. It's happened to Merlin before when he was still new to leaping, so I don't want to take any chances. Agreed?"
They all nodded in agreement. They were all excited and fearful at the same time. They'd tried floo and some had tried portkey travel, but leaping was something quite new for all of them except Harry and Hermione. They agreed to let Ron go next with Harry and Hermione.
A/N: Thank you for all the positive response. Hope you liked this chapter just as much as the previous one. I was just wondering about the one review to asking me to finish the book already. I do apologize for not posting the chapters as often as I did the first one. You have to understand that the first one was a completed story whereas this one is still in the process of being finished. I usually incorporate a few suggestions into my stories especially on how to improve it, so please be patient. Thank you.