Unofficial Portkey Archive

Wrapped in a thick cloak on a chilly day in early January, Luna sat on a large rock by the lake at Hogwarts. Her long blonde hair blew lazily in the breeze and a few strands fell in front of her face causing her to continuously push them out of the way. She appeared to be very calm on the outside, looking to be only enjoying the snowy weather, but Luna was deep in thought.

Since Ginny's prediction and collapse at Hogwarts before Christmas, Luna had been wondering if something was amiss. The way Ginny had reacted to her, almost as if out of fear, had broken something in Luna but she made it seem like she didn't notice. It was a gift of Luna's, to hide her emotions and act unfazed by everything that came at her. A gift that sometimes was almost too much to bear because she was always expected to be a certain way.

Luna sighed softly and shook her head. I hate being categorized into something I'm not, thought.

Luna Lovegood may be loony but she wasn't stupid. She could sense that something bad was going to happen soon. Ginny knew what but the two hadn't spoken in weeks. Luna had sent Ginny a Christmas gift and received one in return but a simple note with it saying "Happy Christmas" had been the only thing with it, no sign of oddities at all.

But it wasn't only Ginny's strange behavior toward Luna, there was also the sudden increase in security around Hogwarts. Extra wards had been placed around the castle, patrolling at night had been increased, and the number of guards had gone up as well at every possible entrance to the castle.

Luna was starting to feel anxious and worried. Not for her safety, but for Ron's. Luna had a feeling that whatever was going to happen, her Ronald would be involved. This is the last thing she wanted to have happen, she wanted no harm to ever come to Ron, she had tried too hard to be with him. But now it seemed like everything was pointing to her and she was worried.

Nothing could happen to Ron, she cared for him too deeply. Luna sighed slightly and a slight tear rolled down her cheek. She would do everything in her power to try and protect Ron. He could not know her fear though, she would remain like she always did around him.

"Luna!" she heard Ron shout from across the grounds.

Luna turned and smiled, waving vaguely at him. It was time to be Loony Lovegood again, no more emotions getting in her way.

………………………..

Draco swept angrily down the corridor not for the first time at Illustris. This time though, he seemed more angry then usual. The few portraits on the wall whispered excitedly to each other and several occupants left their portraits to go tell more of their friends. The portraits loved gossip and what was better then talking about the Heir of Slytherin?

Draco's anger though was directed at one person and one person alone. Albus Dumbledore. Only Dumbledore could cause Draco to act in a way that let his emotions show so obviously.

For the past few months, Draco had been getting his individual lessons on telepathy from Dumbledore. Every Saturday, the day Dumbledore came to teach all four Heirs the special power of wandless magic, Draco would go to him a few hours before to learn how to control and use telepathy. Unlike the other Heirs who received their individual training every other day, Draco simply had to be trained more hours in one day. It was starting to get very annoying as he found his Saturday's to be completely full with lessons.

Draco would have enjoyed his lessons, he found the art of telepathy to be extremely fascinating and had been excited to learn that he possessed the gift. Once he learned of Dumbledore being his teacher though, Draco no longer was as thrilled to be attending the lessons. Dumbledore was a very powerful and talented wizard, anyone else would have jumped for joy to have him as their private teacher, but Draco despised it with all his heart.

Draco had a deep grudge against Dumbledore, a grudge that would not go away with ease. The blonde Slytherin still held the Headmaster of Hogwarts responsible for the death of his beloved sister, Rose. No matter how much Harry, Hermione, and Ginny said about Dumbledore not being behind her death and no matter how much Dumbledore himself tried to convince Draco of his deep sorrow for the death of someone so young, Draco could not convince himself to forgive the old wizard.

Dumbledore was easy to blame, being the leader of an order caused this to happen all too often. The Four Heirs suddenly showing up just after Voldemort rose again and then the immediate start of training, Dumbledore right away proclaiming that the Four Heirs' strength and power was needed for the Light to win had been all the convincing that Draco had needed. Dumbledore knew of the Prophecy of Merlin, he knew who the destined Four Heirs were, he knew everything. Wasn't it possible that he had caused everything? Wasn't it possible that all the suffering had started with him?

Draco knew that Hermione had even doubted Dumbledore for a while, her grief so great. Harry and Ginny had never thought it to be the Headmaster though.

"Of course Precious Potter would never believe it was Dumbledore," Draco muttered as he continued walking.

For the first time though, he wasn't particularly bitter toward his former enemy. Draco could actually understand why Harry backed up the old wizard so much, the man had done more for Harry in the past few years than anyone else, despite the mess in fifth year. Draco growled when he realized what he was thinking, he was growing soft.

No matter what he thought of Harry now, Draco would never change his opinion of Dumbledore. Well, maybe he would change his opinion but it would take a long time. And who else could gain from the Four Heirs revealing themselves? Voldemort and the Dark side?

Draco shook his head. No, he thought, it can't be Voldemort? Or could it? Maybe. Maybe the Dark Lord has some other plan that no one knows of. And then there are those mirrors to consider…..

The Passim Mirrors. The intriguing yet intimidating mirrors Draco was so fascinated with. His plan would take place once training was completed. But what would Harry, Hermione, and Ginny say once they knew? Would they hate him for it or wait for the truth?

Draco sighed, he would just have to wait and see. In his mind though, he could almost see the ultimate hurt in Ginny's brown eyes. Why did he care so much for her? Why? Draco would never fully be able to understand the entire situation between him and Ginny but he knew one thing, he was slowly falling for her. The idea scared him half to death. Loving a Weasley was forbidden. But did he really care anymore about what the Malfoy name and upholding it's reputation?

"No," he whispered, "I don't."

The finality with which he spoke these words shocked him but he knew that it was the truth. He didn't care anymore. He was proud to be a Malfoy but the name only stretched so far for him now.

Maybe I'll tell her, he thought. Not just yet, but soon.

The decision finally made, Draco continued on with his silent walk down the corridor to Dumbledore's study. The "study" was technically a classroom on the ground floor that Dumbledore had changed into his personal study for his weekly visits to Illustris.

Draco reached the entrance to the study and knocked twice on the polished oak door before entering. The room was oval shaped and the far wall was a floor to ceiling window. A dark red curtain was currently pulled over the window but was thin enough to allow the early afternoon light in. The floor was polished oak, like the door, but was covered in many Oriental rugs. To Draco's right were several bookshelves overflowing with many large, old tomes. Before him were many smaller, spindly tables which were holding up many odd, silver instruments. To his left, was a large desk stacked with parchment, books, quills, and other odd items. And behind the desk in a large chair, sat none other than Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Come in, Mister Malfoy. Please take a seat." Dumbledore gestured to a plush purple chair in front of his desk.

Draco took a seat, slouching slightly, and studied his Headmaster through narrowed eyes. Dumbledore had his hands folded on the desk and was peering at Draco over his half-mooned spectacles, his blue eyes alight with mischief. But Draco immediately noticed the dark circles under those sharp eyes and how the wrinkles of his face appeared to be deeper. He looked as if he was aging ten years each week, an obvious cause of the Second War and how much more of a threat Voldemort was becoming.

After staring at each other in silence for several minutes, cool gray on warm blue, Dumbledore shifted in his chair and leaned forward.

"Well Draco, have you been practicing the past week like I've asked you to?" he asked kindly.

Draco snorted and raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?" he snapped back rudely.

Dumbledore sighed deeply and almost hurtfully, though he chose not to respond to the comment.

"I shall take that answer as a yes. So, it is time to move forward with the lesson plan." The Headmaster shifted through some papers on his desk and extracted one, looking it over quickly before setting it back down.

"Wand out, Draco," he said as he stood up.

Draco stood up as well and pulled his wand out of his pocket, curiosity suddenly taking over. Never before had Dumbledore asked him to bring his wand out for a lesson, the use of telepathy didn't normally require it.

With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore moved the tiny tables sitting in the middle of the room off to the side. As they faced each other, Draco was reminded strongly of the Heirs' Occlumency lessons with Snape.

"Now, I have been teaching you how to perform telepathy for the past few weeks," Dumbledore began, "but you've only been taught how to use it when you are faced with another telepathic. There is a complex spell though, that allows a telepathic to enter the mind of and communicate with a non telepathic. There are side effects to this spell though and never forget these." Dumbledore gave the blonde Slytherin a warning look before continuing.

"The use of this spell drains the wizard or witch who uses it of a great amount of their magical power. You are battling to control your own telepathy powers while at the same time trying to keep your opponent's mind open. It is very effective when trying to discern the battle plans of the other side but the opponent knows their mind is being entered and they fight it. Usually only very powerful witches and wizards are able to uphold the connection for several minutes, at the risk of being incapable to perform any more magic for at least an hour."

He paused again and saw that Draco was looking at him with a wide-eyed expression. Nodding at the young wizard, Dumbledore continued with the explanation.

"You, of course, are an exception to this rule. Because you are an Heir, the Heir of Slytherin no less, who was a powerful telepathic, you are able to maintain the connection much longer. The reduction of your magical power will also not be as great, though you will notice that you will only be performing small hexes for several minutes afterwards. I suggest that if you use this spell in the Final Battle, that you make sure you are fairly well hidden from your opponent."

Draco, as usual, said nothing and simply waited for more instructions on the matter. In any normal situation, this explanation would've bored him but he knew the importance of listening to this. Hadn't Granger ground that fact into his head enough already?

"So that is the explanation behind this complex spell, but now you need to know the spell," Dumbledore finished. "Repeat after me. Validus colligatio."

"Validus colligatio," Draco repeated in a slightly monotone voice.

Dumbledore smiled. "Good, very good. Now there is the hand motion." He quickly performed a circular motion followed by a flick of the wand that went up then down. Draco followed the motion and did it perfectly.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore exclaimed, looking happier. "You have the language and the movement done but you still need to combine them and then put all of your magical energy behind it, then the spell shall be complete."

"Professor," Draco spoke quietly, "how am I supposed to perform the spell on you if you are already telepathic?"

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore replied, nodding, "good question. Though the spell is used more on non telepathics, it can be used on a telepathic to increase the connection. It will do me no harm."

Draco curled his lip a bit at this statement but gave a curt nod. He raised his wand, preparing himself for Dumbledore to say the word.

"Wand ready?" the Headmaster affirmed. "NOW!"

"Validus colligatio!" Draco yelled, forcing all of his concentration onto his wand tip and into projecting the spell forward.

A brilliant flare of white light shot from his wand and hit Dumbledore square in the chest, who put up no resistance and didn't even falter. The glowing light encircled him before another beam shot back and hit Draco. He stumbled but managed to keep his grip on his wand. Once the connection was made, the light faded and only a thin shield could be seen around Dumbledore. Within seconds, Draco heard a voice inside his head.

I knew you would get it on the first try, the voice said proudly.

Draco gritted his teeth in annoyance and responded back. Thank you, Professor.

A soft laugh filled his head and Draco felt his annoyance growing. He truly despised this man. Before he could make a snobby comment, Draco flinched as he felt a significant drainage in his power.

Pull your wand up, Dumbledore said into his head, obviously noticing the discomfort.

Not wanting to obey Dumbledore but also not wanting to drain anymore of his power, Draco pulled his wand up with great force and the connection was instantly broken. The shield disappeared and emptiness filled Draco's mind. He had never been more appreciative of silence.

"You did a wonderful job, Draco. Your powers as an Heir are truly beginning to show." Dumbledore gave him a tired smile and made his way back to his desk.

Draco was shaking slightly with suppressed rage. He couldn't hold back his tongue any longer.

"I don't care," he whispered slowly.

Dumbledore sat in his chair before giving the young man a serious look, though his back was still turned.

"Why do you say that, Mister Malfoy?" he replied calmly.

"You know why!" Draco yelled, spinning around and glaring hatefully at Dumbledore. He started pounding his fists on the desk, the whole room vibrating with his screams of rage.

"You killed my sister, you old crackpot! You killed her to make me reveal my powers just so I could become a part of your little army, just so I could join the Light side and fight for you! It's all your fault that she's dead and nothing is ever going to change my opinion of that! I don't care anymore! I'm done with this!"

Breathing hard, Draco stood up straight, trying to calm himself down. Never before had he shown such a powerful rage of emotion. He didn't count when his sister had died because then the tears had been forced from his body. This was the first time that he had been under no control and had just let everything out. And for some strange reason, it felt good.

Dumbledore had no sign of shock on his face, only complete sadness. He idly twirled his wand in his fingers and just stared at the seething Draco, who was currently clenching and unclenching his fists.

"If this is the way you feel, Draco," he said, "then there is nothing I can do to reverse your opinion. I am requesting that you continue your lessons with me though, you must learn all the skills of telepathy and wandless magic and no one else is able to teach you these at the present time. As much as you hate me, Mister Malfoy, you must put your personal feelings aside and work with me. That is all I ask of you."

Draco snorted and continued to glare, his mind reeling. "No," he stated simply.

Dumbledore just watched him, no expression or twinkle in his eyes now. "Mister Malfoy, I am going to have to insist. You will continue your lessons with me."

Draco put his voice down to a deadly whisper and leaned forward to emphasize his next point. "I'd like to see you enforce that."

With one last glare, Draco turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he left the room. Dumbledore closed his eyes in distress and put his hands over his face.

"Why must you do this to me, Draco?" he muttered, a small tear of grief running down his cheek.

The Heir of Slytherin was drifting further and further away.

.......................

Author's Note: Yes! I have another chapter up! And much sooner than my last one. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I wanted to focus on the anger Draco feels toward Dumbledore. I know it's weird for him to be so angry but he has his own reasons for it, as you saw within the chapter. I am so thankful for all the wonderful reviews I've gotten from everyone! I appreciate them so much! I'll try and write the next chapter as quick as possible, I'd love to get this story done soon, lol. So, please review and I'll update again soon!
Btw, the term Validus colligatio is two Latin words I put together. They mean "telling" and "connection" which I thought explained telepathy fairly well. :)
Much Love,
PhoenixFirebolt