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More Than Meets the Eye	By : ryzmah Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 34202 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter 16

Draco, I need you to meet me in Dumbledore�s office now! Draco looked up in shock as Hermione�s angry voice sounded in his head. Although her abilities had progressed to the point where she could send him thoughts if they were in the same room, she was now on the other side of the castle. She shouldn�t be able to do this, no one could do that unless they had magical creature blood in them. He hurried to Dumbledore�s office, wondering if she wasn�t really muggleborn, and what that would mean for their marriage. When he entered the Headmaster�s office he was surprised to see McGonagall and Snape there as well. His stomach clenched with dread. It couldn�t be good if their head of houses were there. �What�s wrong?� he asked his fuming wife.

�Do you remember how we felt manipulated by Professor Dumbledore when we ended up getting engaged?� she asked rhetorically. �Well apparently the lies and manipulation started sooner than we thought. They have been planning our marriage for years!�

�What?�

�Here, read it for yourself,� she answered, thrusting an open book at him.

Draco gave her another questioning look before dropping his eyes to the page. The magic that resides in each house is from an unknown source, however it appears to be similar to that of the sorting hat. This magic will occasionally cause the presentation of the house titles, which are, The Prince of Slytherin, The Gryfindor Princess, The Scholar of Ravenclaw, and The Hufflepuff Commodore. Interestingly, there can only be one house title at a time. The person holding the title will use their house traits and magic to first unite their house, and then the whole school. It must be noted though, that in times of dire need, both The Prince of Slytherin and The Gryfindor can appear concurrently. In this situation the pair is destined to bind together and form an amazing power force. Draco lifted his head, his initial shock turning to anger. �What did it slip your mind to inform us about this?� he asked sarcastically.

�Mr. Malfoy��

�No! I mean what the hell? If we never had a choice in the matter what the fuck was the charade in the kitchen for?�

�Mr. Malfoy please control your language. As to your question, both of you did have a choice.�

�Oh really? Because the phrase destined to bind together sounds rather set in stone to me.�

Dumbledore sighed softly as he looked at the two enraged teenagers before him. �The author should never have used the word destined, although I can understand why he did. The two of you are linked together, but it isn�t the same as the link between, say a Veela and its mate. Your magical cores are linked, but your life forces aren�t. This means that if the two of you had absolutely rejected the union, you would have suffered a substantial loss of power, but you wouldn�t have died.�

�How substantial?�

�We�re not entirely sure. None of your predecessors ever rejected the union, but it most likely would have taken you down to the squib level.�

Hermione and Draco both paled at the thought. �Xerses!� Draco swore softly.

�Why?� Hermione asked after a minute of stunned silence.

�Normally a witch and wizard�s magical cores are linked through the unification spell. The two of you have always been linked. This caused the seals on you magical cores to be weaker than normal. Usually the barriers surrounding the cores are extremely strong, and it requires an equally strong spell to breach them. Even then, only a small transfer can occur before the seals are able to heal themselves. With the two of you, the unification spell destroyed your seals completely, so your cores are currently flowing back and forth freely. Now eventually your seals will grow back, but by that time the link between you will be so complete that both cores will be sealed together. In essence, you both will have the ability of two magical cores. Now if one of you had preformed the unification spell with someone else, you would have continued to transfer your magical core out, but would have received nothing in return, thus the power drain.�

�Don�t you think it would have been easier to tell us this instead of taking that gamble in the kitchen? Great Merlin, what would you have done if we hadn�t agreed on five things?�

�I was confidant that I would be successful. If I hadn�t been than I would have oblivated both of you and started over,� Dumbledore answered calmly.

�Oh well that�s a comforting thought,� Draco muttered sarcastically.

�You know, I would have expected something like this from Voldemort, but not you. It seems like no matter what side we�re on we�re nothing more than a powerful weapon to be used to destroy the enemy,� Hermione said to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore�s eyes lost their sparkle at her tone. �Mrs. Malfoy, that�s not true.�

�Then why the hell weren�t we told?�

Snape shared a look with him before clearing his throat. �When I realized that Draco was going to be the next Prince of Slytherin I went to Minerva to find out if her house title was presenting itself. In good faith she told me no. House titles emerge towards the end of a student second year. Since you were petrified at the time you received your title late. You were in your third year before we realized that we were going to have a double title. The three of us met and decided that it would be in your both of your best interest to keep this to ourselves.�

�Our best interest? How the hell was it in our best interest to be lied to for years?!�

Snape�s expression darkened. �Hermione Malfoy, I realize that you are angry, but I will have your respect. If not because I am your Professor and fellow order member, than because I have accepted you into my family and you have vowed to!� He waited for her to lower her eyes and give a small nod before continuing. �The two of you were thirteen and hated each other, but it was both of your parents� reaction that we feared. Hermione, how do you think your parents would have reacted to find out that their thirteen year old daughter�s future marriage was for the most part decided for her? They would have taken you from Hogwarts and kept you from the magical world. Being muggles they wouldn�t have understood that you can�t just escape from a wizarding problem by pretending to be muggle. You would have had to return to the wizarding world eventually, but without the knowledge needed to survive in our world. Draco, how do you think your father would have reacted to learn that not only would he not be able to arrange your marriage for political gain, but that your future wife was in fact a muggleborn witch who was best friends with Harry Potter? He would have been furious, and Hermione�s life would have been forfeit. In addition to this, we weren�t sure which side Draco would choose. Before we let anything happen between the two of you, we had to make sure Draco joined us. If he didn�t than it was up to me to kill him.�

Draco looked at Snape in shock. �You�re my godfather. You would have murdered me?�

Snape looked at Draco and sighed at the look of betrayal in his eyes. �I wouldn�t have enjoyed doing it, but we couldn�t allow Voldemort to have that much power. Besides, I would have rather have lost you completely, than stand by and watch you lose your soul to him.�

Hermione felt a little of her anger fade as she heard Snape�s words. �Alright, I can understand why you didn�t tell us when we were younger, but why continue the deception? Draco and I have been part of the order for a couple of years now.�

�We hoped that we wouldn�t have to. The link that you shared would have slowly brought the two of you together. It was our plan to allow that to happen. Unfortunately Tom found out about the connection between you,� McGonagall answered.

�So, what does that mean? You were planning on telling us, but never got around to it?� asked Draco.

Hermione watched the three of them exchange a look, and tried to decipher the hidden message there. Wheels turning, she gasped loudly when the final piece fell into place. �Great Merlin! Is there any length the three of you won�t go to in order to conceal a secret?� she asked, the anger seeping back into her voice.

Snape winced slightly. �Albus, I just want to remind you that I warned that they would figure it out eventually.�

�What?� Draco question cautiously.

Hermione turned to him. �They meant it when they said they didn�t plan on telling us. When I found out about the marriage law, I commented that Dumbledore must be furious about it. I was told that instead of hating this law, he was in fact supportive of it. But it was more than just being supportive of the law wasn�t it Headmaster?� she asked, turning to the aged wizard. �You not only supported the law, you created it!�

�Xerses! Is the war going so poorly for our side that you felt the need to create a law in order to harness our power? I would like to think that Hermione and I are rational enough people. If you really needed us, why didn�t you just come to us instead of all this shit!�

Professor McGonagall�s face pinched in disapproval. �Really Mr. Malfoy please control��

�Believe me Professor, I am controlling my language,� Draco interrupted coldly.

�The law wasn�t created in order to bring the two of you together, although it is a nice side effect. We truly wanted the two of you to come together naturally. We wouldn�t have forced you together no matter how badly the war became. When Tom found out about the house titles he thought it was impossible that you would ever marry, so he placed a huge reward for the death of Hermione. He knew that her death would allow your seals to eventually strength and you could marry some day. By creating the law the way we did, we tied his hands. He couldn�t kill her without sacrificing you, and he couldn�t sacrifice you without losing your family support, which he needs,� Dumbledore explained.

Hermione sat in one of the empty chair. �Merlin what a mess! If we were going to end up together anyway, what difference would it have made to tell us? Keeping us ignorant was extremely risky. What would you have done if one of us had fallen in love with someone else?�

�That was highly unlikely. Mr. Malfoy was raised believing that his future wife would be chosen for him. Even after his father�s death gave him the freedom to chose, he was so busy with the order that the chance of him falling in love was small. There were a few times when we had to redirect a wizard�s attention away from you, but other than Krum, there wasn�t any serious threat.�

�I�m almost afraid to ask, but what did you do to him?�

�I simply pointed out that it would be in his best interest to move on to someone else,� Snape answered.

�You did what? No wonder he just stopped talking to me one day!�

�Thankfully your grades and school work kept you focused enough that we never had to discourage you from anyone,� Professor McGonagall added.

Hermione flinched as a horrible thought entered her mind. �My grades weren�t ever raised in order to keep me focused were they?�

McGonagall looked horrified at the idea. �Mrs. Malfoy, we would never give a student higher grades than they deserved.�

Draco looked at her for a moment before snorting in disbelief. �In order to achieve your goal the three of you have withheld important information, created a law that has affect the lives of thousands, cast spells on several students, threatened one, and planned my possible murder without any qualms. Yet the idea of raising a few grades is repulsive?�

The headmaster�s eyes twinkled brightly at Draco�s unbelief. �I know it sounds unbelievable when you put it like that, but we truly wanted to do what was best for you. This situation hasn�t occurred for over three hundred years. There wasn�t a master plan, we just made it up as we went along. Looking back on everything, perhaps we should have told you, but we didn�t want you to feel like your hands were tied. We wanted you to have as normal of an adolescence as possible.�

Hermione and Draco shared a look before turning back to them. �Alright fine. We can accept that your intentions were at least good,� Draco replied for both of them.

�Sir, one thing that I don�t understand is why doesn�t Voldemort see us as a threat? Shouldn�t he be wanting to destroy us?�

�I�m sure that he does think of you as a threat, but since he doesn�t know that you know about your heighten abilities, he thinks that you are controllable. As to why he doesn�t just destroy you, I am sure it is partly because he wants to use you against Harry.�

�Partly?�

�Yes. I believe that Tom has accepted that he can�t live forever. However he wants to be able to continue his reign, even beyond the grave. He mistakenly believes that since the two of you will combine to create a very powerful force, your future children would be unstoppable.�

�So, he wants to use us to destroy Harry, and then provide him with heirs.�

�As far as we can tell, yes.�

Draco sighed softly. �This is more serious than I originally thought. No wonder he seemed so happy to find out about our binding. So is this everything, or is there anything else you haven�t told us?�

Hermione noticed the look of guilt that flashed across her head of house�s face. �What else aren�t you telling us?�

�It isn�t important. We have told you everything you need to know,� Dumbledore answered evasively.

�If it wasn�t important that Professor McGonagall wouldn�t have looked so guilty. I want to know now,� she demanded. She watched as his shoulders slumped a little, and knew that this wasn�t going to be good.

�I want you both to understand that although I knew that the link between you would eventually bring you together; I also knew that emotionally you weren�t ready to be married yet. I felt horrible that you were being rushed into your binding, and did something that would make it easier for you.�

�What did you do?� Draco asked, noticing that his Godfather also had a shocked look on his face. The knowledge that the three of them didn�t always work together was oddly comforting.

�I added a couple of spells to the fidelity charm that you took.�

�What did you add?� Hermione asked, her voice regaining the hardness it held earlier.

�I knew that Mr. Malfoy was feeling disillusioned due to his upbringing and past experiences, so I added a wonderment spell to his charm. I also knew that although you usually have an open mind, your past encounters with Mr. Malfoy would make it difficult for you to open up to him, therefore I added a spell that would make it easier for you to trust him.�

Hermione felt like she had been kicked in the gut. �I see. So in other words, you gave Draco a lust spell and me a love spell,� she replied, trying to keep her voice level.

�I did not. I added a wonderment��

�Do not try to sugar coat what you did!� she interrupted, rage flowing out of her. �Feeling excitement and wonderment is a excellent definition of lust, and being able to trust someone is a huge part of loving them. Now I want those spells removed, and I want them removed now!!�

�Mrs. Malfoy I can�t do that.�

�Like hell you can�t! How can you be so cruel? Do you really think that I want to go through life knowing that Draco only finds me attractive because he�s been spelled to? Do you think Draco wants to spend his life wondering if my love is genuine? You claim to care about us? If that is true at all, then you most definitely will remove these spells!�

�Mrs. Malfoy, I didn�t say I wouldn�t remove the spells, I said that I couldn�t. The spells that I added only had a life expectancy of five weeks. They wore off months ago. What ever feeling the two of you have for each other now, are you own.�

A/N: Just letting everyone know that it will be awhile before I update again, but I will be finishing this story. I am losing easy access to the internet, but the good news is that when I do regain access, I should be able to post several chapters at once. Ryz

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More Than Meets the Eye