CHAPTER TWELVE: Crossroads

Scorpius stalked down the 2nd floor hallway, trying to pretend that he was actually headed to the library, and not just getting away from Edward. He loved his cousin well enough—even liked him most days—but he was becoming quite impossible. First, confronting Dianne (threatening, controlling, upsetting Di and he still hadn't managed to remove the stinging hex which was the price for such things) and then not telling Scorpius he had done so. Then, he'd taken credit for their reconciliation and now he seemed to think he was the supreme expert on their relationship. He'd been nagging Scorpius ever since he returned to the common room, saying he should never have let her go home alone. It was infuriating. He could trust Di. He knew it. Albus seemed to agree. But Edward would not leave the subject alone.

Scorpius reached the library doors and turned around, unwilling to force himself to sit still and do homework (while Di faced her parents alone). He started to stalk back toward the Deputy's office. Maybe he could wait for Di there. It was only a quarter of an hour before she should return. He would be waiting for her. Ready for her. Ready to help her.

The door opened even as he approached, and Scorpius was shocked to see Dianne coming out. As soon as she saw him, she smiled and seemed relieved. He found himself relaxing and smiling back, even as his worry kicked up a notch and he wondered when she'd gotten back and how.

"Hey Zee. I was just coming to look for you." She glanced up and down the hall. "We need to talk. Come on." She ended up leading him back toward the library, into the infamous classroom that would always be that room to him, but he didn't say anything. There were more important issues than remembering the past. She avoided the stools which still stood close together and hopped up on the teacher's desk, patting the place beside her. As soon as he sat, she leaned against him and sighed heavily. The contact eased him a little further, and he wrapped an arm behind her.

"I don't really know where to start, Zee. It's worse than I feared. And I'm worried about the consequences." She looked up at him, earnest and pleading. As though he wouldn't move mountains for her, if she asked him to. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. Please listen to me." The way she said it reminded him of that evening in the library. He felt himself go very still and focused. This was serious. He probably wouldn't like it. But listening was very important to Dianne, so he would listen.

"Of course, Di." Really, a little self-restraint wasn't so much to ask for.

"Philip Vega lied to us." Anger, contempt. Trouble and Vega in the middle of it again, the little slime, but at least this time Di seemed upset too. (He'd fix that as soon as he wasn't listening). "I know we already knew that, but it's so much worse than I thought it was. He betrayed us." A soft growl that he swallowed, as he always did, whenever there was a threat to Dianne. (He would protect her.) Deep breath. Now was not the time to get into everything they hadn't had a chance to talk about yet. Focus. "He went behind my back and talked to my parents and he's got them really scared." She was growing more timid, and he squeezed her shoulders to reassure her. "Don't be mad at them." (Dianne was afraid, he should reassure her.) (Dianne was afraid of his anger, there was probably good reason for anger.) (Dianne shouldn't have to be afraid.) Scorpius nodded, and forced himself to focus on Vega. He had probably tricked them into whatever it was that had happened. Whatever it was, it was Vega's fault. Dianne took a deep breath before she continued.

"You know those potions I told you about at the end of last year? Well, evidently they weren't as straight forward as I was told. They were actually experimental, and my entire medical file got included in a case study as a result." His mate had been exploited for study. Been lied to. (Betrayed.) Not just by a no-good politician, but by the healers and teachers that were supposed to protect her. If he hadn't been seated (holding Dianne, protecting Dianne, listening to Dianne), he might have already been heading for the door. "A case study Vega has access too." Coward! Lying, sneaking around Dianne, coming between them. If they ever crossed paths, he'd kill the man to keep his mate safe. "He's convinced that my magic is being critically drained." Liar. He'd know if there was something wrong with his Di. "He told my parents some symptoms to watch out for, and he pretty accurately predicted the last couple of weeks." That was… unexpected. The anger broke open a little. Concern flooded in. (What could have harmed Di, she'd been with him.) Dianne was shaking, he realized, and he held her tighter still. She was talking much softer now. "It doesn't look good. He says if it continues, I'll die from exhaustion." (Dianne gone, forever.) (NEVER.)

She wasn't looking at him anymore, but she was still leaning on him, turning to him. She needed him here, (listening, because Dianne asked). And he would listen. Then he'd scour the whole country—the whole planet—until he found someone compatible enough to for a magical transfer. Damn the odds and damn the morality. Dianne would not die.

"Zee… the drain…" yes-the threat-they could start there, start by eliminating the drain, but option one still stood. She'd never be in danger again. "He says that's basically what a Veela bond is. He thinks you're killing me."

Inner silence. Some part of him wanted to deny it, to meet her up-turned eyes and swear that it was impossible. But the shock had cleared his head for a moment, just a moment, and… it made sense. He slotted it against everything that he knew, from living with his parents' bond his whole life and from experiencing his own, and compared it against what he knew of other magical parasites, and was shocked he'd never seen the parallels before.

It also explained some of Dianne's own reactions. Her extreme anger and distance as a knee-jerk reaction made much more sense if she was instinctually fighting a magical draw. Emotional distance would work in her favor, until it abated enough to be overwhelmed. Or until she was sufficiently distracted—by her cousin, perhaps, or by his. Her acquiescence once that emotional defense was removed probably said more about the power of his pull on her than anything about her actual emotional reactions.

He had been silent too long, he realized, as she stumbled on. "I'm not sure if it's true, Zee. I just don't know. I don't know if we can trust Vega. He's a Naga, so I'm sure he has ulterior motives, but he approached us at the Ball—well before he could have known that we'd be at all useful to the Naga. Before he knew they would need help. That doesn't sound malicious. But, at the same time, he lied. I just don't know what to think."

Those were very good points. But, most importantly, she needed to know, "I think he's telling the truth. I never thought about it before, I swear I didn't know, but the Veela bond does seem to fit with what I know about magical parasites. It wouldn't be obvious with a powerful mate. Magic is drained off all time—we're all shedding a little magic all the time and wards and illusions both draw on the magic of those they affect every day. So an extra draw wouldn't be noticed on a powerful witch or wizard. It might even make them stronger in the long run, like a well-exercised muscle. But in your case… given the last couple weeks… Vega might be right. You could be in danger."

Vaguely, he wondered where his panic was. It was like that part of him that had been growing and moving and thinking for nearly a year now had suddenly shut down. He'd told Derek that he was the Veela, and while the Veela was active that was true. There was only one self. But at this moment, he knew he wasn't reacting the way a Veela would. He was too calm, too logical. It was a good thing—nothing would be gained by homicidal protectiveness, possessive jealousy, or animal instinct. But it was also bizarre.

"So what do we do about it? If I leave, you'll die. If I stay, I'll die. I don't like those options."

"We'll do whatever we can to give ourselves more time. See if there's a match to make a magical transfer for you. I know the odds are bad, but it's a known starting place. We'll also try to see if there's any other source I could use to take the burden off you."

Dianne was quiet for a moment. "They mentioned that. They said your father was already looking into it. Looking for a way to get rid of me."

Scorpius felt a stirring of rage at that—simple, human anger that his father would betray him, would go behind his back, would interfere in his life without being asked or invited. Especially because he'd all but sworn to Di that he wouldn't let his father come between them. He also felt a small touch of terror, because even if no one else ever knew, he'd seen the look on his father's face when he'd asked him about the Dark Mark and he wondered if Dianne knew just what sort of things his father was capable of.

"I swear, I know nothing about that. I wouldn't let him hurt you."

"I know. I trust you. I'm here, aren't I?"

That was another very good point. Scorpius continued while he still had his sanity. "We won't tell him about all this. He'd go after your parents and Vega, for one, and I know at least your parents are only trying to help. And…" deep breath. They'd never talked about this either, not even in the wake of her mini-confrontation about it during their reconciliation. "To be honest, I don't trust him. Never be alone with him. I don't want to believe this is true, but never take the risk. We'll write to Vega, and we'll do our own research, and we'll question anyone who's not likely to talk to them. Gather whatever independent facts we can. Maybe you can threaten scandal about being included in an undisclosed case study and get a chance to see the other records." She nodded, much more relaxed. He took another deep breath. Wondered if he could really do this. Tried to convince himself it was the right thing.

Carefully, he forced himself to loosen his hold on her, to twist away a little, to give her space and look her in the eye. Dianne deserved this respect, no matter what it cost him. "Listen… You should probably know… if the bond is parasitic… that might be why you're attracted to me. Why you can't stay mad at me. Why you're willing to come back every time."

She met his eyes steadily, seeming unsurprised, and a little sad. "I know. Or, rather, I guessed. My mood swings around you were one of the first things I considered when I was pacing in my room. It's been bugging me for a while, the way that I react to you. Both the good, and the bad. But I realized something. No matter how it's working or why, you're still the same Scorpius who shot at clowns with me, and who laid on the floor watching Disney with me, and who charmed my whole family, and who fixed my mistake with Richard, and who made me see that the world isn't all black and white. You believed in me when everyone else dismissed me out of hand, and gave me a chance to prove myself to a whole House full of people who would never have looked twice at me without you. I didn't want to be Madam Malfoy and all that it entails, but I've been happier in the two months I've known you than in several years before that. Yes, I've also been extremely frustrated and scared and even hurt sometimes. But I'm happier now than at any other time at Hogwarts. Even if that isn't entirely natural, it's still how I feel. I think that's what matters."

"Are you sure? Because the bond is only going to get stronger if we let it. Especially since we're now aware of what it entails. Choosing it consciously… it will have more power."

"I haven't been sure of anything in a long time. But I'm as sure as I think I can be right now. This is my mistake to make, if it is one. I want to be here. I feel like I belong with you."

He felt an overwhelming moment of pride. In the time he'd known Dianne he'd seen her change, slowly and subtly, from someone who put up a very good mask of confidence into someone who was confident in herself and her own worth. The declaration also made him want to purr. It was right that his mate should choose him freely, and good that he had earned this place in her life. Almost immediately he felt a change in the room. (Di's in danger.) He stood from the desk, drew his wand, and pulled Dianne behind him sharply. He could feel her confusion nearly palatably, but before she could voice it he swung to the right. (He had to protect Di.) There—he was sure of it. No visible threat, nothing to hear or smell, but the magic in the room was aware, watching, and so was something else.

He felt a flash of heat which wasn't on his skin but in his magic, in the magic of the room, and pushed back against that magical heat with the strongest shield he knew. It didn't matter. Nothing would stop a phoenix.

The red and gold bird came through his glittering blue barrier without the slightest ripple or hesitation to suggest it had been hindered. He conjured a steel blade and met the threat early, forcing it to change course. It wheeled around over the desk and he spun, jerking his mate behind him again.

The bird was suddenly circling the opposite way, headed back toward them, (toward Dianne, exposed on his left), and he felt his mate duck as the phoenix gave a piercing cry and missed—barely, but missed—in its attack. Scorpius swung his blade, and the phoenix glided past them, then flapped to the top of the room and hovered.

There was a moment of stillness.

Scorpius intercepted the next strike by stepping forward, wand raised, and sent a piercing spell that made the phoenix dodge right. He was fast, but it didn't change the burn on his arm and shoulder where the fire of phoenix's proximity singed his aura. Scorpius planted his feet, now standing in front of Dianne who was mostly hiding under the desk at his back.

It was impossible that they had been found. The very nature of the Veela bonding prevented scrying for the mate, and he was protected by old family magics as the Heir of Malfoy. Magical parasites naturally disguised the signature of their host; it was one of the parallels that he couldn't deny. There was no way for the phoenix to have tracked them.

His distraction almost cost him dearly. His enemy lashed out with a blast of magical fire, and he met it with a physical steel shield. The heat was intense but short, the phoenix choosing to try to dive at him while he was blinded by his own defense. He sensed the attack as a sharp increase in the danger to Di and he swung the shield out as hard as he could, hitting the bird broadside and knocking it off course. It cried out, but didn't fall.

The bird spun in the air again, pivoting on one wing tip, hardly retreating, no room to think or react and this time it came for Scorpius directly. He cast the strongest wind curse he knew. The phoenix was diverted as it approached, and then it was past him, flying just right of himself and Dianne, still hiding on his left. For a moment—only a moment—Scorpius thought the threat had missed. Then he felt the pain and he collapsed, losing control of his legs and arms.

The pain washed away everything else, he couldn't tell where it came from or what had happened. He fell, half on Dianne, or maybe she caught him, and as she pressed against his chest—Sweet Merlin—he realized he was bleeding. His entire front was covered in blood from some sort of slash. There was another bird-scream but at the same time there was a crash, and Dianne ducked over the top of him, her eyes wide, protecting him with her own body, and then there was only darkness.

Dianne looked up as soon as she realized she'd ducked in reflex. It was quick enough to see a wall of water appear in front of her. Someone had entered the classroom, blown the door off its hinges to do so, and though she couldn't see clearly through the water, she could see a dark silhouette in the doorway. There was a flash of light, then stillness. She forced herself to breathe in, and to breathe out. In. Out. The stillness remained, and she realized the demented bird was gone.

A moment later the water wall became a puddle on the ground, spilling away from her in a manner which was unnatural, and the silhouette was walking over to her. He knelt, and put his clean hands over hers, which were already covered in the blood that was seeping through her cloak, and she realized it was Vega.

She should have said thank you, demanded to know what he was doing in a Hogwarts classroom, or begged him to heal Scorpius. What came out when she opened her mouth was: "Did you lie to my parents?" It was possible she was in shock. He seemed to take a very long time answering.

"No. The constant up-hill battle to restore your core will eventually kill you. You can either refrain from all magic and all magical drains until your threshold is met and your core is healed, however many years that may require, or you can give up your magic entirely and become a Muggle. Anything else will kill you. Probably within two years."

Dianne thought that she should probably be upset by that. But the feeling was very distant. And really, she was most upset by the thought that "Scorpius would die."

"The boy has been struck by a phoenix. He is dying now."

There was a flaw in his logic. "You're a Naga. You can heal him."

"Some things are beyond our powers. Particularly since your treaty has crippled us."

He'd lied before. Might be lying now. But she had no way to force him to tell the truth, so she had to act as though this was the truth. Still, might as well double check: "There's nothing you can do?"

"There's nothing I can do."

He could have just been parroting her. But there was something in the way he said it, a hint of satisfaction, maybe, that made her pause on the idea.

"There's something I can do." His gaze sharpened. He didn't contradict her. "Why can't you help him? What is special about the phoenix?"

Again, it seemed like he stared at her for a long time. Almost as though he was waiting for something.

"Their will cannot be bargained with. They accept no deals, no oaths, no sacrifices."

Which couldn't be true. Because they had accepted Scorpius's sacrifice, his oath, to be their representative. And he had been that, at great personal cost. Had they attacked him because they disagreed? Albus had been concerned, in a time that felt very long ago, that the phoenix would punish Scorpius regardless of the will of magic. But phoenix were bound by magic. In fact, The Phoenix were bound by Magic.

But perhaps they weren't bound to the Naga by Magic. Perhaps they could reject, or overcome, or refuse the sacrifice of a Naga.

"I could give up my magic entirely." Scorpius needed her magic. Needed it to survive. According to Vega, she didn't. For whatever that was worth. "I could become a Muggle." Vega stood, and as his hands left Scorpius started to wheeze, as though he knew someone had given up on him. Shutter in. Cough out. Shutter in. Cough out. A single, uninterrupted stream of rattling that was breathing. A grisly rhythm.

"You can. I must leave, before I am found here. Take the first opportunity to go to Oxford. You will be protected there. We stand by our promises."

Her hands were still pressing down on the robe, now soaked entirely with blood. She heard him walk away, but didn't really pay any attention. He wasn't important.

Under her hands, pressed into the robe that was pressing on the wound, was her wand. She couldn't cast a steady shield with it. She could produce only a few basic jinxes. Despite whatever she had once planned, despite what she had once said, she was a witch. When her adrenaline pumped and the air sang with pressure that even she could feel, but not feel on her skin, she clutched her wand. It was a part of her. It was a piece of who she was. It was the definition of what she was. What she had always been, even if she hadn't known, hadn't understood, hadn't accepted or been accepted. She belonged to Magic as surely as did any creature or any spell. To lay that aside was to lay aside her life. Whatever it would be after was not what it was now. It might become her life, but it would not be the same life.

Crouched on a classroom floor, trying to stop the blood pumping out of her intended, Dianne swallowed carefully around her dry tongue. They hadn't found much on healing rituals in the library, and had only covered the most basic aspects of general rituals in Arithmancy. But maybe, maybe, that would be enough. First, to invoke magic with a neutral, physical representative. Something she had on her, there was no time to retrieve anything else. But anything that belonged to her, wouldn't be neutral. So something around her. "Stone of this castle, unmoved throughout all our lives, you shall witness this sacrifice."

Next was the one she had already determined: the basis of the power for the ritual. "Magic of my blood, willing sacrificed, you shall sustain this body."

Finally, she had to seal it with some sort of contrast. That meant it needed to be unwilling. But nothing nearby had a will. Except… it was the wand that chose the witch. It might be enough. Sweet, sweet, Magic, let it be enough. "Wand of my hand, unwilling gifted to another, you shall protect this soul."

The pressure in the room, which had never really faded after the phoenix had left, suddenly increased. Scorpius took a deep breath that sounded a lot better than any other sound he'd made since she'd caught him, and his whole body went slack in unconsciousness. The pressure built again, and she felt dizzy for a moment. She slipped her wand into the inside pocket of his robes, even though it meant letting up some of the pressure on his wound, and as her fingers left the wood she suddenly felt weak, a sharp sense of vertigo dulling her hearing and vision for a moment. She blinked sharply, and when the blackness cleared, Deputy Weasley was kneeling over Scorpius too.

She pulled back the bloody robe, tore open his shirt which was ripped anyways from the attack, "My word, is everything… Move. Let me see him, Miss Reed. What happened here? Are you hurt?" and as the shirt parted, Dianne could see that there wasn't a scratch on his pale skin. That was good news, because she couldn't press down anymore. She needed both hands firmly on the floor at this moment. There were pretty colors floating over Scorpius, but they weren't harming him so that was probably okay.

"Miss Reed?" Deputy Weasley didn't sound happy, which was weird, because Dianne was totally happy right now. Scorpius was okay. That was good. He was supposed to be okay. That was a good reason to be happy.

Deputy Weasley cast a spell that made colors float in front of Dianne, which was pretty but not very useful. Especially since it seemed to alarm her greatly.

"Miss Reed, I need you to come with me to my office so that we can send you home." That… seemed like a bad idea. She wasn't sure why, but it was a bad idea.

Deputy Weasley would not listen to such horrible logic. Dianne probably shouldn't listen to such logic, but she was, and she needed different logic for Deputy Weasley. Already they were almost at the door to her office. How had that happened? "Miss Reed, sit here for a moment." Deputy Weasley seemed to be in a hurry, so maybe she didn't need logic. Maybe she just needed different idea. Logic could come later. It always came when called.

"I need to go to Oxford."

The made the Deputy pause. She gave her a long look. It was a look she had seen before. It was a look she had gotten when she proclaimed she didn't own dress robes. It was a look she had gotten when she needed to go to Spain. It was the look she had gotten when she and Scorpius and Albus had begged for a Porkey three very very very long days ago.

"Why Oxford, Miss Reed?"

"I'm safe there."

"Alright." There was a nauseating, jerking, twisting, and then Dianne was falling onto grass. She lay there for a while. She wasn't really sure how long.

After a while, she heard someone coming and looked over at Vega—only it wasn't Vega. Not-Vega was running toward her, and she tried to stand up to greet him. That seemed polite. Throwing up on his shoes probably ruined the effect though.

"-want answers. Not guesses, not theories, answers. My son's life is at stake!"

"As I have already said, Mr. Malfoy, you son is in no danger."

"Dragon's breath." Father must have been very upset. Mother always said that the slang of vulgar youth had no place in the speech of House Malfoy. "My Veela son is lying in a hospital bed and his mate is nowhere in sight. Is, in fact, nowhere to be found." That couldn't be correct. He knew when Dianne was gone. He knew what it felt like when he didn't know where she was. He knew that worry, that pull, that restlessness. This was… not that. This was her fingers tracing his veins, this was both of his arms wrapped around her as she leaned against him, fast asleep in the common room, this was her eyes shining with their victory and his purring satisfaction that she was everything he had known she could be. Except… he couldn't feel her fingers anywhere. And her scent seemed to be missing. And her breathing didn't seem to be close by. An uneasiness stirred in him. Something was… off.

"Mr. Malfoy, you son is not showing any stress. There is no evidence of a withdrawal reaction of any kind. He is completely stable, both physically and magically. Even the deepest scans show him to be a completely healthy Veela with a well-structured bond." That wasn't right either. He and Dianne hadn't completed the bond. They'd been talking, and they'd both consciously accepted the bond, but then they were attacked. (Di had been in danger.) He remembered falling, and remembered her being there, leaning over him, protecting him. (Dianne might still be in danger.) He needed to move. He needed to protect her. She shouldn't have to protect him.

"And yet he remains unconscious." Maybe that was why he couldn't move. He needed to fix that, and fast. He needed to find Dianne.

"He will wake naturally. This is not uncommon after a wizard's first fight for his life. It's a psychological reaction while the brain assesses and integrates the experience and it allows the magic to settle back into normal position, out of the fight-or-flight response." Forget natural, it was inconvenient.

"Are you saying my son was mortally threatened?" No. That wasn't right. The phoenix had come for Dianne. It had only attacked him because he was in the way as it tried to get to her. He needed to protect her.

"All we know right now was that there was a magical flare in an unused classroom at Hogwarts. Deputy Weasley arrived on scene and found your son covered in blood—which we've determined was his own—but completely unharmed and unconscious. She called us immediately. It's unclear what happened or how he was healed, but your son is fine." No, that couldn't be right. Where was Dianne? She should have been there.

He could feel himself panic, and drew on it purposefully, forcing it into his muscles. He managed to open his eyes and sit up. He paused for a moment, and realized that he had expected a sense of vertigo which didn't come. His father turned toward him, stepped up to the bed, and the St. Mungo's healer in the room followed him. Scorpius swung his feet over the edge of the bed. He hadn't been in St. Mungo's long, not even long enough for them to vanish his robe which was ripped and burned and covered in blood. Please, Sweet Merlin, let it be his own blood.

"Where's Dianne?"

His father reached out to steady him, but Scorpius by-passed the hand he didn't need and headed to the door at the fastest pace he could call a walk. Malfoy's didn't run in public, but Dianne was probably still being hunted by the phoenix.

"Your mother is at Hogwarts trying to find the answer to that question."

His father wasn't trying to stop him, which was good, but he was following him, which was not so good. Scorpius might be half-mad with the need to find Dianne, but he wasn't so focused that he didn't remember. His father had betrayed him. His father had never liked Dianne. His father was a threat.

"Mr. Malfoy, I understand your anxiety, but you need to speak with a Healer before you leave." Scorpius ignored the Healer—distraction—keeping pace at his other elbow.

"You just assured me he was perfectly healthy." Trust Father to stick his nose in everything.

"Sir, it's standard procedure to…" Scorpius didn't want to listen to the explanation, but he saw an opportunity.

"Father, please fire-call Mother and see if she has found any useful information. I will attend to this, and then apparate to Dianne's home to see if she is there. I will check everywhere we traveled this Solstice, and you do the same of the wizarding places she visited with us. I will call Dipsy as soon as I find her. We will cover more ground separately."

His father nodded his agreement, likely more because he knew if he didn't he'd have to deal with an angry and protective Veela than out of actual agreement. There were flaws in the plan a mile wide, but nobody argued logic with an impassioned Veela.

Scorpius immediately followed the Healer into another hall, already looking for the nearest exit to exploit as soon as he was out of his father's sight, when he suddenly found himself facing an office door marked "Healer Vega". The Healer he was following knocked, but Scorpius forced the door open without waiting for a reply and slammed it shut behind him.

He was already reaching for his want as the sound echoed, and he would have drawn it in time if he hadn't found a second, unexpected object in the same pocket. Vega's immobilization hex froze him before he could fully register his confusion.

"I know why you're furious with me. But I'm not going to let you tear me apart based on an unnecessary instinct. I know that you're currently searching for Dianne. But she doesn't want you to find her."

The shock of grief that hit him completely overpowered his anger. It was an almost foreign thought that pointed out that Vega had lied before. The logic numbed him just a little, but it was too awkward to return him to the invigorating anger which might have broken the hex.

"I know you are concerned for her safety, but that is no longer necessary. Yes, the phoenix hunted her. They could not sense her as long as your bond masked her presence. But when—for whatever reason—that bond retreated this afternoon, they were able to track her. Luckily, I was also waiting and made my way to Hogwarts immediately. I couldn't make it through the wards as quickly as the attacker did, but I arrived in time to save her after you fell. You were struck by the phoenix. As a qualified healer, and an expert in the damage they can do, I admit that I have no idea how you survived a single hour, let alone are capable of walking. The true anger of the phoenix is always deadly." He sighed, but continued. "She tried to save your life by physically stemming the blood flow but it wasn't working. It couldn't work. I told her as much. I told her if she wanted to survive, she would have to avoid all magical drain indefinitely to let her threshold recover or else give up her magic and become a Muggle. I was forced to leave before I could help her complete the necessary steps. However, she apparently managed on her own. I know for fact that she is currently safe, healthy although in shock, and that the phoenix will never be able to track her again. Not while she's a Muggle."

Vega paused, staring at Scorpius. "I don't know what she did, or how, but somehow she managed to heal you, and give you a stable bond. I know you still feel the same way and instinctively treat her as though she were your mate. However this is impossible. She is completely a Muggle. She has no magic. Her core is producing no magic. She is not your mate. Your reactions are entirely emotional and instinctual, there is no longer any magical drive behind them. She is safe, and you are safe. That is more than I thought possible when I realized that you had chosen her for your mate. Now, I'm going to relax the hex enough for you to breath at your own pace and control your eyes. When you're ready to talk like a rational human being, just close your eyes and keep them closed.

Almost immediately Scorpius felt his body begin to pant and wrestled himself under control. Panicking would not help. Panicking had, in fact, gotten him hexed. Vega had hinted that he knew where Dianne was, that he had seen her or spoken with someone who had. He needed Vega's help to find her, because despite what he told his dad he doubted Dianne had gone back to her house. It was doubtful that someone hadn't already checked there.

He didn't believe for a moment that Dianne wasn't his mate. Vega was either lying, or he was wrong. However, perhaps because of the stable bond which had also been mentioned by the Healer speaking with his father, Scorpius was able to get control of himself, so after a couple regulated breaths he closed his eyes. It seemed like a long time before the hex was lifted.

"Have a seat." Scorpius didn't want to, but one thing he had learned from watching Dianne deal with the purebloods was that faking acquiescence in unimportant matters could lead very quickly to being underestimated. "I thought you should also know that whatever Dianne did, it dissolved your oath to the phoenix." Scorpius could feel that he failed to hide his shock, but he did get it under control before his defensiveness awoke and he lunged for the Naga. "My people are very good at what we do, and we are able to sense any disturbance in another's magic, even willing oaths. You bore one when we met over the Solstice, and even as you lay dying. Now, you do not."

"Where is Dianne?"

"I am not going to tell you. She cannot be tracked by the phoenix. You can. It will take them a while to learn to do so without your oath, especially as your magic is changed by the stability of the bond, but they will find you. I do not want you to lead them to her."

"Why do you care?"

"Dianne is unique. Her power should have made her so. It did not because of her compassion. Her compassion, too, should have made her a beacon. It did not because of her insecurity. Her insecurity drove her to levels of proficiency rarely matched in all the ways that matter. Still, her help was made impossible by her bond to you and through you to the phoenix. This is no longer a threat. She can finally become all that she was meant to be, all that she can be. She has the strength of will to lay down her life, willingly and knowingly, for a boy who hated her and everything she was. She has the mind to match and surpass the cunning of the bigoted and the barriers of the ignorant. She is needed, wanted, valued."

"Maybe she doesn't want to be needed by you. You've lied to her. She won't take that lightly."

"She knew we were being untruthful, even as we knew that she was seeking the edges of our eagerness for her skills. She wants to be appreciated. She wants to belong. With us, both are possible."

"You just said she's a Muggle. She'll never belong with magic again."

"You have a very narrow understanding of what is magical."

"You won't help me?"

"No."

"I love her."

"You think you do. Stay away for a while. Distract yourself. Even now, you do not feel the agitation which you would feel, if your mate were actually missing. The bond is steady, and that is all the Veela truly cares about. Everything else is developed survival response that is no longer needed in your case."

"Maybe I'm not agitated. But I am worried. I care about her."

"Then let her go. For her own safety."

"You're not going to let her go, and I bet the phoenix can find you too."

"We can protect her."

"So can I."

"You had your chance to do so. You failed." The truth stung, and Scorpius used the anger as an excuse to rise and sweep out of the office. He would get no more help from Vega.

Scorpius went to her house. Her parents knew nothing.

He went to the arcade, then the little diner, then the infamous Italian restaurant. No one recognized his description of Dianne.

He went to Summer Reed's home, but received nothing to help him find Dianne. She did, at least, give him Derek's location.

Derek did not know where Dianne was. In fact, he delayed Scorpius for over two hours, pulling every detail he could from him. Scorpius could have apparated away at any time, but didn't bother. It was good to talk about it all. To pull it apart, lay it out, and put it back together logically. Derek then delayed him another hour discussing his own state of mind. Scorpius told him that he did, in fact, feel more stable. He tried to describe the difference between the wildness of the Veela and the wildness which was emotion itself. Derek never seemed to get less confused, but Scorpius felt better afterward. Derek asked if it was even worth chasing Dianne. If there was no bond, why should they try to force the relationship to work when they were obviously ill-suited for each other?

Scorpius told him that he still cared for Dianne, was still worried about her, and still loved her.

He told Derek that Dianne needed to know what Vega had said about the plans the Naga had for her, and he didn't trust the crafty spirit to do it himself.

He told Derek that Di had changed his world, and he didn't want to go back to before he had made her laugh and been dubbed Zee.

He told Derek that he needed her help politically, that she had the most amazing mind of anyone he had ever met, and that he admired her regardless of any magical talent.

He told Derek that she had left her wand behind, but not her intension ring, and he fully meant to stand by his vow that she was the only one who could remove it and that if she wanted him, then he was hers.

He did not say, although he knew, that these were only the surface of the truth—the fruits of the one, deepest truth which he would not say to Derek, not when he hadn't yet said it to her.

In the end, Derek didn't know where Dianne was or where she would go. And Scorpius did not say that it didn't matter, he had figured it out much earlier in the conversation, but had needed just a little more time to sort himself out with the one listener who was almost as good, almost as just, almost as smart as Dianne herself.

The sun didn't stand a chance against the English clouds, making it even colder in Oxford than in Scotland. Still, Dianne had gotten in the habit of going outside to think, so she leaned against the tree, wrapped her coat tight around herself, gave thanks it wasn't actively raining, and missed Edward's weather warding.

She had a choice to make, and no one could make it for her. She hadn't missed the way Mr. Vise President of the College had assumed the conclusion was obvious, but she hadn't bothered to correct him. Best to get all options on the table. And what an option! Education, career, protection, society, respect, justice, even the petty vindication of being able to rub Oxford in Richard's face.

Still, it was an option. One option. Which meant there was a choice.

The alternative options was, on the surface, unappealing. She was less than a Squib now, by any reckoning. She had enemies, and it was unlikely that many, if indeed any, of her new friends or allies would remain with her. She knew well the taste of prejudice, distain, and bigotry. Even so, she knew it could get worse. It likely would get worse.

She knew she needed to make that choice, consider and accept the consequences.

On paper it was easy. Simple. Straight forward. Forgone conclusion. Except…

Except.

Except that she had seen the flash of well-earned pride—had felt it echoed in herself. She had known actual confidence, had known certainty and victory and pure, heady triumph. She had belonged. Magic was now closed to her by her own hand. But she knew who she was, and she was more than the power to produce a rose out of paper. She believed it, truly, fully, proudly, because Zee had believe it first. And she knew that he would believe it still. They weren't destined any more. Weren't tied together, forced together, drawn together by powers in their very beings of which they were unaware. She was confident that she could have been angry with him if she wished. Likely, she would be again someday. They certainly didn't agree on much. But after ten years of not knowing who she was, she had found herself again.

She would choose to know herself.

There was a pop to her right, and she straightened from where she had been leaning.

Standing just a little ways away was Scorpius himself, facing the front of Oxford which had been printed on the brochure she'd been mailed. It was the destination he had pictured to pull himself through space to get to her. She had guessed that this was where he would arrive.

He turned toward her immediately. It was impossible—she no longer had any magic to resonate with him—but impossible didn't change the fact that he turned to her, stepped closer, and clamped both hands on her shoulders without a single hesitation.

"Dianne, I want you to know this, before you say anything else." He obviously had a prepared speech, and he was steady enough on his feet that she thought he was probably still fine physically, so she drank in the sight of his intense face, and nodded as she listened. "That ring is still yours. I am still yours until you choose to remove it. I love you. I love who you are becoming, and I love you more every day as you find yourself. I know we challenge each other, and there are hard times ahead. I know everything just got a thousand times more complicated and that there's going to be hell to pay. But I'm not just a Veela anymore. I have a choice now. And I choose you, because I've never hated myself so much as when I was too weak to do what was necessary, and I've never been as grateful for anything as I am for the second chance you gave me. I want to be more like you. You're not perfect. I know that. But I choose you, temper and insecurities and… and everything else because you gave me the strength to want to break my oath, and I never want to be chained again. I want to be my better self. And I know that I can find that with you, Di. I have a choice now, and I choose you, as my intended."

It was everything she'd been waiting to hear.

-Chapter End. 7,800 Words-

Author's Note:

Again, I thank you for reading. All feedback is appreciated. This is the end of this story. This was always the planned ending, even though the exact details of how to get here changed a few times.

We are tentatively planning a sequel, Consequences, but more likely we'll do a few one-shots first. So if you have questions or requests, just drop us a review or PM.

This story, including original characters, may be used by anyone who wishes, so long as you send a review or PM to let us know we were a help.

We remain yours,

Saphrae (and beta)

Posted on September 20, 2014.