Accidents of Circumstance

Chapter 4: Casting the Circle

Regina taped a sheet of paper on the classroom door at three o'clock that read "No appointments today" and locked the door. She stalked the hallways, mind restless. There were two days left to the potion that she was brewing for the Gryffindors. She greeted ghosts absently in the empty hallways, until one tried to throw a painting at her. Regina looked up suspiciously at the ghost. "And you are?"

The ghost only laughed, and skittered away from her. She reached out and grabbed the ghost's arm, squeezing tightly. The smile faded quickly; no one had ever grabbed him before. He tried to move, but found her grip was tight. "How do you do that?"

"Magic," Regina said blandly.

"I'm Peeves," the ghost muttered, eyes sliding away from her.

She didn't let go yet. "Is there a gym around here?" Peeves stared at her, then tried to peel her fingers away with his other hand. "Lead me to a place to exercise, and I'll leave you alone."

He nodded, and Regina let go. He bounded down the hallway, and Regina jogged to keep up. She tried to mentally note where she was in the castle, but the odds were that she was only going to be lost. Well, maybe a painting or two would be helpful enough to point her the way back to the main areas of the castle.

Finally, Peeves pointed through an arched doorway. "Thank you," Regina said, startling the ghost a little further. He disappeared, and Regina stepped through the doorway.

It was a good self-respecting gym, and there was even a punching bag. With a grin, Regina conjured a loose T-shirt, biker shorts and sneakers. She changed quickly, and ran through a simple exercise routine before conjuring tape. She taped up her hands, and began to attack the punching bag with a ferocity born of pent-up frustration and underlying rage. She was aware at some point that someone was watching her, but left it alone. Let them watch. She had been itching inside of her skin all day, and needed to let it out. Better the bag than a person.

It was during a particularly wicked roundhouse kick that Regina got a good look at her audience. It was Snape. She grit her teeth and gave the punching bag another wicked kick, then shook herself out. During her stretches, she tried her best to appear nonchalant when she looked over his way. "So... what's up?"

Snape had been surprised during his free hour by Peeves knocking over a jar of red pepperwort that he was going to measure out for restocking the student storage cabinet. He had gone on about a dark-haired scary witch, then flitted out of the Potions classroom. Wondering who it could be, Snape had eventually made his way towards the Slytherin exercise room. He had heard the grunting of someone hard at work, and had been surprised to see Regina there. With grudging respect, he watched her attack the punching bag as if possessed. Now she was stretching out, as flexible as ever, and looking as if she had every right to be there.

"Peeves actually seemed to be scared of you."

"I suppose no one's dealt with that particular poltergeist before."

"The Bloody Baron does that."

"Who?"

"Another Slytherin House ghost."

"Ah... That's where I am, then. Slytherin."

"You didn't know?"

"I needed a place to work out. Peeves brought me here."

Snape watched in silence as Regina began to move in martial arts formation. "I didn't know you knew that."

"What? Karate? Ah, well. There's lots of things you don't know about me," Regina said in a sage tone. She finished the kata and bowed in Snape's direction.

"Now what?"

"Shower first, journal writing later."

If it surprised him at all, Snape hid it well. He took a deep breath. "You look well, Gina."

Her face was carefully blank. "Thanks, Sev. It's been a long time."

"I didn't think you would be willing to teach here."

"Change can be good, I guess. And Albus can be very convincing."

"How are you finding Scotland?"

"Cold and snowy," Regina said, slipping easily into pleasantries. Maybe she could pretend that there was no history at all between them.

Snape nodded, falling silent. "It's good to see you," he murmured after a moment.

"You've been better, I think," Regina said slowly. He was too pale, his hair was a little stringy and greasy, as if he'd been down in the dungeons for far too long.

He looked up at her, and met her eyes. "I was, a long time ago."

"Yes.... I think you were." Regina gathered up her clothes, feeling his eyes on her. She was starting to feel chilled, but wouldn't change here. "I'd better go. My deadline is in two weeks, and I still have half the article to write."

"Good luck with it, Gina."

"Thanks, Sev."

He let her pass, and she could feel his eyes in her back. She walked out of the dungeons and headed back to her room. Time to make the lie about her article a reality.

Snape, in the meantime, had noted that there was still no ring on her finger, no outward sign that she was anything but alone.

"I made a mistake," he whispered to the empty exercise room.

***

The Slytherin common room had been too noisy to read the advanced potions text that Draco Malfoy had borrowed from Snape. He had curled up on a window seat in the library, overlooking the snow-covered fields in the rear of the castle. This area was generally quiet, and it was too early for serious studying anyway. He idly watched the snow begin to fall, large fluffy flakes that gently drifted down to the ground, adding to the drifts.

There was someone walking through the snow, carrying something. As the figure approached the castle, Draco realized it was Regina Vial, carrying a bag labeled with the logo from a Muggle bookstore. She was trudging towards the Slytherin dungeon entrance, as if she had come from the owlery. Snow clung to her lashes and the hair that had escaped the hood of the Muggle jacket she was wearing.

It was a late Friday, and there was really nothing to do while it was snowing. Since he knew exactly where she was headed, perhaps he could talk to her? He had been practicing extra first and second year charms without his wand, and wanted to ask her opinion about his skill. It would be something to impress his father with, surely.

Draco took off for the entrance that Regina had most likely gone through. There were the wet footprints, all right, but they were headed not to her classroom or quarters. Instead, they headed to an infrequently used corner of the castle. Intrigued, Draco followed the steps until the snow had stopped falling from her boots. From there, a locator charm directed him towards a particular classroom.

Weasley, Granger and Potter were already there. Draco clamped his jaw shut, and watched Regina greet them all by first name cheerfully. She deposited her bag on the floor, and took off her jacket. She draped it over a desk that had been left behind when the classroom had been emptied years before. She walked over to the center of a room, where a cauldron was set on a low simmer. The three Gryffindors looked a little excited; whatever it was that was bubbling smelled a little sweet, and made Draco wonder what was going on.

"You did set up the wards?"

Weasley flushed. "I forgot."

"It's a Friday. At least most of the other students are busy elsewhere." Regina walked back towards her bag, and Draco quickly ducked out of the way. "Some of my old wards are still up and running, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Ward? What ward? Draco thought in a panic. He didn't want to be caught just yet, not until he found out what they were doing.

"Okay, you have a choice. Colored chalk or single color."

"Does it matter?" Weasley asked. Draco wished he could have said something. Of course it mattered! Magic can be very specific!

"For this spell? No. But it may make drawing the runes easier."

Runes? This sounded interesting. That was another thing they didn't teach much of at Hogwarts. So she was teaching these things on the side? Perhaps he could ask for extra lessons, too. They shouldn't be the only special ones...

"We should learn it the easiest way, I think," Harry said. "In case we have to do this on our own in a rush."

"Good choice." She took out a box of Muggle chalk from the bag. "Here we go, the most simple of the simple." She took out a stick of chalk and gave it to each of them.

"No magic chalk?" Hermione asked. "That would make the spell easier."

"To cast the circle? Yes. But if you can't find magic chalk, it'll be harder on you when you really need it to work." The three students accepted their pieces of chalk and stood at uncertain attention. "Now, I need you to watch very closely. When the potion's done simmering, it will turn clear as water."

The four of them stood over the cauldron, and then suddenly Regina whisked it off of the burner. Hermione turned it off and watched as Regina immediately began to pour it into glasses set up on another abandoned desk. It looked like water, whatever it was. "You want to take it off as soon as it turns clear all the way through. You can't let it simmer for too long, it changes the consistency of the potion, and then you'd have to use it for something else."

"Like what?"

"Drain cleaner," Regina said in all seriousness. "Unclogs a sink like you wouldn't believe."

Draco watched the three teenagers look at each other nervously. It was obviously a dangerous potion. Now he really wanted to know what was going on.

"I hope you've read those books I suggested," Regina was saying, setting the cauldron down on the floor. "It really helps to understand a little bit about the components of this spell, even though there's no real need to alter it."

"I did, though some of the books aren't in the school library." Hermione said.

"Oh... That's right, I forgot. Your government has issues."

Draco was practically salivating now. Secret magic spells the government didn't approve of? It would definitely be something worth knowing.

"Anyway, it's not really important." Regina gave each teenager a glass, and motioned for them to stand apart from each other. "I'm going to project the parts of the circle in order you have to draw it. Remember... draw, drink and then speak."

Piece by piece, lines began to appear on the old stone floor. First a literal circle, then another ring within it. There were runes to draw at all four compass points, then paired lines connecting the circles halfway between the compass points. Now there was a ring of runes to draw inside the inner circle. Once the last rune was complete, it began to glow softly, a faint blue color beneath the white chalked lines. Each teenager paused a beat, then drank their glasses of potion. Then they murmured a few lines of oddly accented syllables, and then their skin glowed faintly blue. When the color faded from their skin, the glow from the floor faded as well.

Regina was practically glowing with pride. "All in one try, too."

"Hermione grilled us for the past two days to say it right," Harry said with a grin. "It was awful saying some of those sounds."

"You'll get used to it, if you do this often enough."

Ron looked down at the floor. "And this chalk, we have to do this every month?"

"Once you know the signs well enough, you can actually just trace it out with your fingers. It's easier to start with chalk so you can see the pattern it makes."

"And where would the colors have been?" Harry asked, smudging the chalk with his toe.

"The outer circle and inner runes would have been red. Or rather, pink, since I couldn't get any red chalk in this pack. The inner circle would be blue and the outer lines and runes would have been in yellow."

"And what does that mean?" Hermione asked.

Regina just grinned. "It would take too long to explain exactly why. It just makes the spell go faster. Remember, it's the intent more than anything else that helps seal the magic into the circle to keep you safe."

Safe? It was a protection spell? Suddenly it became clear to Draco. Potter and his friends had to be concerned about all the deaths reported, and figured they were next on the Death Eater hit list. They convinced Regina to teach them a protective spell.

Draco slipped away. If Potter was scared, it had to be a pretty bad situation indeed. It explained why his father had seemed so jubilant during the holidays. The Death Eaters, led by Voldemort, were getting more and more bold. It had to be weighing on Dumbledore and all of his favorite cronies.

Yet Draco couldn't bring himself to be completely pleased by this discovery. It was generally assumed among his Slytherin classmates that he had long since joined the Death Eaters and got his mark. They assumed that his advanced magic knowledge was gleaned through service to the Dark Lord. He had let them assume all they liked, since it generally left him in peace. And he really did wish to become his father's second. As powerful as the Malfoys already were, with Voldemort in charge, they would become even more powerful. The truth of it was, Draco was more than a little vain and more than a little stubborn. And when it came down to it, he really hated being told what to do. While he wanted his father's blessing, he knew it always came with a price, and always with an ulterior motive. Lucius Malfoy was not a caring man, and at times was not even a pleasant one. It took a lot to earn his respect, and Draco didn't think he was anywhere close yet.

On the other hand, it didn't do much for Draco to see his father acting servile in front of Lord Voldemort. The creature had reddened eyes, gray lips and scaly greenish skin visible beneath its cloak. Draco didn't like to think of it as being human.

Potter and his friends made a fun target when he was bored. It was force of habit at this point, really, and Weasley always reacted so easily. They were predictable, the brave Gryffindors in their little triumvirate, strong against the outside world, maybe shagging each other senseless behind closed doors. Who knew anything about them, really? Other than they were always together, always the united front, always ready to do in the evildoer. Gryffindors were brave and feared nothing.

Which made this evening's discovery all the more disturbing.

***

Draco waited until Monday evening to greet the portrait in front of Regina's door. He greeted her by name, which he didn't think even Granger had done, and was rewarded with a small twitter of laughter. "Oh, Gina! The darling boy is here," Mabel said in a singsong. Draco was silently amused and not quite surprised that he could charm a painting. He was a quarter veela, after all, and it was still potent when used appropriately. And how many would think to use sexual charm on a painting? Poor Mabel had to be starving for affection.

Regina opened up her door. "Draco! Come on in!"

He stepped fully into her sitting room. And stared.

"Oh, don't mind all that. What did you want to talk about?"

"Er... I wanted to learn more." Draco said lamely, finally. He had a perfect excuse thought up about why he would be looking into esoteric runes, but the sight of so many Muggle artifacts crammed nonchalantly into the room threw him for a loop.

"About what?"

"Runes," Draco said, finally coming to his senses. "I was doing readings in Potions, and there was a mention about how some potions are more active when combined with certain runes, and I wanted to know if maybe you knew about it."

"I'm hardly the one to ask about potions."

"Snape was busy, said it was a waste of my time."

"He would," Regina said with a nod. "So what was the reference?"

"Huh?"

"The reference. Usually a text will either reference another one, or give an example."

"There was something about a potion that would protect against... frostbite, I think it was." Considering the fact that he was completely making it up, Draco thought he was doing pretty well.

"Where were you on Friday afternoon? About five-ish?" Regina asked suddenly.

Draco had complete mastery over his face, but knew it was impossible to finish this the way he had planned. Oh well, that's what creativity was for.

"I was in the library," Draco said. "I was reading the book I borrowed from Snape."

"Ever hear the phrase 'liar, liar, pants on fire'?" Regina asked, sitting down at her desk.

"I'm not lying."

"You weren't in the library at five... you were outside that classroom, weren't you? It's been eating up at you ever since."

"Er... Regina... It's a simple question. If you don't know about runes, just say so."

"Oh, I do. The thing is, you couldn't research that spell I did if you tried. I made it up."

"You did what?!" Draco cried, his jaw dropping open. She had said it so casually, as if she did that sort of thing all the time.

"Gotcha."

Draco blinked and clamped his jaw shut. "You most certainly did not."

"Of course I did. Otherwise, you wouldn't have reacted like that."

"Nobody just makes up spells."

"Of course they do. How else were they invented in the first place?"

"Well, are you writing it up? This spell you say you invented?"

"Oh no. Not at all," Regina said cheerfully, arranging her books into neat piles. It looked to be all social work texts.

"But... but..." Draco couldn't believe he was sputtering. "You have to!"

"I don't." Regina looked at him dead in the eye. "Why should I publish it? It's my spell. I can do what I want with it."

"But if it's strong enough to keep out Voldemort..." Draco stopped when Regina laughed. It wasn't an unfriendly laugh, but he didn't like being laughed at. "What?"

"That's what you think it was?"

"Well, you said it would keep them safe..."

"But Draco, of all people you should know how hard it is to protect against even a single person, or a single spell. Now how can you protect someone against Voldemort and his legion of minions and all their sticky little plots?"

Draco furrowed his brow. "Kill them?"

"Not an option."

He sighed. "You really can't."

"Silly. Of course not. Too many variables, it's hard to predict what will happen." Regina patted the seat of the chair across from her. "Sit, tell me what's on your mind."

"How did you- Oh... Social worker."

"Right." She patted the chair again, and warily, Draco sat down. "So what's really the problem, Draco?"

He suddenly wanted to tell her everything. The Death Eater meetings during his parents' parties, the pressure he was under at home to be a perfect student, to help recruit, to take up the cause and the Dark Mark. But he squelched that urge.

"Draco... you came here for a reason."

"What are those things?" he asked, pointing to the entertainment center. He didn't want to answer her questions just yet.

"Muggle things I brought over with me."

"How could it fit in a single trunk?" Draco got up quickly and stalked over to the TV, gently touching its screen.

"Shrinking charms. Lots and lots of shrinking charms."

Regina was amused. Everyone always said the troubled ones were attracted to her naturally, even if they weren't fully aware of it. Every troubled teenager she'd ever met with had been bursting at the seams to tell her something, but had always resisted. And they tended to go with a feint, asking about something else. Poor kid, he was up against a pro.

"I have video games," Regina said suddenly. "You know what those are, right?"

"Er... My parents don't like Muggle things."

Yes, Regina didn't think so. She'd already heard plenty about the esteemed Malfoy family, and had glimpsed Lucius Malfoy during her visit to the Ministry.

"Here... I like this one. It's advanced for 1997. The systems weren't invented yet, actually, but I had some really good time charms and was able to get them."

Draco's eyes widened. "You can move through time?"

Regina grinned. "Sh... Don't give it away all at once."

Know thy enemy, Draco thought suddenly, and realized he didn't know this woman at all.

Regina saw the cloud fall over Draco's eyes. It was pretty tenuous now... what she said next would be the one that made or broke this fragile trust.

"Listen, Draco. I know what people say about your family. Whether or not this has anything to do with it, I really don't care. But something's bothering you. Do you want to talk about it? Nothing leaves this room if you do."

She watched as he chewed on his lip, debating. Then he nodded, coming to a decision.

"Is Potter going to die?"

"What?!"

"That's what I've been worried about."

"Why? Everyone says you hate him."

"It's... habit. Everyone expects it, it's a distraction... But I don't even know him."

Regina sat down cross legged on the floor next to Draco, turning over a game in her hands. It wouldn't be released for another five years. By rights, it shouldn't exist. The Ministry had overlooked the fine print on the case, though at one point Regina had thought Arthur Weasley had caught her.

"What do you want? Are you afraid of being blamed if something goes wrong?"

"It's just... he's never been scared before. I don't think... I mean, he's Gryffindor. They're the brave ones, they just rush around saving the world."

"It doesn't mean you're not scared of things."

"Is he?"

"That's something you should ask him, I think."

"We don't talk... we trade insults."

"Do you want him as a friend?"

"I don't know. But... What if he wins? What if Voldemort wins? Potter's got to be dead then, right? And then this-" Draco waved at all the entertainment items. "would never be allowed. All the Muggles and Muggle-lovers have got to go."

"Why does it matter? Aren't all the Malfoys heartless bastards concerned about themselves?" Regina prodded. She knew she was pushing, but sometimes it was necessary.

Draco looked up, biting his lip again. "What if I don't want to be?"

"Then it's something to think about, isn't it?"

"I don't like this."

"What?"

"Feeling."

Draco said it with such loathing that Regina couldn't help but laugh. "Draco, it's what makes you alive."

"I don't want to be scared."

"Unfortunately, you have to grow up sometime." Now Regina looked sad. "I'd like to say you're all still children here, but it's not true. And the truth of it is, it's no picnic to be an adult, to have to make decisions for yourself. It's too easy to stay at home and hide, to let others make decisions for you."

"But I don't even like that."

"Then it's time to try making some of your own decisions. And dealing with the consequences of those decisions."

"Your first piece of advice," Draco whispered.

"Exactly."

"It's so hard, though."

Regina pulled Draco into a hug. "I know, honey... It's the part of life that sucks. But if you ever need to talk, I'll be here."

Draco nodded, clinging to her. She was the first one that honestly seemed to care, the first one to really listen. She sounded like she'd been to scary places and survived. And if she could, then he could, right? He trusted her.

With that action, the course of history shifted.

***

***