The Prime Princess

“Here we go again,” sighed Hermione and twirled her twin-staffs.
***
“Come again?” asked Draco and stared at his father. Yes, he had suspected his father was up to something when he met his solicitors but he really didn’t want to even think that he could end up Hermione’s stepbrother.

“I know this is a bit sudden for you, son, but I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” said Lucius and smiled. That was one of the scariest thing Draco had seen in his life so far – his father being in high spirits because of marrying the witch he thought he might be in love with. That felt like a theft! Of his heart! His own father robbing his… his… property! Yeah, Hermione belonged to him in his mind.

That just could not happen. Draco couldn’t let it happen, he had to do something.

“No,” said Draco firmly and his stare turned into vicious glare. Lucius seemed to be taken aback.

“What do you mean with ‘no’?” asked Lucius and glanced for guidance at Snape who looked gloomy. Potion Master had already peeked into young Malfoy’s mind and seen the rumbling confusion becoming a flaming anger.

“You are not going to marry her,” hissed Draco and was tempted to draw his wand at Lucius. His father stared blankly at his son and couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Why do you feel like that? Draco, has something happened?” he asked with concern that made Draco sick.

“Why her? Why not someone else?” Draco asked and he felt the fury making him shake. The Mark on his cheek started to tingle but he didn’t care if it soon started to glow.

“Because I love her,” told Lucius.

“Just like that? You love her and that gives you the right?”

“Draco, is everything okay?”

“Is everything okay?” mocked Draco, “Of course it’s not! Not when your own father…”

“Stupefy!” roared Professor Snape and Draco fell stunned to the ground. “I’m sorry, Lucius, but Draco has not been himself lately,” he apologized and put his wand away. The blond looked at his old friend and tried to understand what had just happened. Just a minute ago he was the happiest wizard on Earth and now he was depressed because his son didn’t approve his happiness.

“Severus, what do I have to do to make him understand?” asked Lucius and the heart-breaking sad puppy face just got to Snape.

“I have no idea but you should sort this thing out with Draco before you make your move,” told Snape and offered Lucius a glass of scotch.
***
Hermione lay on her back and aimed one of her staffs at three-four androids and the other at the positronic brain of Oberon hanging above her. The Mark inside her palm flamed with radiant white glow and made her remind that she alone could destroy the Ancients Mothership with one blow. She only needed to gather the energy of everyone’s life source on board and kill the Ancients with it. That meant she killed the hibernating residents before she killed the enemy. That’s why she was the Reaper – she had to sacrifice the ones she was protecting to kill the ones from whom she was protecting them.

The power she felt tickling her was enormous and she was tempted to use it but Hermione knew she’d kill them all. And she couldn’t live with the knowledge that she was the cause. No, she wished she hadn’t had a conscience but she had and not even her big ego with false bravado could crush it.

“Oberon, we went over this before,” she said and glanced at the derbies around her, “Stand down or…” The temptation to suck the life out of everyone was too great, “…I’ll kill us all.”

Major Draconis stood up from the remains of androids with smoking guns and smirked at Oberon. He was done waiting.

“Just blast that mumbling idiot,” he told with annoyance. The positronic globe above them started to hum more fervently but the androids stayed put. Hermione still didn’t lower her weapons. She was still surfing on the edge from where she could step over and end all the problems. Would Elohim let her sacrifice 7.35 million people to get rid of all Ancients? Well, it was a noble cause after all.

Hermione heard Draconis and for a moment she wasn’t thinking, just followed the orders. Cocking her staff, she set her mind on a destruction curse that would be magnified by the staff and let it go.

“STOP!” bellowed Oberon on the verge of breaking, “I’ll cooperate!”

“What?” asked Hermione dreamily and caught herself before she’d blow up the positronic processor. She wasn’t sure if she heard right.

“Oh, now he wants to cooperate?” mocked Major Draconis who had got his good spirits back and sounded more and more like his doppelganger from Slytherin.

“Yes, I was built to protect the people on board and if cooperating means protecting them, then…”

“Ye-ye-yeah, I got that!” snorted Draconis, “Just do as the lady says.”
***
Blaise looked up from his book he’d been reading and wondered why his Mark was bothering him. Had Hermione got into trouble or had Draco organized some vandalism? The noise from the Slytherin common room provoked him to go and get some order into the House but he was too lazy and tired.

Suddenly a third year boy rushed into his bedroom without knocking and declared that Professor Snape wanted to see him. Blaise waved the boy away and stared the ceiling of his canopy for a moment. Now he was pretty sure that something had happened to either Draco or Hermione.

He found his Potion Master at his office with Draco. The blond seemed to be heavily drunk. Snape turned to him with a low voice, saying that Draco had one too much on the party and he asked Blaise to take him to Heads dorm.

“Yeah, sure,” said Blaise and heaved Draco on his feet. Snape watched them struggle out of dungeons and then went back to discuss the problem with Lucius who was really getting merry from the scotch.

Blaise got Draco to the right floor and in front of the right painting but he didn’t know the right password.

“Come on, sober up,” hissed Blaise and tried to shake Draco who was draped on his shoulder.

“Ah? Huh? No. You’re not gonna marrrrry,” slurred Draco and looked at the painting and grinned. “Oh, look! There’s a pink unicorn!” he squealed and giggled. Blaise looked down on him and wondered if he had drunk absinth.

“Mine, mine, mine,” repeated Draco with pride, “To the last hair!”

He’s loosing it, figured Blaise and stared at the painting. He was ready to use some sneaky spell on it but before he get started, it swung open and revealed The Boy Who Lived To Get On Everyone’s Nerves.

“Zabini?” Harry was clearly amazed to see him.

“Potter,” acknowledged Blaise and dragged Draco in with him.

“What was it?” asked Carmen and as her eyes fell on two slytherins, she huffed.

“Just Zabini and Malfoy,” said Harry and after a moment of hesitation, he grabbed from the other side and helped Blaise to carry Draco up the stairs to his bedroom.

“What, is he that drunk ‘cause of the party he threw for the occasion of winning the game?” asked Carmen with venom dripping in her voice.

“Ssshut up, biatch!” hissed Draco when the door closed behind him. Harry and Blaise dropped him onto bed and relaxed as Draco fell asleep. Blaise started to pull off Draco’s shoes and tangled his robe off before he covered him with a blanket.

“He doesn’t seem to be drunk, more like…” started Harry as he ruffled his hair absentmindedly.

“Stunned,” finished Blaise.

“Who stunned him? Why?” asked Harry.

“He was in Snape’s office,” told Blaise and wondered on. “Clearly he knows the truth but Snape rarely reveals his true intentions.”

“Is it about the Reaper?”

Blaise turned to look at Harry. He was cleverer than seemed. And the heroism ran strong in his veins.

“I doubt but she has been missing an awful lot of time.”
***
Major Draconis sat in the pilot seat and waited for Hermione to get Oberon that far he’d give them manual control. Finally all the lights on the dashboard came to life and Draconis looked over some necessary things before taking Oberon out of the Void.

“Okay, power up all main cannons,” she said and strapped herself into commander’s seat. “Shield’s ready, lets go.”

Great Oberon emerged from the Void, making the Ancients Mothership look like a red dwarf. And then the Hell broke out.
***
“What are they doing up there so long?” whined Carmen and looked at Ron who was hiding behind the chessboard.

“I don’t know. Group session?”

“A what? Since when have you two started to get along with… with these lowlife slugs?” demanded Carmen and almost spilled the ink all over her essay.

“Camme, watch it!” scolded Ron, turning red. He didn’t want to argue with her but he felt the need to protect Harry’s interests.

“Actually a gangbang,” sneered Blaise, coming down the stairs with Harry in his tail.
***
“Draconis,” said Hermione, “When this is over, I want you to take Oberon and get the hell out of here. Hide Oberon so no one would know and disappear.”

“You don’t come with me?” he asked in confusion and almost lost his target in the action of firing.

“I’m not coming with anyone,” she said. The bright red Mothership rattled Oberon quite harshly and alarms went off with each hit he took.

“Not even with Death.”

The black sky exploded.