Dragonis

*~*Previous Chapter*~*

Lucius' face spread into a cold smile as he took her hand from her side and brushed his lips upon the back of it. His eyes remained in contact with hers as he did so, "Charmed," he dropped her hand, "I am Lucius Malfoy, I trust you are Leopold Kingsley's granddaughter," he paused cocking his eyebrow, "I suppose I should say were his granddaughter."

The arrogant smile that played on the man's lips gave Meryn chills up and down her spine. There was something here that she wasn't seeing, what was it that he wanted, what was she intriguing him so?

Meryn became rigid. She could still feel his touch on her skin, and the anger began to rise inside. Lucius began to speak once more. "I am more than willing to take you under my wing should you need anything." he paused, gauging her reaction, "you will meet my son Draco at the beginning of the new term. If you wish to contact me do so through him. Until then," he pulled a black card from inside his robes, "you will be able to reach me here." Meryn looked down at the card, it was the floor and office number of Lucius Malfoy's office at the Ministry of Magic. Meryn looked up from the card to find that Lucius was gone, black robes billowing behind him as he strode from the entrance of Gringotts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lucius Malfoy's loud footfall on the cobblestone was only a small indication of his impending mood. His venture to Gringotts had not turned out to be a mere waste of his time, as originally thought. Her had received a disturbing owl that morning while he was reading the Daily Prophet. The letter had indeed been from his father, not a hoax as he had first deliberated. He was livid, the letter was something he had never anticipated and it complicated the circumstances.

The Kingsley girl's image was imprinted on the back of his eyelids, "How ironic," he thought.

***

Meryn stood in the doorway to Gringotts watching Lucius Malfoy disappear down the Alley. Her mind was moving altogether too fast for her to comprehend what had just happened. Looking down upon the card in her hands she turned it over and sighed with displeasure. She knew that it was out of the question to tell Charlie what had just occurred to her. He would just get overprotective. That was the last thing that she needed to happen right now, her arrival at Hogwarts was due to happen tomorrow. Meryn felt a headache coming on.

She emerged from the enormous building and sighed as she slipped the black gold embossed card into her shoulder bag. The Alley seemed to fill with more and more wizards by the minute. She could feel her throat tighten as it suddenly became hard to breath. She could feel the panic rising inside of her as the crowds pressed in upon her. A light sheen of sweat began to build over her skin and her heart began pound faster in her chest. Meryn hastily began to make her way back to the Leaky Cauldron, but the more desperate she became to get back to her room the farther away it seemed to be. Passing Madam Malkin's, the Quidditch supply store and Flourish and Blotts she could feel this new emotion soaring through her, an emotion she had not realized she possessed... panic. She could no longer accept her body's new response to fear, and she pressed herself into the nearest alleyway and slid down the wall. The pounding in her head was almost unbearable. Hidden in the shadows she felt she had successfully masked her newfound weakness. She had concealed it from all those who could use it against her. Unbeknownst to Meryn a man with an intense glare spread upon his face had witnessed her confrontation with Lucius Malfoy and her recent decent into fear. He needed to keep a close eye on this situation; he needed to keep her under control.

Laying her head upon her hands Meryn wondered what would happen when the new term at Hogwarts began. Would the other students affect her like this, would this phobia force her into apertures in the walls? Sighing she returned to watching the crowd patiently awaiting the sanctity of the on coming quiet. The sun bore down on the pavement and Meryn realized that she could perhaps be in this recess for sometime. Meryn sat and pondered what had just happened; being in the large horde of people all in one place had just left her so anxious she could barely keep from vomiting all over herself. To her knowledge could she ever remember feeling like that, although she had never been exposed to such events prior to today. Shifting her position along the wall a pair of black leather shoes came into her view. Her eyes cautiously traced up black trousers and expensive ebony robe and towards the man's face. Light blond hair and steel grey eyes, it was Lucius again... no, he was younger. Was this the son he was speaking of?

He looked down startled by the girl at his feet. Walking from the rear of the alleyway he hastily placed the small brown paper package he had been examining inside his robes upon seeing her. The inexpressive look on his face quickly changed to arrogance as he spoke, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"You sound an awful lot like your father," she sighed; she would have put money on it that this boy was his son.

"Excuse me? How you know who my father is?"

"That hair, those eyes," she groaned as she raised herself up from the ground, "do you really think me a child?" Had she been able to leave the alleyway at that point she would have, but as she looked out onto the busy street she would have gladly spent her time with a nesting Hungarian Horntail.

The boy smirked and held his nose to the sky, "Yes, I suppose I do look remarkably like my father," he stopped his eyes narrowing accusingly, "you're new around here, who are you? I'm sure I would have seen you here before. What is your name?"

Meryn raised her eyebrow at him and felt her jaw tighten, "by the tone in your voice," she began matching the arrogance in his voice, "it sounds as though you expect me to answer."

He looked shocked by her response, his expression lasted only a seconds before he turned it back into arrogance. He held out his hand to her, "I am Draco Malfoy."

So she was right.

Meryn looked down at his outstretched hand and then to his face, which held, and obviously false smile, "Am I supposed to be impressed-" she began but he cut her off.

"Honestly, the one day I try to be polite," Meryn looked at him in confusion, he looked at her again and sighed, "you look as though someone has set a banshee loose in the crowd," he stopped following her gaze onto the street and continued, "besides your sitting in a dark alleyway what is one supposed to think?"

Her face became darker, almost guarded, Draco watched in amusement knowing he had hit a soft spot, "Very well," he began to walk away slowly he turned to her this time with a genuine smile on his face and proceeded to disappear around the corner.

Had the situation been different and he not walked into the sea of people Meryn would have defended herself but at this point in time all she could do was watch him ebb into the crowd as she had watched his father do earlier.

***

Sliding back down the wall Meryn soon felt the heat of the summer air slowly turn cold as the remaining day progressed. Slowly time passed and with that the light fell behind the buildings, the sea of people slowly trickled into a few stragglers. Stretching her stiff muscles she stood up, something was wrong, the air was entirely too calm, the Alleyway all together too quiet. There was no one left in the street, just Meryn and the oncoming darkness. Meryn felt as though there were a thousand icy daggers penetrating through her as she emerged from her position in the alleyway. Searching onto the street for the answer to her unease, Meryn found it. Ahriman, the man from the Leaky Cauldron previous night stood before her. His silvery eyes bore into her as she met his gaze, and upon doing so his face seemed to soften. He proceeded to kneel on the ground and place a brown paper package gingerly on the street in front of him, never once breaking his eye contact with Meryn. Upon straightening he Disapparated, leaving a very curious Meryn.

She walked over to the spot of ground previously occupied by Ahriman and retrieved the package. She turned it over in her fingers examining the stiff brown paper packaging and the coarse butchers string that bound it. The long slender package was rather heavy and medium in size and like a fire it was causing Meryn to burn with curiosity. She cautiously began to pull open the paper questioning whether or not it was a good idea.

Upon removal of the paper Meryn gasped slightly at what lay underneath. An intricately carved mahogany box was revealed; the carvings appeared to be of a dragon and a snake intertwined in a Celtic knot of sorts. There among the serpents was a burning ring of fire, which seemed to hover over crashing waves. Her fingers traveled over the top of the box and as they brushed over the knot of serpents it opened. Inside placed on the ebony-black velvet, sat a dagger. It was one unlike any other. Its hilt was carved from ivory; dragon's ivory if she was correct. Inlayed in the centre was a blood red ruby of generous size shaped into a teardrop. The blade itself was razor sharp made from the finest silver and alloy composition. Etched upon the blade was a language Meryn could not quite decipher, this dagger was magical; she could feel the power radiating from the object in her hands. A parchment lay at rest beside the weapon; Meryn carefully unfolded the paper startled that it seemed to be addressed to her.

Meryn,

If you are anything like your father you would have no reason to believe what I am saying but I hope for you to look past who I am ...

Meryn stopped and re-read the first sentence, who ever wrote this knew her father.

...Humour me and listen to what I have to tell you. This Dagger, this piece of art is something even your grandfather would have looked upon in awe, embedded deep in its history is a tale of hate, passion and finally redemption. A tale, which in time you, will become more than familiar with, however until that time this is all I can tell you.

The dagger came into my possession this morning with instructions to present it to you. There is still much you need to learn and so little you seem to know, therefore it seems it is my duty to inform you. However the timing is not right. Arrangements had been made decades prior to your birth as to what lay ahead in life for you, this dagger has been sent to you to mark your commencement on your chosen path.

I will remain in contact with you; trust your instincts for they are the only things that will not fail you.

-Ahriman Dragonis

She read and re-read the letter a dozen times as the final rays of light fell into an impending darkness. The mahogany box now laid a burden to her, discarded on the ground beside her feet. The parchment slid between her fingers and suddenly felt as though it was heavier than anything Meryn had ever come across in her life. She watched the wind take it and as she did so she felt something inside her change, something she was quite afraid to look for.

***

Carefully and slowly the door to her room opened revealing the quiet stillness of what lay inside. Everything was as it had been when she had left that morning, she felt childish to think that because of the inner turmoil she felt that everything around her would lay in shams. She mentally smacked herself as she laid the wooden chest on her bed. Sitting beside it she once again carefully pried open the lid, the hoary blade shone in the shadows of the moonlight that poured through the open window. Placing her fingers upon the hilt she felt an odd sensation fill her, it was as though the blade was melding into her soul and becoming a part of her. She held the dagger to the dim candlelight that filled the room as she examined the carvings on the blade as the tiny flames danced behind her.

Somehow the blade suddenly slipped and caught her thumb. As the blood beaded off her finger and onto the blade Meryn began to see, no rather feel, the power begin to emanate from the blade. The carvings became alive: the language on the blade began to rearrange itself and transform into other incomprehensible words. It seemed to fall as though it were in slow motion and the space around the dagger appeared to ripple as the blade embedded itself into the flooring. The air felt odd, as if there was an electrical current running through it. The bright red stone inlayed in the hilt appeared to bleed into a deeper blood red, almost black. The slightly tarnished silver became brightly polished giving it a mirror like reflection. She could almost taste the copper in her mouth as she reached down to test the dagger one more time. Hesitantly she probed the hilt with her index finger. When there was no reaction she pulled it from the floorboard and hastily placed it back into it's casing,

Clearly shaken Meryn hugged her arms around her body for the slight warmth it provided to her now chilled skin. She sent the room into darkness with a flick of her wand and proceeded to await her senses to once again return to her.

***

He sat in his meticulous study with his head carefully resting upon his steepled fingers thoughts endlessly running through his mind. He had gone though his part of the bargain; he had relayed the dagger to her. Ahriman new little more than Meryn did about the situation, and the more he found out the less he wanted to know. Ahriman sighed; his impending involvement was beginning to give him a headache. His steel grey eyes were half closed as he looked blankly at the wall opposite to him, but behind them there was endless thoughts and information crucial to his cause. Things had changed for him today as they had for three others. Ahriman needed to shape out now what his role was to be.

As though the answers to his thoughts were being answered an ebony eagle owl flew in the open window and balanced itself on the empty perch which resided beside his desk, a message tied in silver ribbon held in its talon. Swiftly Ahriman moved to the owl, removing the parchment from its grasp. The owl remained motionless awaiting a reply to bring to its master. Seating himself behind his desk once again Ahriman removed the Silver ribbon and began to read the letter.

In anger he slammed his hand down upon the desk making the owl ruffle its feathers in protest. This was exactly the kind of distraction he didn't need at the moment. Sighing Ahriman picked up a luxurious quill and wrote a few short words on a fresh piece of fine quality parchment before sending it along with the eagle owl. He watched as his family seal disappeared from his sight, a Silver Dragon poised to strike. He sighed now awaiting a reply from the Black Snake and he knew he would not sleep that night.

***

What was the meaning of all this? The day began with Lucius Malfoy and his familiarity with her at Gringotts, then his son and their odd meeting in the alley. After which Ahriman Dragonis left her the Dagger... The Dagger. Her mind seemed to remain fixated with it. Every time she closed he eyes it was there, its transformation, its lightweight, its smooth steel... Finally the letter, "strange," Meryn spoke aloud. This man she had not even heard of two days prior now seemed to be invading her every waking thought. She wished now she still had the letter, and yet at the same time she wished she had never even seen it at all. This was a new feeling for her, Meryn felt as though she were on the brink of something, perhaps just as Ahriman had said; this was the commencement of a new journey for her.

It had begun.

***

Charlie awoke in the early morning hours while the Burrow was still quiet; he sat peacefully contemplating if he should Floo Meryn. He was finding it odd that he was constantly worried about her, but he understood that she was now his responsibility. But whether or not Meryn accepted it was not what was concerning him at the moment.

He had felt something stir inside him in the middle of the night, like an echo of fear. He jumped from his bed uncertain of what he should do. He tried despreatly to slow his heartbeat, a difficult task given that he could not help but wonder if Meryn was all right. The sun was beginning to pour through the windows and Charlie knew that soon the calm quiet of the house would shatter into utter chaos. And yet he didn't mind, because it was home. He would bring Meryn here even if he had to hit her over the head and throw her in a sac. He would show her was a loving family was like.

Charlie made his decision, he would Floo her as soon as it reached a reasonable hour, knowing that if he didn't this feeling would continue nagging at him until he did so.

***

The owl flew through his window and landed on her master's upraised arm waiting for his approval, which she soon found. She once again departed through that same window with a field mouse grasped within her talons. He carefully opened the letter, not expecting a reply so soon. As he read the words a smirk spread across his face. He stared down at the elegant script written by the hand of The Dark Wizard Dragonis himself. In his angry scrawl he had written a short sentence consisting of seven simple words.

"It doesn't seem I have a choice."

Lucius smiled, the Dragon and the Snake would finally be united.