A/N: I originally had thought not to include the Draco/Lucius scene, but the little muse in my head got the better of me, so in it goes. For posterity sake, I was listening to "Gollum's Song" from the Two Towers soundtrack while writing it. Just seemed to fit.
I replied to the reviewer who raised this concern, but I'll go ahead and address it here as well. Hermione will NOT, I repeat, will NOT be getting pregnant in this fic anytime soon. It would seriously detract from everything else going on (and lord knows there's a lot going on here). In fact the only reason I ended the fluffy scene the way I did is because they've spent the last four and a half months (in their time) with no one but each other (other than the elves, but we won't even go there) so it makes sense that the feelings they already had for one another would be amplified.
Chapter 18: Juxtaposition
The plethora of emotions swirling through Draco Malfoy's head were leaving him quite flustered. There was still disbelief at accepting the truth, that his whole life story had been a lie up to that point. But this was quickly fading away with each downward glance and heart-worn stare. This disbelief was quickly being supplanted with a new emotion, hatred.
Slowly but surely the look on his face began to change. It went from looking like he had unexpectedly been hit by a stunner to one of increasing fury. Lucius apparently couldn't sense the oncoming storm, continuing to glance down at the table in disillusioned horror. "Draco....I don't really know what to say...." he tried to explain. Bad choice of words that was.
"Is that so," Draco began, clinching his fist in frustration. "Perhaps you should start with why in the name of Merlin you decided to lie to me my whole life. Maybe you should start with why you taught me all of those things about muggleborns and halfbloods being pathetic and worthless. Were you talking about me...father." He spat out the word father, as if it pained him to say it.
"I never thought about you that way Draco," Lucius forcefully stated, showing more fire than he had the entire time he had been in Azkaban. "I have always known that you would be destined for great things."
"THEN WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME!!!" Draco asked fervently, slamming his fist down on the table. "If I was always destined for these great things you talk about, then what was the harm in telling me the truth!?"
"It's....complicated. I couldn't very well expose the truth while your grandfather was still alive....he would have disowned me. And....with everything that went on...it was easier to live a lie than face the truth." Draco scowled at his father, who had been reduced to a sniveling wreck of a man. Any hint of the man whom Draco had spent his life emulating had been utterly and completely destroyed.
"That's no excuse," Draco said in a low tone. He paused a moment before asking, "Does the woman I called mother know about this?" Lucius silently nodded his head, and Draco frowned. He hung his head in anger....and in shame. Shame at what his father had been reduced to. Shame at himself for everything he had ever said or done in the name of pureblood supremacy. It was hard not to consider himself a falsehood, nothing more than a walking, breathing, fully functional lie. Glaring up at his father, he asked in an even lower tone, "What was her name?"
Lucius did not look up from the spot on the floor he was staring at intently. "Who's name?"
"My mothers..." Draco replied fiercely, closing his eyes in scorn. "My birth mother's name."
Lucius didn't move, but responded flatly, "I didn't know her full name....just what Caliban told me. Her last name was Breyerson....aside from that I don't know." Draco nodded, filing the name away for later use should he ever need it. Once more he examined his father, the last part of his youthful soul searching for any small part of the noble yet callous man whom Draco related to more than anyone in the world. Finding none of this, he lowered his head, staring intently at the table for a long time. One other emotion crossed into his mind, one that he did not expect to feel at this particular moment in time...gratitude towards Caliban for telling him the truth, despite his hand in the plot.
Draco sighed, and slowly stood up, making his way to leave. It was at this that Lucius finally stared up at his son, a pleading look on his face.
"Please son....forgive me for what I've done. I--I see now that I should have told you the truth....and I promise to you that I'll..." he was interrupted by the death gaze that came from his son, as Draco whirled around to regard Lucius, tears glimmering in his eyes.
"Caliban was right," he said, fighting back the emotions, "This place does make a person brutally honest. I see you for what you are....an empty shell of a human being." He turned away, before adding, "Goodbye father...enjoy your new life." At that he walked out of the room, leaving Lucius Malfoy stunned speechless for the second time that day...and the final time of his life.
/ - / - / - /
15 months into training
"Expelliarmus!"
"Caecus!"
"Diffindo!"
"Wingardium Leviosa!!!"
Harry Potter was a bit beside himself as he tried to break out of his current predicament. He grew red with embarrassment while Hermione just laughed, holding him within the confines of the levitation charm.
"Oy, this is not funny," Harry said with a mock scowl on his face. Hermione got a smirk as she waved her wand around a bit, jostling him around. Harry got a smirk on his face in response, and silently sent a curse of his own creation towards Hermione. Almost immediately he was rewarded with a sharp thud on the ground as he landed, while Hermione was trying to deal with the break-dancing curse that Harry had invented out of nowhere, seemingly. "Bet you wish you hadn't taught me arithmancy now, hadn't you," Harry mocked, watching Hermione spin on her head on the ground, and trying incredibly hard not to laugh out loud.
"Watch yourself Harry!" Hermione said, finally breaking out of the curse. She extended her hand in an exaggerated motion, something which took Harry by surprise momentarily. He tried to duck once he realized what was happening, but couldn't move out of the way fast enough. A helmet from a suit of armor in the corner of the dueling room came flying towards Hermione, smacking Harry in the back of the head. With a groan Harry fell forward, holding his head in pain. Hermione stared down at him, making sure he was okay at first, before smirking at him. Harry for his part just looked up at her and shook his head.
"What is that, five times in a row?" he asked.
"Six," Hermione replied in a singsong voice that annoyed Harry to no end.
"Hey, that first one didn't count. Winky helped you!"
"Anything Goes...remember? Besides, you beat me four times today, so I'd say we're even." Harry shrugged as Hermione helped him up to his feet. Dusting himself off, he walked over and grabbed a small vial of potion, downing it in one gulp to cure his oncoming headache. Laughing to himself, he turned around, sheathing his wand in his holster. Hermione walked over to him, doing the same.
"I hope that you aren't giving up just because I keep beating you," she cheekily said. In all her life Hermione never would have given herself to being any kind of flirt, but the year long stay with Harry had caused her to become much more open and capable of expressing her sense of humor. Harry found it refreshing as well, and the two of them had become even closer in the ensuing months since Harry's idea for a Yule Ball redux. As their relationship grew more intimate, they each found the things that drove the other one mad....be it in the throes of passion or just in a normal day.
Harry smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her neck. Placing a small kiss on her forehead, he stared directly at her. "Just tired for today. We've been at it since this morning....let's get something to eat." Hermione smiled back and nodded, returning his affectionate gesture. Separating themselves temporarily, they intertwined their fingers and made their way towards the dining room. About halfway their, Hermione broke away, stating that she should probably take a shower before dinner. Harry smiled and made an overly dramatic gesture in concurrence. The two parted ways, heading towards their respective showers to freshen up after a long hard day at work.
Hermione stood in the shower, letting the warm water wash over her. In her solitude she allowed herself to dwell on the year she had spent with Harry. In more ways than one it had been the best times of her life, a fact that she admitted both with a tinge of guilt and a sigh of relief. She could now look back on her parents with a sense of joy at the good times she had shared with them, something that Harry had helped with immensely both with occulumency training and with his creation of a pensieve for her to store those memories in. For some reason Harry seemed intent on its creation, though he didn't say why. Hermione didn't question him, though, trusting him to know what he was doing.
She was also surprised with her growth in terms of pure magical ability. She had long ago accepted that she was above average when it came to that department, but working with Harry seemed to increase that tenfold. It also helped that Harry was a natural teacher, relating to her in ways that made every concept, no matter how foreign, seem easier than it actually should have been. Once he had mastered all of the knowledge that the spirits of the founders had seen fit to endow him with, he too had become far more powerful in terms of overall ability.
Most pleasurable to her, however, was the growth they had experienced in their relationship. She had long ago placed Harry in the category of "best friend" and thusly as off limits to any type of romantic attachment, she had come to learn that she was simply denying herself based on her old standby views of herself. She thought herself as Plain Hermione Jane, as the girls in primary school used to call her, the bucktoothed, bushy-haired bookworm. Harry had help her overcome that label which she had internalized, and as a result she was open to more ideas as far as romantic relationships were concerned. It didn't hurt that Harry returned her feelings with just as much intensity either. although he seemed a bit nervous the last few days, he had become her constant companion, and Hermione very much doubted that it was possible for two people to be anymore in love.
Finishing her shower, she headed out of the bathroom and slipped into a fresh change of clothes. She was about to leave her room when Harry caught her in the hallway. "Hi," he said, partially out of breath. Hermione cocked an eyebrow, but said little about it. "I want to show you something I just found in one of the bedrooms," he said, waving her forward. Hermione shrugged her shoulders, smiling at his obvious excitement, and simply followed him.
They made their way to an unused bedroom at the end of the hallway. Harry quickly rushed into the room and went towards the opposite wall. Hermione initially didn't see anything different about the room; it had all the same furnishings as the other unused rooms in the mansion. The only difference was what Harry was pointing to, hanging on the wall. It was a tapestry of some type. Hermione looked forward, and her eyes went wide at what she saw.
At the bottom of the tapestry was clearly written in scarlet lettering "Harry James Potter." There was a golden, solid line that linked him up to a dotted line between the names "James Winston Potter" and "Lily Rose Evans Potter." She remembered seeing this same thing in Grimmauld Place and she gasped at what it was. It was the Potter Family Tapestry.
"Harry, this is..." she said in awestruck fashion, as she slowly approached the fragile cloth. Cautiously she ran her fingers softly across the names, tracing the lines upward. The tapestry traced upwards several different directions, but it was four lines she followed with interest. The first led directly to Harry's father James, up from James' great-grandfather Gavin Potter, and all the way up to Godric Gryffindor. At Gavin, there was another line that went up as far, this time from Gavin's wife's side. She followed the line of Nellie Draven straight up to Salazar Slytherin.
From Lily's side she saw the line come to a witch named Maggie Seldon. From there the line split up two ways, going from Evangeline Warrens up to Helga Hufflepuff, and from Jacob Seldon to Rowena Ravenclaw. She stared at the names of the four founders, as if physically confirming everything she already knew to be true.
"This is my family," Harry said with a degree of reverence, and Hermione turned to see a small tear seeping out of the corner of his eye. She knew more than anything he had always wanted a family, to prove that he belonged to some lineage, and though many of the issues he had growing up with the Dursley's had been laid to rest in the year long sabbatical they had taken from the rest of the world, occasionally they would still rise to the surface. Instinctively Hermione grabbed Harry by the shoulder, and Harry nodded his head as a sign that he was alright at the moment. Clearing his throat, he turned to Hermione, the joy still apparent in his eyes, though there was something else entirely lingering just below the surface.
"All my life," he began, not allowing Hermione to inquire about his hidden depth of emotion, "I've only wanted one thing....a family. You, Hermione, have been a part of that family since the moment you came into a train compartment looking for a lost toad." Hermione's breath caught as a fleeting thought passed through her mind. He couldn't be possibly....
"And despite everything that's happened between us....or rather everything that's happened to us." His face darkened slightly before he continued on. "We have remained the best of friends...and now I think I can safely say we both love each other. I know I certainly do."
"Of course I love you," Hermione quietly said with a smile on her face, her own emotional control beginning to fail her, "And I'm overjoyed you consider me part of your family."
Harry smirked, fishing around in his pocket for something. Hermione's eyes caught this motion, and she gasped as her thoughts were proven right by his next motion.
"Actually, I hope it's more than just consideration," Harry solemnly stated, falling down to one knee and holding out a small box towards Hermione. Flawlessly he opened the box, revealing a large cut diamond with alternating emerald and topaz stones surrounding it in a circular motion. "Hermione...nothing would make my family more complete, and nothing would make me more happier...than if you were a part of it permanently." He swallowed a bit as he finally concluded, "Hermione Granger....will you marry me?"
Hermione choked back a sob as she smiled broadly. Nodding her head, she brought an even wider smile to Harry's face as he slipped the ring onto her finger. "Oh Harry," she excitedly said, "Of course I will!" With that the two embraced fervently, and kissed each other with equal passion. And though they weren't in the room at the time, the portrait of James and Lily Potter couldn't help but smile.
Neither one of them noticed either, but a small scarlet thread wrote Hermione's name on the Potter Family Tapestry right next to Harry's, the two joined by another golden embroidery.
/ - / - / - /
Caliban de Montesquieu sat in the living room of his safehouse, meditating as usual. His confrontation with his father had left him partially drained, and he needed to recharge his mental energies. This was also because of the rather taxing conversation he had with Lord Voldemort that same day, as he had received new instructions from his master.
Something more about the conversation with Voldemort had him at odds with himself. Voldemort appeared to not quite be himself. It wasn't anyone thing that he could pinpoint, but something about him was...off. Caliban had shrugged it off, and chose not to focus on the imperfection.
Deep down in his heart of hearts he knew what was going on, but much like his father would in similar circumstances...he chose to ignore the obvious when it didn't suit his purposes.
A rather loud pop appeared in front of him, and Caliban opened his eyes to see Draco Malfoy appear before him, returned from his visit to Azkaban. Almost instantly Caliban could tell that Draco had learned the truth first hand. He chuckled to himself, wondering exactly what Azkaban had done to the haughty Lucius Malfoy.
No matter, he told himself, it was time to gain more of the boy's trust.
"Hello," Caliban calmly said, greeting Malfoy as he slumped down on the couch, not staring at anything in particular. Caliban got up from the floor and sat across the table from him, staring intently at Draco. Quietly Caliban sent a weak mental probe towards Draco...only to have it swatted away automatically. It brought a smile to Caliban's face.
"You were right," Draco flatly said....his face not changing from its stoic state. "I'm a...half blood." He winced as he said it, as if he were reliving the truth of it all over again. Slowly he lowered his head, a few tears leaking out of his eyes, but through it all he maintained a somewhat controlled appearance, despite the raging inferno of emotion that was likely going on beneath the surface.
Just what Caliban wanted.
"You are," he firmly stated. "But that means little in the long run."
"Easy for you to say!" Draco finally exploded, staring at Caliban with righteous fury. "My whole life has been nothing but one huge lie. Everything I ever knew, everything I was ever taught is nothing but one fucking lie!" Draco sat there fuming...before he finally whispered..."I hate my father. I hate everything he's become."
"You were right the first time," Caliban countered, causing Draco to stare at him ferociously. "That is to say, you don't hate what he's become. You hate him. Pure and simple, no additional qualifiers needed." After several moments, Caliban leaned forward, staring Draco in the eye, despite the fact that he was staring off into the corner of the room.
"But regardless of that, you do appreciate one thing that Lucius Malfoy did stand for...the ascent of power. There is one universal truth in this world Draco, there exists only those who gain power and those who are too weak to seek it. And I know for a fact that you are not weak.
"And now is your chance to prove it." he continued, causing Draco to stare at him. "We have received new orders from the Dark Lord. We are to attempt to smoke out Potter the same way we managed to smoke him out the first time." Draco looked down, trying to figure out what that meant. When he reached his conclusion, he glanced up at Caliban.
"Weasley?" he simply asked. Caliban nodded in affirmation.
"Your father has been reduced to what he truly always was, a sniveling coward. Prove that you are not him. Prove that you are Draco Malfoy....one of the powerful."
A/N: This is the action scene I promised at the end of training (which will come in the next chapter), so the next one will be rather big in terms of length....unless I decide to split it up in two, I haven't decided yet.
The marriage plotline is necessary to protect Hermione. You'll see why in a couple of chapters.