Draco watched the odd pair in front of him lead him to a closed off section of the roof. He couldn't stop his eyes from flickering between the two. Their relationship was close, he could tell that almost immediately. Back in their Hogwarts days, he always assumed the Weaslette and Potter would stay together, suffering through the war in each other's skinny arms. He rolled his eyes.
Potter summoned three chairs for them to settle in before he began speaking.
"Now that you're an official member of the Order— thanks for that intel, by the way—" he waved his hand awkwardly, "we have a new kind of induction you'll need to partake in." He fumbled in his muggle jeans, pulling out his wand and aiming it at Draco's head.
He leaned backwards in the chair. "Granger did mention something of the sort, but if you bloody think I'll let you go near me without any explanations, you've gone even more mad than I thought."
Potter sighed, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Members of the Order, including myself, Luna and Hermione, spent the past few years working on a spell."
Draco stayed still, biting his tongue lest he say anything inappropriate, like snapping at Potter to hurry up with the theatrical story.
"It was something that hadn't been done before, at least not that Hermione had seen." He reached for his wand, but this time pointed it at the blonde sitting next to him. Draco watched as he cast what seemed to be a diagnostic, but the readings consisted of combinations of words, letters and numbers he'd never seen before.
"Every witch or wizard has their own magical core, much like the wands we possess," he explained, eyes moving slowly over the gibberish. "We learned that a person's magical core will make them more inclined to certain types of magic. Though there are dozens of types of cores we were able to consolidate them into four main ones which we've decided to name: Battle, Brain, Defense and Strategy." He paused, waiting for Draco to react.
"This is the strategy you believe will win the war?" It looked like a load of nonsense to Draco. Any faith he had in the Order promptly disappeared. These people were barmy.
Potter sighed and shifted in his seat, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Right, let me break it down for you. Battle are those with cores that are quick thinking and run on adrenaline. Typically, those will be our first on the front lines.
"Brain are those behind the scenes, conjuring up new spells and potions, and that also includes our healers. Like I said, the categories are broad." He shrugged.
"Defense are those best suited to long distance battle. They are positioned further back because, overall they might need more time to think, but the spells they cast are more powerful and therefore carry a further distance and do more damage than the frontline people." He stopped again, looking to Lovegood. They didn't speak a word, but Draco knew they were talking. Though it wasn't like the normal types of silent communication. There was no lifting of the brows or shaking of the head. He felt sure they were speaking in each other's minds. Potter, seemingly satisfied with whatever conclusion had just been reached, turned back to a baffled Draco. His eyes lifted as Draco's expression, which he had purposely let through his mask, hoping it would earn him an explanation. Potter ignored it and continued on.
"Strategy encompasses those who are best at making formations and deciding war plans. They fight as well, but we'll get to that next. You understand all that?"
Draco glanced back over to the diagnostic and still didn't recognize any of the gibberish up there. Still, he nodded. Growing up as a Malfoy he was taught to save his questions till the end.
"We've labelled these in shorthand as A-D. A for Battle, B for Defense, C for Brain, and D for Strategy." Potter grimaced. "I know the labelling seems wonky, but truthfully there's a reason we did it this way. We labelled them in frontline importance if we were ever to be invaded. Our strategy would be the last line of the plan, ready to jump in and hopefully save everything with the ideas they'd created while the rest of us were biding time."
Draco couldn't deny that while unconventional, it did make sense. Though he had a hard time understanding letting the healers fight before the people that were building the actual strategy. It wasn't his business though. If the Order wanted to create a poor strategy then it would be their funeral.
He then remembered where he was, and why he was there. Merlin, maybe he should change his mind and make a run for it. He couldn't, of course. But the thought was comforting.
He glanced at the diagnostic and saw the letter B next to the number 5.8. Potter picked up on this immediately.
"As you can see, Luna is a B5.8, which means wholly and truly she is a Defense fighter. If she had scored lower in the B, say a 1.2 or so, then that would mean she also had a great capability of being an A, or a Battle. If she was higher, say a B9.2, then she would also have inclinations for defense, or a C."
Draco nodded along, finally understanding a bit more. Still, he had questions itching on his tongue.
"What if she were inclined to be a Defense and a Strategy? How could you tell then?"
Potter shook his head. "It doesn't work like that, actually. If you're a B then you're too far away from D for your magical core to be inclined in that direction. It's another reason why we've labelled them this way. Unfortunately for Luna and I, we will never have any natural inclination towards Strategy."
Draco's eyebrows rose. "You're a B as well?"
Potter cast the Diagnostic on himself. "B5.5 as it is. I lean a bit more towards A then Luna does, but overall we make a great match."
Draco crossed his leg and fought the urge to shake it. He released the tension in his shoulders. "Great match meaning what?"
Harry held out his arm, wand in hand. "Let's do the diagnostic to see where you fall while we talk, shall we?"
Draco nodded and flinched as the magic slowly washed over him like cold water.
"A1.1." He looked over to his partner, who had nearly jumped up in excitement. "Merlin, Luna is that—"
"Hermione," she confirmed, lips pressing together as she suppressed her grin. "That's merely .1 off from Hermione's A1.2." She looked up at Draco. "That's an amazing match, congratulations. You two will make a strong bind."
At the moment, he was pretty sure he wanted to bolt and run, Unbreakable Vow be damned. The things he would do to get out of being bound— whatever that entailed— to Granger were endless, but his curiosity got the best of him. He needed to hear the rest.
"Keep talking before I turn my wand on myself and save you all the trouble."
Harry nodded. "This is the weird part, so keep up."
Draco couldn't imagine it being any weirder, but he sat up straighter anyways. He focused all his energy on unraveling his fingers from his palms.
"Hermione discovered that magical cores that are similar are able to be linked— or binded, as we like to call it— to create a stronger force. Like two halves coming together to create one powerful being."
Draco had to clench his jaw in order to keep it from dropping.
This was the result of the unbelievable magic wielding he saw earlier. The curses were flying so quickly he could hardly believe anyone capable of blocking them.
"Separate, we were formidable. Together, however we are nearly unstoppable." Potter wiped his hands on his pants before glancing at the witch he had just claimed he was bound to. "I think that's the basics of it, any questions?"
Draco glared at him and pressed his tongue against his top teeth. "Loads."
Potter rolled his eyes. "Out with it then, Malfoy."
"What do you mean you're bound?" It sounded absurd and intimate. The most common binds he could think of were marriage binds, and they would have to tie him down if they wanted to complete that ceremony.
"We used a spell to, essentially, combine our magical cores."
"But cores aren't a tangible thing. They're not something you can touch." A pounding radiated behind his eyes and he blinked several times to focus.
"Right, Malfoy. That's why we used a spell."
Fair enough. "Alright, so you two essentially have similar strengths and the Order has found a way to monopolize on that. What are the side effects of the spell?"
Potter once again looked towards Lovegood. She nodded. "There are quite a few minor ones. For example, binding yourself to another person allows your magic to strengthen as a unit, but weaken as a single."
Draco blinked slowly, fingers twitching as anger bloomed in his stomach. "So you're saying that you want to bind me to Granger and then send me back to the pits of Hell, knowing I will not be as strong as I once was?" Honestly, this is what he got for throwing his lot in with a bunch of bloody noble houses. If they thought he was willing to risk his own neck, they were in for a shock.
"The longer your bound, the more prevalent it becomes, but honestly it's not anything that has affected us greatly. In addition, you'll find you don't want to duel by yourself. You'll be naturally drawn to the person you're bound with."
Draco leaned forward, elbows on his knees and raised his voice, attempting to contain his temper. "You're not listening to me. I will not be able to reach out to the partner you've assigned me. I will be at the hands of psychos that would love my head on a platter just so they could have my position, never mind the fact I will be bound to a muggle born!"
"We hate to say it Malfoy, but..." he glanced at his partner. "These are our conditions. I highly doubt You-Know-Who would be all that thrilled with your defeat. He seems to like you, if your position of power is anything to go by."
Draco couldn't deny that. The Dark Lord tended to turn to him for battle advice and strategies. He found himself wondering why he didn't end up a D. He shook himself mentally. He could worry about that later.
"The Dark Lord doesn't like anyone," he bit out, eyes cast down to his shoes. "But as far as him offing me, I could agree that we have a bit of time before we need to be concerned about that. Go on with the side effects then."
Potter nodded. "You will never be able to unbind yourself. Forever more, even if you hate her, your magical cores will be entwined as long as you both are alive. In addition, your emotional bond will increase."
"What, will I fall in love with Granger?" Draco couldn't imagine a future with any Order members where they didn't murder each other, but especially not Granger. He could hardly even picture her accepting this match.
"What? No." Potter shook his head. "Luna and I both have romantic relationships outside of our bind and are in no way interested in each other. Fred and George are bound, in case you won't take my word at face value."
Draco breathed a sigh of relief, but was disappointed in himself for misreading the signs between the pair in front of him. He prided himself on knowing people, but so far he had been completely off. Draco did not do well with being wrong.
"It's more like you'll have an emotional connection with them, that may deepen if the pair chooses so. Harry and I's connection is extremely bound within our cores at this point. Often we don't even have to speak to communicate now."
"Like you read each other's mind?"
They both shook their heads and laughed.
"It's more like... you just kind of know what the other person is thinking, even if you wanted to ask them a question, as soon as you think it you automatically know the answer," Luna replied.
"You'll also know what the other person is feeling, though how deep these connections go is entirely up to you. Luna and I, as part of the experiment, have agreed to be part of the trial group that gives in completely to the bind. Each day that we allow our connection to grow deeper, our magic grows stronger and our unity on the field is more in sync."
"Isn't it weird? You're connected to this person, seemingly without your permission."
The two shared another look and now Draco could see what they meant. They were communicating, but now that he knew it he could tell they weren't using words. They seemed unsure how to proceed.
"Maybe it is a bit odd," Lovegood admitted. "We won't lie and say the bond hasn't laid the groundwork for a lot of our relationship building— which is why we're calling it a side effect— but the truth is Harry and I are very happy with the way the binding has brought us together. Though not all pairs are as close as we are, or have let the bind take them as deep as we have, we truly feel that we were not whole before this." She smiled at Harry. "Not that we weren't two awesome halves by ourselves, but the bond just makes us feel..."
"Complete." Potter finished.
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You feel each other's emotions? And injuries?"
Lovegood nodded. "It's for you to note that, while the bind will allow you to feel little pieces of emotion and will alert you when your partner is hurt, if you do not let the bind continue to work deeper the way we have, then it will be minimal."
"What is it for you then? When Potter gets hurt?"
For the first time since Draco had known her, the blonde girl looked uncomfortable. "Last time one of us was hurt we both ended up in the infirmary with the same pain, though I had no injuries visible."
"Seems a little more than a minor side effect to me then," Draco huffed.
"That's just if you let the bind deepen. The pull to allow the bind to mix in with emotions is strong at times, but like we said, there are other pairs in the experiment that have not allowed it to go further than initial binding and they say they're fine, that they don't feel anything like Luna and I. Their dueling, however has improved tenfold in every case of our bonded partners."
He rolled his eyes. His dueling didn't need to be any of their concern. He had earned his place. "Anymore side effects, then?"
"One more," Luna admitted. "Involving death of one person in the bind." She bit her lip before continuing. "At the time, it was a hypothesis that both would die, but through deaths in the battle we learned that's not the truth, at least not fully."
"Then what happens?" The air clouded with tension. The sun disappeared behind a cloud and they were cast in shadows.
"Those who have experienced it describe it as a piece of them going with their partner when they die."
"Going with them, what does that even mean?" Draco reminded himself to keep the sneer off his face. He needed this to work. He couldn't give them any reason to deny him even if he did think this was insane.
"We couldn't be certain of it until we paired people off and the worst happened," Potter answered, looking at the results of his diagnostic once more. "It was something that was hypothesized; that there would be consequences to our beings if we bind ourselves together and someone dies." He had the gall to lift his eyes to meet Draco's. "That's the way everyone who has lost their partner describes it."
Draco raised his eyebrows and attempted to sound casual, picking a piece of lint off his robes. "And how many people exactly, have lost their partners?"
It was silent for a moment, before Luna rested a hand on Harry's shoulder in a manner that Draco could have sworn should have been awkward. It would have been years ago.
For some reason though, it looked natural.
"Let's just say Hermione isn't the only person that has found herself in need of a new binding. She was just the one you were most compatible with."
Draco nodded his head, letting the information sink in. "So, is Granger going to be a shell of a human then, too busy coping with the loss of her partner to properly fight with me?" He wasn't about to risk his life for nothing. The entire reason for this switch was so he would come out alive, not to die tragically in the middle of a battle because the person who's supposed to be looking out for him was too distraught by the death of her friends.
Potter shook his head. "No, it's not quite like that. Hannah and her were part of the control group that didn't allow their bind to root any deeper." Drago could only describe the look on Potter's face as utter relief.
"She's the same Hermione she was before, but just a tad bit... less." His lips turned down and his posture curved in. Potter was barely coping. Leave it to the bloody Gryffindors to put the weight of the world on their shoulders and then collapse when things don't go as planned.
"It's probably not something you would notice," Lovegood spoke after a long silence. "You didn't know her well, and the difference really is quite subtle."
"Overall," Potter cut in, finally having found his voice, "Hermione remains mentally stable and one of our best duelists in the Order." He shifted on his feet. "We really can't afford to have her unpaired."
"Are there no consequences to being bound to someone else after the original partner's death?" If these people weren't loony from this spell the first time, surely the next round would make it happen.
"We've found no evidence of that, though admittedly Hermione is the first person that will be rebinded."
Courageous, or stupid? Draco was beginning to think those two things went hand in hand with Gryffindors.
"The spell hasn't given us any surprises or side effects we hadn't foreseen. Therefore we feel confident when we say that when Hannah died, so did the magical bind. The bind is complicated. It sort of like it's... alive." Potter flinched at his description, and this only increased Draco's curiosity.
"Meaning?"
Again, Potter hesitated. Draco wasn't sure if he was trying to find the best wording, or if he was considering withholding information. He gritted his teeth before mentally shaking himself. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. He was putting his trust in the Order, even if it was just a miniscule amount.
"It needs to be fed from both sides to continue to survive. Hannah died, therefore her magical core dimmed out and the bond got carried away with it. That's why we think they describe it as going away with the deceased. We think, metaphorically, part of Hermione's magical core; the part that was deeply imbedded to Hannah's core, disappeared when she did too."
"So the deeper the bond, the more damage if the person dies." Draco looked at the two in front of him.
Potter seemed to catch his line of thinking. "We're aware of that, too. Luna and I have already decided to accept that if one of us dies, the other goes as well. We can't prove it, but it's what we know to be true."
Draco swallowed. The harshness of the statement seemed to hang in the air, creating a tense atmosphere.
"Will I be forced to create a deep bind, like what you have?" He almost didn't want to know the answer.
Harry shrugged. "Hermione and Hannah were a pair that was designated to stave off the bond, to keep it as surface level as possible. I imagine though, that Hermione has plenty of research on the side effects of that level. If anything, it would be most beneficial for you two to allow a moderate bind to manifest. Of course, I leave that up to you to decide together. Maybe best made for after the ceremony."
Draco's head was spinning from all the new information. Every cell in his body was thrumming with the urge to run— go as far as possible and pretend like this war wasn't happening, just as the rest of the world was doing. As if on cue, his Dark Mark burned, reminding him that he would never have that option. This would have to do.
"I'm being summoned," was all he said. His mask was falling, his Occlumency shields trying to crack open, but they could never know that.
Potter stood, removing the diagnostic and heading back into the sunlight. "Is the cabin you met Hermione at safe as a meeting point? We'd rather you not apparate straight here."
Draco nodded. "My time with the Dark Lord is normally short. He isn't a very verbose man. I should be able to meet by the afternoon tomorrow."
"We'll have Hermione apparate there at half three tomorrow."
Draco spun away.