Song Of The Guardians

Breakthrough

AN: Constructive comments are welcome.  I want to know what you think of this.  

______________________________________

Draco tried to enjoy his last morning of "freedom" before the students returned after their holidays. He sat in the Great Hall enjoying a nice cup of tea with Severus, Hermione, Minerva and Andy. That afternoon, the silence would come to a pitiful end when the castle was, once again, filled with children. He didn't recall being so irritating when he was a student, but he imagined that the Gryffindors he now called his friends would quickly assure him that he had indeed been a right pain in the arse.

Draco's musings were cut short when the massive doors to the Great Hall, slammed open with a force that startled everyone. Caroline swept into the Hall, flanked by her sisters. Their apparent fury was quite terrifying, especially since they were each sporting an enormous pair of wings. What on earth had happened to make the Sirens so angry?

The Sirens marched up to the table and threw copies of the Daily Prophet onto the table just as the rest of the Guardians rushed in looking panicked. Hermione gasped as she got a look at the front page of the paper. Splashed across the page was a large picture of Draco Malfoy snogging a young woman. Pansy Parkinson? Hermione frowned, thinking that it couldn't have been taken recently. Then she spotted the Guardian ring on his right hand in the photograph. She groaned and looked at Draco.

Draco stared at the newspaper in shock. His gaze darted to Caroline and he winced at the barely controlled rage he could see in her eyes. Jenna's gaze was accusing. Sam looked murderous.

"I have not had an affair," Draco said firmly.

"Lying asshole," Sam hissed.

"I've done nothing wrong," Draco insisted.

The Sirens expressions were grim as they stepped back from the table. "Those who can't be trusted, can't be Guardians," Jenna growled. "They also can't be the spouse of one of the Sirens."

Draco shot to his feet, his eyes wide with rising panic. He looked at Hermione and Severus desperately. He was about to be expelled from the Guardians, and it seemed there was nothing he could do about it.

The Sirens started to sing, there wands directed at Draco. Hermione snatched the paper from the table, her eyes scanning it frantically. For some reason, she believed Draco. His expression of horror didn't seem to come from guilt. There had to be some explanation in the paper. She could see Rita Skeeter's name on the article, so there was a good chance that it was false information. But the photo...

Then, Hermione saw it; The photograph wasn't moving. It was muggle.

Without thinking, Hermione jumped up and hurried to stand in front of Draco, her arms spread wide. "I've figured it out," she blurted out.

The Sirens fell silent and lowered their wands. "What?" Caroline asked, suddenly sounding weary.

"The photograph is a fake," Hermione said, holding up the paper. "It's not moving. I doubt that Draco would forget having his picture taken with a muggle camera. If you look at it, it's obvious from fairly close up."

"What are you suggesting?" Andy asked, his expression hopeful.

"Muggles have ways of manipulating photos," Hermione explained. "What if someone took the original and used a spell to freeze it in place. Someone could use this muggle technology to change the picture. They could remove Caroline from the picture and put someone else in. Muggles do that nonsense all the time for fun."

"Photoshop," Harry said, his face lighting up with a smile. "That makes sense. That's brilliant Hermione."

Caroline burst into tears. "Draco," she said, reaching toward him. She flinched when he glared at her.