A/N Author's Note: Welcome to the Second Volume of Konstantyn Chronicles. This story picks up almost directly after the close of Not All Gold Glitters, so if you've not already read that, this may be a bit confusing. However, this story should stand pretty well on its own, given that Harry has apprenticed to an interesting Master Mage/Professor, and is learning about life in a loving family. Please enjoy. Feel free to review and/or send comments, questions, or suggestions. Grace to you, Gentle Reader! - Mort

Regroup and Rally

Hermione yawned as she worked on her history homework on Thursday, making her flash cards for History of Magic, an extra credit assignment. After the third yawn, Pavel laughed, working on his paperwork alongside her, saying, "Is the task that boring, or are you just that tired, little one?"

She smiled, "I'm sorry, Professor. No, it's not boring. I'm just feeling sleepy today. Maybe it's just that this is so comfortable."

The Professor laid the back of his hand on her forehead, in that universal gesture of wellness checking, and was amazed that she showed no signs of fever, but did exude unusual waves of fatigue. He affirmed no fever, and seemed to return to his work. But he cast one of his general "status check nets" out, reading that all the children were well... but got a second hit on Hermione, indicating that she was in two different locations. She seemed to be here, sitting with them, at the same time that he read her to be in the Library downstairs as well. Unsure what to make of this, he excused himself from the table, saying he'd be right back.

He walked into his Study and blinked silently to the Library. Casting a Disillusionment Charm over himself, he stealthily walked in and shifted carefully along the outside stacks where he could observe all the tables and carrels. There she was, big as life, working on her notes for the presentation of Polyjuice Potion for the Seventh Years. Pavel's expression grew grim as he noted her pallor and apparent fatigue here as well. Extending his magesight in the arcanum of Time, he figured it out. She was using a Time-Turner, doubling her apparent "productivity", but at the cost of her energy, both physical and magical. Silently, he blinked back to his Study, emerging as if nothing had happened, and sitting down again to carry on with his work.

At 5:00, John came in from finishing with his day and Pavel looked up at the time, declaring "play time" for those who wanted to break from their labors. The children all closed their books and put their things away as Pavel picked up his work and took it into the study. Returning to the study door, he asked, "Hermione, may I see you in here a moment, please?" interrupting her in another yawn, noting the bewildered and somewhat concerned faces of both Ron and Harry, as Hermione entered and the door closed behind her.

"Please sit down and relax," Pavel invited, as he removed his academic garb, and changed into his lounging robe. Quietly he sat, looking at her with a friendly but inquiring glance, as he asked, "Is there anything you vant to tell me?"

"No, sir. Not really," she responded, biting her lower lip a bit.

"Well, I have a bit of an 'uncle concern', my niece. And as far as I'm concerned, you are in no trouble at all. All right?" Hermione nodded. "But I am a Mage of Time arcanum, a Time mage, and you, young lady, are showing time anomalies. Um... along with which, I just left you in the Library downstairs, as you sat at our table studying. Care to explain that for me?" he asked in a very gentle, non-threatening voice.

"Um, Professor?" she began, in a very tentative voice... "May I just say I'd rather not answer that? May I just keep that private?"

"Yes, that's a perfectly acceptable answer, and yes, you have the right to your privacy. I will not pry, or violate your privacy by magic. However, I have concerns that I want to share with you, and if the situation continues and does not resolve itself somehow, I shall no doubt become more assertive in my investigation.

"You are very tired, and you are pale. I want John to check on you and see if you are well. Further, my own senses tell me you are deeply fatigued in your magical core. That is not healthy. It's not healthy for any witch or wizard, but particularly not for one of your age still developing their abilities. I know you are meddling with time in some way, and I can absolutely affirm that terrible things can happen to those who are careless in such meddling.

"Right now, as things stand, something is wrong. I do not know what, or how. But I know that something is harming you, and you have a perfect right not to disclose the matter to me. However, that will then free me to investigate, on my own, what the matter is. At this moment you have a choice, you can let Ivan have a look at you right now, or you can go to Madame Pomfrey for a checkup. Either choice is fine, you're not in trouble for anything. Which do you prefer?"

"I'd rather not go to Madame Pomfrey, sir. John can check on me," she surrendered.

"All right," Pavel said, as he got up and left the Study. "Ivan?" he addressed John who was playing chess with Ron at the moment. "May I interrupt you to do a quick checkup on Hermione? She's a bit tired, and may have a headache," he addressed John, and turned to Harry. "Shouldn't take a minute, they'll be right back." Pavel poured himself a cup of strong tea, sat relaxing in his favorite chair by the fire, as he pulled down a tome of his favorite poetry.

It couldn't have been five minutes before John and Hermione calmly rejoined the family, and as they exited the Study John asked, "Is the headache better now?" to provide some cover for Hermione.

"Yes, thanks, John," she replied with a relieved smile. Then she went to a comfortable chair and curled up with one of her schoolbooks.

John then sat back down with Ron to finish his game, after which he excused himself to go change and wash up for dinner. "Papa?" John mind-spoke.

"Yes, Ivan," came the reply.

"She's all right, overall. But she's exhausted, and she was a bit anemic. I took it upon myself to correct some of that. I gave her some energy, to empower her through the evening until bedtime. I also enhanced her bone marrow and fine tuned her spleen. The anemia should be corrected by morning, but she needs nutritional supplements if she's going to keep going this way."

"Is she ill, Ivan? Is some sickness causing the anemia?"

"No, Papa. Nothing I can find. Everything is working perfectly, but her demand is exceeding her maintenance. She doesn't seem to be showing any symptoms of sleep deprivation mentally or emotionally, but it seems like her body is. Just general exhaustion, overexertion of some type. Do you know what's going on?"

"I believe she is abusing a Time-Turner or other similar artifact; she's 'double dipping'. I found her sitting at a library study table downstairs, at the same time as she was doing homework with us at the dinner table. I could sense some time anomaly about her, and when I told her I'd observed her doppelganger and asked if she wanted to explain herself, she asked to keep it to herself. I've agreed to that as long as I don't find she is being harmed. If I do, I will simply investigate, with all my skills. But I have no problem with her running her own operation, as long as she's not hurt and there's no danger to the school. But I would appreciate it, Ivan, if you can arrange to monitor her condition over time?"

"I can do that, Papa. And if the situation does not improve?"

"Then we will rethink our position."

Earlier in the Day, Pavel's Classroom:

Thursday's History of Magic Class continued the pattern of teaching How to Win at the School Game, as Pavel reviewed a technique for memorization of long simple lists. He called the technique "Diminishing Stack", as he explained how to make Flash Cards with the prompt or datum on one side, and the explanation or definition on the other. One then takes this "Deck" of cards, and speaks the prompt out loud, then recites the definition from memory. When finished, the card is flipped over to check for verbatim correctness. If that is successful, the card goes onto a "Done" pile. If there is any error or omission, the correct material is repeated aloud, and the card goes into "Recycle". When finished with the Deck, the Recycle pile is gone through again, as Deck. Each time the Deck is run through, there are fewer and fewer errors to be recycled. When finished, the exercise is finished for the day. This can be repeated as many days as necessary to master the information.

To "sweeten the pot", the Professor offered an Extra Credit offering, giving each student a parchment of names, events, and places, along with the reason for their historical significance, for memorization. While he did not "require" this information be used in essays or examinations, they always improved the possibility for a good grade. He offered a class wide "Challenge", offering 20 house points and a quarterly test grade equivalent of Outstanding, for any and all students who made Flash Cards from this list - about 100 dates and facts in all - and could pass an examination with 100% whether written or oral. Students were welcome to take him up on this challenge any time before the Final Examination.

For the rest of the class, he had students review a battle between Jehoshaphat and the armies of Moab and Ammon at Engedi, and then offered to allow any volunteer to manage the Diorama. The exercise would be held the following Tuesday, and three volunteers could choose teams to represent the combatant armies. The Staff would itself select the best managing volunteer, based on power and clarity of imago sensed by the Staff.

This was unheard of... for a student to manage the Diorama through the Staff... and resulted in heated speculation on who would prevail. It also sparked an unusual degree of willingness for students to study the history of the battle, as recorded and available for research. Pavel thoroughly enjoyed hearing the arguments and speculation among students, as they jostled their way out of the classroom, each claiming they'd 'win the Staff' over one another.

Teatime, Professor Snape's Study:

"Thank you for joining me for tea, Mr. Malfoy," Snape's languid tones slid through the air, as he poured a cuppa for Draco and handed it to him.

"Thank you for having me, sir. Your invitation was a bit... erm... unexpected," Draco replied, as he sat in the Professor's office parlor area, wondering suspiciously what was behind this invitation. "The last time I was here, the visit was not so... cordial."

"Ah, quite true," Severus smiled with a brief nod, recalling the discipline administered at the time. "That's perhaps part of the reason I've asked you here today."

Draco was even more perplexed, and not at all comforted by such a response.

"No, Draco, you're not here to be punished. In fact, it's rather the opposite," Professor Snape mused, making everything as clear as mud. "Your father and I see eye to eye on many things, and we share a number of confidences and aspirations. That's true. But there are also a number of things that Lucius and I do NOT agree on. Before I go any further, may I be assured of your confidence about this discussion? I want to talk about matters I would prefer remain private, whether from your parents, or anyone else. May I have your word on that?"

"Yes, sir, presuming it's nothing that would compromise my family or its honor."

"A fair condition. Only proper. Indeed, I can agree with that. Now, one of the matters I see differently than your parents is your upbringing, your formation. Some of the values with which you are being raised, some of the attitudes with which you are being conditioned, I feel are inappropriate. They are counterproductive to the development of excellence in wizardry. I also do not agree with the severity with which you are punished, or the fact that your discipline is far more often dependent on the mood of your father, than the actual nature of your misdeeds. I have no objection to the use of a light cane for serious offenses such as lying, cheating, or theft. But strokes should be 'sufficient', not 'draconian', and I find only a very few to be more than sufficient to make my point with lasting clarity."

Draco really didn't know how to respond to any of this, so he just stirred and sipped his tea in silence.

"Let me ask you an odd question, Draco. If you were raising a 12 year old wizard son, would you act as Lucius does?"

"No, sir." Now THERE was a question Draco had thought about long and hard. If HE were Lucius, how would he handle situations, rather than how the old man handled them? "I think I'd be very different."

"How so, Draco?" Snape asked, in a low patient voice.

"Father is only concerned with appearances. He wants everything to go his way, to be in control of everything and everyone. If anything crosses him, he lashes out. It doesn't matter if that's at a house elf, or me, or even Mother, depending on the place and time. He's always maneuvering for advantage, like playing a chess game and adjusting positions on a board. Of course, there's also a lot of fear..." and his voice trailed off.

"Fear? Fear of what, or whom?"

"Fear of... well, it almost seems like... fear of everything. Fear of losing. Fear of losing face, or position, or power. He's always got to be inside everything, like the ministry... or know everything that's going on. Then, of course, there's the fear of... well, you know..."

"Fear of the Dark Lord?" Severus asked.

"Yes. I mean, it's so strange... He talks like his Dark Mark is the greatest thing ever. Like serving the Dark Lord is such a great position to be in... the key to his power and authority... like the fulfillment of everything he's ever wanted. And yet, sometimes, especially when he thinks no one is looking or listening... it's so clear that he's terrified. The Dark Lord, or his relationship with him, is his greatest nightmare and horror. I can't explain it, but I can see it, I can feel it."

"I see," Severus said, just letting the silence settle comfortably between them for quite a while. "And how do you see all that playing out in YOUR future? What do you personally think of these things? How do you feel about the Dark Mark, or the Dark Lord?"

Time ticked past as Draco made no response.

"I assure you, Draco, just as I want this conversation kept strictly between us, so I will honor your confidences as well. I will never repeat this to your father, or in any way that will get back to the Dark Lord."

"Why are you asking me these things, Professor?" Draco's voice was husky. "It's not like anything can be done about it. 'It is what it is', as they say. I'm trapped, just as Father is, as Mother is.

"I don't agree, Draco. I think there's a great deal each of us can do to determine the path our lives take. Circumstances certainly have an impact, forces can influence what options are open to us, but we ourselves make choices of what actions to take, what values we choose, and what alliances we make. Our relationships are far more powerful indicators and determinants of character, than environment and circumstance. I am asking you these things because I'd like to know what you really want. What do you want out of life? What do you want out of adulthood? What do you want of the future?"

Malfoy thought carefully for a moment, then said, "I suppose I want what anybody wants. I want to be happy. I want to continue my family line, raise a family, have a career. I'd like to be respected, significant, powerful, maybe. To be perfectly honest, between just the two of us? I really don't want to be involved at all with the Dark Lord, or any of that. I've seen too much of secrets, torture, Deatheaters, and all that fear. It's like a sinkhole... once you're stuck in it, there's no getting out of it. You know that, maybe better than anyone, right, Severus?"

"That's a fair question, Draco. A fair observation. And you've cut to the heart of this discussion. Once you're in this morass, it is difficult indeed to get out and get clean from it. I think it is fair to say that you are being groomed to enter into the Dark Lord's cadre, and have been from the cradle." Severus watched Draco nod slowly. "Well, I can offer you an alternative, if you are interested. You stand at a crossroads right now, Draco. You can follow the path of your history, and proceed into the shadow of the Dark Lord and your father. Or, you can choose to follow a different path away from those shadows, develop solid character based on merit, worth, and the honor of character rather than of circumstantial status.

"You have stated, wisely, I think... that what you'd like most of the future is 'to be happy'. Are any of those in the Dark Lord's shadow truly what you would call 'happy'? With the possible exception of those we could agree are simply 'mad'," and in this he failed to name, though they both instantly thought of Bella LaStrange, Draco's aunt, "those in the shadow of the Dark Lord are motivated by fear and know little to no joy in their lives. Look around you... here... or out in the community... and ask yourself who can you identify as being 'happy'? That's a rhetorical question, you need not answer.

"Now, if you are happy with where your life is leading, well and good. Go in peace. But if you are not satisfied with that, if you would prefer to set your feet on a path free of that shadow and fear, then I have a proposal for you."

"What might that be, Severus?"

"Do you feel your life would have been more likely to lead in the direction you want, if you had been born my son, rather than Lucius'?"

"What an odd question," Draco chuckled, stirring his tea to consider it. "You're asking, in a way, if I wish you were my father, rather than Lucius..."

"I am, yes," Snape nodded.

Draco's voice grew husky as he stared into his teacup and said, in almost a whisper, "Yes, sir, I do. Almost every day."

Snape's eyes closed in concentration, as slowly he drew and released a very deep breath. "Draco, I have watched you grow up your entire life as my godson. I can tell you truthfully, I would be pleased and privileged, I would be very proud indeed, if I were your father."

Draco struggled with the lump in his throat, and tears that formed in his eyes. These words were touching places so deep in him that he scarcely even admitted that they existed most days. He felt so empty so much of the time... like he had to always keep racing, to keep up, or else something would catch him... something he was afraid would show him that he was utterly worthless. No one in his life ever said they were proud of HIM, for himself. They were only proud of what he could do, what he could accumulate, what he could claim, or where he was from or descended from. If it weren't for his "stuff", he was afraid he was worth nothing at all.

"I can offer you this, Draco. If you want me to function, right here at Hogwarts and beyond as opportunity presents, as your Godfather... if you want me to treat you as a son, and you treat me as a father... then I am open to establishing that relationship with you in a very serious way. If you wish it, I am willing to 'parent' you... raise, train, educate, encourage, correct, celebrate, comfort, advise, discipline... in short, deal with your formation, development, and character. If you choose, if you are willing to honor, heed, relate to me as 'father', then I am willing to honor, heed, and relate to you as 'son'."

Draco's face was a study in contrasts and dismay. His eyes had turned red from resisting the tears that were trying so desperately to come. His nose was running, and his chin threatened to tremble as he fought for self-control. These words were hitting him painfully deep in his heart. He found it hard to breathe as his chest compressed with the power of his emotions. It seemed ridiculous to him. Only a week ago, right here over this very chair, he'd shed not a tear as this same man caned him three solid strokes. He'd been reprimanded, taken his punishment, and left with his head held high and dignity intact. Now here he was, fighting himself not to blub like a baby, reduced to tears by nothing but words... and KIND words at that. Where was his dignity? Where was his pride? What was wrong with him?

Feeling the confusion Draco was struggling with, Severus decided to give him a private moment. "I need to tend a potion for a moment. I'll be right back." He rose, went to his lab table and began pulling down some of the ingredients he would need to prepare for tomorrow's detention. He fussed over the two cauldrons of Polyjuice Potion, and when about 5 minutes had elapsed, returned to his seat with Draco.

"Draco?"

"Yes, sir."

"I know this is a lot to consider and take in all at once. I don't need an answer right now. Let me just clarify my offer, and you can go on your way and consider it. If you wish, I am willing as your Godfather, to parent you as I would my own son. I will engage you as fully here at Hogwarts as though you were fully in my guardianship. This would be vastly different than your current circumstances, as I would actively seek to foster the development of your character, values, and skills, to promote your formation as the wizard I would hope my son to become. This would, no doubt, be a very difficult and trying transition for you. But it would also, I believe, be vastly fulfilling and rewarding as well. Please know, I only offer this because I care for you very much, and have since the day you were born. I would like to see your life and your adolescence offer more paths and choices than my own had.

"Go think about all this, and let me know what you decide. Should you decide this is not what you want to do, there will be no repercussions to declining the offer. No one will ever know of this discussion between us, and I will never bring up the matter again. So... off you go..."

Draco was dismissed, and Snape walked him out. Closing his eyes as he leaned back on the door after shutting it quietly behind the boy, Severus thought, "Well, now we'll see what happens." He found himself wondering if he was really ready for this.

A/N Welcome back, Gentle Reader. The Konstantyn Chronicles proceed as Harry deals with settling in to his new family, getting along in school, and developing new and unexpected abilities through his second year. I hope you enjoy these stories, and take a moment to review. I love ideas and questions. So thank you for coming! Grace to you - Mort