From 4a0d514e69ac52b1c460a1fe62208e00067f20b4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Tyler Davis Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 14:23:10 -0700 Subject: Fix up missing chapter 26 in ASITOR --- tex/ASongInTimeOfRevolution.tex | 1161 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----- tex/IAmAlsoThyBrother.tex | 18 + 2 files changed, 1038 insertions(+), 141 deletions(-) diff --git a/tex/ASongInTimeOfRevolution.tex b/tex/ASongInTimeOfRevolution.tex index 8123dae..84cde2b 100644 --- a/tex/ASongInTimeOfRevolution.tex +++ b/tex/ASongInTimeOfRevolution.tex @@ -1,60 +1,62 @@ -\section{A Song In Time of Revolution}\label{a-song-in-time-of-revolution} - -% \textbf{Story:} A Song In Time of Revolution\\ -% \textbf{Storylink:} \url{https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3014337/1/}\\ -% \textbf{Category:} Harry Potter\\ -% \textbf{Genre:} Drama/Angst\\ -% \textbf{Author:} Lightning on the Wave\\ -% \textbf{Authorlink:} \url{https://www.fanfiction.net/u/895946/}\\ -% \textbf{Last updated:} 10/04/2006\\ -% \textbf{Words:} 709580\\ -% \textbf{Rating:} M\\ -% \textbf{Status:} Complete\\ -% \textbf{Content:} Chapter 1 to 124 of 124 chapters\\ -% \textbf{Source:} FanFiction.net\\[2\baselineskip]\textbf{Summary:} AU of -% HBP, HPDM slash. Revolution is never an easy choice---and worse when -% you're trying to respect the free will of everyone, wizard and magical -% creature alike. Prophecy and politics and the Ministry\ldots{} Harry -% doesn't need any more complications. - -\subsection{*Chapter 1*: Haunted, Helped, Dreaming}\label{chapter-1-haunted-helped-dreaming} +\section{A Song In Time of +Revolution}\label{a-song-in-time-of-revolution} + +\textbf{Story:} A Song In Time of Revolution\\ +\textbf{Storylink:} \url{https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3014337/1/}\\ +\textbf{Category:} Harry Potter\\ +\textbf{Genre:} Drama/Angst\\ +\textbf{Author:} Lightning on the Wave\\ +\textbf{Authorlink:} \url{https://www.fanfiction.net/u/895946/}\\ +\textbf{Last updated:} 10/04/2006\\ +\textbf{Words:} 709580\\ +\textbf{Rating:} M\\ +\textbf{Status:} Complete\\ +\textbf{Content:} Chapter 1 to 124 of 124 chapters\\ +\textbf{Source:} FanFiction.net\\[2\baselineskip]\textbf{Summary:} AU of +HBP, HPDM slash. Revolution is never an easy choice---and worse when +you're trying to respect the free will of everyone, wizard and magical +creature alike. Prophecy and politics and the Ministry\ldots{} Harry +doesn't need any more complications. + +\subsection{*Chapter 1*: Haunted, Helped, +Dreaming}\label{chapter-1-haunted-helped-dreaming} \textbf{Title}: {A Song In Time of Revolution} -% \textbf{Summary:} AU of HBP, HPDM slash. Revolution is never an easy -% choice---and worse when you're trying to respect the free will of -% everyone, wizard and magical creature alike. Prophecy and politics and -% the Ministry\ldots{}Harry doesn't need any more complications. - -% \textbf{Notes:} This is the sixth story in what I call the Sacrifices -% Arc, following {Wind That Shakes the Seas and Stars.} By now, it's its -% own full-blown alternate universe, with Slytherin!Harry, Harry and Draco -% in an established relationship, and Voldemort temporarily so badly -% wounded that he can't fight, and you're probably not going to understand -% the story if you try to start reading here. - -% Also, \emph{this is an extremely long story.} The current outline is 99 -% numbered chapters, with 25 unnumbered ones (Intermissions and -% Interludes). I do update every day most of the time, but it's going to -% take three months to complete even so. Be warned if you don't like long -% serials. - -% \textbf{Warnings:} Language, violence, gore, torture, sex, discussion of -% past rape and child abuse, slash \emph{and} het \emph{and} saffic -% (femmeslash) in varying degrees of explicitness, tons of politics, -% \textbf{multiple character deaths}. Also, \textbf{there are spoilers for -% {Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince} in this story.} I've been using -% background information from the book in the other stories, but this is -% the one where it really takes center stage. If you haven't read HBP and -% don't want to be spoiled for it, then please don't read this. - -% \textbf{Archiving:} I archive at Fanfiction, Skyehawke, and on my -% LiveJournal, and send update notices through my Yahoo!Group (links for -% all of these, as well as a site with .doc and .PDF files of the stories, -% can be found in my Fanfiction profile). The easiest way to get in touch -% with me is my e-mail or my LJ. - -% And here we go. Thanks for coming all this way with me. +\textbf{Summary:} AU of HBP, HPDM slash. Revolution is never an easy +choice---and worse when you're trying to respect the free will of +everyone, wizard and magical creature alike. Prophecy and politics and +the Ministry\ldots{}Harry doesn't need any more complications. + +\textbf{Notes:} This is the sixth story in what I call the Sacrifices +Arc, following {Wind That Shakes the Seas and Stars.} By now, it's its +own full-blown alternate universe, with Slytherin!Harry, Harry and Draco +in an established relationship, and Voldemort temporarily so badly +wounded that he can't fight, and you're probably not going to understand +the story if you try to start reading here. + +Also, \emph{this is an extremely long story.} The current outline is 99 +numbered chapters, with 25 unnumbered ones (Intermissions and +Interludes). I do update every day most of the time, but it's going to +take three months to complete even so. Be warned if you don't like long +serials. + +\textbf{Warnings:} Language, violence, gore, torture, sex, discussion of +past rape and child abuse, slash \emph{and} het \emph{and} saffic +(femmeslash) in varying degrees of explicitness, tons of politics, +\textbf{multiple character deaths}. Also, \textbf{there are spoilers for +{Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince} in this story.} I've been using +background information from the book in the other stories, but this is +the one where it really takes center stage. If you haven't read HBP and +don't want to be spoiled for it, then please don't read this. + +\textbf{Archiving:} I archive at Fanfiction, Skyehawke, and on my +LiveJournal, and send update notices through my Yahoo!Group (links for +all of these, as well as a site with .doc and .PDF files of the stories, +can be found in my Fanfiction profile). The easiest way to get in touch +with me is my e-mail or my LJ. + +And here we go. Thanks for coming all this way with me. {\textbf{A Song In Time of Revolution}} @@ -96,9 +98,9 @@ conscious and more spontaneous.'' and buzzed around him when he did it, and he calmed it with a touch. The time spent in the Sanctuary was about lowering barriers he didn't even know he had, seemingly, and some of those had included barriers on his -magic. Harry still wasn't sure how he felt about that. ``I \emph{do} have +magic. Harry still wasn't sure how he felt about that. "I \emph{do} have to keep an eye on how I use my power, whether or not I'm respecting the -free choices of my allies, what I do with Draco---'' +free choices of my allies, what I do with Draco---" Vera chuckled, interrupting him. ``And if your whole life is a stiff dance,'' she said, ``then you will lose yourself to it in the end. Many @@ -197,12 +199,12 @@ Harry inclined his head, and then had to reflect that that was a formal movement, too, not just a nod. He swallowed and said, ``I thought, once I had time and peace, that I would know exactly what I should have done instead of the mercy killing.'' Vera nodded encouragingly when he -paused, and Harry plunged forward. ``But I still can't see anything else +paused, and Harry plunged forward. "But I still can't see anything else I could have done. What am I ignoring? Am I so afraid of facing up to my crime that I'm unconsciously exonerating myself? And what does it mean if I am? Is the British wizarding world going to have to face \emph{another} Dark Lord before I'm done, because I'm sliding down the -path to self-justification and I don't even realize it?'' +path to self-justification and I don't even realize it?" Vera observed him in intense silence for a moment. Harry waited, his nerves humming. His right hand smoothed over and over the scarred stump @@ -271,7 +273,7 @@ gave me.'' He stopped, with those words ringing in his ears, and blinked. -``Yes,'' said Vera softly. ``And that, I believe, is the difference +``Yes,'' said Vera softly. "And that, I believe, is the difference between you and Dumbledore, Harry, and certainly between you and You-Know-Who. If you were already seeking some way to free yourself from guilt, by saying it was entirely the war's fault and people make @@ -281,7 +283,7 @@ acknowledge your own role in the decision. You acknowledge that you do not believe Voldemort would have freed them, or that your giving your own life up to him would have made the slightest bit of difference. You chose a path he did not dictate. And you know it. That is a strength, -Harry, not a weakness.'' +Harry, not a weakness." Harry blinked some more. He could feel a weight on his shoulders and his heart easing, a bit. He just wasn't sure if he believed in it yet. @@ -308,22 +310,22 @@ was basking there, fully six feet of shimmering, mirror-colored snake. Harry shaded his eyes against the reflection of the sun from his scales and shook his head. -``\emph{I can smell your doubt.}'' Argutus's voice was bright, and his -tongue flickered out as he lifted his head to look at Harry. ``\emph{What +"\emph{I can smell your doubt.}" Argutus's voice was bright, and his +tongue flickered out as he lifted his head to look at Harry. "\emph{What is it this time? Can you not believe how beautiful I am, or how lucky -you are that I chose you to be my friend, instead of someone else?}'' +you are that I chose you to be my friend, instead of someone else?"} ``Neither,'' said Harry in Parseltongue, stooping to offer his left arm to Argutus. The Omen snake wound up his arm, around his shoulders, neck, and waist, and stopped when his head was tucked into the crook of Harry's collarbone. Harry stroked his scales as he walked up towards the -small house where Draco usually stayed. ``Sometimes, I am stunned that +small house where Draco usually stayed. "Sometimes, I am stunned that you're here with me at all, or that \emph{I'm} here. I wake up and expect to find myself in Hogwarts, or a dungeon where Voldemort keeps -his prisoners, and that the Sanctuary is a dream.'' +his prisoners, and that the Sanctuary is a dream." -``\emph{If we were in dungeons,}'' Argutus disagreed, ``\emph{I would have -found a way out by now, reflecting hidden doors in my scales.}'' His body +"\emph{If we were in dungeons,"} Argutus disagreed, "\emph{I would have +found a way out by now, reflecting hidden doors in my scales.}" His body writhed and shifted, nearly blinding Harry for a moment. Harry stumbled on the next step down and reoriented himself to which direction was blue sky and which sprawling roofs of every conceivable color and design. @@ -331,15 +333,15 @@ sky and which sprawling roofs of every conceivable color and design. ``I'm sure you would have,'' he said. ``Just don't try to demonstrate it to me while we're walking.'' -``\emph{Why do humans walk?}'' Argutus demanded abruptly. \emph{``Why did +"\emph{Why do humans walk?"} Argutus demanded abruptly. \emph{``Why did you grow legs?''} ``We didn't grow legs,'' Harry said patiently, as he rounded a corner and jogged into the cool darkness of the antechamber to Draco's room. ``You lost them.'' -A startled pause, and Argutus said, ``\emph{That's not what the room -says.}'' +A startled pause, and Argutus said, "\emph{That's not what the room +says.}" ``What room?'' Harry knocked on Draco's door, and Nina, Draco's Seer, opened it a moment later, giving him a delighted smile. @@ -348,11 +350,11 @@ opened it a moment later, giving him a delighted smile. you'll come in?'' Harry nodded, and listened to Argutus's reply as he shifted past the -slender woman. ``\emph{There is a room that speaks of snake magic, which +slender woman. "\emph{There is a room that speaks of snake magic, which must still exist somewhere in the world, or there would not be a room that talks about it. It says that snakes were the original creatures in the world. Everyone else comes from us. You grew legs, and you grew -skins that you never shed. Why?}'' +skins that you never shed. Why?}" ``Ask your room, as I'm sure I don't know,'' Harry muttered, and then looked up at Draco. He was startled to find him out of bed, and dressed @@ -373,7 +375,7 @@ it was at him. Nina was learning him well in the last few days, especially since Draco could talk to her about Harry as he could no one else, and she would know Draco wanted to be alone with his boyfriend. -Harry frowned. ``You \emph{were} wounded badly,'' he said, tugging his +Harry frowned. "You \emph{were} wounded badly," he said, tugging his hand through his hair. ``And I didn't know how much progress you'd made in healing the taint.'' They hadn't seen each other at all yesterday; Draco had slept after an exhausting talk with Nina the day before, and @@ -434,9 +436,9 @@ Draco rolled his eyes. ``Or Walden Macnair---'' told me you possessed him and forced him to lead some of the other Death Eaters into a trap yourself.'' -Draco snarled. ``Or \emph{Voldemort}, Harry. If he grabs me, you can't +Draco snarled. "Or \emph{Voldemort}, Harry. If he grabs me, you can't freeze. And no, I am \emph{not} going to stay behind while you go into -battle,'' he added, when he saw Harry opening his mouth to suggest +battle," he added, when he saw Harry opening his mouth to suggest something. Harry blinked. ``I would never ask you to, Draco.'' @@ -448,13 +450,13 @@ Harry nodded and turned, putting his back to the window and slouching so that his shoulders brushed the stone. Draco hid his delight. There was a point in his life when Harry would never have shown even this degree of relaxation. His gaze on Draco was pensive as he stroked his snake's -head. ``It's all right. \emph{I} might feel better if you'd stay safe, -but you wouldn't. And it's your choice to fight. And I have to admit,'' +head. "It's all right. \emph{I} might feel better if you'd stay safe, +but you wouldn't. And it's your choice to fight. And I have to admit," Harry went on, a faint smile appearing on his lips for the first time, -``I like the idea of us fighting side by side like comrades, instead of a +"I like the idea of us fighting side by side like comrades, instead of a soldier out on the lines and a healer waiting behind them. I still stand by what I said after your possession of Voldemort. You were -\emph{magnificent} in that battle, Draco.'' +\emph{magnificent} in that battle, Draco." His gaze was deep and warm, and Draco wished he could bask in it without saying something to snap the mood. ``Thank you,'' he murmured. ``But @@ -464,9 +466,9 @@ with it, to do something besides freeze?'' Silence, and Harry took his hand away from Argutus and clenched it into a fist. Then he sighed. -``I'm a leader,'' he said, ``and that's not going to change. And you'll +``I'm a leader,'' he said, "and that's not going to change. And you'll be fighting beside me, and that's not going to change, either. I'll -\emph{have} to learn to live with it, won't I?'' +\emph{have} to learn to live with it, won't I?" Draco felt a burst of affection and pride and---he didn't know what other emotions were in there, just that they were there. He put out his @@ -609,7 +611,7 @@ watched as the wounds froze over before any blood could fall, just like every other wound he'd received from the bird. He raised his head to glare as the bird danced gleefully over the end of -his bed. ``What do you \emph{want}?'' he hissed. +his bed. "What do you \emph{want}?" he hissed. \emph{You will not know until it is too late.} The words seemed to appear in his mind as if he'd always known them. \emph{I am preparing @@ -729,9 +731,9 @@ own thoughts and his mother's question. He saw his mother's eyes flash with anger, and he bowed his head. He knew what came next. He mouthed the words along with her. -``Forget that accent, Severus. Shed it. I understand that being among the +"Forget that accent, Severus. Shed it. I understand that being among the relics of your childhood brings it back, but you \emph{must} learn to -shed it, or you will never gain any respect.'' His mother spoke slowly, +shed it, or you will never gain any respect." His mother spoke slowly, carefully, precisely. \emph{She} spoke like the proper pureblood witch she'd been raised to be. Severus's voice, when he didn't watch it, imitated the Yorkshire accent of his Muggle father. He had struggled, @@ -788,8 +790,8 @@ never truly lost. ``You have no claim to being pureblood,'' Eileen repeated, slowly, in that manner that said she knew he was stupid sometimes, but there was no excuse for that. It was the voice she had used until Severus finally -managed to go cold. ``You're halfblood, and half-\emph{Muggle} at that. -That's as good as being a Mudblood to most of the wizards who matter.'' +managed to go cold. "You're halfblood, and half-\emph{Muggle} at that. +That's as good as being a Mudblood to most of the wizards who matter." She let out another loud wheeze, and fell back against her pillows. Severus blinked into the close, hot darkness. ``I---you said that I---'' @@ -1087,7 +1089,7 @@ but the words she spoke next, soft and soothing, were to Draco. ``I can see your soul as a jeweled construct, with emerald and opalescent wheels.'' -``Of \emph{course} it's jeweled,'' said Draco, and had the delight of +"Of \emph{course} it's jeweled," said Draco, and had the delight of seeing Nina smile back at him. Harry raised his eyebrows in confusion. Of course he would. He tended to respond too seriously to Draco's arrogance, while Nina treated it for what it was, one more game to play @@ -1144,11 +1146,11 @@ asked. ``Can you tell?'' ``There are many different roots to it.'' The Seer folded her hands almost primly in front of her, as if to say, whatever she had seen in -her own soul when she looked at it, \emph{this} had not been there. ``It +her own soul when she looked at it, \emph{this} had not been there. "It might be pure sadism at some points along the coil. It might be the simple desire to irritate someone with a hex who's irritated \emph{you} with a hex. It might be a wish that someone would go away and stop -bothering you or your Harry.'' +bothering you or your Harry." Draco nodded. Well, he should have expected that. He would have been more horrified and ashamed if he had a simple soul, one where he could @@ -1171,7 +1173,7 @@ that bulged outward and one that rippled backward into the frame. Nina tilted it so that both halves reflected his face and pulled her wand from a pocket of her robe. -``\emph{Vitrum reapse},'' she whispered, and gestured. +"\emph{Vitrum reapse}," she whispered, and gestured. Draco's face rippled as if someone had thrown a stone in a pool of water. Draco reached forward with his own magic, his own mind, at the @@ -1246,7 +1248,7 @@ comet across the night sky, and then he was nodding and agreeing, but Draco sat close enough to him to see what it had been. ``Harry,'' he said, and he tried to keep the delighted purr out of his -voice, but he couldn't, he really couldn't. ``Are you \emph{jealous}?'' +voice, but he couldn't, he really couldn't. "Are you \emph{jealous}?" Harry blinked, then said, ``Honestly, Draco, of course not. I don't believe that you'd ever sleep with her. Besides,'' he added, standing @@ -1260,13 +1262,13 @@ anyway.} ``You're the one I like, Harry. But you wouldn't get jealous over bed-sharing, anyway, when we haven't even shared one. You're jealous because she can See part of me that you can't, aren't you?'' -``I am \emph{not} jealous.'' +"I am \emph{not} jealous." Draco laughed at him. ``Liar.'' -Harry glared at him over his shoulder. ``I am \emph{not},'' he said. ``You +Harry glared at him over his shoulder. "I am \emph{not}," he said. "You need her help to heal, Draco. It would be unworthy, not to mention -\emph{stupid}, for me to get jealous over that.'' He frowned and trailed +\emph{stupid}, for me to get jealous over that." He frowned and trailed his hand over the edge of Draco's bed. ``Well, jealousy often doesn't have a rational basis,'' said Draco @@ -1422,13 +1424,13 @@ Harry narrowed his eyes. ``No.'' Snape glanced at him over his shoulder, face still blank. ``No, what?'' ``No, I think what you're doing is unreasonable.'' Harry folded his arms -and scowled at Snape. ``This is the \emph{exact} kind of thing you're +and scowled at Snape. "This is the \emph{exact} kind of thing you're always warning me against doing---concealing my wounds until I have no choice but to get help because I'm drowning in my own blood. You scolded me out of it when we had to coordinate the battle at Hogwarts. I would scold you out of it now, but I think you could find an answer for every one of my taunts. So I'm just telling you that I think it's reckless, -stupid, and hypocritical of you do to this.'' He paused, just long enough +stupid, and hypocritical of you do to this." He paused, just long enough to let the impudence have the most impact, and added, ``Sir.'' Snape's eyes burned with something wild and dangerous. Harry had not @@ -1443,7 +1445,7 @@ his crisis of conscience, had enjoyed every second of it. ``I will handle my healing on my own,'' Snape snarled. ``I am an adult, Harry, and fully aware of my own beliefs and choices---'' -Harry snorted. ``Of course you are, sir,'' he said. ``That would be why +Harry snorted. ``Of course you are, sir,'' he said. "That would be why you carried a childish grudge forward twenty years. You \emph{still} don't see my brother for who he really is, thanks to living in the past. You still hate Sirius and compare people to him who are nothing like @@ -1451,13 +1453,13 @@ him. You still carry a fear of werewolves that you've transmuted into hatred, rather than overcome. And I think that you only struggled to overcome your hatred of my father because you knew that, otherwise, I would see what you did for me as revenge on James instead of justice for -me. All of those are absolutely lovely examples of adult behavior.'' +me. All of those are absolutely lovely examples of adult behavior." As he watched Snape's face flush with rage, Harry had to reconsider his idea of whether he possessed enough sarcasm to taunt his guardian out of his childish obsessions. -``Get \emph{out},'' Snape said, and one of the knives he'd placed beside +"Get \emph{out}," Snape said, and one of the knives he'd placed beside his own cauldron whizzed across the room and buried itself to the hilt in the wood beside Harry's head. @@ -1470,13 +1472,13 @@ moment. He was panting, his face livid, his eyes staring into another time and place. Harry conjured a shield that bounced the knife, and cocked his head. -``Talk to Joseph, sir,'' he said softly. ``I don't blame you for this, +``Talk to Joseph, sir,'' he said softly. "I don't blame you for this, not any of this. But I've finally decided that healing is important, you see. That means \emph{everybody's} healing. I'm going to be just as stubborn about this as I am about the issue of forgiveness and reconciliation, or rights for magical creatures. Do you \emph{really} want to be on the opposite side of an issue from me that I'm that -determined about?'' +determined about?" ``Get out.'' The words were low and ugly, and this time Snape's cauldron rose from its base, slowly revolving. @@ -1536,12 +1538,12 @@ own healing to concentrate on, and receive assistance with.'' Harry uttered a dry laugh. ``And because of that, you think we should simply play the roles we always have? I heal, or try to, while you herd me along and retain your own implacable, frozen stillness.'' He shook -his head. ``It isn't \emph{working}, sir. Can't you see that? If you had +his head. "It isn't \emph{working}, sir. Can't you see that? If you had quieted the ghosts that haunt you, you would never have lost control this easily. I know how thick your walls are. I don't think they're simply weakening in this place, whatever the Seers may believe. I think the emotions that are rising are so powerful they can't be dealt with -any other way.'' +any other way." Snape folded his arms. \emph{So he thinks he knows me?} He ignored the uncomfortable twinge that said Harry probably did know him, as well as @@ -1597,12 +1599,12 @@ I want---'' ``And it is not fair that you should be playing an adult role, shouldering adult burdens,'' Snape said, in what was not quite a shout. -Harry actually snorted at him. ``What the fuck does \emph{fair} have to -do with any of it?'' he asked. ``We live in the world as it is. No, +Harry actually snorted at him. "What the fuck does \emph{fair} have to +do with any of it?" he asked. ``We live in the world as it is. No, perhaps I should have been coddled and cuddled and spared any responsibility, but as it is, that didn't happen.'' He shrugged, never -taking his eyes from Snape. ``So I'll do what I have to do, and that -includes both healing \emph{and} helping you.'' +taking his eyes from Snape. "So I'll do what I have to do, and that +includes both healing \emph{and} helping you." ``What makes you think that you have to do it?'' Snape could feel the world around him tumbling faster and faster, as if he were on the blade @@ -1617,7 +1619,7 @@ head and hissed, his long body flexing. The Many snake actually slipped down Harry's shoulder before he spoke to her in Parseltongue and she stopped. -``If you really want to do it \emph{that} way,'' Harry said. +"If you really want to do it \emph{that} way," Harry said. And his magic answered Snape, with a jolt that welled up out of the stone under Snape's feet and shook him back and forth, touching nothing @@ -1653,15 +1655,15 @@ The dove flapped its wings and gave a bob of its head and a quick coo, and soared away. Harry watched it go, then sank back down in his seat, shaking his head. -``\emph{Why is he being stupid?}'' Argutus demanded, flowing up and +"\emph{Why is he being stupid?"} Argutus demanded, flowing up and ``sitting'' beside Harry, which meant several silver coils overlapped the couch with another two to spare, holding Argutus's head at the height of Harry's face. ``Because he's afraid,'' said Harry. -``\emph{Ah}.'' Argutus turned and looked along his scales. ``\emph{Well, I -am not often afraid, but you are. So it must make sense to you.}'' +"\emph{Ah}." Argutus turned and looked along his scales. "\emph{Well, I +am not often afraid, but you are. So it must make sense to you.}" It did, Harry thought. But he no longer felt like letting fear control his life. @@ -1848,10 +1850,10 @@ things worse. ``I want you to leave.'' ``I promised myself to stay here at least an hour,'' said Harry. \emph{Damn. I don't think he'll listen to my reasoning about this as -readily as Vera would have.} ``But then I thought that getting used to +readily as Vera would have.} "But then I thought that getting used to this probably isn't a good idea at any rate. Getting used to being \emph{vulnerable?} Letting my guard down so far that I might fall -asleep?'' He shook his head, and pushed some water through his hair. The +asleep?" He shook his head, and pushed some water through his hair. The sensation of it there wasn't quite as distracting or disgusting as it was on his skin, since he was used to taking showers and getting rain in his hair during Quidditch games, but it gave him something else to focus @@ -1875,8 +1877,8 @@ our lives that we share outside the rituals, and where I'll want you to relax and sleep in my arms. You've managed it before. Why not now?'' ``We've been more equal before,'' Harry said. His neck was beginning to -ache with the odd angle he had to hold it at. ``Both tired, for one -thing. Both recovering from mental injuries. Both \emph{clothed.}'' He +ache with the odd angle he had to hold it at. "Both tired, for one +thing. Both recovering from mental injuries. Both \emph{clothed.}" He let that slip out before he could stop himself, and then winced when he saw the expression on Draco's face. At least, though, if they were going to have an argument about this, it would distract Draco from thinking @@ -1895,7 +1897,7 @@ on the step, to push himself out of the water. ``If I got into the pool with you?'' Draco asked, distracting him. -``\emph{No}.'' Harry heard the sharp edge of panic in his voice, and Draco +"\emph{No}." Harry heard the sharp edge of panic in his voice, and Draco apparently heard it, too. He nodded thoughtfully and made a little gesture with his hands. Harry stared at him, uncomprehending. @@ -1909,10 +1911,10 @@ I'm mostly naked, and you're not. It would be easier if you'd let me get dressed.'' ``And if this is another bit of your training that you need to -overcome?'' Draco cocked his head at him. ``I won't do it if you don't +overcome?'' Draco cocked his head at him. "I won't do it if you don't want me to, of course, Harry, but I do think we'd have to face it eventually. If you can't trust me to be near you when you're not wearing -robes, whom \emph{can} you trust?'' +robes, whom \emph{can} you trust?" Sometimes Harry hated not only being reasonable, but having to admit that people on the opposite side of an argument could be reasonable. He @@ -2230,7 +2232,7 @@ disappearing, and Draco could feel the warmth increasing as he approached, so that sweat ran under his formal, heavy wool robes and made him shift uncomfortably. -``What \emph{is} it?'' he whispered to Harry. +"What \emph{is} it?" he whispered to Harry. Harry gave him a keen glance. ``The ritual said you were supposed to trust me.'' @@ -2261,8 +2263,8 @@ Light and Dark within ourselves, that it was perfect.'' Draco let out a harsh breath. He still saw nothing except light, so brilliant that he feared what would happen to his eyes when he looked -away from the pool. ``And does it make \emph{us} blind to everything -except the sunlight?'' +away from the pool. "And does it make \emph{us} blind to everything +except the sunlight?" ``No.'' Harry's voice was gentle, amused. ``Look at me, Draco.'' @@ -2274,7 +2276,7 @@ murmured. ``I suppose there's not much choice for it. No one here actually practices sun-seeing, and Light magic this powerful tends to interact with other Light magic, like that of the Seers.'' He focused on the pool, and Draco saw that his eyes were as wide and unblinking as a -cat's. ``\emph{Veritas},'' he said softly. +cat's. "\emph{Veritas}," he said softly. The sun-pool began to blaze. Draco had never imagined such a storm of brightness and warmth, and felt his eyes watering. He wondered that he @@ -2350,8 +2352,8 @@ Draco blinked at Harry, who nodded back to him, his mouth set in a thin line. ``That's another decision I made and thought you should know about,'' -said Harry. ``I don't \emph{like} the idea of it. I would much rather -accomplish everything I have to do by peaceful methods.'' He cocked his +said Harry. "I don't \emph{like} the idea of it. I would much rather +accomplish everything I have to do by peaceful methods." He cocked his head at the sun-pool. ``But that measures not only intent, but emotions, rationality, and will. And it knows that I have the will to carry a war or a revolution forward, if it's the only way.'' He let out a shuddering @@ -2372,13 +2374,13 @@ by the heat inside the room. ``I thought you might be broken, and I'd have to coax you along.'' Harry let out a heavy sigh. ``I still hate the idea of it,'' he said. -``That's a wound that will never totally heal. But I have to work on +"That's a wound that will never totally heal. But I have to work on healing it while pushing the war forward at the same time. And---I've decided that I can't let myself be pushed by fear of \emph{anything}, Draco, not when fear is the only driving motive. That means that if, say, the Ministry uses violence against the werewolves, and they aren't only trying to imprison those who bit others or defend innocents, I have -to push back. They can only go so far and no further.'' +to push back. They can only go so far and no further." ``Do you know how long I've been waiting to hear you say those words?'' Draco whispered into his ear, working his hands beneath Harry's robes. @@ -2455,7 +2457,7 @@ to keep the sword from falling into the hands of anyone unworthy? Peter said, ``The sword's dangerous.'' -``Well, of course it is,'' I said. ``It can {kill} people.'' +``Well, of course it is,'' I said. "It can {kill} people." Peter turned and looked at me. You know me, Harry, I don't have the best memory; I leave that for Hermione. But I remember the way he looked at @@ -2465,7 +2467,7 @@ me, and the exact words he spoke. had gone all soft, like he thought he had something to tell me. I scowled at him and said---I remember the exact words because I was so -angry---``If you mean that I should think it's dangerous because of the +angry---"If you mean that I should think it's dangerous because of the compulsion, then {yes}, I also think it's dangerous for that reason, too. I had Tom Riddle in my head for five months and Voldemort himself teaching me compulsion, even if I didn't know. I {know} that things like @@ -2473,7 +2475,7 @@ that are dangerous. But it could kill people both ways. It stabs them with its blade, and it could kill their free wills by putting its compulsion in their heads. I {know} what's that like, Peter. I might not have seen physical battle very much yet, but I've seen lots of mental -battlefields.'' +battlefields." That's something I've never really tried to describe to anyone, you know, Harry---the five months I spent trapped behind my own eyes because @@ -2510,9 +2512,9 @@ Aurors have been unable to locate the hiding place of You-Know-Who since he faced the Boy-Who-Lived in battle, sources confirm. ``I think he's really gone, this time,'' said an Auror who wished to -remain anonymous. ``He should have left {some} trace of a magical +remain anonymous. "He should have left {some} trace of a magical footprint if he wasn't. A Dark Lord doesn't just contain his magic like -that. And we can't find one.'' +that. And we can't find one." Others were not so sure. @@ -2520,12 +2522,12 @@ Others were not so sure. lacking, of course,'' said Aurora Whitestag, 45, who lost both her son and daughter in the Midsummer battle at Hogwarts. She wore a polite smile throughout the interview with this reporter, but it was clear that -she was worried. ``But I don't think the matter is quite that simple. We +she was worried. "But I don't think the matter is quite that simple. We {knew}, last time, that the Dark Lord had fallen. It was obvious from the way the Death Eaters reacted, if nothing else. But this time, most of the Death Eaters were slaughtered, and we can't find any to ask. I don't think we should confirm him gone until we see what his servants -think of their master's absence.\ldots{}'' +think of their master's absence."\ldots{} \begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} @@ -2607,11 +2609,11 @@ deaths as a necessity of war. ``I am circulating a petition among all the parents I know,'' said Willoughby. He is a Muggle, but he has immersed himself in the wizarding world, he says, and has many contacts among parents in his daughter -Alexandra's House. ``And they'll send it out to others. What Harry Potter +Alexandra's House. "And they'll send it out to others. What Harry Potter did was {murder}. If we excuse it in the name of war, what else are we excusing? Terrible tragedies were committed in Muggle wars throughout history because someone thought {one} murder, {one} exception, was a -good idea. And then there came tons of other exceptions.'' +good idea. And then there came tons of other exceptions." The petition is a demand that Harry stand trial for war crimes. Willoughby hopes to gather enough signatures to force the Ministry to @@ -2726,7 +2728,7 @@ See you at the end of August, I suppose. In incontrovertible evidence of the {Daily Prophet's} involvement in the Rotfang Conspiracy, rats invaded the newspaper's offices yesterday. They appeared to come from nowhere, and the {Daily Prophet's} owners claim -that there was no effort to summon them. ``They simply \emph{appeared!}'' was +that there was no effort to summon them. "They simply {appeared!}" was the common wail. They caused great damage, including eating all printed copies of the newspapers ready for today, before departing as mysteriously as they had come. @@ -2838,10 +2840,10 @@ Peter Pettigrew for new Defense professor very reassuring. ``It's a disgrace, is what it is,'' Peter Willoughby, 34, said. His daughter Alexandra died in the attack on Hogwarts in June, and since then he has been circulating a petition trying to bring Harry, the -Boy-Who-Lived and the Young Hero, to trial for war crimes. ``How much -danger is she going to put our children {in}?'' +Boy-Who-Lived and the Young Hero, to trial for war crimes. "How much +danger is she going to put our children {in}?" -Other criticism was more measured, but still audible. ``As long as the +Other criticism was more measured, but still audible. "As long as the Aurors are {certain} he's innocent, of course," said Sita Patil, 36, yesterday. Her twin daughters, Padma and Parvati, 16, both attend the school, and Padma fought in the Battle of Hogwarts on Midsummer Day. @@ -3082,7 +3084,7 @@ Draco laughed quietly. ``I'm comparing my memories of you a year ago to the way you are now,'' said Draco. ``And you're doing much better now than you were then.'' -``Of \emph{course} I am,'' said Harry, wondering why this was remarkable +"Of \emph{course} I am," said Harry, wondering why this was remarkable enough to make Draco's eyes shine and his lips curve. He drew out his wrist and showed it to Draco. ``I haven't just had my left hand removed, and my parents haven't just been arrested by my git of a guardian whom I @@ -3105,7 +3107,7 @@ the Sanctuary had had enough rainy weather in the past few weeks that the afternoon sunlight rarely reached that far into a room. Now, he watched a sea serpent coiling around a rock and spitting a tongue of clouds and water at ships. He wondered if that was real, or some -artist's rendering of a dragon half-submerged in water. ``I know why he's +artist's rendering of a dragon half-submerged in water. "I know why he's reacting the way he is, and I trust him not to \emph{want} to hurt me." ``But?'' Draco pushed. @@ -18048,6 +18050,883 @@ wrong, too, just like Harry. \subsection{*Chapter 26*: The Earth Will Shake}\label{chapter-26-the-earth-will-shake} +Falco brushed dirt from his hands, and grimaced. As much magic as he +possessed, as much useless time as he could avoid by bending it, the +fact remained that some things could not be done save with manual labor. +It was only a shame that \emph{this} manual labor forced dirt under his +fingernails and ground it into the creases of his palms. + +He looked up sharply as a shadow passed overhead, then relaxed. It was +only an owl, hunting prey. And why shouldn't it be? Evening was coming +on. + +Falco climbed carefully over the remains of a stone wall and slithered +down a slight slope, then paused to look back. The moonlight gleamed +faintly off---he could not call them ruins, not exactly. He would rather +call them the remains of a house. It could be built up again, but for +now, that would be counterproductive. Better to leave them exactly as +they were, so that no one would suspect anything was wrong. Tampering +with stones in a place where no one had a reason to come could attract +the attention that Falco didn't want. + +He was satisfied, for now. He had used a tactic of the Light, honesty, +in approaching Harry and telling him what would happen if he didn't +Declare. Now he had completed his use of a Dark tactic, done in +subterfuge, to insure that Voldemort had a place to retreat to that +would protect him from Harry's notice and Harry's magic. Falco was not +\emph{entirely} sure that the Dark Lord would trust him yet, or the +promptings that Falco had tucked into his mind. But that was all right. +For now, his current hiding place was certainly safe. Falco had prepared +this one against his current hiding place being found out, which would +happen sooner or later. + +Now he would begin a tactic that was a mixture of Dark and Light, to +keep the balance. He would let Harry know who was doing this to him, +fulfilling honesty, but he would not let him know the purpose, +fulfilling subterfuge. And the magic itself was as neutral as any magic +could be, blending truth and deception together until the maker could +not tell them apart. + +Falco closed his eyes and separated his mind. On the surface of it, the +sentry shard of consciousness floated, ready to alert him if anyone +approached. Beneath the surface, his mind twisted and dived into the +paths of Dark and Light. + +The world ripped apart around him. He saw trails of dirt racing away, +and black highways that climbed to the stars. He saw golden glowing +steps that sang of Midsummer, and paved roads of white stone running in +the brilliant light of noon. He touched the secrets of Dark and Light +and felt them singing to him, trying to tempt him into Declaration. + +Falco sighed. \emph{It may yet come to that, if I am to save the world.} +Depending on how slowly or quickly the Dark Lord recovered from his +wound, it might yet come to that, yes. But Falco would do nothing +hastily. He would study the situation, as he always did, and make sure +that he didn't act out of temper. That was the problem with Harry, with +Albus, with Tom---they all acted out of temper, and let their emotions +control them. Falco had forsaken the need for such things long ago. + +He walked along a black highway for a few paces, then leaped onto a +golden staircase, and then down into a quiet place that streamed with +gray mist. There, he lifted his hands and brought them together. + +And a dream grew out between them. Dreams were said to be foretellings, +visions of the truth to come, but they hid themselves in symbols and +bedazzled the ones who dreamed them. Balanced magic, Falco thought. +Neutral magic. He only wished there was more like this in the world. + +He let the dream spiral up between his fingers, gathering strength and +speed as he fed it power, and then hover in front of him. It looked like +gray smoke aswarm with images, but most magic looked like gray smoke +here. + +Falco smiled, and breathed. + +The dream turned and flew away, seeking Harry. Falco himself reunited +the rest of his mind with the shard of consciousness that floated on the +surface and grew sea eagle wings, springing for the sky. It was time for +him to be on his way to his next effort to keep the balance. + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +Harry settled back in his chair and waited. He and Draco were both in +NEWT Transfiguration, and this was the first chance he would have to see +Henrietta teach---though he had heard only good things about her so far. +Draco settled into the seat behind him, muttering and examining +something. Harry turned his head, and frowned when he realized they were +notes from the Animagus lesson they'd had with Peter last night. + +``I don't think she'll let you study them in here,'' he whispered. + +``She won't notice,'' Draco whispered back. + +Harry glanced around the classroom, and raised his eyebrows. There +weren't \emph{that} many people in here. Hermione had qualified, of +course, and so had Lavender Brown, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan. +Harry recognized a few Ravenclaw girls from their year, but they +understandably didn't try to catch Harry's eye. Zacharias sat in one +corner, alternately pretending to read and scowling at Hermione's back. +Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan sat next to each other, but didn't say +anything; Harry thought that must have to do with the Grand Unified +Theory, since Hannah was Muggleborn and Ernie pureblood. Millicent had +managed to qualify, but hadn't arrived for the class yet; Harry wondered +if she'd overslept. + +``I think Henrietta is going to notice,'' he told Draco. + +Draco sighed and slid the notes back inside his book just as the door +opened and Millicent arrived, panting. Henrietta was right behind her. +Harry studied her face, then shook his head slightly. The glamour was +perfect. Henrietta looked happy and approachable in ways she never had +as herself, and even her walk seemed different, as if she'd Transfigured +one leg to be slightly longer than the other. + +Millicent sank into a seat behind them. Draco said something Harry +couldn't hear, snickering, and Millicent responded with a snarled +insult. + +Then Henrietta stepped up to the front of the room and claimed all their +attention. It was hard \emph{not} to look at her, Harry found. He +wondered if she had used a subtle spell, or if this was just the effect +she usually had when she wasn't sitting in the middle of an alliance +meeting and wanted to make herself look as if she were an obedient +follower. + +``My name is Hilda Belluspersona,'' said Henrietta. ``You will, of +course, call me Professor Belluspersona. You will also be on time for +class.'' She didn't glance at Millicent, but she didn't need to, Harry +thought; plenty of other people were doing it for her. "I understand +that, last year, your Transfiguration education may not have given you +all you need to know. This time, it will. I believe in demonstrations. I +will Transfigure people in this class, and challenge them to change +themselves or others back. I will change you back if no one can manage +it by the end of the class, but that means ten points from the Houses of +both the Transfigured student \emph{and} the ones who tried and failed." + +Harry blinked. \emph{Well, yes, that is rather different from the way +McGonagall taught.} + +``We will begin with a revision of some basic concepts,'' said +Henrietta. ``I find myself doubting that you learned what you needed to +know last year.'' She arched an eyebrow, and then turned and waved her +wand at the board. Harry blinked again as it Transfigured into a +gigantic scroll, with great golden lettering that everyone across the +room could easily read. Hermione's quill scrabbled and scratched +furiously as she scribbled the notes down. + +``First,'' said Henrietta, ``Transfiguration is the art of envisioning. +You must know how many limbs a turtle has, and that it has a head, when +you attempt to transform a teapot into one, but more than that, you +should know the very pattern of the shell. You should know the gleam in +its eye. You should be able to see how its toes splay, and the way it +walks.'' She turned around and gave them all another severe look. "I +suspect this was not taught to you last year, either, so we will be +having lessons in learning how to \emph{see.} + +"Second, Transfiguration is the art of knowing limitations. Attempting +to change a small creature into a large one will only exhaust you, and +leave the creature in a half-transformed state. The Department of +Magical Accidents and Catastrophes in the Ministry has a sub-committee +devoted only to undoing botched Transfigurations. They are constantly +busy. \emph{I} will not have it said that any student who passed through +my class made more work for them. Do you understand me?" + +Harry found himself nodding along with all the rest. \emph{She's even +sterner than McGonagall, but she does make her point.} He couldn't +remember if he'd known what Henrietta was saying before. Perhaps she +simply explained it more clearly than McGonagall did, or the rotating +team of other professors, McGonagall, and NEWT students who had taught +Transfiguration last year. + +``Third, Transfiguration is the art of common sense. It may be useful to +turn the ground into ice beneath your enemies in battle---but, on the +other hand, if you rush onto the ice without remembering to change your +shoes into skates, you will have problems. Combined with the first two +lessons, Transfiguration can be wielded as weapon, as tool, and as art. +Otherwise, it will fail you, but the failure lies in yourself and not +your wand.'' Henrietta's eyes glittered intensely, making her look the +most like herself of anything Harry had seen so far. + +Harry wrote the pointers frantically onto his parchment. \emph{I'm glad +Edith did decide to go to France with a tutor after all. She would be +terrified if she were here.} + +``There is one more note that I feel compelled to give you,'' Henrietta +said, drawing her wand. ``I know that some students are interested in +becoming Animagi. If you intend to do so, you will study in private +under myself, Headmistress McGonagall, or an approved and registered +Animagus. This class will not include instructions on achieving a +private animal form.'' + +Harry looked around enough to surprise a look of disappointment on +Hermione's face, but all the others seemed to have expected it. Draco +just looked smug, anyway, despite the failure of his expectations that +Henrietta wouldn't mind them studying their notes from Peter in her +class. + +``Now, we will begin with a small demonstration.'' Henrietta nodded to +Harry. ``If you will come here, Harry. I shall Transfigure your hand to +wood, and let the others try to change it back.'' + +Harry nodded and stood up, grateful beyond words that Henrietta didn't +intend to favor him above the other students just because they were in +an alliance together. + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +Peter smoothed his robes down and wondered if he could confide his +intense nervousness to anyone. Minerva, perhaps, but she was so busy +that she didn't have time for a private talk right now. And she had had +faith in his teaching abilities when she hired him, so she would only +tell him that of course he would be a good Defense Against the Dark Arts +professor, insist he stand up and go teach, and then shove him out her +office door as she turned her attention to something else. + +He could probably talk to Harry, but since he \emph{had} Harry in his +first Defense class in the next few minutes, that struck him as a bit of +an unfair tactic. + +He told himself to move away from the mirror, that no one would notice a +few creases of worry on his face amid the lines that age and worry had +already put there, and then found the perfect excuse as someone knocked +on the door. Peter felt his breathing ease as he approached it, grabbing +the list of names and his textbook on the way. Someone had probably come +to him with a problem, and now that he was out of the Sanctuary, he +found it easier to help other people than to think constantly about his +own fears. They ran in circles, anyway. Peter had to break the circle +before he could do anything productive with them. + +He opened the door, and blinked. Connor stood there, staring anxiously +up at him. Connor's name was also on the list in his hand, and Peter +would have expected him to be already hurrying to the classroom. + +``Connor?'' he asked. + +Connor swallowed and nodded. ``I know Defense is about to start,'' he +said. ``I---can I speak to you on the way? It's about something +important that I know I can't discuss with Harry yet.'' + +``Of course.'' Peter locked the door to his quarters behind him with a +nonverbal spell, and then began walking up the corridor. Connor +struggled to keep up. He was in that awkward stage of growth where his +torso seemed to have finished but his legs hadn't quite settled yet, +Peter thought. + +Connor still wasted almost a quarter of the journey---Peter had timed +the distance between the Defense classroom and his own quarters very +precisely yesterday---worrying his lip between his teeth. At last, +though, he said, ``I had an argument with Harry over Malfoy yesterday.'' + +Peter simply nodded. That much had been obvious to anyone who watched +the boys' faces in the Great Hall last night. ``What was the argument +about?'' + +``Malfoy came into my room and started insulting me about how loudly I +was packing,'' Connor said. "I, um, I said some things that were +probably really insulting, about how I would have thought he would get +used to the way halfbloods packed, seeing as he was already sharing the +house and a bed with one. I told him to stop being a hypocrite, and that +everyone else could see the way he crowed about pureblood superiority +was a sham, since Harry is his boyfriend. Harry came in and got angry at +me, and told me that I had to apologize to \emph{Malfoy}, not him. I +didn't want to, though, and so I didn't say anything. Why should I offer +a fake apology?" Connor now scowled, and had left off chewing his lower +lip entirely. His mulish expression reminded Peter forcibly of James, +and the way he would look when he was sixteen and having a fight with +Sirius. Sirius was much more likely to laugh it off, though, or play a +prank on James and use that to get him to laugh. James did this kind of +thing. ``I think apologizing should wait until I really mean it.'' + +``That's true,'' said Peter solemnly. They were almost at the classroom +now, but he saw students still pouring into it, so he felt comfortable +taking Connor and urging him gently to the side. He told himself it was +\emph{not} because his vision had blurred and his stomach felt shaky. It +was only coincidence that this would delay his getting into the +classroom for a few minutes more. ``But you might want to consider the +situation more closely, Connor, and whether you can offer a true apology +based on other things.'' + +Connor folded his arms. \emph{James in miniature,} Peter thought, and +gently tucked away the pang that memory brought him. ``What other +things?'' + +``Draco did something childish,'' said Peter. ``But you reacted in a +childish fashion. Given that you didn't start the fight---'' + +"I \emph{didn't}---" + +``You might be able to say that you were sorry because of the way you +reacted. You're the more grown one, aren't you?'' Connor nodded +fervently, of course. It was Peter's private opinion that Draco had +managed to file off more of his own warts than Connor had, but that the +ones left were uglier than Connor's, and Harry made it worse by +indulging his boyfriend. It wouldn't do to say that to Harry's brother, +however. ``So the way you reacted is unworthy of you. You can apologize +for that. And you can apologize for letting something so silly as an +insult about your packing rattle your composure at all. Those are both +things to feel sincerely sorry for.'' + +``But,'' said Connor, and stopped. + +Peter waited, careful to show no signs of impatience, though the time +when he should begin the Defense class was getting close. He had +mastered this art in his seventh year, when he had managed his own slow, +painful transformation from fawning sycophant to his friends to someone +stronger and better. Neither Sirius nor James had been the kind of +person who responded well to the slightest sign of disinterest. + +``But,'' Connor said, every word dragged out of him as if on a fishhook, +"Parvati said that it was \emph{Harry's} fault. That he should have made +sure we reconciled right then and there, instead of leaving the issue to +fester between us." + +Peter smiled. ``And what would you have felt if Harry had urged you to +reconcile right then and there?'' + +Connor ducked his head, in that way James had when he didn't want to +admit he was wrong. His fringe fell over his heart-shaped scar, and he +looked like any ordinary teenage boy, angry and sullen. + +``Connor?'' Peter prompted after a moment. + +``Pushed,'' Connor told the floor. + +Peter nodded. "Exactly. Harry might have asked you how you felt, but if +you tell him \emph{nothing}, then I think he's right in assuming that +you have nothing to say to him yet. It's rather like the situation with +Severus---" + +Connor looked up with wide, horrified hazel eyes. "I am \emph{nothing} +like Snape." + +Peter ignored him, because that wasn't the point right now. ``Who is +upset with whatever Camellia said to him, but won't tell Harry why. Nor +will he tell Harry about his dreams. He wants the perfect understanding +that can only come when Harry knows all the nuances and details of the +situation, but to have that perfect understanding, he would need to give +the words away. He doesn't want to.'' He nodded at Connor, whose face +had folded up into another scowl. ``That sounds to me like what you're +doing. You have a perspective on the situation that Harry doesn't. But +for him to know what that perspective is, you need to talk to him. +Otherwise, he has only your actions to judge by.'' + +Connor muttered something that sounded uncomplimentary, though Peter +couldn't tell whether it was aimed at him, or Harry, or Draco, or even +Snape, and then ducked into the Defense classroom. Peter shook his head +and focused on the task at hand, but part of his mind remained on +Connor's predicament even as he strode to the front of the room, +dwelling there with both amusement and sympathy. + +\emph{Why would anyone think that someone else could understand their +mind perfectly if they don't speak that mind?} + +He placed the textbook on the desk, smiled at his students, and found +that most of his nervousness had blown away like mist. That always +happened. Focusing on someone else's problems was a good thing, though +Harry hadn't yet learned the balance he needed to when doing it. + +``Welcome to NEWT Defense Against the Dark Arts,'' he began. ``My name +is Professor Pettigrew\ldots{}'' + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +``Because she just arrived at the school today,'' said Harry, pushing +open the door to the abandoned classroom where McGonagall had told him +that Syrinx was waiting to meet him. He hesitated a moment, considering +whether he could add what he wanted to say next, and then decided to, +because if he couldn't joke with Draco, who could he joke with? +``Obviously.'' + +``She should have arrived at the start of term like everyone else,'' +said Draco, and didn't seem to notice the whine his tone was taking on. +``Why wouldn't she have?'' + +``Why don't we ask her that?'' Harry said, and stepped into the +classroom. + +The girl sitting on a chair and looking out the window turned to face +him. Harry scrutinized her carefully. He would have known at once that +she was a Gloryflower, he thought; he had never seen hair that golden +and curly on anyone who wasn't Laura or her niece Delilah, one of three +children of prominent Light families Fenrir Greyback had bitten. Her +eyes were green, however, not the yellow typical of pureblood Light +families. She also had only a few bells in her hair, while both Delilah +and Augustus Starrise, trained as war witches or wizards, had worn far +more. Harry supposed it was because she hadn't yet completed her +training. + +She rose to her feet and bowed. Harry took in the efficient movement, +the way her eyes regarded them without challenge or surprise, the lack +of emotion on her face, and felt a tension he barely noticed most of the +time relax. \emph{She's like me, or Doncan. Trained as a guardian. +Capable of putting aside personal emotion and doing what needs to be +done.} + +``Hello,'' he said. ``You're Syrinx Gloryflower?'' + +``I am, sir.'' Syrinx examined him right back. Harry wondered what +exactly she was seeing. ``Come to swear to you.'' + +Harry glanced back at the classroom door. Draco stood there, staring at +Syrinx as if he were trying to cope with the sudden and unexpected +change from---whatever he had been expecting. Behind him were Michael +and Owen. Both had their arms held out so that the lightning-shaped +scars on them were prominent. Harry winced and looked back at Syrinx. + +``You understand the constraints of doing so?'' he said softly. ``That +you must swear oaths to me, but that you can't simply attack anyone who +threatens me? That this is a test of judgment and rationality?'' + +``Of course I do, sir,'' said Syrinx, a faint frown crossing her +forehead. ``That is part of the reason I wished to come and serve you. A +trained war witch would never react out of emotions as irrationally and +hastily as a Death Eater, but I am not yet fully trained, and I need +more testing.'' + +``Forgive me,'' Harry said, ``but the only war wizard I knew well was +Augustus Starrise, and he did not impress me as a paragon of +rationality.'' + +Syrinx's face cleared. ``He would not, sir,'' she said. ``His anchor +broke.'' + +``Anchor?'' Harry didn't know that much about what war witches and +wizards trained to do, but it sounded as though it were more involved +than he had imagined. + +Syrinx nodded. "Many war witches choose an anchor, sir, unless they're +truly able to go through life alone. That person becomes an image in +their minds, a reminder of their duty, their restraint in moments when +they might lose their temper. Augustus Starrise's anchor was his sister. +When she died, then his rationality broke, and he used his training for +purposes it should not be used for. + +``I don't know yet if you would make a good anchor for me, sir, because +I do not know if you are likely to survive the war. But I wanted to +swear to you. I wish to help defend you. As my training continues, I may +come to see more in you than I see at present. And if the war finishes +and you are still alive, then I will approach you and ask you to do me +the honor of becoming my anchor. From the tales my cousin Laura tells of +you, you are already someone I can admire.'' She drew a knife smoothly +from a pocket of her robe, where it had rested without Harry noticing +it, and laid it along her left arm, watching him all the while. + +Harry relaxed some more. He appreciated how honest she was, and her +reasoning made perfect sense to him. Syrinx was a solider. That much +would have been clear even if she didn't call him ``sir'' all the time. + +He \emph{understood} people like this. He had been one until a short +time ago, and in his better moments, when he could plan and think +instead of simply acting on his feelings, he still often was. He almost +envied Syrinx her duty, that everyone accepted her commitment to her +path and wouldn't try to talk her out of following it. \emph{If things +had been different\ldots{}if no one had found me out\ldots{}} + +But things had changed, they had found out, and Harry had long since +reconciled himself to the consequences. He watched as Syrinx cut her +left arm, and listened to her words, her voice clear and strong, her +eyes fixed on him and never wavering. He didn't think he'd seen her +blink yet. He wondered if part of her training as a war witch included +imitating cats. + +``I pledge my loyalty to you,'' she said, ``as the Sunrise Guard did, as +the Horns of the Morning did, as the Bringers of Hope did.'' Harry +supposed it was only reasonable that she would choose the names of +companions of Light Lords and Ladies, rather than Dark ones, as Owen and +Michael had. ``As guard, as courtier, as courier, as running hound, as +whatever you need me to be, then I am yours, for the honor of serving +someone so honorable.'' + +``The pledge is accepted, and to you I return guarantees of protection, +loyalty, and constancy. While I live, you shall never lack for a +guardian, a champion, or a friend.'' Harry gave the oath with more +confidence than he had when he delivered it to Owen and Michael. Then, +of course, he had not expected such a swearing, and he had wondered why +anyone would want to accompany him in the first place. Now he was used +to it. Besides, he understood Syrinx's reasons better than most. If it +was part of her path, then of course she would do it. + +``An honor to be beside you, sir,'' said Syrinx, smiling for the first +time. Harry had the feeling that it wasn't something she did often. +``The oath is true.'' She shifted her arm, and the white lightning bolt +scar appeared where the cut had been, a moment ago. She slipped the +knife back into her pocket, drew her wand, and tapped the cut, murmuring +a spell Harry hadn't heard before. It Vanished the blood. + +``Have you been Sorted?'' Harry asked her, wondering if he would share a +House with her as he did with Owen. Michael was in Ravenclaw, and spent +most of his time with that House, so far, when he didn't join his +brother in guarding Harry. Draco hadn't yet noticed that Michael's eyes +followed him quite a bit of the time. Harry wondered why not. + +``I have,'' said Syrinx. ``The Hat placed me in Hufflepuff. +Understandable, of course, as I value hard work and loyalty.'' Draco +snorted. Syrinx didn't even look at him. ``Did you have a command for +me, sir?'' + +``Only to familiarize yourself with Hogwarts, for now,'' said Harry. ``I +wouldn't want you to be left behind in your classes, or to get lost if I +should need you in a hurry.'' Those were words he wouldn't have, quite, +dared to speak to Owen and Michael, but he would have appreciated them +when he was still mostly a guardian, and he knew they were the right +ones for Syrinx. Her face brightened into another pale, distant smile. + +``Yes, sir,'' she murmured. ``I am in sixth year, and have passed my +OWLs, but I would not mind more time to know the school.'' She bowed her +head and kept it bowed for a long moment, then turned and strode to the +door. Draco made another sound in his throat, but Syrinx didn't look +back at him as she vanished. + +"She was \emph{strange}," said Draco flatly. + +Harry shrugged. ``That must be what someone in the throes of the war +training is like, Draco. I know Augustus had violent emotions, but his +anchor was broken. Delilah has emotions, but she's passed through the +whole thing.'' He took Draco's hand and squeezed it, wondering why Draco +looked so desolate. He had told Draco, and meant it, that there was no +way Syrinx could have more of his attention than his partner did, sworn +companion or not, and having met her, Harry wouldn't have wished to +interfere in her training the way that excessive attention would have +done in any case. He liked her and wished her well, and the best way to +do that was to let her go about her business in the shadows. ``We've met +someone in the middle.'' + +Draco grunted for a moment, staring at his feet, and then looked up +abruptly at Harry. ``I'm going to study my notes on Animagus training,'' +he said. ``Are you coming?'' + +Harry shook his head. ``I'm afraid not. I have to talk to the werewolves +again.'' He restrained a sigh. He would have preferred it if the pack +had chosen Camellia alpha, or let him appoint her. But they had wanted +to keep him, and Harry had accepted the responsibility. He couldn't +complain now. At least he had taught them the Rosier-Henlin phoenix song +spell, so they didn't have to rely on owls to communicate with him. They +did want to talk to him every evening, though. + +``Hmm,'' said Draco, and turned his back. Harry took him gently by the +shoulder. + +``Are you all right?'' he asked. He would not let his bond with Draco +become the morass his bonds with Snape and Connor had of late. For both +his sake and Draco's, Harry intended to \emph{talk} about what was +bothering them. + +``I am,'' said Draco firmly, and that was that. + +``Will you let Michael go with you?'' Harry asked quietly. Perhaps it +was silly, but he couldn't forget that Shield of the Granian and the +Unspeakables had aimed at Draco first. + +``If he must,'' said Draco. Harry saw Michael's eyes light up. He shook +his head, and watched as his sworn companion followed his boyfriend +away. + +``My brother has a crush on your partner, you know,'' Owen said, when he +was obviously sure that both Michael and Draco were out of earshot. + +Harry nodded to him. ``I know. But Draco hasn't realized it yet.'' + +Owen raised his eyebrows. ``And you don't mind?'' + +Harry tipped his hand back and forth. ``It's not that I don't mind, it's +that---I don't know, that I trust Draco? I can see him flirting with +Michael to make me jealous. I can't see him seriously returning +Michael's affections. I'm sorry, he's your brother and wonderfully +level-headed, but---'' + +``It's more than all right,'' Owen said calmly. ``You and Draco have +between you a version of what was between our parents.'' + +Harry swallowed, nodding. He still missed Charles Rosier-Henlin. Owen +had told Harry about finding his father's charred bones. He had worked a +spell that killed himself and two Death Eaters, one of whom was +Karkaroff. Owen could only guess why, but said that a threat to his +children from Karkaroff would have done it. + +``Did I tell you,'' said Owen, ``that our mother is pregnant again?'' + +Harry laughed, his mood turned around again immediately. ``That's +wonderful! If you did tell me, I can't remember.'' + +``She is,'' said Owen. ``She conceived just before the battle, so the +child won't be born until next year, but Michael and I will have a +little sibling at last. It was something our parents wanted---badly.'' + +Harry questioned Owen more about Medusa's pregnancy as he went back to +the Slytherin common room to communicate with the werewolves in relative +privacy. It made a wonderful distraction from Connor, from Snape, from +the fact that he knew Camellia would plead with him to come back for a +visit this weekend, and from the fact that he had so far received only +cold refusals from the Department for the Control and Suppression of +Deadly Beasts in response to his attempts to help them. + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +Draco was now aware that Michael Rosier-Henlin was staring at him. They +were alone, and Michael wasn't standing behind his older twin the way he +often did. + +What Draco hadn't figured out yet was why. The reflected glory of the +Malfoy line? The reflected glory of being Harry's partner? The fact that +Draco was beautiful and confident, and knew both things? + +They sat at a table in the library while Draco studied his notes on +envisioning one's Animagus form, something he was still infuriatingly +unable to. Most of the tables around them were crowded with students +doing homework. Draco sniffed. He'd moved that out of the way already, +so he could concentrate on more important matters. \emph{You would think +that all of them except the first-years would have noticed by now that +the professors} always \emph{give more homework the first week of the +year, and adapted accordingly, instead of waiting until Friday +afternoon.} + +Draco yawned and stretched his arms above his head. It gave him the +perfect excuse to almost close his eyes, but keep them open just enough +to see where Michael's stare went. Sure enough, it slid up his arms. +Draco concealed a smirk. \emph{It's solely the way he evaluates me, +then.} + +He leaned back, and scowled slightly at the notes. Michael immediately +leaned forward. ``Is there something you need help with?'' + +Draco tilted his head, letting his hair slip down his cheek. ``Well. You +see, I'm studying to become an Animagus, but I can't seem to master +envisioning the transformation, even though I did well enough at +Transfiguration on my OWLs. I wondered if you knew any techniques that +might help me. You did attend Durmstrang, after all.'' + +Michel hesitated, then nodded. ``There's one thing we learned that might +be useful,'' he said. ``Maybe a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher +here mentioned it, but we learned it in the regular Dark Arts courses.'' + +Draco moved his tie around as though he were hot, revealing his pulse +point, and reveling in the way that Michael couldn't seem to take his +eyes off it. ``What is it, then?'' + +``A---meditation, or a cousin of it, so that the Dark Arts don't corrupt +your mind,'' Michael whispered. His dark eyes had gone wide, and he +didn't seem to realize how obvious he was being. Draco concealed his +amusement and delight. Harry still regarded him too rarely with looks of +sheer physical desire; he was more interested in what Draco said and did +and thought. ``We would separate out what we wanted to see from what was +actually there, inside our heads.'' + +``I ought to be able to make use of that,'' Draco mused. ``I've studied +my own thoughts enough, to understand my possession gift.'' + +``Possession gift?'' Michael's eyes widened further. + +Draco nodded. ``Yes. A rather wonderful gift, I think, though not one +that I can brag about. I can read the thoughts of others, and control +their bodies if I want.'' He drawled that out, watching as the +fascination on the other boy's face simultaneously deepened and became +mixed with panic. ``It was what finally convinced my father to confirm +me as magical heir.'' + +Michael blinked. ``I---I see.'' + +Draco smirked at him, and then looked back at his notes. ``Now, what +were you saying about this technique that you learned at Durmstrang?'' + +He listened carefully as Michael explained. It didn't sound that +difficult, though it did involve giving thoughts their own shapes---as +animals, as clouds, or as natural formations, mostly---and pushing them +gently out of the way. It sounded a great deal like Occlumency training, +in fact, at least the kind Snape had given Harry. Draco thought he could +master it in no time. + +He responded, but let his mind wander away, circling around the problem +that had settled there for hours now: Syrinx Gloryflower. + +He honestly didn't think Harry would be attracted to her. It wasn't her +face he feared. It was her mind. She had been a guardian, a soldier. +Harry had been like her. Draco had seen a too-familiar expression on +Harry's face when Syrinx spoke up in that calm, austere manner she had. +It was the look of longing he wore when he thought about how much he +wanted to go back to being a defender, rather than a leader---the look +he had worn last year when Voldemort cursed him to spend time in a +dream-world he wouldn't want to come back from, and Harry had dreamed +himself into a Hogwarts where everyone ignored him unless he could be of +practical use. + +Draco wondered if that would happen now. Syrinx might not mean to, but +she shared a connection with Harry that Draco never would, rather like +his brother, and she could nudge Harry back in the direction of his +training. + +Draco decided firmly that he wouldn't let that happen. It would be +subtle, but he would keep an eye on Syrinx. At the same time, he would +be starting his subtle plan to take revenge on Potter, and play with +Michael. + +\emph{I am going to be busy,} he thought, as he gave Michael a warm +smile and pretended he didn't notice his reaction. \emph{Good thing that +my parents raised me to attend to several things simultaneously.} + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +Lucius put the finishing touch on his letter and softly called Julius, +the great horned owl he kept to deliver truce-dance gifts and other +messages of extreme importance. Julius had consented to be Lucius's +messenger to the Unspeakables without fuss. He seemed to find something +important about flying directly to the most notorious, and dangerous, +Department in the Ministry. He extended his leg now, and flew out the +window of the Manor the moment Lucius finished binding on the envelope. + +Lucius knew the answer would come in the form of another piece of gray +parchment with an hourglass sigil, probably placed discreetly under his +door, on the table beside his bed, or another place where Narcissa would +be unlikely to discover it. He could not respond in the same way, and he +did not know how the Unspeakables were reaching him so directly. He had +to trust that they would not harm him. + +He could feel himself smile, though he knew the expression would look +more like a snarl to any observer. \emph{Or, rather, trust in the +Manor's wards to protect me if they ever do try to harm me.} + +He hoped the Unspeakables would accept his latest offer. He had led up +to this little by little, making reasonable requests he knew would be +denied, asking questions he knew wouldn't be answered, and suggesting +delicately that he feared for his life and influence over Harry if Harry +discovered what he was conspiring at. The Unspeakables had responded as +Lucius hoped. They would use what he had finally offered to distract +Harry so thoroughly that he would be busy dealing with the consequences +of the offer, not who had made it. + +Lucius was sorry to do it; he would not have if the Unspeakables had not +approached him, because then there would never have been the chance of +Harry finding out about the torture of his parents and the subduing of +Auror Mallory. And he knew that it violated the terms of the Alliance of +Sun and Shadow, and if Harry found out, he would drain his magic. + +But that only made it more exciting. And besides, with this person +firmly removed from the Alliance, then Lucius's influence over Harry +could only grow. + +He let his gaze go to the front page of the \emph{Prophet}, and narrow. +The anti-werewolf hysteria had finally subsided enough, as they moved +into the second week of September, for the news about the Grand Unified +Theory that supposedly proved purebloods were inferior to Mudbloods to +return. And now Thomas Rhangnara was suggesting that there really +\emph{was} nothing purebloods could do to control the magic in their +children. In fact, he said, magic responded badly to most forms of +restriction. It respected the choices of mothers, it respected bloodline +to a certain extent and the place and time the child was born and a few +dozen other factors, but it wanted to have its own will, too. It came +especially to those individuals who showed through their lives that they +valued freedom. + +\emph{Ridiculous,} Lucius thought. \emph{If that were true, my father +would never have become magical at all.} + +But that only made him remember the claims that Abraxas was halfblood, +infused with what Rhangnara chose to call ``hybrid vigor,'' and that +only made him murderous once more. Lucius rose to his feet and paced +towards his library. + +He knew killing Rhangnara would do little good. It was too likely to +reveal him, and in any case, there were many other ``research wizards'' +willing to claim the same nonsense that Rhangnara believed. + +But Lucius knew a certain set of spells that could make Rhangnara +retract what he had said. And some spread like a disease; those +Rhangnara argued with would be more likely to begin believing his new +version. Start a split in the so-far-united ranks of those studying the +Grand Unified Theory, and others would doubt. + +The spells were dangerous, powerful, and difficult to work properly, but +Lucius intended to try them. + +\emph{He will be quiet, our family will be free from the taint of +Mudblood heritage, and my influence over Harry will increase as +Rhangnara's star falls. There is no battlefield on which I do not win.} + +\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{\linethickness}\end{center} + +Warmth. Darkness. Confinement. Comfort. She did not \emph{want} to rise. +Why should she? She was comfortable where she was. + +But a prickle on her left side kept waking her up, like the sudden stab +of a thorn through her flesh. She remembered the oath she had sworn, the +debt she owed. She sighed, and at last she stretched her arms and +\emph{woke}. + +Dirt shifted above her. Tendrils tore around her, birthing her suddenly +back into light brighter than any she had seen in months. She shook her +head and raked dirt out of her hair and eyes with carefully moving +fingers. Her eyes watered and ran with the light, but they adjusted +quickly. + +Indigena Yaxley blinked and looked down at herself. She smiled slightly +as she saw that the shadow of plants under her skin was no longer faint. +Now she looked like a construct of blossoms, bushes, and leaves wrapped +in a human form that could burst at any moment. The thorny rose wrapped +around her wrist, the poison of which could kill in a few hours, had +sprouted more thorns and dug in further, even as the petals turned a +deeper blood-red. The flower rustled and lifted in response to her gaze. +Indigena nodded. As if it had spoken to her, she knew how else it had +changed. It was more sentient now, and the poison it delivered through +its thorns would kill in a few minutes instead of a few hours. + +That was a common trait of all the magic she bore, she found, when she +examined the rest of her body. The long slumber underground had changed +her, indeed, but not only physically. She felt more \emph{connected} to +the plants she had put into her skin, and to the great gardens and +greenhouses of Thornhall, as if they and she together formed an +ecosystem of their own. Her brown-blonde hair had streaks of vines, now, +and she knew that her dark eyes probably had no pupil, only a drowning +well into green. Thorns on thin tendrils wrapped her shoulders, +glittering silver projections that slid into sheaths within her skin +like claws. Indigena willed them to lash in front of her, and they did, +with frightening speed and quickness, impaling the remains of the cocoon +she had used to recover from Hawthorn Parkinson's blood curses. + +The only part of her unchanged was the Dark Mark on her left arm, and it +called her now. Her Lord had need of her. As Indigena was the only Death +Eater he had trusted with the knowledge of his secret resting place, she +wasn't at all surprised. The rest of the Death Eaters had probably died +in the assault on Hogwarts. She suspected that she would die, too, +before all was done. + +But none of that mattered to the debt of honor she owed, and none of +that mattered to the instructions her Lord had given her for this +eventuality. + +She spent a moment stroking the plants that had cradled her, giving them +instructions to regrow the cocoon in case she ever had need of it again. +Then she strode rapidly into her house, nodding in approval as she found +it bereft of dust thanks to the house elves, and retrieved several +objects. + +One was a roll of parchment, with a Never-Ending inkwell attached to it. +Indigena had often found need of it, and that would be especially true +in the coming months. + +Another was a Pensieve. Her Lord would want to study the battle, and +whatever had happened afterwards, so that it could not happen again. + +Another was a list of names. Karkaroff and the other Continental Death +Eaters had made contact with many, many people in various countries of +Europe who had shown some interest in supporting the Dark Lord. Not all +of them had received Voldemort's personal approval to become Death +Eaters, and not all would, Indigena knew. Some only wanted to join for +money, or because they felt the Light was growing too powerful in their +own homes, or because they were fearful of the sheer concentration of +Lord-level power in Britain and wanted to disrupt it. But any number of +them could be useful. + +Another was the set of books she had found to have information on Falco +Parkinson. He was an enemy to her and her Lord, no matter what he might +do to aid them. Indigena was determined to stop him, once she found out +what he had achieved in the few months she had been underground. + +And last but not least was an ancient book her Lord had last discussed +with her a few days before the assault on Hogwarts. Indigena did not +know how her grandmother had come to have possession of it, but she had, +and it had been treasured just as all dangerous and beautiful objects +were treasured among the Yaxleys. + +Its cover said \emph{Odi et Amo} in tiny letters. Indigena blew the dust +off it, and placed it carefully into her trunk. + +Then she shrank the trunk and went to give final instructions to her +house elves. It didn't take long. They were well-trained and obedient, +and the more willing to serve her because Indigena had always treated +them well. She didn't see the point to some of the mindless cruelties +her peers indulged in. + +Then she was on her way, stepping out of Thornhall to take in the wide +sweep of moor beyond. It was a misty day in early September, the sun +barely peering through a mass of silver. The primary colors were gray +and green and brown. Indigena took a deep breath, smelled all the things +growing, and felt her heart swell. + +\emph{I will die,} she thought, \emph{because everyone does. But first +I'll live.} + +She walked a few steps on the moors, absorbing the sunlight and loving +it, before she Apparated to her Lord's side. + \subsection{*Chapter 27*: Intermission: Disaster, Thy Name}\label{chapter-27-intermission-disaster-thy-name} diff --git a/tex/IAmAlsoThyBrother.tex b/tex/IAmAlsoThyBrother.tex index fe69bf4..56881f9 100644 --- a/tex/IAmAlsoThyBrother.tex +++ b/tex/IAmAlsoThyBrother.tex @@ -1,3 +1,21 @@ +\documentclass[10pt,oneside]{book} +\usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc} +\usepackage[english]{babel} +% Due to >100 chapters +\usepackage[tocindentauto]{tocstyle} +\usetocstyle{standard} +%%%%% +% Make 1.0" margins on all sides +\usepackage[top=1.0in,bottom=1.0in,left=1.0in,right=1.0in]{geometry} +%opening +\begin{document} +\title{Wind That Shakes the Seas and Stars} +\date{June 23, 2006} +\author{Lightning on the Wave \and Assembled in \LaTeX \\ by Tyler Davis \\ \texttt{tydavis@gmail.com}} +\maketitle +\tableofcontents + + \section{I Am Also Thy Brother}\label{i-am-also-thy-brother} \textbf{Story:} I Am Also Thy Brother\\ -- cgit v1.2.3