Legacy

Legacy



Chapter 2



Lucius found his partner leaning against the wall, apparently waiting for him. He smirked inwardly at her insight.

“Let me guess, Harry?” she asked calmly.

“You are of course correct.” He drawled smoothly.

She shook her head in exasperation. If it wasn’t Harry, then it was Ron, or Severus or Draco. Honestly, what did they think would happen? She had learned a lot in the past few years, enough to protect herself from both wizarding and muggle attacks.

She would not allow herself to be weak ever again. It cost her too much last time.

“Well then. Shall we?” She asked sarcastically indicating to the sleek black motorcycle that appeared after she lifted the disillusionment charm.

Lucius curled his lip in distaste. “I will meet you there.” He said shortly before disappearing from the spot he was standing in with a loud CRACK.

Hermione smirked before pulling a vial from her pocket. She quickly downed the dose of Pepper-Up potion and mounted her new toy.

“Lucius, when will you learn?” She asked the night air in an amused tone of voice before starting her bike and roaring down the road.

She laughed in genuine joy as she steered her bike onto the muggle streets and headed to their newly acquired building. She had no intention of returning to her flat, at least not yet. There was too much to do to help make the building functional and she most likely would be there a good portion of the night. Luckily it was Friday so she did not have to worry about returning to her job at the Ministry of Magic until Monday.

She wondered how long it would take for Lucius to remain at her flat before he realized she wasn’t going to show up. Harry, of course, would not be pleased with her bending her partner’s nose out of joint, but it was so easy to do and very hard to resist.

Partner. Huh. Who would’ve thought that Lucius Malfoy and Hermione Granger were the two most suited to work together in the entire Eredita? Which had grown to a considerable size, having almost two hundred members. She most certainly wouldn’t have thought he was a candidate five years ago. But then again, five years ago she was patrolling the halls of Hogwarts as Head Girl and her reality was still that of an innocent schoolgirl.

As the night air whipped against her face she recalled how the whole partnership thing had come into play.




Flashback


“Hermione, I do believe you have found something that could be very useful.” The dark tones of her former Potions Professor washed over the newly turned twenty year old.

A ghost of a smile crossed her face briefly in acknowledgement of his rare praise, but remained silent. She observed her mentor and close friend as he perused the ancient looking tomb carefully.

“Extraordinary.” He whispered.

“Do you think it will work?” She asked.

“I think that it is worth a try. Potter, Weasley and you had a great idea strategically to pair up Eredita’s most valuable members when on missions, but this will take it a step further. This is an ancient bonding ritual, that requires blood magic for it to work.”

“Yes, I know, but do you think that some of our more arrogant members will balk at the whole blood magic part? After all it requires all members of the Order participating to give a vial of their blood, blood that will all be intermixed, not to mention the blood oath to complete the process.”

His lips turned up in a semblance of a smile at her pointed question. “I imagine that once the blood leaves their bodies, they won’t so much care about the fact that their blood is intermixing with others be they half-blood or muggleborn. Our more arrogant members will be too intrigued with the actual outcome. Though you do have a point with the final bonding procedure. We should present it to the council and only proceed if we have a unanimous agreement.”

She nodded her head in agreement. “I suppose we should brief them then.”

“Indeed.” The dark figure of Severus rose from his desk and pocketed the tomb in his voluminous cloak. He crossed the room to the door. He held it open for the curly haired witch.

“Shall we?”

She rolled her eyes in response and quickly ascended the stairs that led out of the basement and appeared in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. She smiled at Molly Weasley who was cooking at the stove before discreetly tapping her wand against the underside of her wrist. A warmth passed through her arm as the tattoo flared into the visible spectrum before disappearing again from sight.

One of her more brilliant ideas, the tattoo acted similar to the Dark Mark as it alerted the Inner Circle members of Eredita that a meeting was being called. The Inner Circle would then apparate or floo to the back room of Weasley Wizarding Wizzes where they would meet in a council. The bonus was that the ink used was invisible unless activated. . Then after the call went out to the other members the tattoo settled and disappeared again.

Very secret and very effective.

Severus felt the pull of his own Eredita mark and quickly left the room to apparate. Hermione smiled at the Weasley matriarch before stepping outside into the back yard where she quickly apparated as well.

She entered the council room and was immediately greeted by a chorus of greetings. She smiled and quickly seated herself next to Harry and Ron. She felt eyes upon her and looked up to see the dark orbs of Severus boring into her. She nodded her head ever so slightly indicating that he should make the presentation. She had no desire or patience to deal with the horde of questions she was sure would be asked.

She settled further into her chair as Harry called the meeting to order. She watched passively as Severus stood and began to present her findings.

“As all of you know, a suggestion was made that select members of our Order have a partner that they would work with. Someone to train with and execute missions with. Someone who could be trusted to watch your back. The problem with that idea is selecting people who would work best with each other based on their individual strengths.”

He paused and looked around the room at the attentive faces.

“We have found a solution. It requires an ancient ritual that must be preformed at the precise time the new moon rises. At that moment, blood from every individual participating must be added to a potion that I will make. Upon the new moon’s zenith, our marks will flare and one by one lead us to our partners. Once we have found our predestined partners, a simple blood oath must be taken to seal the bond.”

Murmurs spread up and down the table.

“What is the exact nature of this bond?” Blaise Zabini called out.

Severus inwardly cringed. He was dreading answering that question, but he was also relieved to get it out of the way.

“Unfortunately, not a lot of information is known about the effects of the bond. What we do know is that it will make you more in tune with your selected partner to a point where you will eventually be able to think and move as one unit. After training with each other of course. The best way to solidify this bond is to essentially saturate yourself with your chosen partner’s presence. The more you are together the deeper and stronger the bond.”

Ginny Weasley stood up. “What if the partners are different sexes? Will that create an emotional entanglement?”

Hermione felt Harry shift uncomfortably next to her as the youngest Weasley focused her gaze on him.

“That is an unknown factor. As with any close bond, deeper emotional feelings may or may not follow. I will say that the more you are with your partner, the more you will understand them and care for their well being.”

Severus cleared his throat after answering Ginny’s question.

“What if you truly cannot stand your chosen partner?” A cold voice asked.

“Draco, your partner is chosen based on compatibility. I am sure that many will not get along, particularly at first. This is why we must put it to a vote. Only with a unanimous vote from the council will we proceed.”

Hermione tuned out the barrage of questions that followed. She had considerable time to consider the possibilities of the ritual, and had to admit that she had reservations. Not in the actual procedure, but in the results. To do this would mean taking a step into the unknown, but even that really wasn’t a big deal. She was a Gryffindor Alumni after all.
She was more concerned with who she would work best with. She considered herself and Severus rather compatible, but she had a sinking feeling that the obvious choice would not be the truest choice, the right choice. All the more reason for the ritual.


Her attention was drawn back to the gathering as Ron nudged her in her side. She quickly looked around and saw Severus smirking at her.

Harry leaned over and whispered. “They are waiting for you to call the vote.”

She blushed at her inattentiveness and quickly turned to the matter at hand. With a wave of her wand, a paper appeared in front of the members of the Inner Circle.

“As you can clearly see, the parchment in front of you only has two words on it. All you need to do is place your wand on the box next to your choice, and then your vote will have been cast.”

She quickly demonstrated, placing her wand in the box next to ’Aye’. The parchment glowed a soft golden color before quickly folding in on itself.

“After casting your vote, you may leave. We will reconvene tomorrow night at 8pm. We will have the final results then. Thank you all for coming.”

Hermione shared a look with Ron at Harry’s statement. He was not one to waste words. She stood and quietly left the room since she had already cast her vote. She wandered around the WWW shop, glancing at some of their newer products. She was reading a label of a very intriguing potion when a shadow fell over her.

She whirled in surprise, potion bottle still in hand. She looked up into the ice blue eyes of Lucius Malfoy.

“A most intriguing solution you have come up with Ms. Granger. I presume it was you who discovered the proposed ritual given the many looks Severus cast your way throughout his explanation. Most impressive.”

She schooled her features to hide her astonishment. Was he expecting a response?

“I am most curious to see the results of your little experiment. Providing that the vote is unanimous, of course.”

She raised a brow at that statement. “Mr. Malfoy, you do realize that the odds for you to be bonded with another pureblood are not in you favor.”

“Of course Ms. Granger, I am not a dim-witted idiot. Though the thought of tainting my blood with that of one less pure makes my skin crawl, the outcome will make it worthwhile.”

“Yes, I suppose the ability to be more powerful would appeal to you.”

“Now, now, Ms. Granger, sheath those claws. I am first and foremost an opportunist as you well know.”

His eyes traveled to the potion in her hand, lips curled up in a smirk. He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear.

“Interesting choice.”

He drew back and with a nod of his head left the shop, leaving a pale faced Hermione behind.

Her eyes dipped down to the bottle she held.

‘Fantasy Lover’.

“Oi, Hermione! The votes have all been cast. Get your arse back here so we can tally them up.”

She quickly reshelved the potion and headed back to the council room, her thoughts anxious.



XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


She sat there in stunned silence. Harry ran his hand through his hair.

“Repeat that please Mione.”

She cleared her throat. “Unanimous. The votes are unanimous. They all are in favor of performing the ritual.”

Silence engulfed the three friends. They had retired back to their shared flat to tally the results. Magic would’ve been faster but sorting through the votes proved to be more fun. Not to mention the fact that they were all nervous about the outcome.

“Well, I guess we’re doing it.”

Hermione was surprised at the nonchalant tone from her red headed friend. She swiftly stood up and poured herself another glass of wine. She grabbed some parchment and a quill and penned a quick note.

Harry, knowing what his friend was doing, whistled for Hedwig. She quickly flew over to him and perched on his shoulder, nipping at his ear affectionately. He took the note from Hermione and attached it to the owl’s leg.

“Take that to Severus Snape.”

Hedwig hooted softly and took off through the window Hermione had opened. The trio watched in silence as the white owl disappeared from sight.

“Bloody hell!” Ron sighed. “I could use a drink. You two up for it?”

Harry smiled. “Sounds good mate.”




XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX



The roaring of a motorcycle echoed throughout the nearly deserted industrial district. A silent figure on the rooftop across the street watched as the bike pulled up to a stop in front of the building directly across the way. His instructions were to hold his position and observe.

He watched as a slight figure dismounted and strode to the entrance of the building. His view was obstructed from the ratty awning covering the walkway. He zoomed his night vision goggles in on the sleek motorcycle and memorized the plates.

“Agent Z to Alpha. Come in Alpha.”

A crackle sounded over his headpiece.

“Go ahead Agent.”

“Target has arrived and entered the building. Looks like Intel was right. What are my orders?”

“Tag her motorcycle and return to base. Alpha out.”

The dark form of the agent rose and silently made his way down to the street. His orders stood. He would tag the bike and return to base.

Some other agent would have the glory of the capture.



XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX




A/N: Hmmm. More is revealed. I have started the third chapter and I hope to have it posted in the next couple of days.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think. Is it worth continuing? Love it? Hate it?

I definitely have plans for this fic, so stay tuned.