Song Of The Guardians

Metamorphosis

Lucius and Narcissa sat side by side in a large room that ordinarily would have been used for dancing at lavish parties. The room had beautiful marble floors and vaulted ceilings. There was plenty of space for the Harbingers to move around and play instruments, while the overall structure provided great acoustics.

Caroline entered the room and sat down next to Lucius. Lucius nodded in greeting and then glanced back at the Harbingers momentarily. "They've improved, it seems, overnight," he commented.

Caroline nodded with a slight smile. She listened and watched for a moment, sighing with contentment. The Harbingers were standing in a circle singing. They were each wearing their gloves and they were levitating four quaffles within the circle. The quaffles never touched the ground and were being shot back and forth around the circle. It obviously required a lot of concentration.

"I think conflict within the group weakens them," Caroline said, chuckling as Harry sent one of the quaffles spinning toward George, who just barely lifted his hand in time to avoid getting hit in the face. "Now that David and Andy have their relationship figured out, they have more power to work with. Love is a very strong motivator for these Harbingers," she added.

"I can see that," Lucius nodded. "It's all very strange. The last... group that I was affiliated with was motivated by the pursuit of power and hatred." He was silent for a moment, his eyes settling on his son. Draco was focused intently on the music and keeping the quaffles in the air, but it wasn't stopping him from smiling and showing off with Ron and George.

"This is the best decision we've ever made," Narcissa said. Her eyes never left her son, but she smiled when she felt Lucius gently take hold of her hand.

When the Harbingers finished their song, they started lowering the quaffles to the ground. They were panting slightly from the exertion, but they looked pleased.

Ron grinned mischievously and nudged George to get his attention. Ron's threw his arm out suddenly, sending a quaffle shooting at Hermione. He was stunned when Hermione swiftly brought one hand up as if to push the quaffle away, but the quaffle exploded instead. Hermione gasped in shock while Severus made a sweeping motion with his arm to contain all of the pieces. Severus was amazed when he realized the he couldn't mend the quaffle. It stubbornly remained in pieces on the marble floor.

Sam and Jenna ran into the room, having heard the explosion. Caroline hurried over to Hermione with Narcissa and Lucius close behind her. "What happened?" Caroline asked, her eyes wide as she stared down at the shredded bits of quaffle.

Hermione looked shaken. She was staring down at her gloved hands in disbelief. "I only repelled it," she muttered, her tone bewildered. "How the bloody hell did it explode?" She looked up at Severus with wide eyes. "It felt really strange. I only meant to repel it, but I felt..." She paused, chewing her lower lip anxiously. "There was just too much," she said softly.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked her. "Too much what?"

"Power," Hermione responded, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes were focused back on her trembling hands. "I wasn't using a lot of force. But, suddenly the magic was very strong and it rushed out all at once."

Severus eyed his wife with concern. Hermione always had excellent control of her magic. He assumed that Ron's sudden attack had surprised her, but being startled had never caused Hermione to falter. In battle, she was calm and collected. "Something is not right," Severus said, looking Hermione over anxiously.

"I did numerous diagnostic spells after the last fight," Lucius said. "She was perfectly fine after I healed her."

Everyone was silent for a moment, exchanging anxious glances. "What about the bond?" Neville asked suddenly. "Could her Guardians recognize a problem?" This made everyone turn to look at Lucius hopefully.