Order Only: Private Message to Draco

[alt_hermione]

Are you in your room?

I went with Sirius to Moddey today, to help with Potions. And Mrs L told me to go see Melli before we left.

The heartstrings that Charlie harvested, she'd turned them into wands. Brand new ones. And she let me try them all, all seven.

I remember when Terry and I got our first wands, neither one was perfect and we switched back and forth a bit before we decided which ones to keep. But this...

It's beautiful. She used vine wood and it's 11 ¾ inches and it just feels.... Sirius said the right wand is like an extension of your hand. And he's so right. It made me just want to start casting spells right and left.

Do you want to see? I mean, I know it's not the most important thing that's ever happened but I can't help feeling happy.

Comments

[alt_draco]

Sorry, yes, I'm in my room. I was sleeping.

You have your own wand, one that picked you. That's brilliant, Hermione. And vine - let's just say it suits you. Have you read much on wand lore? I reckon you have, probably more than I.

I remember being disappointed when my wand had unicorn hair, because I was expecting dragon heartstring, owing to my name. And to an eleven year old boy, unicorn hair seemed a bit poncy. At the time I thought hawthorne wasn't very "me," either, but in retrospect, I guess it might be.

I wonder if there are any known incidents of a wizard or witch outgrowing their wand? That is, finding that one day they've changed so much it no longer suits them...

[alt_hermione]

I've read a little on wand lore but it's actually more restricted than you might expect. Madam Pince wasn't half vigilant about my going to get those sorts of references. Mostly I've read about the effect of disarming and duelling on wand loyalty.

But hawthorne's one of the most magical woods, isn't it? That fits you, I think. Why, are you starting to wonder if your wand still suits?

[alt_draco]

That makes sense, seeing as they don't want muggleborns sneaking about trying to make their own wands. We always had books on wandlore in the Manor library. Actually, there might be one in Orion and Walburga's library, if you're interested.

Anyway, vine wands are usually attracted to visionaries. Hawthorne wands go to those who often find themselves in turmoil. Oh, they're also known for backfiring, though that's never happened to me.

My wand still functions the same, not that I've cast anything challenging with it as of late. It was just an idle wondering.

[alt_hermione]

I've been going through the library one shelf at a time but I hadn't got to that section yet. (Well, I say 'section' but it's really in need of a proper rearranging. I'm not sure what system they're using but I suspect it's 'put it back on the nearest shelf with a hole' and then it's impossible to find it later.)

What else did you do today, besides sleep?

[alt_draco]

Auntie Walburga was always a bit of a pack-niffler.

I ate a mostly mediocre lunch of steak pie, and read a mostly horrible book about boy wizards solving embarrassingly simple mysteries in 1930's London. And then I slept some more.

Yeah, I know. My schedule's not exactly full.

[alt_hermione]

You need projects. Have you talked with Mrs Longbottom about what you want to do? (Has she said anything more about--about rescuing your parents? I saw your father wrote to your aunt. It's your aunt, right?)

[alt_draco]

Not really. I mean, I told Mrs Longbottom and Harry that it's probably best if my dead body shows up where MLE can find it. On that note, it's good I never had Kreacher launder my school robes. They'll need to be a disaster if we go through with that plan.

Mr Snape knows that I'll do whatever the Order decides they want me to do. Even if that just means helping brew potions or keeping watch, or what have you.

And yes, that's my Aunt Amanda. If I had to guess, I'd say that Father's likely writing her about the possibility of my mother escaping to France. Which is funny because that was my plan for them. I'd hoped that, eventually, I'd be able to convince them to flee for the continent.

[alt_hermione]

Well, I told them I'd teach Potions, too, but that doesn't mean I think it's necessarily the best thing I could do. Especially now that I have a wand! Sorry. I just grin when I realise how much I had got used to having one and then how much I missed not having one and now I don't have to miss it anymore.

I was thinking more...about what Hydra said. About how you should think just about yourself, for a change. If you could take on anything (well, apart from walking up and assassinating Voldemort), what do you think you'd like to try?

Do you really think that? About your mother, running away, I mean? Isn't that incredibly dangerous? I mean, one of the things Rachel people were talking about when we first ran from Hogwarts (was that only last week? Merlin, it seems longer), was how hard it would be to get to them. (Not that it's not a reason, you know, only that it would be difficult.) And... well, if your mother ran, wouldn't that pretty much guarantee that they'd kill your father?

Oh, I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't put it that way.

[alt_draco]

Why can't you do what you really want to, as well? I'd say you're owed it.

I haven't really given much thought to what I want to do. I mean, I know I'm not exactly new to the Order, but I'm accustomed to doing things...differently. Like CCF, YPL, the council challenge - I guess you could say I'm used to being in charge, or at least in charge of myself. CCF was about taking orders, sometimes, as was the council challege, but I was often left to solve things on my own, too. So. I don't know.

Oh, I do think I'd like to take a great whack at organising the library, though.

Right. Well, if Father's trying to get Mother out of England, then he is probably preparing for the very real possibility of his own death, understanding that if he dies, Mother'll go unprotected if she remains in the Protectorate.

Personally, I think he's underestimating Mother, if that is in fact his reasoning.

[alt_hermione]

Well, now that you've mentioned it, let's tackle the library tomorrow, all right?

I've been thinking. We keep talking about ways to really end things, I mean, end them right away.

Which means doing something to strike more directly than a potion or waking the Sleepers or talking on the radio.

I think we should talk to Professor Dumbledore. Only he probably won't talk to us.

Which means...we should ask Sirius and--and Mr Snape--what they talked about the night that he came here.

[alt_draco]

Alright, sounds good.

As to ending things, you're only saying what I've been saying for yonks. I know Mrs Longbottom is thinking about trying to assassinate the Lord Protector, reasoning that even if his death is temporary, it would cause enough of a distraction for us to accomplish other things.

But the more I think about it - if you're going to send someone in to assassinate him, putting that person at huge risk, then wouldn't you want the Lord Protector to stay dead and never come back?

And yes, we could ask them, but do you think they'll tell us everything?

[alt_hermione]

I think they'll tell us more than Mr Dumbledore would do. And they'll tell us anything he told them. Though that doesn't mean he told them everything he knows.

But it's a start.

[alt_draco]

It's too bad two natural occlumens/legilimens cancel each other out, because I'd really like to know what goes on in that old man's head.

I'm game if you are, though.

Show me your wand now?

[alt_hermione]

I think Mr Lupin would agree with you.

Yes, you can see it.

I think Mr Snape's in the laboratory. Or we could talk to him tomorrow, after we fix the library.

[alt_draco]

Don't make me leave this room yet. I will tomorrow, promise. And we'll tidy the library and probably get inflicted with seven kinds of dark curses in the process.

Door's open. Tonight it's something called The Velvet Underground and Nico. Only the cover's got a drawing of a banana named Andy Warhol. Try to figure that one out, yeah?