Like the Roses

"So, exactly what happened, again?" Tylendel stared at Harry. Tylendel, Harry, and Draco stood in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, which was quite empty with its lack of tables and people.

Harry yawned. "I told you already. All I know is, I felt something move in the back of my mind, and I tried to figure out what it was. Then I heard someone say 'Harry' in a familiar voice.

Tylendel nodded slowly, taking in Harry's words carefully, and for the umpteenth time.

Harry continued. "And the next moment, something hit me really hard, and it felt like I was burning, except it was inside my head."

"And then she said 'Harry' again and you realized it was Hermione," Tylendel finished for him.

"What did she tell you?" asked Draco, his face a strange expression.

"Sh-she told me to meet her here, at Hogwarts. She said everything would be all right, and sent me thoughts of everything that had happened." Harry massaged his head. They had been over this several times already. He had repeated Hermione's thoughts to them again and again until he was weary.

"Mindspeech," said Draco in a flat voice.

Tylendel looked thoughtful. "Yes, her use of mindspeech can just about confirm that she's Ki'yethe. But-- how did she know she had that Gift?"

Harry offered an awkward shrug. "She's very smart."

"But...she would need a teacher to learn to use..." Tylendel wrinkled his eyebrows, perplexed.

"I gave up trying to figure out how she does things a long time ago." Harry tried to stifle another yawn, to no avail. He was exhausted, the result of not enough sleep, but he was also impatient and worried about Hermione.

A hard knock on one of the open double doors made them all turn around.

"I came as soon as possible," said Ron in a somewhat breathless voice. He had been running and was still in his pinstripe pajamas, his bright red hair disheveled. "What happened?"

With a sigh, Harry explained everything over again.

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"Wait, so she told you to come here." Ron frowned. "How do you know it isn't a trap?"

Harry shook his head. "I said this already. I know her. I'd be able to tell if it wasn't her, just by the way she talks."

Ron wouldn't give up his argument. "But Kraddoch could have actually entered her head, and then sent you made-up thoughts to make you believe she was perfectly safe. And once he made sure you believed that, he could come here and capture you."

Tylendel nodded fervently. "That's very true. We should leave at once."

"Argh," Harry groaned in an exasperated voice. "Would you listen? It has to be Hermione!"

For the first time, Draco agreed with him, giving all of them quite a surprise. "It has to be her. For several reasons. First, all her thoughts were sent in her point of view. Even if Kraddoch had made those thoughts, they wouldn't be filled with so much accuracy and detail, and that's because he doesn't know her as well, and would be unable to predict what her thoughts would be like. And her thoughts wouldn't have that sense of familiarity that Potter recognizes very obviously."

"But--" began Ron, but stopped as Tylendel held up a hand.

"They do have a point," said Tylendel.

Draco continued. "The second reason is, if Kraddoch had sent those thoughts, he wouldn't pick a place as protected as Hogwarts. Hermione's read Hogwarts, a History. She knows that Hogwarts is protected by wards set by the founders that can't be taken down by anyone else."

Harry looked surprised. "How did you know she's read Hogwarts, a History?"

Draco glanced at him with a strange look. "We've spoken a few times," he said shortly. "But that's not important right now."

Harry felt a small pang of jealousy as he thought first, that Hermione had found Malfoy as someone good to talk to about her favorite text on Hogwarts, and second, that they shared some kind of relationship at all. However, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and ignored it.

"Have you talked to Roassir on this yet?" asked Ron.

"He might have made me head of the team, but he doesn't necessarily agree with all my ideas. He would have wanted us to use Hermione as a mole in their gang, but I refuse to put her through that." Harry frowned. "You know as well as I do how he thinks."

"Forget about Roassir for the moment," said Tylendel in an authoritative voice. "What's most important right now is that we find Hermione, and we immediately get both of you under some kind of training."

"Training...?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Of course! Training is crucial. Especially at an age like this. I'm guessing Hermione's powers appeared at an earlier age, just not significant enough for her or anyone else to notice. She has had time to become used to her powers, but if she doesn't receive the proper training soon, the magic will control her."

"But--"

"And it's even worse for you, because your powers have just suddenly bloomed after being dormant for longer than they should have been. They will take control of you much quicker, and you will weaken in an instant. Think about how powerful you are, or will be, Harry, and think about that power in the wrong hands."

Harry opened his mouth, and then closed it, thinking over his friend's words carefully. He glanced at Ron, who was staring somewhere to the right of Harry. Harry followed his gaze, and his eyes landed on Draco, who had silently moved to the other side of the Great Hall. He was standing stiffly, facing the wall, his hands tucked into the pockets of his robes. His usually neat hair was mussed up, and his posture was rigid; there was none of the grace and elegance he'd always held himself with.

Strangely, Harry felt sorry for this young, lonely man who had been tortured and abused, all for nothing. Draco had made only one mistake, and that error had ruined over half of his precious life.

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Draco stared through the wall, thinking about the past. The past...and the future. The present no longer mattered to him, for the future would become the present, and the present would become the past. He had only to worry about the future, and everything else was cut out for him. Or so it seemed.

The same person was on his mind again. Jaysen. Draco clenched his fists inside his pockets with frustration. Why couldn't he forget about him? Why did that man have to come back into his life?

When he'd first discovered that Jaysen was working with Potter, he had felt shocked, nervous. Draco knew very well at the time that his uncertainty was bleeding through his speech, and had tried his best to hide it. That was until the dream happened. He had dreamt about the past, and his mind had replayed the events to him in his slumber. And unlike his other dreams, when Draco woke up, he remembered it with crystal clarity.

The moments that had haunted him for so long were returned to him, and for many nights he could not sleep. When he finally recovered enough to chide himself for wasting so much time on so small a thing, he discovered a cold peace within him. It was place he could go to be alone, to forget. It was a land of ice and snow, a land that froze him to the heart whenever he chose to visit it.

And this was how he had changed. Draco was aware that his attitude had become cold around Jaysen, and he felt that Jaysen deserved it. Draco knew he was being cruel, as in the past he had been taught to be, and he hated himself for it. But there was nothing he could do when such brokenness filled him at the thought of the young sorcerer.

Jaysen. Jaysen. The name echoed through his head, driving him insane with uncontrolled and mixed emotions. There was really no word for what he felt. It was a cross between anger, frustration, despair, longing, and loneliness. And love. And hate. Except that he could never truly hate Jaysen. And Draco would never again be able to love him the way he had after all that had happened. But still. That terrible hate was still there, at the bottom of his heart. And beside it was the love that had once filled him with infatuation.

In such a way was Draco torn between his emotions. And he was determined to overcome his feelings. He couldn't let himself fall into that empty void once more. He would become the blackness that colored his heart, and this time there would be no one there to save him.

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Hermione waved her arms wildly as she swam up towards the light. She had forgotten how exhausted she'd become, and when she apparated, her aim had been a bit off. She had ended up underwater in the Mediterranean Sea. She broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. She'd never been much of a swimmer. Hermione forced herself to relax and floated on her back, sparing herself a moment's rest. Finally catching her breath, she concentrated hard on Hogsmeade, and in a second, there were only gentle ripples where she had been a moment ago.

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Hermione felt her feet hit the ground and let out a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes. Finally, she was in Hogsmeade. Taking the short cut, she chose the path to her right and passed through the back of the Three Broomsticks. Down a narrow alley, out the gate, and then down a pleasant trail through a small wood of trees. She came out at the end of the Forbidden Forest, and followed the edge of it until Hogwarts could be seen. Hermione smiled to herself. She was safe now.

The Great Hall had certainly changed a great deal. The large windows had been taken down and new walls put in place. The door was now facing southeast instead of west, and the floor was of stone. The ceiling was now painted a light blue. Why did they change all this? Hermione thought to herself. It would have been more expensive to remodel everything than to maintain its grandeur. Hermione heard footsteps and her heart leaped. It was Harry! She turned around and saw--

Someone who was most definitely not Harry. And this place...was most definitely not Hogwarts. Hermione frowned with dismay and allowed her eyes to pass over the room once more..

"Who are you?" she asked in a low and quiet voice. Her heart sped up again, this time because she was starting to feel panicky.

The figure chuckled. Whoever it was, they had a voice that was oddly both feminine and masculine, and they were robed and hooded in a heavy brown material. Hermione could not determine whether this person was male or female. All she could see were the eyes, which were a brownish green and had a manly shape but long eyelashes.

"My identity does not concern you, nor does it matter at all. The point is, when you reach your destination, you will not recall meeting me. For now, you may call me Qeirtehlé."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, as she always did when she was suspicious. "You stopped me from reaching Hogwarts." The person, if person it was, said nothing in return. "How did you know who I am and were I was headed for, and why did you halt my travel?"

The figure sighed with obvious annoyance and impatience. "That concerns you as much as my identity does." The mysterious person snapped twice and Hermione found herself suddenly bound with ropes and seated in a rather comfortable chair. "You are going to go to sleep for a bit. When you awake, you will be fully rested and at Hogwarts. You can expect you will forget all about me, and we will quite possibly never cross paths again. Sweet dreams."

And before she could do or say anything, Hermione drifted off into slumber.

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Hermione was being chased by a creature that she could not see. It was cloaked by the darkness of the night, and screeched at her a horrible high-pitched voice that cut the night so sharply the air seemed to sting. She felt her heart pounding as she rounded the corner of...

A palace. It was a castle that had just suddenly appeared. The young witch almost cried out with relief at the thought of shelter and protection. She ran with all the strength that was left in her. Hermione leaped onto the bridge with a force that could only have been backed by adrenaline, and found herself already halfway across it. She sprinted through the doorway and drew up the bridge as soon as she could.

The drawbridge locked into place and she looked beyond it anxiously, waiting for any sign of the creature. At least she was protected now...

Hermione heard the terrific cry of the beast from behind her. She turned to see the creature springing upon her. All that could be seen was a black blob with claws that reached out and grasped her arms tightly. She felt the rest of her strength and more drain out of her with a rush. The creature was sucking out her power; it was stealing what rightfully belonged to her. The witch struggled against the creature, who tightened its hold on her until she was weak with pain. Hermione tried to cry out, but her voice died in her throat. There was nothing she could do but sink into the darkness that awaited her...

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"Hermione!" Harry ran to the east wall of the Great Hall, where his good friend was slumped on the ground. Ron and Tylendel turned around at the sound of his voice and hastened to join him. Draco was already there beside Harry.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly. She felt strangely refreshed, and sat up. "Harry, it's so good to see you again!"

"Careful!" Harry warned as she moved.

"I feel fine." Hermione picked herself up and stretched for a moment. "I..." Hermione wrinkled her eyebrows, thinking as hard as she could about the dream, but the only wisps of it that remained floated away and she forgot completely. She shook her head. "Nevermind." She turned to Draco and hugged him.

Once again, Harry felt a flutter inside him. She hadn't given him a hug... Harry chided himself for the thought and willed himself to put it from his mind.

"Tell us what happened," Harry said very simply.

His friend took a deep breath and began to relate the story from the very beginning.

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"...And then I found myself in the Mediterranean. I guess my aim was off because I was so tired."

"And...?" Tylendel prompted.

"Then I just apparated to Hogsmeade and took the short cut here," Hermione finished with a shrug.

"Mmm." Harry frowned slightly, and his eyebrows knit together thoughtfully. Something was not right. Hermione had been gone for much longer than her story detailed. If she had gone as directly as she claimed, she should have apparated to Hogsmeade and gotten to Hogwarts over two hours before she actually arrived. But Harry knew she did not believe in dishonesty, so everything she said must be true. Unless something had happened that she didn't know about. He glanced at Draco, and by the expression on his face, Harry could tell that the same thoughts were running through his head.

"How did you get in here so quietly and suddenly? Are you sure nothing else happened?" Draco was the one to voice what Harry was hesitant to ask.

Hermione looked surprised. "Positive. What else could have happened?"

Harry bit his lip pensively. Of course Hermione wouldn't notice anything wrong. She had lost track of time...

Ron cleared his throat. "I think that Hermione needs to get some rest. In fact, we all do. We can talk more on this later."

Tylendel nodded in agreement. "Tomorrow, I'll have to tell Hermione about her powers, and we'll start your training."

"Powers...?" Ron looked puzzled.

"Good." Hermione gave a nod. "There were some questions I wanted to ask you about that. And yes, Ron. Powers. I'm sure someone will explain to you tomorrow."

"Er, right."

The five of them gathered up their things. Harry waited until everyone had left except Draco.

"Wait," said Harry in a firm voice, grabbing Malfoy's arm. "You noticed it too, didn't you?"

Draco looked surprised for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Something had to have happened to her during that time. She passed the Apparating test with full marks. I highly doubt she'd have trouble doing it even in her sleep. She must have gone somewhere..."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Harry agreed. "Is it possible that someone might have memory-charmed her?"

"Perhaps. If it is such a charm, we cannot try to break it yet. Once she has finished her training, it's very likely she'll break whatever binds her memory by herself."

"Right," Harry nodded. Draco said nothing more. Harry watched as the tall blond pivoted on his heel and swept through the door with the grace that had disappeared during those few hours.

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"So, I'm Ki'yethe, and Harry's a Wizard-Mage?" asked Hermione, after Tylendel and Harry had taken turns explaining. They were sitting comfortably in Hermione's dining room. Ron had been assigned to sort the files today and was unable to join them.

Harry nodded.

Hermione propped her elbows on the table and set her chin upon her laced fingers. "I've read about people who were Ki'yethe, but the thought never entered my mind that I might be Ki'yethe."

"You'll have to start training immediately. Today, if possible," said Tylendel.

"But who will teach us?" asked Hermione.

"Me, of course," Tylendel replied matter-of-factly. "Who did you expect?"

"You? But, Ty--"

Tylendel interrupted Harry. "What other teacher are you going to get? Besides, I had four or five students back at Haven. I'll be as good a trainer as you can possibly find. And plus, Draco's already been trained, so he can be of some assistance."

Draco looked briefly surprised at the use of his first name.

At the look on his face, Harry allowed himself a grin, and then became serious again. "I think we should concentrate on Hermione first. She's already learned to use some of her powers."

"But--" Tylendel shook his head in disagreement. He thought it would be best to train the both of them at once.

"You said it would be dangerous for her to be this age and untrained after having her powers all this time," argued Harry.

"It would be dangerous for you, too, and more so--"

Harry interrupted again. "And plus, if I watch you teach her, my training will go much quicker. She learns quickly, it won't be delaying my training by much."

After a few moments of hesitance, Tylendel nodded reluctantly. "Fine," he sighed. It didn't appear to be such a good idea to him, but if Harry insisted...

Harry relaxed visibly. He was glad Tylendel had finally agreed. He was worried about Hermione, and the sooner she had complete control over her powers, the sooner he would feel better. Harry had an inkling that something strange was going on, and he wasn't sure if it was happening outside or inside him. Better to make sure everyone around him was as safe as possible. He would worry about himself later.

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"You're losing it, Hermione," Tylendel warned. After four days of almost nonstop training, Hermione was picking up everything at a fast rate that even Harry had not expected. Tylendel proved to be the best teacher Harry had ever seen, and each day he became more delighted with Hermione's progress.

At the moment, Hermione was learning to layer her shields, and the second level of her shields, which was designed to reflect power, was wavering. Hermione nodded grimly, and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as she focused all her concentration on stabilizing the shield. In a moment, she had everything under control again, and Tylendel smiled with approval.

"Great," he said. "Just a little more practice, and you'll have it completely under control."

Hermione let out a weary breath and disassembled her layers carefully.

"You need to be able to send up a shield immediately, in case your enemy attacks too abruptly, like this." With no other signal, Tylendel shot a bolt of energy at Hermione, who, without even a blink, swiftly and skillfully threw up a transmutation shield. The shield absorbed the energy, and with that new power, strengthened itself.

Tylendel looked very surprised. "Very good! Where did you learn to do that?" Transmutation was a very advanced skill, one that he had not yet taught his new pupil.

"I was reading up on mage powers," Hermione said with a shrug. She beamed, looking very pleased with herself.

"After a week or two, you'll have just about all the basics down." Tylendel shot an uneasy glance at Harry, who sat outside the workroom and gazed anxiously through a window. Tylendel gestured for him to enter and removed the shields he had put up to contain any magic that might suddenly lose control. Harry disappeared from the window and Tylendel opened the door for him.

"How are you doing?" asked Harry as soon as he stepped inside the room.

"She's doing wonderfully well. You, on the other hand, need to start your lessons."

"I can wait a bit." Harry brushed his friend's statement away impatiently. "When will her training be complete?"

"Complete? It will never be complete. Like any other knowledge, she'll never learn all the magic that there is to learn. But in a fortnight, she'll have covered all the basics," replied Tylendel. He looked at Harry with stern eyes. "She's learning quickly, but I won't move her on to more advanced magics until you receive at least some kind of training.."

Hermione looked slightly disappointed, and Harry shook his head. "It's not that urgent," he said in an irritated voice.

"But it is that urgent," insisted Tylendel. "Don't you realize that if you --"

"I really don't see what the rush is. I can wait a few months."

"A few months?" echoed Tylendel, exasperated. "Are you insane? You'll --"

"Ty, you're being paranoid. Nothing's going to happen. I know you're worried, but all this is really getting annoying."

Tylendel opened his mouth angrily but no sound came out.

"It's okay, Harry," offered Hermione in a small voice. "I've already got most of it -- you probably need the training more than I do."

"No, Hermione," said Harry in a firm voice. "I know you're anxious to learn all this new magic, and I want you to learn it. Ne t'en fais pas."

The corners of her mouth could not help twitching upwards to form a small smile at Harry's heavily accented French. Harry was right, Hermione loved learning new things and was fascinated by this new kind of magic. But still, she was worried about Harry... She sighed out loud. "You're getting your training done as soon as I reach the next level."

Harry frowned, gave a nod. Tylendel let out a breath. He would make sure Hermione learned very quickly...

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"This is the last one. You cannot leave this area until you match my shields perfectly, and then strip them down one by one." Tylendel sweated with exertion. He was testing his student on everything he had taught her in the past three weeks. And just giving the test was draining his energy.

Hermione said nothing in return, only drew a deep breath. Using her magesight, she Saw that there were two main shields, layered under a reflecting shield that was hidden beneath what Looked like a weak and vulnerable shield, but was in reality a trap for the enemy. It was a typical and most basic pattern of defense, and Hermione knew it well.

She readied herself and reached out to find the nearest power line, or even better, node. However, as she'd expected, the shield that surrounded her blocked her link to them. She would have to rely entirely on her own power, and she was fairly sure that there was very little left. Hermione was quite thoroughly exhausted, and did not think she was even up to such a simple task.

Despite the thought, she built up the first shield slowly and carefully. Her weariness caused it to waver, but after a moment it stabilized. The second one was a duplicate of the first, and she allowed herself a pause before continuing. She deftly covered the first two layers with a blanket of reflection. The shield broke, and Hermione Saw that she had made it weak and less malleable than her teacher's shield. She tried again, this time matching it precisely.

One more to go. Hermione examined Tylendel's outermost level in great detail. This one, though easiest to build, was most difficult to copy exactly. It had points of weaknesses in it, along with parts that thinned out and were very easily broken, places that every enemy automatically looked for in a shield. What made it hard to match was the fact that all such shields created for the purpose of tricking the enemy were unique to the mage who built them. Hermione needed to find these random patterns of dents and impaired spots in Tylendel's shield and copy them exactly.

Slowly, she molded the shield, shaping it to an exact copy of Tylendel's shield. It was almost as if she were working with clay. When Hermione was at last satisfied with her work, she joined it with her trainer's shields. The entire combination flickered for a moment, and then solidified into one. She let out a breath. The hardest part was over.

With great care, Hermione removed each level as she had been instructed to. As the last one came down, she looked up to see Tylendel grinning. She smiled back. It was the most intense exercise she had ever experienced, and she was glad it was over.

"That was very good. Here--" He Flung a line at Hermione, who caught it easily. Tylendel threw what he could spare of his energy to her, and instantly she felt less exhausted.

"Thanks." Hermione slumped in the wooden chair in the corner of the workroom. Tylendel removed the shields that covered Hermione and the room.

"I suggest you get a lot of rest," said Tylendel, feeling very tired himself.

"Mmm," was all Hermione managed to mutter in response. It had been a very long day. And she did not yet know just how long it was going to be.

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Harry sat slumped on the couch in his office. His head was throbbing painfully, and everything was blurred. Every once in a while he seemed to pass out and wake up with no memory of what had happened. He forced himself to get off the couch, and swaggered over to his desk, reaching for his coffee. His arm knocked over the mug and Harry cursed to himself as he quickly pulled documents out of the path of the quickly spreading liquid.

Another wave of dizziness. The Boy-who-lived drew a deep breath and tried to focus. His eyes crossed and he felt himself losing his strength. A charm, that's what he needed. A charm to take away whatever bad symptoms he had gotten. Harry reached for his wand. As his fingers connected with the wood he felt a shock surge up his arm. That definitely woke him up. He tried to let go of his wand, but he had lost control of his hand. Something was wrong.

His green eyes stared at his right hand as it closed around the wand and a soft light glowed around his arm. Something was very wrong. Some strange force made Harry around to face the mirror hanging on his wall. Where he should have seen his brown-black hair, his green eyes, and the lightning-bolt scar which defined him so surely, he saw instead a black and formidable shadow. His head felt faint, and he struggled to pull himself out of the warm water that he was drowning in. But there was no water to be seen anywhere.

In another instant, Harry had collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

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"Potter?" Draco rapped lightly on the door to Harry's office, tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you there? Would you open the door so I don't have to be rude and break it down?" There was no reply. Draco sighed loudly. "I'm not at all sorry to say that I'm very much obliged." Draco kicked the door as hard as he could, assisting himself with some of his mage-power, and flew open. He smiled to himself in satisfaction and stepped into the room.

"Potter?" he repeated, looking around. The room had a feeling of having been unoccupied for several hours, save the fact that there was coffee spilled all over his desk. Oh, and a broken mirror. A broken mirror? Draco raised his eyebrows and strolled over to inspect the reflecting glass hanging on the wall. The mirror was cracked, almost shattered. What was up with that? And had Harry been in such a hurry that he hadn't been able to clean up the coffee?

Draco sat down in the sofa to think. What was with all these spilled liquids all over the place? First Hermione, now Harry. Wait...Harry...? Draco jumped up. If anything had happened to Potter, the entire world of magic would be in deep trouble right now. Calm down, Malfoy told himself. Maybe Harry had just been in a hurry. Maybe Harry had gone off to find Weasley. Or Maybe Harry had been attacked, causing the broken mirror and the spilled coffee. At this moment, the latter seemed more likely.

Who would know what to do? Hermione and Tylendel, Draco automatically concluded. They would be able to help. Draco hurried from the room, only just remembering to shield the room so that no one could disturb its contents.

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"The mirror's broken and there's coffee spilled over his desk," concluded Draco after explaining what he had found.

In Hermione's office, she stood in front of him, hair pulled back messily. She wore a dismayed frown, her eyebrows wrinkled. "He just wasn't there? It can't have been trouble - we would all have been alerted."

Draco nodded slowly. "But...what should we do? Where do we start?"

Hermione looked grim. "Nowhere, anywhere, and everywhere. First, let's see what his status says on the Wizard-computer." She sat down at her Wizard-computer and opened Harry's file. "Status: Away."

"That means?" asked Draco.

"He's not anywhere within a five hundred kilometer radius," said Hermione worriedly. Draco cursed under his breath.

"Did you find Tylendel?" asked Draco, setting aside his differences.

"He's on his way," Hermione nodded.

"Now what?"

Hermione shook her head miserably. I don't know what to do." It was one of the first times in her life that she had no inkling whatsoever of what could be done. And it bothered her. Profoundly.