Daughter of Leda

The Order was hovering.

That is to say that every time Hermione looked up from her book there would be two or three Order members who just happened to be hanging around. They all felt sorry she had been captured, and had resorted to smothering her in an attempt to make up for it. Granted, they were under the impression that she’d had to suffer more rounds of the cruciatus than was strictly accurate, but it still irritated Hermione to no end.

The worst part was that she couldn’t verbalize her objections because no one would openly admit to what they were doing. So in the two hours she had been sitting at the kitchen table reading Rosier’s Spell Creation Techniques and Theory, one of the books she’d obtained in Knockturn Alley.

Tonks had spent the entire time at the end of the table reading magazines. She was amusing herself by imitating the looks she saw on models then changing her hair color or some other aspect to make their appearance look absurd. It was like Tonk’s personal version of using Riddikulus on a boggart.

Remus spent a good half hour leaning against the counter watching Tonks, a slight smile playing across his lips. He eventually left in search of solitude.

Ginny was thoroughly amused by Tonks’ antics and watched them at every opportunity in between assisting her mother with preparing enough food to feed an entire army. Every time Mrs. Weasley finished preparing something for later, she would take one not so subtle glance in Hermione’s direction and decide that it couldn’t hurt to have more food.

Ron was continuously finding excuses to walk through, having made three separate trips for sandwiches since Hermione opened her book.

As if those distractions weren’t enough, Mr. Weasley had been in once to ask Hermione about the use of muggle waffle irons, Minerva McGonagall had dropped by to check on Hermione’s independent transfiguration studies, and Fred and George had used the small gathering as an opportunity to test out their newest products.

After all the company, Hermione had finally had enough. Well, she decided, if they won’t openly admit to hovering, then they can’t openly object to me locking myself in my room. Picking up her book and giving everyone a friendly smile, she left the room. She tried not to leave too quickly, but as soon as she reached the stairs Hermione all but sprinted up to her room.

Once there, she was lost in the irritation of how they had been hovering before she’d escaped. She needed to clear her mind, and for Hermione there was little better than research to achieve that goal. She still had a mystery to solve, after all. Casting a locking spell on her door and going quickly to the trunk at the foot of her bed, Hermione began to pull out of the books she’d bought recently and the papers she’d inherited from Leda. After locating a few blank pieces of muggle paper and a pen, Hermione was ready to begin.

She opened one of the books, The Limitations of Divination, to chapter three where she had left off before and began reading.

Chapter III: Dark Technique Variations

The realm of a witch or wizard’s magic can be powerful beyond comprehension, but limited to the present and the past. It has been implied by some of the darker Diviners that in order to see into the future one must open themself up to other techniques entirely.

Most deny that such techniques are ancient muggles tactics, and it has gone so far as to be implied by one Leda Atreus that the methods date back to the time of Merlin. In Atreus’ estimation, that makes them neither muggle nor wizard as they come from a time when the two cultures were further intertwined. She is highly regarded in the darker circles, and it is said that she prefers the art of non-magical fire scrying, one of the ancient methods, well over any other.

Another popular technique among these darker circles is that of summoning the dead, as with the muggle séance. In most wizarding circles, it is, of course, considered highly dark to do anything that would bring to you anyone who has already crossed over to the afterlife. However, many diviners have taken up the technique with claims that those things learned from a séance are invaluable. Dante Yaxley, another diviner well respected in darker circles, has written a rather lengthy treatise on séance techniques that can be found in A History of Dark Foresight.

That was enough to convince Hermione that there was something important to be found from these texts. She was learning from experience that her former distaste for Divination was likely the combination of Leda’s spellwork and Trelawney’s incompetence. Now she was learning to trust her instincts more thoroughly, and it looked as if those instincts were paying off. This book referred to Leda, but also to one of the Yaxleys. From Hermione’s research, Leda’s mother was Isabella Yaxley, making Dante quite possibly a distant relation.

Could it be that her entire family was skilled in Divination and not just Leda? Did that mean Hermione would have the same talent if she were to pursue it? She was beginning to think she would, given that her subconscious had warned her to purchase A History of Dark Foresight though she knew nothing of it at the time, and now she found she would need it to look up Dante’s treatise. Yes, it was a small thing, but eventually the smallest of things could add up into something monumental.

Perhaps it was something to be pursued.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

It had taken awhile to find the nerve. Hermione had spent a couple hours reading further, and taking notes, but couldn’t get past the idea of testing out her own skills in Divination. Each technique she read about, especially those dark ones connected to Leda or Dante, seemed to call to her and beg that she use them. But she needed someone with her, too afraid to work the unfamiliar magic on her own.

Gods, Lucius, she thought, I need you here. It was hopeless, she knew, as there was no way to safely contact him at this point. It didn’t change matters though. She still wanted him there. Partly because as much as she believed Remus would keep her secret, she knew he would stand in her way if he thought she would actually use the dark magic. Lucius, however, would help her with her experimentation if that is what it took to satisfy her, and he would do everything to protect her during the process. Lucius, Lucius, Lucius, she thought repeatedly, as if the sound of his name in her mind would ease the pain of missing him. It had only been a few days, but she was concerned for his safety. The fact that she was hidden away in Order headquarters, comparatively safe, only made her concern for him that much greater.

She was startled by the loud pop of someone apparating into the room. Looking up, she saw a beautifully comforting yet irritating sight. Grabbing her wand to put up silencing charms around her room, Hermione was barely able to contain her anger. “Lucius Malfoy! What the hell are you doing here? How did you apparate here?”

Her anger seemed to go straight over his head, and he just removed his cloak and walked over to sit beside her.

“And here I was thinking you’d be happy to see me,” he said with a pout. “I could have sworn I heard you screaming my name repeatedly, and not even in the interesting way.”

Hermione felt her face lose all color and her eyes widen. “You...heard... but how?”

“I told you the necklace I gave you would allow me to know if you were in danger,” Lucius said gently. “Although I will admit to being slightly confused as I didn’t think it would warn me by hearing your voice nor do I see you in any danger here. It’s certainly not how the necklace worked when you were at the Manor last.”

“I... I wasn’t in danger. I was just... I may have somewhat wished you were here and started worrying about you. I was thinking your name,” she said, voice scarcely above a whisper.

“Ah,” he replied, as if the single syllable was an explanation to everything.

“Ah?” Hermione prompted.

“It would seem,” he began, shifting in an uncharacteristically uncomfortable manner, “that we have developed a psychological connection that allowed me to hear you and, presumably, you would be able to hear me if I tried hard enough. It would also seem that the spells in your necklace allow me to apparate to you at any time, and not just when you are in danger.”

“Which reminds me, Lucius,” she said angrily. “You can’t just apparate here on a whim. For one thing, you could be caught by my friends, and for another, it makes me feel as though I’m jeopardizing my friends safety by giving you that opportunity.”

Lucius sighed and took her face between his hands, looking her steadily in the eyes. “Hermione, listen to me. I will never, ever, use what we have like that. If the Dark Lord wins, then it will be done without using our connection to aid him.”

She nodded, seeming to accept his words. “Well, as long as you are here, maybe you can help me with something. Assuming you have time, that is.”