Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In Draco’s defense, he would like to make it known that Potter started this fight. All he’d been doing was passing through the entrance hall, discussing in low voices with Vince and Greg the events of the third task. He must’ve said something to set him off, because next thing he knew he was hit with a jelly legs jinx and all hell broke loose.

Currently, Draco’s in the Hospital Wing, nursing a freshly healed broken wrist and a bruise on his forehead from smashing into the floor. Madam Pomfrey’s waiting for the swelling to go down before she heals his bruise, which should only take a couple of minutes, according to her. He feels like it’s been much longer, but there’s no Madam Pomfrey here to complain to. She’s busy retrieving a hair regrowth Potion from Professor Snape for Potter’s singed off eyebrow. Apparently, she ran out of stock because a second year botched a spell so badly that all the hair on her body vanished.

Draco glares at the window across the room. If he doesn’t glare at the window, then he’ll be forced to look at Potter, who’s sitting hunched over at the edge of the bed next to him. He had been covered in burns and his glasses had been broken, but Madam Pomfrey took care of both of those already. With Granger, Weasley, Vince, and Greg already cleared, that left just the two of them. Alone. In the Hospital Wing.

This is not going to end well.

“I can hear you glaring.”

Draco scoffs. “Shut it, Potter. In case it hasn’t gotten through your thick skull, you’re the reason we’re in here in the first place.”

“This is my fault?” Potter laughs. “Last I remembered, you were the one that decided it would be a good idea to insult a dead boy.”

“I wasn’t insulting Cedric.”

“Then what were you saying?”

Draco keeps his mouth shut. He is not about to tell Potter, of all people, who he was actually insulting. He already knows his fate was sealed even daring to confess it to Vince and Greg in the first place. He isn’t going to be mocked by perfect Potter and his annoying golden trio as well.

Potter huffs. “Figured.”

Though, Potter may be the one person he can tell. Draco bites the inside of his cheek. His father’s already going to punish him. He’ll be subtle, let Potter come to his own conclusions.

“Did you recognize any of the Death Eaters?”

Potter looks up at him. “What?”

“At the graveyard.” Draco clenches and unclenches his fist. “Did you recognize anyone?”

Potter’s eyes narrow. “Yes, I recognized your father. What? Going to gloat about it?”

Draco clenches his jaw, pinching his arm with his good hand. He doesn’t know why he’s even trying this. All he’s going to do is make himself look stupid.

Harry furrows his brows. “Are you trying to tell me something, Malfoy?”

Draco rolls his eyes. “Why would I be trying to tell you anything? You’re an idiot, Potter.”

“Are you scared of your father?”

Draco fights his urge to flinch. “Scared of my father?” He forces a laugh. “Unbelievable. And I thought you couldn’t be more stupid.”

Harry’s quiet for several long moments. Draco doesn’t dare look at him. He never should’ve said anything. What’s the point? It’s not like he can run from his own parents.

Harry slumps back against the bed. “Okay then, Malfoy.”

“I have no reason to be.”

“Sure.”

It’s then Madam Pomfrey returns, muttering about Potter’s reckless incompetence. Draco takes some pleasure in that.

~~~

The next morning, Draco receives a letter from his parents. He’s going to be coming home on the family carriage with them instead of the Hogwarts Express tomorrow. He’ll need to meet them in Dumbledore’s office. They normally only do that over Christmas. Has he done something truly egregious to disappoint his father? Do they already know what he told Vince and Greg? What kind of conversation can he expect, what’s waiting for him when he returns to the manor? Draco worries his lip as he reads over the letter several times. Nothing about his parents’ wording seems off. That only makes the fear worse.

The morning of the end of term dawns bright. Too bright for Draco’s tastes. After bidding Vince, Greg, Theo, and Blaise goodbye, a wave of dread sinks deep into the pit of his stomach. The corridors of the castle are empty and quiet, Draco’s footsteps the only sound. His trunk hovers behind him, his owl, Scorpius, perched in his cage on top.

Draco’s father is a Death Eater. The Dark Lord has returned. There was before the third task, and there was after.

Draco’s life is never going to be the same again.

He stops in front of the gargoyle blocking the Headmaster’s office. “I’m here to see Professor Dumbledore,” he says. The gargoyle steps aside, stone tail coiling around its legs.

He can’t move.

Stop being such a coward, Draco chides himself. It’s your parents. They’re not monsters. And yet, he can’t find the will to keep walking. All he has to do is walk up the spiral staircase and open the office door. There’s no point in standing here, stalling for the inevitable. His outcome isn’t going to change. He’s going back to the manor, and as soon as his feet land on the front walkway, there’s no going back.

He forces himself to move. Each of his steps echo up the cold, narrow stone tower, his trunk following dutifully behind him. This is what he should want. This is what the Malfoy name stands for, what his father built him to be. He’ll become a Death Eater when he’s of age and serve the Dark Lord, just as his father would want.

So why can’t he face it?

He stops in front of the Headmaster’s door. It’s silent. He takes one final, foreboding breath, and knocks.

“Come in, Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco pushes open the door. Dumbledore’s office is much larger than one would expect, and far more cluttered. Seriously, does this man not know how to organize? Books, magical tools, artifacts, and various other bits and bobs litter tables and bookshelves scattered around the three-tiered room. Draco’s nose wrinkles.

Draco’s entered on a lower floor, a raised section ahead housing an ancient desk, where Dumbledore is currently working on what looks like paperwork. Above Dumbledore is a second floor platform with stairs leading up to it. A phoenix is perched next to the old man’s desk, giving Draco a curious look.

His father doesn’t like Dumbledore. By extension, Draco doesn’t like him either. However, as he’s in a position of authority, Draco’s father implored he not make that obvious. Draco releases his hovering charm, his trunk thudding on the floor.

“Hello, Professor. Where are my parents?”

“They’ll be here shortly.” Dumbledore dots something on his paper, setting his quill aside. “How are you doing this morning?”

Draco’s brows furrow minutely. Why would Dumbledore care about his well being? Shouldn’t he be asking this kind of question to precious Potter?

“Fine, Professor.” Draco attempts to mimic his father’s cool gaze.

Dumbledore’s incredibly difficult to read. “Are you sure? Hogwarts has had several devastating events over the past many days.”

That were all caused by you allowing this stupid tournament. Draco doesn’t voice that out loud. “I can assure you I’m well.”

Dumbledore observes him for a moment. Draco forcibly relaxes, trying to look as unperturbed as possible. Absolutely no signs of vulnerability, as his father would say.

Dumbledore stands from his desk. He takes his wand from the surface into one of his aged hands. “How aware are you of your father’s past, Mr. Malfoy?”

Draco’s eyes narrow. He doesn’t trust this. “My father was a Death Eater, but he is no longer. I’m sure you’re aware of that, Professor Dumbledore.”

“Strange.” Dumbledore walks down the steps of the raised platform. “Mr. Potter told me otherwise.”

Draco tenses. Of course Potter would tell Dumbledore about the Death Eaters present. He isn’t about to confirm Dumbledore’s theories, though.

Draco grinds his teeth. “I can assure you that it isn’t true. My father left that life behind. Potter must’ve been seeing things.”

Draco swears that Dumbledore’s eyes almost look sad. “I’m sure you understand why I must do this, then.”

Dumbledore flicks his wand. A circle of dark blue liquid on the floor Draco hadn’t seen before lights up. The liquid stretches towards the center in thin rivulets, pooling and circling under Draco’s feet. Dumbledore takes Draco’s owl cage off of his trunk.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Malfoy.”

“Wait-!”

The floor vanishes beneath Draco’s feet.

~~~

“I’m going to murder that barmy old man!”

It’s the first thing out of Draco’s mouth as soon as he registers that, one, he’s nowhere near Hogwarts, and two, the grass and the pine trees surrounding him on all sides are not green. He can’t tell what color they actually are, thanks to it being so dark he can barely see, but he knows from looking that they absolutely cannot be green.

Draco wrestles with the folds of his cloak and yanks his wand free from the inner pocket. “Lumos.”

Nothing happens.

“Wha-” Draco glares at the tip of his wand. “You stupid- lumos! Stupefy! Bombarda!”

Still, nothing happens. Not even a spark from his wand.

“Merlin’s bloody ball sack, fuck!” Draco lobs his wand as far as he can. It clatters against a tree trunk and lands in the grass.

Draco has never been without magic before. He’s practically bathed in it his entire life. To think he can’t use his own magic right now? At all? It makes Draco ill.

At least he has his trunk. It happened to be conveniently placed inside whatever spell circle the old man made, though he is without his owl. An owl wouldn’t be much use in this situation, but at least he wouldn’t be alone.

Draco marches over the tree his wand hit, grazing his fingers over the grass. First priority, he needs to figure out where he is. Next, he’ll need to find a way back from wherever he is. He has no idea what kind of territory he’s found himself in, and without his magic he’s completely defenseless. He needs to place where he is the world and fast, before he finds himself in a potentially dangerous situation.

His fingers wrap around the familiar texture of Hawthorn wood. He stuffs his wand back into his cloak with a huff, turning on his heel-

“Hello!”

Draco yelps, falling flat on his arse and banging his head against the tree. Mere inches from his face is what looks to be an owl, but owl’s don’t talk. And they don’t have long, tube-like bodies that wind back into the trees…

Draco whimpers.

“You were being really loud, I had to check out what was going on!” The owl- worm- thing twists its face upside down.

Draco scrambles to his feet. “What the hell are you!?” If his voice sounded like it cracked from terror, no it didn’t.

“I’m Hooty, new best friend!” The owl’s worm-snake body coils up around him, lifts him in the air and presses its face to Draco’s cheek. The texture somehow manages to be both furry and slimy. “And yooouuuu are human!”

“Let me go you blithering—!”

“Hooty!”

Draco’s eyes snap towards the trees. Who was that?

“Eda!” Hooty calls back. “Look what I found!”

A woman with bone white skin and an impossibly large mane of grey hair emerges from the darkness of the trees, a ball of light in her hand. She’s wearing a loose, purple, muggle sweater and an ankle-length skirt, paired with bunny slippers. A smooth, yellow gem of some kind gleams in the center of her chest.

“Hooty, it’s the middle of the night, I’m too tired for… whatever this is you’re doing.” The woman, Eda, yawns. “Put the kid down.”

“But-”

“I said put. Him. Down.”

“Okay, okay! Geez.” Hooty unwinds itself. Draco stumbles on his feet and catches himself on the tree. He is absolutely not going to vomit because of that, that thing.

“Sorry about that, kid.” Eda pats his shoulder. “House demons, am I-” She cuts herself off.

Draco swallows back the bile in his throat, wipes his lips and levels a glare at the woman. That’s when he notices her pointed ears.

“You’re not human.”

“And you definitely are.” Eda puts her hands on her hips. “How’d you get here when my portal door’s closed?”

Draco stops himself from answering. “Did you just say portal door?”

“Not important,” Eda says.

“It is too important!” Draco says, his voice far higher than normal. “Am I not on Earth!?”

Eda groans, dragging a hand down her face. “Kid, I am way too tired to deal with your crisis right now. Answer the question.”

“Not until you answer mine!” Draco throws his hands in the air. “Where am I? What are you? What the hell is that thing!?” He gestures to the owl worm behind Eda.

Eda looks supremely unimpressed. Out of thin air, Eda draws a glowing yellow circle with her finger. Draco’s so caught off guard by the abnormal display that he doesn’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late. A translucent yellow bubble forms around him. When it moves, Draco slips and falls on his arse in a completely undignified manner.

“Are you kidnapping me!?” Draco barks. “Release me right this instant, I demand-!”

Eda ignores him. Draco can’t hear what she’s saying, but the owl tube wraps itself around Draco’s trunk and picks it up. Eda gestures in front of her, and the two of them start heading back through the trees.

“Hey!” Draco bangs his fists against the bubble. “Let me out! My father will make you pay for this!”

The crazed woman continues to ignore him. If Draco can’t hear any of what she’s saying, then she most likely has a two-way silencing spell on the bubble. Draco scowls at the back of her head, willing his magic to spontaneously work and set her hair on fire. It doesn’t, of course, but he will make her feel his wrath.

Eventually, the trees part to reveal a clearing. A dilapidated stone tower sits behind a house with a large, stained glass window in the shape of an eye at its front. The owl worm’s body appears to be extending from its open front door. Eda walks inside, Draco’s bubble squeezing itself through the too-small gap. When it pops through, Draco’s thrown forward, landing on his face. Luckily he doesn’t break anything, but still. The owl worm slides in soon after, setting his trunk down on the floor and heading back out, the front door closing behind it.

Eda draws another one of those glowing circles. “Alright kid-”

“Who do you think you are!?” Draco shouts. “You will free me right now or I swear-”

The woman draws another circle, and a glowing something snaps itself over his mouth. Draco snarls.

“You want out of there? Then you shut up and work with me.” Eda glares at him. “Capiche?”

Draco glares daggers at her. Eda’s eyes narrow further. He is not about to give in to the woman who kidnapped him and dared to stick his mouth closed with some perverted form of magic.

Eda smirks. “Suit yourself, kid. I’m going to bed.” She turns on her heel. “Hooty, keep an eye on him.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Is she actually leaving? She walks to the back of the room, towards a doorway, and… yes she’s actually leaving. Draco needs whatever this “portal door” is. His father will kill him for disappearing, he needs to get back to Earth. Fine, fine!

Draco smacks a hand against the side of the bubble, and Eda turns around. He nods.

Draco hates the stupid, smug smile on her face as she makes her way back over. She draws a glowing circle, and whatever’s over his mouth disappears.

“So how’d you get here, kid?” Eda folds her arms.

“My barmy headmaster,” Draco scoffs. “He used this blue liquid I haven’t seen before.”

“Blue liquid…” Eda trails off, mumbling under her breath.

“Yes, tapped it with his wand and then I was here.”

“A wand?” Eda pauses.

“Yes, a wand!” Draco snaps. “Now let me use your portal door.”

“Humans have magic?”

How obtuse do you have to be to not know that? “Some humans have magic. We keep our world hidden from muggles.”

“Huh.” Eda sets a hand on her hip. “You’re a witch?”

“Wizard,” Draco corrects. “Witches are female.”

“Weird,” Eda says, lip curling.

“May I please use your portal door?” Draco grumbles. “I would like to go home.”

“Mmmm, no.”

Draco balks. “What!? I did everything you asked!”

“You did,” Eda says. “But, I wanna know more about human magic. I’ll make you a deal.” Eda directs the bubble to a new position with her finger, and draws a circle. It pops, and Draco lands on one of her two couches. “I’m going back to bed, but in the morning, you tell me all about your magic. You do that, I’ll let you through the portal door. Sound good?”

“I’ll go find another portal door,” Draco hisses.

“My door’s the only one on the Boiling Isles.” Eda snickers. “You can crash on the couch.”

“I’m not tired!” Draco snaps.

“Then read or something, I don’t care.” Eda turns towards the doorway in the back of the room. “Hooty, make sure Wizface doesn’t leave during the middle of the night.”

The front door swings inwards to reveal the owl worm’s face in it. “You got it!”

“My name is Draco.”

“Whatever you say, Wizface.” With that, Eda disappears through the doorway and up a stairwell.

Awful, this is awful. Could Draco’s day get any worse?

“Heeeey, best friend. Do you wanna-”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Hooty pouts. “Okay…” It pulls itself back into the door, and the door shuts.

Draco glares at the floor. He doesn’t trust Eda to keep her word. He’s going to have to figure out what this portal door is and make his way back to Earth on his own.

Chapter Text

“…personality is the worst…”

“…but he looks…”

“…has magic snacks, look!”

Draco grumbles, draping the sleeve of his cloak over his face. It’s far too early for this.

“He’s waking up!”

“Shh, Luz! I’m not done yet.”

“You can’t just steal his stuff, King.”

“I’m not gonna stop him.”

“Eda!”

Draco bolts upright. Sunlight streams in through the sitting room’s window, but that’s not what he focuses on. His eyes lock on his open trunk, his clothes, textbooks, various magical supplies, and broom strewn all over the floor, and a ball of black fur rifling through it. Draco stalks over to his trunk and yanks the fur out by its scruff.

“Weh!?” The little creature has a skull for its head. It scrambles to keep hold of the sweets it collected from Draco’s stash, which he specifically hid in a secret compartment to keep Vince and Greg from swiping them. Several of them fall out of his clawed paws.

“Excuse me,” Draco snarls. “I don’t think I allowed for any vermin to get into my trunk.”

The little creature forces a giggle. “Uh…”

“Aw, he’s not vermin!” A human girl around Draco’s age takes the little creature from him. “He got excited about your cool human magic candy, huh? You cutie patootie.”

“I am not your cutie patootie!” The creature tries to wriggle from the girl’s grip, but she holds fast. Draco rolls his eyes. He’s not at all in the mood for this kind of nonsense, not after last night. He scans his items on the floor. He used to have his clothes sorted by color and style, meticulously folded to avoid wrinkles and fit everything he wanted to bring. He barely managed it every year, despite his trunk being magically expanded. With magic it had become far easier to accomplish, but now that he’s without it? It’ll be far more arduous.

Draco walks a circle around the floor, picking up his things as he goes.

“Let me help.” The girl goes to touch his very expensive grey cashmere sweater.

“No!” Draco snaps. She freezes. “You’ve done enough damage. Go take your rat somewhere else.”

“Hey!” The creature says.

Draco stomps up to the creature and swipes his last box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavored Beans from the thieving twit’s little claws. “If I see you near my things again, I will hex you into next week. Understood?”

The creature’s strangely colored eyes go wide. “Yes, sir!”

The girl frowns. “You didn’t need to be so mean about it…” she mumbles.

Draco ignores her and continues assembling his things. He really hopes Eda cleans her floors, he’d rather not get anything otherworldly on his things.

“Not gonna use magic to put it back?” Eda says. She’s leaning against the wall, still in her pajamas from last night, an obnoxiously colored mug in her hand.

“I had a system.” The partial lie’s simple to get out. He would rather these three not know he’s without his magic at the moment. Draco sorts his things into two stacks, clothes in one pile and school things in the other. He usually set his textbooks on top of his clothes to weigh them down, with his broom on top. Items like his cauldron, potion ingredients, and owl treats went to the bottom of his trunk due to their abnormal shape.

“Does your broom fly?” The girl asks.

An alarm goes off in Draco’s brain. How does she not know that? “Yes, obviously.”

The girl squeals. “Ohmygosh that’s so cool! Eda told me the witches here have flying brooms, but yours is more well made.”

“It is one of the most sophisticated of its kind.” Draco kneels on the floor, beginning to place his cauldron and weights in the bottom of his trunk. “Specifically designed to navigate the fast-paced play of Quidditch.”

“What’s Quidditch?”

Draco drops his small jar of asphodel. His eyes trace back to Luz, horror draining the little control he still has left of his emotions.

The girl must notice, because she flinches. “Uh… did I do something wrong? I didn’t commit a huge human wizard offence, did I?”

Draco’s eyes flick to Eda. “She’s a muggle?”

“If you mean a human without magic, yep.” Eda takes a sip of her mug. “What about it?”

Draco vaults to his feet. “Do you realize how much trouble you’ve put me in!? I’ve shattered the Statute of Secrecy! Muggles aren’t supposed to know about my world!”

Eda snorts, then laughs. “Does it look like I care about the law, Wizface? You’re in another world, you’ll be fine.”

Draco grinds his teeth, his fists clenching so hard his nails dig into his palms. “IDIOTS, the lot of you!” He barks. He slams open the front door, Hooty shouting a loud ‘ow!’ as he storms outside into the trees.

His father’s going to kill him, or disown him. Whichever’s worse. A pureblood, of all people, making the mistake of revealing the wizarding world to a muggle? He doesn’t have the luxury of knowing how to obliviate someone, let alone his magic at all. He may be in another world, but his father will find out somehow. He always does. He has too many connections to too many important people for him not to find out.

Draco stops in a clearing. Logically, he knows that doesn’t make any sense. He’s quite obviously very far from home and separated an entire realm away from his father. There’s no possibility that his father even has a way to find this place. But the fear crawls up his spine like a plague determined to leave its mark. He’s not sure how long its been, but once the Hogwarts Express arrives on Platform 9 and ¾, his parents will know something is wrong. They’ll search for him, come hell or high water, using every potential route they can find. They’ll fly off the handle at Dumbledore and demand he be removed as Headmaster for losing their son. They won’t give up on him.

Draco shudders. He fears what his father might do, once he finds Draco. His mother will hug him and cry, he’s sure of that, but his father will reprimand him for being so careless. He’ll make sure the lesson will stick, through lectures and comparing him to the Golden Trio and new pains to add to his collection.

Draco pulls down the sleeve of his right arm. He never scars from his father’s punishments, but the memory is burned into his skin. It was over Christmas his first year that he experienced the first of his father’s more… severe punishments. His father was frustrated that he failed to befriend Potter and had come second place in his year to a Mudblood. He doesn’t want to disappoint his father, but…

Draco rubs a thumb over the inside of his forearm. He can still see it, sometimes. The blood spilling from the cut his father gave him.

“Hey, Wizface!”

Draco hastily pulls his sleeve back down in time for Eda to enter the clearing. She’s still in her night wear, but now she holds a staff with an ornamental owl carved on top.

“You can’t run off like that.” Eda folds her arms, tucking her staff into the crook of her elbow. “You don’t know how this world works, you could’ve gotten hurt.”

“Then send me home already!” Draco snaps.

Eda takes a deep, deep breath. “What was that reaction about back at the house?”

“I didn’t have a ‘reaction’.” Draco rolls his eyes.

“You did.” Eda taps her arm. “If there’s one thing I know about teenagers, they don’t care about the rules unless they’re a goody four-shoes. And you aren’t a goody four-shoes.”

“How would you know?”

“I had to trap you in a bubble to get you to shut up.”

Draco opens his mouth, then closes it. She has a point. He glares at the blood red grass under his feet.

“So, what was that reaction about?” There’s a rhythmic tapping as Eda switches to fidgeting with her staff.

“I told you, I can get in serious trouble if Muggles find out about my world.”

“Nah, it’s more than that.” Eda leans against her staff. “Something you’re scared of?”

Draco can’t hide his flinch

“There it is.” Eda steps closer to him. “Spill the beans.”

“Ugh, I’m not- I’m not scared!” Draco takes a step back from her. “I’m just uneasy. About what punishment I might receive.”

“Again, you’re in another world, your magical government or whatever won’t find out.” Eda sighs. “Just talk to me, kid. I’m not gonna hurt you and I won’t tell anyone. I’m pretty much unknown to you right now, so what’s the worst that could happen?”

You could use the information against me. You could hurt me. You could blackmail me to get yourself power. Draco can think of an entire list of motives. Most of them don’t hold up when he applies that he’s in a different world, but it’s the sentiment that counts.

“I’m going back to the house.” Draco turns on his heel and marches back through the trees.

“Wrong way, Wizface!”

Draco snarls and turns around.

~~~

“Ugh, all this symbolism nonsense is making my head hurt.”

“You said you make potions for a living.”

“Not like this!”

Draco groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. Eda had sent King and Luz off to deliver potions for her business in the nearby town, leaving Eda and Draco alone. Draco, determined to fill his end of the bargain as soon as possible, decided to start on potions, since Eda seemed to be the most familiar with them. It turns out that the way human potions are made are far different than the way potions are concocted in this new world. Draco thought this would be fast, thus allowing him to fully pack his things back in his trunk while he educated her, but he and Eda have been at this all morning and she still hasn’t grasped it.

Draco flips the pages of his first year potions textbook propped on the coffee table. “This recipe-”

“I am so done with recipes.” Eda slumps into the couch. “Don’t you know what each ingredient does?”

Draco pauses. Does he know what they do? He flips back to the beginning of the book, but all it seems to have are the recipes. He should know this, right?

The front door slams open, and Draco jumps. Luz is beaming like she’s won the lottery. King trudges in behind her, dragging his feet.

“Ow!” Hooty chirps.

“Sorry, Hooty.” Luz winces. She’s far more gentle when she closes the front door behind her.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Eda sits up.

“Later, thingstodo!” Luz drops what’s left of the potions, the bag making an audible crunching sound as she bolts up the stairs. King groans and jogs after her.

“You’ve picked such a good apprentice,” Draco drawls. “Muggles,” he mumbles, picking up his book. Surely there must be some notes in here about ingredient effects.

“I’m gonna call this human magic lesson here,” Eda says. She gets up from the couch and stretches.

Draco balks at her. “What!? But I need to go home!”

“And I’m tired Wizface, I don’t have enough brain power for this.” Eda scrubs her eyes. “I’m gonna make potions I actually understand. You do your thing.” With that, Eda wanders through the middle doorway and into the kitchen.

Draco growls. He’s never going to get home at this rate. Luckily for him, Slytherins are very good at outwitting their enemy.

It’s as Draco’s taking notes on everything he knows so far about this place that peals of laughter sound from upstairs. Draco hasn’t been up there yet, but it isn’t hard to ascend the stairs and follow the noise down the hallway to the storage room its coming from. Eda’s rolling around on the floor, clutching her stomach. King’s pounding his fist into a puffy blue roll of some kind. Luz, sitting crisscross on the floor, isn’t laughing. She hides her face behind a book, the cover of it depicting a woman with green hair and white witch’s robes.

“What’s all this about?” Draco leans against the door frame, folding his arms. “I’d rather not have to deal with more annoyances than necessary.”

Eda sits up, wiping tears from her eyes. “Luz got duped into thinking-” Eda wheezes. “into thinking she’s a chosen one!”

“Duped…?” Luz ducks behind her book further.

“Yeah!” King snickers. “Eda’s wizard client convinced her, gave her a map and everything!”

Draco doesn’t think this is very funny. As much as he dislikes Potter, he would give anything to have the type of unconditional admiration Potter neglects. He steps around Eda, making it a point to scowl at her, and kneels in front of Luz.

“May I see your map please?” He asks. Luz hesitates, but she hands it over to him. Draco unrolls it. The depiction is heavily stylized and old-timey, even for wizarding world standards. It appears to lead to some kind of Celestial Staff, but the stylization makes it difficult to tell where you’re even supposed to be going. He frowns. He’s about to comment on it when Eda snatches it out of his hands.

“I was looking at that!” Draco snaps.

“Yeah yeah, I know.” Eda waves him off as she narrows her eyes at it. “Kid, this map is bunk. There’s not a lake with a Celestial Staff on the Boiling Isles. I would’ve stolen it ages ago.”

“Is there one in the human world…?” Luz looks at Draco. There’s so much hope in her eyes, so much innocence. Is this what all kids his age are supposed to be like?

Draco shakes his head. “I don’t know for sure, but this seems too idealistic to be real. I wouldn’t count on it.”

Luz slumps, the light in her eyes dimming. Eda crouches down next to Draco, handing the map back to Luz.

“Ah, don’t worry.” Eda ruffles Luz’s hair. “Couple more months here and you won’t look like such a mark.”

Luz pushes Eda’s hand away. “Can I have some time alone?”

Eda frowns at her, shrugs, then walks out of the room. King scampers after her.

Draco takes a deep breath. “Listen, I-”

“Please?” Luz looks up at him.

Draco wants to argue with her, but he stands. “Alright.” He walks into the hallway, but he hesitates. Really, he shouldn’t be so concerned about a muggle, especially one he was tricked into revealing the magical world to. But he knows the pain of wanting to be something more all too well.

He closes the door.

King’s sleeping on the couch by the time Draco arrives back downstairs. He lays down on the second couch, well away from him. He’d rather not get animal hair on his school uniform. Whatever time change occurred when he first arrived here, it’s starting to catch up to him. He’s about to follow King’s lead when the distinct sound of Eda’s heels click into the living room.

“Crony, wake up!” Eda stops in front of King’s couch. “You said that wizard was one of my clients?”

King opens one eyelid. “Yes, now go away.”

Eda taps a finger to her chin. “I don’t know him that well, and I don’t trust this itch he’s scratching in the non-magic human.” She drops down onto King’s couch.

“Less talky, more nappy.” King cuddles close to the pillow Draco had been using last night. Eda glances somewhere over Draco’s head, exhales, and stands, walking away. The creak of the stairs accompanies her departure.

Draco never in his life thought he would be able to understand a muggle. Him? Sympathizing with those terrible people? His parents would be apalled. And yet, he doesn’t feel abhorred. He knows he should be, but the little he’s seen of Luz is proving to be far more human than he thought muggles were capable of.

Eda comes barreling back down the stairs. “Luz’s gone.”

King squeals and falls off the couch. “What!?”

Eda swipes up her staff. “King, lead me to that wizard’s place. Wizface, how fast can that broom fly?”

“Why do you think I’m coming with you? If she dies it’s her fault for falling for something so stupid.” Draco resolutely stays on the couch. In a split second, he’s yanked to his feet by the back of his shirt, right into Eda’s face. He yelps.

“If you weren’t my only way of learning about human magic, I would’ve kicked your spoiled butt into the boiling sea last night. You will help me.” Eda grabs his chin. “Got it?”

This woman’s somehow almost as terrifying as McGonagall. He nods.

Eda drops him on the floor. “Grab your broom.”

Draco scurries over to his trunk. Everything’s piled haphazardly into it, his broom lying on top. He snatches his broom and hurries to follow Eda out the door. She’s sitting on her staff like you would a broom, owl facing forward, King seated in front of her.

Draco scoffs. “There’s no way that’s going to-”

“Gun it, Owlbert!”

The wings of the carved owl unfurl, its eyes glowing, and the staff takes to the sky.

Draco gapes. How is that possible!?

“Let’s go, Wizface!” Eda calls.

Draco swings over his broom and kicks off. Luckily, it still works. The familiar rush of wind and the swoop of weightlessness are so familiar he nearly cries with relief. He doesn’t, though. He refuses to do that in front of Eda. Instead, he leans forward and shoots off after them.

This is Draco’s first real look at the strange world he’s found himself in. Eda called it the Boiling Isles, didn’t she? A series of massive white spires cut through the blood red foliage, up into the magenta sky. They curve inwards over the land, the background to one of the strangest cities he’s ever seen. While it does have some normal buildings, most of the buildings have large mouths or horns or eyes. One building is even being held in the air by a clawed green hand. Creatures large and small wander the streets below, some looking vaguely human, others looking like something else entirely. He spots a caterpillar with a human baby face, and a towering bird creature that looks vaguely like a mix of a baby chicken and an ostrich. A palace structure climbs over the rest of the city, a circular stained glass window at its face and many arches making up its exterior.

Draco’s both fascinated and sickened. How can intelligent beings live in a place like this?

Eda dives, twisting down to a side street. Draco streaks after her, landing with grace not far behind her and King. As soon as the pair are off her staff, it transforms. The owl carving turns into a real, living burrowing owl, landing on Eda’s shoulder. Draco’s barely wrapped his head around the glowing circle magic, he hasn’t even touched the city they passed over yet. Now this!?

“This way!” King skitters down a side alley. Eda follows his lead, Draco taking up the rear. He glances around as they walk. Eda said this place is dangerous, he needs to be on guard.

King stops and points ahead. “This is where we met the scones- I mean, the wizard.”

Eda pushes ahead of him, brushing aside some large pieces of fabric in front of an archway entrance. Draco’s eyes widen.

“It wasn’t like this before,” King says.

A decrepit, crumbling castle stands in front of them, its plant life long dead and decades worth of dust piled onto its bricks. Eda stalks towards the front wooden door.

“Is everything you have in this place disgusting or destroyed?” Draco says.

“Pretty much.” King runs after Eda on all fours. Draco tries not to shudder as he follows.

Eda pushes the door open; it creaks on its hinges. They’re met with more crumbling ruins. A grand staircase down the center of the tower is chipped with age, boulders blocking it higher up. Stacks of bookshelves crumble and split up several tiers, books spilling out of their spots onto the floors. It reminds him, almost uncannily, of Dumbledore’s office.

“What has Luz gotten herself into…?” Draco trails off as Eda steps inside. Her foot hits something on the floor, and she picks it up. Multiple of those ‘chosen one’ maps, and they all have glowing lettering Draco hadn’t seen on Luz’s map.

“I really don’t like this,” Eda mutters. “King, think you can follow her scent?”

“Yep!”

“Good.” Eda drops the various maps, turning to Draco. “Happen to have a good tracking spell?”

Draco shakes his head. “I haven’t learned those yet.” It’s the truth, but it’s not like he could do one if he tried.

“Nuts.” Eda heads back to the door. “Lead the way, King.”

King ‘weh!’s and scurries ahead.

They take to the air again, King sniffing as they fly. After about thirty minutes, he directs them down. They land on a dirt path, and King springs ahead as Eda gets off her staff. It stays in its staff form as the two of them follow King.

Draco’s incredibly tempted to ask what magic is going on with Eda’s staff, but he keeps his mouth shut. He’s not going to give her the chance to be smart with him.

“Oh no,” Eda says.

Draco’s stomach twists. This is far worse than the castle. Dilapidated, destroyed buildings line either side of the path. Thorny vines snake through several of them, thick and unforgiving.

“What the hell…?” Draco breathes.

“Are you sure she came here?” Eda looks to King.

King squints ahead. “Can’t mistake her smell. Like lemons, and young, naïve confidence.”

Eda walks forward, King and Draco again taking up the rear.

“What happened here?” Draco can’t look away from the destruction.

“Probably the Emperor’s coven,” King says. “This place looks like it used to be a wild witch town.”

“Wild witch?” Draco raises a brow.

“People who haven’t been branded with a coven sigil, like Eda.” King gestures to her.

Draco has no idea what that means. He understands what a sigil is, he’s used those in ancient runes before, but how does one become “branded with a sigil”? Especially for a coven? Those died out in the wizarding world a long time ago.

Eda drops to her knees in front of a patchwork of what’s left of a stone fountain, vines interweaving its stone. A cat puppet is tangled in the green.

“Hey! Wake up, you!” Eda flicks its forehead, then grabs its shoulders. “What’ve you done with Luz? What’s your end game?”

The head of the puppet squelches as its eyes turn to face Eda. Draco barely stops himself from retching.

“To find your pupil and still your wrath, look ahead and follow the path.”

The cat thing giggles, and Draco does retch this time when it dissolves like rotting fruit, disappearing into nothing.

King screams. “The cat man melted!”

Eda brushes her knees off as she gets to her feet. “It’s a trap. They want me to follow Luz.”

“So what do we do?” King says.

Draco presses his lips into a line. Under normal circumstances he’d say to leave her and let her suffer the consequences, but Eda would probably have his head if he suggested that. What to do…

Draco’s gaze falls on the vines. “I may have an idea.”

Chapter Text

By the time they find Luz’s end point, a fog bank has rolled in over the area. Draco gestures for Eda and King to fall back. He dives through the cloud, in time to catch the tail-end of a conversation.

“-because you wanted to think you were special!” A hoarse, scathing voice comes out of a pink tentacled blob creature. Life-size puppets hang on the end of each of its tentacles, just how Eda has said they would.

“No.” Luz’s voice is strong. “Jokes on you, ‘cause Eda isn’t stupid enough to fall for your trap!”

Draco jumps off his broom and lands on the circular stone island. He places himself between Luz and Adegast. Luz gasps.

“What the- What is the meaning of this!?” Adegast bellows.

Draco lets his broom hang at his side. “Are you the one they call Adegast?”

“Yes, who are you to interrupt me?” Adegast demands.

Draco smirks. “Only your biggest fan, of course.”

Luz gasps again. Draco silently begs her to not say anything.

“My what?” Adegast balks incredulously, like a fish. Draco has to quickly suppress that image to stop himself from laughing.

“I’ve heard of your storytelling exploits far and wide across the land.” Draco holds his head high. “How you can weave tales to trick even the surliest of demons. I must say, I’m quite impressed.”

Adegast blinks. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Draco chuckles. “This kind of illusion magic is powerful, and unmatched. I had to come and meet you for myself.”

“I-” Adegast’s cheeks rise a shade of blue. “Wow, that’s- thank you! You flatter me, my dear boy.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco spots Eda and King landing behind Adegast. Eda starts drawing a series of glowing circles.

“Unfortunately, I am in the middle of dealing with a rival of mine,” Adegast says. “Could we continue this afterwards?”

“I’m afraid I only have a few minutes, I was just passing through the area when I spotted you.” Draco pulls his best simpering face, one Pansy taught him their second year. “Surely you can spare a moment of your time?”

“Well, I mean-” Adegast glances up. “My rival should be arriving any second now-”

“Please?” Draco pouts.

Adegast sighs. “Alright, fine. I suppose I can delay her if needed. Now, what else do you have to say?”

Draco smiles. “Just one more thing.”

“And that is…?”

Draco inhales. “NOW!”

Glowing ropes of gold blast out behind Adegast. They tangle around his tentacles, his body, his bulbous face. Adegast screeches, the distraction enough to cause Luz’s binds to disappear in a puff of smoke.

“Draco!?” Luz stumbles to her feet.

“We need to go!” Draco takes her hand.

Unfortunately, there was one factor Draco didn’t take into account; the tentacles sprouting through the fucking stone.

There’s a rupture of earth, and then Draco’s body is coiled in smooth, pink tentacle, suspended high in the air. Draco loses grip of his broom, then Luz’s hand, a cat puppet laughing at him all the while.

“Luz!” He shouts. Her arms have been pinned behind her back by the fit boy puppet.

“Draco!” She cries.

“I’ve got you now, Eda!” Adegast cackles. The golden ropes have disappeared. Draco strains to see both Eda and King caught in tentacle traps of their own.

“You only want me, Adegast!” Eda shouts. “Let these kids go!”

“The demon is a part of your bounty, and the blonde one’s personally offended me.” Adegast turns his beady, yellow eyes onto him. “I have special plans for him.”

Draco blanches.

“Then at least release Luz,” Eda says. “She hasn’t done anything!”

“Oh, she can leave.” Draco hates the smirk in Adegast’s voice. “If she wants to. But I sense she wants a real fantasy!”

One of the puppets gusts a cloud of purple smoke from its mouth, onto her.

“LUZ!” Draco writhes, but the binds only get tighter, squeezing the air from his lungs.

“LUZ, NO!” Eda chokes as her own tentacles tighten. “GET OUT OF THERE!”

Draco grits his teeth. “LUZ, YOU IDIOT, WAKE UP!”

For several long, agonizing seconds, nothing changes. Draco’s heart pounds against his rib cage. If he dies for a muggle of all people-!

Luz bursts from the cloud with a war cry. Draco’s hit with a wave of relief so palpable he can taste it. Luz scoops the sword she brought with her and Draco’s broom from the ground.

“I am a witch’s apprentice.” Luz points the sword at Adegast. “And I’m gonna earn my magic staff the hard way.”

Luz swings onto his broom. “I believed you, magic man. Now feel my WRATH!”

Luz kicks off the ground and launches at the wizard puppet that looks similar to Dumbledore. She runs it through, and it disappears in a puff of smoke. Adegast shrieks.

Draco’s binds loosen enough for him to wrench his wand from his robes. He uses it like a makeshift dagger to stab the stupid cat puppet. It dies with a ‘pop!’. The tentacles drop, and Draco falls. He lands in a crouch alongside Eda, King, and Luz. Luz ditches his broom as she starts swinging, puppet after puppet going up in smoke. Draco swipes it back and takes to the air, stabbing through three Cornish pixie-looking puppets at once. Eda burns several, and King bites through a few smaller ones closer to the ground.

As Luz rams her sword through the fit puppet boy, he cries out, “my flawless pecks!”

“You know nothing about how abs work, Adegast!” Draco taunts, only to nearly get side-swiped out of the air.

Adegast raises more and more puppets, but each one goes up in smoke. The magic in the air is thick and tinted a little purple when Adegast’s grating cry splits the fight.

“STOP!” He screeches. “Or the dog gets it!”

Draco lands back on the center platform. King’s been entangled by yet another cat puppet. Draco grits his teeth as Eda’s staff and Luz’s sword clatter to the ground. Draco drops his broom and tucks his wand back in his robes.

“King, I’m sorry.” Luz holds her hands up. “I should’ve listened to you and never trusted that wizard. You were right. He isn’t mystical or magical.”

Luz glances down. Draco knows what she’s about to do seconds before she does it.

“He’s just a big, slimy jerk!”

Luz kicks the end of her sword. It soars through the air, slicing straight through the demon’s pink head. Adegast wails. King’s freed in a puff of smoke, and Luz rushes to catch him. All four of them watch as Adegast shrinks to the size of a rat.

Draco snorts. “A suitable punishment.”

Eda walks to the now tiny Adegast and picks it up by the tentacles. It whines and squeals, but doesn’t attempt to free itself.

“That’s the last time I take an outside referral.” Without hesitation, Eda drops it straight into her mouth.

Draco retches. “That’s disgusting!”

“How else did you expect me to get rid of it?”

“Stomp on it or something!?”

“And that would’ve been any better?” Eda props her hands on her hips.

Draco groans. “I suppose not. Can you even digest that thing?”

“Yeah, no problem.” Eda snickers. “Witches have a second stomach for demon meat.”

“Ew.” Luz cringes. She exhales, deflating like a popped balloon as she holds King tight. Draco moves to retrieve his broom as they start talking.

“Thinking of calling it quits?” Eda says.

“This place is nothing like I imagined,” Luz says. “I mean, I knew that when I first got here, but maybe… I thought it would be different.”

Draco returns a moment later with his broom in-hand. He watches them, quiet, feeling a bit like an outsider. Which is strange, because he doesn’t want to be apart of this at all.

Does he?

Eda hums to herself. “Maybe not here, but come with me.” She gestures for them to follow. “I’ve got something to show you. King, we’re gonna need blindfolds.”

“Absolutely not!” Draco shouts.

~~~

Luckily, Draco doesn’t end up blindfolded, but he does end up with an extra passenger on his broom. King sits in front of him, kicking his pawed feet and giggling as they race after Eda into the twilight sky. Draco’s never going to be able to get the animal fur off his cloak.

The only way Draco could avoid being blind folded was promising to not turn around when Eda stops. She does, eventually, stop, and Draco does as he’s told, since he would rather not incur more of Eda’s displeasure.

“Okay, you guys can look,” Eda says.

Draco turns around. His jaw drops.

The sprawling bones of a long dead, absolutely gargantuan creature lay flat in the sea, the sun disappearing behind its skull. The blurry specks of a much larger city than they one they flew over rests on an island in the curve of the hip. The right knee and the rib cage, which he realizes are the spires he saw before, are coated in snow. Arms stretch out to either side of its body, and a sunken cavity rests in the center of its chest.

“Bet you’ve never seen anything like this in the human world,” Eda says.

Draco slowly shakes his head. “It’s… I don’t know what to say.” Is this supposed to be morbid or beautiful?

“These are the bones of the isles.” Eda gestures out to the massive creature. “Up close, the isles can be slimy.”

“And very stinky,” King chimes in.

“And gross.” Eda looks up. “But, if you look at it from a different perspective…”

A blue shooting star streaks across the purpling night sky. Draco watches in awe.

“I can’t believe this place is real,” Draco says.

“You’re seeing it with your own two eyes,” Eda teases. “Hard to say it isn’t.”

“Yeah.” Draco, without fully realizing, wraps an arm around King.

All of the stars back on Earth are white or yellow, but these? These are magenta and blue. A whole new set of constellations for him to learn.

Draco shakes loose the thought. He can’t stay. This place isn’t home. It never will be.

“Hey Eda?”

“Hm?” Eda’s focus switches to Luz.

Luz looks down at her lap. “How did you know that wizard was lying?”

Eda sighs. “Look, kid. Everyone wants to believe they’re ‘chosen,’ but if we all waited around for a prophecy to make us special, we’d die waiting. And that’s why you need to choose yourself.”

Luz and Eda keep talking, but Draco isn’t paying attention. King’s head has just fallen back against him, eyes closed and breathing softly. Draco should shake him awake, but he doesn’t. Instead, he adjusts King so he’s cradling him in one arm. He can steer with only one hand, thanks to being a Seeker. King curls into Draco’s midsection with a mumble. It’s surprisingly sweet, from someone who’d been trying to steal his sweets.

“You did great today, Draco.”

Draco nearly startles from being addressed again, but manages to stop himself to avoid waking King. “I’m sorry?”

“Your plan would’ve worked,” Eda says. “If Adegast didn’t have that whole tunneling tentacle biz. You’re smarter than you look.”

Draco flushes and turns away. “Right.”

He can’t remember the last time he received a compliment. He gives them out plenty, often disingenuously, but it’s been years since he last received one. Probably from before he started at Hogwarts.

Draco adjusts King in his hold. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to at least try finding the names of some of the constellations.

~~~

Luz is so ready to curl up in her sleeping bag and stay there for twelve hours by the time she’s finished setting her room back up. She’s about to do just that when the door to her room bangs open, and Draco’s trunk drops by her head. Luz yelps and flies out of her sleeping bag, karate-chopping at it. When nothing else happens, Luz turns to the door. Eda stands in the hallway, brushing her hands off on her pajama shirt.

“Eda?” Luz says.

“One second kid.” Eda turns her head down the hall. “I moved it!” She shouts.

“I am not sharing a room with her!”

Luz winces. “Uh…?”

“Can’t have Draco sleeping on the couch the whole time he’s here,” Eda says. “Wanna move your stuff over?”

Luz scrambles to do that, dragging her sleeping bag closer to the green chest she has the picture of her and her mama on. The sound of heavy footfalls echo up the stairs. Luz winces again.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Luz bites her lip. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

“He’ll come around,” Eda whispers. “Trust me, this’ll be good for him.”

Luz has no idea what that means, but she doesn’t get to ask before the much taller blonde probably-British human wizard is upon them, stomping up to Eda like an angry chihuahua.

“I gave you no permission to move that,” he hisses.

“And I already told you, I’m not having you gatecrash my living room.” Eda folds her arms and pops her hip like the foxy lady she is. Luz wants to be like her so bad when she grows up.

“I have nothing to sleep on in here!”

“Yeah you do, you can use the hammock.”

Luz gasps. “You have a hammock!? Why didn’t I get the hammock?”

“Because you have a sleeping bag,” Eda says. “Draco has nothing, so he gets the hammock.”

“This wouldn’t be a problem for you if you would let me go home,” Draco snarls. Eda nudges past him and into Luz’s (and now Draco’s!) room, pulling open one of the crates.

“You haven’t taught me everything you know about human magic, so no.” Eda pulls out the legendary hammock. She draws a spell circle, and the hammock attaches itself to the walls on either side of the room, to the left of Luz’s sleeping bag.

“Can I learn human magic?” Luz beams.

“No.” Draco shuts her down with a huff. “Muggles can’t use magic.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t learn about it. Who knows? I might prove you wrong.” Luz wiggles her eyebrows. “Please will you teach me about human magic?”

Draco’s eyes turn angry. “I am not teaching you mudblood magic!” He snaps.

A cold chill washes over the room. That word has to mean something Luz doesn’t understand, based on the way Draco said it. Eda, who’d been setting a spare blanket and pillow into the hammock, drops both on the floor.

“You wanna tell me what that word means, Wizface?” Eda says. She sounds a lot colder, and angrier, then Luz’s ever heard her before.

Draco glares at the doorframe like he wants to set it on fire. “No.”

“Then I better not hear you use it again, or you’re sleeping outside.”

Draco looks ready to break something.

Luz ends up waking up later that night. King came to sleep on her sleeping bag again, so she has to be quiet wiggling her legs out from under him. She tip-toes her way out of the room, careful to not wake up King or Draco. She was planning on getting a cup of water and going back to bed, but when she turns around with her cup in-hand, Eda’s standing at the entrance to the kitchen, studying Luz with her brows furrowed.

“Eda?” Luz says.

Eda takes a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

Luz straightens. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Eda walks into the dark kitchen, setting her hands on Luz’s shoulders. “You’re probably wondering why I’m keeping Draco around at this point.”

Luz winces. “I-I mean, I wasn’t going to ask because that’d be rude! And I don’t wanna be rude-”

“Luz.”

Luz falls quiet.

Eda’s quiet for a moment, thinking. Then, she squeezes Luz’s shoulders. “I want you to do something for me.”

Luz nods. “What is it?”

“If I’m right about this, then this is going to be important.” Eda locks eyes with her. “If Draco ever tells you anything that you think is dangerous or threatens his safety, then I want you to tell me, okay? Doesn’t matter if he told you not to tell anyone, breaking that trust is going to matter a lot less if he gets seriously hurt.”

Luz’s thoughts are flying with scenarios Eda could be talking about. “Why would he tell me that kind of stuff?”

“Because you’re around his age, and human.” Eda smiles at her. “King’s too young and Draco doesn’t trust me, so he’ll come to you first.”

“But he doesn’t like me.” He doesn’t like Luz in the way a lot of people at her old school don’t like her.

“He will.” Eda sounds so confident. “He’ll take longer than me and King did, but he will.”

And what else can Luz do but believe her?

Chapter Text

Draco spends his next few days attempting to discretely search the house for Eda’s portal door. It occurs to him on day two that he doesn’t know what this portal door looks like, nor what kind of measures Eda has in place to keep it from unwanted guests. He has two possible routes to take from here. One, find a way to trick Eda into revealing the door to him. Eda’s aware that he wants this portal door and is well-acquainted with his manipulation tactics at this point, so that’s unlikely to work. Two, he makes himself as annoying as humanly possible to the point Eda kicks him out via said portal door. That plan’s far more viable than his first. And, he has perfected the art of executing it.

There’s a series of bangs at the door as Draco is combing his hair back. “Hey, Wizface! Open up! You can’t hog the bathroom all day!”

“I gotta pee!” King whines.

“Come on, Draco, this isn’t funny!” Luz calls.

“I’m not done yet,” Draco says. He smirks. This plan is working perfectly.

After fifteen more minutes, Draco unlocks the door to find three unhappy faces fixing him with an angry glare, a strained look, and a grumpy pout respectively.

“It wouldn’t kill you to be patient,” Draco huffs.

“You’ve been in there for two hours!” Eda gestures behind him, then pauses. “Did you clean my bathroom?”

Draco sets a hand on his hip. “It was disgusting, how else was I supposed to get ready?”

“You say everything’s disgusting,” Luz grumbles.

“You left sweet wrappers all over my side of the room, I had every right to call you that,” Draco huffs. Luz sticks her tongue out at him, and Draco gasps. Of all the undignified-

“Move!” King pushes past him and shoves him out, slamming the door behind him.

Draco rolls his eyes. “Maybe teach your rat some manners, Eda, hm?”

Eda growls as Draco walks away. He swears he hears her mutter something along the lines of “men.”

Next, Draco raids Eda’s muggle ice box. She’s quite fond of a drink she calls Apple Blood, so he makes it a point to throw out her entire stock in the dead of night. The animalistic screech he hears the next morning makes it entirely worth it.

Luz also has something she’s quite fond of: her Good Witch Azura book series. While she’s out with Eda doing her “witch apprenticeship” (whatever that means for a muggle), Draco reads through book one. It’s surprisingly good. He’ll never admit that to Luz, though, and he makes a point to leave scathing annotations in the margins in dark black ink. He doesn’t touch the note on the inside cover. As much as he is trying to be a nuisance, he isn’t heartless.

Luz discovers his handiwork later that night while Draco’s making a plan for teaching Eda Charms the next day. Draco’s lounging in his hammock, Luz digging through her own things. Rather abruptly, Draco’s textbook is shoved out of his hands as another book is shoved in his face.

“Did you do this?” Luz demands.

Draco pushes the book away from himself. “I was doing some light reading, what else did you expect?”

Luz turns a fiery shade of puce. “You ruined my book!”

Draco scoffs. “Relax, it’s magic ink. It’ll fade in a few days.”

Luz glares at him, then sits back on her sleeping bag with a huff. It won’t fade, actually, but she doesn’t need to know that.

Draco’s observations lead him to finding out that King also has an object he cares about: a plush rabbit he calls Francois. King has a collection of stuffed toys, but this rabbit in particular is special to him. Under normal circumstances, Draco would transfigure the toy, but since he can’t do that at the moment he’ll have to settle for an alternative.

Draco tucks Francois into another hidden compartment in his trunk, and hides his “alternative” in King’s pile of stuffed toys in the living area. About 30 minutes later, Eda and King return from a shopping trip. Draco looks up from where he’s half-reading one of Eda’s books on the couch, then pretends to go back to what he’s doing.

“Francois, I’m home!” King skitters over to his pile of stuffed toys, stopping at the base. “Francois?”

Draco pulls the string he tied around his ankle.

A murderous-looking pink rabbit creature with three eyes, sharp teeth and claws digs its way out of the pile, stuffing flying everywhere. It snarls and hisses, then pounces at King.

“FRANCOIS!” King leaps out of the way. The rabbit-creature collides with the coffee table, then flails back onto its feet. “How could you betray me like this!?”

“Francois” charges.

“NO!!!”

Eda returns not a moment too soon, stopping “Francois” with what Draco now knows is called a spell circle. The rabbit monster’s yanked up by its scruff by a glowing yellow hand. It whines in confusion, and Eda throws it out the door. Hooty slams the door shut.

“Draco.” Eda’s nostrils flare as she sets her eyes on him.

Draco closes his book. “Yes?”

Eda glances at his ankle, then to the demolished pile of stuffed toys, the cage he found in Eda’s basement now revealed inside it.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not gonna work.” Eda sets her hands on her hips. King clings to Eda’s leg, whimpering.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Draco smirks.

Eda’s eyes narrow.

Unfortunately for Draco, he wasn’t expecting the three of them to retaliate.

It starts the next morning. Draco steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his head as he crosses to the mirrors. His morning routine usually only takes about an hour, but since he’s trying to make a point, he drags it out for as long as possible. He dries himself off, then meticulously pulls on his muggle-passing sweater and checkered trousers, smoothing out any wrinkles and picking away lint and King fur. As much as he likes his cloaks, they aren’t a very convenient thing to wear when almost everything slobbers, spits, or otherwise excretes on you. Better to protect his more expensive clothing items. He puts on socks and shoes, buttons a dark green vest over his sweater, tucks his wand in his vest pocket, then faces the mirror and takes the towel off his head.

His pink hair stares back at him.

“NO!!!”

Draco’s out the door and charging down the stairs at record speed. Eda, King, and Luz are in the kitchen eating breakfast. He skids to a stop in the doorway, panting.

“Which one of you did this!?” He snaps.

King freezes at the table, fork halfway to his mouth. Luz looks up from what she’s writing, and Eda leans around the stove. Luz snorts, then cracks up laughing. King bursts into giggles soon after, followed by Eda, who slumps against the cupboards as she tries and fails to stay on her feet.

Draco’s face burns. As soon as he gets his magic back, he’s cursing all three of them. He doesn’t care about getting thrown out as long as he’s well away from The Owl House and its inhabitants.

The next incident occurs later that same day. The hair dye had luckily come out with a feverish amount of scrubbing, his scalp now rubbed raw. He’d thrown out the offending hair potion. Luz and Eda are outside for more of Luz’s “witch training”, leaving Draco to his own devices in the shared room. He’s already planned out what he’s teaching Eda next, so he decides to pick up one of the novels he brought with him to school and hadn’t read yet. He grabs his box of Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavor beans to snack on as he reads.

As he keeps going, he realizes he’s getting bad flavor after bad flavor. Pepper, broccoli, even ear wax. Draco squints into his box. Every color of bean left in there is an unpleasant one. That, and it’s far more empty than it was before.

Draco gapes. That little skunk!

“KING!” He shouts. There’s an ‘eep!’ from downstairs as the dog attempts to make his escape. Draco darts out the door.

On and on the childish retaliations go. Draco has a bucket of slime dropped on his head, runs into invisible walls, has his clothes magicked into eye-bleeding neon colors and eats a pie that happened to be filled with eyeballs (though that one may have been accidental, knowing Eda and King’s regular diets). Draco’s being run ragged, and he’s finally had enough.

“Fine, FINE!” Draco stomps into the kitchen covered head to toe in toilet paper. “Message received! I’ll stop.”

Eda smirks at King and Luz. “Told you it would work.”

Luz grins, and King claps his paws together with a cheer.

“I hate you all,” Draco growls.

“Love you too buddy.” Luz makes some sort of double hand motion where she points a finger from each hand at him and waves them up and down.

“Call me that again and I’ll set your hair on fire.”

Luz squeaks and smacks her hands to her head.

Draco tears the toilet paper off himself. “I’m going out.”

“You gonna clean that up?” Eda raises an eyebrow at him.

“No.” He scowls at her. “You did this to me, you deal with it.”

“You started it, Wizface.” Eda snickers.

Draco doesn’t deign that with a reply. He marches to the back door, yanks it open, and storms out.

As soon as he’s sequestered away in a quiet section of the forest, Draco draws his wand. He hasn’t attempted magic since the night he arrived here, but he needs to get his magic back. He can’t stand staying here any longer. With his magic, he’ll be able to overpower Eda and force her to reveal the portal door to him. He’ll figure out what his next steps are once he’s back on Earth.

All he needs is one spell. One spell that’ll work to incapacitate someone, and he’ll be out of this hellish realm of demons for good.

Draco holds his wand up. “Lumos.”

Just like before, nothing happens. Stupefy and bombarda have the same result. Part of him knew it still wouldn’t work, but the loss of his magic stings like a living thing. Magic is who he is, it’s what he lives and breathes. How does he exist without it?

“Expelliarmus,” Draco says. Again, nothing happens. “Petrificus totalus! Wingardium leviosa!”

Not even a spark. Draco can’t bring himself to be angry—he’s too tired to be properly angry. He’s just morose. Has he lost his magic for good? This is most likely a symptom of being in another realm, but what if he goes back and he still can’t use spells? He’ll be named a squib and struck from wizarding records.

Draco sinks to his knees. A squib. What a stain on the Malfoy name.

“Draco?”

Draco looks up. Luz is standing in the shadow a tree, a plate with a sandwich and crisps in her hands. She shuffles a little on the spot, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

“Eda told me to bring you lunch,” she mumbles.

She saw it. His secret’s out. She’s going to tell Eda, and Eda will mock him for being weak, and Draco will never get home.

Draco grits his teeth. “Go on then.”

Luz frowns. “‘go on’ what?”

“Go run off to your kooky mentor and tell her I’m powerless,” Draco bites. He sits back on his heels, cradling his wand in his hands. “Useless. Completely incompetent. It’s what I always will be.”

Luz approaches, the grass crunching under her feet. She takes a seat next to him and sets the plate of food in front of him.

Luz leans into his space. “Is that your wand?”

Draco nods. “Hawthorn wood, 10 inches, unicorn hair core.”

“Sounds magical, looks magical.” Luz steals a crisp from his plate. “Has it worked before?”

Draco resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Obviously. I wouldn’t have it otherwise.”

“Dumb question, sorry.” Luz chuckles. “All those fancy words sounded like they should work. What do they usually do?”

“‘Expelliarmus’ disarms the target, ‘petrificus totalus’ freezes the target, and ‘wingardium leviosa’ allows you to make targets hover.” Draco rolls his wand in his hands, then stows it in his vest pocket. “Why am I telling you this? It’s not like it’s useful to you.”

“Not really.” Luz shrugs. “But, I think I might know why your magic isn’t working.”

Draco scoffs. “Really,” he drawls.

“Yes, really.” She sounds genuine. “I know I’m a muggle, but this kind of stuff isn’t new to me.”

Draco’s at a loss for how to get his magic back. He has no other leads. He’s not exactly keen on her idea, but he’ll humor her. Draco turns to face her, adjusting to sit crisscross.

Luz lights up, but she quickly hides her reaction. “Well, the magic you’re trying to use sounds like it’s based on a latin-based language. ‘Petrificus Totalus’ sounds like ‘Petrify total’, ‘expelliarmus’ sounds like ‘expel’, that kind of thing. Thing is, latin is a human language from the human realm. If you’re commanding magic, you have to do it in a language the magic can understand. Since latin doesn’t exist here, then you need to use a different kind of language.”

“So like the spell circles,” Draco says.

Luz nods. “Exactly. But since we can’t do spell circles, we need to find another way.”

“And what makes you think you can even do magic?” Draco raises an eyebrow. “There’s a reason muggles are called muggles.”

Luz deflates a little. “Maybe. But the demon realm has different rules. I won’t know for sure unless I try, right?”

“Sure.” The idea goes against everything Draco knows about magic, but sure, she can be optimistic. Her theory does have merit, though. Africa, Asia, and South America are known to have different magical practices than Europe, North America, and Australia, but even then spellcasting varies from region to region. Over the years, Draco’s travelled with his parents to France to visit extended family. France and the UK both use Latin-based spells, but Draco’s had to emphasize and accent his spoken spells in the way a French speaker would to use magic properly in France. His spells would come out stale otherwise.

Draco picks up his sandwich and takes a bite. It’s an idea, but he has no clue where to start. You can’t exactly hear spell circles.

“You know, you could always join Eda and I.” Luz wiggles her eyebrows in a conspiratorial motion. “We could be witch apprentices together!”

Draco’s mood sours. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s my captor. I’m not doing anything that involves me owing more favors to Eda than necessary.”

“You really think that?”

Draco scowls at her. “I know that. She only cares about my human magic, that’s it. She threatened to kick me into the boiling sea as soon as I wasn’t useful to her anymore.”

If there’s one lesson Draco learned early in life, it’s that everyone wants something out of you. Nobody cozies up to someone just because. Crabbe and Goyle only follow Draco around because of his family’s reputation. Pansy only wants him because his family’s rich, and if she married him, she’d be set for life. Eda hasn’t let him go back home because she wants to know about human magic, and cannot for the life of her stay on top of actually learning it. The only reason Luz is talking to him at all is because of her interest in human magic. It’s simple, a way of life that all people abide by and Draco has learned to manipulate in his favor.

Luz has fallen quiet. She’s got a strange expression on her face, caught between concerned and pained. Draco hates having it directed towards him.

Draco finishes off his sandwich and stands.

“Wait, where are you going?” Luz hurries to her feet as Draco starts to walk.

“Somewhere.”

“I’ll come wi-”

“No, you won’t!” Draco rounds on her. “I don’t need you to follow me like some crup. Go back to your useless ‘witch lessons’ and your dumb dog!”

Draco turns on his heel and storms off. He never should’ve humored her. Humoring people only leads to exposing your own weaknesses and getting blackmailed for it.

Chapter Text

He’s not sure how long he walks for. He’s not sure why he’s walking in the first place. He makes his way through the forest around the city, jaw clenched. His teeth are aching by the time he finally stops.

Draco can’t lose the one thing that makes him important. Magic gives him purpose. Magic makes him, as a person, worthwhile. His father wouldn’t bother with him at all if he was a squib. Draco is who he is because of magic. He needs to figure out how to get it back, new realm or otherwise.

His train of thought is interrupted by a sound he’s well acquainted with. He’s not familiar with the tune, but the instrument’s so familiar that it’d be impossible for him not to recognize.

A violin.

Before Hogwarts, Draco was tutored in playing violin. He adored playing it, even when he struggled with the technique of the more difficult chords. He and his mother would play together on occasion, him on violin and his mother on piano, much to the delight of the house elves. However, once he started school, he no longer had time for it. His old violin now sits tucked in the corner between his bookshelf and his bedroom wall, dusty with age. He misses it, sometimes.

Draco follows the sound. The tune itself isn’t complicated, but it’s beautiful. Maybe a human is the one playing. If they’re a human, then maybe they have a way to get back to Earth. Draco picks up his pace.

His hopes are dashed when he reaches the source. He’s at the edge of a well-overgrown, small amphitheater. Trees and plants sprout between worn-away stone benches, curved and tiered downwards towards a ground stage. A witch with obviously pointed ears stands on the stage. Their hair is a light teal, skin a light brown, and they’re wearing an off-white blouse paired with red trousers and boots. A single earring dangles from their right ear.

A note comes out too sharp. The witch stops playing and exhales. “Dang it, get it together. You’re supposed to perform this tomorrow.” They start the song over again.

Of course they have violins here, Draco seethes. How could he get his hopes up? Nothing ever goes his way in this world. He’s about to make his escape when he steps on what looks like a pine cone. The crunch is far louder in the quiet of the woods. The violin music stops.

“Hello?” The witch calls. “Who’s there?”

Draco freezes. Fuck. How do other witches in this realm react to humans? Eda seems well used to humans, considering she has one, but that doesn’t mean other witches will react the same.

“I can see you.” The mystery witch’s voice sounds a lot louder than it is.

Draco turns, chin held high. “My apologies. I wasn’t intending to interrupt you.”

The witch blinks, eyes wide. “A human?”

No use denying it now. “And you’re a witch. What about it?”

“I just- haven’t seen a human before.” The witch lowers the violin from their shoulder. “How did you get here?”

“Not relevant.” Draco gnaws the inside of his cheek. “You wouldn’t happen to know a way back to the Human Realm?”

The witch frowns. “I’m sorry, no. Are you stranded? Do you need help?”

“No.” Draco folds his arms. “I have a method of escape, but it’s proving far more tedious to get it than I would like.”

“Tedious how?” The witch draws a spell circle, and both the violin and bow disappear into said circle. “Maybe I could help with that.”

What is with all of these sudden offerings of help? First was Luz, now this random witch he’s just met. Nobody offers their help without expecting something in return. What’s this witch’s game? What’re they expecting to get out of him?

“No, thank you.” Draco takes a step back. “I’m handling it just fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m fine!” Draco snaps. Trust witches to be the most infuriating beings alive. “I don’t need anyone’s help.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

Draco grits his teeth. The witch steps off the raised stage platform, towards the base of the steps leading up to Draco.

“Here, why don’t you come down so we can talk?” The witch holds their hands up in a placating gesture. “I won’t hurt you.”

Draco’s eyes narrow. “Why should I trust you?”

The witch’s brows furrow in thought. Then, they look back up at him. “You recognized my instrument, didn’t you?”

Draco tenses. “And if I did?”

“Then you have violins in the human realm.” The witch lowers their hands. “Our worlds tend to bleed into each other, so concepts like the violin can be shared between our two worlds.”

Draco presses his lips into a line. Eda hadn’t bothered to share that piece of information with him. In fact, she hadn’t shared much at all. What Draco had picked up had been in snippets and exchanges between the others, such as King and Luz’s names and this place being called The Boiling Isles. It may be valuable to learn more about this place. The information could help give him the push he needs to find his magic again.

Draco takes a couple steps downward, towards the mystery witch. “My name is Draco. Draco Malfoy.”

The witch smiles. “Raine Whispers. That’s a pretty unique name, Draco.”

Draco descends the stairs. Unlike Eda, who towers over him, Raine is only an inch or two taller than him. As soon as he’s on the base platform, Raine gestures for him to follow and takes a seat on the edge of the stage.

“So, Draco,” Raine says. “You like violin?”

“I suppose,” Draco lies. He doesn’t just like violin, he used to live and breathe it.

Raine chuckles. “It’s a beautiful instrument. It’s why it’s my main one for spellcasting.”

Draco looks at them. “Spellcasting?”

Draco’s heard of instances where wizards can use instruments to cast magic, but it’s incredibly rare. Plus, it’s considered impractical due to the complexities of songs being used for spells. He’s always been interested in seeing or attempting it himself, but he’s never had the chance.

“Yes, spellcasting.” Raine draws another spell circle in the air. Their violin manifests in their hand in a flash of yellow, and they draw another to summon their bow. “You want to see it?”

Draco takes a seat on the edge of the stage, twisting to face Raine. “Yes, please.” He clears his throat. He can’t sound too eager. “If you’d be so obliged.”

Raine chuckles again. Draco’s not sure what’s funny, but they start playing, and the thought leaves him.

Draco doesn’t recognize the melody, but that’s hardly relevant when a yellow glow washes over the area. A warm rush of energy fills Draco’s body. He can’t help but look everywhere, trying to take in everything as the plant life sways to the tune, like they’re caught up in it. A few small creatures peek out from various places to listen. The very stone he sits on seems to brim with energy, with life. Loose papers somewhere behind Raine start to float, as well as some small stones and twigs. He can almost hear the accompaniment of background instruments.

“Unlike most forms of Boiling Isles magic, Bard magic draws on the magic of the isles themselves for its power.” Raine closes their eyes. “All the witch has to do is guide it.”

Draco’s seen a lot of magic in his life. He’s used to seeing impossible things. And yet, something about this magic is so different, so alive, in a way he’s never seen magic before. For Draco, magic’s always been a tool, a means to an end to accomplish a task. This magic is so much more than that.

“We create songs to harmonize with the magic around us.” Raine moves with the thrum of their violin, the notes echoing through the theater. “Once we find the harmony, the magic listens to our will. Watch.”

The rhythm of Raine’s song shifts in a more melancholy direction. Yellow, glowing figures rise from the ground. The silhouettes are vague, but Draco recognizes a game of tag, playing instruments, conversing and laughing. Each of the figures are always in pairs.

Raine’s song comes to an end. When it does, the magic slowly fades, and the figures drift away as if they were smoke.

Raine opens their eyes, smiling. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Draco slowly nods. The same feeling from the night Eda showed him and Luz the carcass of the Boiling Isles creeps back in. It’s so unfamiliar and yet so invigorating in a way Draco can’t explain.

“I, um…” It’s rare for Draco to stutter. He rolls his shoulders back and re-composes himself. “I used to play violin.”

“You did?” Raine lowers their own violin. “Why did you stop?”

“School.” Draco studies his lap, clasping his hands together. “My father’s very demanding about focusing on my studies. He wants me to be the best.” Which Draco has failed to achieve, over and over again.

There’s a light tap on Draco’s arm. He looks up. Raine’s holding out their violin and bow.

“Want to try it again?”

Draco pushes the instrument away. “I couldn’t, it’s yours.”

“I trust you not to break it.” Raine pushes it back towards him. “I’d love to hear some of your human-world songs.”

Draco hesitates. Instruments are precious. You pour your whole being into playing your instrument, lending it to others is no easy show of trust. And Raine’s just giving it to him, all because he said he used to play.

He takes it.

The wood’s worn with use, some of the paint faded. The fox carving at the top of the neck almost seems to wink at him. Muscle memory kicks in as Draco tightens the bow and adjusts the chin rest, pressing the violin between his left shoulder and jaw. He rests his fingers at the top of the strings and holds the bow between his thumb and middle finger. The bow’s a different shape than he’s used to, curved instead of flat, but it works just the same.

He has several songs he’s memorized by heart. He chooses one at random, one he performed at a dinner party when he was 8 and liked so much that he hasn’t forgotten since.

The beginning of Clair de Lune rings out through the theater. He hasn’t played in so long, he forgot what it felt like to create that music with his own fingers. The tune returns to him easily, despite his lack of practice, difficult chords and all. To hear those notes, feel the strings pressing into the pads of his fingers, it’s like he’s truly breathing for the first time since he was 11.

The melody flows, dancing with the plant life of the woods. The grounding vibrations buzz through the bones of his shoulder, jaw, and fingers. It aches more than it did before, bittersweet and vulnerable, each swell and dip of the tune drawing out a part of himself he hasn’t dared to touch. It feels like his mother applauding him when he finally succeeds a difficult chorus, like his father smiling and lifting Draco onto his shoulders at age four. It feels like how life should be. It feels like home.

Raine gasps. Draco’s eyes must’ve fallen shut at some point. He opens them. A cool, blue light bathes the world around them, almost like it’s dusk. Draco’s breath catches in his throat. He stalls.

Raine’s head snaps over to him. “Keep playing!”

Draco does. Raine looks out at the scene, the magic, in awe, their hair fluttering like it’s caught in the wind. Draco can hardly believe it himself.

“I had no idea humans could do magic,” Raine breathes.

“Some humans.” Draco furrows his brow in concentration. “There’s a secret world of human wizards, hidden away from all the rest.”

“Why hide?” Raine says.

Draco knows the answer. Or he thought he knew. He thinks back to Luz, to her idea, to her energy and excitement, to her ability to be kind to him despite every insult he’s thrown at her.

“I don’t know.”

The magic pulses and thrums with the music. Draco plays the last trio of notes, delicate like crystal. He lowers the violin. His hands are cramping. Cuts sting his fingers, callouses long gone from his lack of practice. He can’t find it in himself to care.

The blue magic fades. Raine’s quiet. Draco sets the violin and bow down on the stage between them.

“I haven’t been able to use magic since I arrived.” Draco draws his hawthorn wand from his vest. “I’m not sure why that worked.”

“You spoke to the Isles,” Raine says.

“Sorry?” Draco has no idea what that means.

Raine smiles. “I don’t know how human magic works, but to use bard magic, you have to play a song the natural magic can hear.”

You have to do it in a language the magic can understand.

Draco chuckles. “Of course.”

~~~

The sun’s set by the time Draco arrives back at the Owl House. He got lost a few times and had to find a path from the city (which he now knows is called Bonesborough, thanks to Raine), but he managed to make his way back.

“Draco!” Hooty shoots out from his door at record speed. “I was worried, you disappeared!”

“Calm down, Hooty.” Draco side-steps a potential Hooty wrapping. “It’s not like Eda cares how long I’m out.”

Draco opens the front door-

-And is yanked inside by a pair of strong arms.

“There you are!” Eda’s hands grab at his face and twist his head either way. “Where were you? Luz said you vanished into the woods and I couldn’t find you-”

 “Merlin, woman, have you ever heard of personal space?” Draco shoves her hands away.

Before she can respond, a pair of feet race down the stairs and Luz skids into the sitting room. “DRACO!” She tackles him to the floor, arms wrapping tight around his torso. “I thought you died! I thought you got eaten or-or digested or-”

“Those are the same thing, Luz,” Draco deadpans.

“I don’t care!” Luz’s grip tightens. “I thought I lost my human British wizard roomie!”

Draco sits up and pries Luz’s fingers off his back. She flops to the floor on her side, giving Draco the saddest, wettest puppy-eyed look he’s ever seen.

Draco resigns himself to his fate. “You can hug me-”

Luz clings to his waist like a particularly possessive bowtruckle.

“-but only this once,” Draco hisses. Luz nods into his stomach.

Eda crouches down next to him. “You sure you’re not hurt?”

“Positive.” Draco leans back on his hands.

King trots into the room, wrapped in a fluffy, pink blanket Draco has seen folded next to Luz’s sleeping bag many times by now. “He’s back?”

“Yup, coast is clear,” Eda says.

“Finally.” King yawns. “I’m going to bed.”

At least someone has an expected reaction.

Later, after Luz has released him and headed upstairs to brush her teeth, Draco takes what’s left of dinner. He’s biting into spaghetti that somehow tastes like citrus when Eda sits down across from him.

“Alright, Wizface.” Eda crosses her legs and clasps her hands on the table. “Luz told me about what she saw earlier, and what you said.”

Draco stiffens.

“And I can help you.”

Draco’s fork clatters onto the table. “What?”

“No extra cost, we’ll figure out how to get your human magic working again.” Eda takes his hand. “I know what it’s like to lose your magic. It’s like losing a limb. Your magic’s important to you, so we’ll find out what’s wrong and fix it.”

“Aren’t you worried I’ll use it against you?” Draco’s brows furrow.

Eda snorts. “Nah. There’s no way you’ll ever beat the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. Won’t stop you from trying, though.”

Draco grumbles, and Eda laughs. Despite everything he’s learned, she still manages to be insufferable.

Chapter Text

BLEEEEERRRRRR!

Draco yelps and falls out of his hammock. Luz shrieks and kicks King off the end of her sleeping bag. King lands on all fours with a startled ‘weh!’, fur on end.

Eda slams open the door to their storage closet. “Wake up time, kids! It’s trash slug day!”

“I swear to all that is magic, Eda!” Draco snarls. Of all of the ways to wake someone up-

“Was that an air horn!?” Luz squeals.

“That’s what these are called?” Eda holds up a white, metal cannister of some kind with a bright red, cone-shaped device attached to the top. “I’ve been calling it the sound blaster, but that’s way better!” Eda stuffs said air horn into her mane of grey hair. “Meet downstairs for breakfast in ten minutes. We’ve got a long day ahead of us!”

Eda strides down the hall with a cackle, leaving the door ajar.

Draco’s going to strangle that woman when he gets the chance. He stumbles to his feet, trying to rub the last of his sleep from his eyes.

“I think my soul left my body,” Luz whispers.

“Try telling that to my bruised arse.” Draco combs his hair out of his face. “Merlin.”

“Ooo, funky British words,” Luz says.

King manages to shake off his shock. “I hate it when she does that.”

“What did Eda mean by ‘trash slug’?” Luz says.

“What it says on the tin,” King sighs and gets on two feet, stretching his arms in the air. “It’s a slug that eats trash. Eda likes to collect it when their slug bodies wash up on the beach.”

Luz gulps.

“I do not care what kind of ‘lessons’ Eda has planned,” Draco says as he pulls out clothes from his trunk. “I am not going anywhere near a behemoth slug.” Draco smacks the lid closed. “I already had to deal with enough slugs from Weasley,” he mutters as he marches out of the room.

Luz gasps. “Mysterious wizard lore!? Draco come back!”

“NO!” Draco barks. He slams the door to the bathroom shut behind him.

Thirty minutes later, having skipped his usual morning shower, Draco trudges downstairs into the kitchen. Luz and King are already eating at the table, Luz tapping her strange, small rectangle Draco hasn’t managed to parse yet.

“Took you long enough, Wizface.” Eda shoves a plate into his hands as she skirts by him, heading up the stairs.

“I’m not participating in whatever this ‘trash slug’ activity is!” Draco shouts after her. Eda just laughs. Draco groans, dropping onto the kitchen table bench next to Luz. King, from his high chair, stabs at a stack of food that looks like American pancakes, except they’re red. Luckily, his and Luz’s look a bit more normal, but they’re more yellow than they should be.

“Soooo,” Luz leans into his space. “Who’s Weasley?”

“Nobody.” Draco grabs what he believes is this world’s version of maple syrup on the table, drizzling it onto his pancakes.

“Aw, but you said the name with so much drama earlier.” Luz pouts.

Draco’s about to retort, but Eda swings into the room, holding a strange muggle tool with a long, pointed metal thing stuck to the top. “Alright, kids, here’s the deal. You’re going to help me raid today’s trash slug before anyone else gets there.”

“Um, Eda?” Luz says.

“Yeah, Luz?”

“What does this have to do with my witch apprenticeship?”

“I explained this the first day.” Eda slings the tool on her shoulder. “You have to work for your magic, remember?”

“I know, but-” Luz slumps. “Nevermind.”

Eda tucks the tool into her hair. “Anyway, Draco, you’ll-”

“I told you, I’m not participating.” Draco narrows his eyes.

Eda narrows her own eyes. “Don’t you want your magic back?”

“I do, but I’m not getting it back through useless methods like this.” Draco slams his hands on the table. He and Eda glare at each other. Draco refuses to back down.

“You lost your magic?” King says, pausing mid-stab of his pancake.

Draco doesn’t respond to that. “I’m going out.” He stands and steps out from behind the table.

“Wha- Wizface!”

“You can’t make me!” Draco slams the back door shut behind him.

It’s far earlier in the morning than Draco would like to be awake during his summer break, and he’s not pleased whatsoever. He has no idea what to do with himself. He absolutely does not want to participate in looting a trash slug, but he doesn’t have anything to do to occupy his time until Eda returns. What to do, what to do…

He walks around the front of the house and down the dirt road. He might as well familiarize himself with Bonesborough, now that he knows the city’s name. Understanding the area and its dialect should help him narrow down what kind of language to use for his own magic.

The walk into town is a short one. Too short, in his opinion, for the horrors he witnesses. The homes and shops are quaint and would remind Draco of Hogsmeade, if they weren’t covered in a plethora of eyes, teeth, and other appendages. Creatures of all kinds mill about the smelly, flesh-filled streets, performing some truly bizarre actions. A child with a gaping mouth and large teeth for a face runs past him, playing a game with other small children of various shapes, colors, and sizes. What Draco thinks is a centaur passes by him with an “excuse me”, but then he sees that the creature’s face is on its chest. There’s a travelling service in the form of a giant egg, and while Draco has his disparages about the Knight Bus, at least it isn’t soaked in egg white. This place manages to horrify him in every strange and twisted way possible.

Draco’s so distracted by the dreadful state of this city that he doesn’t notice the person in front of him until it’s too late. The two smack into each other.

Draco flails but regains his balance. “Oi, watch it!”

The witch he ran into is not so fortunate. The boy’s papers and books have scattered everywhere on the dirt pathway. One in particular catches Draco’s attention; a stereotypical muggle magazine with the title “TWEEN BO$$.”

“Titan, I’m so sorry!” The witch scrambles to pick up his things. Draco reaches down and takes the magazine, brow furrowed. Why would a witch from the Boiling Isles have a muggle magazine?

“Where did you get this?” Draco asks.

“Get what-” The witch cuts himself off, his eyes widening. “Oh haha would you look at that?” His voice sounds considerably strained.

Draco raises a brow.

“Could I have that back?” The witch gets to his feet, his papers and books cradled in his arms. He’s shorter than Draco, practically as small as Potter was during his first year.

“Not until you tell me where you got this.” Draco sets a hand on his hip.

The boy opens and closes his mouth several times, floundering, then his eyes lock on something on the side of Draco’s head. The boy’s mouth drops into a perfect ‘o’, eyes wide as saucers.

“Gawking isn’t going to do you any favors,” Draco says..

“You’re a- you’re a-”

Draco rolls his eyes. “Merlin, is it really that uncommon for a human to be in the Boiling Isles?” These shocked reactions are beginning to get old.

The boy squeaks, starstruck, as he walks a full circle around Draco. “Where are your gills!?”

“Humans don’t have gills,” Draco deadpans. “We have lungs, two of them.”

“You have two lungs!?” The boy slaps his cheeks. “Oh my. Oh my oh my! I could die happy, right now. I’m meeting an actual human!”

Ah, so this witch is obsessed with humans in the same way some wizards (Arthur Weasley) become obsessed with muggles. That explains the magazine. It’s not too hard to connect his suspicious behavior with him possibly getting it from Eda, knowing her collection of muggle wares. Most likely not a possible exit from the demon realm. He doesn’t know why he keeps getting his hopes up.

Draco hands the magazine back to him. “If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.”

“You have to come to school with me!”

Draco stops mid-step. School? Now that he takes a closer look, the witch does seem to be wearing a school uniform of some kind, though it’s unlike any he’s ever seen. Light blue sleeves and trousers paired with a dark grey tunic, boots, and a hooded cowl.

“I run the Human Appreciation Society at Hexside,” the witch says. “I could sneak you in and make you an exclusive one-time presentation!”

Draco scowls. “I’m not some kind of trophy.”

The witch flails. “That’s not what I meant! You could be an interviewee, so us witches can ask questions about the human world. Please, please, please come with me?”

If there’s one place Draco can learn how magic works in this world, it would be a school. It’s likely school will educate him on something Eda would forget to mention.

Draco internally sighs. He really is about to go along with this witch’s whims, isn’t he?

“At least tell me what your name is,” Draco says. “I’m not letting some random child drag me around like a crup.”

The boy whoops, fist-pumping the air. After he’s completed his little victory dance and caught his breath, he speaks. “Augustus Porter. You?”

“Draco Malfoy.”

“Whoa, weird name.” Porter grins. “It’s perfect! Let’s go, Draco!”

The boy takes off down the road. Draco jogs after him. If this is going to prove to be a mistake, Draco’s not looking forward to it.

~~~

“Humans can have different accents too?”

“Yes.”

“Ooo, where’s yours from?”

“England.”

“Whoa! I’ve only heard of the United States, is that in the United States?”

Draco keeps himself from growling in annoyance. Stay calm, he’s your only way into this school. “No, there’s an ocean separating the United States and England. We’re a different country.”

Porter looks up at Draco with stars in his eyes. “Your landmasses must be huge.”

Porter’s questions go on and on, and it feels like ages before the tree line finally clears, and a large, finely-carved building crests in the distance. A wide stone pathway leads to a cathedral-style building, an eyeball resting in the window of its highest tower. Banners flutter in the wind of the entrance’s stone overhang. Students mill about the front pathway and yard, all dressed in similar uniforms to Porter’s, but with sleeves of different colors. They’re a mix of witches and demons, though mostly humanoid in nature.

Something occurs to Draco. He stops. “Porter.”

Porter, who’d stepped ahead of him, stops as well. “Do all humans use last names?”

“No.” Draco moves on before that can become a new line of questioning. “How are you supposed to sneak me in without a uniform?”

“Oh. Oh!” Porter bounces on his toes. “Hang on-” He draws a light blue spell circle in the air. A puff of smoke obscures Draco’s vision. “There. That’ll hold long enough for us to get to lost and found and steal you one.”

Once the smoke clears, Draco looks down at himself. His usual sweater, vest, and trousers have changed into a Hexside school uniform, complete with yellow sleeves and trousers. When he reaches for his ears, his fingers pass through a cool fog at their tips. Most likely false points.

“How did you do that!?” Draco has never seen magic like this before. There’s such things as hidden doorways and something disguised as something else, but that takes some extremely complicated maps of spell work. And Porter, who can’t be older than 12, did it without a second thought.

“Illusion magic,” Porter says. “You haven’t seen it before?”

“No!” Draco’s voice cracks, and he clears his throat. This world continues to surprise him.

Draco follows Porter’s lead through the open halls of Hexside. It’s not nearly as large as the halls of Hogwarts, but it’s still impressive. Multiple circular tiers stack upwards in the center tower, students milling about every one of them. Porter walks through the bottom level of said tower, towards a large pair of doors in the back.

“Why does everyone have different colored uniforms?” Draco says. He’d understand if it was something to do with houses, but this building is nowhere large enough to be a boarding school.

“Those are for the different tracks,” Porter says. “Mine’s illusion, the yellow of yours is potions.”

Illusions and potions. It’s sort of like the different core classes you can take at Hogwarts, similar to the difference between charms and transfiguration. He assumes Bard must be one of them, but there are nine colors in total. What are the other ones?

When they enter the cafeteria, it doesn’t take them long to find a suitable uniform in Draco’s size. It’s the same light blue as Porter’s, so it’ll be easier for him to follow Porter around through his classes. Porter keeps Draco’s actual clothes in his bag, and Draco stores his wand in a side pocket on the tunic. Just before they walk out of the bathroom, Porter stands on his toes and pulls Draco’s hood over his head.

“To hide your ears,” Porter explains. “Come on! You have to meet my best friend.”

Porter grabs his hand and drags him out of the bathroom. They pass by a head of mint green hair on their way out, the girl in question startling in surprise at their sudden appearance.

“Watch it, Augustus!” The girl snaps, far angrier than necessary. Unlike the rest of the students’ uniforms, hers has a gold star pin attached to the cowl.

“Sorry, Amity!” Porter calls.

“Amity?” Draco jogs to keep up with him.

“Amity Blight, she’s the top student in the school.” Porter slows down a bit, and Draco matches him. “She’s a jerk. She likes to pick on me and Willow.”

“I’m assuming that’s your best friend?” Draco says.

“She’s my only friend.”

Porter and his friend are their school’s weirdos, then. Similar to Longbottom and Lovegood. Draco tries not to show his frustration. His father always told him it was of upmost importance to make a good impression to those who matter in society, and Amity Blight seems like someone who matters. While he most definitely won’t be here long, he can already feel his social status dropping. It most likely already fell to the gutter due to his association with Eda, but that was completely against his will and therefore doesn’t count.

Porter leads them up the stairwells of the circular levels of the tower to the third tier. As soon as they reach the top of the stairs, he lets go of Draco’s hand and takes off.

“WILLOW!” Porter peels ahead of him, running towards a girl with dark green hair and circular glasses wearing a dark pink uniform. She’s standing in front of a metal cabinet, though it has an eye and sharp teeth instead of a handle. Draco takes his time. He’s not about to ruin his hair with unnecessary exertion.

The girl turns from the metal cabinet, a book titled “Magic 101” in hand. “Augustus?”

“You won’t believe… who I met today!” Porter skids to a stop in front of her, panting. When he’s caught his breath, he gestures to his right “Willow, feast your eyes on the one, the only-”

“Your dramatic reveal isn’t going to be very dramatic if I’m not here.” Draco finally manages to catch up with him, on Porter’s left.

“Dang it, Draco.” Porter slumps.

Draco hadn’t noticed the wooden cart behind Willow, but he notices it now when a familiar face launches out of the large stone barrel inside of it, stabbing a finger between Draco’s eyes.

“YOU!”

Draco’s nose wrinkles. “Is that really necessary, Luz?”

“When did you get here?” Luz, covered in a purple mud-like substance of some kind, glares at him. It’s not very intimidating. “This was supposed to be my magical adventure!”

“Please, no need to be so arrogant.” Draco pushes her hand away. “I suppose this means you also escaped from trash slug day?”

Luz splutters. “What else was I supposed to do!? It was gross!”

Draco barks out a laugh. “Looks like someone’s stooped to my level.”

Luz flushes in embarrassment.

“Two humans!?” Porter sounds close to passing out. “Nevermind, now I can die happy.”

“Do you two know each other?” Willow says. “Do all humans know each other?”

“No!” Draco and Luz both shout in unison. They stare at each other, then growl.

Draco turns his back to her. “I, unfortunately, happen to live with this one.”

“He’s a huge jerk!” Luz jabs his shoulder blade. “Don’t listen to him, I’m perfectly loveable.”

Draco whips back around, appalled. “Says the one who keeps leaving her things on my side of the room!”

“Dumb blonde!”

“Numpty!”

“GUYS!” Willow’s voice cuts through the argument, surprisingly strong for her quiet demeanor. Draco clicks his mouth shut, but still makes a point to glower at Luz. Luz sticks her tongue out at him, again. He sincerely has no idea where she picked that up from, or why she keeps doing it.

“Let’s start over.” Willow holds a hand out to Draco, a kind smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Willow.”

“Draco Malfoy.” Draco takes her hand and shakes it.

“Luz, this is Augustus.” Willow gestures to Porter, who beams.

Luz smiles kindly. “I knew an Augustus in the human world. We called him Gus.”

“Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus?” Porter practically vibrates in excitement. “Call me it. Wow. Gus. This is the best day of my life.”

Draco rolls his eyes. It’s embarrassing how peculiar he’s being. How is he not embarrassed about it? His social status is already low, why make it that much lower?

Draco nearly jumps out of his skin when a screaming bell sound ruptures through the hall. It doesn’t take him long to find a gold bell with a mouth full of teeth just above the lines of metal cabinets, screaming its lungs out. Luz points at him with a devious little ‘heh-heh’. He glares at her.

“I gotta get to spelling class.” Porter pulls a wand Draco hadn’t seen before out of his bag. It’s a swirling mix of two different kinds of wood, the end accentuated with a blue gem. “You coming Draco?”

A wand. This place has wands. Draco hasn’t seen anyone use a wand up until this point, and he’s maybe a touch desperate, but he schools his expression and clears his throat. “Yes, I’m coming.”

“Cool!” Porter waves to Willow and Luz. “See you guys at lunch!” He hurries down the hall. Before Draco can follow, Luz grabs his arm. Draco’s quick to yank it away, disgusted at the purple sludge now staining the uniform.

“Do you mind?” Draco hisses.

“Don’t ruin this for me, or them.” Luz sounds uncharacteristically serious. “I mean it. You do anything mean and I’m calling Eda. I can deal with your meanness, but Willow and Gus are new to us. I won’t let you be mean to them.”

Draco rolls his eyes. “It’s not like you have the ability to contact her.”

“Draco.”

Draco sighs. “Fine, Luz. If it’ll make you happy. I’m not a child you need to discipline.”

It takes a bit to spot Porter in the crowd, but he does catch up to the boy. Again, his eyes catch on the wand.

“I didn’t know you used wands here,” he says.

“Hm? Oh, most people don’t.” Porter makes an experimental swirling motion. “Wands are only used for practice, to help you build up bile sack strength for spell circles.”

A bile sack? What kind of rubbish is that? He doesn’t get a chance to ask before they cross the threshold of Porter’s spelling classroom.

Porter’s Spelling Class turns out to be a basic magical class. Draco would take notes if he had parchment and a quill, but considering his stock is back at the Owl House, he’ll suffice with listening in. Oddly enough, all of the students are taking notes with utensils he hasn’t seen before. He’s fairly certain he heard a student call it a pencil. The subject matter manages to keep his attention purely because Draco has never heard of magic being broken down in this way before. Hogwarts teaches one how to cast spells, yes, but not where magic originates from or why individuals are able to use it. There is mention of the bile sac again, and how the consumption of food powers said bile sac. Draco’s curious, interested in making comparisons to human anatomy. He could possibly compare muggle and wizard physical anatomy as well to see if there are any differences. Unfortunately, he’s much too far from home to attempt that.

After spelling class is Porter’s first Illusion-focused class. Then another. Then another. For some reason, Porter only seems to have Illusion classes. By the time his last one ends, letting them out for lunch, Draco’s nursing a headache from the constant repetition of the same points.

“Why are you only being taught illusions?” Draco rubs his temple.

“Because I’m in the illusion track?” Porter sounds puzzled.

“It’s entirely counterproductive,” Draco says. “If you’re only being taught illusions, then how are you supposed to expand the creative potential of your spell work? I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful in Transfiguration if I wasn’t also taking Potions or Charms. It takes different imaginative thought processes, and the combination of those different applications-”

“Combination of-?” Porter’s face goes ashen. “Are you crazy!? You could get in huge trouble with the Emperor for that!”

Draco stops in his tracks. “What?”

Porter stops as well, fiddling with the hem of his tunic. “The Emperor told us the Titan said that combining magic is a super wrong way to use magic. Wild magic is dangerous! Also, what’s trans-fig-ur-a-shun?”

Draco can’t believe what he’s hearing. What kind of Emperor is this, to be spewing this abhorrent rubbish? It makes no sense!

“I’ll admit, I don’t know the rules of this world, but human magic is not taught that way at all.” Draco huffs.

Porter doesn’t respond for several seconds. When he finally does speak, he talks like Draco’s gone mad. “Humans don’t have magic.”

Draco sighs and pulls out his wand from the tunic. “This is a human wand. While I’m struggling to understand how magic functions here, I can use magic. Us human wizards are born with the gift.”

“Human wizards?” Porter laughs. “Man, human jokes are so weird.”

“I’m not joking.”

Porter’s laughter dies.

Draco tucks his wand back into the tunic pocket. “There is a separate hidden world of human magic that most non-magic humans are unaware of. We’re not taught magic in this way whatsoever. Frankly, it’s absurd, and ridiculously restrictive.”

Porter’s jaw drops. “Holy Titan.”

Draco’s mentally preparing himself for Porter’s new onslaught of questions, but he doesn’t get the chance to ask. The crowd of the hallway parts to reveal the mint-haired girl from this morning, Amity, marching in their direction.

“Hey, you!” She points at Draco. She looks like a crazed animal, her nostrils flaring and her eyes narrowed to slits.

Draco furrows his brow. “Me?”

“Yes, you.” Amity stops so she’s right in his face. She’s shorter than him, so she has to look up to do so. “Take your hood off.”

Draco disguises his slight panic with an eyeroll. “What exactly makes you think you have a right to tell me what to do?”

“Because something weird is going on and I know you’re part of it.” She jabs a finger into his chest. “Take. Your. Hood. Off.”

Draco pushes her finger away from him. “On what authority? To me, this just appears to be harassment.”

The girl growls. “On the authority of the top student, now take it off!”

“Oh, really?” Draco glances at her cowl, where the golden star pin is no longer present. His lips quirks up. “Hm, not anymore, I don’t think. If you’ll excuse me.”

Draco steps around her to the sounds of quiet giggling. Porter scrambles to catch up to him as they walk into the cafeteria, bustling with activity for the lunch period.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody stand up to Amity like that before,” Porter says, sounding a little dazed.

“What can I say? I know the type.” Her behavior reminded him so much of Potter it was almost uncanny.

Porter waves to one of the long tables. “There they are. Willow, you won’t believe what Draco did!” Porter sprints ahead of him to the table in question at the far corner of the cafeteria. Willow’s seated at the end, with Luz leaning against the rim of the stone barrel.

Willow pauses eating her suspiciously normal-looking sandwich. “What happened?” She now has the gold star pin Amity carried this morning, but Draco doesn’t comment on it.

“Draco stood up to Amity!” Porter’s practically bouncing out of his seat when Draco sits down next to him. “It was awesome, he talked her down when she tried to force him to take his hood off.”

“Huh.” Willow gives Draco a small, surprised smile.

“She was harassing me, what else was I supposed to do?” Draco clasps his hands on the table. “It’s not that impressive.”

“I think it is,” Willow says. “She’s been bullying me for years.”

“Which is so unfair!” Luz pouts. “You’re not half-a-witch, you can do some awesome stuff.”

“Half-a-witch?” Draco raises a brow.

Willow sets down the rest of her sandwich on the table. “I’m not good at abomination magic, so Amity calls me that.”

“Ah, you and her are in the same track.” Their dark pink sleeves and trousers match, so that makes sense. “What’s abomination magic?”

“Oh oh oh, let me answer!” Luz waves her hand frantically with a grin.

Draco ignores her, fixing his gaze intently on Willow. “Well?”

“Uh…” Willow glances at Luz, then at him. “I think she wants to answer.”

“Who wants to answer?” Draco smirks.

Luz gasps, and narrows her eyes at him. Draco, in a mimicry of her behavior, sticks his tongue out at her. She sticks hers out back.

Willow hastily jumps on an explanation before they can start bickering again. While creating golems is possible with human wizardry, it’s extremely complex and hard to get right. Yet again, Boiling Isles magic treats the creation of a golem using a unique form of mud-like substance like it’s child’s play. At least, that’s how Willow phrases it.

“So this compound is a mix of soil and titan’s sweat? From the corpse?” Draco clarifies.

Willow nods.

Draco glances at Luz, who is covered in Willow’s approximation of the clay. “And you said the material is supposed to be clay-like in texture?”

Willow nods again.

“Your mixture appears to be too liquid.” Draco stands, walking to the barrel. He rolls up his sleeve and cups a handful of the material, then lets it drip off of his hand back into the barrel. “This isn’t clay-like at all. No wonder it isn’t holding its shape. You have too much of the sweat and not enough of the soil.”

Willow, Porter, and Luz are all staring at him.

Draco frowns. “What?”

“You really are a wizard,” Porter whispers reverently.

“What?” Willow lets out an unexpected giggle. “He’s not a wizard, he’s a human.”

“A human wizard!” Gus grins. “He has a human wand and everything!”

“You told him?” Luz looks surprised.

“Of course I did.” Draco scrapes what’s left of the abomination mud off his hand on the lip of the barrel. “I had to explain why this division of magical tracks makes no sense.”

Willow’s brows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Draco returns to his seat. “It doesn’t allow for the potential of the full application of magic. While I’m not as familiar with the magic of the Boiling Isles as I would like to be, different branches of magic can be applied to help enhance other branches of magic. Your struggle with abomination magic, for example. Potions require a precise mixture of ingredients to get the effect you want from the potion. Learning the techniques of potion making would help with ratioing an abomination correctly, yes?”

Willow taps her chin. “I think so. But I don’t know much about potions.”

“Ooo, but you’re good with plants!” Luz beams.

Willow blushes. “Uh, yeah. I guess so.”

Hm. How to apply plants to this analogy… “Without magic, what do plants require to grow?”

“Soil, water, and sunlight,” Willow says automatically.

“And if they’re lacking one or several of those things?”

“They won’t grow, or they grow but they’re weak,” Willow says. “What does this have to do with abomination magic?”

“Think of creating an abomination like you’re growing a plant,” Draco says. “If your ‘plant’ is watered too much, it’ll drown and die. If you’ve planted the seed in soil but fail to give it any water, then it won’t grow at all.”

Draco can see the moment the analogy clicks in Willow’s eyes. “That makes way more sense then what Professor Hermonculus was saying!” She pulls a notebook out of the bag on the bench next to her and flips to a new page, scribbling down notes.

“You see what I mean?” Draco says. “The mixing of magic is important to understanding all of the different branches to their full potential.”

“Wow,” Porter exhales. He’s pulled his lunch out of his own book bag at this point, pulling yet another suspiciously normal sandwich out of a brown paper bag.

“That was really impressive Draco,” Luz says.

Draco narrows his eyes at her. “Are you attempting to take the piss out of me?”

“What? No?” Luz splutters. “What does that even mean?”

“Hey, do humans eat PB & Js?” Porter asks Luz and Draco, interrupting their spat.

Luz’s attention is diverted to the sandwich in question. “Ohmygosh I haven’t eaten real food in so long please gimme some.”

“PB and J..?” Draco’s confused.

“Peanut Butter and Jelly,” Luz clarifies.

“Oh. Right.” That must be a common muggle abbreviation. “I’m allergic to peanuts, no thank you.” He’s not sure how appetizing jelly would be on a sandwich, anyway. He prefers Jam.

Porter tears his sandwich in half and sticks one half into Luz’s mouth. She sinks back into the stone barrel with a pleased hum.

Willow looks up from her notes with a concerned frown. “I don’t know, Gus. If Amity saw that…”

As if summoned by the sound of her name, Amity leaps onto their table. “I saw that! Abominations don’t eat!”

“Come to harass us again, Amity?” Draco raises a brow.

“Shut it, yap-mouth.” Amity grabs onto the rim of the barrel. “I know you’re in there! You can’t hide from me! What are you? Who are you!?” Amity grabs Luz by the collar of her shirt and shakes her like a doll. “I want answers!”

“Amity Blight.”

Draco doesn’t recognize that voice, but Willow and Blight both do. Both of their heads snap up towards a small man being carried by a pink golem, most likely a variation of the abomination. The entire cafeteria is staring at their little group at this point. Draco makes it a point to try and look as inconspicuous as possible.

“I suspected a twinge of jealousy.” The man’s abomination walks towards them. “But this, this is just sad.”

Blight sputters. “But I- No! Look at it!”

Luz, for her part, makes a low groaning noise as she slowly sags over. She’s doing quite an accurate impersonation if it’s convincing what Draco assumes is a professor.

“Report to Principal Bump’s office.” The man points to his right.

“But-”

“Now!”

With one final growl, Blight lets go of Luz and storms off. Luz falls back into the pot as the professor follows her. Luz re-emerges from the stone barrel as soon as the Professor’s gone, a small frown on her face.

“Um, should we be worried about that?” Luz says.

“I would be,” Draco says. “If I know anything from my own experience, she will use this ‘Principal Bump’ as a higher authority figure to prove herself right.”

“Then I think it’s a good idea to get Draco and Luz out of here,” Willow says.

“But- the HAS!” Porter frowns. “Draco said he would come with me…”

“HAS?” Luz says.

“Human Appreciation Society,” Willow says. “Draco can come another day. Or, heck, both Luz and Draco can come.”

Porter whines, but he doesn’t protest any further.

“Let’s head to the abomination classroom so I can drop my barrel off,” Willow says. “Draco and Luz can sneak out the window from there.”

“Sounds like a solid plan to me.” Draco stands. “Lead the way, Willow.”

Willow and Gus finish their lunches on the way to the classroom. As soon as the door to the classroom shuts behind them, Luz pulls herself out of the barrel.

“Woo-ooo, I’m a sweaty little abomination.” She shakes her hands as if to emphasize this, though the abomination mud all over her clothes does a good job of hiding it. “But yay! We made it out of there. High five!”

She holds her hand out towards the three of them. Draco glances at the other two, who are equally as confused as him.

“Slap my hand.” Luz slaps her own hand as a demonstration. “It’s a human thing.”

“More like a muggle thing,” Draco says. “I haven’t heard of that gesture before.”

“Wait, seriously?” Luz blinks at Draco in surprise.

Porter is the first to dare to step forward, and slap Luz’s hand. He repeats it, then again, and again, until he’s got a rhythm going of slapping her hand over and over. “Oh man, what a rush!”

Much to Draco’s dismay, the door swings open behind them. Standing in the doorway is none other than Amity Blight herself. She stands aside with a smirk, and a man steps into the room in front of her. He’s wearing the first robes Draco’s seen since arriving on the Isles, cuffed in gold with a blue scarf draped around the back of his neck and hanging down his front. Interestingly, it seems some sort of small demon has its mouth closed over his head, its eyes in place of the man’s eyes.

“Good afternoon, students,” the man greets. He sounds far too pleasant for Draco’s liking.

“Principal Bump,” Willow says. There’s a thud as Luz falls to her knees behind him. Draco steps aside as the man walks over to Luz. He crouches in front of her, then grabs her head with one large, gnarled hand. He twists her head each way, humming under his breath.

The man gets back to his feet. “Abomination, rise.”

Luz stands.

“Abomination, lie.”

Luz clears her throat. “Viral fame is a worthy pursuit. Your cat would never eat you if it got the chance. Chemtrails are real-”

Principal Bump laughs. “Oh, no, abomination. How strange for it to get the command wrong.”

Draco tenses. Shit.

“I mean, lie down.” Bump points to the table behind Draco.

Draco steps to the side again as Luz pulls herself onto the table and lies down.

“So very life-like.” Principal Bump sets a hand on Willow’s shoulder, guiding her over to the table. “When Miss Blight told me about your abomination, I had to come by. See what she’s made of.”

“Oh, I-I have her list of ingredients right here-” Willow digs around in the pocket of her tunic.

“No.” Bump cuts her off. Reaching inside of his sleeve, he pulls out a jagged knife. “We were hoping for a closer look.”

Draco’s blood drains from his face. As much as he doesn’t like Luz, he would rather she not get killed. His eyes flick around the room. They need a way out of this, but how?

“Willow, I’ll allow you the first cut.” Bump holds the knife out to her.

Willow takes the knife and pastes a false grin on her face.

Bump glances away from her for a moment, at Draco. He does a double take. “Do I know you?”

Draco swallows “I’m a transfer.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard your accent before.” Principal Bump’s eyes narrow. “Where’d you transfer from?”

Shit! Draco wracks his brain, trying to think of something he can say, but nothing comes to mind. He doesn’t know anywhere else in the Isles other than Bonesborough.

“Wait, Principal Bump!” Porter calls. Bump’s attention is pulled away to him. He’s standing next to a few additional barrels, most likely left here by other students.

“Uh, high five!” Porter smacks one of the barrels as hard as he can. It tips and knocks over the rest of them, abominations forming from the thick liquid and lumbering towards Principal Bump.

“RUN!” Porter shouts.

Willow grabs Luz’s hand, Luz grabs Draco’s, and the three of them run out the door.

Draco made an incorrect assessment before. Comparing Blight to Potter was not accurate. Blight is far more like himself in every single way.

Willow leads them down a confusing weave of hallways. Draco’s hood flies off as they run, but he has more important things to worry about. Once they’re far enough away, the three of them pause to catch their breath.

“This is… all my fault, Willow,” Luz pants. “I just wanted to see what a real magic school was like.”

Willow laughs a little. “Well, how do you like it?”

“It’s lovely, actually.” Luz smiles.

“At least mine has less eyeballs,” Draco says. “And demented living objects.”

“You do go to magic school, I knew it!” Luz points at him.

“I thought I made that obvious.” Draco can’t help a small smile of his own.

“Okay guys,” Willow interrupts them. “We need to get out of here before-”

Runic symbols of red light form across the stone walls of the hallways. They branch to coalesce around the entrance ways, transparent walls of red light closing them off.

“Bump seals us in,” Willow says.

“They can’t all form at once, go go!” Draco barks. The three of them take off. Several twists and turns cut them off before they can get anywhere, and Draco’s about given up hope when-

“There!” Luz points out an open entrance in the tiered tower. They all make a break for it. Mere seconds from reaching the door, the glowing, ominous red slams in front of them.

“Damn it!” Draco says. All of their exits are surrounded by red. There has to be some way to cancel the magic, maybe-

A shadow looms over the three of them. They turn. None other than Principal Bump stands behind them, guiding a group of lumbering abominations their way with a glowing green hand.

“Go, go, go!” Draco shoves them, and Willow and Luz run around the tier, Draco at the rear. He can think of about a dozen spells right now that would be incredibly useful, but considering he’s only barely managed to draw his magic to the surface, there’s nothing he can do. Willow and Luz pull him behind a pillar, all three of them panting to catch their breath.

“This is awful.” Willow sinks to the floor. “I don’t know what to do!”

“Willow?” Draco says.

“Amity’s right.” Willow presses her hands to the sides of her head. “I’m just half-a-witch Willow.”

Something about the way she says that strikes him.

“I am not teaching you mudblood magic!”

“No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood.”

“She only says that because she feels threatened by you.”

Willow and Luz both look at him in shock. Draco kneels down in front of Willow.

“She shoves you down and insults you because she knows your magical potential is far beyond hers,” Draco says. “So don’t believe her.”

Willow looks at Draco with starry eyes.

“Yeah, you’re full-witch Willow!” Luz crouches down and sets a hand on Willow’s shoulder. “And you’re great. And someone once told me great witches are resourceful.”

Luz digs around in her pocket, and unveils a handful of random pocket items. Draco recognizes a muggle coin, a marble, and a small piece of twine, but that’s not what Willow reaches for.

“That’s it!” Willow takes what looks like a small brown ball.

Luz’s brows furrow. “You mean that greasy slime ball?”

“Luz, it’s a seed!” Willow beams. “Thank goodness you had it on you.”

Luz’s eyes widen in surprise, and she softens. “Yeah. Thank goodness someone told me to hold onto it.”

“It was Eda, wasn’t it?” Draco smirks.

“Shhh, you’re ruining the dramatic tension!” Luz giggles, anyways.

Willow sets the seed down on her lap. Carefully, she draws a small, green spell circle above it. The magic coalesces into the seed.

“Please… grow!”

The seed erupts. Massive green vines, similar to the ones he saw overtaking that town, explode around them. They impale and entangle the abominations heading their way, overtaking the halls in a wave. Draco swears he can hear Bump shout as he’s hit by them, and watches as the man is shot up and pinned on the roof of the tower. As soon as Bump is distracted, the red barriers blocking the doorways fade.

“There’s the exit!” Luz gets to her feet as Willow moves the seed off of her lap. Draco stands, and the three of them make a final dash for a side exit. They’re so close to getting out.

“NOT SO FAST!”

Luz, Draco, and Willow skid to a stop. An enraged and disheveled Blight stands between them, blocking their way to freedom.

“Don’t you have anything better to do, Blight!?” Draco shouts.

“I’m not letting you get away so easily,” Amity growls, pulling a torn vine off from around her body. “I. Want. My. BADGE! Abominations, seize!”

The distinctive groan of an abomination sounds behind them. Luz whips around and punches it. It crumbles. Luz grabs Willow’s hand and makes a run for it. Just as Blight’s about to reassemble the abomination, Draco shoves her. She stumbles and falls into the puddle of abomination clay.

“What the heck is wrong with you, human!?” Blight snarls.

“I won’t let you hurt her just because of your petty need for revenge!” Draco makes a distinctive slashing motion through the air. He had intended it to emphasize his point, but instead, ropes of abomination mud snap around Blight’s arms, glowing blue.

“What the- hey! What is this!?” Blight yanks on her binds, but they don’t give. “Humans can’t do magic!”

Draco has no idea what he just did, but it has to have been him. The magic is the same color as in the amphitheater. He grins.

“Not all humans,” Draco says. “But some can.”

“Draco!”

Draco turns towards the sound of Willow’s voice. “See you around, Blight!” He salutes, and runs towards it.

“Hey, let me out of this! HEY! HUMAN!!!”

Draco ignores her. Willow and Luz are in front of the main entrance Draco came in this morning. Willow’s eyes are glowing a distinctive bright green, her vines strangled around a clod of abomination mud that’s most likely a golem.

“No! I’m not leaving you.” It’s the first thing Draco catches from Luz as he catches up to them.

“I may get detention, but you’ll get dissected!” Willow sounds like she’s straining. Multiple of the abominations that were chasing them are recovering, liquidating around the vines and re-forming.

“Luz, we don’t have time for this!” Draco says.

“Listen to Draco!” Willow says. “GO!”

Vines sprout from the plethora around them and wrap around both himself and Luz. Luz yelps as they’re lifted into the air, above the strangle of vines and out of the reach of the abominations. The vines toss them both onto the front steps, and the front doors slam behind them.

“Willow!” Luz hurries back towards the door. Draco, who landed awkwardly on the steps, winces as he sits back up.

“We need to find Eda and save Willow and Gus!” Luz grabs his hand and pulls him up to his feet. “Come on!”

Luz doesn’t stop running until they make it back to the Owl House. With a cry of “Edaaaa!”, Luz charges into both her and King, who are outside with an empty barrel for some reason. Draco stays back. He only allowed Luz that one hug, and he meant it.

“What is this?” Eda attempts to squirm free, but it’s no use. “I never understand when you do this.”

Luz pulls away. “Your lesson worked! Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life! But wait, my new friends. They’re in danger!”

Willow’s cry of “Luz! Draco!” Has Draco turning around. Willow and Porter are both running up the dirt road at a breakneck pace, right towards him.

“Oh no no no-!”

Willow grabs him and then Luz, and she and Porter squeeze them both into a hug.

“I hate you all,” Draco mutters.

“Seriously, what is that?” Eda says. Draco deems not to answer her.

Willow pulls away, and Draco takes the chance to move away from the hugging danger zone. Willow grabs on to Luz’s shoulders, her expression bright.

“You won’t believe it, Luz. Everything is perfect now!” Willow says.

“It’s true, I don’t believe it,” Luz says.

“Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant magic work, he’s moving me to the plant magic track!” Willow takes a step back. “Look!”

Willow snaps her fingers, and her sleeves and trousers change to a dark green color. Luz cheers and hugs her again, twirling her in a circle. Draco doesn’t understand why she has such a propensity for hugs. He’s never met someone this touchy before.

“Oh, what about Amity?” Luz says.

“Last we saw, Bump was freeing her from some rogue abomination goop. She was asking if today could count as extra credit,” Porter says with a snicker.

“Ah, that was me.” Draco raises his hand.

“Wait, really!?” Porter gapes. “I thought you said you hadn’t figured out how to use your magic yet!”

“I still haven’t,” Draco admits. “I’m not entirely sure how I did it, but I did.”

“Heck yeah Draco!” Luz tackle-hugs him. “That’s my awesome British wizard roomie!”

“If this is your attempt to get on my good side to learn more human magic, it won’t work,” Draco says.

“Nah, I just wanted to congratulate you.” Luz lets go and shoves his shoulder. “I can’t wait to see you and Willow in action next time we sneak in.”

Draco catches Willow inhaling between her teeth. Not foreboding whatsoever, Park.

“Uh, about that.” Porter rifles around in his tunic pocket. “You and Draco got kinda, sorta… banned.”

Porter unrolls a scroll of parchment. On it is an image of a happily waving Luz on the right, with an unhappy looking Draco on the left, body facing away from the camera, arms folded and glowering at the camera in his borrowed uniform. Across the top in large red letters is the word ‘BANNED’.

“That’s my kids!” Eda cheers.

“My parents would absolutely kill me if they found out I got banned from somewhere.” Draco’s sick to his stomach at the thought.

“Good thing they’re not here, Wizface.” Eda claps his back hard enough to make him stumble.

Luz is looking at the image in absolute devastation. “Aw man…”

“We could come here, and teach you guys what we’ve learned,” Willow says.

“That would be nice…” Luz looks up at Eda. “But I have a pretty great teacher already.”

Eda’s eyes widen, but then she grins. “Yeah, that’s right. Luz is my student!” Eda snatches the poster out of Porter’s hand. “And Draco’s my student-but-not! Back off, academy twerps.”

Porter, Willow, and Luz burst into giggles. Again, the feeling of being an outsider creeps up on Draco. He hasn’t felt it since that first night, but now that he’s been here long enough…

Draco shakes his head. No. He cannot even entertain that possibility. He has one duty and one duty only, to get home. He doesn’t belong here.

“Aw, baby’s first wanted poster.” Eda grabs Draco by the wrist and yanks him over. He yelps as she wraps an arm around his shoulders, then her other arm around Luz’s. “Looks like I taught you kids something after all.”

“Are we going to talk about how the picture isn’t moving on that poster?” Draco says.

Everyone stares at him.

“What?” Draco looks between them all. “Pictures move normally,” he drawls.

“Pictures move in your world!? Like gifs!?” Luz squeaks.

“…I don’t know what those are.”

“You have to show me!” Luz says.

“I wanna see too!” Porter’s hand shoots into the air.

“Me too! Just because it’d be cool.” Willow giggles.

“King demands to see fancy human magic!” King shouts from where he was set on the ground.

Draco internally groans. This is going to be a long evening.

Chapter Text

Draco’s morning had not been pleasant. He hadn’t expected that to be the case today, but here he is anyway. Luz had had to spend an excessive amount of time washing the abomination mud off of herself and her clothes the night before, which resulted in her staying up far later than usual and sleeping in for once. Draco was determined to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Except, he forgot to factor King into the equation.

The little rat woke up far earlier than them both and spent his time banging around Luz’s side of the room looking for something specific. Draco never found out what it was, because he grabbed his clothes and stormed out of the room before King found it. His morning shower should’ve calmed him somewhat, except the abomination mud had clogged the drain and he nearly flooded the bathroom. He’d had to call Eda to come fix it while wrapped in a towel. Her mocking was relentless.

The day did not improve from there. He was assigned potion delivery duty, and while made significantly easier by his broom, an incredibly annoyed King was forced to come with him since he wasn’t familiar with the address system of Bonesborough. King spent that time whinging about being forced to “babysit” and “having more important things to do.” Draco wasn’t amused. As soon as they returned to the Owl House, Eda dragged Draco off into the woods for a surprise “apprenticeship lesson”, even though he is absolutely not her apprentice and she should really stop claiming him as such.  He’s her prisoner. She wouldn’t care about him if she didn’t want to learn human magic. There’s nothing more to it.

At least that’s what he keeps telling himself.

Which leads up to now. Draco’s back is digging uncomfortably into tree bark as he leans against a fallen log on the ground, rolling his wand between his fingers. Eda claims this is where she found Hooty and Draco his first night, but Draco can’t confirm that due to it having been pitch black. Currently, Eda’s scurrying throughout the clearing on all fours, picking up rocks and sticks and sniffing them occasionally, then going back to it. Draco was amused at first, but now he’s just annoyed.

“Why are we here again?” Draco runs his thumb up the side of his wand, grimacing when the skin catches on a small chip.

Eda comes to a stop and sits back on her heels. “So we can figure out what broke your magic. Maybe there’s some traces of that blue liquid stuff you said sent you here.”

“I used it successfully at Hexside.”

“Yeah, on accident. That only happens to baby witchlets who don’t know how to control it.” Eda stands and tosses her hair back, planting her hands on her hips. “Was that the first time it happened?”

No, but I’m not going to tell you about the amphitheater because I don’t like you. “Yes.”

“What color was it?”

“Blue.”

Eda’s eyebrows raise. “Seriously?”

Draco pauses his fiddling. “Why is that surprising?”

Eda taps a finger against her hip. “Usually, the color of your spell circle reflects who you are. Like red for fiery, passionate people and green for nurturing, nice people. Blue’s usually for calm, peaceful people.”

Of which Draco is neither. The surprise makes sense, at least.

“A spell circle color also helps someone figure out how they digest their emotions,” Eda says. “Having a good sense of your emotions and how your process them is important for spellcasting, so you don’t lose control of your magic. Though while they can get more general stuff from their spell color, the specifics depend on the person.”

“Sounds like tosh,” Draco says.

“Eh, maybe it is, but you can’t deny that you get a lot of blue spell circles in the Healing Coven.” Eda shrugs.

Draco traces the ridges of his wand with his finger. Useless. It’s the kind of useless philosophical ideation that astrology comes from. He’s already grown out of his bursts of emotional magic from childhood, why would this be of any use to him?

His thoughts are interrupted by a low whistle from Eda. She’s looking up at the sky with a hand shading her eyes. Rolling, dark clouds cover the normally magenta sky. Draco’s used to overcast skies, as is par for the course in the UK. He would like to not get his clothes ruined by the rain, though.

“We should head back,” Eda says. “This storm looks like it’s gonna get the drop on us at any moment.”

Draco stands and tucks his wand back in his vest. “We weren’t going to find anything, anyway.”

Eda narrows her eyes at him. “You could’ve said that.”

Draco smirks, turns on his heel and starts making his way through the trees. Eda growls behind him. She’s far too fun to rile up, watching her try and control her anger is priceless.

About halfway back to the Owl House, thunder cracks through the sky. It’s been a while since Draco last saw a thunderstorm. He doesn’t like getting wet, but he does enjoy watching the lightning lance through the air.

Without warning, Eda grabs his arm and starts dashing. “RUN!”

“Oi, let go of me you lunatic!” Draco tries to pry himself free, but Eda’s grip is ironclad. He’s about to start cursing her when a droplet hits his cheek, and it burns him.

“Does this place have acid rain!?” Draco squawks.

“BOILING RAIN!” Eda calls as they break the tree line. “Everybody inside now!”

Luz is frozen on the front lawn like a demiguise caught visible. Eda snatches her and throws all three of them into the house. Draco ‘ack!’s and crashes into the couch, knocking a book he’d been reading off the arm and onto his head.

“Phew! That was close.” Eda’s on the floor as well, but she wasn’t thrown into anything at full speed, so she’s fine. “But the important thing is nobody got hurt.”

“Oh, definitely not hurt whatsoever,” Draco mutters sarcastically, rubbing the new bruise on his head.

Luz didn’t fare much better. She’s twisted at an awkward angle, having slammed into a chest and what appears to be a board stuck with papers of strange creatures. King pushes a mug off said board, and it lands on her head.

“Not… hurt.” Luz gives Eda a weak thumbs up.

King, who for some reason is wearing a blue hat with a tassle, giggles at them both.

After Draco and Luz have re-oriented themselves, Eda grabs her staff and heads outside. Luz follows, and because Draco’s curious, he follows as well. King tails behind them both. The three of them stay under the safety of the front door canopy, but Eda walks out into the rain with a translucent yellow shield over her head, spinning a ball of bright magic in her hands.

“Ooo, what’re you doing?” Luz takes a seat on the small area of concrete in front of the door.

“Making a shield spell so the house doesn’t get damaged,” Eda explains. “This’ll take a minute, a spell this big needs some time to fester.”

Draco drops down to sit with a huff. “You could’ve mentioned the rain boiled here, Eda.”

“I forgot it doesn’t in the human realm.” Eda doesn’t look up from her ball of magic.

Draco grumbles. How hard is it to forget about a massive change in weather phenomena like this?

“Are you hurt?” Luz leans into Draco’s sight.

“I’m fine.” Draco pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his chin on them.

“But your cheek-” Luz reaches out a hand.

Draco smacks it away. “I’m fine, Luz!” He snaps.

Luz’s mouth creases with a frown, and she turns away. Draco glares at the trees past Eda. He doesn’t understand why Luz keeps acting like she cares. He doesn’t understand why any of them keep acting like they care. He’s been held here against his will for the past week and half. Is this some sort of manipulation tactic? To trick him into letting down his guard, then pounce? Whatever it is, it’s working, and Draco’s terrified of what will happen if he caves. He needs to stay vigilant. These people aren’t his friends.

“Look, now we’re boo-boo buddies,” King’s comment brings Draco back to the moment. He’s stuck a small strip of sticky blue paper over a spot on Luz’s arm, as well as a matching one over the bridge of his snout.

In response, Luz squeals and tips over in King’s direction. “Ohmygosh I love you so much.”

King narrows his eyes at Draco, then turns his nose up in the air. “Jerks don’t get to be boo-boo buddies.”

Draco scoffs. “It’s not like I want muggle healing, anyways.”

Luz interjects before King can retort. “A boiling rainstorm on the boiling isles. The weather here is so fun!”

“Yeah, we don’t have weather,” Eda calls. “We have plagues, gorenados, shale hail, painbows.”

“It’s like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out!” King says, far too cheerily for discussing something so bleak. Luz tightens the string around her hood to hide her face. Reasonable reaction, in Draco’s opinion.

“So,” Eda turns to face them. “Until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight.”

Draco groans. He was really counting on getting some peace today, and that’s not going to happen at all now. Even if he does sneak away to his and Luz’s shared room, she and King will most likely be loud somewhere else in the house and disturb him. If they’re going to hold him prisoner and pretend they care, they could at least adhere to some of his demands.

“And if the rain doesn’t get you,” King pulls a book from under his hat and dramatically flips it open to a dog-earred page, depicting a pink-furred thing with a spiked shell. “The Snaggleback will! They wander the rains, feeding on boiled tourists.”

“Well, whatever the case, this forcefield spell should protect the house from boiling rains.” Eda snickers. “And made-up demons.”

Draco snorts. King glares at him.

“Hoot!” Hooty pipes in from the door. “Hurry it up with that force field! That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” Eda says. She grabs her staff and uses it to scoop up the ball of magic. The ball of light expands out into a large, translucent yellow bubble. It stretches past the three of them, over the entire house, and the stone tower in the back. Once it encompasses the whole structure, it morphs to fit the shape.

“Wow,” Luz says, getting to her feet and pulling her hood off her head. “Someday, I’d like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age.”

“Flaky, forgetful, easily distracted,” Draco lists. Luz pouts at him, and he smirks.

Luz’s attention is pulled away from him. “Hey, Eda,” Luz says as Eda walks into the house shield. “Why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?”

Eda lowers her smaller shield once she’s out of the rain. “‘Cause I’m so wise.” She taps her staff to her head.

Draco laughs. “Sure you are.”

“‘Cause she coughs up rat bones,” Hooty says.

“I think it’s ‘cause she gets distracted by shiny objects,” King adds.

“Does she really?” Draco stands. He definitely wants to see this.

“What?” Eda laughs. “No I don-”

She’s cut off by a click. King’s holding a small, blue stick with a lit-up pink gem on the tip. Her pupils dilate several sizes.

“It sparkles and shimmers and shines and delights, I must have it for my nest.” Eda pounces for it. King pulls it out of her way, and Eda falls in a heap.

Draco cackles. “Oh, that’s hilarious. She really is the Owl Lady.”

“You have a nest? I want a nest!” Luz runs over and takes the fallen Eda’s hand. “Nest party!”

There’s no way she actually sleeps in a nest, but Luz can have her fun. Luz excitedly pulls Eda back on her feet by an arm, doing a little dance as she does so. Eda rubs the spot between her brows with a groan.

“That forcefield really took it out of me,” Eda says.

“Uh oh, moving a little slow,” King teases. “Age finally catching up to ya?”

Eda’s unamused. She yanks King’s hat down over his eyes.

“AAA, DARKNESS!”

Draco covers his mouth. He’s not about to let Eda know he thinks she can be funny. Sometimes.

Eda’s dragging her feet as she pushes open the front door and walks inside. She really does look knackered. Draco doesn’t get exhausted from magic use as far as he’s aware, so he notes that difference between human wizards and witches.

“This is perfect!” Luz clasps her hands together under her chin. “Since we’ll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won’t have any excuse not to teach me a spell.” She skips in after Eda like a duckling following its mother.

“I still don’t know why you think that’s possible.” Draco trails in after her.

“Don’t you wanna finish out lesson?” King says, despondent. He must be talking to Luz because Draco is not at all interested in whatever “lesson” the little dog has constructed. “I was gonna let you scratch a demon’s tummy. Me!”

“Oh, um.” Luz fidgets with her fingers. “Sorry, King. But… magic!” Luz hurries after Eda on the other side of the living room.

King’s hat punctures.

“Why is she so determined?” Draco huffs. “Muggles can’t do magic.”

King clicks the front door shut behind him. “Uh huh.”

“And it’s not like she can do spell circles.” Draco picks up the book that fell on his head and astutely ignores Eda and Luz, dropping onto the red couch. He’s going to have to find where he left off. What a pain.

“Right.” King walks over with a stack of papers and a box of muggle crayons on the floor. “But neither can you.”

“I can still do magic, though,” Draco says, flicking through the pages. “With incantations and gestures rather than visualization and intent.”

The book he’s reading is about basic magical theory on the Boiling Isles. He found it in one of the many stacks of books Eda has lying around, and it’s been helpful. Spell circles allow for channeling of one’s magic, but the function of the spell relies on how well a witch can imagine what they want to happen, and how well-attuned they are to their own magic. Draco would like to say he’s attuned to his own magic. He’s aware of what it feels like when he casts, a rushing of energy through his arm and out his wand. Though, the way magical attunement is described here implies a deep sense of mindfulness he’s never achieved or needed to achieve to cast magic. He’s going to assume it’s something to do with biological differences.

Speaking of which, he tunes back into the activity going on around him when Luz says “Be quiet, I need to focus.” The dismissive line is so unlike Luz that it catches his attention. King, who apparently had been the one to talk to her, slumps and drops the drawing he was holding.

“Humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that’s stupid.” Eda makes a swirling motion with her finger. “Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?”

“Um…” Luz taps her chin. “From the heart?”

Draco scoffs. “Unbelieveable.”

“Actually, you’re right!”

Draco drops his book. Luz gasps in excitement, hands quivering.

“No, really.” Eda roots around in her hair, and pulls out a piece of parchment. She unrolls it. “It comes from a sack of magic bile attached to a witch’s heart.”

Draco gags at the same time Luz says “oh, gross!”. It explains where the bile sac the professors at Hexside were talking about is, at least. And why Porter was so elated when Draco said he had two lungs.

“I’m glad to say that I don’t have something like that,” Draco says, retrieving his book from the floor.

“Then where does your magic come from, Wizface?” Eda says.

Draco opens his mouth, then closes it. Where does his magic come from? He never had it explained to him, only that some people are born with magic and some aren’t.

“You don’t know, do you,” Eda says incredulously.

“I didn’t say I didn’t know!” Draco says. “I just… haven’t thought about it before.”

Eda gestures to him. “See what I mean? Out of thin air.”

Luz giggles, and Draco flushes. So what if he doesn’t know? At least he has magic, unlike Luz.

“Can I keep that?” Luz makes a grabbing motion at the poster in Eda’s hands.

“No.” Eda stows the poster back in her hair. “Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell.”

Eda draws a large spell circle in the air as a demonstration. A large sphere of light forms from it, then bursts into several smaller spheres, then fades.

Luz taps her fingers together. “But how can I, little old Luz, do magic if I don’t have a magic bile sac?”

Eda pauses for a second. “You know, I’m not actually sure.”

“What!?”

“I keep telling you, Luz; muggles can’t do magic.” Draco flips his book back to where he left off, again.

“You keep your mouth shut, mister grumpy mcgrumpy face.” Luz narrows her eyes at him. Draco ignores her.

“What she said,” Eda says. “Because I know that witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how.” She snorts.

“Eda!” Luz whines.

Eda crouches down and pats Luz’s head. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.” Eda stands back up and cracks her back. “Now, I need to lie down.”

“That’s it? Wait!” Luz reaches into her back pocket. “I need to see you do the circle thingy again. I’ll record it on my phone this time.”

Ah, that’s what her strange muggle rectangle is called. He’ll want to keep his distance from it. Human magic doesn’t interact well with muggle technology. Unless he wants to deliberately sabotage her, but that wouldn’t go over well with Eda. He tucks the idea into the back of his mind for now.

“Smile, you’re on camera!” Luz holds up the device, the back of it facing Eda. “One more spell won’t kill you.”

Draco peers around Eda. This “phone” looks nothing like a proper camera. Is she actually recording a muggle video?

Eda groans. “Fiiiiine.” Eda starts on a very shaky-looking spell circle. “You see the spell circle is… really key because…”

Eda yawns, her spell circle pops out, and she collapses onto her front.

“Welp, looks like one more spell killed Eda,” King says.

Luz shrieks. Draco regretfully closes his book again. This is going to be yet another long evening.

Luz flips Eda over onto her front. “My obsession with spells knocked out Eda. I’m a monsteeer!” She cries.

“Merlin, will you calm down? She’s just sleeping.” Draco nudges Eda’s side with her foot, and she snores.

King smacks her face. “Bap! Yep, she’s out.” He smacks her face again. “Bap!” He laughs. “Just making sure.”

“We should get help, right?” Luz says.

“She’s breathing, she’ll be fine. Besides, remember the boiling rain of certain death?” Draco points a thumb at the closed front door.

Said front door promptly swings open. “Let her try, it’ll be funny,” Hooty chirps.

King makes a point of marching to the door and slamming it shut. If there’s one thing they can all agree on, it’s to never humor the owl tube.

“Remember when her head got cut off last week?” King says.

“I’m sorry, her head was what?” Draco gawks.

King continues like he didn’t hear him. “That woman can survive anything. She’s probably just tired from staying up all night chasing shrews and voles.”

Draco shudders. “Disgusting.”

Luz glances between King, Draco, and Eda. “Well, we can’t just leave her on the floor. Draco, can you-?”

“No.” Draco cuts her off.

“But-”

“I’m not helping her.” Draco pointedly yanks open his book and goes back to reading. Luz scowls at him.

King and Luz end up dragging Eda upstairs by the ankles, banging her head on every step. Somehow, she doesn’t wake up. Draco switches over to the green couch once they’re upstairs. It’s far more comfortable than the red one, and he prefers green. The two are chattering when they come back downstairs. King takes up the red couch with his papers and box of crayons, and Luz pulls out her phone, studying something on the screen. Draco’s prepared to ignore them both, but once again, is interrupted.

Luz growls in frustration, circling her finger through the air. “This is all she does. Why you gotta be so cryptic, Owl Lady?”

“Keep it down,” Draco demands. “I’m trying to read and you’re being annoying.”

“Well, maybe I would be less annoying if you helped me,” Luz says. “But you’re not gonna do that, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”

Draco grits his teeth and slams his book closed. “Fine! You’re trying for nothing, but fine.” He turns on his heel and marches upstairs.

The noise is finally muffled when Draco closes the door to his and Luz’s room. It doesn’t stop the noise entirely, but it’s an improvement. He sets his book in the hammock and cracks open the stained glass window. The pattering of the rain on the shield provides some white noise, it’s quite relaxing. He pulls himself up into the hammock and lays back. Where was he? Ah, yes, magical attunement.

Luz’s refusal to give up is starting to get on his nerves. There’s a difference between keeping at something even when it’s hard and trying to do the impossible. Muggles can’t see or interact with magic in any form, they’re completely inert to it. Draco’s told her over and over that she can’t do magic. And yet, she keeps trying. It’s infuriating.

But the Boiling Isles have shown Draco so many impossible things. Maybe she can do it.

Draco slams his book shut. Merlin, his captors must be getting to him badly if he’s thinking like that. His mother would faint if he expressed that out loud. He’s becoming all out of sorts from this world and from the kindness of his captors. He’s being tricked, led astray. Luz is still a muggle, Eda and King aren’t human, they don’t know the reality of his world or his situation. They’re just trying to trick him, they’re trying to trick him.

So why can’t he convince himself of that?

Luz has been nothing but helpful and kind, except for when he’s being particularly sharp of an arse. He can’t parse Eda anymore, she doesn’t treat him like a prisoner and is nicer to him than half of Hogwarts. King is the one he knows the least about, and they don’t get along necessarily, but he’s silly and sort of sweet when he wants to be. Almost like a child.

Draco presses his forehead to the book and squeezes his eyes closed. Isn’t this exactly what they would want, for him to cave? They’ll show their true colors once Draco has let his guard down, and Draco will be locked in the basement or something. But what if they’re being legitimate? What if they do genuinely want to help him, befriend him, for no reason other than just because?

That’s not how the world works. Draco knows that’s not how the world works. Everybody wants something. But he can’t figure out what they want, not really. Eda wants to learn about human magic, but she barely remembers that’s what he’s here for and she complains the entire time he’s attempting to teach her. Luz wants to learn magic, but she’s helped him try and reclaim his own magic without asking for anything in return several times now, even cheered him on when he revealed he accidentally did magic yesterday. King, he doesn’t know enough about to claim for sure what he wants, but he doesn’t seem to want anything from Draco. Yet, they keep coming back to Draco. They keep trying to include him, keep him safe, no matter how many times he’s hurt them in return.

It hurts to hope. He doesn’t know what’s going to be on the other side. And that’s the most terrifying thought of all.

A loud snap of thunder and flash of lightning startle him. Downstairs, there’s a sound of glass shattering.

“No, no, no!” Luz’s cry echoes up the stairs. “Golden elixir, gone! This is awful!”

Up to the usual shenanigans, then. Draco sets his book on his trunk and rolls out of his hammock, then straightens out his clothes. Hopefully Luz hasn’t blown anything up or otherwise attracted trouble. She tends to be a danger magnet.

The lamps in the room brighten, then go out. The room’s plunged into darkness. Odd. Didn’t Eda mention at some point that Hooty controls the house lights?

As if on cue, because Draco’s life has turned into an absurd gore-filled soap opera, a wooden-sounding crash echoes from the living room, followed by panicked hooting.

“Merlin’s tits-” Draco throws open the door and rushes down the stairs. Luz and King are darting in from the kitchen, and they freeze in the doorway. Draco skids to a stop behind them. His stomach plummets to his feet.

Hooty’s door lays askew in its frame. Looming over the door, a creature cast in shadow scrapes its claws down the door’s wooden planks. It’s easily the size of a hippogriff, its eyes cast orange in the little light left in the room. A growl and bug-like chirping emanate from its throat, sharp teeth bared. Then, it darts off into the rain.

Luz is the first to move. She dashes to Hooty, King hopping off of her shoulders when she reaches the doorway. “Hooty! Are you in there!?”

“What the hell was that!?” Draco runs up next to them. “Luz!?”

“I don’t know!” Luz prods at the well and truly unconscious Hooty. “Whatever did this escaped into the rain. What could survive that?”

“Does it look like I know?” Draco hisses.

“Oh my gosh, the Snaggleback!” King exclaims. “It feeds during the rains. It must’ve stumbled across our house and seen us inside!”

A low, hoarse howl has Draco’s gaze snapping outside. He and Luz move the door and follow King out in time to see the monstrous silhouette of the beast crash through the second-story window to his and Luz’s room.

“This is a nightmare.” Draco’s voice comes out shaky. “An actual nightmare.”

“So why do you look so happy!?” Luz says, but not to Draco.

King’s giggling and cheering, his paws shaking in sheer delight. Draco would probably be more angry about it if all of his brain power wasn’t going towards the massive beast now stalking the second floor.

“Because this could be a lesson!” King does his equivalent of beaming, whatever that looks like without a mouth. “This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal, Luz.”

“No, absolutely not, none of us are going towards that- that thing!” Draco points at the broken window.

“That’s how all the horror movie characters die!” Luz exclaims. Draco happily agrees with her, for once. Though he has no idea what a moo-vee is.

“What if Eda gets eaten? She’s upstairs and defenseless because Luz knocked her out!” King says.

Luz groans. “This is gonna suuuuck.”

“I’m staying here.” Draco plants his feet. “I’d rather not die today.”

“No you don’t, you live here too!” Luz grabs his wrist. “Eda has the portal door, remember? You need her to get home!”

Draco wrenches his wrist from her grip. “Alright, point taken! But if I die I’m blaming you two.”

Luz and King take the time to put together some goofy-looking “armor”. Draco only partakes because they otherwise have nothing to defend themselves with. Luz takes what she calls a “hockey stick” as an impromptu weapon, so Draco takes the other. King chooses to take Francois with him. Now with pillows taped to their chests (and wearing muggle rubber gloves in Luz’s case), the three of them cautiously make their way upstairs.

The hallway is eerily quiet. Draco grips his hockey stick in a white-knuckle grip, gaze flying every which way. It’s too quiet. Where has the beast disappeared to? What is it waiting for? As they approach, the door to Eda’s room creaks open on its own. Draco freezes. Luz glances at Draco, nods, and tip-toes her way to the door. King and Draco follow her. She pulls it open the rest of the way, only to be met with…

“Oh no,” Draco says.

The room’s a mess, though that may just be typical Eda. The large eye window he saw at the front of the house is smashed to bits, pieces of metal and glass torn from its frame. Claw marks scrape into the floor and various items scattered about. A large nest rests on the left side of the room, empty.

“Oh my gosh, Eda!” Luz tosses her hockey stick aside and runs to the nest, but it’s no use. Draco can see it’s already empty.

“She got Snagglebacked!” King yelps.

Draco drops his own hockey stick as he walks into the room. If someone like Eda was unable to save herself from this monster…

They are well and truly fucked.

“King! You’re the demon expert.” Luz calls. She’s holding a pillow with slash marks. “I need your help!”

“I’ll go get my demon book!” King races out of the room.

Draco stares at the empty nest. “Eda’s the last person I thought this would happen to.”

“Yeah, me too.” Luz sets the pillow down. “Do you think we should-?”

A crash from the hallway.

“King?” Luz turns. “King!”

Draco grabs Luz and runs. She trips and loses a shoe, but Draco doesn’t stop. He shoves her into Eda’s closet and steps in after her. Eda’s bedroom door flies open just as Draco closes the door.

Neither of them dare to breathe. Sharp, heavy claws bound around the room in a circle. There’s another howl, and then the creature’s heavy feet clamber out of the room.

“King’s still out there,” Luz whispers.

“I know,” Draco says quietly. “I’m more concerned about us right now. We don’t know if it’ll circle back.”

“We have to go after him, we can’t just leave him to fend for himself!” Luz says.

“I’m trying to keep us from dying!” Draco hisses.

“Oh really? Or do you just not care enough to go after him?”

Draco flinches.

“I know how you look at us,” Luz says. “Eda and King aren’t human, and I’m a muggle. You hate us. You’re only here because you want Eda’s portal door.”

“Do we really need to do this right now?” Draco says.

“Yes! Yes we do!” Luz makes a wild gesture at him. “Because it’s a dumb reason to hate us! You’re so mean and for what!? I’m trying so hard to be patient with you, and I think ‘oh, we’re getting somewhere’ when we have a good moment, but then you go back to being mean again!”

“I-”

“You literally called me a wizard slur, you can’t deny it!” Luz smacks her hand on the closet wall. Draco hopes and prays that didn’t attract the beast’s attention. “You hate me for something as stupid as me not having magic, do you realize how stupid that is!? That’s like saying you hate someone because they like pineapple on pizza! You think you’re so special, so above the rest of us because you’re a special human wizard boy.”

“That’s not why,” Draco says.

“Then why do you hate me!?”

“Because you’re everything I was told a muggle wasn’t!” Draco shouts.

Whatever Luz was about to say dies on her tongue. Draco inhales, exhales. He presses his forehead to the closet door. He really just said that out loud, didn’t he? He’s going to have to explain himself, or she’ll never leave him alone. He takes a sharp breath.

“Ever since I was young, I’ve been taught by everyone around me that the world works one way and one way only. They told me muggles are incompetent, selfish idiots who only want magic to fix their problems. Muggles are supposed to be terrible people who did something terrible to not be born with magic. We as purebloods have to make sure our bloodlines aren’t corrupted by that dirty blood.”

Luz gasps softly. Draco forces himself to keep talking.

“But you’re kind. You’re kind and forgiving and no matter how many times I insult you, you keep coming back.” Draco clenches his hands into fists. “I keep telling myself you have to be after something from me, that you’re only being kind because you’re trying to trick me. It’s how the world is supposed to work. But that’s not the case, is it? You’re quite literally a better person than every other wizard I know.”

 Luz reaches a hand out, then drops it. “Isn’t that a good thing…?”

Draco’s breath catches in his throat.

“I can’t be wrong.” He squeezes his eyes shut. “If I’m wrong, then that means everything I’ve fought for, everything I’ve suffered for has been wrong. And I’m terrified of that possibility.”

Thunder rumbles outside.

“Draco.” Luz’s voice shakes. “Draco, I-”

Luz’s cut off by a familiar yelp and a loud bang, followed by a screeching roar.

“King!” Luz shouts. Luz throws open the closet and dashes for the open doorway, Draco on her heels. She reaches out in time to grab a fleeing King by the arm and yank him inside. Draco shuts the door behind them and slides out of sight, next to Luz. The beast’s shadow passes by light streaming through the crack in between the doors, loud footsteps trudging away from them.

“Luz?” Draco’s never been so relieved to hear King’s squeaky voice.

“King!” Luz holds King away from herself. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“What happened to you guys?” King says. “I walked back in here and you guys weren’t there!”

“The beast surprised us while you were gone, so we hid,” Draco says. “Is that Luz’s shoe?”

“My what?” Luz looks at the shoe in King’s paws. “Oh, it is!” She takes it from King and drops to the floor, sticking her foot in the air to put it back on.

“I-” King cuts himself off. “What’s that?”

Draco spots what he’s looking at and tears the small scrap of paper off of Luz’s foot. It must’ve stuck itself there while they were hiding in the closet.

He reads the small inscription. “‘Keeps the curse at bay?’ Is that supposed to mean something?” Draco’s brows furrow.

“Wait, wait!” King snatches the scrap of paper out of his hand and pulls a matching scrap from his collar. He sticks the two pieces together. The tearing matches perfectly.

“‘An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay’!” King reads.

“Curse?” Luz glances at Draco, then back to King. “What’re you trying to say?”

The pieces fall together too perfectly in Draco’s mind. “Oh no.”

“What? What is it!?” Luz’s face goes a little sickly.

“I was wrong the whole time,” King says. “That’s no Snaggleback. That creature is-”

One of the beast’s white-as-bone-skinned claws smashes through the bedroom door. They all scream and scramble back. The entirety of the beast smashes through the rest of the door a moment later. Draco’s eyes fall on a horrifyingly familiar face, hidden behind sharp, yellowing teeth and black pits for eyes.

“EDA!?” Luz yelps.

The beast with Eda’s face stalks towards them. With the better lighting, Draco can make out the owl-shaped body and wings folded at its sides. It rears back on two talons, aiming to make a swipe at them. Luz screams. Draco grabs her and King, intending to pull them out of the way, but Luz’s phone falls out of her pocket and flashes with white light. Draco’s blinking spots out of his eyes, but he’s not affected nearly as badly as the beast. The beast screeches and flails, clapping its front talons over its eyes.

“It’s stunned, move!” Draco pulls Luz to her feet. Luz scoops up King, and they run for the open window. Draco swings out first onto the eave of the roof, pressing himself flat to avoid leaning out of the shield. He reaches his hand down for Luz. She takes it. Draco pulls her and King onto the roof. They crawl on their stomachs to the stone balcony, King whimpering and clinging to Luz’s back. When they make it to the overhang, Draco pulls himself over and dangles by his fingertips. He drops down.

“Give him here!” Draco reaches up. Luz hangs the terrified King over the edge, and Draco takes him. King clings to his vest. Luz drops down afterward. Unfortunately for them, she lands on a plant pot, and it shatters.

A roar rips through the steady pattering of the rain.

“Quick, hide!” Luz grabs his arm and pulls them behind the short stone wall separating the house from the rest of the balcony. Draco ducks so his head isn’t peeking over the edge, cradling King’s head. There’s a heavy thud and a bug-like crackle as Eda’s footsteps trod across the house floor. Luz presses her hands over her mouth. Eda sticks her face over the edge of the wall, snorting and sniffing the air. Luz grabs a small plant in an aluminum can next to her, and throws it. It clatters somewhere to Draco’s left. The beast screeches and tears after it, far away from them.

Draco inches up. “How did this situation somehow get worse?”

“I guess we just have bad luck?” Luz chuckles awkwardly. “Oh, man. Did you see her eyes? They were like:” Luz makes an impression of the beast’s roar.

“I would’ve called them black pits of death,” Draco says.

“You know what? Your version works better.” Luz glances down to King in Draco’s lap. “What happened to her?”

King unlatches from Draco’s vest and twists so he’s facing Luz, but he doesn’t get up. “Don’t you get it? The elixir I gave you doesn’t give Eda her magic. It prevents her from turning into that thing! She’s turned into a nightmare and it’s all my fault!” King curls up and tips against Draco’s chest.

Draco runs a hand up and down his back. “You didn’t know. I feel like this is something Eda should’ve mentioned.”

King’s claw grips Draco’s vest again. “I’m so sorry, guys. I just… I wanted Luz to be into demons like she’s into magic.” King hides his face in Draco’s chest. “I don’t have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me. I thought maybe if I taught her, finally someone would care about creatures like me.”

Draco glances down at the little furball. He really is a child, isn’t he? A child who doesn’t deserve the way Draco’s been treating him. Draco takes a deep breath. There’s so many ways this can go wrong, that he will come to regret ever making this choice later. But what if it goes right? What if he finds something he didn’t know he was looking for?

What if he doesn’t have to be scared anymore?

“King,” Draco says. “I have a confession to make.”

The little demon looks up at him with a tiny, sad ‘weh?’.

Draco combs a stray hair that’s fallen from his gel out of his face. “I was being a git to you for no good reason. I don’t understand this world, or the people in it, and I lashed out because I was scared of what it meant for me. I should never have been cruel to you. You may be our only hope here, so… I’m sorry.”

King’s eyes widen. “Really?”

Draco nods. “Sincerely so. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop teasing you or getting after you if you get into my sweets, but-”

“Yay!” King launches into his chest so hard he knocks the air out of him. Draco gasps and tries to return air to his lungs as he wraps his arms around King. Luz is beaming, giving him a double thumbs up and nodding. Draco rolls his eyes, but he can’t hide his small, amused smile.

“So, King,” Luz says. “Wanna finish the lesson?”

King leans away from Draco’s chest. “Huh?”

“Eda’s turned into some kind of demon, and we need to save her.” Luz holds out the short blue stick with the glowing crystal on it. “So who knows more about demons than the best teacher in the world?”

“And I’ll participate,” Draco admits begrudgingly. “Only because this is a life or death situation.”

King glances between the two of them, eyes turned up into a smile. He takes the stick from Luz’s hand, then jumps into her arms with a giggle. Draco takes the opportunity to right himself and try and pick some fur off of his vest and sweater. He earns a side eye from Luz for it, but he just grins at her.

It’s not too long before King lets go of her and picks up some stray leaves from around the balcony. He sits between them and lays the leaves out flat in front of him, then starts to write in ink with the blue stick.

“Wait- how are you-” Draco gestures at the leaf.

King looks up at him in confusion. “What?”

“How are you writing with that?” Draco says. “In ink?”

“Have you never seen a pen before?” Luz says.

“A pen?” It sounds vaguely familiar, but he can’t recall where he’s heard it before. “I don’t think I have.”

“What do you use to write if you don’t have pens?” King says.

“Ink and quills,” Draco says, baffled. “Why in the name of Merlin are we not using pens at Hogwarts?”

“Hogwarts?” Luz gasps. “That’s the name of your magic school! You told me!”

“We’re getting off topic.” All of these drastic alterations are starting to tire him. “King, what’s your verdict?”

King clears his throat and finishes off his drawing. “Eda’s big, covered in feathers, and has giant black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light.”

“Could you use your phone again?” Draco asks Luz.

Luz pulls the device out of her pocket. “I can’t. My camera’s blasted.”

“I still don’t understand how muggles fit a camera into that thing,” Draco mutters.

“What about the light spell?” King says.

Luz slumps. “You saw me. I can’t draw circles in the air. I’m not like Eda.” Luz taps at the screen of her phone, and Draco hears the sound of the video she recorded earlier playing. It makes a strange, garbled sound not long after it starts playing. She gasps.

“There’s a pattern in the spell circle!” Luz says.

“There is?” Draco crawls over to her side not occupied by King to get a better look. He can’t see anything out of the ordinary on the little device, other than the odd state of the muggle video.

“Where?” King leans over her shoulder, tail wagging, but he looks similarly confused.

Luz reaches up and plucks a leaf from the plant above them, then takes the pen from King. “It looks like this.” Luz draws a large circle, then a small triangle topping a smaller circle inside the large one. From there she draws a large, wide triangle on the bottom of the small circle, a line through the triangle touching the bottom of the large circle, and two small lines through the first line inside the large triangle.

“And, there.” She taps it.

The symbol lights up. The leaf crumples into a glowing yellow ball, about the size of Luz’s palm.

Draco stares at it. The little ball hovers over Luz’s phone, like it didn’t just shake the foundations of everything Draco thought he understood. Luz scoops the ball of magic into her hands.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispers.

With shaking fingers, Draco reaches out and taps it. It doesn’t really feel like anything, just warm. It bobs a little to the left in reaction to Draco’s touch. A muggle did magic. I just watched a muggle do magic.

“I just did magic.” Luz’s eyes are fixed on the little ball of light. “Ohmygosh I just did magic.”

Draco lets out a surprised laugh. “I just watched the impossible.”

“I just did magic!” Luz jumps to her feet, King swinging from her arm as she whoops into the storm. “I just. Did. MAGIC!”

Draco rolls to his feet. “She just did magic! WOO!”

“Shhh!” King hisses from Luz’s arms. “Guys, be quiet! It could find us!”

Draco clicks his mouth shut at the same time Luz smacks a hand over her mouth. They snicker, quietly of course.

“We’re not gonna stop anything with something that small,” King says as Luz lowers him to the ground.

The following Eda-beast screech has needles running down Draco’s spine. The three of them dive behind the balcony wall, Luz with her light ball in hand.

“What do we do now?” King says.

Draco and Luz glance at each other.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Draco says. “The bigger the circle-”

“The more powerful the spell,” Luz finishes with a grin. “I think I know how we’re gonna get Eda back. You two down to help me?” Luz holds out her fist.

Unlike the high five, Draco’s seen this one before at school. He bumps her fist with his own.

“Right then,” Draco says. “Let’s do this.”

“Boo-Boo Buddy?” Luz looks to King.

“Eh, kind of over that nickname, but okay.” King bumps her fist.

And despite how terrifying this is, this new dynamic feels right.

It doesn’t take long to discuss and set their plan into motion. Draco finishes stacking the books in the juncture point of the downstairs hallway. He made sure all of them were non-valuable in some way, so hopefully Eda doesn’t get after him for it once she’s returned to normal. He dusts his hands off and steps around the stack. Luz is busy at the blank wall at the end of the hallway, drawing the light symbol in red crayon.

“How do you manage to draw those lines so straight?” Draco asks.

“I’m an artist,” Luz says. “You get good at stuff like this.”

Sort of similar to Draco’s muscle memory of playing violin. He smiles.

Luz scales the ladder they nabbed from his and Luz’s bedroom, finishing off the rest of the circle. Before she can, though, there’s a howl and King’s signature startled “weh!”.

Draco hurries down into the side hallway, pressing himself against the wall facing the direction King and Eda will come from. Draco counts the seconds as the sounds of claws and King’s pattering feet draw closer. King races around the corner and Draco snatches him up, just as the beast runs into the stack of books and goes sliding off with a screech.

“Eyes closed,” Draco says. King nods and closes his eyes. Draco does the same, holding King close to him.

“I’m sorry, Eda, but it’s for your own good!”

Luz’s proclamation is followed by a blinding cascade of light. The beast yowls and screams, and then-

All falls quiet.

Draco opens his eyes. In the hallway around the corner, the beast has collapsed. Draco peers out around the edge of the hall. Luz is folded over the ladder, rubbing her eyes, the beast fallen at the base of it.

“We did it,” Draco says.

“We did?” King opens his eyes from his arms. “We did!”

“Luz? Are you alright?” Draco steps out and sets King down.

“I think so.” Luz drops her hands and blinks rapidly. “Let’s get Eda to her room. I think I saw more of that elixir in her closet earlier.”

“I really hope those feathers don’t stick to clothes.” Draco grabs one of her hind legs.

~~~

Eda’s skull is pounding when she comes to. Vomiting up the weird pink demon isn’t fun, nor  is being half-transformed and needing to down the rest of the elixir in one go. It doesn’t taste great. She’s not happy, made even worse when King admits to stealing her elixir. She’s about ready to get into a full-on grounding when King shushes her, and points behind him.

In the far corner of her room near the now-smashed eye window, Luz and Draco are sitting on the floor. Small balls of glowing light are floating above their heads and spreading out through the rest of the room. The both of them are drawing on small pieces of paper, Draco struggling more than Luz.

“Merlin, this is rubbish.” Draco tosses his paper and pencil to the floor.

“You get better with practice.” Luz finishes what she’s working on and taps the paper. The paper crumples into one of those balls of light and floats into the air.

“Could I try one of your symbols?” Draco says.

“I’ve been calling it a glyph,” Luz says.

“You know what? That name works better,” Draco says. They both grin like it's an inside joke. Luz takes another paper and draws on it. Once she’s done, she hands it to Draco. Draco holds it in his palm and taps it, and it forms another ball of light, joining the others.

“How is she doing that?” Eda can’t take her eyes off the little scene.

“I don’t know, but she did it all on her own,” King says.

“Are they… getting along?” Eda can barely believe what she’s seeing when Luz makes a light pun and Draco laughs, actually laughs. Not one of those fake, mocking snorts or mean laughs, a real laugh.

“I don’t know how that happened, either,” King says. “He apologized to me earlier, and I’m still trying to convince myself it wasn’t a dream.”

Draco punches Luz in the shoulder with a sly grin, Luz giggling. She goes back to drawing and Draco leans over her shoulder, a soft smile on his face.

“You know, it’s nice to see him smile for once,” Eda says.

“Yeah.” King sighs, then turns to face her. “So, I kinda messed a bunch of things up back there, and I just wanted to say… I’m sorry.”

Eda’s attention’s pulled back to the fact that she should be angry right now. “Well you better be!” She jabs a finger at King. “I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it.” Eda’s anger fades as fast as it came. “But, it’s not entirely your fault.”

Luz nudges Draco and points at Eda. The pair of them get up from their little light party, Luz tossing one last light ball in the air as they come over to the nest. Draco sits on the edge of the nest like he owns the place, so that hasn’t changed. Nice to know he’s not a completely new person.

“I haven’t been honest with you guys,” Eda starts. “When I was younger, I was cursed. I don’t know exactly how it happened. All I know is that if I don’t take my elixir…”

“You turn into a beast,” Draco finishes.

“The owl beast.” Eda takes the empty bottle of elixir in her hand. “No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it’s manageable.”

“We have something similar in my world,” Draco says. “They’re called werewolves.”

Luz gasps. “Werewolves are real?”

“Yes. As are dragons, vampires, the lot.”

Luz claps her hands to her cheeks. “I could have a monster romance.”

“Trust me, you don’t want one.” Draco looks at his hands. “Werewolves are bloodthirsty. They transform with the full moon, and one can only maintain their senses with a potion called Wolfsbane. It doesn’t stop them from transforming, but it at least makes it so they aren’t feral.”

“Whoa. Scary.” Luz looks at Eda. “Are you okay? You’re not gonna do… that, right?”

Eda’s mind flashes back to years ago, to blood and tears and an act she can never take back. She shakes her head.

“Not if I can help it,” Eda says. “There’s nothing for you guys to worry about, it’s all under control. And as long as no one steals my elixir, King.” Eda gives him a sharp look, and King curls up, wringing his paws. “Then I’m fine. But hey, look at this.” Eda taps one of the small balls of light. “A non-magic human doing magic. Good on you, kid.”

Luz smiles and clasps her hands behind her back. “I had some encouragement from a great teacher.” She looks at King.

King pretends to blush with a teasing “oh, you!” It’s sweet. Their little get-together moment is interrupted by Hooty crying for help downstairs. King marches off with a lot of complaints and Luz tells Eda to stay and rest, taking the small pink demon downstairs with her as she goes.

“So, Wizface.” Eda smirks at Draco. “When’d you start being nice?”

Eda doesn’t miss the way the kid flinches, nor the flash of fear. She frowns.

“It’s complicated.” Draco doesn’t give her any more than that.

“Alright then, if you wanna be secretive about it.” Eda pretends she doesn’t see it. That she doesn’t know how much it hurts. A lot of his situation is morally dubious at best, and Eda would’ve sent him back to the human world the next day without a second thought. But she knows that anger. An anger that comes from fear and having no other options. It’s an anger she recognizes in herself, from years of isolating herself and the unfairness of her curse. It could just be him being angry about not being in control, but Eda wants to be sure.

She’s not about to send a kid back to a situation where he could be being hurt.

It hurts to know he’s scared of her, but it’ll be worth it if it means she was right. She has her curse, but she will never hurt a kid. She refuses to.

“Hoot, HOOT! Careful with those bolts!” Hooty screeches from downstairs.

“You may want to go help them,” Eda says.

Draco groans and stands up. “Stupid Hooty.” He strides out of the room and swings Eda’s room door closed behind him.

“You and me both, kid.” Eda lays back in her nest and gets comfortable. “You and me both.”

~~~

Luz is laying on her stomach on her sleeping bag, re-reading the fifth Good Witch Azura book for the third time, when something hits her head. The heavy something falls in front of her.

“Hey, what the-!?” Luz stops. In front of her is one of Draco’s text books, one she’s seen many times when he opens his trunk; Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1.

Luz looks up. Draco’s pulling his fancy silk pajamas from his trunk.

“Figured you could use something new to read,” Draco says.

Luz’s eyes widen. She sets her Azura book aside and snatches up the magic book. She’s half convinced Draco’s gonna steal it from her and say it was a prank, but she flips it open to the cover page, and Draco doesn’t stop her. Underneath the smaller title in loopy, cursive handwriting is a note.

Property of Draco Malfoy. Please Return to Slytherin House if Found.

“What’s Slytherin?” Luz looks up.

“One of four houses at Hogwarts.” Draco gets to his feet. “Your house determines what dorms you stay in, what classes you have when, your designated Quidditch team, those sorts of things.”

“Magical boarding school.” Luz squeals under her breath. “Your school sounds so cool!” She jumps to her feet and yanks Draco into a hug. “Thank you, thank you!”

“Don’t overdo it.”

Luz jumps away with her hands held up, giggling sheepishly.

Luz has zero complaints when King asks to share the hammock with Draco later that night. Things are finally, finally looking up with her British wizard roomie, and she’s determined to keep it going that way.

Chapter Text

Draco knew from the moment he woke up this morning that market day is going to be the bane of his existence.

During market day, Eda runs a stand selling human (mostly muggle) wares. In order to retrieve these human wares, she uses her portal. Because Draco wants said portal, Eda feels the need to take measures to keep him away from it. Hence, his current… situation. He’s seated in a chair on the far right of the booth, glaring down Eda and making her well aware of his displeasure at having magical rope tied around his chest and then tied to a stake behind him. Luz had the audacity to call it a “baby leash”. He threw a book at her head for it, which she promptly stole from him. It was one of his school textbooks.

Luz and King have chosen to revel in their freedom via Luz reading aloud. She’s chosen one of her Good Witch Azura books for the moment, since King deemed Draco’s first year Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook “way too boring.”

“‘Emboldened by the dishonor Hecate had shown, Azura lifted her staff to the cotton-candy skies and shouted, ‘I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel!’ And look, I drew a flip book.” Luz flips the corner of the page she’s on back and forth while making sound effects.

“Show me the picture.” King interrupts her, peeking over the top of her book.

“What?”

“Show me the picture!” King bounces on his clawed toes.

Luz turns the book around for him to see. Draco can’t see it either way from the angle he’s at. Not that it matters to him.

“Ha! I can draw better than that.” King stands up from his spot on the table. “You know, they once called me the King of Artists.”

“I thought you were the King of Demons.” Draco lifts an eyebrow.

“I can be both!” King points at him. “And you, my prisoner, shall not deny my claims any longer!”

“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” Draco leans back dramatically in the chair, back of his hand pressed to his forehead. King and Luz both giggle at the display.

“You, Draco Malfoy, as my newest follower, shall leave me loads of offerings like my old subjects used to!” King holds his chin high.

Draco pretends to check his pockets. “I don’t have anything on me that would satisfy you, your majesty.”

“I can offer you more of this tantalizing book?” Luz holds up her Good Witch Azura book.

Eda interrupts their little game with a long, drawn-out groan. “Please stop reading that. It’s flowery language is an insult to witches, and driving away all our serious customers!”

“Um, Eda?” Luz gestures out of the booth. “What customers?”

Except for their stand, the market place is completely empty, devoid of anyone at all. Luz told Draco the market was a bustling, busy place full of many wares and people. However, it’s proving to be the opposite. Even a tumbleweed rolls by.

“This is a bad omen.” Eda holds the feather duster she had been using like a baton. “There must be something horrible happening today.”

“Luz! Draco!”

Draco twists in his chair towards the voice. Willow and Porter are running towards their stand, Willow holding a poster.

“Gus, Willow!” Luz beams.

“Something amazing is happening today!” Porter throws his hands in the air with a grin.

“Uh, Draco?” Willow frowns at him. “Why are you tied up?”

“In Eda’s words, I’m ‘too much of a flight risk’.” Draco mocks Eda and gives her a very pointed look.

“Hey! It’s a precaution,” Eda says. “I can’t trust you not to run off.”

Willow glances awkwardly between the two. “Is this a cry for help?” She whispers to Draco.

“I wish.” Draco huffs.

“Anyway,” Porter cuts into their conversation. “It’s the annual Covention! Student witches get to see all the types of covens before they’re placed in one.”

“There’s even a mystery guest this year.” Willow wiggles her fingers at the poster.

“Co-ven-shun…?” Draco frowns.

“A job fair for witches!” Luz leans into Eda’s side. “Eda, can we go? Please?”

“Absolutely not.”

Luz lets out a long whine and slides to the ground.

“What’s a job fair?” Draco sets his chin in his hand.

“Somewhere you go to check out different places you can work,” Porter explains. “So Bakers’ Coven for Bakers, Pet coven for people who want to take care of pets, that kind of thing.”

“Ah.” Draco sits up. “We call those Search Events. They tend to pop up at random to entice young witches and wizards or people looking for a new place of work.”

“Ooo, mysterious.” Luz pops back up behind the booth.

“Well, covens are nothing like that.” Eda folds her arms. “I never joined a coven for a reason. Sure, it’s like a fun club for witches, but you’re also giving up your magical independence to be part of a crooked system.” Eda slams her fist on the table.

“And how exactly do you make a living, Eda?” Draco crosses one leg over the other.

“Not important.”

Willow wilts a little. Eda seems to realize her mistake, because she clears her throat.

“Eh, but, y’know, no judgement.” Eda makes a so-so motion with her hand. “In any case, I haven’t been to one since we were girls.”

“‘We’?” Luz blinks.

Eda’s eyes go wide. “Uh, I-I mean-”

“Who’s ‘we’? You have a mysterious past!” Luz points at her. “Now we gotta go!”

“No.” Eda says firmly.

“Okay.” Luz rubs her hands together. “Then you leave me no choice.” She picks up her Good Witch Azura book and hands it to King.

King receives the message. He flips open to a page at random and starts reading. “‘You shall not shan’t doeth no more harm,’ Azura callethed out.”

Draco grins. “Genius.”

“So flowery, so awful.” Eda attempts to walk away, via pulling out the portal door to the human world itself and walking through it. Luz tosses King through as the portal door closes behind her. A second later, it opens again and Eda walks back through, the still-reading King on her head.

“Stop it, stop it, I will literally do anything to stop this!” Eda shouts.

And that’s how they end up in front of the large, brick building housing the Covention, Draco freed from his restraints and with an excited King bouncing on his shoulders.

“I’ll admit it, Luz,” Draco says. “I’m impressed you managed to pull that off.”

“You’re welcome.” Luz makes that strange double-hand-one-finger motion at him again.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Draco asks.

“What’s what supposed to be?” Luz says.

“Those hand motions.”

“Oh, these are finger guns.” Luz repeats the motion. “I use them to hide my social awkwardness.”

Draco attempts the motion himself. “A very muggle expression.”

“You really don’t know much about muggles, do you?” Luz says.

“I do not, no.” Draco shakes his head. “Learning about muggles is… heavily discouraged among my circle.”

“Maybe I should give you a crash course…” Luz gasps. “Do you know what the internet is?”

Draco’s brows furrow. “Um…”

“Gonna take that as a no.”

“Can I learn what the internet is?” King leans over to Luz from his shoulders.

“Of course you can, you little goober.” Luz taps his nose, and King giggles.

“Me too!” Porter jumps into their conversation.

Luz laughs. “Alright, but let’s save it for after the Covention.”

“King!” Eda calls. She’s walking back over to their group with a red cowl in-hand. “I need your help!”

King groans and hops down from Draco’s shoulders. The next few minutes are spent trying to force Eda’s massive amount of hair into the hood of said cowl, King pushing from the back and Luz from the front.

“Is this cowl really necessary?” Luz says as they finally manage to get the hood all the way on.

“Do you think all my wanted posters are for petty theft?” On cue, a small pile of items fall out of Eda’s hair and land at her feet.

“I could believe it,” Draco says.

“Partly.” Eda narrows her eyes at him. Against his will, Draco’s heart rate spikes. He clears his throat and attempts to play it off, because he’s not scared of Eda. He’s not!

“The big whammy is I disobeyed the law and refused to join a coven.” Eda shoves the items back into her hair under her hood. “If I’m seen, I could go to jail. Again.”

There’s a plethora of Eda’s wanted posters on the pillar behind her. Draco’s not entirely sure why she refuses to join a coven. While the separation of magic in school doesn’t make sense, covens here seem to provide a sense of belonging. Then Draco remembers her curse. That would be a good reason to not be around others.

“Maybe this informative event will inspire you to join a coven,” Willow says. Eda draws a spell circle, and Willow’s hood is yanked over her head.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Eda groans. King hops down from her hood, and their group walks into the building.

The hall is massive. Booths are lined up in rows with various coven titles, staffed by various witches and demons. Crowds of beings move through the aisles, perusing the different covens and chatting merrily with each other. Above their heads, large banners with 9 coven symbols hang from the arched ceiling. Draco recognizes the colors of the Potions, Illusions, and Abomination track uniforms. The lyre symbol on the red banner has to be for the Bard track.

“Whoa.” Luz’s eyes track everywhere, taking everything in. “Was I even alive before now?”

Porter points up at the banners. “Those are the main nine covens, but there are hundreds of other ones you can join.”

King hops up onto Draco’s shoulders as they walk down the center aisle. “Are those symbols the sigils you mentioned?” Draco asks him, pointing to the banners.

“Yep,” King says.

“And what does it mean to be branded with a sigil?” Draco asks.

King shrugs. “Beats me. Eda’s always complaining about it.”

Willow points out different booths as they pass by. “There’s Flower Coven, Artist Coven, Big Dog Coven, Small Cat Coven, Tiniest Cat Coven-”

Eda cuts her off with a loud groan.

“Also the Grumpy Coven,” Willow whispers.

“What was that?” Eda shakes her fist. Willow scurries off with a squeak, Luz and Porter following her. Draco tries not to regret his life decisions and hurries to catch up to them.

“Are there more sigils you can be branded with than just the main nine?” Draco asks.

“Yeah, but there’s only one.” Porter says. “The Emperor’s Coven, the height of all magical achievement!”

“You get to keep all of your magic if you qualify for the Emperor’s Coven,” Willow says.

Keep all of your magic? Draco’s about to ask what that means, but Eda catches up to them and Luz distracts the group with a feat of the Construction Coven. Those power glyphs could be incredibly useful if they’re utilized correctly. Porter also introduces them to the coven he’s training to join, the Illusionist Coven, with a demonstration alongside two other students Draco recognizes from Porter’s classes.

Draco claps his hands. “Impressive.”

“Acceptance? Camaraderie? A sense of belonging? Covens sound incredible!” Luz throws her hands around to all of the different booths. “Eda, why haven’t you joined one?”

 Eda sets a hand on both Draco and Luz’s shoulders, turning them towards the Illusionist Booth once again. “Watch closely, you two.”

A boy with a considerable amount of acne walks into the booth, and one of Porter’s fellow students pulls on a glove and takes his wrist. The student presses his hand to said wrist, and when they pull it away, there’s a small tattoo of the Illusionist sigil on the boy’s skin.

Draco’s familiar with magical auras. Places likes Hogwarts and Diagon Alley are brimming with the life of magic, buzzing in every corner and dancing along your skin. Spells tend to be more powerful in magically rich places, but wizards and witches have their own individual auras as well. Most of the time you don’t notice them, but Draco definitely notices now when the boy’s aura of cedar wood and pine is choked and bound. His skin grows pallid as glowing veins of cyan trail across his skin and through his body. His aura’s snuffed almost completely out.

“When you join a coven, all your other magic is sealed away.” Eda keeps her voice low as she speaks to the two of them. “From now on, that kid will only be able to make illusions.”

“Ew,” King says with a shudder. “Now I get why you don’t like them.”

Draco raises a hand to his mouth. Never in his life could he imagine something so horrifying. Magic is everything he lives and breathes, and to have it forced out of you in such a grotesque fashion? He hopes he never has to go anywhere near a coven before he can leave this world behind.

“Wizface, you alright? Looking a little not good there.” Eda claps his back.

Draco recoils from her. “I’m fine.”

Luz frowns. “Draco-”

“Let’s go,” Draco turns on his heel. “I’m not staying here any longer.”

King, ever the youth he is, doesn’t inquire about Draco’s well-being. He’s grateful for it.

At the end of large center aisle is an open doorway with a large, gold-embossed banner hanging over it. People in masks and white cloaks line either side of the rope barriers leading to the doorway. Large amounts of witches and demons walk inside, most appearing to be some form of awed or starstruck.

“I’m assuming this is the Emperor’s Coven,” Draco says.

“Yes!” Porter grins. “Do you think they’ll sign my forehead!?”

“Only one way to find out!” Willow says. She and Porter run for the doors with glee.

“Might as well see what this is about,” Draco says. “King?”

“Onward, my chariot!” King points ahead. Draco rolls his eyes, amused, and walks in the doors.

Turning a bend, the doors open up into a circular arena. Crowds already fill the stone benches, the noise of conversation echoing through the large room. He spots Willow and Porter on the left side closer to the front, squeeing and rambling. Draco heads in their direction. The nearest open spot to them is a row up and to their right, so he takes it. Luz takes a seat next to him not long afterward, followed by Eda.

“Alright, let’s see this mess,” Eda grumbles.

King’s wagging tail is swishing against the back of his head by the time the lights dim. In a swirl of bright green magic and audience cheering, none other than Principal Bump rises onto the stage. A spotlight lands on him as he draws a spell circle, and a metal rod with wings attached to a hole-filled metal cube appears in front of him.

“Hello, Bonesborough!” Bump’s voice booms throughout the arena in all directions.

Draco leans into Luz’s space. “What’s that device?” He whispers.

“It’s called a microphone.” Luz points to the metal device with small wings. “They project your voice through something called speakers back in the human world, so you can be heard everywhere in a big room. But I’m not sure how it works here.”

The technological aspect is confusing, but the explanation is succinct enough. Draco settles for now.

“Students ask me all the time, ‘Prinicipal Bump, what’s the height of magical achievement?’”

“Is it this?” A student in front of them to their right draws an orange spell circle in the air. His head expands to three times his size and crushes the student next to him.

“I hope not,” Draco mutters. King snickers.

Bump seems to agree, because he cringes. “Wow, I’ve failed you as a principal.” Bump grabs the microphone out of the air. “It’s being selected to join the best of the best. And there are none better than the jewel of the coven system and the enforcers of his will, the Emperor’s Coven!”

In three swirls of green magic, three of those people in the masks and white cloaks rise from the floor in front of the raised platform Bump stands on. The audience erupts into applause at the display.

“Imagine wearing bloomers as part of your uniform.” Draco snorts. “And those boots are abhorrent. Who styled these people?”

“I like your moxie, kid.” Eda grins. Draco ignores her.

Bump continues talking. “Feast your eyes on this elite force, each member handpicked to help usher in a new age of controlled magic.”

The three masked figures each draw white spell circles. Each one shoots something different; one fire, one water, and one electricity. They all coalesce into a bright firework overtop of the audience. Pink confetti rains from the ceiling, which Luz and King are happy to snatch up and toss at each other.

“Members of the Emperor’s Coven have access to all, yes, all forms of magic.” Bump makes a sweeping gesture towards the audience. “Ooo, Aah!”

The audience “ooo”s and “aah”s in return.

“But.” Bump holds up a finger. “Only the best can ascend these ranks. Someday that could be one of you.”

There’s a squeal from a few rows in front of them. Draco looks down to see none other than a very familiar head of mint green hair.

“Amity?” Luz says.

“Looks like,” Draco mutters.

“And now,” Bump’s voice brings him back to the arena, where the three masked figures have disappeared in swathes of smoke. “I am pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of this coven, and this year’s mystery guest. You know her, you love her; Lilith!”

Eda, who’d been laughing at some naff joke, falls abruptly silent. The audience gasps and applauds as a large, translucent blue raven appears in the air over them. It flies down onto the raised platform in front of Bump, where Draco can now see a figure wearing a similar white cloak and bird mask to the first three, but more pristine and detailed. The blue raven caws, wings outstretched, and bursts into several blue balls of light. The figure removes her mask, arms held wide to the audience. Her eyes are a sharp green-blue, her dark hair sprawling behind her back when she removes her hood. She almost looks similar to Eda.

Too similar.

Luz elbows Eda. “You know her?”

“You could say that.” Eda appears like she’s seen a ghost, and not the friendly kind.

Luz gasps. “Mysterious past.”

“She looks quite similar to you,” Draco comments.

Luz gasps again. “Are you related!?”

Eda doesn’t get the chance to reply. Lilith starts speaking.

“Thank you all.” Unlike Bump, her voice is magically projected to the arena. She draws a cyan spell circle, the same color as Porter’s, and her mask and cloak are tossed back onto Bump. “It wasn’t easy for me to rise to the top. I also started from humble beginnings.”

“She seems uptight,” Draco comments.

“What? Like you?” King smacks Draco’s nose. “Bap! Got you.” He giggles.

Draco can’t even deny it.

“Now, I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor’s will. So be more!” Lilith’s hand lights up blue. “The Emperor’s Coven awaits you!”

A massive, glowing raven stretches from her and unfolds its wings, its height reaching the top of the arena. The people explode into whoops in cheering as the raven explodes yet again into balls of blue light, hovering down to the floor like streamers. Eda clenches her fists, her face pinched into a fierce scowl. It’s the angriest Draco’s seen her, and he’s seen quite a lot of angry Eda.

Willow and Porter disappear somewhere in the rush of the crowd, as do Eda and Luz. That leaves Draco with King as they squeeze through the bodies, Draco stumbling out onto the Covention floor.

“I hate crowds.” Draco sneers as he straightens his clothes. He and his parents specifically aim for going to Diagon for his school supplies weeks before the crowds get too thick to navigate. Of course, that isn’t always possible, but they try to.

“This place is so boring,” King complains. “And it feels wrong. Wanna ditch Luz and Eda and get out of here?”

“I feel like we’ve already done that.” Draco looks out at the booths. Something doesn’t sit right about King’s statement. “What do you mean this place feels wrong?”

“I dunno.” King slouches over his head. “It just does. Magic isn’t supposed to work like this.”

Draco looks at him in surprise. “Did you feel it earlier, when that boy’s magic aura was squashed?”

King tilts his head to the side. “Weh?”

“Like… his magic was cut off and choked.” Draco hopes that explanation suffices.

“Yeah.” King says. “How did you know?”

“Most wizards have a sense of magical auras,” Draco says. “Though you tend to tune them out with how much input you’re receiving from everything around you.” Draco starts to walk down the main aisle. “That entire sigil ritual was disturbing.”

“Do you think Eda and Luz can feel magic auras?” King says.

Draco shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but I’m leaning on no, since they otherwise had no reaction.”

“What’d you think of the Emperor’s Coven?” King moves so he’s draped comfortably across Draco’s shoulders.

Draco grits his teeth. “It’s all pretty sparkles and showmanship. There’s a deeper, darker side they’re hiding. ‘Enforcing the Emperor’s will’? Only the best being able to ascend the ranks? It stinks of…” Draco trails off.

“Stinks of what?” King asks.

Well, it stinks of Death Eaters. The tactics are different, but the intimidation factor is the same. Only the best of the best will be honored to keep all of their magic. Only the best and most loyal can stand alongside the Dark Lord for the new world. Correcting magic, fixing magic, one right way to do magic. Only purebloods know the right way to do magic, with their purest of magical blood untainted by muggles and muggleborns. It’s all wrong, isn’t it? This separation of magic, this othering.

Luz was so elated holding that ball of light she created. Her use of magic is abnormal, even for this world. But Draco knows that feeling. The energy and excitement, the wonder that floods your being when you perform your first feat of magic. It’s a feeling Draco never wants to lose. Why shouldn’t others get the chance to experience that feeling? Especially someone like Luz, who deserves magic more than most people he knows.

Draco’s been taught his entire life that magic needs to be protected. It needs to stay out of the hands of those who would abuse it for their own gain. He’s been taught that muggles would do just that. But that’s not why Luz wants magic. She just wants magic for the sake of magic, for that feeling of being alive. Draco’s not going to take that from her. Not when he knows what its like to lose it.

Draco’s drawn out of his thoughts by a hand grabbing his arm. King lets out a startled “weh!” and clings to not fall off of Draco’s shoulders.

“Oi, what’re you-”

“The tea leaves foretell that this will lead you to your destiny.” A Hexside student in dark purple spins a pen between their fingers, and places it in Draco’s hand.

“Destiny? Seriously?” King scoffs. “We’re not paying for-”

“It’s free…” The student walks backwards into the shadows, disappearing as quickly as they came.

“Ah. Handouts.” Draco rolls the pen in his hand. “I forgot they did those at these events.”

“Did they bestow a gift upon you?” King’s eyes turn up.

“I suppose you can call them that,” Draco says. “Most of the booths do them.”

King gasps. “Offerings! The King of Demons demands offerings of his own!”

Oh no. Draco’s not going to get out of this, is he?

King proceeds to drag Draco around the Covention for the next thirty minutes, nabbing as many handouts as he can find. There’s muggle t-shirts and hats, pins, scarves, more pens, bags, squishy items King calls ‘stress toys’, and more. By the time they’ve reached the booth for the Bakers’ Coven, Draco’s arms are laden with all sorts of items, stuffed into the various bags King has collected. King himself is draped with a plethora of items, including several hats stacked on his head and several layers of shirts. Draco’s about ready to call it quits and track down Eda and Luz.

“Cupcakes!” King tumbles over to the booth and nabs one off of the tray. He stuffs it into his mouth whole.

“Oh, well hello there!” A gentleman in a chef’s hat and a curled mustache smiles at King. “Wanna hear about the Bakers’ Coven?”

“If I can have more of these, absolutely!” King takes another.

A woman with dark purple hair and a bandana around her head approaches Draco. “Would you like one as well?”

“I better not.” It looks like several of those are peanut flavored, and he’d rather not take the risk.

“Alright then.” The woman turns to talk to King alongside her coworker. Draco sags a little. At least he doesn’t have to talk to anymore people for the moment.

“Draco?”

Draco turns. Behind him, with their violin hanging at their side, is none other than Raine Whispers. They’re surprised for a moment, but that surprise fades into a soft smile.

“Hello, Raine.” Draco clears his throat. “I would shake your hand, but…” He raises the bags on his arms.

“That’s quite the collection.” Raine chuckles. “Interested in joining a coven?”

“I’m only here because my… housemate wanted to see the Covention.” Draco doesn’t know what else to call Luz. They’re not exactly friends. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m here with the Bard Coven,” Raine says. “They want me to perform something, unfortunately.” Raine shudders.

“Why is that unfortunate?” Draco’s brows furrow.

“I’m not good in front of crowds.” Raine flushes and rubs the back of their neck.

“I thought the Bard Coven would be all about performing in front of crowds.” Draco chuckles.

“Nah, that’s more of an Illusionist thing.” Raine perks up. “Oh, right! I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Draco says.

“Do you think you could come by the Amphitheater again?” Raine asks. “I’d love to hear you perform some more human songs. And see your magic, of course.”

“I don’t see why not.” Draco rather likes Bard magic, and Raine is a far more peaceful presence than the rest of his house. “When are you usually around?”

“I practice at the Amphitheater on Wednesdays and Fridays,” Raine lists. “Maybe not this Friday though, I have something I need to-”

Raine’s interrupted by a yelp and a familiar, snide voice.

“Oh Merlin, King!” Draco re-adjusts the bags. “I have to go, see you then!” Draco dashes away before Raine can give a proper goodbye. When Draco rounds the corner to the aisle, it’s to the sight of King on the ground being comforted by Luz, and Blight smirking at them with a cupcake squished under her boot.

“Why are you being so mean, Amity?” Luz demands of her.

“Because you and your pet are giving witches in training a bad name.” Blight looks down on them both like they’re scum on the bottom of her shoe.

“Want to try saying that again, Blight?” Draco marches next to the two of them.

“Oh great, yap-mouth’s back.” Blight rolls her eyes. “Two humans trying to use magic is even worse. Why don’t you two go back to the hole you crawled out of?”

“Watch it,” Draco snarls. “You know nothing about us.”

“What’re you gonna do? Wiggle your mystery magic fingers at me?” Blight snickers.

“I’ll tell you what Amity.” Luz stands. “It’s one thing to say I can’t be a witch-”

“‘Cause you can’t.” Blight gives Luz a flat look.

“But it’s another thing to bully my friends.”

Luz is about to do something stupid, and impulsive. Draco mentally braces himself as he kneels down next to King and sets a hand on his back. King tearfully scoops up his ruined cupcake, sniffling.

Luz draws a fist close to her chest. “Just like the good witch Azura said when facing down her rival Hecate at the Bog of Immediate Regret, I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel!”

Draco, along with everyone else in the immediate area, gasps.

“What is she doing?” Draco hisses. “She doesn’t know enough magic for that!”

“I don’t know!” King whispers back.

Blight strides right up to Luz’s face. “I accept.”

This is going to go catastrophically wrong. Draco grits his teeth. You can’t just challenge someone to a duel at random, especially with so much inexperience!

“Let’s set the terms for this duel, shall we?” Blight’s smirking like she already won. She probably has.

“One,” Luz starts. “If I win, you apologize to King for smashing his cupcake and to Draco for doubting his magical ability. And two, you admit that humans can be witches too.”

“Fine by me.” Blight folds her arms. “But when I win, not only do you have to tell the whole Covention you’re not a witch, you have to stop training. Forever.”

Luz glances at Draco and King. Draco shakes his head, as does King. Draco’s not sure what’s she’s thinking, she’s going to get killed!

Luz turns back to Amity, a determined glint in her eyes. “Fine. Let’s shake on it.”

Damn it, Luz! Draco’s eyes widen in horror as Amity draws a spell circle around Luz’s hand and takes it. Both of their hands glow.

“The Everlasting Oath is sealed.” Amity lets go of her hand.

“That’s probably fine.” Luz mumbles. Draco wants to scream at her, but he holds his tongue.

“Meet back inside the theater in one hour.” Amity turns and strides away. “Let’s see what kind of witch you are.”

Luz stands there, stupefied for several seconds.

“Luz,” Draco says. “Are you a complete idiot!?”

Luz flinches at his outburst. “What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, not the stupid impulsive thing?” Draco drops his bags by King and marches to her. “She has years of experience on you, she’s the top student at Hexside!”

“I couldn’t let her pick on you and King!” Luz says.

“Not in exchange for getting yourself killed!” Draco barks. “I can handle myself fine, Blight’s a pain in the arse but I’ve dealt with worse. Now that you’ve made the equivalent of what sounds like an Unbreakable Vow, you can’t get out of this!”

“Do you not trust me?” Luz says. “Am I really that dumb to you?”

Draco nearly loses his footing when he registers tears brimming in Luz’s eyes.

Luz wipes them away furiously with her arm. “I thought we were finally getting somewhere, but you still think I’m dumb because I don’t have magic.” Luz backs away. “Why do I even try anymore?” With those final, damning words, Luz turns and runs off.

The world’s gone quiet. All Draco can focus on is Luz’s back as she slips between bodies and disappears into the crowd. He hadn’t meant that at all. Why was he yelling? Luz decided to do something stupid, but that wasn’t all of it. She’s just like Potter, in that way; charge headfirst into the danger and ask questions later. All because she wanted to defend her friends.

She has no idea how remarkable she is.

“Well.” King has frosting all over his snout. “You screwed up.”

Draco presses a fist to his forehead. “Fuck.”

“What’s that word mean?” King says.

“Ask Eda,” Draco says. “God, I really hope she goes to Eda.”

“So you think she’s dumb?”

“No! I-” Draco really wishes his hair wasn’t gelled right now so he could yank at it. It’s a nervous habit he never quite managed to get rid of, no matter how many times his father pinched his hands for doing it. “She’s not dumb, only impulsive.”

“Then you were yelling because you were annoyed?” King tilts his head to the side.

“Yes, maybe. I don’t know!” Draco throws his hands in the air and starts to pace. “I don’t think I was.”

King tilts his head the other way. “Okay. But you sounded pretty angry.”

“I was angry! Still am, because it was idiotic to challenge Blight. She’s only just learned her first spell. Hell, I wouldn’t be able to face Blight at this point.” Draco drops his head into his hands.

“Hm.” There’s a distinctive clack, clack as King taps his skull with his claw. “You know, Eda does this thing sometimes where she’ll get mad because she’s worried.”

Draco snorts. “I doubt that.”

“She was so mad about the elixir thing because she was worried about all of us getting hurt,” King says. “She says all these scary threats but never does anything with them. A lot of the time, it’s because one of us did something dumb that could hurt us. You’re kinda like her sometimes, I think.”

I think most of the time it’s because I annoy her. But, he can’t deny her anger about the elixir. King was forced to take extra chores, yes, but her anger seemed largely because she was worried about all of their safety, King included. Is that why Draco started yelling? Was he worried about Luz’s safety?

Yes, yes he was.

“I really mucked this up.” Draco muffles his voice in his hands.

“You can fix it later,” King says. “We gotta find Eda and tell her what happened, just in case Luz doesn’t.”

“Alright, I can do that.” Draco drops his hands, and he picks up the bags he dropped earlier. Claws dig into his legs and back as King scurries up to his shoulders. He stands and points in front of them.

“Onward, my steed!”

Draco laughs. “I thought I was your chariot?”

“Doesn’t matter.” King waves him off. “Go!”

Draco and King search the entire hour, to no avail. They do run into Blight, though, practicing her abominations with none other than Lilith. It only makes Draco hate her even more. Advertising for the impromptu duel runs rampant through the Covention floor. The dread builds ever heavier as the time draws near, and soon, he and King are forced to give up and enter the arena. Draco can only hope Luz doesn’t show up and forfeits. But she wouldn’t be able to practice magic anymore, would she? Not without facing her imminent demise. Assuming an Everlasting Oath functions the same as an Unbreakable Vow.

Due to entering at the last minute, Draco and King end up in the row closest to the outer wall of the arena. Luckily, Draco spots two familiar faces also in the higher area.

“Draco!” Porter smiles as Draco drops down in the seat next to him. “Where’ve you been? We lost track of you and Luz after the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Long story,” Draco says.

“I’ve only ever seen the practice duels we have in class,” Willow says. “Never a real one. Isn’t this so exciting?”

Draco presses a fist to his mouth, his knee beginning to bounce. “I’m not sure you’ll like this one so much.”

“What? Why?” Willow’s brows tilt down in concern.

“Beloved citizens.” Lilith’s voice booms over the crowd from the raised platform. “The Emperor’s Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of witch we seek every year.”

“Is that Amity?” Porter points to Blight, who’s standing next to Lilith.

“It is her,” Willow says. “How’d she get into a duel? Draco?”

Draco can’t bring himself to respond. As Lilith introduces Blight to the crowd, his attention is pulled to the other side of the arena floor. Eda’s standing down there, so Luz must’ve found her, but where is Luz?

“Versus,” Lilith goes on. “Some human girl.”

Eda steps aside to reveal Luz, wide-eyed and shaking like a newborn kitten, behind her. As soon as she’s introduced, the audience devolves into disappointment and whispers, many booing her before she’s even started. Draco grits his teeth.

“But Luz can’t do magic!” Porter’s caught on.

“She’s going to get hurt.” Willow raises a hand to her mouth.

Draco isn’t paying too much attention to them. Eda and Luz seem to be discussing, Eda pointing out something to her. They’re up to something. Knowing Eda, it’s going to be something devious but ultimately in Luz’s favor.

One of those screaming bells rings down on the arena floor. The audience starts cheering, but it’s less enthusiastic than before, most cheering being for Blight. Luz and Blight approach each other in the arena. It’s difficult to see their faces from this far up, but Blight appears to be cracking her knuckles. She draws a large, dark pink spell circle in the sand, and an abomination easily towering over the inner arena wall pulls itself from the magic. Her abomination hadn’t been that tall before, had it? He doesn’t get much chance to think about it when Luz takes off, dashing to avoid the abomination’s thrown head. She presses herself against the inner arena wall. Draco wants to shout at her to move, to get out of harm’s way-

A massive pillar of fire erupts under the abomination’s foot. The abomination staggers back in surprise. The rest of the audience gasps, and the whispering starts anew, questions about her validity as a human running abound.

Luz didn’t do that. She only knows the one spell, so where did that come from? Draco squints down at the arena floor. Just barely, he can make out small mounds of dirt scattered all over the ground. What in the world has Eda rigged?

“Draco? How is she doing that?” Willow says.

“It’s not her, I can tell you that much.” Draco says. “See those mounds?”

“Mounds?” Willow frowns as she studies the arena. “Oh, yeah. I see them.”

“I assume Eda did something,” Draco says.

“Probably a delayed spell,” Porter says. “But that means Luz is cheating!”

“Better cheating than dead,” Draco says.

The abomination starts forward again, and a gust picks up in the room. Blight and the abomination are both thrown into the air. The abomination hits the ground with a thud that shakes the arena. Blight lands far more gracefully, but she looks pissed. Draco bites his lip. Blight’s going to catch on, and there’s going to be consequences.

Luz’s strategy is running around like a headless chicken as the abomination chases her, the abomination being torched and blown up and otherwise hit with a plethora of magic. Draco’s only drawn out of his focus when a scream sounds from a few rows below. A scream he recognizes. It’s then Draco realizes the weight is missing from his shoulders.

“King.” Draco drops his bags and takes the rows two at a time, shoving past onlookers in search of a pair of horns, one broken and one intact. He spots him tumbling down the rows, gaining speed and heading for the arena.

“KING!” Draco vaults over the next row of people, uncaring of their shouting. King’s rolling fast, too fast. He’s not going to make it. He’s not going to make it!

Draco slams into the small divider wall between the arena and the audience. He misses King’s shirt by inches. King falls, right for the mound between Blight and Luz.

He’s not sure what causes him to do it. Whether it’s impulse or pure desperation, he swishes and flicks his hand like he would with a wand, and whispers like a prayer, “catch him. Please.”

He squeezes his eyes closed.

Something erupts from the Earth, and there’s a brief silence. Then, the audience gasps.

“Is he human!?”

“How is that human doing magic? Can they both do magic!?”

“The little demon’s flying!”

Draco peels open one eye. Spikes of earth erupt from the ground, separating Luz and Blight. Above the spikes, King flails in the air, surrounded by glowing blue light. Draco’s own left hand is glowing. Not a scratch is on King, nor are any of his offerings damaged. He can feel the eyes scalding into his back. Lilith’s staring at him with her jaw dropped. Eda’s eyes are lit like she’s just won a million galleons.

“I’m flying? Whoa-” King cartwheels in the air and loses his temporary balance. “I’m flying!” He rights himself.

Under normal circumstances, Draco would be reveling in this new attention, drinking it up for every drop that it’s worth. Right now, he feels like a piece of meat being eyed by a ravenous giant.

“Okay, deep breaths Draco,” he mumbles to himself. He attempts to steer King around like he would with a regular wingardium leviosa, but as soon as he moves, his hand and the light around King start to flicker. King drops a few inches. He snaps his hand back where it was. Goddammit, why can’t you work with me just this once!?

Luckily, Willow and Porter choose that moment to shove their way through the people behind him. Willow draws a spell circle, and vines stretch out from a seed in her hand. As soon as she’s got a grip on King, Draco drops his hand, and the spell cuts. His hand immediately cramps like he’s overdone himself. King’s pulled back into the audience and set firmly on the ground, where Willow drops her spell.

“Thank you,” Draco says.

“No problem.” Willow smiles at him.

“Did he just do…?” Lilith’s so quiet Draco almost doesn’t hear her. But Eda definitely does.

“Lily.” She gestures at him. “Meet my second student.”

Lilith gapes at him. “But- but that’s impossible! Humans can’t do magic!”

“This one can.” Eda says it almost conspiratorially, then snorts a laugh.

“That doesn’t matter!” Blight cuts through their little conversation. “She cheated!” She swings a finger at Luz.

Luz gets to her feet, having fallen escaping the spikes. “Amity, no-”

“I knew you couldn’t do magic,” Blight growls. “You’re just a liar!”

Luz flinches like she’s been slapped. “It wasn’t my idea to cheat, and when I found out I tried to stop it but-”

“Who could believe anything you say!?” Blight snaps. She whips around and starts marching off.

Eda must see something Draco doesn’t, because her eyes narrow. “Wait just a sec, Ms. Protégé.” Eda levels a glare at Lilith, who keeps glancing between Draco and the rest of what’s happening like she can’t figure out what to focus on. Eda steps up to Blight and lifts the hair from the back of her neck.

“Hey, what’re you-” Blight’s cut off when something is peeled off the back of her neck. As soon as it is, her once massive abomination shrinks to the size of a doll.

Eda holds up the piece of paper. “A power glyph from the Construction Coven!”

The audience gasps, now distracted from Draco. Draco exhales in relief. Eda starts doing some ridiculous mocking chant, and Blight runs out of the arena. Luz appears lost for a moment, as if unsure of what to do as she glances between Draco and where Blight exited the arena. She makes up her mind as she chooses to pursue Blight, her feet kicking up dirt as she runs out.

“You saved me.”

Draco looks down towards his feet. King is looking up at him, his eyes wide and sparkling.

“I did.” Draco hesitates.

King, slower than he normally would, wraps his arms around Draco’s leg. “Is this okay?”

Draco smiles. “Yes. That’s alright.”

“Thank you.”

“Least I can do.” Draco winces as a vicious cramp lances through his palm.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Porter says.

“Mostly.” Draco massages his other thumb against his left palm to try and release the cramp. “This happens when I overuse my magic.”

It’s never happened this quickly before, however. It usually takes a consecutive six to eight hours of spellcasting without stopping for him to start feeling sore and light-headed. Cramps only happen if he pushes himself beyond that. For this severe of effects to be happening with only one spell? It’s pathetic. Is he not able to use magic in this world at all?

No, that’s not it. His magic came as easy as breathing in the amphitheater, and he didn’t have any effects this drastic after Hexside. So what is he missing?

He’s not given much time to ponder it. There’s a shout of “witch’s duel!” from someone behind them as blasts of blue and yellow fire light up Draco’s vision. Lilith and Eda are fighting, Lilith breaking her blast of fire for a shield as Eda fires shots at her. When Lilith retaliates, Eda draws a large spell circle, and a stone tube erupts from the floor to block her fire. The tube looks like none other than Hooty, because of course it does.

Willow yanks Draco and King out of the way in time for pieces of flaming debris to land where they were once standing.

“We gotta run!” Porter bolts up the rows of seats. King clambers onto Draco’s shoulders as he and Willow hurry after him. The crowds rush out the exit doors in a panic, flooding into the rest of the Covention and throwing off more than a few attendees and booth attendants. This time, Draco does manage to keep track of and stay with Willow and Porter as they break through the tide into an open area.

“Whew!” Porter wipes his brow. “Glad we got out of there.”

“Yeah.” Willow brushes soot from the sleeves of her school uniform. “But how the heck did Luz get into a Witch’s Duel with Amity?”

“She was standing up for King and I,” Draco mutters.

Porter and Willow’s eyes widen.

“She was super cool!” King exclaims. “Luz stepped in when that girl squished my cupcake, then Draco came over was being all threatening, but Amity kept making fun of him, so Luz was like ‘don’t insult my friends’ and challenged her to a Witch’s Duel.”

“Which was stupid, and impulsive.” Draco exhales through his nose. “She only knows the one spell, there was no way she was going to be able to hold her own.”

Porter’s eyes widen even further. “Wait a second, she knows a spell?”

“Yes.” Draco digs in his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. Luz had given him a few extra drawings, just in case he ‘needed some extra light’. “She’s been calling it a light glyph.”

“And she did it on her own,” King adds.

“Watch.” Draco unfolds the paper, the familiar symbol scrawled in pencil. He taps it. A ball of light forms in his palm, hovering gently and warming his skin.

“Wow.” Willow taps it, the small light bouncing a little with the movement. “I’ve never seen magic cast that way before.”

“Nor have I.” Draco switches so he’s holding the light ball with his left, hoping the warmth will help with the cramping. “It’s quite remarkable, isn’t it.”

“No kidding.” Porter’s fingers are twitching like he wants to touch it, but he refrains.

“Yo, Wizface! King!” Eda’s voice calls out. Draco looks up to see Eda and Luz at the front doors of the Covention, Eda waving Draco down.

“I suppose this is goodbye for now.” Draco presses the light between his palms and snuffs out the spell. “Ask Luz to show you next time we see you.”

“You got it.” Willow beams.

Draco waves as he jogs to catch up. Porter shouts “bye, Draco! Bye, Luz!” As he goes.

“Took you two long enough,” Eda says as soon as Draco’s within speaking distance. “Where’d you disappear to?”

“We were trying to avoid your fireballs,” Draco scoffs. “I understand you don’t like Lilith, but that was disproportionate.”

“Eh, can’t feel too bad about it. Not when my sister made the first move.” Eda snorts.

“Sister!?” Luz gasps. “Now that’s a mysterious past payoff.”

“You think that’s all the mystery I got?” Eda starts walking, Draco and Luz alongside her. “Wait ‘til you hear about my parents.”

“What!? You’ve got parents?” Luz waves her hands in the air. “I need to know more.”

“You very much don’t,” King deadpans. Then, he gasps. “My offerings! We forgot my offerings!”

Ah. Draco left the bags in the arena.

“We’ll get you more offerings, King.” Luz giggles.

“Besides, you still have the ones you have on.” Draco gestures to his layers of shirts, pins to said shirts, and the one muggle hat he has left on his head.

King contemplates for a moment. “Eh, it was way too much stuff anyways. This will suffice.”

“Glad you’re satisfied.” Draco smiles.

“For your help today in collecting my offerings, I have a gift for you.” King looks at Draco.

“Do you now? How generous.” Draco’s smile shifts into a smirk.

“It’s the best gift I can offer, because it’s free, comes from my heart, and I always have more than I need.”

Luz squees. “Is it love?”

“Ugh, no!” King pulls out a gaudy bag from behind his back. “Tote bags!” King pulls out Draco’s arm, slips the bag on it, then jumps inside said bag.

“Am I your chariot or your steed this time?” Draco snickers.

King hums. “Chariot.”

“Alright then.” Draco pulls the bag straps onto his shoulder and tucks his arm around the bag. Luz pats King’s head.

“I’m assuming the Oath no longer holds because of the draw?” Draco says. Luz opens her mouth to reply, then stops herself. She frowns and glances down at the ground. Ah, right. She’s upset with him.

“Ms. Protégé unbound it,” Eda answers for Luz. “So, she still can learn magic.”

“That’s…” Draco studies the solemn Luz, pressing his lips into a line. “That’s good. I didn’t know those could be unbound. You can’t do that with an Unbreakable Vow.”

“Sounds like nonsense,” Eda says.

“Not when it kills you if you don’t follow the terms of the Vow,” Draco says.

“Whoa whoa whoa, that’s way too intense!” Eda waves frantically.

“And dark,” King adds with a shudder.

“Remind me to never make one of those,” Eda says.

Draco’s too caught up in his regret to think of a suitably smarmy reply.

~~~

Draco has no idea what he’s doing.

Never in his life has he needed to have a conversation like this before. He studies the grain of the wooden door separating his and Luz’s room from the hallway, putting off for longer what needs to happen. He needs to apologize, yes, but he also needs to do the one thing his parents always taught him never to do; show weakness. He could excuse it during the Owl Beast crisis as it being a crisis and thus involving drastic measures, but there is no crisis this time. It’s just him, and this door, and Luz behind it.

He's turning against everything he’s been taught. It’s terrifying, but at the same time, liberating in a way he never expected. With Luz and King, there’s no expectations. No pressure to put on the nasty, leering façade who always knows what to say. No need to hold himself tall and pretend he doesn’t secretly resent his father. It’s only him, and Luz and King are okay with that. Delighted by it, actually. He’s still attempting to tread carefully, because there’s always limits, but there’s a tightness between his shoulder blades that’s finally released. One he didn’t know he was holding.

He's turning against everything he’s been taught, and he can’t bring himself to regret it.

Draco twists the knob and pushes open the door. “Luz?”

Luz looks up. She’s already on to his second Standard Book of Spells, having finished the first and nabbed it the day before the Covention. A few balls of light are hovering around her, lighting up the space as she reads. They’re dimmer than her usual reading light, which is convenient for Draco’s ability to sleep while she’s reading.

“Could we talk?” Draco steps inside and closes the door behind him. “I need to clear the air.”

Luz looks unsure for a moment, but she nods. Draco, in his silk pajamas, takes a seat at the end of her sleeping bag. It is quite fluffy, as King’s described once or twice.

“I made a mistake.” Draco clasps his hands in his lap. “I should’ve told you as soon as I got the chance following the owl beast, but I didn’t. I don’t hate you for being a muggle. I don’t think you’re incompetent because you’re a muggle, either. In fact, your way of casting magic is unique and impressive. I’m sorry I let you keep thinking that way.”

Draco looks down at his lap.

“Then… why did you yell at me?” Luz murmurs.

“Partly because you were being impulsive.” Draco presses his thumb into his left palm. “But also because I was worried you would get hurt.”

Luz inhales.

“It surprised me as well.” Draco scratches the back of his neck. “I’d be labelled a blood traitor and disowned in an instant if my parents knew.”

“Your parents don’t sound like good people,” Luz says carefully.

“It’s just how my life is.” Draco wraps his arms around his middle. “But this isn’t about me. I haven’t been a very good British wizard roomie, have I?”

Luz giggles. “No. But it’s okay, I forgive you.”

Draco’s gaze snaps up. Luz has closed the textbook and set it aside, her full attention on him. He wasn’t expecting to be forgiven so soon.

“You’re learning,” Luz says. “You’re gonna make mistakes like any other person. And that’s okay, as long as you learn from them.”

“Right.” Draco’s having a hard time processing what he’s hearing.

“You’re fun when you’re not being a jerk.” Luz smiles warmly at him. “And you also saved King from being impaled, so no complaints here.”

On some logical level, he knew that mistakes could be fixed. It’s never felt that way, though. Every time he made even a small mistake, he was punished. Sometimes he was punished and he had no idea what mistake he made. He always tried to be better, to not disappoint his father and be the perfect heir he wanted. But no matter how hard he tried, there was always something he was doing wrong. The pain didn’t start until Hogwarts, but he has a vague memory of being six and locked in his quarters because he accidentally broke his mother’s favorite necklace. He doesn’t remember why it happened, but he knows it was because of a magical outburst during a lunch party. It was before he knew the reparo spell existed. In fact, he learned of the spell because he saw his mother wearing the necklace again a few months later, and he asked her about it.

To hear someone say mistakes could be learned from and mean it, it’s practically unheard of.

“Draco?” Luz’s voice interrupts his thought. “You okay?”

“Just thinking.” Draco pulls himself back to the present. “Thank you.”

Luz tucks a piece of her short hair behind her ear. “You don’t need to thank me.” She glances back over at her book. “Actually, could I ask you something?”

“Sure.” Draco moves so he’s seated next to her.

“Okay.” Luz opens the book to where she left off. “I’m confused on this general counter spell…”

Chapter Text

It’s mid-day on the Boiling Isles, and Draco’s finally caved to Luz’s begging and whining. He and Luz stand in the front yard, the sun beating down against their skin. Draco’s overheating in his sweater, but he likes his turtleneck sweaters, so he’s not taking it off. Besides, he can just enchant it with cooling spells. Once he figures out how to do that.

Luz is practically vibrating from her excitement. Draco steps forward and sets his broom down in the grass next to her, then steps back.

“You’ve flown on Eda’s staff.” King, who’s seated underneath the door canopy, sips from an iced pink drink and flips his sunglasses onto his head. “What’s so different about a broom?”

“I get to control it.” Luz squees, grinning brightly. “Now what?”

“Hold your hand over the broom and say ‘up’.” Draco raises his own hand to demonstrate. “I don’t expect you to get it first time, so don’t be surprised if you-”

“Up!”

The broom shoots into Luz’s hand. She fumbles it for a moment, but manages not to drop it.

“You were saying?” Luz smirks like she didn’t nearly drop the broom.

Draco sighs. “I don’t know why I expected otherwise.”

Luz fist-pumps with a cheer. “Okay, now what?”

“Straddle the broom like you would Eda’s staff,” Draco says. “Back straight, don’t lean any which way.”

Luz does as she told, being very careful not to move her torso too much.

“When I say so, kick off the ground like you did with Adegast. The broom will hover about a foot off the ground. Pull the front of it upwards until you’re about five feet off the ground, then push the front down to lower yourself and land back on the ground. Do not lean in any direction. Got it?”

Luz nods and salutes him. “Yes sir.”

“Give it a go, then.”

Luz follows his instructions to the letter. He was half expecting her to shoot off like Longbottom did during their first year flying lesson, but she’s a natural. She touches back on the ground with a sigh of relief, and a new grin splits her face.

“Excellent.” Draco claps his hands together.

“Why can’t I lean?” Luz asks.

“Because leaning is how you steer,” Draco says. “Well, partially how you steer. You need to pull the broom in the direction you want to go, but leaning into the turn will make the turn easier to manage at higher speeds.”

“Good to know.” Luz nods sagely. “Then do you lean forward to pick up speed and back to slow down?”

“Exactly.” Either she was observing Eda or she’s a natural at this. It’s probably a mix of both. “Let’s move on.”

Draco walks her through moving in a slow circle to the left, then to the right, then has her try moving slowly forwards and backwards. Lastly, he directs her to fly a circle around the house. He knows how easy it is to accidentally push the handle down when leaning forward, so he wants to make sure Luz can master flying around obstacles closer to the ground before she takes a higher altitude. She works up the courage to pick up speed a few laps in. Draco backs up to take a proper look, pride blooming in his chest.

“Hey, if your magic’s broken, how come your broom still works?” King finishes off the last of his drink.

“Brooms have the enchantments to fly imbued into their wood,” Draco says, not taking his eyes off of Luz. “It’s why older brooms develop quirks as their enchantments wear off.”

Luz dares to fly a little bit higher. She whoops and nearly runs into the corner of the balcony but manages to jerk out of the way at the last second, much to Draco’s amusement.

“So human enchantments work here, but human magic doesn’t?” King tilts his head. “How does that work?”

“I assume it’s because the enchantments were woven in the human realm,” Draco explains. “Broom enchantments are built to last long periods of time, so it makes sense that it wouldn’t be affected.”

“Human magic doesn’t get cancelled out by witch magic,” King states. “Then why’s your magic still not working right?”

Draco hasn’t figured that out yet. He looks at his left hand. He’s certain he’s figured out the language component, sort of. Magic seems to respond to regular English, but it relies more on his gestures than specifically what he’s said. He would think that everything else would fall into place, but it appears he’s still missing a component. Raine said something about harmonizing with the magic, so that must be what he’s missing. But what does that mean?

He's brought out of his musing by the front door slamming open. Hooty chirps in protest and King ‘weh!’s and topples over in surprise. Eda stands in the frame looking slightly off her rocker, as is a normal appearance for her.

“Hey, Wizface!” Eda grins. “You’re coming with me.”

Draco winces.

Luz stumbles her landing when she touches down, catching herself on Draco’s shoulder. “Woohoo, that was amazing! What else have you got for me?”

“Nothing,” Eda interjects. “Wizface is running an errand with me.”

“Aw, pickles.” Luz pouts. Draco already told her he wouldn’t permit her flying on his broom without him present, in case something went wrong.

Draco’s not looking forward to whatever bizarre “errand” Eda has planned. He’s been trying to avoid being alone with her since the boiling rain. He’s not scared of her, per say, he’s just… being cautious. The Owl Beast could come out at any time and attack any one of them, he saw how sharp those claws were. He needs a way out of this.

“Are you sure you require me?” Draco says. “Luz may be more fit for the task.”

“I am,” Eda says. “I promised I’d help you with your magic, didn’t I? This is me helping you.”

Draco winces again. No chance of escaping this, then.

“What’s the errand?” Luz dismounts the broom.

“That’s between me and Wizface.” Eda grabs him and pulls him into her side, arm wrapped around his shoulders. “You and King can hold down the fort.”

“You got it, Ms. Eda!” Luz gives her a salute.

Draco pries Eda’s arm off from around him, setting it at her side and stepping away. “I have no other choice, do I.”

“Nope.” Eda smiles slyly. It doesn’t reach her eyes.

It doesn’t take long for them to pack up. Eda instructs Draco to bring his broom and his wand, along with a small bag of supplies. Since he doesn’t own such a bag other than his school bookbag, Eda lends him a rucksack. She throws her things in there rather than getting her own bag, annoyingly enough. Sooner than Draco would’ve liked, they’re taking off to the sky, Luz, King, and Hooty bidding them goodbye from the front lawn. They fade into pinpricks, then the house and stone tower blur into the landscape. Eda levels out somewhere close to mid-height of the ribs. Draco takes the opportunity to catch up to her.

“Where are we going?” Draco says.

“I have a theory about your magic,” Eda says. “A lot of human realm potion making relies on symbolism and outside stuff, like stirring the cauldron three times clockwise or phases of the moon or whatever. You don’t use spell circles that come out of your finger to cast your magic, instead using words and gestures, kind of like a conductor leading an orchestra. So, in theory, your magic comes from outside instead of inside your own body.”

Draco scoffs. “It doesn’t come from outside of me, that makes no sense.”

“And why doesn’t that make sense?”

Draco searches for the words. “Every single human witch and wizard has a distinctive magical aura, basically what their magic feels like. Two wizards could be casting the exact same spell, but it feels slightly different for each wizard.”

“That and your magic always comes out blue,” Eda says. She hums under her breath. “We were taught in school that magic comes from three key pieces; your power source, your control point, and your intent. For me, the power source is a bile sac, the control point is the spell circle, and my intent is what I imagine I want the spell to do. Your power source has to be the magical energy from the world around you. Luz’s glyph probably has the same power source.” Eda snaps her fingers. “Your guys’s intent is probably the same as mine. Your control point has to be something that converts the magic around you into something you can use, so Luz drawing her glyph and you doing the gestures and words.”

Merlin, this is confusing. It goes against everything Draco’s learned so far. What happened to piecing together the magic’s language? Or “harmonizing with the magic”, whatever the hell Raine meant by that?

Draco bites his tongue and tries not to scream. “Magic was never this complicated back in the human realm.”

“Nothing comes easy in life, kid. Not even magic.” Eda claps his back with a laugh. Draco throws her hand off.

The next few hours are spent flying in silence. Eda tries to initiate conversation once or twice, but Draco only gives her grunts and one-word answers, so she drops it. Draco’s frustrated. Every time he thinks he has all of the answers to find his magic again, a new wrench gets thrown into the equation and knocks everything askew. Why does this all have to be so hard? It was never this difficult at home. He wouldn’t even be dealing with this if Eda had just sent him home in the first place.

Eda. All of this is because of Eda. Dumbledore shares a portion of the blame, of course, but it’s all Eda’s fault he’s still here and without proper use of his magic. He’s getting along with Luz and King, but they had nothing to do with his predicament. Eda keeps putting off learning about human magic, extenuating their deal unnecessarily. Eda didn’t tell them about her curse that could possibly kill them if it gets out of hand. Eda refuses to let him anywhere near her portal door and keeps swiping it from under his nose, taunting him. Why is she fighting so hard to keep him here? Does she only want him to suffer? Does she want to make him weak? What’s her plan?

Draco doesn’t have any answers by the time they land. It’s around 3 or 4, with thick forest springing up around them on all sides. From what he saw from above, they’ve landed somewhere near the gargantuan pit in the center of the Titan’s corpse. Eda said they should leave in time to make it home before sunset. That is, if Draco manages to make some progress on his magic in that time frame.

“Alright.” Eda’s staff transforms back into that burrowing owl and lands on her shoulder. “This is the closest to the heart we can get without being spotted by the Emperor’s scouts. Everywhere around the heart is rich with magic, so you should have no problems casting here.”

“Like being somewhere magically rich hasn’t impeded me before,” Draco drawls sarcastically. He sets his broom and his rucksack to the side for now.

“Stop being so cynical.” Eda claps her hands together. “We’ll figure it out. Clearly you can do magic, we just need to figure out what you’re missing.”

“Clearly I’m not missing anything,” Draco says. “I’ve got plenty of the power source, know what my control point is and know what I want to do with my magic.”

Eda narrows her eyes. “Can I see your wand?”

Draco groans and pulls it out from his vest, forking it over. “Not like it works anyway. Completely useless.”

Eda rolls the thin piece of wood between her fingers. “Huh. Not even our wands usually look this nice.” She tosses it to her other hand. “Luz mentioned it was made from human world stuff, right?”

“Hawthorn wood and unicorn hair,” Draco says. “Why is this relevant?”

Eda taps her chin. “Why do humans use wands?”

“It’s a magical focus,” Draco says. “It makes it easier to conjure magic. Wandless magic is something we can do, but you have to be powerful to pull it off consistently.”

“Ah.” Eda pauses mid-motion. “So you can tune in with nature without doing the work.”

Draco blinks. “What?”

“Most of the traditions of ancient wild witches have been lost to history.” Eda presses his wand back into his hand. “But, I have illegal books on it.” She snorts. “Wild witches practiced magic by making a connection with nature, learning their magic from the island itself. While you’ve got all the ingredients down, you haven’t made that connection.”

Draco gives her the flattest look he can muster. “That sounds stupid.”

“It’s not stupid when it made me the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles.” Eda grins, her golden fang flashing.

“It sounds like a waste of my time.” Draco rolls his eyes. “Why should I have to listen to magic? It’s barely listening to me.”

Eda’s supremely unimpressed. “For someone who loves magic so much, you don’t know it at all.”

“Magic isn’t a living being.” At least, he doesn’t think so.

“Technically it isn’t.” Eda loops her arm around Draco’s shoulders and yanks him into her side. “Buuut, it is power given to you without asking for anything in return. You want to respect what gave you that power, especially when you’re drawing power from it. Learn to know it, and you’ll be home free.”

Draco shoves her arm off his shoulders. “Magic never worked this way in the human realm.”

“You’re not in the human realm, bozo.” Eda lightly flicks his forehead. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“I would like to be in the human realm.” Draco tucks his wand back into his vest. “Everything made sense there.”

“You’re still on that?”

Draco snaps his gaze back to her. “Obviously, Eda!” He snarls. “You kidnapped me when I was about to go home for the summer. My parents are probably worried sick.”

“The same parents that taught you to hate people like Luz?” Eda folds her arms.

Draco clamps his mouth shut.

“She told me what happened,” Eda says. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been around your so-called ‘muggles’ since I first found the portal door. Sure, you’ve got your bad eggs, but most of them are just people trying to live their lives. Like you.”

Draco flinches. “I’m… beginning to realize that.”

“So why do you want to go back?” Eda frowns.

“Because they’re my parents.” Draco clenches his hands into fists. “So they hate some people, everybody hates some people. I would choose them over my cursed, deranged kidnapper in a heartbeat.”

Eda winces. “That was uncalled for.”

“Oh really? That was uncalled for?” Draco lets out a bitter laugh. “Try being kidnapped and forced to stay in another dimension with no possible chance of going home because your captor’s too stupid to understand basic concepts of magic. Oh, and did I mention that she has a curse that could possibly kill me if she forgets a dose of her medicine?”

There she goes, now she’s getting angry. “Be very careful with your next words, brat. You’re toeing the line.”

“Ooo, she called me a brat, whatever shall I do?” Draco taunts. “You’re pathetic; a bleeding heart clinging to three children to feel better about being a monster.”

Draco’s lashing out. He knows he’s lashing out, but what else can he do? He’s powerless against Eda, a victim to her whims and quirks. She’s far too kind to him. She of all people should know kindness is not in Draco’s purview. Luz is an exception to the rule. Anger Draco knows how to respond to. Anger Draco can work with and pull in his favor. It’s what his father always taught him to do.

Eda growls. “You are the last person who has a right to say that. You’re clutching so hard to this supremist ideology it’s turned you into a whiny coward, so scared of your own parents you’d go running back to them in a heartbeat despite how much they’ve ruined you. You’re weak, Draco Malfoy. You don’t deserve what I’ve given you.”

“Then send me back,” Draco snarls.

“No.”

“Why!?” Draco demands. “You hate me! Might as well be rid of me!”

Eda laughs, cold and merciless. “The worst part is I don’t hate you.”

Draco’s thoughts come to a screeching halt. What?

“I’ve seen what you can do,” Eda says. “The plan against Adegast, sneaking into Hexside with Luz, saving me from the curse. Heck, saving King’s life during the duel. You’re not a complete jerk and that’s why I can’t get rid of you.”

Feathers begin to sprout up and down Eda’s arms. She keeps talking.

“You’re brave and stupid smart when you wanna be, so I can’t fathom why you keep thinking all this hatred is right. I wanna shake you by the shoulders and shout ‘wake up, already!’, but that’s not going to change your mind.” Eda’s hands begin to morph into talons. “I just want you to see the truth, kid. The real truth, not whatever your parents drilled into your head and told you was right.”

Draco takes several steps back. “Eda, the curse.”

Eda looks down at her hands. “I know.” She takes several deep breaths. “You remind me of Lily sometimes. So smart yet so, so stupid.” She laughs wetly. “I couldn’t save my sister, but maybe I can save you.”

“Worry about yourself first!” Draco’s back smacks against a tree.

Eda’s breath comes out shaky. “Fly back to the Owl House and get the elixir. I’m not sure I’ll still be here when you get back, but it’s your best bet.”

“EDA!”

All that comes out of the beast’s throat is a guttural howl.

Draco drops, a talon missing his shoulder by inches. He crawls under the beast on his stomach; he is absolutely not getting caged by beast Eda. Scrambling to his feet, Draco dives for his broom. Eda leaps over him and bats it aside. The wood brushed his fingers, damn it! He rolls out of the way of another swipe and gets back on his feet, making a run for the woods. Eda roars, but she doesn’t pursue.

Draco doesn’t stop running. He can’t stop running, at least until he’s forced to stop. The tree line ends, and he skids to a halt moments before falling into open air. A cliff drops out in front of him, deep into the pit in the Titan’s chest. A massive, tiered castle rises out of the pit, draped with fluttering gold banners of the Emperor’s Coven sigil. A bridge stretches across an open gap between the castle and a hillside.

This has to be the Emperor’s Castle. Draco backs away from the edge. Eda told him to leave, but he can’t leave her here alone, can he? Not when the Emperor has a bounty on her head. Not when it’s his fault she transformed in the first place.

Draco squeezes his eyes shut. God, it is his fault, isn’t it? He doesn’t know all of the logistics of her curse, but it must’ve been worsened by her anger. Unlike with Werewolves, she can’t transform back when the moon disappears behind the horizon. She’s stuck as the Owl Beast until she drinks her elixir. Why did he have to lash out and make things worse? Eda was right; he doesn’t deserve her.

Draco’s misery is interrupted by hooting, and a new weight on his shoulder. Draco turns his head to spot Eda’s small, brown burrowing owl.

“Eda’s staff?” Draco holds his hand out in front of it. The owl jumps onto his palm, and Draco shifts the owl in front of him. “Are you alright?”

The owl hoots with a small nod.

Draco pulls his knees up to his chest. “I didn’t mean to-” Draco presses his lips into a line. “No, I did mean it. I was trying to make her angry. I just didn’t realize it would set off her curse.”

The owl hoots, eyes tilted down. Is it sad? Concerned? Draco can’t tell.

“I just wanted to know why,” Draco mumbles. “Nobody cares for you without some other goal. You have to earn affection. And yet…”

The worst part is I don’t hate you.

Draco hadn’t done anything to deserve her care, and he still had it.

 “I have to fix this.” He gets to his feet. “Shall we go save your master?”

The owl hoots, pleased, and flies to Draco’s shoulder.

It takes ages to track down the Owl Beast again. The sun has fully set by the time he manages to find Eda, perched high above in a tree and standing still as stone. He ducks behind a bush. Eda doesn’t move for several minutes, until a small animal pokes its way out of the ground. She pounces, trapping the animal under a claw. It squeals and wriggles as Eda swallows it whole.

Draco shudders. “Horrifying,” he whispers.

The owl chitters.

“I know, give me a moment.” Draco scrapes a hand through his now thoroughly ruined hair. He needs a way to get himself and Eda back to the Owl House. Her beast form has wings, so they could fly, but he’d need to get her to follow him. She’s unable to do that in her current state, so that’s out of the question. He could tie her up and levitate her home, but— no, he’d need magic for that. Draco smacks a palm to his forehead. Damn it, he needs a plan! There has to be something he can do other than fleeing!

Draco hears it before he sees it; a soft growl and heavy footsteps. Slowly, Draco looks up. The Owl Beast leers over him, drool dripping onto his head.

“Oh no.” Draco’s voice wavers.

Eda screeches and pounces. Draco’s head cracks against the ground, his arms pinned by Eda’s front talons. The owl flies up and out of the way, but beast Eda only has eyes for Draco. It shrieks, slobber flying all over his face.

“I’m sorry!” Draco cries. Eda falls abruptly silent. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse. You’re right, I’m a coward. I’m the worst coward there ever was! You can take it out on me all you want, but please.” Draco swallows down the lump in his throat. “Don’t hurt Eda.”

The Owl Beast doesn’t move. Draco squeezes his eyes shut.

…and the beast moves off of him.

Draco blinks. Cautiously, he sits up. The beast watches him, tilting its head to the side.

“Are you…” Draco gets to his feet. “You can understand me?”

The Owl Beast stalks up to him, walking a circle around him and sniffing his clothes. The little owl lands back on his shoulder.

“Do you have any idea what’s happening?” Draco whispers. The owl holds his wings in the imitation of a shrug.

The beast circles back in front of him and rubs its head against his chest. Draco, against his better judgement, runs his fingers through its mane of fur. The beast purrs.

“Well.” Draco huffs with a small smile. “This makes things far easier.”

“Over here! I heard it this way!”

Draco’s gaze snaps behind him. There’s light approaching through the trees, and the sound of several voices.

Draco turns back to the beast. “We have to hide.”

When Draco runs into a thicker patch of trees, the beast follows. Draco peeks out to see a trio of the people in cloaks and bird masks emerge from the trees, each one holding light balls in their hands. Eda called them Coven Scouts, didn’t she?

“No sign of it.” The scout closest to Draco looks in his direction, and he ducks.

“We need to find this beast before it threatens the castle,” the largest of the coven scouts says. “Send patrols to the sky, it may be able to fly. The rest of us will take the ground.”

“Yes, sir!” The third scout salutes then hurries back through the trees. The other two continue forward, past Draco and the owl beast.

Draco waits until he can no longer hear their footsteps. “We need to move.” He turns to the Owl Beast. “They’re looking for you.”

The Owl Beast warbles, eyes tilting downwards.

“I’ll be fine as long as we keep you out of sight,” Draco says. “Come on.”

Flying is now out of the question for their escape. Unfortunate, since Draco would at least like to be able to place where he is. He returns to the clearing he and Eda landed in, retrieving his broom and rucksack. Eda stuffed a few things in here herself, what did she- ah! Draco pulls out a waterskin. Good thinking on her part. He takes a drink and wipes his mouth.

“Would you like some?” He looks to the Owl Beast. It whimpers and steps forward, so Draco tips some water into its mouth. It laps it up gratefully.

“Do you drink water?” Draco looks at the little owl.

He shakes his head.

“Good to know.” Draco twists the cap back on the waterskin and slips it back in the bag.

First order of business, Draco needs to get himself and the Owl Beast far away from the pit. If he remembers correctly, the pit’s off to his left, so heading forward should lead them towards the skull and closer to the right arm. Draco stuffs the handle of his broom under his vest, end facing down so he doesn’t have to carry it, slings the rucksack over his shoulder, and starts walking.

Luz and King must be worried sick at this point. Eda said they would return as the sun was setting, and it’s been an hour since the sun set. Draco can imagine it easily; King freaking out while Luz tries to rationalize and calm him down, but she’s just as if not more panicked than him. She’s probably jumping to the worst conclusions possible, knowing her way of thinking. He’s going to have to apologize for making them worry, and to Eda for this entire mess.

Draco shakes his head. He can loathe himself later, right now he needs to focus. Coven Scouts could find them at any time. He needs to be ready. He’ll be at a disadvantage without magic, but having the Owl Beast on his side should make up for that. As long as they don’t have something specifically to subdue it, that is.

Draco jumps when the owl beast pushes its head and body up under his hand. He relaxes and scratches the beast’s back.

“You don’t happen to know a way back to the Owl House, do you?” Draco says.

The beast whines in disappointment.

“I figured.” Draco pats its back. “Better I asked. Should I call you Eda or…?”

The owl beast huffs, glaring at the forest in front of them.

“Owl Beast, then.” Draco goes back to petting the beast like it’s Scorpius, his own pet owl. “You don’t like her much?”

The owl beast huffs again with a head shake.

“I can’t blame you.” Draco scratches a spot behind its wing that has the beast purring again. “She’s an acquired taste.”

One that Draco is beginning to realize he may have acquired already. Despite her flaws, Eda’s a very entertaining person. She has to be to evade the law for as long as she has. He can’t exactly blame her for breaking the law and refusing to join a coven. If he was forced to do something like that by the ministry, he wouldn’t take it, either. If he would be brave enough to stand up to them, that is.

Merlin, he’s sounding more and more like a Gryffindor by the second. He may need to be thrown back to the human realm just so he doesn’t turn into a dunderhead.

As they keep walking, more and more lights fade into view through the trees. A majority of them are distant, but there are a couple that are a bit too close for comfort. The cover of darkness hides their position, but Draco doesn’t talk again, and the Owl Beast seems to get the message as well, because it stays as quiet as a beast of its size can. Eda’s owl tucks itself into the crook of his neck, between Draco’s shoulder and jaw.

“We’ll get out of this,” Draco whispers. He pets the owl with a finger. “We have to.”

Draco stops. There’s a group of footsteps close to them. Too close.

“Back up, back up!” Draco pushes the Owl Beast back behind a cluster of tall bushes and vines and crouches down. The Owl Beast lays flat on its stomach, ears twitching. The footsteps draw closer, the light growing brighter.

“Man, why are we even looking for this thing?” One of the scouts complains. “We have demons everywhere.”

“The general said to,” another scout groans. “Beasts don’t come this close to the castle, so we gotta check it out.”

“I just wanna sleep,” a third scout says.

Draco doesn’t dare breathe. The group of scouts pass with little fanfare. He waits until they’re out of ear shot, then stands.

“Hurry.” Draco dashes forward, and the Owl Beast runs after him. That could’ve been bad. How far out were these Coven Scouts told to go? Hopefully not too much farther; they should be putting distance between them and the castle by now.

No such luck. Draco steps on a twig that snaps through the air.

“Over there!”

“Hide!” Draco hisses. The Owl Beast dives into a nearby ditch, Eda’s Owl darting to join it. Draco really, really hopes it’s dark enough they don’t see his rounded ears.

“Hey, you!”

Draco puts on his best annoyed face. “Yes?” He clicks his tongue.

The two Coven Scouts immediately shrink. “W-What’re you doing out here?” one asks.

“I’m trying to collect rare potion ingredients, have you ever heard of staying quiet in your miserable lives?”

The two shrink further, thoroughly cowed. “Uh, sorry sir, we, uh-”

“What ingredient are you looking for?” the second scout asks.

Draco comes up with something on the spot. “Night Crawlers.”

“Oh. Oooohhh.” The second scout inhales through their teeth. “Sorry, dude, our bad. That venom is so hard to get. We’ll get out of your hair.”

Draco rolls his eyes. “Good. I’ll have to start all over again.”

The two scouts scurry off into the forest like scolded children. As soon as they’re gone, the Owl Beast pokes out of the ditch, scanning the area, then treads back over to Draco. Eda’s Owl lands back on his shoulder with an amused hoot.

“God, I hate this.” Draco blows out some air. “Hopefully there actually is someone looking for that venom. I may have done them a favor.”

The next hour or so of walking is uneventful. It almost lures Draco into a false sense of security. Almost. He knows better than to let his guard down when its quiet. The lights grow further and further away. Draco’s feet are beginning to hurt, his eyes beginning to grow heavy. He keeps walking; this evening could not possibly get any worse.

He’s proven wrong when he trips over a stray root. His elbows scrape on bark and hard soil. The owl flies up before it can fall with him. The Owl Beast nudges Draco’s side with a concerned chitter.

“I’m fine,” Draco says through gritted teeth. He pushes himself up and dusts himself off, only to realize the treeline has disappeared once again. For a heart-stopping moment, he’s afraid he got the directions absurdly wrong, but this building doesn’t look the same. It’s far more rounded than the Emperor’s castle, with only one tower. He gestures for the Owl Beast to stay put, creeping to the edge of this new pit. The tower is surrounded by thick, stone walls, almost looking impenetrable. A field of spiked bones stretches out around it, all curved towards the massive structure.

“What is this place?” Draco mutters.

The owl squawks, flailing its wings.

“Whoa, it’s alright!” Draco scratches the owl’s head. “We’re too far from it to be in any danger.”

“HEY!”

Well, fuck. Draco jolts back from the edge. A large individual in a long, cone-shaped mask and dark uniform stomps in their direction. But they’re not looking at Draco.

“Get out of here! Shoo!” The guard, because it has to be a guard for whatever this hellhole is, draws a spell circle aimed at the Owl Beast.

“NO!” Draco darts in front of the Owl Beast. Whatever the spell was clips his right calf, and scorching agony rips across his skin. Draco cries out and loses his balance.

“What the-?”

Draco doesn’t hear the rest. A pair of large, strong arms wrap around him, and he’s pressed into dark grey feathers. There’s a burst of motion, and suddenly he’s no longer on the ground. An earth-shaking roar tears out of the Owl Beast as it gains altitude. Draco tangles his fingers in the soft downy. Eda’s staff owl, where is-?

There’s a soft hoot, and Draco glances down. The little owl managed to press himself between Draco’s chest and the Owl Beast.

“Thank god.” Draco releases the forming knot in his chest. He tries to ignore the pulsing pain in his leg and the burning in his eyes. It could’ve been a lot worse.

He’s not sure how long they’re flying for. The Owl Beast lands in an open grass plain, so no more thick forest. It sets Draco down in the grass on his back, and Eda’s owl takes the opportunity to fly up and land next to his head. The broom digs into his back, but he doesn’t sit up. Draco takes several deep breaths.

This is exactly what he deserves. None of this would’ve happened if he hadn’t been so utterly stupid. He just had to go and be an arse again, take out all of his pent-up rage against Eda at once. All she’d ever done was take care of him, and just like Luz, expect nothing in return for it. The mentality is still completely absurd to Draco; how are you supposed to achieve anything if you don’t take advantage of others? But it exists anyways.

There’s a sharp nip to Draco’s ear. “Ow!” He sits up. “What was that-!?”

Eda’s owl perches on top of the rucksack, giving Draco a hard look.

Draco glares at the little owl. “No.”

The Owl Beast, who’s at his feet, bears its teeth at him.

“I don’t need it,” Draco says. “Besides, I don’t even know how Boiling Isles healing works.” It’s a weak excuse, but he’s not about to waste those supplies on himself. He can handle a small burn.

Draco glances down at his- nevermind, it’s not a small burn. The spell burned straight through his trousers, and a long, diagonal, angry-looking red mar sticks out starkly on his normally pale skin. However, his point still stands. He can wait until they’re back at the Owl House and Eda has her elixir before he treats his leg. Speaking of which, how close are they to the right arm?

Draco looks around. He doesn’t recognize this place, and he can’t see any kind of civilization anywhere nearby. The large spires of the ribs curve above their heads, and in front of him there’s massive curved arches in the distance, the right knee sticking into the air…

“Are those the hips?” If those are the hips, then that means they’re farther from home than they were before. Draco drops his face into his hands. They’re never going to make it back. He’s such an idiot, why did he think it was a good idea to say all those cruel things!?

There’s another sharp nip to his fingers. “Ugh, what now?” Draco lowers his hands. Eda’s owl pulls open the top flap of the rucksack and rustles around in the mess of items. He emerges a moments later, a small glass jar filled with clear salve with a healing coven sigil stuck to the side in his talons. He drops it in Draco’s lap, lands on his left knee, then stamps his Talon.

“Fine, fine! I’ll do it.” Draco shoos the owl off his knee and peels his tattered trouser leg from his skin. “But only because you won’t leave me alone.”

The little owl nods in satisfaction. The Owl Beast lays in the grass, its large black eyes fixated on Draco as he pops the lid off the jar. He scoops some of the salve onto his fingers with a clenched jaw and coats the burn. It stings initially, and he hisses through his teeth, but the heat cools and Draco relaxes. The owl flies back into the rucksack and emerges with a roll of bandages and a healing glyph on a piece of paper. Draco twists the top back on the jar and slips it back into the bag, then wraps his leg. Bandages normally require fasteners, don’t they? Why didn’t the owl grab any of those?

Once he’s done, Draco cuts off the excess and holds down the loose end with a hand. “How do I…?”

The owl drops the healing glyph into his other hand.

“How is this supposed to help me keep the bandages in place?” Draco says.

The owl hoots and flips the glyph over. It picks at the corner off it, then pulls off a second sheet Draco hadn’t seen. Curious, Draco pokes the back of the glyph, and it sticks to his finger.

“Ah, so that’s how the power glyph stuck to Blight’s neck.” Draco presses the glyph down over the loose end of the bandage, and it holds. The owl takes the liberty to drop the extra bandages and the sheet covering the sticky side of the glyph into the rucksack and pull it closed. Draco pulls his trouser leg back down, even though it doesn’t do much to cover the bandages. Already his leg feels better, once again good on Eda for thinking ahead. But he’s not about to tell the owl and the Owl Beast they were right. Mother hens, the both of them.

“Okay.” Draco stands, the skin on his calf pulling uncomfortably. “We’ll have to head back the direction we came, back through the area around the castle. And I finally thought we were in the clear.” Draco drags a hand down his face. “Piss her off, Draco! See what happens! Surely nothing bad will come of this!”

Moments like these are when he desperately wishes he still had his magic. It’s proven to be able to function in this realm, but Draco’s barely been able to do it at will. Magic would’ve eased this ordeal. In fact, he would’ve been able to dodge it entirely. All he would’ve needed was the little “point me” incantation and he could’ve found his way back. But that’s not how magic works here. Draco needs to stop deluding himself. He can’t force magic to happen or twist it into something it’s not.

“What am I missing?” Draco looks up. The stars of magenta, purple and blue dot across the night sky.

Harmonize with the magic.

Make a connection to nature.

A soft breeze rustles the grasses beneath his feet. His eyes catch on a constellation; one he recognizes.

“Is that…?” Draco traces the shape with his finger. “Luz’s light glyph?”

The owl hoots in confusion, but Draco can’t unsee it. The shape of Luz’s light glyph is drawn in the stars, stark against the dark sky.

“But why is that…” Draco’s eyes widen.

“We create songs to harmonize with the magic around us. Once we find the harmony, the magic listens to our will.”

“Wild witches practiced magic by making a connection with nature, learning their magic from the island itself.”

It’s just like how spells have certain cadences to function correctly, how their syllables sync with their gesture. You draw out the -ar in Wingardium Leviosa in time with the crest of the swish, draw a sharp slash with a Stupefy. At the Covention, the magic was out of sync. That must be why his hand cramped so badly, it was forced into a rhythm that made the magic clash with his intent. Spells have to create a rhythm, a feeling the magic can flow with rather than against. That’s why mindfulness is so strongly encouraged in the basic magical theory; witches have to be in tune with themselves in order to use magic properly. Be out of sync, and the magic falls out of your control.

Draco flexes his fingers, letting his eyes fall shut. He takes a deep breath, focusing on the way the air moves through his body, grounding himself in the sensations. He listens to the breeze through the grass, the sound of the Owl Beast’s shifting movements, his own heartbeat. The night is calm and undisturbed. Draco slows his heartbeat to match. He draws his focus to what he wants; The Owl House, it’s lived-in, lively atmosphere, his and Luz’s cluttered room, their items beginning to blend together. The Owl House is a place of light and laughter, of not caring what’s beyond their door, because they’re all safe and sound inside of its walls.

The magic begins to dance across his skin; Draco moves with it.

He draws his arms through the air at his sides, a looping circle whose end curves just inside the outer edge. Something at his center unclenches, energy buzzing across his skin, and Draco dares to open his eyes.

Flying above the grasses is a glowing blue snowy owl.

It appears similar to a patronus, but it’s not. Patronuses are more wispy and loose; this owl is a solid, comforting light. It soars a circle around Draco, the cool night air caressing against his body.

Draco laughs. “I did it.”

The owl swoops through the air, then flies away from the direction of the hips.

“Follow that owl!” Draco grins. The Owl Beast tosses Draco onto its back with a wing, catching Draco by surprise. The little owl lands on his shoulder, and the Owl Beast charges after the glowing owl with a triumphant roar.

Something giddy and warm bubbles in his chest. He just did magic. He can’t wait to show Eda. If she’ll forgive him, that is.

It takes the rest of the night. They have to crawl through the Coven Scouts again, though there are far less than before. As soon as they’re away from the castle, Draco’s owl takes to the sky, and the Owl Beast follows it with a bounding leap. Not once does the owl flicker or disappear; it stays with them, intent on fulfilling its goal.

The sun is peeking over the horizon by the time Draco spots Bonesborough. A weight falls from Draco’s shoulder as he traces the memorized path from the city up to the Owl House. He’s exhausted, and his leg hurts, his feet are sore, and he’s definitely going to spend the rest of his day sleeping, but there are tasks to be done first.

Hooty squawks as soon as the Owl Beast touches down on the front lawn.

“OWL BEAST!” Hooty cries. The Owl Beast tenses, growling.

Draco slides off of the Owl Beast. “He’s not going to hurt you.” He sets a hand on the Owl Beast’s side, running his fingers through the feathers. “He’s a friend, calm down.” The Owl Beast glances at Draco, and slowly relaxes. At least until the front door flies open.

“EDA!?” Luz stops dead and catches King before he can get any closer. “What happened!? How-”

“Shh!” Draco hisses. The Owl Beast is growling again, and he does not want it to attack. Luz snaps her mouth shut. King clings to her leg, eyes impossibly wide.

Draco moves so he’s in front of the Owl Beast, blocking its line of sight from Luz and King. “They’re here to help us.” Draco runs a hand through its mane. “None of them are threats, I promise.”

“Did you tame the Owl Beast?” King squeaks. Luz quickly shushes him.

The Owl Beast studies Draco. Draco’s not sure what its looking for, but it seems to find it, because it stops growling, instead giving an inquisitive little grumble.

“There we go,” Draco says. He turns his back to the beast, trusting it not to hurt him. “We need some of Eda’s elixir.”

King takes the initiative and hurries back inside the house.

“What happened?” Luz keeps her voice down, inching forward as to not startle the Owl Beast. “You guys didn’t come back, King and I were worried.”

“I’ll explain everything, after I get some sleep and have a talk with Eda.” Draco rubs his eye. Luz has bags under her eyes, most likely from not sleeping herself.

“Okay, but I-” Luz gasps. Draco’s gaze flashes around in a slight panic, until his glowing owl lands on his free shoulder. Luz is staring at it with stars in her eyes.

Draco chuckles. “We’re alright now,” he says to the owl. “Thank you for your help.”

The glowing owl nods, then dissipates into a swirl of lights. Draco has a strange sense of loss when its gone, but he knows it won’t be gone forever. He has his magic now.

“Did you do that?” Luz whispers. Draco nods. Luz squeals, throwing her arms around Draco. “Ohmygosh you did it! I’m so happy for you!” Draco hisses when her leg bumps his burn, and she quickly springs away.

“You’re hurt!?” Luz’s eyes snap down to his leg. “We should clean that.”

“I really don’t-”

“Nuh uh, you’re not getting out of this one.” Luz grabs his wrist and drags him inside with a yelp. The Owl Beast is happy to trot after him like an excited dog, the beastie.

~~~

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”

Draco jerks out of his doze. The side of Eda’s nest isn’t the least bit comfortable, the twigs were prodding into his cheek. He really must be exhausted. But that doesn’t matter right now. Eda’s awake and watching him, a tired smirk on her lips as she’s slouched against the inside of her nest.

“You’re alright, then.” Draco can’t quite bring himself to make eye contact with her.

“I’m sore in places I didn’t think I could be sore, but yeah. I’m good.”

Draco exhales. What is he supposed to say? He has no idea where to start. Does he apologize? Start from the beginning? Explain how he accidentally tamed the Owl Beast? His head hurts, he doesn’t have enough energy for this.

“You gonna explain what happened?” Eda says. “Looks like you’ve been through it.”

“I don’t know,” Draco mumbles.

“Kid, would you look at me?”

Draco forces himself to make eye contact, assess the yellow color of her eyes. He really must be tired, because tears spring to his eyes against his will.

“Oh boy.” Eda sits up.

“I’m sorry,” Draco blubbers like a baby, it’s embarrassing. His father would punish him for such immature behavior. He’s fifteen, why is he crying!?

“C’mere.” Eda grabs his hand, and because he’s weak, he follows her pull and steps into the nest. She tugs him down into her side, looping an arm around his middle and cupping his cheek with the other hand. She wipes his tears away with her thumb, and Draco can’t help but feel raw. The last time he was held like this must’ve been years ago. When he was six or seven, maybe?

“I don’t know what happened yet, but you did good.” Eda’s eyes are filled with pride. “You did so good.”

Draco shakes his head. “’s my fault,” he chokes. “I never should’ve said those things, I didn’t- I-”

Eda tucks his head under her chin with a hum. “It’s okay, I get it. You were mad because you didn’t know what I wanted. You could’ve been more straightforward, but it’s hard to do when you haven’t been taught.”

Draco squeezes his eyes closed and hides his face in Eda’s shoulder. “I don’t deserve you,” he mumbles.

“Nah, I think you do.” Eda combs her fingers through his messy hair. He hadn’t bothered to do anything with it after Luz forced him to take a shower and change into pajamas. “I said some messed up stuff back there, too. I’m sorry. I know better than to take my anger out on a kid who doesn’t know any better.”

Has an adult ever apologized to Draco before? He doesn’t think so, he can’t remember any instances of it occurring. It makes the tears that much harder to control.

“Let it out, Wizface.” Draco can feel the hum of her voice. “We all need a good cry every once in a while.”

That’s all it takes. Draco’s not sure how long they stay there for. There will be many questions, stories, and explanations to be had, but he’s far too tired to care. Only one question really sticks in his tired mind as he finds himself drifting off.

Has he been missing this his entire life?

~~~

That’s it, Luz can’t wait any longer. Draco said he wanted to talk to Eda first when she woke up but they have to have talked by now, right? She takes the stairs two at a time, King on her heels as she sprints down the hall and throws open Eda’s door.

“Eda! Are you-”

“Shhhhh!” Eda’s shushing and iconic hard look stop her short. “He’s sleeping.”

He’s-? Oh, oh! Luz tip-toes to Eda’s nest, King’s claws tip-tapping behind her. Sure enough, Draco’s conked out, curled into Eda’s side with his head on her shoulder. His face is kind of puffy like he’s been crying, but he looks peaceful.

“Aww, he looks so sweet when he’s not angry,” Luz coos.

Eda snorts quietly. “Don’t let him hear you say that.”

King jumps up and kicks himself into Eda’s nest. He gets back on his feet. “You look comfy.” He taps his paws together.

Eda rolls her eyes with a smile. “Get over here, King.”

King giggles and scampers onto her lap, curling into the warmth. He sighs in delight.

Luz grins. “Nest cuddle party?”

“Yeah, sure.” Eda sounds annoyed, but her big smile says otherwise. Luz hops in and curls into Eda’s other side, running her fingers through King’s fur and squishing her cheek into Eda’s shoulder. It’s bony, but not so bony its uncomfortable.

“Do you know what happened?” Eda asks.

“Bits and pieces,” Luz says. “Draco came back early this morning with Owlbert on the Owl Beast’s back. He tamed the Owl Beast, can you believe that?”

“Did he?” Eda looks at him in surprise. “How do you three manage to keep surprising me.” Her smile turns soft and fond.

“Oh, and he fixed his magic!” Luz wiggles in excitement. “He made this blue light owl that he said led him back here, it was so cool.”

Eda’s eyebrows raise. “Huh.”

“I’m soooo jealous,” Luz says. “I would love to summon a cool glowing owl anytime I wanted.”

“We can ask him how he did it when he wakes up,” Eda says. “For now, you didn’t sleep either, did you.”

Luz yawns. “What gave it away?”

Eda laughs. “Go to sleep, kid. We’re all gonna sit down for a long talk once we’ve gotten some rest.”

Luz nods, rubbing her eyes. She’s pretty sure she could sleep for a week with how stressed she’s been. Her eyes fall shut, and she lets her breathing even out.

It’s times like these where she misses her mom the most.

~~~

Meetings with the Emperor never failed to be a strenuous experience. Lilith is head of the Emperor’s Coven, yes, but she knows better than to assume that will give her special privileges. The title could be yanked from under her feet in less than a second if she steps even an inch out of line, no exceptions. Luckily, she’s not keen on falling out of favor. She worked tirelessly to reach where she is now, and she’s not giving it up for anything.

The thumping of the beating heart of the Titan thrums through her chest as she approaches the throne. She kneels on one knee at the foot of his throne, bowing her head.

“I am at your service, Emperor Belos.”

Emperor Belos sits tall and imposing on his throne, the horns of his golden mask stretching sharply upwards. The shadows cast on his form make him seem impossibly taller. At his right side stands the cloaked and masked Golden Guard. Lilith only ever saw his predecessor without his mask; she hasn’t seen the face behind this new teenage prodigy yet.

“You may rise,” Belos says.

Lilith gets to her feet. “You wanted to see me.”

“Yes.” Emperor Belos methodically taps an armored finger on the arm of his throne. “I’ve been hearing… rumors. About a chance encounter at the Covention, which I heard you witnessed.”

“The human who could use magic.” While it is a miraculous phenomenon, Lilith didn’t think Emperor Belos would be interested in some random human.

Emperor Belos seems to weigh her words carefully. “Did you catch their name, perchance?”

“I didn’t,” Lilith admits. “But I do know he’s living with my sister, alongside one other human who I believe doesn’t have magical abilities.”

“Eda the Owl Lady.” Emperor Belos hums in thought.

“If you have an interest in him, I can capture him alongside my sister.” Lilith clasps her hands in front of her. “I will organize a group of scouts and we can raid-”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Lilith falls silent.

“Golden Guard?”

The boy in the golden mask straightens. “Yes?”

“I’m assigning you to work alongside Lilith,” Emperor Belos says. “She will focus on the Owl Lady, but I want you to focus on capturing this supposed ‘magical human’. Bring him to me, and be subtle about what you are trying to do.”

The boy bows. “Yes, Emperor Belos.”

Emperor Belos turns his attention back to Lilith. “You will focus purely on capturing your sister. Assist the Golden Guard with information where he needs it.”

Lilith wants to protest, but she holds her tongue. As much as she doesn’t like the current Golden Guard, it would be unseemly to insult a superior. Let alone the Emperor’s nephew.

“Understood.” Lilith bows.

Emperor Belos’s finger stops. “Then you are dismissed.”

Lilith can still feel the thudding of the heartbeat long after it’s faded into the castle.

Chapter Text

“Alright, Wizface.” Eda plants her hands on her hips, her pointed gold tooth glinting in her smirk. “How’d you get that spell to work?”

It’s been a couple of days since the four of them woke up. After Draco had recounted everything, Eda had enforced a day of recovery for fixing sleep schedules and properly healing Draco’s burn. Draco hadn’t protested much. He was still wrung out even after sleeping for so long. But as soon as his burn was healed and he felt properly rested, he dragged Eda out to the clearing he first arrived in. Luz, King, and Hooty had all insisted on tagging along.

Draco hums, parsing together his thoughts. “Well, I had all of the basic pieces I needed. The power source, the control point, and the intent I all understood.”

Luz, standing next to him, raises her hand.

“Yes, Luz?” Eda says.

“What are those?” Luz asks.

Eda gives her the same explanation she gave Draco, altered slightly for her glyphs. Luz listens intently, occasionally jotting down something on a small notepad she nabbed from Eda’s muggle items collection.

“Okay, then why was your magic still acting funky?” Eda turns back to Draco once Luz has understood.

“I was missing the technique,” Draco says. “Your ‘connection to nature’ reasoning sounded like tosh, but you were right.”

Eda grins.

Draco quickly moves on before she can start teasing him. “I had to listen to it, piece together it’s rhythm, and move with it. I was out of sync back at the Covention, hence why my side effects were so harsh.”

“So like dancing?” Luz says. She’s taking more notes.

“Yes, exactly, except the music is the magic itself,” Draco says.

“Good… to… know.” Luz jots it down.

“It’s like how we need to keep specific syllables in line with gestures back in the human realm,” Draco says. He’s mostly doing this for Luz’s sake, but Eda would want to know as well. “In the reparo spell, for example, the gesture’s roughly in the shape of a backwards uppercase G. For it to cast correctly, you need to emphasize the -pa in your pronunciation, making sharp cuts for the r consonants and the curve for -pa.”

Luz frowns at her page. “But a G only has one straight line?”

“Could I borrow that?” Draco says.

Luz nods, handing over the notepad and pen. He holds it out so she can see, Eda nudging her way in to get a better look.

“It looks more like this.” He draws the shape of the gesture while reciting the spell. Instead of curving at the top, it makes a point, then curves at the bottom.

“Oooohhh.” Luz takes her notepad back.

Eda whistles. “Dang, human magic is complicated.”

“It gets easier,” Draco says. “You only learn about 15 spells your first year, but that number significantly increases once you develop an instinct for it.”

Eda nods. “And you didn’t have to use words?”

“Yes,” Draco says. “Though I’m not entirely sure why.”

Eda furrows her brows. “That’s probably because Boiling Isles magic relies more on what you imagine than using language to say what you want.”

“That and humans seem to cheat magic,” Draco says.

“Wait, they what!?” Luz’s jaw drops.

Draco pulls his wand from his vest. “Eda explained it to me. This wand is made using magic materials from nature, so humans can shortcut the connection to it and themselves. Wandless and wordless magic is possible with human magic, I’ve seen it, but only powerful wizards can use it consistently. All of the books I’ve read about magic here emphasize being in-tune with yourself to use your magic properly. From what I understand, humans use wands so they don’t have to take those extra steps.”

Luz drops her notepad from pure shock.

“Close your mouth, you look like a fish.” Draco smirks.

Luz snaps her mouth shut and scrambles to pick up her notepad. Eda’s expression is warm. It’s a face he’s seen only once or twice; pride. Draco looks away before he can embarrass himself.

“I have to see how you cast your spells.” Luz smooths down the front of her cropped shirt. “Please?”

Draco rolls his eyes. “Only because you asked so nicely.”

Luz beams, skipping back to give him space. Eda joins her. Draco stows his wand, takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. The magic in this area is less potent than it was at the chest, but he can still feel it; in the blades of grass, in the trees, in Eda and King and Luz and Hooty themselves. Draco traces the circle shape with both arms, the end of the circle curving inside of where he started the line.

Nothing happens.

Draco knows nothing happened before he opens his eyes. The magic sort of… sputtered and died at his fingertips. He attempts again, but yet again the magic flickers out.

“Why- is this- not- working!?” Draco tries again and again without success. He throws his hands in the air with a curse. Was it yet another one-off? Is he never getting his magic back?

“Hey, slow down there Wizface!” Eda’s hands land on his shoulders. “Deep breaths, okay?” She exaggerates her deep breathing, in and out. Draco copies her. It doesn’t take him long to calm down, the frustration ebbing away.

“Good.” Eda squeezes his shoulders. “What were you thinking about when you cast the spell last time?”

“What a patronus is supposed to do,” Draco says. He’d been drilled for the purpose of a patronus when he recounted everything. Dementors don’t exist in the Boiling Isles, so his spell took on a different form, but it still worked. Eda was horrified but deeply intrigued. Luz swore off going anywhere near Azkaban ever, and King had been far too excited for his own good.

“Anything else?”

Draco thinks back to that night. What else was he thinking about? Oh. “I was thinking of the Owl House. In order for a patronus to work, you have to think of a happy memory.”

Eda’s eyebrows raise in surprise, and she smiles. “That’s what you’re missing. Got a happy memory in mind?”

“I think so.” Casting his first real spell after losing his magic could power a hundred patronuses.

“Then go for it.” Eda lets go and steps back next to Luz.

His second attempt finally succeeds. Ribbons of blue light burst from his fingers, weaving in the air into the familiar shape of the snowy owl. The owl circles the air above his head, swooping down and landing gracefully on his shoulder. Eda and Luz are fixated on it, eyes sparkling with wonder.

“Woohoo! Go Draco!” Hooty shakes what Luz called a cheerleading pom-pom, held in his beak.

“It looks a little bit like Eda’s sister’s raven,” King comments. “Except the blue’s darker.”

“I think I like my owl better.” Draco grins. The snowy owl screeches. He had no idea patronuses could even make sound. Maybe it’s something specific to the Boiling Isles?

“He’s gorgeous.” Eda goes to pet the owl’s head, but her hand goes right through. “Dang it.”

“He’s so magical,” Luz coos, walking a circle around Draco to look from all angles. “I wanna cast this so bad. Wait.” Luz gasps and flips to an empty page of her notepad, drawing a light glyph. She smacks it, and a light in the shape of an otter forms, about the same size as Draco’s owl. “Yes!”

“Well look at you kid.” Eda ruffles Luz’s hair. “Getting more creative already.”

Unlike Draco’s owl, Luz’s otter doesn’t move, only a still statue of the image she imagined. However, it is quite impressive that she was able to visualize it. She really has a knack for magic.

“I’ll have to do some experimenting, see what other human spells I can translate over,” Draco says. “Thank you, you’re free to go.”

The snowy owl nods, and disperses into balls of blue light.

“Not without me you aren’t,” Eda says with a smirk.

“Obviously not.” Draco can’t help a small, fond smile.

“Maybe I can learn my second spell from human magic.” Luz dismisses the otter and flips her notepad closed. “Ooo, like that general spell canceller! Finite Incantatem, right?”

“Right,” Draco says. “We’ll see how well it translates into Boiling Isles magic.”

“Ah, I love the feeling of success.” Eda rests a hand back on her hip. “It feels… fluffy?”

Luz’s expression plummets. “Uh, Eda?” Her voice shakes.

“What?”

Draco’s eyes widen as he spots it. “It’s happening again.” He pales.

“What’s happening again? Stop being so vague,” Eda demands.

“Your curse is returning!” King dashes up to them.

The tips of feathers are beginning to form up and down Eda’s arms. Eda shrieks.

The four of them are back to the house in record time, mostly thanks to Hooty scooping them up and throwing them inside. Eda throws open the door to her room and flies to a small green chest pushed up against the front of her nest. She pulls it out and throws it open, then inhales through her teeth.

“What? What is it?” Draco peeks into the chest himself. Four empty glass elixir bottles stare back at him.

“Oh boy.” Eda winces as she takes one out.

“How do you run out of your elixir!?” Draco snaps. “You literally make potions for a living!”

“It’s ridiculously complicated to make and the ingredients are rare, okay!?” Eda snaps back.

“GUYS!” Luz interrupts their little spat. “Arguing isn’t gonna help anyone!”

Draco grumbles. He’s not going to give Luz the satisfaction of letting her know she’s right.

“Sorry kids, I thought I had more of this stocked up. Must’ve miscounted the days cause of the incident.” AKA, the entire fiasco from a couple days ago. Draco clamps down the surge of guilt. Eda’s already forgiven him, but it doesn’t stop Draco noticing how much Eda’s curse has been flaring since it happened.

Eda tosses the bottle behind her, and it smashes against the wall. “We need to head to the market.”

“Market!” Luz smiles.

“I’m gonna steal everything that’s not nailed down!” King cheers.

“Please tell me I don’t have to deal with that embarrassing…” Draco makes a vague motion at his chest.

Luz smirks. “Baby leash?”

“It is not a baby leash!” Draco barks. Luz giggles, the cheeky twit.

“Nah, I’m buying, not selling.” Eda’s lip quirks up. “Toddler leash fits better in my opinion.”

“You’re all insufferable,” Draco groans. It takes Eda, Luz, and King a solid twenty minutes to stop laughing.

Unlike on market days, where people set up booths along the wide street bordering the heart of Bonesborough, the regular market is a street of built-in stores and businesses, some with small storefronts, others with things such as indoor seating for restaurants. There are a few temporary booths scattered around, but they’re few and far between. Eda ends up pounding on the window grate of one of the smaller storefronts, a small building shared with a few other businesses with a large teal sign labelled “Mr. Elixir” over top. It’s tucked away from the main market street into a side area, but that doesn’t lessen the amount of people. Draco doesn’t have the patience to stand around and wait, so he takes a seat on a nearby bench, followed shortly after by Luz and King.

Luz has her nose tucked in Draco’s third year Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. She’d brought it with her after Eda told her they didn’t have time to stop by the bookstore. King flops on his stomach across her lap, yawning and kicking his feet.

“What’s so interesting about this human magic?” King complains.

“It’s human magic.” Luz puts a finger on what she was reading. “Humans like me do this kind of magic! I wanna know everything about it.”

“Why can’t you ask Draco?” King gestures to him. “Books are so slow.”

“Because the books tell me stuff he can’t.” Luz turns the page. “Ooo, what’s this?”

“What’s what?” Draco raises a brow, leaning over to read her page. He inhales sharply. “I hate Grindylows. I’m certain I still have the bite marks somewhere on me.”

King sits up to read the page himself. “In here it says they’re water demons.” King points at the label beneath the picture of the little tentacled creep.

Luz blinks in confusion. “Uh…?”

“Not literal Demon Realm demons,” Draco clarifies. “We call them that because they’re classified as dark creatures. They eat people on occasion.”

Luz’s eyes widen. “And you were taught to fight them your third year?” She squeaks.

“Considering they’re common in the UK and Ireland, yes.”

“Who knew the human realm could be so terrifying?” King’s elated, eyes large and glittering as he reads the page. “First dementors, now these!”

“You’ll fit right in.” Draco chuckles.

King gets to his feet and swings a clawed finger at Draco. “I demand you show me everything about human magic!”

“Oh, so now you’re interested?” Draco teases.

“The King of Demons will conquer this uncharted realm!”

“What’s a potter?”

Draco’s caught off-guard. “Sorry?”

Luz’s eyes are narrowed at the margins of the Grindylow page. Draco has notes scattered throughout his textbooks, and this one is no different. “You keep mentioning a potter in your notes.”

Ah. Well, that’s- “You don’t need to worry about that, it’s nothing.”

He had been feeling particularly aggressive towards Potter that year due to Buckbeak. He was finally getting the one-up on him, and his parents had been pleased that Draco had been pushing so hard against the half giant. He was taking his wins where he could get them and gloating excessively.

Luz narrows her eyes at the page further. “It doesn’t seem like nothing. You say something like ‘prissy perfect potter always managing to be-’”

“Don’t finish that!” Draco smacks his hand down on her page. His face is burning. Dammit, Malfoy, now she’ll know something’s up!

Luz’s eyes are wide in surprise. “Uh…?”

“Ooo, Draco has drama.” King says, all sing-songy.

“I do not have…!” Something across the street catches Draco’s attention, and he trails off. A massive, purplish-red creature with a shrimp-like tail, horns, and large, bulging eyes is roped down to a wooden cart. People in brown cloaks are pulling said cart along. A demon with large, sharp teeth, greyish-green skin, an eyepatch, and a large sword strapped to his back leads the procession.

“Whoa.” Luz seems to have lost where they were. “That is one ominous parade.”

“That’s no parade.”

Draco jumps. Really, Eda wasn’t that far away, she probably heard their entire conversation, but he wasn’t expecting her to speak up.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen those guys,” King comments. He slides off of Luz’s lap to get a better look.

“Who are they?” Luz says. She closes the book and sets it aside on the bench.

Eda’s brows furrow. “Those are demon hunters. Dangerous nomads who capture and sell the most powerful beasts.”

The beast throws itself against its restraints with a gurgling roar. The cloaked individuals fight to tie it back down as the beast tries to take a bite out of their leader. The leader draws a lime green spell circle, and lightning crackles to life in his hand. He throws it at the beast, who convulses, and soon after falls unconscious. He must sense that they’re watching him, because he turns to glare at the four of them with his one functioning eye.

 “Freaky,” Luz whispers.

“Which I’m about to become if you don’t open up, Morton!” Eda bangs on the grate yet again.

A gangly young man who looks to be in his 20s with pale skin and a strange pin-shaped silver hat pushes open the grate. “Sorry, Eda. I was up all night poison tasting. For some reason, I don’t feel great.”

Of course you don’t, idiot. Draco’s about to question his sanity when Luz grabs his wrist and bodily drags him to his feet.

“Oi!” Draco wrestles himself free. “What’re you-”

“Friends!” Luz’s barreling right towards a downtrodden Willow and Porter.

Draco jogs to catch up to her. “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes, it was! Willow, Gus!” Luz goes to embrace the pair, but skids to a stop as she notices their dour mood. “Wait. What’s wrong? Who hurt my babies?”

“Them.” Willow points with her thumb to her left. Draco follows her thumb towards none other than Blight and her entourage, perusing some wares at a nearby shop.

“What are they doing here?” Draco scoffs.

“Probably getting snacks for conjuring night,” Porter pouts.

“Snacks for what?” Did Draco mishear that?

“Tonight’s the moonlight conjuring,” Willow says. “Amity’s having a big party for it.”

“She keeps posting about it on her Penstagram account just to make fun of Willow.” Porter draws a spell circle, and a small scroll with purple parchment appears in his hand. He unfurls it to reveal an image of Blight and the three witch girls she’s with, labelled with a caption.

It’s conjuring night! No dorks allowed!

Luz glares at the image. “What a jerk!”

“That could be referring to anyone,” Draco says.

“Sorry you didn’t get invited to a conjuring, dork!” The girl with three eyes, pink skin and dark pink hair mocks, waving to Willow as she, Blight, and the other two girls pass by. “Only real witches allowed.”

Blight scoffs. “Leave her alone. It’s not her fault she was born without talent.”

The group of four walk off, giggling.

“I stand corrected,” Draco mutters.

Willow growls. Thorned vines burst from the earth around her feet. Draco jumps back as one tries to catch his ankle, and Porter yelps when another taps his shoulder. A third goes for Luz’s wrist, which she smacks, and it promptly backs off. After a moment, Willow gains enough control to drop the magic and let them sink back into the ground.

“‘Not a real witch’ my arse.” Draco glares at the girls as they disappear around a corner. “Blight lost to you at Hexside, she’s just too stubborn to admit it.”

Willow smiles and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “Thanks.”

“Not to interrupt your bonding moment,” Luz says. “But what’s a moonlight conjuring?”

“I would also like to know,” Draco says. In the human realm, “conjure” is used in the context of bringing something into existence, usually temporarily in the form of transfiguration. Draco has a feeling it means something different here.

“You spend the night at someone’s house,” Willow says. “Telling stories, playing games-”

Luz lights up. “Like a slumber party! We have those.”

Willow pulls a book from her school bag, flipping to a particular page. “Then you bring something to life with moon magic!”

Draco studies the image depiction. Ritualistic magic hasn’t been practiced in the human wizarding world since the death of paganism, and this very much looks like a ritual. He’ll admit it, he’s intrigued.

“Like a weird slumber party!” Luz says.

“Is that a muggle thing?” Draco asks.

“It’s only the most iconic teenage sitcom event ever,” Luz pokes his shoulder. “You’re behind the times, Mr. Wizard.”

“Willow and I have never been invited to a conjuring.” Porter rubs his arm. “You need three people for the spell to work, and it’s been just the two of us for years.”

“You have more than three people right here!” Luz throws an arm around Draco’s shoulders and tugs him down to her height.

“Will this even work with two humans?” Draco says. He’s annoyed, but he’s decided at this point there’s no use in resisting Luz’s antics. She’s going to drag him into them despite his protests.

“I don’t know but we’re gonna find out!” Luz beams. “We’re gonna have our own moonlight conjuring.”

“Are you serious?” Porter squeaks. “This is on my bucket list! After owning a real human bucket.”

Draco facepalms.

“That’s a really weird thing to want but I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Luz says. “I’ll go tell Eda!”

Luz frees Draco and darts back to the potions window.

“Ohmygosh.” Porter almost vibrates out of his school boots. “I just realized, we get to see humans do magic! Real magic!”

“I know,” Willow says. “Especially since Draco’s magic isn’t working right.”

Draco clears his throat. “About that.”

Porter gasps. “You fixed it!?”

“Sort of.” Draco makes a so-so motion. “I can only cast the one spell, and it happens to be complicated to cast.”

“Have you tried any others yet?” Willow says.

“Haven’t had the chance,” Draco says. “I don’t use spell circles, so it’s a bit difficult.”

“You don’t use spell circles!?” Porter looks ready to faint.

“That’s amazing,” Willow breathes, starstruck.

“Is that really so irregular?” Draco raises a brow.

“The only other person who doesn’t need to use spell circles is the Emperor,” Willow says. “And he’s the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles.”

The implications haven’t fully sunk in by the time Luz returns. She looks disappointed, her lips creased down and looking at Willow and Porter like she’s failed them. Eda said no, then.

“Luz!” Willow clasps her hands together. “What did Eda say?”

Luz taps her arms against her sides. “So, guys…”

“Oh, look!” Porter points up. Draco looks to see none other than the moon rising into the sky. “The moon is rising into place. The celestial powers only align once a year.”

“I can’t believe I finally have enough friends to do a moonlight conjuring! Thank you, Luz.” Willow beams. “Did Eda say it was okay?”

Luz’s shoulders hike up to her ears. “Um… yes.” She holds her arms out wide. “She said yes. We can do it at the Owl House. As long as we don’t make a mess or touch anything and never bring up that we did it!” Luz lets out a strained laugh.

“Yes!” Porter cheers.

“You’re the best!” Willow throws her arms around Luz, then lets go and takes Porter’s hands. They start on a song about doing a conjuring, combined with a shared victory dance.

Draco leans over to Luz. “You’re a terrible liar,” he whispers.

Luz tenses. “What else was I supposed to do? I can’t just ruin their hopes and dreams! Gus has a bucket list!”

“I’m not saying I’m against it,” Draco says. “I’ve never seen ritual magic before, I’m curious. But…” Draco trails off. “Eda and I have just got on good terms. I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

He thought about asking Eda to go through the portal door again. He knows Eda would let him go through after the incident. But he didn’t. Some weak part of him likes how he’s treated here. He doesn’t have to fight to mean something to anyone. He just exists, and that’s enough. He’s betraying his parents, his friends, anyone that cares about him back home, but he can’t find the strength to make his way back. The weak part of him wants to stay, just a little longer. If only to know what it’s like to be cared for without strings attached.

“I’ll take the blame,” Luz says without hesitation. “If she finds out, it’ll be my fault and none of it will fall on you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Draco says.

“I do.” Luz gives him a firm look. “I chose to do this, so I’ll take the fall. Deal?”

Draco smiles. “Deal.”

~~~

“Try this one.” Luz points at a spell on the page of the charms book she’s reading.

“Right then.” Draco holds his hand up, measures out the beat and the gesture in his mind, grasps a clear image of what he wants to happen. “Give me fire.”

A small ball of fire sparks to life in his palm.

“Yes!” Luz gets up close to the fire. “I can’t smell anything.”

“Considering it’s not burning anything, that makes sense.” Draco dismisses it with a wave, and the fireball curls into smoke.

“That’s another spell,” Luz says, writing it down on the list on her notepad. She turns back to the page she left off on. “What about ‘aguamenti’?”

“That’s a later year spell, so I haven’t learned it yet.” Draco says.

“Aw nuts.” Luz pouts

After the market, Eda gave them permission to see what kinds of human spells could translate over into Boiling Isles magic. He’s only managed six of them so far; Lumos, Spongify, Fumos, Engorgio, Reducio, and just now Incendio. Not many human spells translate over to Boiling Isles magic. Draco’s not entirely sure why. He’s making a mental note to ask Eda about it when he can. Does this mean he counts as her apprentice now? It’s likely, but he’s not going to admit that to either her nor Luz. They’d tease him about it for weeks.

Speaking of Eda, she comes down the stairs into the sitting room, wearing a cloak with a hood pulled over her head. “I’m going out. Luz, you’re in charge.”

“Why is she in charge?” Draco balks in disbelief. “I’m older than her.”

“Because I can trust her to not burn the house down, unlike you.” Eda deadpans.

Draco raises a hand to his chest. “I wouldn’t burn the house down. If anything, I’m more responsible than her.”

“Hey!” Luz flushes.

“You might be,” Eda shrugs. “But everything I’ve seen so far has me putting more trust in her than you. Luz is in charge.”

Draco scoffs. “Fine.” He would be more offended if he didn’t know it was true.

“Make sure Hooty doesn’t get into any trouble,” she continues.

Hooty’s door swings inwards. “Hoot, hoot. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m a big boy house.”

“Sure you don’t.” Draco raises an eyebrow.

“You can count on me.” Luz closes the charms textbook. “I’d never betray your hard-earned trust.” She laughs, nervous. Draco resists the urge to facepalm again. He absolutely has to teach her how to lie better at some point.

Eda’s eyes narrow. “You’re acting suspicious.”

Luz pulls her hoodie over her head and pulls the drawstrings tight.

Eda’s eyes narrow further. “You’re doing that thing where you hide in your hoodie.”

“Meow I’m not!” Luz drops the hood just as fast as she put it on.

“Where’s King?” Draco interrupts before Luz can falter. “Is he staying with us tonight?”

“He’s right here.” Eda throws open her cloak. Strapped to her chest in a pink muggle baby harness is none other than King, limp and snoring. “His little body just conks out when he’s weightless.”

Luz plays with King’s hanging feet. “Aw, he’s so dangly!”

Draco studies the sleeping King. “This is weirdly endearing.” He stops himself and hisses through his teeth. “No, bad Draco! He’s a little gremlin, he’s not cute.” Draco turns his back with a huff.

“Admit it, he’s adorable,” Luz teases, all sing-songy.

“You’ll have to kill me.” Draco sticks his nose in the air.

“So dramatic.” Eda laughs. “Anyway, really going now.” Eda walks out the open front door, Luz trailing after her like a duckling. Draco gives it a second before he follows.

“And Luz.” Eda turns back to them on the front lawn. “If you mess up the house, I will never trust you again.”

Draco shudders. Direct or indirect, the statement sends a chill down his spine.

“No pressure!” Eda hops on to her staff. “Byeeee!” With that, she takes off into the sky.

Draco watches her go, then pinches the bridge of his nose. “What is it with Eda and being needlessly cryptic?”

“No idea.” Luz looks more worried than she did before.

Draco frowns. “You alright?”

“Should I really be doing this?” Luz says. “She said she would never trust me again.”

“Mischief is Eda’s entire brand,” Draco says. “It’s likely not as dire as she says it is. And even if it is, she’ll let it go quickly. She’s not the type to hold grudges. Usually.”

Luz clams up.

“It’s too late to back out,” Draco states.

“Right, right.” Luz takes a deep breath. “Willow and Gus are counting on me.” Mind made up, Luz turns to the suspiciously inconspicuous bushes beside the front door and cups her hands around her mouth. “Okay, she’s gone!”

With a burst of green magic, the two bushes blast apart to reveal Willow and Porter.

“I’m a sneaky sneakster.” Willow grins.

“Why didn’t you use an illusion?” Draco raises a brow at Porter.

“Illusion magic takes a lot to maintain, and the leaves were available, so.” Porter shrugs. Draco makes a mental note of that for later.

“Let’s get this party started!” Luz swings open the front door. Willow and Porter dart inside, Draco taking up the rear. Hooty says something but Draco doesn’t care to hear what. Luz takes her time giving Willow and Porter the grand tour, of course. Once that’s over with, and Willow and Porter have had their share of discovering human and Owl House oddities, the four of them gather in the living room.

“So how does this conjuring stuff work?” Luz drops onto the red couch, kicking her feet.

“First, we need an object to animate.” Willow’s eyes scan the sitting room.

“Are there any specific requirements for said object?” Draco says.

“I think you can animate anything,” Willow says. “Since it’s our first time, we should pick something meaningful. Something beautiful.” Willow approaches a plant Eda bought from the market on their way back. She called it a bauble flower.

Porter must’ve teleported, because he pops up and shoves his way between the bauble flower’s stalks. “Like this strangely buff little man?” He exclaims. He holds out an, indeed, strangely buff muggle action figure.

“Yes! He’s perfect!” Luz exclaims, jumping to her feet.

“Absolutely not,” Draco deadpans.

“That’s not exactly what I meant by beautiful…” Willow trails off.

“Get away from the flower, you’re crushing it.” Draco drags Porter back before he can squash the poor thing. Porter hits Draco with his best attempt of puppy-dog eyes, sniffling. It’s nowhere near as pitiful as Luz’s

Draco rolls his eyes. “That’s not going to work on me. Like Willow said, this is your first time doing a conjuring. Do you really want to remember it with something like… this?” He makes an abated wave at the action figure.

“It’d be funny.” Porter pouts.

“Yeah!” Luz chimes in. “We’ll have a way more fun time remembering it than if we did something else. It’s the action that counts.”

They do both make good points. Draco hums in thought. “What if we compromised?”

“Compromise how?” Willow says.

“Wait here.” Draco backpedals to the stairs and darts up to his and Luz’s room. He keeps this item in a sealed compartment in the side of his trunk that only he can unlock with his touch. This was done out of necessity, just in case any of his dormmates went looking through his things. However, it shouldn’t be much of a necessity with this group. They won’t shame him for something like this.

Draco returns shortly after. “I know this doesn’t have much significance to you three-”

“Is that a plushie!?” Luz gasps and claps her hands to her cheeks.

“Yes.” Draco gives her a flat look. In his hands is his green chubby stuffed dragon with its tongue sticking out, a toy he’s had since he was a baby. It’s quite well-worn, and several spots have needed re-sewing over the years. “As I was saying. I know this doesn’t have much significance to you three, but he is quite goofy-looking, if I do say so myself.”

“Gus, hate to do this to you, but I’m changing my vote.” Luz swings her arm around Draco’s shoulders.

“No, that’s reasonable. The toy lizard is good.” Porter gives the action figure a mournful look.

“It’s a dragon,” Draco says. “They’re native to the human realm.”

“Dragons are real!?” Porter tosses the action figure to the side. “Nevermind, You’ve sold me.”

“Willow?” Luz looks at her.

Willow glances between the three of them, then the dragon. She smiles. “Okay, let’s do the dragon.”

“YES!” Luz drags Willow over with her free arm, throwing it around her shoulders.

“Tonight he shall be risen!” Porter chants.

Draco’s honestly surprised they all went for it so quickly, but he’ll take his wins where he can get them. It doesn’t take long to set up some miscellaneous candles and take a seat on the floor. Draco sets his toy down in the center of the four of them, as Willow’s ritual book instructed.

Willow purses her lips in thought as she flips through the conjuring book she brought with her. “According to this book, we say the incantation and make a connection with the toy.”

“What’s the incantation?” Draco asks.

Willow flips a few pages forward. “Here.” She holds it out, and Draco takes it. Luz leans over to read as well.

“Appears simple enough,” Draco says. Luz takes that as her cue to steal the book out of Draco’s hands, pressing it to her face.

“Mystical and magical,” Luz whispers reverently.

“I was still reading.” Draco glares at her.

“You can memorize anything you read in five minutes, you’ll be fine,” Luz says.

Draco’s still annoyed, but he can’t help but preen at the compliment.

It’s not long until Luz returns the book to Willow. They all take hands, Draco in-between Willow and Luz. Willow and Porter both close their eyes. Draco glances at Luz, who shrugs, and he closes his eyes as well.

“Moonlight we call, we sing.”

As soon as the first words are out of their mouths, energy settles over Draco. A potent magic weaves its way outside his being. It’s comforting, almost like taking a warm bath after a long day.

“Moonlight, take this chance. Moonlight, tie the string.”

The magic ripples with curiosity. It settles somewhere in his center, intertwining itself with his own familiar course of magic.

“Moonlight, start the dance!”

Luz loses track of the words, but Draco doesn’t get the chance to tease her. The house jolts, and the ground starts to shake. The floor tilts from under them. Everyone loses their footing with yelps and screams. Draco trips on the couch and lands on top of Porter, who lets out a strangled wheeze.

“Guys?” There’s a thud, and Luz inhales like she was hit by something. “Did the entire house just hiccup!?”

“Sorry, Porter.” Draco’s voice is muffled into a couch cushion.

“No hard feelings,” Porter says, voice strained.

Draco rolls off of him onto the floor. “Everyone alright?”

A chorus of “yeah”s come from the other three. Luz has a book on her head, but she seems otherwise unharmed

“Did we animate the house by accident?” Porter flips himself upright.

Willow shakily gets back on her feet.  “I-I think we did.”

“The house!?” Draco and Luz shout. Luz is out the door, Draco right behind her. And a good thing, too, because Draco grabs her mere inches from toppling off the front stoop. The once spacious front lawn now drops off into a cliff. Below, Draco can just make out the tips of massive taloned feet.

“Merlin and Morgana,” Draco gapes.

The house starts to move.

Draco’s knocked onto his back. Luz falls on top of him, smashing her elbow into his jaw. Draco bites his tongue. Porter and Willow help them both up, and Draco catches the wall to not lose his balance again.

“Are you okay?” Luz asks. She’s clutching one of the posts for the door canopy, Willow on her other side.

Draco massages what’s definitely going to become a bruise. “I’ll be fine. We need to stop this thing, it’s heading straight for the cliffs!”

“Hooty!” Luz falls into the front door, banging on it. “Hooty, you have to stop!”

Hooty’s eyes are glowing an unnatural light blue. “By the power of moonlight, I have risen, hoot, hoot.”

“Useless fucking bird worm.” Draco grits his teeth.

Porter calls out “not his fault, he’s in some kind of trance!” from the other post at the same time Luz says “language!”

“Don’t care, we’re going to die if we don’t stop him!” Draco yells. They’re quickly running out of land. At that moment, the house walks them between some thick blood fir trees. The trunks snapping back into place causes just enough upheaval that Porter loses his grip and falls over the stoop.

“PORTER!” Draco dives and catches his arm. Willow manages to grab the other, but the swaying makes it impossible to pull Porter back up.

“Our magic must’ve spread through the house instead of the doll,” Willow says.

“How on Earth does that happen on accident!?” Draco barks.

“I have an idea!” Luz skids between them both. “Give me your hands!”

Draco releases one hand from around Porter’s wrist. Luz snatches it and takes Willow’s offered hand. A rush of magic fills the air around them, the four of them all wrapped in glowing blue.

“HOOTY, STOP!” Luz commands.

The house stops. One massive talon hangs over the cliff, but finally, finally it stopped.

“God.” Draco drops his forehead on the ground in relief. He and Willow both pull Porter back onto solid ground, Draco getting back on his feet.

“Holy Titan.” Porter looks a bit ashen.

Luz stares at their still-clasped hands in wonder. “Hooty, back away from the cliff!”

The house does as she commands. The ground thunders with every step.

 “I can’t believe that worked.” Luz’s eyes are wide.

“We’re controlling it with the power of friendship.” Willow’s eyes trace the glow in awe. “And the moon. Probably the moon.”

Now that they have proper control of the house, Draco’s previous inhibitions give way to giddiness. “This is incredible.”

“What do we do now?” Porter says, no longer looking sickly.

“We need to be responsible about this,” Draco says.

“Aw.” Porter wilts.

Draco grins. “Time to go rub in Blight’s face how incredibly powerful our conjuring is.”

“Yes!” Porter lights up.

“I don’t know…” Luz gnaws her lip. “We should probably stay put.”

“We are not staying put with a giant walking house,” Draco says.

“Please, Luz?” Willow says. “We’ll get the house back before the moon sets.”

Luz still looks uncertain, but nods. “Okay. Let’s do this!”

“JOYRIDE!” Porter cheers. “Hooty, turn right and go forward!”

The four of them whoop and cheer as the house obeys. The trees bend around the house like curtains giving to the wind. Draco finds his balance easy to maintain, now that the four of them are holding hands. It’s been ages since he’s done something this exciting. Quidditch being cancelled for the tournament removed one of Draco’s main outlets of heart-pounding adrenaline. He didn’t realize how much he wanted something like this.

“Giant walking ho-use, giant walking ho-use!” Porter sing-songs.

“Amity’s not gonna know what hit her,” Willow says, beaming.

“Does anyone happen to know where Blight lives?” Draco says.

“I do,” Willow says. “We’re heading in the right direction.”

“Wonderful.” Draco smirks. He can’t wait.

“I feel on top of the world right now.” Luz is watching the trees bend around the house. “Is this what witches and human wizards feel like all the time?”

Draco snorts. “Absolutely not. I’m rarely adequate enough to beat my own classmates, let alone meet my father’s demands.”

Draco’s expecting laughter. What he gets is silence. Luz, Porter, and Willow are all staring at him like he’s slapped them. Even the house has stopped.

“What?”

“Dude.” Porter’s brows crease. “I thought my self esteem was bad. Yours is worse.”

Draco splutters. “I do not have poor self-esteem! Where did that come from?”

“That’s not normal, Draco.” Willow’s frowning.

Strangely enough, Luz almost looks angry. “Your dad shouldn’t be demanding anything of you.”

“He has high expectations, so what? All parents do.” Draco needs to change the subject, but how- “Isn’t that the triclops who hounded Willow earlier?”

Porter’s head snaps down to the forest path. “It is! What’s Boscha doing here?”

“She’s probably on her way to Amity’s house,” Willow says.

Draco silently thanks whatever god is out there for the distraction; hopefully the other three will forget about it.

Boscha appears to be talking to a crow, for some reason. It isn’t long before she releases it, scans the area, then turns towards the house. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. From this angle, she can’t see the four of them.

“She noticed us,” Willow whispers. “What do we do?”

Draco smirks. “I may have an idea.”

Once he quickly explains, Porter and Willow are all in. Luz seems a bit lost in thought for a moment, but she agrees as well. Porter conjures an illusioned megaphone. Draco grins and steps up to it.

“Boscha of Bonesborough!” Draco’s voice booms through the trees. “The House of the Demon King demands you halt your deplorable actions against others!”

“Borrowing some material?” Luz teases, elbowing his side.

“King is practically a walking encyclopedia for it,” Draco says. Luz, Willow, and Porter start giggling.

Boscha’s voice carries through the quiet woods. “Ew. A talking house is giving me a lecture? Whatever. I’ll just TP you like I did with the rest of the neighborhood.”

“But don’t you see? I am no mere house!” Draco steps back and re-joins the circle.

“Stand up please Hooty,” Willow says.

Luz takes the artistic liberty of roaring into the megaphone as the house rises onto its massive talons. Boscha’s scream is like a beautiful melody as she takes off at a dead sprint down the path. The four of them burst into laughter. It’s stupid and childish, but that doesn’t make it less fun.

“I’ve never pranked anyone before,” Porter says as he regains his composure. “And now I have a taste for it.” He rubs his hands together like a muggle cartoon villain.

“Onward to the Blight’s residence?” Draco says.

“Yes, absolutely!” Willow smiles. “This’ll show her who’s got no talent.”

Luz studies the sky. “Actually, I’m starting to think we should head back.”

Draco follows her gaze. The moon is getting awfully close to the horizon. Close enough that they could get stuck out here if they’re not careful. Draco learned that lesson the hard way his first year.

“But how else are we supposed to show Amity up?” Porter says. “We can’t let her keep making fun of Willow.”

Under normal circumstances Draco would agree, but he’s no Gryffindor. Slytherins know when to play it safe. “Luz has a point. We can deal with Blight’s poor attitude another day; losing the magic before we can get back would land us in dire circumstances.”

Willow checks the position of the moon. “We have plenty of time to get to Amity’s, show off, then get all the way back. We’ll make it.”

“We’d be cutting it close. What if something goes wrong?” Draco frowns. “What if the house trips or Blight finds a way to stall us? We can’t predict everything.”

Willow’s mouth tightens. “Then we’ll be quick and careful. Amity’s been mean to you too, don’t you want to do this?”

“Not at our own expense. Trust me, I’ve been through this. They’ll find some way to manipulate the circumstances in their favor.”

Willow wilts. Draco feels bad, but really, this is for the best.

“We’ll find a way to get back at her.” Draco tries his best at a small, reassuring smile. “I know what it’s like; sometimes people just need a good kick at their ego to back off.”

Willow pauses for a moment. Then, she stiffens. “What do you mean you ‘know what it’s like’?”

Draco’s confused. “I meant exactly what I said?”

“How do you know what it’s like.” Willow’s demeanor has turned cold.

Oh no.

“Well now you’re confusing me,” Porter says.

“Willow…?” Luz trails off.

Neither of them know. Neither of them know Willow’s hit the nail right on the head.

Draco’s seen a lot of himself in Blight. It wasn’t hard to draw the conclusion back at Hexside; he’d do anything to get the final petty revenge on Potter and his entourage, even stooping as low as to pick on Longbottom just to make them angry. It made him feel good about himself and his competence. Especially with his father constantly reminding him how he was never enough. Willow, Porter, and Luz have spent their entire lives as victims to people like him. Of course, Willow would be the one to sniff him out. Luz thinks too kindly of him, and Porter’s too starstruck.

“I knew it.” Willow wrenches her hand from his, breaking the circle.

“What’s going on?” Porter’s completely lost.

“Your fight with Luz, what Luz said to you about not being mean, your weird behavior. I suspected, but I didn’t want to think it was true.” Willow glares at him. “You would’ve ditched Gus for Amity if you hadn’t been relying on him to get you into the school.”

The words sting like a physical blow. “I-”

“How many people?” Willow demands. “How many!?”

Draco doesn’t have it in him to defend himself. “Too many.”

The silence is deafening, far worse than the last. Willow’s angry, tears brimming in her eyes, her fists shaking. Porter’s eyebrows draw together, and he breaks from the circle, backing away and shaking his head in disbelief. Luz’s expression is unreadable.

What’s Draco supposed to say? He can’t defend himself. He picks fights with Potter and his friends to hate them and feel better about himself, pulls them and occasionally himself into trouble out of spite. He spent all of his fourth year in league with Rita Skeeter smearing Granger and others, spent most of his third exaggerating an overall small injury just to get an animal who didn’t know any better killed. Sure, he has reasons, but those reasons are pathetic. Only a truly cruel person would hurt others because their father wasn’t happy with them.

Draco’s abruptly pulled out of his thoughts by a snap and a whirr. The house jolts, the floor dropping. Everyone shouts in surprise. Luz lets go of his hand. He stumbles but manages to keep his balance, catching an arm on one of the door canopy posts.

“What was that?” Porter says.

Luz is the first to see it. “Is that a… giant crossbow?”

Draco whips around. Sure enough, a giant crossbow is mounted on the ground in front of them. At it’s helm are a couple of the brown-cloaked demon hunters from earlier, one of which is their leader. The leader makes an indicating motion, and the smaller demon hunter on top flips a lever. Another snap, and the massive arrow flies over the roof, rope trailing behind it. It lands with a thud and the rope goes taut, yanking the house down further.

“What the-!?” Draco doesn’t get to finish. The demon hunter leader jumps an impossible height and lands in front of them, the ground shuddering in his wake.

“Knock, knock.” The demon grins.

He sweeps a leg out. All four of them are knocked onto their backs. Draco scrambles up, moving to cast, but he’s shoved back and pinned to the wall of a house by a lackey he hadn’t seen.

“Try anything and you’re dead, kid,” the witch woman hisses.

Draco growls. The lackey drags him over, and the leader shoves him back-to-back with Luz, Willow, and Gus. They’re bound together with a thick rope, the woman kicks the front door open, and they’re shoved inside. The leader slams the door shut.

“Dios mio!” Luz curses in Spanish. The house drops again, this time much further, shifting onto unstable ground. The four of them scream. It’s ominously still for only a moment, for then the house starts to move. It isn’t walking.

“Oh, come on!” Porter wrestles with the binds.

“We have to get out of here,” Luz says. “Gus, help!”

“On it!” Porter gets the rope in his mouth and starts gnawing at it, yanking and wriggling around.

There’s a series of bangs as Luz kicks Hooty’s door. “Hooty, Hooty! You have to Wake UP!”

“If you want this to end as you say, four must hold hands! It’s the only way.”

“Useless,” Draco mutters. He glares at the rug.

“¿Por Que? ¡No me hable asi!” Luz gives the door one final, harsh kick. “Willow, will you help me out with Hooty?”

“I’m sorry, Luz.”

Draco stiffens. Willow sounds dejected, defeated, broken. Someone who’s been beaten down by those around her for so long she can’t see how powerful she truly is.

“You shouldn’t ask me to help with anything,” Willow mumbles. She sags in her binds next to Draco.

“Willow…” Luz trails off.

The guilt rushes anew. People like Draco did this to Willow. People like Draco call King a rat, insult Luz for being kind, and turn Eda into the owl beast. People like Draco ally themselves with other cruel people to lord over those they don’t deem worthy.

Draco’s tired of it.

It’s exhausting to hate others. Draco’s found life to be far more pleasant when he gets to know those he doesn’t understand, rather than make their lives a living hell. Upon first sight Willow seems weak, but she’s one of the strongest witches Draco knows. All she had to do was change her methods. Porter’s annoying, but he’s also far younger than the rest of them. God knows Draco was an annoying little git at that age. Luz is a muggle, but she’s one of the kindest, most patient people that Draco’s ever met. She could get through to anyone; even a stubborn arse such as himself.

Draco can see the truth. His parents are wrong, the purebloods are wrong, the Dark Lord is wrong, and he’s going to prove it.

But first, he has to fix his mistakes.

“Willow?”

Willow stiffens next to him, but she doesn’t shut him down.

“You remind me of someone I know,” Draco says. “His name’s Neville Longbottom. He struggles in most of his classes, but he thrives in Herbology, our version of the plant course. He’s likely the top of my year in that class. For a long time, I thought he was weak. I used him to get to someone I deemed more important, a stepping stone in my, well, blight of hatred. I was wrong.”

Draco chuckles weakly. “There’s a lot of things I’m wrong about. I’m learning, and I’m bound to screw up again, but I learned something important from you about Longbottom. You showed me that strength can come in many forms, even if it’s not apparent what that strength is at first. I should be taking my time to really understand someone before I make a judgement about them. It doesn’t fix what I’ve done, but I want you to know I know better now. I’m not going to hurt you.” Draco takes a shaky breath. “I’m sorry.”

For a long, dread-filled second, Willow doesn’t react. Draco’s worried he said the wrong thing, but then she sags again.

“You don’t need to apologize. You haven’t done anything to me.” Willow pushes her glasses back up her nose with her shoulder. “I just couldn’t see past how similar you were to Amity. I should be the one apologizing. I couldn’t let it go and got us into this mess.”

“I’m sensing backstory,” Luz says.

Willow chuckles bitterly. “Yeah, you’re right. The truth is, Amity and I used to be friends.”

Luz gasps. “Whaaaaa?”

“We played together as kids, but when she got her magical powers and I didn’t, she stopped hanging out with me.” Willow scuffs her heel into the sitting room floor. “I just want to prove to her that I’m a powerful witch, too.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Luz says. “You helped bring a house to life! Amity doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Luz smiles. “Next to Eda, you’re the most powerful witch I know. No offense, Gus.”

“Not at all, I know what I’m about.”

Willow smiles.

“You already proved how powerful you were to me,” Draco adds. “Why should you need to prove yourself to someone who stopped listening a long time ago?”

Willow’s eyes widen in surprise, and her smile grows.

“Are we done now?” Porter chimes in. “Because we’re getting way too close to the cliffs for comfort.”

“Give me a moment.” Draco grits his teeth, and in one harsh pull, frees his right arm. “Willow, could you-?”

Willow yanks her own arm free from the new gap.

“Perfect. Give me fire.” Draco’s finger lights. He focuses it into a hot, steady flame, and starts burning the rope at the gap. “Here’s how we’re going to do this.”

~~~

The house jolts to a stop. Draco casts, and the sitting room floods with smoke. He crouches back behind the couch. Porter, who’s hidden next to him, peeks over the edge.

“You’re sure this will work?” Porter whispers.

“Positive.” Draco smirks. “You need to have more trust in your friends.”

“Are we friends?” Porter looks uncertain.

“I think we are. Sort of hard not to be after an experience like this.” Draco smiles.

There’s a bang and hooted protests. Multiple pairs of Footsteps trudge inside the room. Just as Draco predicted, there’s no second bang. They left the front door open.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are kids!” One of the demon hunters taunts. “This isn’t a time for games.”

“Find them.” The demon hunter leader says. “We don’t have time for this.”

There’s a pattering of footsteps. Draco ducks, yanking Porter down next to him.

“Take THIS!” Luz cries

A bright flash of light floods the room. Three voices cry out. Draco casts fire and chucks the flaming ball in the direction of the voices. Porter charges with a war cry, chucking a hopefully fake skull the same way. Luz shouts and ceramic shatters. Did she just throw a plant pot? Whatever, if it works it works.

“What is this!?” A high, scraggly voice says.

Draco darts forward, narrowing down the area the voices are in. He can’t see, but he can generally determine where they are. He cuts an S-curve through the air and skids deeper into the room as the demon hunters cry out again, sprung back in the direction of the front door.

“What was that!? Why was the floor soft!?” The first demon hunter cries out.

“Go, go, go!” Luz shouts. Draco finds Porter, then Luz in the smoke, and the three of them jump on the spongified floor. They fly into the air, Porter casts a spell circle, and large blue shoes appear on all of their feet. While Illusions can’t create something new, they can amplify an already existing factor. In this case, knocking three demon hunters back out the door with a firm kick. There’s three final shouts and curses, but they’re cut short.

“Did she do it!?” Porter cuts the spell, and the three of them hurry outside. The smoke clears, and- yes. Yes she did do it. Draco grins a little maniacally at the sight of the rest of the demon hunters, stuck and incapacitated in many plant-related traps. Their leader and the two others are strangled and restrained in thickets of vines, one over their mouths choking them silent. Willow stands in the middle of the chaos, her hands glowing green, looking quite pleased with herself.

“Yes, Willow!” Draco cheers. Luz whoops and Porter grins. Willow blushes and runs back over to the house, hoisting herself back onto the stoop. The four of them hurry back into the sitting room, the smoke clearing out the door.

“Shall we?” Draco holds his hands out. Willow takes his left, Luz his right, and Porter completes the circle. The magic rushes through them yet again and the house stands, snapping the ropes of its restraints.

Luz looks at the skyline. “Oh no. I don’t mean to step on this victory, but we gotta get home before Eda does.”

The moon is now dipping below the ocean. Draco really hopes they can make it back on time.

“Hooty, take us back home!” Draco shouts. The house turns away from the cliffs and begins to march. Most of the journey back is forest, but they end up having to cut through a section of Bonesborough at one point. They step on the stand of some vendor as they’re walking through.

“Sorry, mister!” Luz calls. That definitely won’t make up for the destruction of property, but it’s unlikely they’ll see him again.

It doesn’t take them long to return back to the crater where the Owl House once stood. The house drops back into it, fitting in like a puzzle piece of the missing landscape. The magic drains from them mere seconds after the house lands.

“…Did we do it?” Luz cautiously peers around.

The front door swings open, a regular Hooty on its face. “Is the room spinning or is it just me? Hoo. Just a little… house humor.”

“Hooty!” Draco relaxes, releasing Willow and Luz’s hands. He didn’t think he’d ever be so elated to see Hooty, but here they are.

“Sorry about all that, Hooty.” Luz rubs the back of her neck.

“It’s okay!” Hooty chirps. “I’m just glad I was included!”

The front door slams shut. He’s not sure where Eda came from, but she does not look the least bit pleased. Also, King’s wearing a sailor’s outfit for some reason?

“Oh boy…” Luz stands ramrod straight.

“You two are so busted.”

“Oh Merlin,” Draco whispers.

“It wasn’t him!” Luz waves her arms frantically. “It was me, it was all me! I agreed to it before he could say no!”

Draco gawks at her. Sure, she said she would take the blame, but he wasn’t expecting her to actually do it.

Eda glances between the both of them, then sighs. “Either way, you both knew what you were doing. You held a Moonlight Conjuring and animated my house, my house!” Eda’s properly angry now.

“No, don’t punish them!” Willow cuts in front of them. “We’re the ones who pushed Luz to do the conjuring.”

Porter joins the fray. “If you’re gonna eat me, just do it now. Do it now.”

Nor was Draco expecting this.

“Hey, you didn’t have to do that,” Luz whispers.

“Yes, Luz. I did.” Willow smiles.

Eda lets out a long, tired sigh. “Well, you’re all guilty, so you’ll all be punished. By cleaning my house top to bottom.”

Eda draws a spell circle. A plethora of cleaning supplies appears over their heads. Draco catches the feather duster, Porter the broom, Luz the mop and bucket and Willow a cleaner spray and roll of cloth.

“And another thing.” Eda raises a finger. The four of them all stiffen.

Eda grins. “That was totally amazing! And I’m so joining you for next year’s conjuring.”

Luz, Porter, and Willow all beam. Honestly, this doesn’t surprise Draco. Eda’s all for causing mischief, and this had to be the epitome of mischief. Even if it inconvenienced her.

“Now get to work.” Eda points over her shoulder. Draco gets to dusting the bookshelves without complaint, Willow cleaning behind him. Porter starts on sweeping the floor, Luz readying the mop to follow behind him.

“You know, I still kinda wish we got to show up Amity,” Luz says.

“Yeah.” Willow wipes off the wood of a shelf. “Too bad no one will know of our daring adventures.”

Draco’s so distracted by his task that he doesn’t notice until it’s too late.

“Hey, who’s plushie is this?” King says. “This isn’t one of mine.”

Draco whips around. King’s holding none other than his dragon, tongue lolling. Draco drops his feather duster and snatches it from him, red in the face.

“Hey!” King squeaks.

“Not a word,” Draco hisses.

King’s eyes turn down in confusion. “Why?”

Draco blinks. “What do you mean, ‘why’? Eda will make fun of me!”

“What’ll I do?” Eda leans over the back of the couch.

“Draco thinks you’re gonna make fun of him for having a plushie,” King says.

Now Eda looks confused. “Why?”

“That’s what I said!”

Draco opens and closes his mouth several times. “I-”

“Kid, I still have plushes from when I was six,” Eda says. “Everyone does.”

Draco hugs the plush close. “My father thought it was unbecoming,” he mumbles

“Your dad is wrong.” Luz sidles up behind Draco with her mop. “There are plenty of adults who still have plushies. It’s your goofy dragon, you do what you want with it.”

She does have a point.

“Maybe we could talk about our plushies together sometime?” King taps his paws together. “If that’s okay?”

“Absolutely, your adorableness.” Luz grins.

“I am not adorable!”

Draco chuckles. “Alright, alright. Just let me go put this upstairs first.”

Rather than place his dragon back in its compartment, Draco sets the plushie on one of the multiple chests Eda has in here for storage, next to his hammock. It’s nice to know he’s not going to be made fun of.

“Guys!” Porter’s voice echoes from downstairs. “We went viral on Penstagram!”

“WHAT!?” Luz shouts.

Draco sighs and gets back on his feet. Might as well see what this is about.

Chapter Text

Finally, it’s Wednesday. Draco didn’t think he’d be looking forward to a particular day of the week anytime soon, but that changed at the Covention. Raine Whispers is a welcome respite from the chaos of the rest of his life in the Boiling Isles.

Draco’s on to the final few measures of Canon in D. The strings are biting into his fingertips less than they were before. Apparently he’s began to form callouses from the amount of physical activity living with Eda the Owl Lady requires. It’s a welcome change. He has fond memories of practicing this piece for weeks just so he and his mother could play it together.

Maybe he can play with her again.

Draco finishes with a flourish. As his magic fades from the area, Raine, his ever patient and enraptured audience, claps. They’re seated on the edge of the amphitheater stage, a bright smile on their face.

“That was amazing!” Raine hums in thought. “It’s joyous, but more bittersweet than happy. Like you’ve met some positive change that’ll alter everything you’re comfortable with.”

“Considering this is often played at muggle weddings, that analysis is fairly accurate.” Draco sets Raine’s violin and bow down on the stage and takes a seat.

“Muggle…?” Raine tilts their head.

“Non-magic humans,” Draco says.

“Ah.” Raine nods in understanding. “Now that I’m thinking about it, have you had any luck getting back to the human world?”

Draco stiffens.

Raine, ever perceptive, frowns. “Everything alright?”

“Fine.” The answer falls out of his mouth automatically.

Raine doesn’t seem to believe him. “Has something gone wrong?”

“No.” Draco fidgets with the hem of his sweater sleeve. “It’s… I’m conflicted, I suppose.”

Raine leans back on their hands. “You wanna talk about it?”

Draco exhales, closing his eyes. “I could try, but it’s…” He presses his lips into a line. “Hard to parse.”

“That’s what talking about it’s for.” Raine’s hand lands on his shoulder. Draco opens his eyes. Raine’s smiling, reassuring and patient as ever.

Draco can’t help a small smile himself. “Alright, alright. I’ll see what I can do.”

Raine drops their hand. “Go for it, little dragon.”

Draco’s eyebrows raise.

Raine sits up. “Sorry, was that too forward? I learned your name means dragon from an old human textbook, it just slipped out-”

“No, no!” Draco waves them down. “It’s fine. It surprised me, that’s all.”

Raine’s eyes are wide. “Is it okay if I call you that?”

Draco mouths the nickname, thinking. It’s certainly better than ‘Wizface,’ if a bit childish. “Yes, it’s alright.”

Raine relaxes again. “Okay then. You wanna…?”

“Right.” Draco looks at his lap. Where does he even start? Well, Raine wouldn’t know every detail, so maybe it’d be good to start from the beginning.

So, that’s what he does. He carefully leaves out names and anything too identifying, but he tells Raine everything. How he was sent here against his will, kidnapped by his now former captor, befriended her apprentice and roommate, made other witch friends, reconciled with his captor, all of it.

“I did want to go home in the beginning,” Draco says. “I’m not entirely sure when that changed.”

“Do you still want to go home?” Raine asks.

Draco pulls his wand out of his vest pocket. He’s not sure why he still carries it around. Sentimentality, maybe? “I should want to go home, shouldn’t I?”

“But is that really what you want?” Raine rests their cheek in their hand.

“My parents are probably worried sick.” Draco rubs his thumb across his other palm. “My friends, too. I mean, I vanished on school grounds.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Raine’s studying him.

It’s something Draco hasn’t admitted to himself, and doesn’t want to admit to himself. Wouldn’t it be like giving up? He’s supposed to want to fight for his place, be determined to be something greater.

Draco exhales something like a hollow chuckle. “I’ve been spoiled here.”

Raine’s brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

“Even when I was being an arse, my caretaker still let me stay. Her apprentice was kind and patient no matter how many times I got angry and threw insults. I don’t deserve any of what they’re giving me, and yet I still have it. It’s new territory. I’ve never been treated like this before. Some part of me is still convinced it’s a ruse.” Draco rolls his wand between his fingers. “I was always taught that I have to fight to deserve anything. I have to have magic, get good grades, do well at Quidditch, whatever else was necessary to earn my father’s pride and care. Otherwise, I’d face consequences. I don’t have to do that here. It’s disconcerting.”

Raine’s expression shifts from confusion to worry. “That doesn’t make sense. It’s your parents job to love and take care of you, no matter who you are.”

Draco snorts derisively. “Clearly you haven’t met my father. I can never seem to make him happy. He always finds something I’ve done wrong, even if it’s not entirely clear to me what it is.” Draco’s eyes track down to his right forearm.

“You disappoint me again, and it’ll hurt more. Understood?”

“Draco.”

Draco’s drawn out of the memory, eyes landing on Raine. “Yes?”

Raine glances around, unsure for a moment, but they steel themself. “Is your dad hurting you?”

Draco’s heart stops. His breath catches in his throat. Raine’s gaze is more intense than before. Did he just… how did they…?

Draco tears his gaze away. “I don’t-”

Many pairs of footsteps and chattering voices stop him short. They’re close. Too close.

“Go, hide!” Raine’s eyes are wide with fear. Draco slides off the stage and sprints up the seats to the opposite tree line. He’s only just hid himself behind some bushes when a group of five walk into the amphitheater. Four of them are regular coven scouts, but the fifth is strange. His white cloak is clasped with a gold triangle, completed with a popped white collar, a singular golden shoulder pad, and a hood over his head. A golden mask covers his entire face, pointed teardrop shapes curling into eye holes. In his hand is a staff with a detailed ornament holding a large red gem.

Seriously, the Emperor’s fashion sense is abysmal. Draco smirks a bit at his own quip.

“Golden Guard.” Raine’s voice is cold, professional, their back turned to Draco. It’s entirely different from what he’s used to.

“Scooter Crane’s Protege.” The Golden Guard nods in acknowledgement. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here.”

“I practice here sometimes.” Raine clasps their hands behind their back. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Eh, just to vacate the area.” The Golden Guard’s tone is condescending. He makes a sweeping motion to the amphitheater with his staff. “I’m setting up camp for a mission. Emperor’s Orders.”

He’s someone of high rank, but that’s about all Draco can discern. He sounds like the kind of person Draco would gladly hex for daring to talk down to him.

“Of course.” Raine’s irritated. Draco spots the minute tightening of their clasped hands, but they’re doing a good job of hiding it.

Something seems to occur to the Golden Guard. “How often do you practice here?”

“Every other week,” Raine says.

“Hm. Then you may be able to help me after all.” Draco does not like the Guard’s smug tone. “Have you seen a human around here? Blonde hair, white skin, usually with a few other delinquents.”

Draco’s blood turns to ice.

Raine tilts their head, humming in thought. “Can’t say I have. What does the Emperor want with a random human?”

Raine covered for him. A tight worry in Draco’s chest releases.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors,” The Golden Guard says. “He’s supposed to be able to use magic. I don’t believe it, but there’s been too many witnesses to ignore it.”

“That’s crazy.” Raine chuckles. “Humans can’t use magic.”

“Attendees of the Covention say otherwise.”

Raine’s false light mood dies. Their hands move, one hand resting in the other’s palm. They’re drawing shapes in the air. It takes a moment for Draco to realize they’re letters.

1. U. N.

Draco doesn’t hesitate. He treads backwards, silent as a ghost, watching his every step. As soon as he can no longer hear their voices, Draco bolts.

What the hell does the Emperor want with him? While he barely knows anything about the governmental system here, the idea of the Emperor sets his teeth on edge. He can’t be anything good if the sigils and his past experiences are anything to go by. He has to tell Eda.

Draco stops. He can’t tell Eda. If Eda finds out he’s in this much danger, her very logical conclusion would be to send him back to the human realm. He can’t make that choice, not yet. Not when he’s just beginning to understand what these feelings mean.

Mind made up, Draco walks the rest of the way back. It’d be suspicious to look harried and out of breath. The best way to avoid questions is to not look like he has anything to hide.

As Draco approaches, Hooty greets him. Draco gives him a small nod, as per conduct, and pushes open the front door. Luz and King are perched on the red sitting room couch, Luz standing on the cushions and looking poised for some performance.

“Hey Draco!” Luz waves. “How was the walk?”

“Uninteresting.” Draco closes the door. “What’re you doing?” He says.

“Giving King the reading of a lifetime.” She holds up the fifth of her Azura book series. “Wanna join?”

Draco lets out a long sigh. Despite his annoyance, Luz always manages to provide sufficient distractions. “Is this going to entail your dramatic interpretations?”

Luz blinks in confusion. “Huh?”

Draco raises and eyebrow. “Your otherworldly interpretations of the characters tend to remove the aspects of their humanity. It’s counterproductive to the message of the books.”

Luz looks a touch dismayed at first. Then, a slow grin spreads across her face. “You read more of my Azura books?”

Draco’s face grows hot. “No! I just… skimmed them.”

“Admit it! You read them!” King jabs a paw at him.

Draco swats his paw away. “I won’t because I didn’t.”

Draco had been far too bored for his own good when he picked up the second book without Luz’s knowledge. He’s been trying to read it in secret. The plot is whimsical, far more than the classicals the wizarding world commonly has.

“Alright, Mr. Smart Man.” Luz dangles the book in front of his face, grin sly, other hand planted on her hip. “If I’m so wrong then how would you read it?”

Draco pushes the book away. “No.”

“Fine. Suit yourself.” Luz flips open to a page at random. “Hecate fendeth through the thickest of foliage, doeth her will of findeth her one true enemy-”

“Stop, STOP!” Draco snatches the book out of her hand. “You’ve made your point.”

Luz grins devilishly, the bugger.

Draco sits between the pair. “Where did you leave off?”

King reaches over and flips a chapter ahead of where Luz was reading. “Here!”

Draco shoots Luz a stink eye. She just smiles.

The next few minutes are relatively peaceful. King and Luz lean over Draco’s shoulder as he reads aloud, this time with the proper language and tone. They’re both fascinated.

“-Azura was alone. This was the perfect chance. ‘Azura,’ Hecate began. ‘Our paths have crossed only in battle, but today I stand before you seeking an ally.’”

Luz sighs dreamily, leaning into Draco’s shoulder.

“Luz, you’re getting all swoon-y again,” King complains.

“I can’t help it.” Luz runs her fingers over the page. “Azura’s able to befriend everyone, even her biggest rival! I wish I had that kind of power.”

Draco laughs.

“What?” Luz frowns in confusion.

“You do realize you’ve already done that, right?”

Luz blinks. “I have?”

Draco gestures to himself.

“What? You don’t count!” Luz playfully shoves him. “You did most of that yourself.”

“I wouldn’t have started any of this if you hadn’t called me on it.” Draco flicks her shoulder.

“But you’re not a rival. More like a bossy roommate.”

“Exactly!” King jumps up onto Draco’s shoulder, draping across his head. “Rivals are meant to be annihilated, not befriended! Now keep reading, wizard. I’ve been sucked into Luz’s awful fandom.”

Draco rolls his eyes. “‘Suddenly, the door swung open.’”

Hooty swings open the front door. “Ding-dong-ding, hoot hoot!”

Draco blinks.

“The book has come to life!” King snatches it from Draco’s hands. “Burn it!”

“King, no!” Draco tackles the little gremlin before he can launch off to who knows where and indulge in his pyromania. He yanks the book from King’s claws, gets to his feet, and brushes himself off. King growls and charges him. Draco blocks him with a foot, holding the book high above his head. King jumps and starts clawing up his leg. Draco tries to kick him off, to no avail.

“Guys, look!”

Draco pauses, as does King. Luz is holding a basket in her hands.

Luz holds it up. “It’s for Eda.”

Draco’s curious, so he and King call a temporary truce and follow Luz to the kitchen. Eda’s busy making this week’s batch of boil tonics, but she’s paused for the moment to make lunch.

“Good timing.” Eda hovers a plate of what looks like bacon butties onto the table. Knowing the Boiling Isles, those likely aren’t bacon butties. “You kids hungry?”

“Eda, you got a package.” Luz sets the basket on the table. “It looks like a gift basket.”

Eda tosses her hair behind her back. “Probably an offering. Being the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles has its perks.”

Draco raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that, Wizface.” Eda flicks his forehead. Draco pretends to be annoyed, but he’s trying to hide a smile she definitely notices. Eda’s humor has grown on him.

King, because he has no sense of caution, hops onto the table and pulls back the blanket on the basket. Draco recoils.

“Mmm, fresh meat.” King rubs his paws together.

“Nope!” Luz turns away with a hand to shield her face. “Not eating that.”

Eda rolls her eyes. “Witches eating babies is so 1693.”

“That’s a baby?” Draco gapes.

The little… thing is a ball of pale flesh with a fuzz of purple fur on top of its head(?). It’s sleeping, its eyes closed and little trilling snores leaving it. It appears to have wings pulled into its sides, but that’s about all Draco can make out without pulling down the blanket further. He really doesn’t want to do that.

“What is this?” Eda squints at the baby in the basket.

“There’s a note with your name on it.” Luz unties it from the basket. “‘Take care of my child till morning. Yi Yi’?”

“Nope, not happening.” Eda turns away with a huff. “Babies are awful.”

King leans over Luz’s shoulder and reads the rest. “‘You will be handsomely rewarded. XOXOXOX, Bat Queen.’”

Eda’s eyes go wide as saucers. “Bat Queen?”

King sniffs and digs around in the basket. His claw comes back up with three gold coins in hand. The local money here is called snails, right?

“Reward?” Eda’s eyes glitter like they did for the light-up pen.

“Who’s the bat queen?” Luz looks just as confused as Draco is.

Eda grins. “None other than the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles. Get in with her, you’re set for life.”

“Sounds exciting,” Draco drawls.

“It is exciting.” Eda rubs her hands together. “We keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Easy.”

Luz bounces on her toes. “It’ll be our greatest adventure yet! Learning about love and life through a child’s eyes.”

“God no.” Draco’s nose wrinkles. “I’m not taking care of a baby. Especially one that looks like… that.” He gestures to it.

“Aw, come on Draco!” Luz drapes herself over him. “We can be like big siblings.”

“No.” Draco shoves her off, and Luz tips over onto the floor.

“Neither of you are doing anything,” Eda says. “You’re gonna return the books I checked out from the library.”

Eda draws a spell circle. A glowing hatch opens out of thin air, and a large stack of books tumble out. Draco fumbles to catch them, staggering at the weight.

Luz bounces back to her feet. “Aw man.”

“A little- help?” Draco’s struggling to keep the book stack steady. Luz takes half of the books off the stack, thank Merlin.

“Let’s take a look at this little darling.” Eda pulls the blanket the rest of the way off. Draco barely gets the time to process its tiny claws and fangs, because it starts screaming. A banshee-like shriek that threatens to take out Draco’s ear drums, shaking the entire house.

“On second thought maybe we could use your guys’s help!” Eda’s shout is nearly drowned out by the noise.

He and Luz exchange a look. In sync, they each take a buttie and hurry to the back door.

“Traitors!” King curses. Draco slams the door shut, and they’re plunged into silence.

“Thank magic for whatever silencing charm Hooty has going on.” Draco hefts the books in his hands, his buttie on top.

“Do you know where the library is?” Luz takes a bite of her buttie, somehow tucking all five of the books under one arm. Since when has she been so strong?

“No idea.” Draco tries to copy the move and nearly sends his books toppling.

Luz beams.

“No-”

“Adventure!”

Draco groans. Luz has committed, he’s not getting out of this.

~~~

The Bonesborough library is yet another cathedral-like structure on the west side of town. It’s surprisingly elegant, with no strange bones or creature-like inhabitants. At least on the outside. He and Luz had to ask passers-by for directions a few times, but they’ve finally made it. Draco wishes he could’ve summoned his broom. Carrying these books for a solid forty-five minutes in summer weather has been miserable.

“It looks so cool,” Luz breathes.

“Let’s get this over with.” Draco trudges towards the front door. Luz scurries after him, ducking in front to get through the grand doors first. Draco would normally fight her on it, but he doesn’t have the energy. As soon as the two of them cross the threshold, the books alight with lime green magic. The weight lifts from Draco’s sore arms.

“Late.” The man behind the desk looks incredibly bored as he waves all ten books through a magical scanner. Draco’s buttie is hovering off to the side. “Late, late. Coffee, grass, and blood stains… These are Eda’s, aren’t they.”

Luz chuckles awkwardly. “That was a crazy night.”

The man rolls his eyes. “I’ll add them to her tab. Who’s sandwich is this?”

“Mine.” Draco steps forward. The man hovers it into his hands.

“No food in the library.” The man points to the front doors.

Draco huffs. “I just-”

“No. Food. In. The library.” The man’s nostrils flare.

Draco’s eyes narrow.

“Do you want me to wait for you?” Luz asks.

“Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”  Draco makes a point of glaring at the man as he slowly backs out the front doors, taking as long as humanly possible. He only turns his back once he’s reached the front stairs.

Draco sits down and takes a frustrated bite of his sandwich. It’s fine. It’s not like the library is the one place he actually wants to explore in this hell dimension. He was hoping he could finally get started on researching the constellations, maybe read some more on Abominations and Bard magic. Most of what he’s pieced together about his magic following that night has been on his own, with some assistance from Luz. As helpful as Eda has been, she can’t help him navigate his form of magic very well. He’s going to have to figure it out himself.

Draco’s about halfway through eating when something catches his eye down a side street. The swish of a cloak, a flash of gold. Draco ducks behind one of the ornate pillars so fast he nearly trips on his own feet. The Golden Guard is supposed to be out by the Owl House, why is he here!?

“Strange.” The tinny, oddly young-sounding voice rises over the rest of the sounds of the city, approaching from Draco’s right. “I could’ve sworn I just saw something.”

“Hey boss?” A different voice, likely a coven scout. “I thought we were taking lunch?”

“You guys can take lunch, I’m following a lead.” The Golden Guard sounds dismissive.

“Uh, are you sure?” A second coven scout. “We only get lunch for thirty minutes at noon, you won’t get another chance.”

“I’m sure!” The Golden Guard snaps. “Now get out of my sight before I start breaking fingers.”

“Y-Yes sir!” There’s a clamoring of footsteps as the group of scouts scamper off.

There’s a long pause, then a groan. “Idiots. Why do I put up with them?” Draco feels the next small surge of magic more than sees it. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, human. You can’t hide from me forever.”

Luckily, the Golden Guard doesn’t think to enter the library, instead walking away in a different direction. Draco stuffs the rest of his sandwich in his mouth, swallows, and hurries inside. He’s not taking his chances out in the open.

The inside of the Bonesborough library is stacked tiers-high with shelves upon shelves of books. His family’s library is prestigious and the Hogwarts library has a particular nostalgia to it, but the Bonesborough library is far more elaborate in size and grandeur. The same librarian at the desk eyes Draco as he walks through. Draco makes a point of locking eyes with him until he backs between shelves. He needs to somehow find Luz in this maze of a building, and she could be anywhere.

He gets lost, more than once, and eventually manages to find her right back where he started. She’s with two witches he doesn’t recognize.

“Luz!” Draco calls. He’s shushed by a few library-goers, but that doesn’t matter to him.

Luz whips around, and she smiles as soon as she finds him, waving him over.

“Who’s this?” The attractive witch girl asks. Her skin is pale, and she’s wearing a Hexside Illusions uniform. A long, thick braid of dark green hair trails down her back.

“This is my awesome British wizard roomie.” Luz slings her arm around Draco’s shoulders and pulls him into her side, as is par for the course.

The equally-attractive witch boy blinks in confusion, then glances at Draco’s ears. “Wait, there’s two of you?”

“Yep!” Luz says. “And, this one can do magic.”

“Funny, Amity didn’t mention you,” the girl says.

“Likely because I beat her in a fight with her own magic.” Draco smirks.

The witch boy’s eyes widen, and he grins. “Ooo, I like you.”

The boy’s matching dark green hair is cut short, but not as short as Draco’s, long bangs swept over his forehead. His school uniform, also Illusion track, is unkempt, but more in a handsome way than a dirty way. Draco has to stop himself from shaking his head because where in the world did that thought come from?

“I’m Emira, and this is Edric.” The witch girl gestures to herself and the witch boy in turn. “We’re Amity’s older siblings.”

Ah. That explains a lot of the similarities. “Pleasure,” Draco says. “I’m Draco, you’ve met Luz already.”

“Draco? Weird name.” Edric mouths it a few times. “It fits you, though.”

Draco is absolutely not going to examine why such a simple statement made his heart flutter. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t.”

“Anyway,” Emira cuts into their conversation. “We heard how Luz embarrassed Amity at the school and at the witch Covention last week. She was going on and on about it, so much so that she never mentioned a second human.”

“She must really hate you, then,” Edric says to Luz with a sly smile.

“But I didn’t mean any of it!” Luz finally releases Draco to plead her innocence. “We had a moment after the Covention thing, and I thought we were as cool as cucumbers, but we’re as sour as pickles.”

“I thought you would’ve learned by now that it takes a lot more than a moment to win someone over,” Draco teases. He pokes Luz’s shoulder a few times to make his point.

Luz swats his hand away. “You were different! Amity’s just- well…”

“Amity?” Edric says with a snicker.

Luz slumps like a popped balloon. “Yeah.”

“Don’t waste your time with Mittens.” Emira takes Luz’s hand. “Me and Ed? We’re way more fun.”

“I’m sorry, her nickname is Mittens?” Draco snorts.

“Says you, Wizface.” Luz sticks her tongue out at him.

Draco’s face heats up. “At least it’s not something as embarrassing as ‘Mittens’.” Will Draco use this as blackmail if needed? Likely. He tucks it away for later.

Edric laughs. “I knew we weren’t wasting our time.”

“Follow us,” Emira says. “We’ll show you how to have some real fun.”

Edric takes Draco’s hand, Emira Luz’s, and the two elder Blights pull them further into the library. The next few hours of their afternoon are spent on pranks only the Weasley twins could appreciate. Draco finds many of them childish, but he does have to admit that the use of magic to swap the two librarians was hilarious. Their fun is cut short when the younger Blight tattles, and the four of them are kicked out of the library.

“And stay out!” The same librarian from the desk shoots Draco one final nasty look, then slams the doors closed.

Edric, Emira, and Luz burst into laughter. Draco grins.

“What the heck did you do to that guy?” Edric wipes false tears from under his eyes.

“Dared to bring food into his precious library.” Draco rolls his eyes. “He’s too much like Madam Pince, god.”

“Who’s that?” Emira asks.

“The librarian at my school back home,” Draco says. “She’s strict, but at least she lets me bring food in if she’s in a good mood. She likes me.”

“Spend a lot of time at the library then?” Edric inquires.

“There’s a reason I’m the second best student in my year.” Draco smirks.

The twins glance at each other. Edric snorts. Then, they laugh.

Draco blinks, bewildered. “What?”

“It’s just-” Emira can’t contain herself long enough to speak.

“You sound so much like Amity.” Edric finishes for her.

Draco grimaces. That comparison is the last thing he needs today. He’s well-aware of how much of an arsehole he’s been, thanks.

Luz seems to sense his discomfort, because she jumps in. “Amity’s even madder at me now than she was before. I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Nah.” Edric’s calmed down enough to wave off her concern. “When Mittens gets mad, she looks like this.” Edric holds his breath and tries to force a growl out his mouth. His face slowly gets redder and redder. When he finally releases the breath, he stumbles.

“Whoa.” Edric takes a few deep breaths. “Almost passed out.”

“You humans are pretty fun,” Emira says. She and her brother exchange a look. Something must pass between them; they both smile and nod.

“So hey.” Emira leans in close to the two of them. “We’re coming back tonight. There’s a certain book we forgot to… check out.”

“And bonus.” Edric elbows Draco’s side, drops his voice like a conspirator. “The Wailing Star is supposed to unlock some rare magical event.”

“Wailing Star?” Draco raises an eyebrow.

“It’s the comet that comes by every year the night after the conjuring moon,” Emira says. “It does some crazy things to the Isles.”

“Rumor has it that wild witches used to use its power for some dark rituals,” Edric adds.

Huh. Does the human realm have something like that? Draco can’t think of anything. What astrological bodies could amplify magic in that way? Yet another thing to add to his research pile.

“Well.” Emira smirks. “You two in?”

Luz shrugs with a shy smile. “Sure.”

“I don’t see why not.” Draco folds his arms.

Edric grins. “Great. Meet back here at Midnight. See you, Luz and Draco!”

The twins depart, Luz waving them goodbye with a bounce in her step. While breaking and entering runs the risk of attracting more attention, it’ll at least keep him away from the Owl House. He has no idea how he’s going to shake off the Golden Guard, but he has to eventually. Right?

“You okay?” Luz nudges his side.

Draco sighs and runs a hand over his slicked-back hair. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“Not anymore.” Luz smiles. “Besides, I think they said it because they like you. You’re like Amity if she wasn’t… y’know.” Luz makes a vague hand gesture.

Draco exhales. “Right.”

The two of them stand in silence for a moment on the library steps, watching the world go by. It’s strange. The thought of going back to the human realm scares him more than anything, but not just because of his parents. It’s because he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to return to who he once was. He can’t return. Not after everything.

His parents won’t like that.

Merlin, it’s been, what, 2 weeks? Everything about the Demon Realm has upended every part of Draco’s life in every conceivable way possible, and he has a feeling it’s nowhere near done yet.

“Wanna head back to the Owl House?” Luz says.

“Absolutely not,” Draco says. “If you want to deal with the screaming banshee baby, be my guest, but I’m not going anywhere near there until it’s gone.” That, and Draco does not want to have to explain the Golden Guard.

Luz shudders. “Nope, I’m good. We’ll leave Eda to her motherly troubles.”

“She would steal your tongue for calling them that.”

“Good thing she’s not here.” Luz smiles mischievously.

Draco grins.

“What do we do until midnight?” Luz says.

“There’s the bookshop downtown you wanted to see,” Draco says.

“Ooo, yes!” Luz takes his hand and tugs him forward. Draco laughs and jogs to keep up.

They spend the evening there until it closes, then get some food from a stand with a few snails Draco swiped from Eda. It’s pleasant. He used to scorn Luz for existing, but now he can’t really think of what his days would be like without her. To think this may be the last few hours he spends with her… Draco shoves that thought out of his mind.

As long as Eda never finds out, he’ll be able to do this as much as he wants.

“YOU!”

Draco stops dead. Fuck.

“Human.” The Golden Guard sounds out of breath. “I knew you would show up.”

Draco turns. The sun is setting, only a sliver above the horizon, and this particular street isn’t populated with many witches or demons. The few that were here are wisely scattering in all directions.

“Draco?” Luz sounds uneasy. “Who’s this?”

Draco pulls Luz behind him. He glowers at the Golden Guard.

The Golden Guard straightens, re-composing himself and jabbing a finger in Draco’s direction. “By order of the Emperor, you’re coming with me.”

“Please.” Draco rolls his eyes. “He’s not my emperor, why would I listen to a word he says?”

“Draco!” Luz whispers, tugging at his sleeve.

“Because if you don’t, I’ll drag your little human friend by her hair to the Conformatorium.” The Golden Guard circles his staff nonchalantly.

“Don’t you fucking touch her.” Draco snarls. A flash of rage he’s unfamiliar with sparks in his chest. Draco has no idea what the Conformatorium is, but he doesn’t like the sound of it.

“Ooo, so scary, I’m so afraid- Ugh.” The Golden Guard drops the end of his staff into the dirt road. “Just come with me and nobody gets hurt. Easy.”

Draco puts a lid on his temper. He’s lost control of this conversation and he needs to take it back. “Right, like I believe that for a second.”

“The Emperor’s an honest man. If he says he’ll leave the other human be, he will.”

Draco laughs. “You honestly think he’s telling the truth? You’re surprisingly pathetic for a supposed high-ranking official.”

It strikes a nerve. The Golden Guard’s fists clench.

“Keep stalling,” Luz whispers. Draco can’t see what she’s planning, but he trusts her.

Draco raises an eyebrow. “Nothing to say to that, Golden Guard? How true is it, then?” His lip quirks. “A puppet who can’t think for himself, always does what he’s told. Doesn’t think for a second that his master may be lying to him. Not ideal, is it?”

He isn’t expecting the flash of red magic. Nor is he expecting the Golden Guard to be inches from his face. He reacts on instinct, panic and anger pulling something out of the air. He throws it forward. A blue jet of magic slams into The Golden Guard’s chest. He flies backward, yelling, tumbling onto the dirt road in a heap.

Draco stares. Was that a knockback jinx? He didn’t think he could do a knockback jinx, he and Luz had already tried it. Where did that come from?

“Close your eyes!” Luz says.

The Golden Guard had recovered in Draco’s momentary shock. Draco slams his eyes shut as light floods behind his eyelids. The Golden Guard shouts, a hand wraps around his wrist, and they’re off.

“Those flashbangs are incredibly useful,” Draco says as soon as he can open his eyes.

“I know right!?” Luz is giddy, but that giddiness fades just as fast as it came. “What in the world does the emperor want with you?”

“I’m a human who can use magic, why wouldn’t he want something to do with me?” Draco says.

Luz yanks them into a side alley, hidden away from the main street. Neither of them dare to breathe. The Golden Guard runs right past them, cursing up a storm and demanding they stop. As soon as his voice fades, the both of them relax.

“We should head back to the Owl House,” Luz says. “Baby or not, Eda needs to know-”

“No!” Draco’s bout of panic doesn’t abade.

“You’re actively in danger!” Luz looks at him in disbelief.

“You cannot tell Eda any of this has happened.”

“Why!? She can protect you!”

“Because she’ll send me back to the Human Realm!” Draco hisses.

Luz pauses. “Isn’t that what you want?”

Draco flinches. “I don’t know what I want anymore.”

Luz stares at him. It’s the same stare she gave him during the night of the boiling rain. He doesn’t want to think about what that look means.

“Aw, how touching.”

Draco whips around. The Golden Guard is sitting perched on his flying staff, legs crossed, head resting in his palm.

“Hiiiii.” The Golden Guard waves at them, wiggling his fingers. Luz grabs his hand and runs them back towards the street, away from the Golden Guard. With a zap of red, the Golden Guard cuts their path short. They both skid to a stop, Luz stumbles, and Draco catches her.

“So you really can use magic.” The Golden Guard tilts his head. “Both of you can. No wonder the Emperor sent me after you.”

“You leave her out of this.” Draco steps in front of Luz again.

“What? Think she can’t handle herself?”

“No.” Draco takes her hand and squeezes it. “Because you’re the type to play dirty.”

He lets go.

The magic in Bonesborough is different than the natural areas. Less of a flow and more of a strong foundation, built from years of witches using magic. Draco plants his feet, straightens, echoes its feeling as he traces the shape of an S. The ground beneath them grows soft. Luz catches on, and the both of them jump. The spongified ground launches them upwards.

“HEY!” The Golden Guard shouts.

It’s just high enough that Draco catches the roof eave, slamming into the wall, Luz at his side. She scrambles up first, and Draco heaves himself up and rolls onto the slanted roof.

“Dang that spell is useful,” Luz says.

The Golden Guard rises up and out of the alley, back on his staff. “GET BACK HERE!”

“Run!” Draco jumps to his feet, grabs Luz’s hand, and takes off. The alleys are small enough that they’re able to jump to each roof. Beams of red magic blast towards them. One shot narrowly misses Draco’s ear.

“Any ideas!?” Draco calls.

“No, but we’re running out of roof!”

They are, indeed, quickly running out of roof. The street they’re on breaks off into a neighborhood road, one they can’t jump.

Draco has one idea. One crazy, stupid idea that could go wrong in the worst way possible. He’d just cast a knockback jinx accidentally, something he hasn’t done since he was twelve. He could use that. He would prefer any other idea, but they’re out of options.

They reach the edge. Draco jumps. Luz screams, and Draco casts another spongify, cushioning their fall. The Golden Guard skids to a stop next to them, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Give up!” The Golden Guard shouts. “You’re only wasting time!”

Draco stands. He’s angry. He’s angry and he’s terrified. Of Luz getting hurt, of going back to the human realm, of facing his miserable future under the servitude of the Dark Lord. Most of all, he feels the burning urge to kick the Golden Guard into the sun. He balls up that emotion, channels it deep, pulls a raw bundle of magic from the air again. The Golden Guard jerks back. Draco throws the spell.

It hits its target. The Golden Guard’s arms snap to his sides. His staff clatters from his hand, and he falls to the ground.

For a long moment, neither of them move. Draco’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Surely that didn’t work, did it? But the Golden Guard doesn’t move. He’s stiff as a board, locked in place.

“Is he…?” Luz whispers behind him.

Cautiously, Draco approaches. The Golden Guard, again, doesn’t move. He prods him with his toe, and yet again, no reaction.

Luz walks up, crouching down and poking the Golden Guard’s mask. “Freaky.”

Draco plants his hands on his hips, a smile slowly growing on his face. “Remember petrificus totalus?”

Luz’s jaw drops. “No way.”

Draco grins. “I’d say it’s quite effective.”

“I thought that spell didn’t work!” Luz springs to her feet.

“Me as well,” Draco says.

“Then how did you do it?”

“Later.” Draco picks up the Golden Guard’s staff. “We’re going to be late to the library.”

It was drawing rather close to midnight. He and Luz drag the Golden Guard between a few houses and hide him behind some crates. It’d be suspicious to walk around with the Golden Guard’s staff, so Draco leaves it with him. He shouldn’t bother them for the rest of the night. Plenty of time to enjoy the magical event at the library and get back to the Owl House while avoiding the baby. Draco’s quite pleased with himself.

It takes them a bit to find the library again. By the time they arrive, Edric and Emira are already waiting outside the doors, lounging on the front steps and looking incredibly bored.

Edric spots them first. “There you two are!” He jumps to his feet.

“Took them long enough.” Emira stands as well, smirking.

“Sorry!” Luz jogs up to them, chuckling awkwardly. “We’ve had a busy night.”

“Busier than we expected,” Draco adds.

“At least you’re here,” Edric says. “We thought you were ditching us.”

“What? Never!” Luz looks appalled.

“You two wanna head inside?” Emira says.

“If you would be so obliged,” Draco says.

“Fancy language, Draco.” Edric turns on his heel and heads towards the door, trailed by his sister. Draco and Luz follow.

There’s a NO TRESPASSING sign nailed to it. Edric squints at it, then shrugs. He rummages in his pocket and pulls out a rolled-up parchment.

“I’m allergic to the rules,” Edric says.

“And dairy.” Emira takes the parchment from him.

“Wow, okay. Just expose me.”

Draco snickers.

Emira concentrates on the paper, and it begins to glow. She holds it up to the keyhole on the door. It crumbles, and the door lock expands to ten times its original size, big enough for them to walk through.

“Whoa,” Luz says.

“Hurry up, slow moles!” Emira waves them forward and heads in, Edric following. Draco stares, but shakes off his impressed stupor enough to step through the keyhole. Luz jogs to keep up. Inside, Draco glances behind him, and watches the keyhole shrink back to normal size.

“Standing in a dimly lit lobby.” Luz walks ahead of him. “You guys know how to party.”

“There! The Wailing Star!” Edric calls.

Draco snaps his head up. Through the circular stained glass window at the library’s front, a star with a magnificent tail of green flies through the sky. Unbelievably, Draco can actually hear it wailing. He’s never seen anything like it.

“Wow,” Luz breathes.

The four of them sit in silence. Nothing seems to be happening. Maybe the rumors about the magical even were wrong? Disappointing. Draco was sort of looking forward to what it might be.

Edric hums. “Nothing happened.”

Luz tugs on his arm. Draco raises a brow.

“The books are all glowy, look,” Luz says.

Draco does look. Every single book from low shelves to the second balcony floor are glowing.

“What in the…” Draco trails off. What does this mean?

Luz walks to a shelf and takes a book at random. It’s titled “Extinct Birds of the Boiling Isles.” She opens it. From its pages bursts a flood of color. Draco ducks as dozens of birds fill the air of the library, soaring and sweeping. A white bird with a blue belly and long tail lands on Draco’s shoulder, chirping.

“Hello, friend.” Draco strokes its feathery stomach. It twitters.

Edric’s jaw has dropped. “The wailing star magicked the books to life!?”

Luz closes the book. All the birds fade from existence, leaving only traces of their magic behind. It feels glimmery, like the twinkling of a star.

“Incredible.” Draco says, in awe.

Emira and Edric look at each other. Matching mischievous grins grow on their faces.

The first hour is spent experimenting. Opening fashion magazines results in new clothes forming on their bodies. Edric and Emira pick regal outfits, while Draco lets Luz choose a witch magazine. Luz ends up in a battle outfit with a massive sword slung on her back. A witch’s brimmed hat with ornaments strung from it and a draped, translucent blue robe appear on Draco, with fur-hewn sleeve cuffs and a suit underneath.

Luz gasps. “Magical mystical- WAH!” Luz topples from the weight of the sword, and the magazine falls shut.

Next, Luz finds the comic book section and opens one at random.

“Nothing happened,” Luz says. As soon as she speaks, a speech bubble forms from the pages over her head.

“Something did happen,” Draco says with a snicker. Another bubble forms over his head.

The twins gasp. “Wow,” they say together, and a third bubble forms over their heads. Luz closes it, and the bubbles pop, one final “thump” sound effect appearing then disappearing.

Draco wanders into the novels section and picks a book with a snake on the cover, opening it. A plethora of different snakes rain down on their heads. The twins both jump away in fright, but Luz is beaming, picking up a few of them and cooing at them like they’re kittens.

“I didn’t know you liked snakes,” Draco comments. A large snake with a striped blue and white pattern takes the liberty of draping itself around his neck. He strokes its head.

“Wait until I tell you about my final book report.” Luz giggles.

“Close it, close it!” Edric squeaks. Draco rolls his eyes and does so, and all of the snakes disappear. The twins exhale in relief.

The four of them loop back around to the history section. Emira picks up a book with a blue cover, titled “Snowballs: A History.” When she opens it, snowballs launch from its pages into the air, raining back down on them. Draco, Luz, and Edric dodge around the falling snow. Emira slams the book shut.

“I think I know what to do next.” Emira grins.

“Every witch for themselves!” Edric swipes another copy of the book. Luz takes a third, and Draco takes the last. They scatter.

It’s been ages since Draco last had a snowball fight. He makes good work of it, cornering Emira and blasting her. She laughs and blasts him right back. Draco dives behind a shelf to avoid getting hit, only to be slammed by Luz’s attack. She stops to dodge out of the way of Edric’s move. Emira takes the opportunity to nail Luz with snowballs straight to the face. That’s how they spend the last half of the hour, dodging around each other and trying not to get pelted. It’s fun.

Towards the end of the battle, something catches Luz’s attention, and she wanders off. Curious, Draco follows her, staying out of sight of the twins. Edric’s busy chasing Emira around. Draco isn’t too worried about being spotted.

Inside an open area, Luz enters a small, open room with a couple of shelves on the right wall. Unlike out in the main library, these shelves are filled with picture books, children’s stories. Luz is heading towards an open floor area, littered with beanbags, cushions, and fluffy carpets. She picks up a book left on a small table.

“What’s that?” Draco leans over her shoulder.

Luz starts. “Oh, uh-” She chuckles.

Draco furrows his brows. “I was right behind you, how did you not notice me?”

“Um, well, I…” Luz rocks back and forth on her feet, then sighs. “Earlier today at the library, I maybe kind of walked in on Amity reading to a group of kids.”

Draco blinks. “Seriously?”

“I know right?” Luz turns and holds up the book she picked up. “This is the book she was reading.” She opens it. From its pages, a small, large-earred, furry pink creature emerges, holding a large needle attached to a green ball of yarn. It wears brown shorts with a small, light green cape tied around its neck. It reminds Draco of a rabbit with drooping ears.

“This is Otabin.” Luz smiles.

Draco waves to the little creature. “Greetings.”

Luz clears her throat, and starts to read. “‘Otabin spent his days alone amongst the many books he’d sewn. With needle and thread, the pages he’d mend. But all the while, he longed for a friend.”

Otabin looks up at Luz. “Friend?”

Draco would pay to see Amity actually reading this to small children. He’s about to say just that, but there’s a shout from Edric.

“Luz, Draco!” Edric runs into the kid’s area, Emira right behind him. “Check this out.”

“Look what we discovered!” Emira picks up a book from the shelf, titled “Quacks Eats Snacks,” and opens it. A duckling flies out of the pages, gliding across the floor like its water. It quacks at them all.

Luz coos at it, shutting Otabin’s book. “Cute little quackster!”

Edric takes a pencil.

Draco pauses. “Wait, what’re you-”

Edric draws a pair of hairy man legs on the duck. Draco watches in horror as the duck disappears, then re-forms, now adorned with a giant pair of legs. The duckling screeches.

“Now he’s extra cute,” Emira says. The twins’ laughter rings out as Emira closes the book, the duck fading from existence.

“Do you two have no respect?” Draco snatches the book from Emira’s hands before she can think to grip it. “We’re experiencing a rare magical event that we don’t know the effects of, why would you think this is a good idea?”

“Geez, who invited lame-o?” Edric rolls his eyes. “It’s just a drawing, Draco.”

Draco’s grip tightens on the book. “I’m going to go find something to erase this with.” He turns on his heel and strides back into the wider library.

It takes some searching, but he does, eventually, find an eraser at the librarian’s desk at the front of the library. He opens the book and tries to ignore the squawking duck as he makes quick work of erasing Edric’s doodle. The carelessness is going to come back to bite them, he’s sure of it. Luz may be too charmed to say no, but he isn’t. He knows better than to mess with magic he doesn’t understand.

As soon as Draco’s done, the duck reverts back to normal. It heaves in relief, wings flopping to the floor.

“Apologies for that.” Draco steps around to the other side of the desk, sitting down to face the duckling properly. “Hopefully you weren’t too bothered.”

The duck makes a series of quacks that Draco believes is supposed to mean it’s okay. He pets the duck on its fluffy head, and it leans into the touch.

“This entire phenomenon quite fascinating,” Draco mumbles. An idea strikes him. “I may know a good way to utilize this. Would you like to come with?”

The duckling nods with a quack.

“Great.” Draco gets to his feet and takes the duck’s book, leaving it open. It takes a moment to remember where it is, but he eventually does find the nonfiction section. It’s sorted by last name, so it isn’t too hard to start looking. In the D section, he finds a book that catches his interest.

“‘Beginning Abominations,’ Darius Deamonne.” Draco rolls his eyes. “Of course that would be a witch’s last name here.”

The duck quacks, tilting its head.

“It’s the realm of witches and demons. Need I say more?” Draco sits down on the floor with a huff, setting the duck’s book to the side. He flips to the title page.

A rather imposing man forms in front of him. He’s tall, with a regal outfit and a light purple cape draped over one shoulder. Interestingly, his hair and beard are formed from abomination clay.

“Beginning Abominations, written by Darius Deamonne.” The man looks supremely unamused. “Head witch of the Abominations Coven.”

“Head witch?” Draco blinks in surprise.

The duck quacks, rocking side to side.

The man continues like Draco didn’t speak at all. “Chapter One: Understanding Abominations. When one thinks of the Titan, they usually think of one of three things; the corpse, the Emperor, or abominations. Abominations are on that list for good reason…”

Draco wishes he had something to take notes with, but watching this man prattle on will have to do for now. The Titan must’ve been one insanely powerful being when it was alive to still be impacting magic today. What was it like? It was definitely gigantic for the Boiling Isles to be as large as it is. Draco couldn’t see the entirety of it when he, Eda, Luz, and King flew up to see it. How did something that large survive? What did it eat, how did it keep itself from burning in the boiling water? So many questions, but none that he can answer. Not at this moment, anyway.

He listens intently. According to Deamonne, if he wants the best grasp of the ingredient mixture, he’s going to need to make the clay by hand first. That’s going to be horrible, and likely stain Draco’s clothes. However, one must do what one must to achieve learning. He’d initially been put off by many of the potions ingredients Severus had them using, but he went on to excel in potions. Severus still likes boasting about that at family dinners.

Draco makes a mental note to come back for this book at some point, or see if Eda has it or eventually ends up with it. Deamonne slowly gets more passionate about the subject as he gets past the basics. He even goes off on a rant at one point about how stupid you have to be to not understand what soil you’re looking for. Draco has a feeling he’d get along with this man if they ever met.

The creaking of a floorboard tears Draco away from the lecture. Draco closes the abominations book, Deamonne fading out of existence. The duck quacks in confusion.

“Hang on,” Draco says. He gets to his feet. “Luz? Edric? Emira?” He calls.

“Look up. Maybe they’re hiding from you.”

Draco jerks, back hitting the opposite shelf. The duck quacks in alarm. Above where he had been sitting, perched on top of the shelf, a shadow looms. A very familiar shadow.

The Golden Guard lunges. Draco dives out of the way. The Golden Guard’s fast, and he pins Draco to the floor, length of the staff pressed against his chest and upper arms.

“Caught you.” There’s a note of glee to the Golden Guard’s voice.

“I wouldn’t speak too soon.” Draco traces the shape of a flame with his wrist. The Golden Guard yelps and springs off of him, his trousers smoking. Draco rolls to his feet and blows the smoke off the tip of his finger.

The Golden Guard pats himself out. He snarls. “You stupid human!”

Draco smirks. “Goodbye.”

He spins a spiral. A smoke screen rushes from his person, flooding the air. Draco takes off. The duck vanished while he was down, and Draco hopes it was because its book was closed. For good measure, Draco shapes an engorgio on the Abominations book and sets it upright at the end of the shelves. It swells to many times its original size, a wall between him and his enemy. Draco doesn’t let himself linger.

It appears the body-bind curse doesn’t last as long on the Boiling Isles. How does he lose the Golden Guard this time? He doesn’t have Luz to back him up, and he’s going to keep it that way. He’d rather she not become a target as well. He’s cornered in a library where all the books create magical projections, and Edric and Emira-

Wait, the books! Draco makes a sharp left, towards the history section. The Golden Guard made a mistake following him here.

“Running is useless!” The Golden Guard shouts.

“Not if you’re creative enough!” Draco swipes a book from the shelf. “History of Stampeding Animals,” perfect. He throws open the book and tosses it to the ground. Dozens of animals, from as small as a dog to as large as a dragon, spill out of its pages. The Golden Guard shrieks. Draco allows himself to take some satisfaction in it as he grabs one of the copies of the snowball book. When the animals fade, The Golden Guard on the floor with the closed book, Draco opens it. The Golden Guard scrambles back, shielding his face from the entourage of snowballs.

“You. Are. So. ANNOYING!” A blast of red magic hits the book. It’s pages incinerate upon contact, the snowballs stop. Draco drops the cover and picks another book; “A History of Abominations.” Perfect. Draco opens it.

A small army of abominations explode from the pages, groaning and stumbling.

“Abominations, seize!” Draco shouts. The abominations twist their heads towards the Golden Guard.

“You’ve gotta be kidding- HUMAN!” The Golden Guard charges, but the abominations head him off, cutting his path short.

Who knew the history section could have so many useful books? With the way Binns makes it sound, history’s the most boring subject to ever exist. Draco leaves the open book on the ground and makes his escape.

He needs a strategy. Leaving the library would put Draco in a more vulnerable position, so he can’t do that. But he needs to keep the Golden Guard away from Luz, Edric, and Emira. His best chance is to stay on the far side of the library, away from the kids section, but they could be anywhere by now. He’s need an opening, some way to shake the Golden Guard. How can he-

A loud, thunderous pair of footsteps and a scream shatter Draco’s thought process. It wasn’t Luz or the twins, but it sounded like a girl shouting Luz’s name.

“Luz!?” He calls. He changes direction, only to be knocked to the floor, a knee shoved into his back.

“You- are- the worst- human- to ever exist!” The Golden Guard forces one of Draco’s arms behind his back.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Think, Draco! He can’t use spells with restricted movement, and there’s no way he’s going to be able to surprise the Golden Guard again. Unless he gets an opening soon, he’s trapped.

The Golden Guard’s hand grips his other wrist. He only has a second to register the lack of a leather glove, instead the feel of calloused skin. Then, his vision floods green.

He’s standing on a high balcony on top of the emperor’s castle, watching the sunset. A hand lands on his shoulder. He looks up to see his uncle, with long, greying hair and a mottled green scar stretching diagonally across his face. “The Titan has big plans for you,” his uncle says. “It’s the reason you’re still here.”

He’s in a dimly-lit, large arena, in the middle of a training exercise. He fumbles yet another simple move and collapses, his sparring partner with a blade to his throat. But that’s not what he focuses on. His uncle observes from the stands, and his eyes narrow ever so slightly. He’s already bracing himself for the disappointment, the punishment. He can’t keep letting his uncle down.

He’s in the middle of a throne room. A massive, beating heart towers over the gold-embossed throne at its head. His uncle stands over him, eyes cold. The blood on his jaw is warm, already drying. There’s no sympathy in his uncle’s eyes. Not like he deserves it, anyway.

He kneels in front of the Emperor, adorned in his brand new armor. The coven heads are watching as the Emperor declares his title, gives him his staff, lays the his own staff over both shoulders. It’s the happiest day of his life. He’s finally made his uncle proud.

He finds himself in the darkened shelves of the castle library. As he’s perusing, he finds a book coated in a few layers of dust labelled with an interesting title: “Rituals of the Savage Ages.” Curious, he takes a seat and flips to the first page. It speaks of wild magic, and he slams it shut. But his uncle said it was important for him to learn, so the same mistakes couldn’t be repeated. Tentatively, he opens it again.

He stands at the Emperor’s side, arms clasped behind his back. Lilith Clawthorne already departed, leaving him and the Emperor alone. He’s not sure why his uncle finds a magical human so important.

“Hunter.”

He straightens. “Yes, sir?”

“While the rumors may turn out to be insubstantial, use this as an opportunity. It should make up for last week’s… mistake.”

A cold shiver runs down his spine. He nods.

“Yes, uncle.”

Draco gasps. The Golden Guard jumps off of Draco like he’s been stung. Draco pushes himself to his hands and knees. Merlin, that was…

“What did you just do!?” The Golden Guard, Hunter, demands. His confident exterior is cracking. He’s trembling, and he has his bare hand cradled in his gloved one. His pale, bare, scarred hand.

“I didn’t-” Draco swallows, leaning back on his heels. “I didn’t do anything. That wasn’t you?”

“Why in the name of the Titan would it be me!?” Hunter snaps.

“DRACO!”

Luz’s cry stops them both short. Hunter stumbles back, shrinking on himself.

Draco stands. “Wait, don’t-!”

Hunter, The Golden Guard, Draco’s not sure what to call him, takes off. Draco curses. A second later, a weight slams into his back, and he nearly falls yet again. Arms squeeze around his middle in a vice grip.

“Luz!” Now that she’s closer, Draco doesn’t take long to realize the new voice is the younger Blight. “You can’t just run off like that!”

Draco twists around in Luz’s arms. Blight jogs up to the two of them, and at her feet is the duckling, quacking up a storm.

Draco’s brows furrow “How-”

“Little Quackster came and found us and was all freaked out and I realized something must’ve happened to you so I came as soon as I could but then there was evil Otabin and-”

“Luz, slow down!” Draco pries her arms from around him and takes her shoulders. “Take a deep breath, start from the beginning. What did I miss after I left you and the Blight twins?”

She inhales, exhales, repeats the process a few times, then starts her story. After Draco had left, the twins showed Luz to Blight’s secret hideaway, intending on finding her diary. Luz drew the line, said they needed to walk away, but then Blight found them and thought Luz had been the one trying to get to her diary. She went to apologize, the twins left.

“They just left?” Draco balks, glancing to Blight. She’s fidgeting with the end of her school uniform sleeve. “I knew they were careless, but that’s a new low.”

“Oh, trust me,” Blight growls. “I know.”

Luz gnaws her lip. “So I went to go talk to her, and when we were fighting Little Quackster showed up. He didn’t have the legs anymore, so I know you helped him, but he was alone. I realized you must be in trouble, but then… Otabin showed up.”

“Otabin’s tiny, how could he be dangerous?” Draco says.

“About that…”

Luz explains how Edric had guided her hand to doodling sharp teeth and angry eyebrows onto Otabin, thus turning him into some sort of book monster. She and Amity had to fix it, while avoiding becoming 2-D figures on book pages.

Draco huffs. “I hate to say it, but-”

“You were right, I know!” Luz slumps. “But I fixed it, with Amity’s help. As soon as Amity closed Otabin’s book I told Little Quackster to lead us to you, and now we’re here.”

Draco looks down at the duck. “You really did all that?”

The duck quacks, pleased.

Draco smiles. “You’re alright, duck.”

The duck swims circles around him, quacking happily.

“He has a name,” Blight says, unimpressed.

“Well I think it isn’t dignified, Blight.” Draco practically hisses her last name. Blight’s eyes narrow.

“No fighting!” Luz jumps between the both of them. “She helped rescue me from Otabin.”

“Really?” Draco raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me for being a bit skeptical, but last I saw you challenged Luz to a witch’s duel and tried to kill her.”

“Kill her!?” Blight’s affronted. “It was a duel, I wouldn’t have killed her! And Luz challenged me, get your facts straight.”

Alright, Draco couldn’t contest with that. “Fine.”

Luz sags in relief. “Can we clean up so we can get home? I’m so ready to be done with today.”

Draco groans. “Cleaning up the history section is going to be a nightmare.”

“What did you do?” Blight says.

“You don’t want to know.”

It takes them hours to clean up their respective messes. Draco’s was easier to clean than he initially thought, but that didn’t stop Otabin’s from being a pain. By the time they leave the library, the sun is cresting over the horizon, and Draco’s ran out of energy to care about anything else but going back to the Owl House.

“What an adventure,” Luz comments with a wistful sigh. Draco has no idea how she can still be positive after all of that. “Thanks for helping clean up, Amity.”

Blight strides past them both. “This never happened.”

Draco grits his teeth.

“Wait!” Luz calls. “It doesn’t make up for reading your diary, but… do you wanna borrow my copy of Azura book five?”

Draco reels back a little. Where did that come from? Does the Boiling Isles seriously have a muggle book series?

“I noticed you only had up to four.” Luz rubs the back of her neck.

Blight’s stopped walking. She doesn’t respond to Luz for several seconds, then, “there’s a fifth book?”

Luz nods, then seems to remember Blight’s back is turned to her. “I don’t have it with me right now, but if you wanna come by the Owl House, I can give it to you.”

Blight turns. “Thank you.”

Luz smiles.

“Maybe you… aren’t a bully. I haven’t exactly been the friendliest witch either. I’ll think on that.”

It’s like Draco doesn’t exist for the two of them at this moment. Blight walks away without anything further to say. Luz shoves her hair back with a shaky exhale.

“That could’ve been so much worse,” Luz says.

Draco elbows her. “Making friends with an enemy, I see.”

“She’s not an enemy, she’s just…” Luz watches as Amity turns a corner down the street in front of them. “…a person.”

“If you say so.” Draco heads down the stairs. “Let’s hope Eda’s been rid of the screaming baby by the time we get back.”

“Yep.” Luz hurries to catch up. “Are you gonna tell her about the…?”

“No.” Draco massages his temple. “It… something happened in there and I just- I have a lot to think about.”

Luz’s brows furrow in concern. “You wanna talk about it?”

“I’m not sure how much more sense of it you can make.”

Luz shrugs. “Can’t hurt, can it?”

It couldn’t. Draco smiles.

~~~

When they arrive back at the Owl House, Hooty greets them. Luz waves and Draco gives him a simple nod of acknowledgement as Luz swings the door open.

“Hey guys! We’re-” Luz stops herself. Draco steps inside and pauses.

On the green couch, Eda’s fast asleep, cradling three little demon babies with a sleeping King on her lap. It looks quite peaceful; except for the fact that the babies somehow multiplied.

“Aw,” Luz beams.

“Let’s not wake them,” Draco whispers. He heads towards the stairs, but is cut off when Hooty’s door flies open again.

“Ding, Dong!” Hooty squawks.

“Hooty, quiet!” Luz shushes.

A massive head of long, black hair pushes its way through the door. It has the face of a woman, but that’s where the normalcy stops. Huge bat wings protrude from its sides, and instead of a body, its head rests on two legs. The woman smiles at them both.

“You must be mama,” Luz says, intimidated.

“Yea, yea. Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen.” The Bat Queen looks at Draco, and does a double take. She looks like she wants to say something, but she shifts her attention onto the three babies in Eda’s arms. She whistles.

The three babies stir from their slumber. They fly out of Eda’s arms and nestle into the Bat Queen’s hair like it’s a nest. Sort of reminds him of Eda hiding things in her hair.

“Snuggle dumplings,” The Bat Queen purrs fondly. She burps, and vomits up a massive wooden chest full of golden snails, followed by a skull-shaped whistle.

“For troubles,” she says. “Eda is owed one.”

The Bat Queen takes one last look at Draco, a complicated expression on her face. Then, she departs, shoving herself back out the door. Luz closes the door behind her.

“Strange,” Draco murmurs.

“What’s strange?” Luz says.

Eda startles awake, rousing King as well. “Babies!? Where are the babies!?”

Luz makes a shape with her hands to emulate wings flying away.

Eda’s brows tilt down. “Aw… And I just taught Junior how to pick locks, too.”

“Looks like someone got attached,” Draco teases.

“Your night looks very successful. Look at all that money you made!” Luz gestures at the chest. “And look at this cool whistle that scary woman gave you.” She picks it up, and some slobber drips off of it. “I’d wash it before you use it.”

“Yeah…” For someone who now has a lot of money, Eda still sounds surprisingly put-out. “We did it all for the money.”

“I miss my babies!” King sobs and clings onto Eda.

“I actually got you something from the library.” Luz pulls out a book Draco didn’t realize she had on her, “Coping with Empty Nest Syndrome.”

Eda takes it with a snort. “Thanks, kid. So, how was your guys’s night?”

“A disaster,” Draco deadpans.

“Good, then bad, then maybe good?” Luz says. “It wasn’t all a disaster, but it got close.”

“The books came to life at the library and Luz made one evil.”

“Hey!” Luz stomps her foot. “At least I wasn’t getting chased by the Golden Guard.”

“Wait, what?” Eda says, straightening.

Draco pales. God damn it, Luz! “She doesn’t need to-”

“We spent the entire day running away from The Golden Guard because theEmperorwantsDracoforsomereason!” Luz blurts.

It’s like a bucket of ice water has been dumped over his head. Eda processes the new information, flitting between worry, fear, and determination. She settles on something resigned, and hugs the book close to her chest.

“I think-” Eda inhales. “I think it’s time Draco goes back to the human realm.”

“What!? No!” King flies off the couch and latches onto Draco’s leg. Draco can’t move. His limbs feel like they’ve turned to lead. “Over my dead body!”

“King-”

“No! I refuse!” King’s eyes are brimming with tears. “We lost the babies, we can’t lose Draco too!”

“It’s not safe for him here anymore!” Eda gets to her feet. “It hasn’t been safe since-” She cuts herself off. Draco already knows the end of that sentence. “If the Emperor wants him, then we need to send him back to his world, with his parents. His real parents. I can’t let him keep getting hurt because of me.”

King whimpers, claws digging into Draco’s calf. It’s the same calf he got burned on. The healing magic of the Boiling Isles couldn’t stop it from scarring. Luz’s eyes are wide, shining with unshed tears. Was she expecting something else? Some sort of miracle?

It hurts. Draco knew this would happen and it still hurts. Why does it hurt? This is what he should want, to go home. Back to his life where everything made sense and he wasn’t getting pulled around by muggle girls, yapping demons and off-their-rockers witches. He had everything he could’ve wanted back in the human realm; prestige, power, magic.

But is that what he wants?

Draco squeezes his eyes shut. “No.”

There’s a moment of silence. “What do you mean, ‘no’?” Eda says. “You’ve been fighting to get back since I kidnapped you!”

For the first time in his short, miserable life, Draco does something he’s never done. His parents will never forgive him.

“You don’t know everything.” Draco opens his eyes. “I never really wanted to go home this summer.”

The silence is deafening.

“25 years ago, there lived a man known as- known as V-Voldemort.” He chokes on the name. “Other witches and wizards call him he-who-must-not-be-named. I was always taught to call him the Dark Lord. He- He ravaged my world. Killed muggles for sport, murdered muggleborns for daring to use magic. It ignited an 11-year war, the Dark Lord versus those who fought against him. 14 years ago, something changed. He chose to attack a small family of three known as the Potters. Against all odds, their son, Harry Potter, only a baby at the time, defeated him. The British Wizarding World had 14 years of peace afterwards. I’d been told all about the war growing up, but never really understood its consequences. At least, until the end of my last school year.”

“There was this tournament called the Triwizard cup, where champions from three magical schools were chosen to compete in tasks like fighting dragons or escaping creatures of the lake. Potter never should’ve been chosen. Yet, he became the fourth champion anyway. I’m not sure how that happened, but I think I understand why. During the third and final task, the four champions were tasked with traversing a maze full of creatures and traps. Those of us in the audience couldn’t see what was happening, but at the end, Potter appeared in the arena with the Triwizard cup and the body of the original Hogwarts champion, Cedric Diggory.”

Eda raises a hand to her mouth. Luz shakes her head in horror.

“He said- he said the Dark Lord had returned.” Draco clenches his hands into fists. “That he had killed Diggory. And I- I knew, right then. My life as I knew it was over.”

“My father is one of his followers, known as Death Eaters. He’d told me this, and I took it as a point of pride for a long time, even if I couldn’t tell anyone. Most Death Eaters had been apprehended after Voldemort’s defeat, but my father managed to squirm his way out of it. My father is the best off of the Death Eaters, so its only logical the Dark Lord would come to stay at my home, Malfoy manor. As soon as I set foot on the manor grounds, I could never turn back. I tried to stall as long as possible, and then… then I got sent here.”

Draco laughs wetly. “It’s strange, isn’t it? How that worked out. I got incredibly lucky. I’m still not sure what happens now, but I don’t think I can go back. I may not be safe in either world, but at least I have people here. Right?”

Eda simply stares at him. King squeezes his leg tighter.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Luz’s voice is weak, like if she speaks too loud he’ll break.

Draco gives her a bitter smile. “Because I didn’t feel like I could.”

“Oh, kid.” Eda crosses the room. She envelopes him in her arms. Draco’s just tall enough to hide his face in her shoulder. Eda was originally unfamiliar with the concept of hugging; she must’ve picked it up from Luz.

“Merlin, I’m a disaster.” Draco wraps his arms around her, voice muffled.

“No kidding.” Eda chuckles, but her voice breaks. “I am too.”

“We all are.” The familiar Luz hug traps him from behind.

King scampers his way up Draco’s side, perching on his shoulder. “Weirdos stick together!”

Draco snorts and wipes his eye with a hand. “Since when am I a weirdo?”

“Since Eda kidnapped you!” King hugs the side of his head. “We’ve infected you!”

Draco laughs, far more genuinely than he was expecting. “Can’t refute that.”

Eda and Luz both pull away, and Eda takes his shoulders. “I’m not gonna make you go back.”

Draco’s eyes widen. “But you just-”

“I know what I said and I’m taking it back,” Eda squeezes his shoulders. “I’m not letting you into the hands of some genocidal maniac who thinks he can rule the world.”

“But what about my-”

“Your father can go suck a lemon for all I care.” Eda grins. “He doesn’t deserve you.”

Draco was going to say parents, but that answer suffices.

Eda yanks Draco into her side. “Get kidnapped twice, Wizface.”

“Yes!” Luz cheers. She catches him in another hug.

“I’m never letting you go back to the human realm,” King says. “Neveeeer.”

“I would like to go back for school at the end of the summer,” Draco says. “I want to spend time comparing my knowledge of Boiling Isles magic to Human Realm magic.”

“Ugh, you’re such a nerd.” Eda ruffles his hair, purposefully mucking up the gel. Draco grumbles.

 “Are we gonna talk about the fact that Draco lives in a mansion?” Luz comments.

“It’s a manor,” Draco corrects.

Luz doesn’t miss a beat. “And he obviously has a rivalry going on with Harry Potter?”

Draco splutters. “I do not!”

“Your textbooks say you do.” Luz grins. She’s learned too much from Eda.

“I must know about your sworn enemy!” King declares, tail wagging.

“There’s nothing to say,” Draco scoffs. “He’s a stubborn, arrogant git with a massive ego. The headmaster lets him get away with anything because he’s the super special ‘chosen one’.” He makes heavy air quotes, but that doesn’t stave off Luz.

“He’s an actual chosen one!?” She says, eyes sparkling. “Tell me more, tell me more!”

Draco isn’t getting out of this one, is he? He glances at Eda. She smirks and raises a brow. Yeah, no chance at escape. At least it’ll stave off the exhaustion.

“Well, I first met him in Diagon Alley, the shopping district for wizards, but I didn’t know it at the time…”

~~~

Draco’s back in the throne room. The heart beats, each thud rumbling through the floor. He’s speaking, except it’s not his voice he’s hearing. It’s Hunter’s.

“-name is Draco Malfoy.”

A tall figure on the throne responds. “Malfoy?”

“Yes.” Draco can feel himself lock up. Or is it Hunter?

The Emperor doesn’t say anything for several long moments. Draco only tenses even more. Any attempt he makes to relax is ignored. Safe to say it’s not him, then.

“Interesting.”

Hunter reaches with one hand to scratch the palm of the other. They’re just out of Draco’s line of sight, but he can discern the scarring. Lots of small cuts, a couple burns…

“Uncle?” Hunter says. His voice is tense.

“While you failed in capturing him-”

Draco feels Hunter flinch.

“-you did gain some very valuable information.” The Emperor leans his head on his fist, the armored fingers of his other hand tapping the arm of the throne. “Information that the Coven Scouts have failed to. How did you learn this?”

Hunter takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “The Wailing Star led to us exchanging some memories when we touched. His name was mentioned in one of them.”

“Do you know what he saw of yours?”

“No.”

The Emperor hums. “Unfortunate. It’s safe to assume you’ve been compromised. I’ll assign Coven Head Clawthorne to take over.”

“I can handle it!” Hunter cries. He’s scared. “It was only a few, I can still do this. I’ll make it up to you.”

“No, Hunter.” The Emperor’s tone is cold. Hunter’s mouth clicks shut. “While your information was valuable, this kind of mistake was very grave. How many times have I told you not to experiment with wild magic?”

Hunter shrinks away. “I’m sorry, Uncle.”

That response makes no sense. The incident wasn’t Hunter’s fault. Why is he apologizing?

“You should be. You’re dismissed.”

Hunter turns and walks out of the room. Draco wants to force him to turn back around, but this isn’t his body. It’s not listening to him.

Draco awakens. He’s disoriented for a moment as the dark storage room blurs into focus. His right wrist itches. Luz’s snoring, flopped onto her stomach on the floor. King mumbles something about Francois in his sleep and curls into Draco’s side. Draco scratches his head.

What was that?

Chapter Text

Gus has had a rough day.

First, he spilled his breakfast cup of spineapple juice all over his uniform. His dad had to magic it away for him because he couldn’t get the cleaning spell right. Cleaning spells are supposed to be easy! Next, he completely forgot about a really important test he had in Illusionary History. He probably absolutely bombed it. And finally, an imposter snuck his way into Gus’s H.A.S. meeting and tried to take his presidency. His H.A.S. presidency! And, as if his day couldn’t get any worse, the only way he’s going to prevent it is to get his two human friends into Hexside. His human friends who are very, very banned.

Gus tightens his grip on his book bag. Luz, he can convince. She’s into magic like no other person he knows, and she would do anything to get back into the school. But Draco? He’s not sure. Draco’s always been kind of a wild card; one second he’s nice, the next he’s throwing insults like it’s a competition. While Gus hasn’t had any insults thrown at him, he’s sure Draco has to hate him.

Why is that? Because Draco calls Gus by his last name.

He doesn’t do it to Willow or Luz. At first he thought it was a weird human culture thing, but now it just feels like a jab every time he calls Gus ‘Porter’. The only other person he calls by their last name is Amity. He hates Amity. Almost as much as Willow hates Amity. It’s kind of surprising since they haven’t known each other very long, but that’s beside the point.

The important thing is that Draco only last-names Gus and Amity, and Draco for sure hates Amity, so he has to hate Gus too.

Gus squeezes the strap of his bag. Draco said they were friends, right? He doesn’t say that kind of stuff easily, so it has to mean something. But Gus can’t think of any other reason Draco would keep calling him by his last name. Maybe he only said they were friends because Luz and Willow were in the room. Maybe he still is a bully, and is playing some sort of long game to get on Luz and Willow’s good sides.

Gus shakes his head. That isn’t fair. Draco sounded genuine when he was talking to Willow, and Luz and him do everything together. You rarely find one without the other. But Gus wants Draco to be his friend, too. He’s amazing, an actual magic human who can do amazing stuff, like make things float, and create fog, and create fire he can hold in the palm of his hand. Gus hasn’t had a guy friend before. All the guys in school think he talks too much and makes weird jokes. That, or he’s too much of a “baby” for them. He’s twelve!

He hangs his head. Who is he kidding? He’s never convincing Draco. But at least he can convince Luz.

He looks up, and has to do a double-take. Down the road leading to the Owl House, none other than Amity is walking away in his direction. She’s still in her school clothes, she must’ve rushed here right after school ended. Doesn’t she normally have Grudgby practice on Thursdays? Wait, no, she quit the team last year. Why is she at the Owl House? It’s the only thing in this direction.

Amity’s eyes land on him, and she freezes. He waves. What else is he supposed to do? Amity speeds past him with her head down, her face bright red. Gus blinks. What was that all about?

Nevermind, he has a mission. Convince Luz andmaybeDraco to come to Hexside with him and keep his H.A.S. presidency. He can’t afford to lose!

Gus runs the rest of the way, and throws open the front door. “GUYS! I need your- whoa.”

The already-busy living room is way busier than usual. The floor is piled with tons of boxes, filled with all sorts of human stuff. It’d be like a dream, except he’s pretty sure he smells something dead. Eda’s sat on the floor, grumbling to herself as she pulls stuff out of the boxes and puts them in other boxes. Luz’s doing the same thing, with King flopped over the arm of Eda’s red couch. Draco seems to be helping, sat on the same couch with a pair of boxes next to him, except he’s glaring daggers into the back of Eda’s head. He’s really, really mad.

“Who could possibly-!?” Draco’s head whips to him, and the anger falls off his face. “Oh. Greetings, Porter.”

Gus winces. Here we go again.

“Gus!” Luz lights up with a smile. “Sorry, we’re in the middle of chores.”

“That Eda’s forcing me to do,” Draco scoffs.

“Hey! You can’t guilt your way out of them anymore, Wizface.” Eda points a finger at him. “Get. To. Work.”

“This is torture. Literal torture.” Draco reaches for one of his boxes, then leaps back with a gag. “Is that a dead rat!?”

“There’re rats everywhere in this house, how are you not used to this yet?” Eda mutters.

“It’s disgusting!”

“You said you needed something?” Luz says.

Gus has no idea how she’s ignoring this. They look like they’re about to attack each other.

“Should I come back later?” Gus points a thumb at them.

“Nah, they do this all the time.” Luz picks up a junk box. Eda and Draco keep going like Gus, Luz, and King aren’t there.

O-kay then. He closes the door behind him. “You have to help me.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Luz’s eyes are wide. “Are you getting chased by a witch-eating scorpion?”

“Someone’s trying to steal my H.A.S presidency with fake human stuff!”

Luz gasps. “What!?”

“I know!” Gus sits down next to her. “His name’s Mattholomule, and he accused me of having fake human stuff! ME! It was diabolical. The members were touching. Objects.”

“What the heck? Why is he doing that?” Luz says.

“Probably because it gives him a false sense of power.”

Gus jumps. Draco and Eda are done fighting, then.

Draco keeps going. “My guess is that he’s deeply insecure and feels weak, thus he went for the one club he felt he could con his way into leadership for. He’s going to let it fall by the wayside and fizzle out once he gets what he wants. From what I’ve heard, it seems he only cares about climbing a false ladder of power for the rush.”

Gus has to take a second, because what. “How are you so good at that?”

Draco gestures to himself.

“Ah. Right.”

“What do you need me to do?” Luz says.

“I need you to come to Hexside with me tomorrow and prove him wrong,” Gus says. “You can come too if you want, Draco. His human artifacts are fake, and I need other humans to prove it. Only humans are more human-expert than me!”

Luz and Draco glance at each other. Draco frowns, and Luz inhales through her teeth.

“We’d love to go to school with you,” Luz says. “but I don’t know how we can. Draco and I are still banned from Hexside.”

“We could just sneak in,” Draco says.

“Except I kind of want to improve my chances of going to Hexside someday,” Luz says.

Draco exhales. “I suppose you have a point. I would like to grasp Boiling Isles magic myself.”

Gus wilts. He’s losing the H.A.S. presidency for sure.

“You two are insane.” Eda’s rifling through one of her boxes. “Bump did you a favor. There ain’t nothing for you guys at that dweebus factory. No offense, dweebus.”

“It’s okay,” Gus mumbles. “I come from a long line of dweebuses.”

Luz slams down the box she’s holding. “Well I would love to go someday.” She stands, her eyes narrowed. “Better than unpacking boxes in the Eda Coven.”

“Oh, you think you’re clever, huh?” Eda stands too, and she towers over Luz. She plants her hands on her hips.

“She’s stating a fact.” Draco stands as well. He’s shorter than her, too, but two is better than one.

“Ooo!” King hops from the arm rest to a tall stack of boxes. “Fight, fight, fight!”

“Can it, King!” Eda barks.

Gus shrinks away from them. Is this worrying? Yep. Is it my problem? Probably not.

“First off, it’s the ‘Bad Girl Coven,’” Eda continues. “And second off, I guess you guys don’t want in on the T-shirt order, huh?”

“I don’t care about T-shirts, Eda!” Luz yells. “I want to learn magic, and they teach that at Hexside!”

“I mean- yeah, well-”

“And I want to understand the magic of the Boiling Isles,” Draco says. “You’ve only managed to teach me so much, and you have no clue what happened with the library incident.”

“Gugh!” Eda throws her hands in the air, turns, and trudges to the front door. “I don’t wanna hear another word about Hexside, unless it’s ‘Hexside is on fire’ and ‘Let’s grab front row seats.’” She slams the front door behind her.

King watches her go from the window. “Aw, look what you did.” He rubs his paws together. “I’m gonna go rub it in.” He scampers out after her with an evil giggle.

Luz drops onto the couch with a sigh.

“I swear, that woman is such a stubborn arse.” Draco sits down next to her with a huff, crossing his legs.

Gus has to do something about this. Luz looks so defeated, and Draco’s at the end of his rope. But what can he do about it? He can’t just waltz them into Hexside with the ban, Principal Bump will send him to detention for sure.

Unless, he can.

It’s risky, and has so many ways of going wrong, but he can knock out three birds with one stone. Keep his H.A.S. presidency, help Luz and Draco see Hexside, and make Draco his real friend by helping Luz. It’ll be perfect! All he has to do is not get caught. He has some ideas.

“So, about the ban.” Gus swallows. “I, uh, used my H.A.S. presidential authority to pull some strings. You’ve both been given a full pardooon…!”

Luz sits up. “You mean…”

“I got the ban lifted!”

“Oh my gosh!” Luz grabs the front of his cowl and shakes him. “Yes, yes, YES!” Luz lets go, and Gus falls on his butt. “Of course I’ll be there tomorrow!”

“Wait.” Draco’s gaze is intense, yeesh. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”

Crap! Stall, Gus, stall! He jumps to his feet. “I-I’m not! I swear-”

“Come on, Draco!” Luz flops over his lap. “Gus is our friend, don’t you trust him? He wouldn’t lie to us.”

Gus rubs the back of his neck. “Heh, yeah…”

Draco’s eyes narrow. “I have every reason to believe he is.”

Luz sits up, a small frown on her face. “Gus helped us during the conjuring and at the Covention. He brought you to Hexside! What reason would he have to lie to us? Besides, you still owe him an H.A.S. meeting appearance.”

Dang it, Luz, you’re making it way harder to keep this up. The guilt clogs Gus’s throat.

Draco relaxes a little, but he still raises an eyebrow. “If Luz trusts you, then I do.”

“Yes!” Luz tangles Draco in a hug. “We’re going back to Hexside!”

Draco rolls his eyes, but he smiles a real smile. “I suppose we are.”

The guilt is crushing Gus by the time he leaves, but it’ll all be worth it. He’ll get everything he wants, make Luz and Draco happy, and officially make Draco his friend! It’s all going to work out.

~~~

“This isn’t gonna work out at all!”

The next morning, Gus told Willow his entire plan. She doesn’t seem to like it.

“I feel like I took care of any potential problems.” Gus scratches the back of his head.

“You lied to our best friends and told them you got the ban lifted.” Willow throws her hands up. “That seems like a huge potential problem to me.”

“You don’t understand. The members were going mad, they were bloodthirsty, they were touching objects. I had no choice!”

“Really!?” Willow waves her hands in front of her. “What about all the wanted posters around school?”

Gus grins. He’s already got that covered. He reaches into his bookbag and pulls one from the stack. “What wanted posters?”

Willow frowns. “Gus-”

“I also got these.” He pulls out two Hexside cowls from his bag. “To keep them undercover.”

“Undercover from what?”

How do those two keep sneaking up on him!? Gus turns and yanks one of the cowls over Luz’s head- aaaand accidentally does it backwards. She ‘eep’s in surprise.

“Behold! Your new cowl,” Gus says.

“Whoa, I love it.” Luz says, bright as ever.

“I would prefer if you didn’t do that to me.” Draco strides up next to her. Looks like Gus didn’t need the extra cowl; Draco’s wearing the Illusions uniform they stole from lost and found last time they were here. Ah, memories.

“Yes, sir!” Gus tugs Luz’s cowl the right way around. The hood falls off her head.

Luz bunches some of the fabric and takes a deep sniff. “On the Boiling Isles, new things smell old!”

“Yep! Put it on, hide your ears, ha. Wanna keep you two under wraps for the big reveal.”

Willow’s eyes narrow. Gus does his best not to pay attention to her.

Draco pulls his hood up. “I can appreciate a good show.”

Luz beams. “I get it! You bring the razzle.” She pulls her hood on. “We’ll bring the dazzle.” She tosses confetti into the air.

Huh. Where did she get confetti?

“Do you always have confetti on you?” Willow says.

“I wouldn’t question it,” Draco says.

Gus’s demon watch screeches. He winces as the teeth dig into his wrist. He pulls his sleeve down and pokes the eye, and it stops. Why did his dad have to get him the bitey one?

“That’s horrifying,” Draco deadpans.

“That’s my alarm,” Gus says. “We better get going.” He grabs both Draco’s and Luz’s wrists and tugs them after him. “See you after school, Willow!”

“Bye friend, be safe, make good choices!” Luz calls back to her.

“Good luck on your exam!” Draco adds.

“She has an exam?” Gus asks.

“She mentioned it in passing.” Draco shrugs. Yeah, maybe like a week ago. How did you remember?

“Aw, you do care,” Luz teases.

“Shut it, Noceda.”

Luz giggles.

It’s just Gus’s luck that they happen to run into school guards as soon as they enter the building. They’re dragging off two students with their huge hooks, one Oracle track and one Beastkeeping track.

“That’s new,” Luz says.

“What are those things.” Draco sounds disturbed.

“The School Detention guards,” Gus says. “They showed up after your guys’s last visit. They smell trouble. Literally.”

Which they’re about to be in. One of the guard’s necks crack, its mask staring into Gus’s soul. “Trooouubleeee.”

“Okay, time to run for no particular reason!” Gus grabs both their wrists and pulls them down another hallway.

“Times like these are when I’m grateful for Hogwarts having a normal detention system,” Draco says. “Mostly.”

“Mostly?” Luz says.

“There was that time I got turned into a ferret, but that’s not relevant.”

“WHAT!?”

Luz’s shout makes Gus stumble, and he slams head-first into a student he hadn’t seen. Luz’s and Draco’s posters fly from the bag all over the floor, along with his crown. Gus scrambles, picking up as many posters as he can.

“Augustus, you should really watch where you’re going.”

Gus freezes. Mattholomule.

Matt reaches down and picks up his crown. “Don’t want the president of the H.A.S. getting hurt on his last day in office.” He snickers.

“Wow, he is a piece of work.” Draco snorts.

Matt glares at Draco. Then, he smirks. “You must be one of the two ‘humans’ Augustus was talking about.”

“And you must be the one going after a twelve year old’s position.” Draco raises a brow. “So strong, Mattholomule.”

Matt growls. “Well, I’m not seeing any humans here. You two must be witchlings.”

“Psst!” Gus whispers at Luz and Draco. “Dazzle!”

“Oh.” Luz steps forward, and makes some sounds imitating a trumpet. On cue, she and Draco pull their hoods off at the same time.

“Ta-da!” Luz cheers.

Matt’s jaw drops. “Humans,” he squeaks.

“You were saying?” Draco smirks. It’s so much more intimidating than Matt’s smirk. Best. Day. Ever!

“I-I-”

“They’re not just any humans.” Gus gets back to his feet, stashing the posters away in his bag. “They’re expert humans, from two different worlds. Luz is a non-magic human, and Draco a magic human.”

“I’ve been doing this for years.” Luz gestures to herself, also smirking. She must’ve picked it up from Draco.

“Humans don’t have magic!” Matt hisses. “He’s a fraud!”

Draco makes his weird hand gesture, and a ball of fire sparks to life in his hand. Matt’s mouth snaps shut.

“They’re here to authenticate your treasures,” Gus can’t help being a little self-satisfied. This is the best decision he’s ever made. He takes his rightful crown back, and struts past Matt. Draco puts the fire out, and he and Luz follow behind, pulling their hoods back up.

“See you at the meeting,” Gus says. With that, they round the corner, and Matt disappears behind them.

“I’m going to take pleasure in knocking him down a few pegs.” Draco plants his hands on his hips.

“As president of the H.A.S., I should feel bad about dunking on one of our own members.” Gus grins. “But as a Gus, I feel like doing this.” He does a victory dance to one of his new favorite songs, Winner’s Anthem by the Wildcuts.

“I don’t feel like you should feel bad either way, Augustus,” Draco says.

Gus freezes. Did he just- Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

“You said my name!” Gus giggles.

Draco shrugs. “I felt like it was about time, anyway. That display only proved it.”

Gus beams. Yes, yes! His plan is working, magnificently!

“Though, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you have our wanted posters on you?”

Crap! Gus’s sweating bullets. “Uh, Principal Bump asked me to take them down yesterday and I, uh, forgot to take them out of my bag?”

Draco’s brows furrow, but he shrugs. “Alright, reasonable enough.”

Yes! It’s then Gus notices it’s only him and Draco. “Wait, where’d Luz go?”

Draco shrugs. “I’m not her keeper.”

Dang it, Luz! Gus scans the level they’re on. Where is she, where is- Aha!

“Wow!” Luz’s standing in front of the trophy case, pointing at one of the awards. “Who got the trophy for most bones?”

Aaaand there’s a school guard standing right next to her. Gus grabs Draco’s wrist, runs over and grabs Luz’s, and takes off down the hall.

“We don’t have time right now!” Gus calls. “We gotta get to the clubroom.”

“O-kaaay,” Luz says. “But next time you have to give us a full tour.”

“Yeah, next time.” Gus forces a laugh.

They’re just about to head down the hall to the clubroom when Luz pulls them both to a stop. Draco doesn’t seem phased, but Gus nearly falls on his face.

“Ooo, it’s the abomination professor! I should introduce myself, apologize for the incident,” Luz says.

Luz, no! Gus clenches his teeth.

“This ought to be entertaining,” Draco says.

Either Luz ignores Draco or doesn’t hear him. “Hey, Mr. Abomination Professor! The Abominominator!”

Professor Hermonculus turns around, his eyebrow raised. Gus tenses.

“Remember me?” Luz says. She then does her impression of an abomination. Professor Hermonculus furrows his eyebrows.

“Oh, wouldn’t you know?” Gus forces a laugh. “We suddenly have time for a full tour of Hexside.” He pushes Luz back down the hallway. Draco, because he’s not easily distracted, follows behind them. Gus’s gotta appreciate the little things.

The first place he takes them is far away from Professor Hermonculus and the rest of the school guards; the sports field. The Griffin flying team is out here already, Skara and Bo kicking a Grudgby ball between them with Amelia in the stands. Gus pulls them to sit down in the bleachers.

“This is where we play the sport,” Gus says.

“Why is there a griffin?” Draco says. “And what’s with the ball? Why does it have eyes?”

“It’s a grudgby ball,” Gus says. “And these three are Griffin flyers. They’re probably warming up before practice.”

Bo backs away from their ball kicking, up to the bleachers. “Take the shot, Skara!”

Skara nods with a determined look, and runs up to the grudgby ball. Their griffin takes off, and then swoops down, grabbing Skara in its claws. Skara screams, and the griffin drops her in the hoop on the far right side of the field.

“Skara! Are you okay!?” Amelia calls.

“I’m good!” Skara shoots her a thumbs up.

Draco folds his arms. “I would say Quidditch isn’t nearly as violent, but I’d be a hypocrite.”

“You still haven’t told me much about that,” Luz says.

“Remind me when we get home, I’ll teach it to you.”

While they’re busy talking, Gus scans the area. One of the school guards walks onto the left side of the field.

“Moving on!” Gus grabs them both, pulls them to their feet, and they run back into Hexside.

They run inside via the greenhouse entrance, right past the Plant homeroom. Luz stops and backs up to look through the door window.

“Ooo, what’s in here?” She says, pressing her cheek to the glass.

“The Plant Homeroom,” Gus says.

“Wait, seriously?” Draco backs up next to her. His eyes go wide in fascination. “Merlin, this is amazing.”

“I know!” Luz grabs his shoulder.

It’s filled with all sorts of giant plants and cool trees, but plants never really interested Gus. He’s only been in there a couple of times to visit Willow.

“Did that plant just eat someone!?”

“Wait, wait, look! Willow!”

“Oh thank god.”

Their commentary’s fun to listen to without context. Gus is just gonna sit back and-

“Willow, hey!” Luz waves.

Well, crap. He can’t not say hi, then they’ll both know something’s up. Gus pushes his way between his two taller friends and pokes his head up. Willow’s up near the teacher’s desk. As soon as her eyes land on him, her smile sours, and she shakes her head.

“Uh, bye!” Gus grabs them both and pulls them away.

“What was that about?” Draco says. “Are you two fighting?”

“Yeah, no, we’re fine!” Gus forces a chuckle. Please please please don’t let him find out.

Next, Gus swings them over to the Illusions homeroom. This time he does open the door and let them in, since he knows not much is happening in Illusions today minus some tests for people who missed the exam yesterday.

“This is where I spend my time,” Gus says. “The Illusion Track Homeroom.”

Edric and Emira both pull off the exam perfectly. They’re Blights, of course they did. Even if they skip out on school a lot. Nelly, however… they’re shaking, and they mess up the spell completely, vanishing their facial features. Luckily, Professor Juliene is nice about bringing their face back. She’s cool like that.

“Fascinating,” Draco says.

“Oh, hey Draco!” Edric looks up. “Hey Luz!”

Gus frowns. When did they meet the Blight twins?

Draco narrows his eyes and shakes his head. Edric winces. There’s beef between them? Since when!?

“Wait.” Luz’s studying something behind them, on the other side of the hall. “If you’re here, who is that?”

“That’s one of my illusions.” Gus turns. Illusions are a great way for him to be in two places at once. “It takes notes for me when I’m not around.”

Draco whistles. “Impressive.”

Illusion Gus holds up a note to him, reading ‘I’M NOT PAYING ATTENTION.’

Gus gasps. “He doesn’t always do what he’s told.” He’s about to march over there and take care of him when Luz speaks up.

“Wow, Gus,” she says. “You’re good.”

“Yeah.” Gus puts his hands on his hips. “I moved up a couple grades.”

Draco blinks. “What’s a grade?”

“School year,” Luz says. “We call them grades in the US.”

“Ah.” Draco nods.

Gus’s watch screeches. He pokes the eyeball while trying not to wince at the new welts in his wrist.

“Time for the H.A.S. meeting,” Gus says. “You two ready?”

“Yup!” Luz says.

“More than ready.” Draco grins.

Gus lets the two of them walk ahead of him. He backtracks, and makes it very clear to his illusion what happens if he doesn’t do what he exists to do. Illusion Gus’s blood drains from his face. Satisfied, Gus turns and follows Draco and Luz. He still needs to figure out how to control his illusions better when they’re not completely attached to his magic.

The H.A.S. clubroom is down the hall for the Healing Track Homeroom. Gus has to pull Luz away from the Healing Homeroom door’s little window. Draco’s already waiting outside the club room door, and he raises and eyebrow at Luz and Gus.

“How’s this going to work?” Draco says.

“You’ll see,” Gus says. “I have an amazing dramatic entrance planned. You two wait out here.”

Gus rifles around in his bag, and pulls out his crown. He puts it on, snaps the string under his chin, and takes a deep breath. He can hear Bo, Eileen, and Lucian chanting inside. He’s got this.

Gus pushes open the door. The cheering ceases, all three of them buzzing in their seats. Mattholomule is sulking in his own chair. Perfect.

“Human Appreciation Society.” Gus strums his paper clorp. “It is my distinct pleasure to introduce to you…” Gus steps aside, making a sweeping wave at the doorway.

Just as he knew they would, Luz moonwalks backwards into view of the doorway on one side, Draco walking backwards on the other. They come back-to-back, hoods pulled low.

“Luz and Draco, the humans!”

They both throw their hoods off.

Eileen squeals.

“Such showmanship!” Bo claps.

“They’re horrifying!” Lucian claps his hands to his cheeks.

Gus bows, and the two of them stride into the room. They stop in front of the table, and Gus comes to stand on Luz’s side.

“If you two would inspect the items.” Gus gestures to the table.

“Of course, Mr. President,” Luz says. “Allow us to determine of they truly are of our realm’s origin.”

Luz reaches for the fake shoe made of mud, and Draco for the egg with the skull painted on it. Gus shakes in anticipation. This is gonna be so-

“STOP!” Matt shouts

Luz and Draco both stop short. Draco’s eyes narrow.

Matt shoves all of his fake items off the table, jumping up onto it. “Don’t make another move, humans!”

The club members gasp.

“Is there really such a need for the dramatics?” Draco says.

“There is! I… have something to say.” Matt goes quiet. “I’m new here at Hexside. Making friends has been hard, so… I lied. They’re all fakes.”

Gus’s eyes widen. What!? But Draco said he was-

Matt keeps going. “I thought if I was important enough, people would like me. But I’ve caused enough drama. So, I’ll go. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, man,” Luz says. “It’s okay. You’re only human.” Luz coughs. “Well. You know what I mean.”

Gus smiles. “Mattholomule, you aren’t alone. You have a place here. In the H.A.S.”

“Yeah, you’re not alone!” Lucian says.

Bo claps. “We admire your honesty.”

“You’re one of us!” Lucian adds.

Matt smiles bashfully. “Thanks, guys. I knew you’d understand.”

“Seems I was wrong about you,” Draco says.

“Doesn’t excuse what I did, but thanks.” Matt smiles.

“And it doesn’t excuse how I treated you, either,” Draco says. “I’m sorry.”

Matt waves him off. “Don’t worry about it. Truce?”

“Truce.”

The rest of the meeting goes off without a hitch. The H.A.S. members spend it asking Luz and Draco questions. Luz is more enthusiastic than Draco, showing everyone how some of the artifacts Gus’s collected work. Apparently, it’s called a paper clip, not a paper clorp. Good to know. She also explains the cheese grater (what Gus thought was a nail clipper), the bag of chips/crisps (whoopie cushion), umbrella hat (food bowl), and Rubiks cube (Gus had no idea, so he just labelled it a weapon and called it good).

“What about you, Draco?” Luz says. “Know anything from Gus’s collection?”

“Not really,” Draco admits. He sat down on the teacher’s desk at the front of the room while Luz was explaining things. “Most of these are muggle items.”

“Muggle?” Bo tilts her head.

“Non-magic humans,” Draco says. “I’m not as familiar with their ways as Luz.”

“You have magic!?” Lucian jumps to his feet.

“I do,” Draco says. “The human magic world is hidden away from non-magic humans, so Luz didn’t know until I told her.”

“You have to tell us about it!” Lucian says.

Eileen makes noises of agreement, nodding her eyeball-head.

Draco chuckles. “I’m not really sure where to start.”

“What about your wand?” Luz says.

“That works.” Draco reaches into his vest, and pulls out the wand he showed Gus on that first day at Hexside. The other H.A.S. members gasp.

Draco starts off a little unsure, but as the H.A.S. members grill him he gets into a groove. He explains how humans use magic with their wands and incantations, his school, how magic humans stay hidden from non-magic humans, the magical government and how it interacts with the non-magical government, and so on. Luz seems to know most of what he’s saying already, and adds on with a few comments of her own. Human government sounds so confusing compared to Boiling Isles government.

“Why exactly do magic humans stay hidden from non-magic humans?” Matt asks. “I mean, you’ve got all these measures in place to keep them separated, but why? Are non-magic humans violent?”

Draco rolls his wand between his fingers. “I thought I knew. I was always told growing up that it was because muggles were idiots who would want to take advantage of our magic, but I was proven wrong.” He tilts his head at Luz with a smile. “So I don’t know what the true reason is.”

“Huh.” Bo taps her chin. “It probably happened so long ago that it was lost to human magic history. Now you don’t know why you do it.”

“That does make sense.” Draco stows his wand back in his vest.

“We don’t know much about what the Boiling Isles were like before the Savage Ages.” Bo shrugs.

Gus checks his demon watch and winces. “We are waaaay over time guys. The Inventions Club needs to use the room after us.”

“Aw man, really?” Lucian’s ears droop.

“But I have so many questions!” Bo says.

“Sorry guys, but we’ll be back!” Luz says. “We can answer more questions then.”

Gus forces a laugh. “Right…”

Soon, the seven of them have the room cleaned up, and Eileen, Bo, and Lucian leave with lots of ‘thank you’s and ‘come back soon’s. That leaves Gus, Draco, Luz, and Mattholomule.

“Hey, Augustus? Luz, Draco.” Matt smiles. “Thank you for being so forgiving.”

Luz nods. “We’ve all been the new kid before. Right, Gus?”

“Yeah!” Gus says. His voice cracks, and he tries not to cringe. Looks like he’s on the brink of witch puberty.

Matt softens. “Well, I just have one thing to say.”

The door slams open. Gus whips around. Two school guards stand in the doorway, hooks at the ready.

“There they are!” Matt shouts. He points a finger at Draco and Luz. “They’re the intruders!”

The two guards stalk into the room, sniffing the air.

“Trouble,” one grits.

“No, it’s fine!” Luz holds her hands up. “The ban’s been lifted. Tell ‘em, Gus.”

Gus’s tongue is stuck in the back of his throat. One guard hooks Luz and yanks her away, the other Draco. Draco doesn’t even try to fight back.

“GUS! Tell them!” Luz cries. She’s pulled out the door, Draco right behind her. Draco glances at Gus. His look is cold.

Oh no.

“Oh?” Matt chuckles. “Who’s the liar now, Augustus?”

Gus grits his teeth, clenching his fists.

“I can’t believe you three fell for that,” Mattholomule mocks. “Like I’d actually apologize.”

“What. Did. You. Do!?” Gus bites out.

Matt makes watery puppy-dog eyes, hands pressed to his cheeks. “Oh, boo-hoo, I’m sorry, I’m the new kid, I want friends. Ha!” Matt grins. “No, I want power. And I want drama. And I got one of those, right now.”

“Draco was right about you,” Gus mutters.

Matt stalks over to him, backing him into the class room wall. “So? What’re you gonna do about it, Mr. President?”

He has to save Draco and Luz. He pulls his fist back. “Executive action.”

Gus grabs the tongue of the bell demon behind him, and yanks.

Water sprays all over them from the demon. In a split second, a school guard shows up and pulls them away, soaking wet. Matt whines and pleads his innocence the whole way there, but Gus doesn’t care. This is his fault. He’s going to save his friends.

If Draco even is my friend anymore.

They round a corner into a dark, dank hallway. Gus has never been to detention. How does this work? Is he going to- Oh.

The massive door in front of them opens its three, massive red eyes. It opens its maw, sharp teeth glinting. The school guard throws them in by the hook, and the two of them tumble into the empty room. The demon door’s mouth slams behind them.

“WAIT!” Mattholomule struggles to his feet, running to bang on the door. “Get me outta here! Open up!”

Gus looks up. Luz is crouched behind a large piece of rubble at the left side of the circular room. Deep claw marks gash into it and the walls behind her.

“Luz!” Gus cries.

“Gus!” Luz pops up a little further. “You said the ban was lifted!”

“Well, I-”

There’s a crunching, cracking noise. Gus scrambles back as the floor tears itself open. Eyeballs and teeth fill a massive pit in the floor, where slimy, blue tentacles hold glowing, translucent blue pods. Gus can make out silhouettes of students in them. Oh. My. Titan.

“Where’s Draco!?” Gus shouts.

“He shoved me out of the way and got pulled in by one of those blue tentacles!”

No, no, no, no!

“How is this detention!?” Luz squeaks. “This is a death sentence!”

“I don’t know! I’ve never been in detention before!” Gus presses himself back against the wall.

“We gotta save Draco!”

“There’s no saving him! It’s too late.” Matt shimmies his way along the wall to Gus’s side. “Believe it or not, in my old school, I was in detention plenty of times.”

“That isn’t hard to believe, you’re kind of a jerk!” Lus calls.

“Well, down in detention, this jerk is King.” Matt jabs a thumb at himself. “So, if you wanna get out, you better do exactly what I say.” Matt steps away from the wall. “First, we gotta-”

A worm demon bursts from the pit. Its face is a mask with glowing red eyes. It shrieks, and one of those blue tentacles shoots out and wraps itself around Matt’s ankle.

“Already!?” Matt’s voice cracks.

Matt’s pulled down, down, down into the pit.

“Mattholomule!” Luz cries.

Gus can’t stomach looking. He squeezes his eyes shut.

“You lied to me! You lied about the ban!” Luz shouts. “Why!?”

Gus peels his eyes open. “I was afraid! I acted stupid.”

“Yes, you did!” Luz snaps.

“Being younger than everyone is hard!” Gus blurts. He crawls his way along the wall, closer to Luz. “You’re overlooked. Ignored. But at the H.A.S., I mattered. I could make sure no one would ever get left behind. I didn’t want to lose that.” He comes up right next to Luz. “I’m sorry.”

Luz puts her hand on his shoulder. “I get it. I just wish you told me the truth.”

The sound of screeches has them both looking to the pit. Giant worm demons are snaking their way up the fleshy walls, towards them. Gus inhales through his teeth. He can’t let his friends suffer more because of him. He has to do something. But what?

An idea pops into his head.

“Let me make this up to you and Draco.” Gus says. “I’ve got a plan.”

One of the snakes rears up. Luz battle cries and kicks it in the face, and it slumps back into the pit.

“I’m in,” Luz says. “Where do we start?”

Gus takes Luz’s hand. “By leaving no one behind.”

He runs, and jumps. Luz screams behind him, but that’s okay, he kind of expected it. They land on an eyeball at the bottom, tumbling onto the floor. Dozens of pods hang around them, all with Hexside students. He spots Mattholomule in front of him.

“Draco!” Luz runs somewhere behind him. Gus goes for Matt, pulling his pod down to the ground.

Luz grunts. She’s biting the pod Draco’s in, trying to tear it open. It snaps back out of her mouth, not even a small tear in it.

“You know, it didn’t taste as bad as I thought it would,” Luz comments. “You’re a witch! Do magic!”

“Oh, I’ll use magic.” Gus reaches into his cowl, and pulls out his paper clo- paper clip. “Human magic!”

Gus stabs Matt’s pod. It squelches, and he cuts it all the way down, pulling it down from around Matt. He jogs over to Luz and repeats the process on Draco’s pod. Both Draco and Matt’s eyes are clouded over, wide open like they’ve seen the jaws of death.

“How do we get them out?” Luz says.

“You ever done a Hangman carry?” Gus heads back over to Matt and flips him on his stomach.

“A what?” Luz says.

“This!” Gus pulls Matt up with a grunt, slings his arm over his shoulders, and pulls him up so he’s on his back. Gus loops his arm under one of his legs and grabs the arm he used to pull him over in one hand.

“Ooohhh, A Fireman carry!” Luz does the same for Draco. She stumbles a bit when she stands, but keeps her footing. “Gosh, he’s heavier than I thought he would be.”

Screeches fill the air as the writhing bodies of worm demons surround them, teeth bared, eyes ominously red.

“This is part of the plan, right!?” Luz says.

It isn’t, but- “Or the illusion of a plan!”

Gus draws a spell circle, then duplicates it, fanning it around them. Multiple copies of himself and Luz with Draco and Gus over their shoulders pop into existence, all up the flesh walls. The worm demons disperse, confused, going after the illusions instead of them.

“A genius and a wordsmith!” Luz says.

Now for the last part of his plan. Gus grabs a large bone, light enough to carry but strong enough to not break. He tucks it under the same arm he’s using to carry Matt, and the two of them start to climb up, sharp tooth by sharp tooth. Some worms chase them, but most of them are occupied by the illusions, trying to figure out which ones are real.

Gus gets up first, probably because Matt is way lighter than he thought he would be. He sets down Matt and the bone, then helps Luz, pulling Draco up so she can make it the rest of the way. Luz kicks a couple of worms that were following them back down. Gus turns in time to smash down the last worm with his bone, far back into the flesh pit.

He picks up Matt and the bone. “We’re gonna have to bust down the door!”

“Right behind you!” Luz picks up Draco, and they make a run for it. They each use their free arms to grab the bone, then charge.

The first hit cracks the door. The second splinters it. The third breaks it wide open, shattering the wood into pieces. The light of day streams down the corridor. They’re free! Gus drops to the floor, panting. Matt rolls off his shoulders. Wait, when did Willow get here?

“Eda?” Luz says.

Sure enough, Eda and Principal Bump are at the end of the corridor. Neither of them look surprised. In fact, Eda’s beaming.

“Guess who got you and Draco into Hexside!” She says.

“What?”

Demon worms rear up behind Luz. She shrieks, dropping Draco. Gus scrambles back. What do they do!? How does he-

There’s a snap through the air. The worms eyes flash back to normal, both of them cowering back.

“Sorry Principal Bump, sir,” one worm mumbles as he slithers away.

“The Detention Pit!? Seriously!?” Eda scoffs. “I thought you got rid of that after Faust.”

“What else was I supposed to do!? Especially faced with students like this.” Principal Bump levels a finger at Luz. “What did you do!?”

Luz winces. “I-”

“To think that any student of yours would be capable of anything but create chaos!” Principal Bump snaps at Eda.

There’s a groan as Draco comes to. “What in the…”

“Eda, take your students and leave!” Principal Bump commands. “You three are all banned from this campus!”

“After all of that…” Eda mumbles. “Lets get out of here, kids.”

Eda crosses the floor and helps Luz pull a still confused Draco to his feet, pulling his arm over her shoulders. Gus knows what he has to do.

“WAIT!”

Everybody stops.

Gus takes a deep breath. Now or never. “Principal Bump, this isn’t Luz and Draco’s faults. I told them the ban was lifted. Mattholomule and I were fighting over the Human Appreciation Society, and I brought Luz and Draco in because I wanted to win.” His lip quivers, and he forces down the tears. “This is all my fault.”

Principal Bump’s eyes widen a fraction, but he takes on his steely look again as he walks over. “If that’s so, Augustus; would you be willing to accept their punishment as your own?”

“Yes,” Gus says. “I would.”

“Huh.” Eda smiles. “Dang, dweebus.”

Principal Bump’s eyebrow tilts up ever so slightly. “Very well. In light of that.” He turns to Draco and Luz. “Barring any more trouble, you two shall be officially enrolled in Hexside School next semester.”

Luz gasps.

“I missed a lot,” Draco mumbles.

“Yes, yes you did.” Principal Bump raises an eyebrow.

“Hold on, hold on.” Eda drags Draco and Luz away from Principal Bump, Willow, and Gus.

“That was a good thing you did, Gus,” Willow whispers.

“Yeah.” Gus hangs his head. “Its what I deserve.”

Willow nudges his side. “Don’t beat yourself up, you did great. Even if it wasn’t very smart.”

Gus smiles.

Principal Bump clears his throat. “Are you done?”

“Yes, sir.” Gus looks up.

“I would be saying detention right now, but that seems to be.. out of order.” Bump glances at the door debris. “So, as of now, I’m removing you from the Human Appreciation Society.” He takes the crown from Gus’s head.

“Does that make me president?”

Oh, Gus forgot Mattholomule was there.

“Impressive, still alive.” Bump has an amused smile. He drops the crown on Matt’s head. “Yes, I suppose you are.”

“Yes.”

Eda, Draco, and Luz come back. Draco’s still unsteady on his feet, and looking paler than usual, so he’s leaning against Luz.

“Now, with that accomplished.” Principal Bump turns to them. “Eda, we have some paperwork to fill out.”

“Wait, I gotta do more stuff!? Ugh!” Eda pouts, but turns to Luz and Draco with a smile. “You kids better enjoy this place.” She ruffles Luz’s and Draco’s hair, then follows Principal Bump back down the hall, heels clicking.

“Ugh.” Draco hangs his head. “I feel like I ate one of Hooty’s owl pellets.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Luz says.

“There’s stuff for post-detention sickness in the Healing Homeroom,” Willow says.

“That’s common enough to need it?” Draco’s voice is higher than normal.

“Yep!”

“After Draco’s feeling better, do you guys wanna finish off the tour?” Gus says.

Willow brightens. “I can show you guys what plants not to touch in the greenhouse. And then I can let you touch them.” She grins.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Luz says.

Draco doesn’t say anything, but he goes along with it, anyway. The Healing Homeroom’s down a floor from the detention pit, and once they explain, the healing students are quick to pull Draco inside. It takes them five minutes to get Draco back on his feet. Both Luz and Willow drag him out the door towards the greenhouses, too excited to notice his weird mood.

But Gus notices.

Draco’s usually chatty, mouthing off to people and making comments on whatever catches his interest. He’s being really quiet. Gus is pretty sure he knows why. As Willow is explaining to Luz the witch-eating plant from earlier, Gus shimmies up to Draco, who’s watching them silently as he leans against the Plant Homeroom wall.

“Hey man.”

Draco stiffens.

“You okay?” Gus says.

“Fine,” Draco mutters.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Gus says.

Draco pinches the bridge of his nose. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. Why would I want anything from you?”

“Because you-” Draco cuts himself off. “Sorry.”

Weird. Something must really be bothering him. “Is this about what I did?”

“Luz’s practically already forgiven you, I shouldn’t be doing… this.” Draco gestures to himself.

Gus frowns. “Hey, that’s her beef. Your beef is different. You’re not Luz.”

“I know!” Draco snaps, then he wraps his arms around himself. “I know.”

Gus is expecting Draco to go on, but he doesn’t. “You… wanna talk about it?”

Draco’s quiet. Gus waits. Willow’s pulled Luz over to another one of the plants, this one with tentacles. When she sees Gus is looking, she nods with a soft smile. Thanks, Willow.

“I’m not used to having friends like this.”

Gus looks back at Draco. He seems to be finding his words.

“My friends back at Hogwarts are fine,” Draco says. “But I always knew in the back of my head they only really are my friends because they want something from me. Vincent and Greg want the recognition of my family name, Pansy wants to marry me for my money, so on and so forth. They never really cared much for me as me. Pansy and I got into a huge spat at the Yule Ball over me being so fussy about how I looked, it was…” Draco trails off. “Anyway. The Boiling Isles are different. Or at least, they were supposed to be different.”

Oh. Oh. Gus gets it now.

“I’ve been a terrible friend,” Gus says. “I’m sorry.”

Draco’s arms loosen. “Why do you want to be my friend, anyway?”

“Because you’re cool,” Gus says without missing a beat. “You’re smart and you’re funny, and you do cool magic, and you think my magic is cool. You being human’s just a bonus.”

Draco smiles.

“Aaand, you have a secret flair for showmanship.”

Draco laughs. “Sure.”

“I’m serious! That entrance you did with Luz was awesome, and your plan during the conjuring? Definitely showman-esque.”

Draco chuckles. “Alright, fine. Maybe I do have a ‘flair for showmanship,’ as you put it.”

“Ooo! I should teach you some illusion spells.” Gus pushes himself off the wall.

Draco frowns. “I’m not sure I can do Boiling Isles magic.”

“Never know unless you try, right?”

Draco stares at him for a second. Did Gus do something?

Draco shakes his head. “No wonder Luz befriended you.”

“What?” Gus says.

“Nothing.” Draco stands. “How does Illusion magic work, Augustus?”

Gus beams.

~~~

Okay, Hunter’s dreams have officially dipped into weird-ville.

He has no idea what to make of this. He’s sitting on a couch in a really messy living room, looking out of the eyes of what has to be that magical human. What was his name again? Dragon something? Dragon’s got a furry dog-bird-thing on his lap with a skull for its head, and he’s leaning over the shoulder of what has to be The Owl Lady. She has a thick stack of papers on her lap.

“Wow.” Hunter jumps at the new voice, but his body doesn’t move. “Bump was not exaggerating, you were a terrible student.” That has to be the other human, right? He can’t see her from this angle, but her voice is coming from his right.

“Only the likes of the Weasley twins could truly compare.” It’s Dragon’s voice, but it’s coming from Hunter’s mouth. What is going on!?

“Who’re they?” The Owl Lady asks.

“A pair of practical jokers back at Hogwarts,” Dragon says. “They hold a record for how many times they’ve been in trouble with Filch.”

“Filch is the Hogwarts Caretaker, right?” The human girl says.

“Yes,” Dragon says.

“I always get him and Flitwick mixed up,” The human girl adds.

“Moving on from your nerd stuff,” The Owl Lady butts in. “I think I’d like these Weasley twins.”

Dragon shudders. “Lets hope you never meet.”

The Owl Lady smacks his knee with a snort. “I’m not that bad, Wizface.”

Hunter looks at the human girl on the other side of the couch. Except he didn’t look at the human girl, Dragon did. She shakes her head, eyebrows pinched. Dragon shakes his head, too. Do humans have a secret language Hunter doesn’t know about?

“Show us more, show us more!” The dog-rat-thing jumps up from Dragon’s lap, perching on The Owl Lady’s shoulder. She laughs and goes back to looking through the papers.

As they keep going through the papers, that Hunter’s now realizing are probably The Owl Lady’s school records, Dragon scratches the back of his wrist. He glances at it, and he pauses. What’s he looking at?

“Odd,” Dragon comments.

“What’s odd?” The human girl leans over him to look at his wrist.

“I didn’t have this marking a few days ago.”

Marking? Oh, wait, there it is. It’s so small he wouldn’t have seen it if Dragon didn’t. It looks like a small birthmark, in the shape of a five-pointed star.

“Huh? Oh.” The human girl’s brows furrow.

“What marking?” The Owl Lady turns around and takes his wrist. Her eyes widen a bit when she spots it. “Weird. Any idea where it came from?”

“It’s where the Golden Guard grabbed me,” He says.

“When you guys did the whole memory exchange thingy?” The human girl says.

“Wait wait wait, the what!?” The Owl Lady grips his wrist tighter.

“I’m not sure how it happened,” Dragon rambles. “The Golden Guard grabbed me with his bare hand at the library, and suddenly I was seeing his memories. I believe he saw some of mine, too.”

“I know the Wailing Star does some wild stuff, but this is new.” The Owl Lady squints at his wrist. “Any side effects?”

Dragon stays quiet.

“What!?” The human girl straightens.

“Nothing threatening!” Dragon waves her down. “It’s just- I believe I was seeing from his eyes yesterday night, he was talking to the Emperor. He told him my name, and about what happened, and the Emperor dismissed him from the case, said Lilith would be assigned to it instead.”

He saw that!? No! He can’t have seen that! Mind magic only lets you see memories from an outside view. But how else would he know? And why else would Hunter be seeing this right now? But it makes no sense!

“I’d say that’s pretty dang threatening, kid.” The Owl Lady rubs her thumb over his wrist marking. “I don’t know what kind of magic this is, but if something else happens you tell me, okay?”

Dragon’s quiet for a second. “You’re not going to send me back?”

The Owl Lady softens. “Wouldn’t dream of it. We’re gonna figure this out together, ‘kay?”

Hunter can feel Dragon smile. “Okay.”

Hunter sits up with a gasp, grabbing at his chest. He’s back in his own body, in his pajamas and his own bedroom, in control. He sags. It’s over.

He stills. Slowly, he holds his right hand in front of him. The bottom drops out of his stomach. The same small star mark is in the center of his palm.

His Uncle can’t find out about this. Hunter closes his hand into a fist. If he finds out, then Hunter’s not going to be allowed on missions anymore. He’s going to be locked up in the castle forever. He can’t let that happen. He needs to do everything in his power to stop this, he can’t let this- this human into his mind.

He throws the blankets off himself and changes into his day clothes. He has work to do.

Chapter Text

For some reason, Eda decided it would be a good idea to take King to the Bonesborough Playground. Or, as she called it, the “Slayground.” Luz insisted on coming, and King himself asked Draco if he could come. He wasn’t sure if it would be worth his time, but King pleaded and begged, and eventually Draco was forced to cave. It would be a good place to get some reading done, anyway.

Draco’s picked up a Boiling Isles novel Eda had on her shelves. He chose it at random, mainly because of the cover. There’re several terms he doesn’t quite understand, likely from not being native to the Boiling Isles, but it has a good story. He’s made a mental note to ask Eda what the terms mean later. Right now, he’s absorbed, and would rather not be disturbed.

“What if he gets hurt? What if the kids are mean to him? My parental instincts are freaking out, man!”

Draco looks up from his book, glaring at Luz. She’s been an anxious wreck since they got here, mainly for King’s sake. If she was going to be so worked up why did she come along? Luz is looking at Eda on her right for reassurance. Eda has a small smile on her lips, and she pokes Luz’s forehead.

“He’s fiiine. Look at him.” Eda looks back out at the “slayground.” King’s busy crawling his way up what appears to be a muggle slide, up to the highest point on the equipment.

Luz’s shoulders relax minutely. “He does look like he’s having fun.” She smiles and coos. “I wonder what cute wittle game he’s playing.”

Draco rolls his eyes and goes back to reading. Whatever, Luz can do what she wants. He has a chapter to finish.

“EDAAAAAAAA!”

Draco slams his book shut. “What now!?”

King comes running over to their bench, paws flailing. “That monster took my throne!”

“You mean the baby?” Eda has a small, amused smile on her face.

“No, the usurper!” King jabs his paw towards a little witch boy with dark red hair. “I want you to go over there and blow him up. Kaboom!”

The boy mimics King with a little ‘Kaboooom!’

Eda snorts. “Yeah, I’m not using Owlbert to blow up a three-year-old. He’s got better things to do.”

Eda reaches over to her staff. Ah, so her little owl companion does have a name. She twists the owl ornament off, and it comes to life, fluttering into her hands. Eda cradles him on her lap. Fascinating. Draco never did get around to asking what magic this is, did he?

“Like this.” Eda scratches Owlbert’s stomach. He chirrs appreciatively, lifting his wing so Eda can get a better angle.

“Aw, what a sweetie,” Luz coos.

“How did you get him?” Draco asks. “I mean, I know a wand chooses the wizard, but this is something entirely new.”

Eda gapes at him, offended. “I didn’t ‘get’ Owlbert, I made him! From the branch of an ancient tree.”

Owlbert hoots, hopping in Eda’s hand.

Eda smiles. “He’s my palisman and we’re bonded for life.” She raises Owlbert to her shoulder. “I’d annihilate anyone who’d hurt him,” she growls.

Draco blinks. “Well then.”

“Fine!” King huffs. “Draco, blow him up!”

“You and I both know I haven’t gotten my explosion spell to work yet.” Draco raises a brow.

King grumbles. “FINE! Don’t help. Revenge will taste all the sweeter if they fall by my hand alone.” He cackles like a muggle’s depiction of an evil witch. He’s so busy scheming he doesn’t see the “usurper” approaching behind him.

“Who’s going to tell him?” Draco whispers.

“Shh!” Eda reaches over Luz and smacks a hand over his mouth. “This’ll be great, watch.”

The witch boy shoves King to the ground. “Tag, you’re it!” He then runs away, laughing.

Draco pulls her hand off his mouth. “What was that-!?”

“I present to you: King’s Squeak of Rage.” She grins.

Draco turns. King’s pushed himself to his feet. He takes two inhales, then squeals. It’s the cutest, funniest little squeal Draco’s ever heard. Sort of like a kitten screaming for food. He flails on the ground, kicking and throwing his paws about, only pausing to get back on his feet. Then, he keeps squealing, charging back towards the “slayground.”

Draco snorts, then laughs. “What in the world? I didn’t know he could make that sound.”

Eda’s laughing, wiping a tear from her eye and flicking it aside. “He’s like a little tea kettle.”

“Hey, what’s that?”

Luz is pointing at Owlbert. Draco leans around, trying to see what has her attention. On Owlbert’s right talon is carved indent, shaped like a lily pad. He can make out vague impressions of wood textured in it.

“That’s his interlock,” Eda says, tapping Owlbert’s talon. “So he only fits onto my staff. Every Palisman has-”

Eda abruptly shuts her mouth. Her pupils dilate, so large that he can only see a thin sliver of yellow in her eyes.

Luz pokes her. “Eda?”

Draco stands. “Eda, are you alright?”

She collapses on the bench in a dead faint.

Luz springs up from the bench. “EDA!”

Draco shakes her shoulder. “Eda, wake up!”

The seconds feel like hours. Eventually, Eda’s eyes fly open.

“Oh, thank god,” Draco says. The relief is palpable. What was that?

“Are you alright?” Luz grabs her arm and pulls her to sit up.

Eda shivers. “Uh- wha-” She stills. “Oh no.”

Draco and Luz exchange a glance. She only ever uses that tone with one thing.

“The curse,” Eda says. “We have to get home. Now.”

Draco cups his hands around his mouth. “King, time to go!”

King’s on top of the play structure, facing down his true enemy. “Five more minutes, please!”

“King!” Draco snaps.

“Aw, man,” King pouts. He says something to the nursery child, probably some sort of threat, which the child interprets as a signal to hug King. King shrieks up a storm about “sticky hands” and being touched. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Draco can’t help a small laugh. King wriggles away from the child, then scurries down the play structure.

Hooty greets them when they arrive home, as always. Luz returns it with her own greeting, as do King and Eda. Draco gives Hooty his customary nod. Hooty very seriously nods back at him. As soon as they’re through the door, Eda lets her staff clatter on the coffee table and flops face-down onto the red couch with a yawn. Owlbert lands on the back of the couch.

“I’ll go get your elixir.” Draco heads for the stairs.

“Don’t worry about it.” Eda waves him off. “I’ll get it myself in a bit.”

Draco exhales. “Irresponsible witch,” he mutters.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” Draco steps back into the sitting room.

“Do you need Draco and I to stay home and take care of you?” Luz sets her hands on Eda’s shoe heel, draped over the arm of the couch. She gasps. “I could put King in a little doctor’s outfit.”

King’s already distracted with some paper and colored pencils. “Weh?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Draco says. King narrows his eyes, but turns back to his coloring.

“No one wants to see that.” Eda turns her head, squishing her cheek into the couch cushion.

“I do,” Luz whispers.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Draco says. Thank Merlin King is still very much occupied with whatever he’s doing. Draco does not want to deal with a screaming King on top of an ill-faring Eda.

“Look.” Eda props herself up on an elbow. “I know how to take care of myself. I’ve had this curse longer than you two have been alive combined.”

“So how’d you get it?” Luz says. Draco tries not to wince, because that’s likely a sensitive question.

Eda flops back forward. “I dunno.”

“You don’t know?” Nevermind, that’s way too ambiguous of an answer. “How could you not know?”

“That feels kind of hard to do,” Luz says.

“Somebody gave it to me, I don’t know who and I don’t care because I’m fine, alright?” Eda sits up. “Don’t you guys have plans with Tweedledum and Twerpledee?”

Is it coming time for that? Draco checks the demon clock on the wall. It is, twenty minutes until the school ship is supposed to leave. Whatever the ship in question is. Augustus said he wanted to use this to make up for what he did to Draco, since he wasn’t fully conscious when he and Luz were breaking out of detention. Draco shudders. He doesn’t like to think about detention.

“Willow, Gus, Draco, and I are going to the grudgby game between Hexside and Glandus High,” Luz explains.

Eda twists Owlbert back onto her staff. He transforms back into a wooden ornament once more. “Since when are you two into sports?”

Luz shoves her face into Eda’s. “Since I found a little something called ‘Hexside pride’!” Luz jumps back from Eda. “To think that Glandus, whoever they are, would dare face us!”

Draco huffs, mock-offended. “I thought I mentioned I’m Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch Team.”

“And I know jack squat about what that means,” Eda says.

“We fly on broomsticks through the air to catch balls and throw them through hoops,” Draco deadpans.

“Oh.” Eda blinks. “Whatever, you’re the farthest thing from a jock I’ve met.”

“That’s sort of the point,” Draco says.

“Anyway,” Luz cuts them off before they can start bickering. “If you need us to stay-”

“Gross, sympathy.” Eda gets to her feet. “Go. Go have fun at sport.” She points to the door.

“Hooray! Hooray for sport!” Luz cheers. She jogs over to King, sprawled on the floor with his collection of scribbled papers. “Hugs and kisses, King.” She pecks his cheek. “Don’t spend all night plotting revenge~!” She says, all sing-songy

“Seriously, he’s a toddler.” Draco pushes open the front door.

King glares at him. “That drooly-faced Heathen will know my wrath!” He shakes his fist in the air.

Fine. It’s not worth it get in the way of King and his revenge. Especially when he can’t do much. He holds the door open for Luz to go out first, then follows.

Luz skips ahead down the road, doing a spin with an excited cheer. “I still can’t believe we’re actually going to Hexside.”

“Me neither.” Draco folds his arms. “Never thought I’d see the day when Bump gave us some mercy.”

“Eh, I think he secretly likes Eda.” Luz slows down to walk next to him. “Now that she’s not one of his students, that is.”

Draco snorts. “Sure.”

“What? I’m serious! He has to be at least a little fond of her to let us in.”

“Only after Eda spent the day cleaning up her messes.” Draco elbows her.

Luz makes a so-so motion with her hand. “You might have a point there.”

Draco smirks.

“Think you can adapt human magic to Boiling Isles magic?” Luz asks.

“It’s possible,” Draco says. “Though I’m not sure how much Hexside can do for me.”

“It might surprise you.” This time Luz smirks. “Maybe you can teach all the human wizards some of your cool new magic tricks.”

Draco snickers. “Maybe. All depends on if it’ll work.” And if they’ll actually give me the time of day.

Draco’s worried. His betrayal of everything his family stands for is more tangible than before. Choosing to stay in the Demon Realm, and now attending Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. He’s excited, yes, but he’s scared. It feels permanent. What happens when he returns to Hogwarts? What will his parents do? What’ll happen when they learn he’s a blood-

Draco shakes his head sharply, squeezing his eyes closed. Don’t think about it.

“Draco? You okay?”

Draco pulls himself out of his thoughts. Luz has a small, concerned frown on her face, her brows knitted together.

He exhales. “Not really.”

Luz’s frown deepens. “You wanna talk about it?”

Draco thinks about it for a moment. “No. I think I just need to figure some things out.”

As insightful as Luz has been, she wouldn’t be very helpful at the moment. The last thing he wants is to drag her into his family drama. She’s a muggle who can do magic, and his friend. He has no idea what his parents would do. This might be something to bring up to Eda, but where does he even start? “I’m scared to go home at the end of the summer”? Luz told him she’s supposed to be going back to the human realm then, too. He’s being stupid. He can’t just run away from his family and friends forever.

Luz attempts to lighten the mood for the rest of the walk by coming up with team cheers, which Draco appreciates. When Hexside comes into view, Luz runs ahead and nearly gets her head bit off by the carved head of the boat with wings and a tail. Draco blinks. That answers the ship question. Draco jogs to catch up, staying clear of the boat-demon-thing. Luz has found Willow and Augustus, and they seem to be letting out some game-day battle cry. Draco grins.

“Happy game day, fellow… Are we Hexidians? Hexies?” Luz gasps. “Hexoleos!”

“Actually, most people call us-” Willow gains a hard, determined look and clenches her fist. “Winners.”

Draco whistles. “Good use of wordplay.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Willow takes some teasing little bows.

“Grudgby games are the best,” Augustus says. “The players go through these action-packed trials, and the audience gets to wave flags. Look, I practiced!”

Augustus performs some sort of dance routine with a pair of small blue flags. Draco rolls his eyes with a smile. Never change, Augustus.

“You should see inter-house Quidditch games at Hogwarts,” Draco says. “Everyone goes all-out with the house colors of who they’re supporting. Banners, flags, the works.”

“What’s a house?” Augustus asked.

“Dormitory that we’re sorted into as first years,” Draco says. “There’s four in total, and I belong to Slytherin House.”

“The House of the Snakes!” Luz hisses like one.

“What’re your colors?” Willow asks.

“Green and silver,” Draco says.

“Oh, so that’s why so much of your stuff is green and silver,” Luz says.

“And I like the color,” Draco says with a shrug.

Luz looks down at her shirt. “Is it weird I’m not wearing Hexside colors?”

“Um.” Willow forces a smile. “It’s weirder that you’re wearing Glandus colors.”

Luz and Draco glance at the small banner sign for the ship. Sure enough, Glandus’s colors are purple and white, the same as Luz’s shirt. A giant Hexside student marches past them, shoving a finger down onto Luz’s head.

“Get ready to be creamed, Glandus nerd.” The student says, clambering off.

Luz regains her balance. “Hey! I’m a Hexside nerd!” She pulls at her shirt again. “Gotta change out of this shirt. Where can I get an Hexside one?”

“The lost and found in the cafeteria,” Augustus says. “Draco and I got his stolen uniform there.”

“Ah, the lost and found. Where mouthguards go to retire.” She points to her mouth, then heads up the stairs into Hexside.

“Anyone know what a mouthguard is?” Draco says.

“Nope,” Willow says.

“Nuh-uh,” Augustus adds.

Something truly muggle, then. Draco checks the time on the human watch he stole from Eda this morning. They have ten minutes until the ship leaves; plenty of time for Luz to change into something and return. Draco takes a seat on the front school steps.

“So.” Willow sits down next to him. “Know what track you’re gonna take yet?”

“I’m still not sure what all the tracks are,” Draco says.

“Oh, that’s easy; Abomination, Bard, Beastkeeping, Construction, Healing, Illusion, Oracle, Plant, and Potion.” Willow lists them on her fingers.

Draco hums. Those all sound intriguing. He’s only seen little bits and pieces of most, but he’d be glad to know more about all of them. “Do I have to choose just one track?”

“Yeah,” Willow says. She spins a strand of her hair around her finger. “You can only go into one coven when you’re older.”

Ah, yes, the wonderful coven sigils choking away magic. Draco grits his teeth. He and King seem to be the only ones who know exactly what those sigils do.

“I told you its not like this in the human realm, right?” Draco says.

“It’s not?” Willow’s eyes widen.

“He told me!” Augustus pipes in.

“I did tell Augustus,” Draco confirms. “But in the human realm, we’re taught all sorts of different kinds of magic. As I was explaining to you, the application of different techniques from different branches of magic helps with succeeding in all of them.”

Willow leans forward. “What’re the different magical tracks in the human realm?”

“They’re more like core subjects of magic,” Draco says. “Magic itself is viewed as one large whole in co-existence with itself. Sure, there’s different spell techniques and specific studies, but they all connect back to the whole.”

Willow’s eyes are sparkling in fascination. Draco keeps going.

“At Hogwarts, we’re taught the core subjects of Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Astronomy. We also have choices of elective subjects, such as Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Study of Ancient Runes, Divination, Arithmancy, and more advanced classes like Advanced Arithmancy and Alchemy. The options vary in different parts of the world.”

“So many,” Willow whispers.

By this point Augustus has dropped down on Draco’s other side. “What’s your favorite?”

“Mine?” Draco has to think about that. “I’m quite good at potions, but that’s mostly thanks to the professor being my godfather. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite.”

“Godfather?” Willow questions.

“It means he’s meant to take care of me in the event something happens to my parents,” Draco says. “He and my father have been friends since school.”

“Ooohhh,” Augustus says.

“But to answer your question, it’s likely Transfiguration and Astronomy,” Draco says. “Astronomy’s the study of the stars, and Transfiguration allows you to cast spells that can change a desk into a pig and back.”

Augustus’s jaw drops. “You can actually change a person into a frog!?”

“What’s a frog?” Willow says.

“Dunno, something in one of my human books,” Augustus says.

Draco snickers. “A frog is a small creature native to the human realm. Luz probably has a drawing of one somewhere. In theory, I could, but in practice it’s a lot more difficult than it looks. Changing something into something else that isn’t similar to its mass takes some precise spell work.”

“Like when you got changed into a ferret?” Augustus says.

Draco nods. “Like when I got changed into a ferret.”

“Um.” Willow raises a finger. “What’s a ferret?”

“That’s also something you’ll have to ask Luz for a drawing of,” Draco says.

A horn interrupts them. The illusions professor is summoning everyone.

“Last call for students going to the grudgby game!” She shouts. A few stragglers climb onto the boat.

Draco checks his watch. It’s already been ten minutes. What’s taking Luz so long?

“Oh man, we’re gonna miss it!” Augustus jumps too his feet and runs for it. Willow catches him by the back of his Hexside sweater.

“Wh- Willow!”

“We can’t leave Luz,” Willow says.

“But we’re gonna miss the game!” Augustus says.

Draco glances back at the school doors. Come on, come on…

No such luck. The illusions professor closes the ramp to the boat, and the boat flies upwards. Seconds later, the doors to Hexside swing open. Luz is decked head to toe in Hexside memorabilia, including a pair of those cheerleading pom-poms she’d told Draco about.

“Goooo Hexside!” Luz jumps into the splits. She winces. “Well, I never did that before.”

Draco facepalms. Dammit, Luz.

Luz looks around at the empty front area. “Uh. Where is everyone?”

The boat roars. It’s taking off into the sky, the giant student from before hanging onto its underside. Draco turns his back on it. No use trying to get on now.

“No, come back!” Luz runs down the steps to join them. “Why didn’t you guys board the ship?”

Willow clasps her hands in front of her. “We weren’t going to leave you behind.”

“I was,” Augustus mumbles.

“Gus.” Willow elbows him.

“All you needed to do was to change your shirt, why did you-!?” Draco cuts himself off. He sounds like an arse again. “Nevermind.”

Luz still frowns anyway. “‘M sorry.” She scuffs her foot on the ground.

“It’s fine, it happens.” Draco pinches the bridge of his nose, taking several deep breaths. “I’m sorry for yelling.”

Luz looks a little reassured, but still disappointed. “Can we walk to Glandus?”

“We’d never make it in time,” Augustus says. “Glandus is-” He rolls his hands, then points out with his flags. “-All the way out in the middle of the island.”

Luz rolls her eyes. “Ugh, typical Glandus.”

“And my parents are working, otherwise I’d see if they could give us a ride on their staffs,” Willow says.

Luz’s brows furrow. “A staff, because staffs fly! And so do brooms!” Luz throws her hands in the air, still holding the pom-poms. “I can get us a staff and a broom!”

“You can?” Augustus raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“I can’t fit four people on my broom,” Draco says.

“Then we take the staff too,” Luz says.  “Come on!” Luz grabs Willow’s arm.

The half-run-half-walk back to the Owl House is buzzing with Luz’s excitement. It rubs off on all three of them, of course.

“Hi guys!” Hooty chirps as soon as they enter the front yard. “Back so soon?”

“Nope! Just grabbing some things.” Luz pushes open the front door, and the four of them spill into the sitting room. “You guys wait downstairs. Draco, get your broom, I’ll ask Eda to borrow her staff.”

Draco frowns. “Luz, are you sure this is a good idea? Eda likely won’t be able to take us.”

“It’ll be fine!” Luz calls, already dashing up the stairs. Draco’s not so sure.

He heads up the stairs and grabs his broom, leaned up against the wall in his and Luz’s room, and heads back downstairs. Augustus and Willow are waiting, chatting.

“Whoa,” Augustus’s eyes land on him. “I’ve never seen a broom like that before.”

“It’s a human broom.” Draco smirks. 3, 2, 1…

“A human broom?” Augustus’s eyes widen. “Oh my gosh ohmygosh!” He practically teleports to Draco’s side, reverently running a hand down the handle. “I call dibs on the human broom!”

Willow chuckles. “Okay, you can be on the broom.”

Not long afterwards, Luz returns with Eda’s staff in-hand, and without the pom-poms. “Okay, let’s get out of here!”

“Woo!” Augustus cheers. Luz leads the way outside, pushing open the front door with a flourish.

“To Glandus High!” She throws her hand with the staff up. Owlbert hits the wall outside, and Draco winces. Owlbert hoots out in surprise.

“Oh!” Luz lowers the staff. “Sorry, Owlbert.” She steps outside, letting the rest of them out.

“Again, are you sure this is a good idea?” Draco questions. “Eda told you it was okay to take her staff?”

“She did, I think. King was acting weird but it’s probably fine.” She chuckles weakly. “Anyway, Owlbert, we’re just on our way to help some friends.”

“And owl palisman?” Willow says. She coos. “He’s pretty.”

“I know! And adorable,” Luz says with a smile. “Who’s coming on Air Luz?”

Draco grimaces. “Uh, Luz?”

“Yes, my most wonderful British Wizard Roomie?” Luz beams.

Draco takes a deep breath. Don’t get irritated, she means the best. Even if she’s being stupid. “Maybe I should fly Owlbert? I have more experience flying, and you know how to fly my broom.”

Luz’s brows furrow in confusion. “What, why?”

“It’s just- Owlbert’s a living creature. You have to be careful with him.”

“I’m careful! I can be so careful.” Luz pouts.

“I’m not doubting it, but being in the air is different from being on the ground,” Draco says. “Crashing on my broom will have less consequences than crashing on Owlbert.”

Luz’s eyes narrow. “Are you saying I can’t handle it?”

Draco flinches. “No, that’s not what I’m saying.” His frustration’s bubbling. “I’m saying that you may not be ready yet.”

“And what makes you the authority on that, huh?” Luz’s brows furrow. “You don’t know everything.”

“No, but I know enough!” Draco snaps. “Can you please just use your head for once!?”

Luz’s eyes go wide, shrinking in on herself. Willow and Augusts are staring at them. Owlbert is glancing between them, unsure. Goddammit, Draco mucked it up again. He takes several deep breaths.

“That was unfair, sorry.” Draco knows he’s right, but he can’t bear to hurt Luz any more than he already has. “You can fly the staff.”

Luz shifts her weight from foot to foot. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Draco says. “I’ve taught you to fly, you should be fine.”

Luz smiles. “Okay.”

“I’m with you,” Willow walks over to Luz.

The four of them board their respective staff and broom. Augustus sits behind Draco, practically vibrating in excitement.

“Which way to Glandus?” Draco asks.

“Head southeast of here,” Augustus says.

Draco kicks off the ground. Augustus giggles in delight. Draco stops in the air, waiting as Luz joins him, Willow behind her.

“O-kay.” Luz smacks Owlbert’s staff. “Step on it, Owlbert!”

Luz and Willow rocket above the trees way too fast. The girls shriek.

“What the-!?”

“LUZ!” Draco cuts Augustus short and takes off. Luz and Willow do a loop in the air and launch straight back down into the trees. Draco dives after them. Maybe if he’s fast enough he can stop their momentum, maybe catch someone-

“Draco!”

He stops just short of the foliage and follows Augustus’s finger. In an open patch on their right, He sees Luz on the ground and Willow in a bush, Luz’s Hexside hoodie hanging from a branch. Owlbert is on the ground a few feet away from them.

“Luz! Willow! Owlbert!” Draco tilts the broom down, pulling up to land. Augustus hops off first, hurrying over to help Willow out of the bush. Draco rushes to Luz, broom in-hand.

Luz rubs her head with a groan. “That hurt.”

“Are you alright?” Draco offers a hand to her. Luz doesn’t take it, pushing herself to her feet.

“Fine,” Luz says. “Is everyone else- huh?”

Draco follows her gaze. He hadn’t seen it from above, but Owlbert has a large crack in the center of his head. Oh no.

“Owlbert?” Luz whispers.

Owlbert’s eyes are tilted down. Not in hurt, but in fear. He twists himself off of Eda’s staff and takes off, flying for the woods.

“No no no, Owlbert!” Luz shoves past him and runs after Owlbert. “Come back!”

Draco picks up Eda’s staff. “Luz, we have to-”

“I know!” Luz darts around the tree and takes off. Draco hurries after, and its not long before he hears Augustus and Willow behind him.

“OWLBERT!” Luz cries into the trees. The forest around them grows darker and darker, the red fading to grey. Draco can just make out Owlbert’s little body soaring through the trees with ease, like he’s been here before.

The trees break to reveal a gnarled arch of wood, leading into what appears to be a dark den. Luz stops to catch her breath, Draco close behind.

“Man, humans can run,” Augustus pants. “You weren’t kidding about the two lungs thing.”

“He went through those trees,” Luz says. “Come on-”

Willow grabs Luz’s arm. “We have to be careful! It’s really easy to get lost in this part of the forest.”

“This is Eda’s Palisman, Willow.” She gestures to the staff in Draco’s hands. “She’ll kill me if we don’t get it back!”

“Him.”

Luz stops. “What?”

“Him. He’s not an ‘it’.” Draco straightens. “You’d do well to respect that. You forget I spent almost twelve hours with only him and the Owl Beast for company.”

Luz’s eyes widen.

“And a general rule of thumb.” Draco pulls down his left sweater sleeve. “Disrespecting magical creatures, or any creature, can easily get you killed.”

Luz gasps. His scars from Buckbeak aren’t pretty, and he blew it out of proportion at the time, but he asked Madam Pomfrey to keep them as a reminder. Originally it was of a victory, but now it’s a warning. Draco tugs his sleeve back up.

“Let’s go,” he says. He turns on his heel and heads into the den.

The den is dark. Thick with gnarled tree trunks and roots, it stretches over their heads, thick web-like sheets hanging from the branches. The tinny screeches of bats fill the silence. The ground crunches below their feet. Draco looks to see small animal bones scattered all over the dirt. He shudders and jerks his head back up.

“Wow,” Willow says. “I keep stepping on a lot of crunchy twigs.”

“Those are bones, Willow,” Draco deadpans.

“Not if I never look down.”

Draco sighs and tightens his grip on the staff. On their right, something dashes past them, too fast to see. Draco starts, and the others jolt to a halt at his back.

“This isn’t any kind of forest I’m used to,” Luz says, glancing at the sheets of web.

“This place could give The Forbidden Forest a run for its money,” Draco mutters.

“That’s because this isn’t a forest.” Willow shakes Luz’s shoulder, eyes locked on something. From the darkness, none other than the three demon babies Eda babysat emerge, tufts of purple hair sticking out on top of their fleshy heads.

“It’s a nest,” Willow squeaks. She tucks herself behind Luz.

“Bat Queen’s babies?” Draco blinks.

“Oh yeah! It feels like Eda babysat them so long ago,” Luz says.

The three little demons hiss, spit flying from their maws.

“Wait wait wait, the Bat Queen?” Augustus’s voice shakes. He slowly backs up.

Willow backs away. “I-I think I’d rather take my chances with Eda.” She runs into some of the webs behind them, and they stick to her hair.

“She honestly wasn’t that bad when we met her.” Draco shrugs.

Luz swipes the staff from Draco’s hand. Draco’s about to retort, but he holds off. Luz crouches in front of the babies.

“We’re looking for a little owl,” she taps the top of the staff. “Have you- there he is!”

Draco’s eyes fly up. Owlbert stands at the far end of the cave, just out of the light from the entrance. He hoots, almost like a whisper, stepping back into the shadows.

“Owlbert!” Lus gets back on her feet. “Thank goodness you’re okay. Come here, buddy.” She starts walking towards him. “Time to go home.”

Draco sets a hand on her shoulder. “Wait.”

“Will you stop that!?” Luz throws his hand off and whips around, glaring at him. “You’re not helping!”

“Can’t you see he’s scared?” Draco says. “You can’t just force him to come back, you have to earn his trust.”

“But he’s Eda’s palisman! He has to!”

There a massive thud. The ground shakes. Draco’s eyes go wide. The Bat Queen stands between them and Owlbert, Owlbert’s tiny form dwarfed by hers. Luz turns in time for the Bat Queen to stalk towards them, wings spread.

“He will not go anywhere!” The Bat Queen roars. Her three babies hiss and snarl at her feet. Luz’s back hits Draco’s chest, and on instinct he grabs her shoulders, stopping her fall. Willow lets out a little ‘eek’ behind them.

“B-Bat Queen,” Augustus stutters out.

“Bat Queen,” Draco repeats.

Luz rights herself, taking Draco’s hands off her shoulders. “Don’t worry, I got this.”

Draco has an incredibly bad feeling. “Luz-”

“Hiya, BQ!” Luz swings her staff hand in a little swing. “My, your hair is looking greasy. And, your kids, they’re as hideous as ever.”

“That could not have gone worse.”

“Y’know, that could’ve gone worse.”

Draco and Augustus glance at each other. Augustus smirks like he knows something Draco doesn’t.

The Bat Queen growls.

Luz forces a laugh. “Heh, yeah, so. Owlbert needs to come home, so he can’t exactly stay here. I’m just gonna grab him and we’ll be on our way.”

As soon as Luz tries to step forward, the Bat Queen raises a claw, cutting her short. Draco inhales sharply. However, she doesn’t attack Luz.

“Human boy speaks the truth. To be careless with a staff, it’s very serious. I protect him.”

Luz, in all of her unexperienced-with-magic wisdom, keeps pushing. “And thank you for that, but he belongs to Eda the Owl Lady.” Luz pushes Bat Queen’s claw to the ground. “You owe her a favor, remember?”

“Owl Lady is careless!” The Bat Queen snaps. She stomps forward, backing Luz and Draco back to Willow and Augustus. “Her staff left her sight. Taken by human who steals, hurts, frightens.”

Luz’s grip slackens. “What? But I didn’t-”

“He told me ALL!” The Bat Queen bellows. Her eyes glow entirely yellow, as do Owlbert’s at her feet.

Luz’s grip tightens again. “Owlbert, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do any of it, I never meant to hurt you. Please, trust me?” Luz kneels. “We can fix this.”

Owlbert’s eyes fade, and he doesn’t spare Luz a glance. He flies up to the top of the Bat Queens’ hair, and their eyes glow yet again. They quickly fade soon after, The Bat Queen’s eyes narrowing.

“Trust must be earned.” Bat Queen flies to the back of the cave, landing on a stone perch. “Through TRIALS!”

Geysers of fire shoot into the air, the columns twisting and hot.

“Luz.” Willow steps forward. “The Bat Queen’s well-known for her impossible trials. I’ve never heard of anyone winning against her.”

Luz exhales. “But I have to get Owlbert back.” She glances at Draco, then turns back to the Bat Queen. “I accept your challenge.”

Willow nods. “And we’ll be right there with you.”

Augustus grins. “Let the flags raise you up!”

Draco frowns. “You shouldn’t-”

He feels it before he sees it. Thick bands of webs sprout from the ground, encasing Willow and Augustus. Only their heads and Augustus’s arms are exposed. Draco takes several steps back.

“Hey!”

“What!?”

“No helpsies,” The Bat Queen says. She looks at Draco, her red eyes piercing. “And you?”

Draco holds his hands up. “She did this to herself, I’m not helping.”

“What!?” Luz shouts.

Draco takes a seat on a nearby boulder. He props his broom up on the wall next to him. He doesn’t say a word.

“Draco!” Luz hisses.

He folds his arms. “You didn’t listen to me then, why should I say anything now?”

Luz growls. “You little-”

“Let the trials BEGIN!” The Bat Queen’s command cuts her short. “Milk the spider demon!”

Ah. That explains most of the webs. Draco should probably feel bad about watching Luz chase around a large, hairy spider with an udder, but unlike with Adegast, this was all her own doing. She knew Owlbert was a living creature and mistreated him anyway, even after Draco’s warnings. He’s right, and she knows it. She’s just not willing to admit it.

It’s funny. Willow said these trials were impossible, but it more or less seems like these are the Bat Queen’s chores. Removing the bee’s nest, giving her babies baths. Augustus breaks out of his binds once, and ends up hanging from the ceiling for it. While Draco’s seat isn’t the most comfortable, at least he isn’t being forced to stand or being dangled above ground for an extended amount of time. He can appreciate the small things.

“You are curious, human.”

Draco looks up. The Bat Queen’s landed next to him. Luz is in the middle of bathing her babies, wrestling one of the three into the wooden tub.

He raises an eyebrow. “What for?”

“He speaks kindly of you,” The Bat Queen says. “said you protected owl beast.”

The ‘he’ must be Owlbert, who’s currently on Bat Queen’s perch. He glances at him, then back to the Bat Queen.

“It was the least I could do,” Draco says. “I caused it.”

The Bat Queen smiles. “You earned his care and respect. Not easy to do.”

Draco’s eyebrows raise. “I did?”

The Bat Queen nods. “To earn care and respect of palisman is a privilege. You will be great wizard.”

The Bat Queen walks back to her perch. What was that about? Draco’s brows furrow. Luz is just about done with the bath, but his eyes fall back to The Bat Queen and Owlbert. Surely it couldn’t have been that remarkable, could it?

Wait. Did the Bat Queen call him a wizard?

The Bat Queen’s babies screech. Luz screams and ducks, and her babies take off around the cave, flying in circles. Augustus manages to free himself one last time, only to end up restrained to the ground upside-down.

“Okay, Bat Queen.” Luz wipes her brow. “That’s the last one. I’ve done all your chores, and I’ve proved my dedication to Owlbert.” With some caution, Luz approaches Owlbert. “I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you, Owlbert. I promise to be more careful. Will you come back home with me?”

Owlbert hoots, and nods. He flaps his way to the ground. Draco gets to his feet, stretching his arms over his head. Now that this is over, he can-

Another pull of magic. Owlbert squawks in alarm. Draco spots him now restrained to the ground, the Bat Queen’s claw glowing with yellow magic. Wait, what!?

“No! More trials! Last trial. You must face-” The Bat Queen spreads her wings, eyes fierce and angry. “ME!”

“Hey! This isn’t-”

The Bat Queen takes off with a roar, diving towards Luz. She runs out of the way, just avoiding Bat Queen’s landing.

“You will NEVER get him back!” Bat Queen screams.

“Draco!”

Draco’s head snaps over. Willow’s fighting to break out of her restraints. He dashes over, fire at his fingers as he burns through her and Augustus’s webs. The Bat Queen’s roars fill the den as she chases Luz, a cat after a mouse.

Willow pulls the rest of the webs off herself. “We have to-”

“Look out!” Augustus cries.

Draco turns. The three bat babies are hissing and screeching, flying right towards them.

“We’ll hold them off, go!” Willow says, drawing a spell circle.

Draco nods. He runs for Owlbert first, using a finger to burn in half his webbed restraints. Owlbert shakes the rest off his wings.

“You alright?” Draco asks.

Owlbert nods with a hoot.

“Come on, we have to catch them.” He holds a hand out. Owlbert flies up, and Draco sets him on his shoulder. He swipes his broom from the wall, swings on, and kicks off.

Following the Bat Queen’s trail isn’t hard; he just has to find the snapped and bent tree trunks. He finds Luz with the Bat Queen over her head, the staff the only thing between her and the queen’s claws.

“Luz!” Draco shouts. He drops his broom in the bushes.

Luz’s gaze flies to him, then something on the Bat Queen’s foot. She gasps. “Is that an interlock!?” She raises both feet under the staff and pushes up, the Bat Queen forced to fly off of her. Luz gets to her feet. “You used to be on a staff, didn’t you? You were a palisman!”

Draco freezes. The Bat Queen, a palisman? The Bat Queen’s eyes go wide, her mouth falling open.

Luz pushes forward. “You were once a palisman. Weren’t you?”

The Bat Queen raises her claw. There, clear as day, an interlock shaped like circle with a thin, rectangular slice cut out is carved into the bottom of her foot. Draco gives Owlbert a surprised look. However, this doesn’t seem to be new information for him. No wonder The Bat Queen could communicate with him.

The Bat Queen lowers her foot. “Yes. I was once part of a grand staff. A staff made for a giant! But I was broken, discarded.”

“So that’s why you’re so protective of Owlbert,” Luz says.

The Bat Queen’s eyes burn yellow. “I protect ALL.”

High in the dark tree canopies, hundreds of yellow eyes glow in the dark. Palisman of all different shapes, sizes, animals, colors, fill the dark. Draco does a slow spin. There’s a three-faced monkey, and a crab, and a snake with large tusks, and a horned toad. More animals than he could possibly name, many of them native to the Boiling Isles.

But there are also many that aren’t. There’s a small tree frog on the side of a trunk missing a back leg. Willow and Gus didn’t recognize the species earlier. He also spots a ferret, pure white, perched on a higher branch with its head held high. He swears its looking at him.

Why are there human realm animals here?

“I made home in forest.” The Bat Queen is quiet, reverent. “I’m here to take the lost. The forgotten.”

“I understand,” Luz says. “But Owlbert is not forgotten. He has someone at home who loves him very much.”

The Bat Queen’s gaze grows cold. “He will not go back with you.” She turns her back.

“That’s not your decision to make!” Luz declares.

The Bat Queen spins back around, wings spread, claws out. “I won’t let him!”

Luz raises her arms. The weight leaves Draco’s shoulder. Owlbert lands between them, wings held high, determined. He hoots. His eyes glow, as do the Bat Queen’s.

“You… you care for her,” The Bat Queen whispers.

Owlbert’s eyes fade. He hoots, nodding in agreement. He turns around, towards Luz, and totters toward her. She holds her hands out, Owlbert hops on to them, and Luz lifts him. Owlbert’s happy to nuzzle her face.

The Bat Queen’s wings droop. “Very well. Go. And take your friends.”

Willow and Augustus then emerge into the clearing, Bat Queen’s babies chewing on them. But Bat Queen’s attention isn’t on them. Her eyes have settled on Draco yet again. A complicated expression passes over her face. Then, she whistles. Her babies release Willow and Augustus, flying back over to her.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be clean again,” Augustus holds his arms out at his sides, green-tinged slobber dripping down his hair. That’ll be a chore to get out.

“Human boy,” The Bat Queen says. “I-” She cuts herself off, presses her lips into a line.

Draco approaches. “You called me a wizard earlier.”

“I did.” Bat Queen looks up at the trees. “It has been… long time since I’ve seen your kind.”

My kind? It clicks. “You’ve met human wizards.”

Bat Queen nods. “Was over a thousand years ago. I don’t know what happened. Many were forced to leave their palismans behind.”

Human wizards had palismans!? It explains the human-realm animals at least. Draco shakes his head. He’s getting away from what he wants to ask. “How did you know?”

Bat Queen leans in close to him. “Your soul burns. It dances with magic to feed its flame.”

Draco rests a hand on his chest. “Huh. I suppose that explains Eda’s theory.” He chuckles to himself.

Bat Queen steps back. “A human once told me a flame burns to share its warmth.”

Draco smiles. “Your human sounds melodramatic.”

Bat Queen laughs. “She was.” Her smile fades, and her red eyes settle back on him. “I have question.”

Draco lowers his hand. “What is it?”

“What is your deepest wish?”

Draco blinks. Well, that was the last thing he was expecting. He glances at Luz, Augustus, and Willow. They all seem just as shocked as him. Luz’s dropped jaw splits into a wide smile as she waves him forward, Owlbert’s staff in-hand. Draco rolls his eyes with a smile.

He pulls his wand out of his vest. He’s not sure why he still carries it around. It’s not like he needs it to cast magic here. What is his deepest wish? He thought he knew, but now he’s not sure. So much has changed in such a short amount of time. He’s still trying to catch up.

Draco rolls his wand between his fingers. “I don’t know,” he mumbles.

“Is alright.” Bat Queen gives him a reassuring smile. “Come visit? And tell me when you know.”

Draco smiles. “Of course.”

Luz takes the opening for what it is. “Bat Queen? Do you know what happened to your owner?”

Bat queen shakes her head. “It has been thousands of years. I have forgotten.”

Luz squeezes Owlbert’s staff. “If you ever want to search for the truth, I’ll help you.”

Bat Queen’s hair waves in the wind. “Thank you.”

She takes to the sky, her babies clinging to her hair. The glowing eyes of the palisman disappear into the trees, back to the forest. Draco glances back to where he saw the ferret, but it’s gone.

“I can’t believe you took on the Bat Queen!” Willow throws her arms around Luz.

“And we’re not dead!” Augustus says, waving his flags.

Luz smiles as Willow lets go. “Thank you for helping me get Owlbert back,” she says. “I’m sorry we missed the game.”

“Are you kidding?” Augustus grins. “That was better than any Grudgby match! There were action-packed trials, I got to do my flag wave, and I’m slightly traumatized! Hooray!”

Draco snorts. “Please. This is nothing compared to entering the Forbidden Forest at 11 and witnessing a man drinking unicorn blood.”

“Why you gotta drop the coolest wizard lore at the end of exciting adventures!? Or at inconvenient times!?” Luz says, aghast.

“To inconvenience you, obviously.” Draco grins. Luz shoves him, and he laughs.

Owlbert hoots in amusement on Luz’s shoulder. She smiles and scratches his stomach with a finger. “Let’s get this little guy home. It’s been a long afternoon.”

Draco retrieves his broom from the bushes, and the four them make the wise decision to walk back to the Owl House.

“But seriously though, I thought you said the Forbidden Forest was, like, Forbidden,” Luz says.

Draco scoffs. “I got detention with Potter and his friends after staying out past curfew to snitch on them.”

Luz gasps. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

Draco rolls his eyes yet again, but doesn’t keep her in suspense. Willow and Augustus are not subtle about their shared interest.

~~~

It’s the middle of the night when Draco stirs awake. Groggily, he sits up. Why is he awake right now? Their room appears undisturbed. King is curled at the end of Luz’s sleeping bag, mumbling something to himself. Said sleeping back is conspicuously empty.

Odd. She’s likely just gone to the loo, but Luz isn’t usually up during the middle of the night. That’s Eda’s thing. Draco swings out of his hammock, padding over to the storage room door. He’s careful while opening and closing it, not wanting to wake King. The bathroom door down the hall is open. Where is she?

Draco makes his way to the stairwell. At the bottom, a few small balls of light are floating in the air, trailing out from the kitchen. Why is Luz using her glyph this late at night? He treads his way down the stairs, leaning into the kitchen doorway.

Luz is at the kitchen table, a notepad next to her, drawing on the pages. Balls of light fill the room, likely over a hundred. She finishes the paper she’s working on and taps it. It crumples, forming into another ball of light. She watches it float towards the ceiling, then tears out another piece of paper.

“Luz?”

She stops, and locks eyes with Draco.

“Oh.” Luz goes back to drawing. “Hey, Draco.”

The glowing balls part around him like water as he crosses the room and takes a seat next to her. “Everything alright?”

She sketches the large triangle. “Do you think I’m-” she bites her lip, takes a moment to collect her thoughts. “Am I bad at magic?”

“What?” Draco chuckles in disbelief. “Who said you were bad at magic?”

“You did.”

Draco frowns. “I was wrong about that.”

“Not that, today.” Luz taps the paper harder than necessary. “And you were right.”

The ball of light floats up above their heads. He’s missing something. He has to be. Did he say something earlier today? No, he remembers his arguments being fairly reasonable, even if he did lose his temper. So where is this coming from?

Luz continues. “I should’ve listened to you. I wouldn’t have hurt Owlbert and we would’ve seen the grudgby game. But I had to go and mess things up. Again. You’re just so good at magic, I wanted to-” She stops, takes a shaky breath. “I wanted to prove I could be good at magic, too.”

Draco stares. “But you are good at magic.”

Luz glares at her next paper. “All I have is this light glyph.” She taps it, forming another ball of light.

Draco’s eyebrows raise. “You’re likely the first muggle to ever wield magic, and you’re trying to tell me you’re not good at it? I know of so many people who would lose their minds seeing you cast a simple light spell.”

“I want to do more than just a light spell.” Luz flicks away a ball of light coming too close to her face. “I want to do cool stuff, like turn the ground into a trampoline and throw fireballs.”

“And you will.” Draco smiles. “You don’t think I was casting spells right out the gate, do you? My first year was spent mostly spitting sparks. And accidentally setting things on fire. I had quite the temper, if you can believe it.”

Luz giggles. “Wow, I never would’ve guessed.”

Draco scoops a ball of light out of the air, cupping it in his palms. “I may have come from a place knowing more than most, but talking about magic and actually using it are two entirely different skill sets. You figured out this world’s magic before I did, remember?”

Luz shrugs, a shy smile on her face. “It’s different.”

Draco nudges her. “Not really.” He pushes the light ball back into the air. “You taught me how to find mine.”

Draco rests his hand palm-up on the table and closes his eyes. The magic of the Boiling Isles is peaceful this time of night. Sort of like a calming rain. He imagines collecting some of the droplets in his other hand, forming them into a ball of light in his palm. When he opens his eyes, a cool, pale blue ball of light is resting in his hand. He tosses it upwards, into the cloud of yellow lights. It flits among them like they’re old friends.

“Pretty,” Luz breathes.

“Indeed.”

The Boiling Isles have given him so much. A new appreciation of magic, a new history to discover, hope. Luz, Eda, King, Willow, Augustus, and Raine. He’s lost, and has no idea what the future will bring, but it won’t be the end of him. He won’t be alone.

“M’sorry,” Luz mumbles. “For not listening to you.”

“Apology accepted,” Draco says. “I’m sorry for lashing out.”

Luz’s cheek squishes into his shoulder. “It’s okay.” She yawns.

“Want to head back upstairs?” Draco says.

“Yeah.” Luz stand and slides out from the bench, stretching. Draco follows her lead.