Windbound - 12/35

[herumtreiber]

Title: Windbound - 12/35
Chapter: Twelve
Author:herumtreiber 
Genre: post DH, slash, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: R
Warnings: Sexual content
Epilogue compliant? Epilogue complaisant
Chapter length: ~3,628 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione, Hannah/Dean, Justin/Daphne, Ginny/??? My take on the Marriage Law. Should they obey the government’s edict or fight it the Muggle way? This leads to marriage equality. Plus there’s a twist exploring how a Horcrux operates. Good!Lucius, finally:) Hufflepuff house is amply represented here.



Table of contents



Chapter eleven

October 25th, 1998
Hogwarts

Ron was sitting next to Hermione, as he ravenously ate his breakfast. The redhead sighed as he looked at Hermione. She looked so beautiful to him, so endearing was her face, her unruly hair and her sometimes demanding demeanor. He hoped he would make her happy.

He had not been displeased at all by the Marriage Law and its selections. In fact, he had welcomed this as the chance to become one with Hermione. The bushy-haired witch was all he could desire. Sure, they fought constantly like cats and dogs, but that was part of the attraction, the pull the Gryffindors felt when they were together, a sense of homecoming and belonging.

During the search for the horcruxes, when Ron had precipitously left and then returned to find an empty place, he'd nearly felt his heart break when he found out he couldn't locate Hermione and Harry. All the time he searched for them he berated himself for being so short-sighted and damned voluble.

He never wanted to let Hermione go, but most of all, he wanted her to be happy. So when she admitted her resistance to the Marriage Law, he took it in stride and never lost sight of his prime goal, her happiness.

After listening to what the councilor Mr. Jones had to say, Ron kept away from Malfoy's path. He was sure he would never be friends with the git, but he would try to keep a civil front and tune down the confrontations. He realized that Mr. Jones was right, that Malfoy and he would go their separate ways in a few months, and he'd be left alone with the negative feelings.

He also recalled Harry's loving words about family and comfort. He knew he would never forget Fred, his easy laugh, his red hair flashing in the sun as they practiced Quidditch, the brotherly advice he gave him – often wrong. These memories would stay with him forever, and hopefully they would meet again in the fullness of time.

With a pang of guilt, he also realized he'd somehow neglected George. His pain must be enormous, and he'd been too immersed in himself to offer more succor. He'd write to George more and involve him more in his life, asking for his help to plan possible pranks.

Hermione was trying to remember if she had finished her Arithmancy homework. Frankly, with the pressure to understand the ancient runes used in Magna Carta, and her taking Occlumency classes under Draco, the work was starting to pile up. Thankfully she wasn't the Head Girl. If she'd been, she would be crazy by now.

She turned her head to her left side and stared at Ron. The redhead was sometimes so blundering, he needed her help. Just a nudge to remind him to study certain subjects, though sometimes they ended up arguing and sometimes they ended up kissing.

Ron was the source of much of her dismay, and her pleasure.

Then the owls with the morning paper flew into the Great Hall. One of them stuck its leg in front of Hermione. The witch took out the coins from her bag and put them in its pouch. The barn owl flew off.

Hermione opened the paper and began to glance uninterestedly at the different news, until she saw a byline she knew. She read:

Marriage Law in trouble!

Sources at the Ministry confirm that the Marriage Law was considered null and void by a Muggle judge. The Minister is baffled by this blatant act against this rightful and important Law which would help us heal faster.

It is also troubling to witness the attempts of the Muggles to interfere with our world. Why should we listen to their words? They don't know our traditions and strictures, and frankly they have no place among us.

The Muggle Government seems to agree with this view, as they have vowed to turn the case to higher courts, which will hopefully overrule this decision. The vote might come to a decisive point in the House of Lords.

Very troubling times for the Wizarding World indeed, when a Law enacted so that the blood conflict would disappear and the population would grow is itself in danger of disappearing due to Muggles.

Reporter
Rita Skeeter

Hermione fumed. The nerve of that woman! She wished she would have kept the infamous reporter as a beetle forever, that's where she belonged!

Draco was sitting with the Ravenclaws, some of which gave him dirty looks. He was seated next to a suddenly ebullient Terry, who seemed to care very much that Draco was comfortable. The wily Slytherin detected other purposes, and decided to have a talk with the brunet. On the other side of Draco sat Harry Potter.

The Gryffindor seemed to be caught in a staring contest with some Hufflepuffs. The Puffs glared at him, kindly. Draco wondered how a glare could be given that was kindly-looking, but he knew if someone could pull this off, it would be Hufflepuffs. Susan, Hannah and Justin finally lost their staring contest when the owls came down with the mail and the paper.

When the Hufflepuffs read the news, they glared at the paper, and this time it was with loathing. This made Draco sit up, unfold the paper and read the story concerning the Marriage Law.

He remembered what he saw that night he was following the movements of the students using the Map, and he knew he had to get out of there. Harry told him he had Quidditch practice with the Gryffs, and probably would spend the rest of the morning there.

Draco went to the Library with Terry. The obsequious Ravenclaw finally got on his nerves and Draco demanded, "What is it that you want, Terry? You've offered to help me with my Herbology and Arithmancy homework; usually you are as tight-lipped about the classes as Hermione. What gives?"

Terry sighed and brushed some of his dark locks out of his face as he replied, "Can I ask you a favor, Draco?"

The blond considered telling him that he would help if he could, but he'd been a Slytherin for too long to pass up a chance to have some leverage, so he replied only, "Depends on the favor."

Terry said, "You know that according to the Law, Seamus Finnigan is going to marry Pansy Parkinson. We are doing what we can to derail that law. When Pansy is free to choose, I want her to take me in consideration. I know you're her best friend, and I'm asking you to help me with this. Surely you realize I would be good for Pansy!" Terry anxiously twirled his wand as he waited for Draco's response.

The Slytherin was inwardly smirking. This tailored perfectly with his plans! Not that he'd had any plans concerning Pansy, but this opportunity was great!
He drawled lazily, "I suppose you are a much better choice than Finnigan! The gall of that git! You would also keep Pansy intrigued."

"If you must know, Pansy likes the small gestures, like holding doors open for her, or romantic scenes, like using a trail of flower petals that leads directly to the bed. Although she presents a tough attitude to outsiders, she is kind and caring to those she cares about. Some of her posturing about Muggleborns came from her fear of Voldemort. As the rest of the Slytherins, she always had to keep a tight rein on her emotions so Voldemort could not use them against her."

"I suggest you write her a note, asking for her friendship and generally talking about yourself. She has healthy curiosity and will want to know more. With time, you will get to know her better, trust me, it is worth it."

"Of course, if you ever hurt her, I will not stand by and abide it! And if ever Pansy hears about my helpful suggestions, you will feel as if you had been rolled over by a stampede of hippogriffs, flobberworms and hippopotami!"

Terry gulped, thinking about the strange coalition of vertebrates and… worms implied.

Then the doors of the Library opened and Andromeda Tonks strode in, carrying a small toddler, Teddy. The baby saw Draco and started to change strands of his hair to platinum blond. Andromeda walked up to them, scowling fiercely at Draco, and asked Terry, "Do you know where I can find Madam Pomphrey? It is time for Teddy's infusions."

Terry replied, "If she isn't in the Infirmary then I'm sure she'll turn up presently. Do you want us to watch the baby while you search for her?"

Andromeda snorted and replied haughtily, "That won't be necessary." She walked to the door.
Teddy, who all this time had been trying to get Draco's attention and get him to pick him up, gave up, frustrated, and started bawling.

The Ravenclaw scowled at the seemingly cold-hearted woman, and tried to distract Draco by talking about Pansy.

In the Three Broomsticks, Justin was ordering elf wine as he waited for Daphne to appear. The Slytherin promised to look for him there after she had gone to Gladrags to buy a new robe.

While he was sipping his wine, Justin noticed two newcomers and motioned for them to come over and sit down. He drawled, "Well, Hannah, we seem to have similar tastes. Hello, Dean, how is Quidditch coming along?"

With that, the two boys fell into a discussion of which sport was better: football or Quidditch. A bored Hannah was relieved when Daphne showed up. The Slytherin and Hufflepuff, after discreetly rolling their eyes, started conversing amiably about friends present and absent.

Daphne sipped her butterbeer and leaned towards Hannah, whispering conspiratorially, "You might be interested to know some things about my snake friends." She winked and continued, "Blaise loves to sleep with a dragon."
Hannah blushed and said, "A dragon, do you mean…?"

Daphne smirked and snorted delicately, "A stuffed dragon! It is a plushie he's had since he was a toddler, and it soothes him to have it in his arms. As for the other dragon, I have it on good authority that he's very ticklish."

Hannah raised one eyebrow delicately and asked skeptically, "Really!"
Daphne replied, "For real, Hannah. How do you think Pansy managed to get him to ask her out for the Yule Ball?"

Daphne continued, "I'd like to tell you about some of his companions, like Crabbe and Goyle. They used to drive Draco crazy, always asking him questions about essays. Crabbe would be typically stubborn and refused to hear Draco's suggestions, when it was him who originally asked for help! I think that was one of the reasons Draco became such good friends with Blaise. He'd found an intellectual equal."

Hannah asked, "What about Pansy?"

"Pansy is sharp, no doubt about that. But she is a little too involved in romantic scenes for Draco's liking. He likes things raw. Pansy is his sister in spirit, and he will help her all he can, but he's always yearned for something more."

The witches giggled and derailed the profound discussion of the wizards about the Chudley Cannons' chance of winning the cup (none) and Brazil 's to win the next World Cup (all).

Justin seized the moment and asked, "So tell me, Dean, who are you going to marry?"
The women coughed and stuttered, and Daphne managed to say, "Of all the nerve! How can you be so uncouth, Justin? It seems Draco has rubbed off on you!"

Dean blushed and looked down while he answered, "I'm forced to marry Cecilia Bonham. She is a descendant of the chap who built St. Mungo's. I haven't even met her yet or seen a photo of her."

He continued shyly, "If it were up to me, I'd look for someone I could build a life with." He looked around and finally met Hannah's gaze, and the brunette also blushed.

Madam Rosmerta came to their table. The buxom proprietress asked them if they wanted anything else. Hannah, Dean and Daphne ordered butterbeer, and Justin continued sipping his elf wine.

Justin asked Daphne about her upbringing in a pureblood family. The brunette told stories of sibling conflict and resolution, which seemed familiar to Hannah. Then she spoke wistfully about her sister Astoria. Hannah could feel a slight bitterness toward the little sister, mixed with pride at her accomplishments. Her parents had decided to home-school her and it appeared she had done superbly well in the OWLs results.

Dean asked Hannah how she was doing with her classes, and asked her carefully to look out for his brother, who would start school next year. Hannah asked about his brother, who was named George Thomas. He was not as enthusiastic about sports as Dean; in fact he had a more intellectual outlook.

Hannah complained that she had to take another year. She would not graduate with his friends, and would return to what would feel to her like an empty Hogwarts.
Dean chastised her gently, remarking that she would have the chance of graduating twice, once with her friends, and next year with her new friends. She could take the year slowly and really enjoy the peace and serenity after the battle she had joined in. It was very probable that she would get to be Head Girl, and if she didn't, all the more opportunity for her to just learn and relax.

Late in the afternoon, Draco sat in his room in front of the window, staring wistfully as the raindrops fell down and coalesced into larger rivulets, before breaking up again.

He wondered if the window could be called a window still, when it was in the Dungeons and was charmed to show a view from outside. If the window didn't show its other side but an arbitrary one, then all bets were off.

He mused on the different names for window; fenêtre, fenster, ventana, window.

Idly he entertained the thought that the sounds of the French, German, Spanish and English words really did appear to be somewhat similar. All the Latin languages he'd learned during his childhood and his stint of German under Severus's influence had led to this.

Wait! All that time as a child learning languages. Lucius mentioned something about their time spent together learning, he suggested that would be useful to command the Serpent's Map!

If so, the second cue had something to do with the name: Serpent's Map. Except, maybe not that one, but the original one: Schlangenkarte. Severus named the Map in German.

All this had to do with languages, playing with them, exchanging words among them like tiny droplets that condense into larger streams and then break up again.

And the third cue was that the Map could not be commanded with a wand. He'd taken it to indicate he would need the Elder wand, but suddenly an idea popped into his mind. What if the Map did not require the magic of a wand? What if it only reacted to wandless magic?

Then he had in his mind the different puzzles that needed to be solved in order to be able to do wandless magic.

The key had to be the different languages. He tried to think about several different words in several languages, but failed to obtain any noticeable result. Then he remembered his epiphany with the window and knew what he needed to do.

He focused on one word, window, and its variations in several languages. He tried to think about it in structural terms, how it was handled in the different tongues. At moments he fleetingly sensed a deep symmetry that eluded him. He closed his eyes and imagined the window turning slowly dark.

He opened his eyes and beheld the dark window. He imagined the window regaining its former transparency, and it did so.

He had done it, he had performed wandless magic! Still, it was a chore to concentrate sufficiently and get the thing done. In a combat situation, if he relied on it, it would only get him killed. Still, it promised to be useful for certain things, like summoning wandlessly his wand, and of course, commanding the Map.

Draco made a mental note to practice this more, and prepared to work with the Map. He concentrated on the words map, guide, and their equivalents. After a while, he fleetingly sensed the coils of magic wrapped around the Map. He sought to manipulate the magical gradient imbued into it and modify it so it would show the strongest magical quality of the persons. He wanted the Map to stop showing the blood status.

Draco sat down and held the Map in his hand. The Map activated and showed his room, the corridors around and the Slytherin Common Room. He was pleased to note that under his smirking snake icon now there was only his name and an expected entry, there were no initials denoting blood status.

Draco went to his desk where he sat down and penned a letter to Lucius.

Father,

You will be pleased to know that I can finally command the Serpent's Map. Although you could have made it easier if you had given me more information.

Draco

After casting the spells to encrypt the letter, Draco took it to the Owlery to get it to his owl Osiris.

On his way back to Slytherin, Draco met Elias Flint, a scrawny Fourth Year Slytherin who was a cousin of Marcus's. Elias clung to Draco's robes as he said, "A word with you, Malfoy!"

Taking two steps back, Draco mutely nodded and carefully tugged his robes the right way.
Elias started, "I need your help, Malfoy!"

"Why?"
"My cousin is imprisoned in Azkaban, along with my uncle. Other members of the family do nothing. This forces me to ask you for help, after all, you were fellow Slytherins."

Draco responded, "I'm sorry, but there is little I can do. We can try to find out if the guards treat them correctly; we will research their trials and find if the evidence was enough to convict them. We'll provide support if they need legal representation. If they were framed, we will fight for their liberty, but if they were judged correctly, the little we can do we will do."

Elias hunched his shoulders in defeat as he walked away, saying, "I thought you could do something."
Draco replied, "I know how you are feeling. But I didn't want to promise something I would be unable to deliver. If your uncle and cousin were unrepentant Death Eaters there's little we can do but ameliorate their suffering."

HDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHDHHDH

In Malfoy Manor, Lucius and Narcissa were discussing seriously the idea of buying a car.

Narcissa was astonished, she said, "A car, Lucius! Are you out of your mind? What do we need a car for? We can Apparate where we need to go, or take a portkey, now if it was a nice carriage with hippogriffs or even those awful Thestrals that seem so fond of Hogwarts, I'd say go for it. But a horseless car! How utterly plebeian of you!"

Lucius smirked; he knew just how to convince Narcissa. He said, "But dear, there are many places we can not Apparate to, because they are in the Muggle world, we can't appear out of midair, we'd break the Statute of Secrecy. You know our position with the Ministry is precarious at best…"

Lucius was interrupted by the hoots of his son's owl. The regal eagle owl deigned to show him his leg, where the message was tied. Lucius untied the scroll and hurriedly gave an owl treat to Osiris. Multiple biting had taught him to always have at least one treat to keep irritable owls happy.

He performed the counterspell and read the missive. The blond visibly glowed. He turned to Narcissa and said, "Draco has learned how to manipulate the Map!"
The blonde replied, "He would have learned sooner if it had been up to me! You're way too Byzantine not only in your plots but in your teaching methods. You could have hinted at the answer."

Lucius answered indignantly, "It was important that Draco arrived at this insight on his own. It propelled his imagination into a fruitful path. If he had known the answer beforehand he would have been clueless and ineffectual in his intent, and it might not have worked at all, causing him to lose his confidence."

"Anyway, to continue with our discussion, we might need the car, my dear, to get to those shopping malls you once spoke so fondly of. To get there by Apparition is a chore because you first have to Apparate to an isolated place and then walk a lot to get to the store. With the car, you just hop in and drive it there, you've seen Jason doing it. You don't even have to fear that the unruly Thestrals will munch on unsuspecting people!"

After a token resistance, Narcissa agreed to go along with the plan, if she got to choose the car. Right when Lucius was leaving to supervise the feeding of his vain albino peacocks, Narcissa smirked an almost imperceptible smirk. Lucius had fallen for that trap. Of course she wanted a car! But Lucius insisted on his strategy. She swore that even when he was dreaming, he was maneuvering in his dreams. This way, she had the last laugh. She might choose a pink car, or not.

tbc

Comments

[lijahlover.livejournal.com]

LOL brilliant and yes a pink car is a must *g*

[herumtreiber.livejournal.com]

Thank you! ♥ ♥

Narcissa knows how to get her way :))