Dragonis

*~*Previous Chapter*~*

"That Black Dragon. That has been in your family if I can remember correctly... close to a hundred generations." Lucius' gaze was firmly locked onto hers. "One hundred generations of the family Dragonis have been in possession of that figure."

"Dragonis?" Meryn outwardly startled looked to the obsidian dragon in her hands. She once again met Lucius Malfoy's gaze, "You know? How?"

"My child, as an heir to the Black Serpent it is my duty."

***

Charlie sat once again watching his younger siblings soar though the sky a coy smile playing across his features. He was imagining Meryn sitting beside him watching this small game as he was now. Charlie's smile quickly faltered as he realized the thoughts that were passing through his mind. 'Why am I thinking this way? Meryn is like a sister to me. Isn't she?' His last thoughts rang through his head like the cry of a Hungarian Horntail. This was an emotion that Charlie had not expected to fill his chest, an emotion that shouldn't be there especially when he was thinking of Meryn. At night he was now familiar with that feeling of emptiness knowing Meryn wasn't nearby. The thought that if she was in need of his help he couldn't run to her side was nearly debilitating. Charlie sighed and pulled his eyes up to the sky once again.

A strong hand clapped on his shoulder, "Hey there kid!" It was Bill.

"Hey," Charlie answered half-heartedly.

Bill cocked an eyebrow at his younger brother, "What's bothering you? Normally you'd be up there with the rest of them. Now look at you," he said motioning to Charlie with his hand, "you look like you just lost your best friend."

Charlie just looked up at him and smiled weakly, then proceeded to look back up at game. Bill paused slightly and took in his brother for the first time in years. Charlie was tall just like all the Weasley men were, but slightly more muscular. It had been years since Bill had seen him act this way. It was as though he was having this inner struggle, and then it dawned on him. "Charlie?"

Lazily Charlie looked upon his eldest brother, "Hmm?"

"It's the Meryn girl isn't it?"

Charlie quickly turned to his brother fire burning in his eyes, "What about her?"

"Nothing." Bill smiled to himself.

"What do you mean nothing?" Charlie was getting irritated now. He jumped to his feet staring down at Bill.

"Nothing." Bill was enjoying this; it was like the old days back in Hogwarts.

"Bill, stop saying nothing! It has to be something, why are you looking at me like that?"

"You like her don't you?" Bill raised his voice slightly, trying to raise the attention of the rest of the Weasley's in the sky above.

Charlie shot at Bill pulling him to his feet his face now extremely flushed, "Will you be quiet!"

Bill smiled as if in conformation, "Nothing to be ashamed of Charlie," he said raising his hands into the air in front of himself as a huge smile spread across his features.

Charlie gritted his teeth slightly, and pushed Bill as he loosened his grip. "See, this is why I work with Dragons." He threw his hands up into the air as he began to walk back toward the Burrow, "They don't give a shit who you care about!"

***

"Black Snake? Sir?" Meryn looked up at the aristocratic features of Lucius Malfoy.

"Yes, I am the Black Snake and your father is the Silver Dragon." Lucius waited for her reaction, 'How much does she know?' He wondered to himself.

The wheels in Meryn's mind began moving at a very fast speed. Where had she seen the Snake and the Dragon before? What was their significance? It clicked. The Dagger, no, the chest the dagger was in. "What is this about?"

Lucius smiled, she was quick. "Come I wish for you to meet my son."

"We've already met." Meryn shifted uncomfortably, there where too many people in this room, she didn't like it.

"You have?" Lucius covered his shock well. 'Ironic.' He thought, "Well then, perhaps you shall get reacquainted.

Lucius placed a few Galleons in front of Tom and walked gracefully back to the table. Meryn reluctantly followed and sat herself between the two men.

"You're the girl from the Alley," Draco stated.

She merely looked at him.

"You never did tell me your name." Meryn had to give it to him; he was trying to be polite.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Meryn K-"

"Dragonis."

Meryn looked up to she the Slate eyes of Ahriman Dragonis. Her Father.

***

'Soon,' he thought as he gazed out of his small bedroom window, 'Soon I'll be at the Burrow.' Harry Potter rested his chin on his hands as his mind moved over the events that occurred at the end of term. Voldemort had eluded them again. This upcoming term he didn't imagine being any different from the past years at Hogwarts. He just hoped this year nobody got hurt. It was the Owl that Ron had sent him that bugged him the most, who was this girl? Why was she allowed to say at Hogwarts? Harry turned back to the cage in the far corner of his room and gently massaged his temples. "Soon Hedwig, soon well be at the burrow and you can stretch your wings." But silently he added, 'so can I.'

***

"Ahh, Ahriman, so glad you to join us." Lucius drawled.

"Get away from my daughter!"

"I'm afraid that is impossible Ahriman, you know that as well as I do." Lucius paused and pulled out the remaining chair at the table, "Please, sit."

Grudgingly Ahriman complied.

"I will not be a part of this." Meryn made to stand and Lucius grabbed her arm causing Ahriman to pull his wand, and by doing so making Draco draw his. The people mulling around the Inn turned at the commotion, and this was the tableau they saw.

Ahriman quickly put his wand away, ducking his face, not wanting to be recognized, "Please Meryn, sit."

Dumbfounded by the chain reaction, Meryn complied.

Lucius smiled, "Smart girl you have here Dragonis." Turning to Meryn he began, "I would never hurt you, you are practically family to me." Both Meryn and Draco looked shocked while Ahriman merely looked venomous. "I don't imagine you know the meaning behind that little statuette?"

"No, Sir." She looked up at Lucius and quickly corrected herself, "No Lucius, I've had it for as long as I can remember. It was a gift from my grandfather."

With this Ahriman's fist pounded on the table, bringing more looks from patrons. His face was dark, "Old fool," he spoke silently, his down cast eyes looking up to meet with Meryn's, "I sent that to you, it was a gift from me. A family heirloom."

Meryn looked down to the Dragon on the table then back up to her father. "Why would he lie?"

"Why?" Ahriman looked furious. "The same reason why he took you from us! The same reason why he hid you away. It was for the same reason why he would never let me see you. Meryn don't you see?"

Draco watched the girl. He watched her darken and saw the fire begin to burn within the depths of her eyes. "Why should I believe you? Why should-"

The dark Wizard beside him cut her off, "Why would I lie about it? I have nothing to loose either way. They took you away from me and a part of me died that day. They took away my little girl. I knew you would grow up and know nothing about me, nothing about your heritage, your bloodline. You would know noting and then this day would come and you would blame me."

Meryn drew into herself; she could feel the pain behind her eyes. 'Why now?' she thought. She looked up to her father and then to Lucius Malfoy. "I- I-." A warm hand was placed on top of hers; she turned to the right to meet her gaze with Draco Malfoy. It was like a wall of magic hit her. It was like she had been pulled from her seat at the table and was transported into nothingness. All around her it was Black and Silver colliding, creating a hurricane of confusion and nausea. As suddenly as it came it disappeared, and she was back in the Leakey Cauldron peering into the glazed eyes of Draco Malfoy. Meryn pulled herself back into focus as Lucius Malfoy turned to Ahriman and spoke.

"Had I known it would be that easy, I would have had them meet years ago."

Draco shook his head into focus and looked to his father, "What just happened?"

"That my boy was the answer to all of your questions."

"Father, that didn't answer anything, it just gave me more questions." Draco's fair eyebrows pulled together.

"The Silver Dragon and the Black Snake are destined to be united. Until the Bloodlines are joined neither family will be at peace." Ahriman Dragonis spoke the works as though they had been engrained into his soul. "As told in Prophesy The Black Dragon will be born. The Black Dragon will rule above all others." He had a far away look in his eyes. "All who oppose him shall be destroyed. All of those who shall not follow will be annihilated." He closed his eyes as he finished, "So it shall come to pass, so it shall come to be."

Lucius clapped arrogantly. "Very well done Dragonis, I see you have done your research."

"Of course I have Where my daughter is concerned I will not be careless."

Meryn who had been silent for some time spoke, "I am not going to do this!"

"I'm afraid you have no choice my child." Meryn looked up in surprise, it was the voice of the Headmaster.

"Albus, back so soon?" Lucius looked up at the wizard beside him.

"Yes, I'm afraid that it didn't take me as long as I expected." He turned to Ahriman, "Mister Dragonis, I am surprised to see you here, you are a wanted man after all."

"Yes, but when my daughter is concerned I will take any step."

The Headmaster smiled down at him, "Yes, that's what Severus said. Now if you excuse me I must take Meryn back to Hogwarts."

"Albus if you don't mind I would like her to come home with us," Lucius spoke.

"Mister Malfoy, it seems you told me that the manor in under construction and I would rather you not sent Miss Kingsley out of the country as of yet."

Lucius looked as though he had swallowed some sort of pond animal. "Yes. I understand."

"Mister Malfoy, I will remain in contact with you," Dumbledore began, "And Mister Dragonis, please come with me."

Meryn made to stand up to follow the two men, but Draco grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry." Was all he said and dropped her hand, as he quickly proceeded to follow his father up the stairs of the inn.

***

Meryn barely felt the tug around her middle as she jumped through the fireplace and landed with a thud on the floor of the Headmaster's office. To her surprise a hand appeared in front of her face. She looked up to find it belonged to the Dark Wizard Ahriman. "Thank you." She said as she took his hand and he aided her to her feet. Professor Dumbledore watched the display with a smile and took a seat behind his desk.

"I suppose there is a lot you both need to know now isn't there?"

Father and daughter looked into the crystal blue eyes of the headmaster and nodded. "First, I will say that I did not realize that things would come together so soon, second I must admit I did know of the prophesy," the headmaster held up his hand as the two began to speak up in protest, "But I was sworn to the utmost secrecy. Let me clear a few things up. This 'prophesy', so to speak, is not really a prophecy, but more of a bond or a Wizards dept between the two families. I do not know the exact history but I will say that it was put into place to end the animosity between the two families. Ahriman, you know, and I know, that the Dragonis family was one of the most powerful and influential up until the fall of Voldemort."

Ahriman placed his left arm on the side of a chair he had seated himself in and rested his head in his hands, "Yes, yes I do, and I'm rather ashamed of it."

"Please explain it to Meryn," said the Headmaster.

"The name Dragonis has always carried along with it fear and dignity. We had worked hard for centuries for it. We were the purest of the bloodline, as a matter of fact we still are." Ahriman chuckled. "That's why the Malfoy's and the Dragonis' never got along. Always in competition as to who held the title of Oldest and Most Dignified. Yes, and the more powerful. Centuries of animosity, decades of conflicts, all over who was the best of the best." He looked up at the headmaster who nodded for him to continue. "The name Dragonis and Dark magic had always gone hand in hand, without it was like Quidditch without the Quaffle; it's unheard of. So naturally when Voldemort came into power, just as Grindlewald, did my family happily supported him. I however had been disillusioned in my youth. In my visions of grandeur I figured that I could be better than Lord Voldemort, and began my quest to become the greatest dark Lord of the century, perhaps of the millennium." Ahriman rubbed his left eye and put his fingers over his lips before he began speaking again. "After I graduated Hogwarts when the old crowd turned to Voldemort, I left on my quest. Your mother didn't come with me in the beginning, at first I was by myself, but when I returned from a short trip to Egypt, your mother, as well as a few others, joined me. That was when things made a turn for the worse."

"Ahriman," the Headmaster spoke, "please, I understand your eagerness to tell your daughter why you could not be with her, but I feel it is here that I must interrupt."

The Dark wizard nodded.

"Meryn," the Headmaster began, "You cannot change what has happened. You must go through with this. I understand that it will be hard for you but this is old magic, not to be toyed with. It will be hard for you at first, but we here at Hogwarts will try to make it easy for you."

"Easy how?" Meryn's face darkened.

"You and Mister Malfoy-" the Professor began.

"No! No, I refuse! I will not be part of this, I will not! How dare anyone decide my fate? I will never-" Meryn suddenly began to pull at her chest, 'something's wrong' she thought. It was hard to breath, it was like and invisible hand was tightening around her throat. Just as she was beginning to see spots in her vision, she could breath once again. Falling to her knees in front of the Headmaster's desk Meryn, gasped for breath.

"What that hell was that!" Ahriman yelled at the Headmaster.

"It is what I said. This is old magic Ahriman, your Daughter has no choice."

***

"Old fool!" Lucius spat as he looked around the room he was sharing with his son. "He will not interfere, this is too important." Lucius turned his vision suddenly on his son. "Why are you so quiet?"

Draco raised his eyes to meet his father's trying desperately to regain his cool exterior. "It's strange father. That girl, I saw her in an Alley a few days ago, after I received the sheath. I was taking a different route out of Knockturn Alley and she was there at the entrance sitting against the wall. It was strange, even more so now that I know she is..." He trailed off his eyes slightly unfocused.

Lucius calmed and walked over to his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, it is a strange feeling when ones path in life is set out for them. But think about it this way son, it leaves no room for failure."

***

They laid Meryn in her bed after the incident in the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore sent Ahriman away, saying that he would be in contact soon, and that there was no safer place for Meryn then at Hogwarts. Little did they know Meryn would never be safe as long as her dreams haunted her.

She stood tearing open the box of Dragonhide gloves and placed them on her hands feeling the exquisite leather, when she heard the noise. Her stomach dropped. This was the same dream that plagued her every time she closed her eyes. She tore from his study and into the early afternoon sun. She could see it over the trees and she could feel the panic and the bile rise in her throat.

'The tethers,' she thought. "Oh Merlin!" she then spoke as she ran to the site.

The dragon they had just captured had reared onto its hind legs, doubling its massive height, and its yellow eyes were searching wildly in every direction. She looked over at her grandfather and saw an expression on his face that she had never seen before- fear. She stood there, her legs refusing to work, as the dragon's bellowing had became almost unbearable. She had a million thoughts running through her mind all at once. The dragon's eyes fell upon her, and it regarded her for a moment, becoming so silent that she thought perhaps it was over, but no. She felt a pair of strong arms grab her around the waist, and the pain as the two bodies collided with the ground. No sooner was she aware of the impact with the ground then she felt the heat of the flame that had missed her by mere inches. She looked over at those strong arms and saw Charlie, his face drawn into pure concentration. She could practically see the adrenaline running through his veins. He ran her into the forest, away from the wrath of the dragon and made her promise not to move until he came to retrieve her.

She had waited for what seemed like forever in silent anticipation when she heard the scream. She had never in her entire life heard anything like it- was it man or beast? It was like ice running through her veins. But shortly after she knew. She heard the dragon bellow as it fell to the ground with an earth-shattering crash. Minutes passed like hours in the silence that followed, but Charlie came like he promised, because he never broke his promises. Meryn this time was not filled with false hope as Charlie limped over to her with blood smeared all over his face and clothes.

"Charlie?"

His eyes shimmered with tears "I'm sorry."

"Charlie, you're sorry? Sorry for what?" he remained silent. "Tell me, Charlie, tell me." She could feel her voice wavering. "Charlie, is everything alright is everyone okay?"

"Meryn..." He took a step closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, but she stepped back away from him. "Don't," he would say as she walked from the safety of the trees. "Meryn, don't! It's better if you don't..."

Charlie always stopped as he saw the look on her face- devastation. The camp was ruined, blood was everywhere, and as though she hadn't seen enough, she caught a glimpse--only a glimpse--before Charlie spun her around.

"You don't need to see this, Meryn. I'm sorry." He took her face in his hands as she tried to turn and see if she saw what she had actually thought she had. His face inches from hers and on the brink of tears, he said, "He's gone."

Meryn pulled from his grasp and walked towards the body of the dragon, its black scales shimmered like oil. The dragon's blood was beginning to burn through the soles of her boots as she made he way to the body of her grandfather.

She knelt down beside his body, ignoring the pain in her knees. The tears began to form in her eyes, and then the old man shot up and turned to Meryn. He opened his eyes glowing red he spoke, "The Silver Dragon and the Black Snake are destined to be united. Until the Bloodlines are joined neither family will be at peace. As told in Prophesy. The Black Dragon will be born. The Black Dragon will rule above all others. All who oppose him shall be destroyed. All of those who shall not follow will be annihilated. So it shall come to pass, so it shall come to be."

***

Severus could hear the screams echo through out the walls of the castle. They could only be coming from one place. He threw aside his quill and hurried to Meryn's Chambers.

***

"Meryn!" Charlie sat up from his position on the chair in the living room of the burrow. His heart was pounding in his chest, something wasn't right.

***

Something was wrong. His whole body could feel it, his soul felt like it was being wretched out of him. He felt as though he was needed somewhere else. He sat up in the bed and looked over to the sleeping form of his father in the opposite bed. Sighing Draco looked out the window to his left and looked at the moon. "Meryn." Her name crossed his lips for the first time. "What a strange turn of events."

***

He was sitting in his office when he first heard the screams. 'Poor child.' He thought, 'Things will only be worse to come.' Albus Dumbledore stood from his desk and headed towards the end of the corridor.