The Legacy of Salazar

Give It Time

Draco had gotten used to the way Merlin vanished at night.

Granted, curiosity still clawed at the seams and more than once he'd considered following him. But every time he did the memory of Merlin facing down the troll popped into his head and he changed his mind. And, their friendship meant more to him than satisfying his curiosity.

At this point, he just assumed Merlin had a streak of paranoia that pushed him to do regular perimeter checks.

So, when Merlin muttered he had something to do after dinner, Draco had acted lookout until he'd slipped out the front doors. Maybe one day Merlin would relax enough to tell him what he was doing, but for now, this would have to do. Draco wandered the halls for a time, deliberating on whether or not he wanted to spend the rest of his evening in the common room when his feet took him past the library.

Well, he could never pay attention in History of Magic. He'd probably get more in just one reading about the Medieval Assembly of European Wizards than listening to Professor Binns drone for hours. He hesitated a moment, before pushing open the door.

The library was nearly empty. Which was expected, being the first day and all. Draco thought he saw a couple of Ravenclaws huddled in a corner and an older Slytherin student surrounded by heavy Transfiguration volumes. He headed for the History of Magic section, but as he passed the shelves he saw something that made him stop. A familiar knot of bushy brown hair was dancing about the Counter-Curse books.

Honestly, why wasn't she in Ravenclaw? Draco watched as Hermione reached for a particularly thick book on the shelf above her head, withdrawing it with practiced ease. He swallowed.

"Hermione."

She turned quickly, surprised. Draco saw her eyes search for Merlin behind him, and when she didn't find him, she became even more confused. She raised her eyebrow. "Draco, what's up?"

He walked toward her, leaning against a table she had piled with books. He saw The Counter-Counter Curse Anthology, and When You Can't Wave Your Wand and Wandless Incantations for Beginners. "I take it you didn't get enough homework?" he asked.

Hermione frowned. "Forgive me if I like to do independent research," she snapped.

Draco didn't say anything for a long moment, tracing his finger along the spine of one of the books.

"Is everything—all right?" She asked finally, putting Easy Counter-Curses Everyone Should Know, onto the table.

"I—" Draco shook his head. "Never mind."

"Just say it, Draco."

He chewed his tongue, eyeing her. "How did your parents react when they heard about the wizarding world?"

Her mouth fell open slightly.

"I mean," he continued, now taking a seat at the table. "They found out that everything they'd ever believed was wrong. I—my father has lived his whole life in this world. He knows about muggles, but he hates them. I used to understand, or at least I thought I did." Draco closed his eyes. "It was so much easier, just hating all of you," and he gestured vaguely toward her.

"Draco, what's this all about?" Hermione whispered. Her eyes had gone wide.

He stared at a dent on the table as he spoke. "My father and I had a fight." His voice grew progressively more cynical as he talked, a furious snarl trapped in quiet. "He told me to keep my distance from Merlin, and you. Consorting with a Mudblood?" he hissed, and Hermione stiffened. "I mean, I don't think he's even talked to a muggle. Ever. He keeps spouting that pureblood supremacy stuff—I mean he always did, but now..."

"It's different."

"Yeah. It's like," Draco heaved a sigh. "I want to hate Merlin for the things he says. I used to. And now he's off doing, who knows what and I'm covering for him without a second thought. And I thought—I hoped my father would understand, especially with Merlin sending Quirrell to Azkaban and coming out as this up-and-comer Dark Lord. But no—instead he nearly transfers me to Durmstrang and tells me I'm going to get all of them killed if I—" he trailed off, breathing hard.

Hermione swallowed. "He said that?" she asked, staring at him.

Draco nodded and put his face in his hands. "Why am I even telling you all of this?" he groaned, voice muffled.

Hermione didn't answer at first. Then, "My parents were scared." Draco looked up. "Still scared, in fact. They subscribed to the Daily Prophet, you know so that they could find out more about the wizarding world." She grimaced. "They don't know much about the pureblood movement, but they know enough to worry about it. I'm sure part of them wishes they could go back too—back to when they didn't know any of it existed. The world made sense to them then. But they can't."

Hermione gave a sad smile. "I think your dad is scared too. Scared of losing you, of losing his core beliefs. Because then he's got to reevaluate everything he's ever done, everything he's ever fought for. If you tell him he's wrong about muggleborns, well, what else was he wrong about? What about all the work he's done for the pureblood movement?"

"I know—I just," Draco ran his fingers through his hair. "My mom's cousin was disowned from his family because he switched to the light."

"Oh, I don't think your father would do that," although Hermione didn't sound sure. "Maybe talk to this cousin about it—he's got the first-hand experience, after all."

"Maybe." Draco didn't tell her he might get disowned just for doing that.

"And anyway, you said your dad would align himself with the strongest player, right?"

"Right."

"So, just help him see that Merlin is that person!"

"Hermione, I know Merlin's good and all but he's twelve," he rolled his eyes. "He's no Dark Lord."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, the—the Dark Lord was twelve once too, wasn't he? Give it time."

"But—"

"Give it time. I mean, what else can we do?"

That had an air of finality to it, and Draco nodded. She was right, of course. Maybe that was why he'd gone to her instead of Merlin or Snape—she had a non-Slytherin perspective. His loyalties kept shifting. He could only hope that his father would come around—before it was too late.

"By the way, what do you know about eyes changing color during spell casting?"