XXVII

Draco groaned and dragged a hand down his face. Hether rolled her eyes and spun around. Of course it had to be her; and of course she had to bring her goons along.

"Ah, Hermione." Hether gave her a fake smile. "Potter, Weasley, you're right on time for the circus."

"I had no idea they were coming!" Grega's eyes widened. "Cho what did you do?"

"You see what I was talking about?" Hether whispered to Draco, shaking her head. "That's why she has to go."

"No one's going anywhere."

Hether turned around to see the tip of Hermione's wand pointed square between her eyes. The girl looked determined to raise hell, but Hether was determined to raise even worse.

"We know you're up to no good." Harry spoke up. "Why else would you go to the Chamber of Secrets? Hermione heard you say you were going to bring the basilisk back. We'll tell Dumbledore, for sure."

Hether pinched the bridge of her nose impatiently. They were now surrounded by five ignorant wizards, four of whom had wands pointed at them that were ready to fire at any sign of movement. Not that they could hurt them; whatever was cast would simply deflect off the rings' barrier and would hurt the casters instead.

Silence hung in the air like a thick sheet as they both refused to talk.

The Weasley boy sighed. "If you don't tell us what's going on, we'll be forced to make you spill."

"Go on then," Draco spat. "Let's see if you have it in you."

"Just bloody say it, Hether!" Cho cried out.

"No." Grega shook her head. "Hether isn't the issue. It's Draco." She pointed her wand at him and he scoffed. "He's influencing her. Of course. It all makes sense. You're a death eater and she's powerful. What better way to influence her than to get with her?"

"Ugh!" the Weasley boy gagged. "Who in their right mind would want to be with Malfoy? I bet he imperiod her."

Hether glanced out into the lake. It was no longer calm, but was swaying wildly from side to side. Draco was getting angrier by the growing second. He had every right to, but if they kept pushing he would jolly well drown them.

"Can you all shut up?" She said, "Can't you see you're making him angry?"

"Yeah?" Harry spat. "And what about it? Suck it up Malfoy, but it ends here."

"You're right," Hether butted in. "it does end here." She whipped out her wand so fast that her wrist snapped, and twirled it in a circular motion at the trio. A misty train spiraled out of it and circled them, wrapping them in a sphere of magical smoke. When it cleared, there was nothing there but the ground on which they were standing on.

Hether turned to face Cho and Grega, who she knew were scared brainless despite the stony glares they were giving her. Then, she picked up the broken mistletoe wand from where it lay buried in the grass, and passed her wand over it.

Cho's eyes widened as the broken ends began to grow and meet, braiding themselves together until the wand had straightened itself to become one piece again. When Hether held it out to her to take it, a pang of fear ran through her heart.

"Do you seriously think I'm going to take it? You've probably hexed it! And what did you do to them?!" Cho took a step back.

"Draco has nothing to do with this. This is all me." Hether dropped the wand on the grass. "How's that for a start? I'm telling the truth. To you."

"I'll take it." Grega's wand hadn't wavered. "Now talk. We've barely got any time left before supper."

"Have a sit. It will take a while." Hether sat on the grass and crossed her legs. "And I simply obliviated them and sent them to their dormitories. This never happened for them; why, in fact they're currently having a blast in the library."

Everyone fell silent. Grega looked around the gathering. Draco had not said a word since Hether pointed out that he was angry. She wondered what that had to do with the matter at hand. Cho, as always, was stuck halfway between what she knew and what she was about to hear, as if she was bracing herself and her sanity. Finally, there was Hether. She was looking her dead in the eye, as if she was trying to figure out what she was thinking- no, it was more like she knew, but was simply waiting for her to act it out. She shook off the uneasy feeling creeping up her shoulder.

"Whatever you two think you know about me," Hether started. "cherish it. Because you know nothing about me. I came here of my own accord to attend to Draco. My father requested it. I have no affiliation with the dark lord in relation to Draco."

"So, that means you do relate with You-Know-Who, but on other matters." Grega narrowed her eyes at her. "And why do you call him 'the dark lord'? Only death eaters call him that."

"Frankly, and just for the record, 'You-Know-Who' sounds very stupid." Hether shifted her weight. "My past with him is my concern alone."

"You know, the further you go, the more suspicious you seem." Grega deadpanned.

"Just…stop talking." Draco spoke up and all heads turned to him. "This is my doing. I asked Hether to train me."

"Train you? For what? Is there going to be a fight?" Cho frowned.

"Of sorts." He nodded. "You needn't concern yourself about it for now." He took a deep breath. "I recently found out that I am a metamorphmagus-"

"Okay, that's very illegal; I'm out of here." Cho cut him short and rose to her feet.

"You will do no such thing." Hether rose just as quickly and latched onto her arm. "I know you will snitch. It's in your nature to tell the truth and the truth alone. You won't need a hex to threaten you."

Cho's eyes darkened and she looked away.

"You will swear to secrecy. Both of you." Hether looked down at Grega.

"I will do no such thing." Cho said and tried to wriggle her arm of Hether's grasp.

"Then I will threaten you." Hether pulled her close to her so tat they were inches away, and lowered her voice. "I will obliviate everyone as far as Hogsmeade. You will cease to have existed, but you will remember everything, you will try to tell others the truth about us but to no avail because they will not believe you. They will think you as crazy and eventually lock you away, for your own good." Hether chuckled. "That is my curse for you if you do not swear. You do not have a choice, either. If Marvolo hears word of what Draco is about to say, he will hunt you down and smite you without a thought, and then he will feed you to Nagini. You'd like that very much, no?"

The girl had begun to tremble with fear, so Hether let go of her, and she fell to the ground with a soft thus. She didn't need to say it for Hether to know she had yielded to secrecy; it was written all over her face.

"Very good." Hether turned to Grega. "And you?"

"I swear to secrecy," Grega said rather quickly. "I shall tell no one."

"You don't really have a choice anyway; you wound yourself in this situation." Draco grumbled. "I am a special type of metamorphmagus, linked to elemental power. This was hidden from me until I met Hether, because the dark lord aimed to brainwash me into using my power to cleanse the world of everything but purebloods. So, she's teaching me how to master my… power, so that when I face him, I will be able to wipe him out without breaking a sweat."

"What kind of metamorphmagus are we talking about?" Grega probed.

"A dragon." Hether said plainly.

Whatever blood that was left in Cho's face drained itself away. "I've heard of those. Dragons that take on human skin. That's very old magic; so old it's forbidden."

"It doesn't matter what's forbidden now. Marvolo doesn't abide by the rules, so neither will we. You use a gun to fight a sniper." Hether shook her braids free of any remaining water.

"Who's Marvolo?" Grega turned to her. "And what's a sniper?"

"A sniper is someone sent to shoot a person down. If you want to take them out, you have to take them down too." Hether shivered. "It's getting cold."

She stretched out a palm, and a flame of fire sparked to life in it; large and hot enough to warm them all up, but small enough that it didn't burn them. She looked up to see the two girls giving her puzzled looks and ignored them, rolling her eyes. "Surely you've seen more advanced magic."

"It doesn't hurt you?" Cho asked.

"Fire isn't my element, but no." Hether chuckled.

"Do you mean that as in, it's not your thing, or do you mean that as in, you have better control of another element?" Grega raised a brow in question.

"Both."

"But sincerely," Draco continued. "You two must not say a word to a soul, or even to a plant or animal. If the dark lord were to find out, he will not hesitate to take you out. I've seen it happen. Hether wasn't joking. Am I clear?"

"We can offer you protection- I can offer you protection. As long as I'm watching you, you're safe. But don't worry; I'm always watching you." Hether winked.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Cho asked again. Hether understood. They completed themselves. Cho was the passionate, sympathetic one; the weak link, while Grega was the ruthless one willing to go to almost any length; the strong link. They would create a friendship so strong that it could birth magic.

"It doesn't hurt, Cho." Hether gave her a small smile. "I see far more than you can imagine; the past, the present; the future; the everywhere; the inexistent; and the slumbering. You wouldn't possibly understand; you're always trapped in your walls."

"Touché," Grega frowned. "What happened to you being nice this year?"

"Oh, but I'm not lying." Hether shrugged.

A bell rang in the distance and the echo wafted over their ears, resounding everywhere. "Well, that's us," Draco sighed and stood up with a grunt. "I hope with this we have been able to convince and not confuse you that we are not a threat."

"What about the Chamber of Secrets?" Grega said quietly. "Hermione mentioned you'd been there."

"Bloody runt." Hether growled. "The basilisk was a joke, and we go there to practice and snog. As of now we've moved out, so if you're wanting to go there, it's all yours."

"But only the heir of Slytherin can open the chamber. You-Know-Who was the last heir."

"An heir." Hether took Draco's hand as they began the walk to the castle. "Salazaar had many heirs. Marv was just one of them."