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Dramione Fanfiction Eclipse of Serpents and Lions Chapter 4: The Phoenix’s Ashes Setting: Hogwarts, Dawn. The word hung between them, raw and impossible: *Sanctuary.* Hermione stared at Draco Malfoy slumped against her dormitory corridor wall. Blood crusted his split lip, his left eye was swollen shut, purpling violently. Fresh bruises mottled his jaw. His torn robes revealed glimpses of the half-healed Sectumsempra scars beneath, stark against his unnaturally pale skin. He looked like a ghost haunting the wrong hallway, a shattered prince exiled from his own kingdom. Logic screamed *No*. He was a Death Eater. He’d brought the killers into Hogwarts. He’d pointed his wand at Dumbledore. He’d stood by while Snape… She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing the image away. But the memory of his trembling hand lowering the wand, his broken sobs on the Astronomy Tower, the raw terror in his whispered plea – it drowned out the scream. *He lowered his wand. He tried to stop me from dying too. He’s b...

Dramione Fanfiction Eclipse of Serpents and Lions Chapter 3: Unbreakable Whispers Setting: Hogwarts, June.  The Astronomy Tower wasn’t just cold; it was *alive* with dread. Hermione pressed herself against the rough stone pillar, her breath shallow puffs of vapor in the frigid air. Beside her, hidden in the deeper shadows cast by a crumbling gargoyle, Draco Malfoy stood rigid, his face a mask of frozen terror illuminated by the eerie green glow of the Dark Mark blazing over the castle. His knuckles were bone-white where they gripped his wand, pointed shakily at Albus Dumbledore. The Headmaster stood near the parapet, looking frail but unnervingly calm. Below, chaos reigned – flashes of spell-light, shouts, the distant roar of Hagrid’s hut burning. Death Eaters had breached the castle. Draco’s mission. *His* Vanishing Cabinet. *He’s going to do it,* Hermione thought, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. *He’s going to kill him.* The realization was a physical ac...

Dramione Fanfiction Eclipse of Serpents and Lions  Chapter 2: The Sectumsempra Secret Setting: Hogwarts, February. Cold seeps through the castle stones like regret. Hermione Granger couldn’t escape the smell of blood. It haunted her between stacks of library books, lurked behind the sharp scent of Floo powder in the common room, and now—*Merlin, now*—it was thick and metallic in the damp air of the second-floor girls' bathroom. Moaning Myrtle wailed overhead, her sobs echoing off cracked porcelain tiles. *“Worthless! Unlovable! Forever alone!”* Hermione barely heard her. Her breath hitched as she stared at the crimson streaks smeared across the floor, leading to the farthest stall. Her prefect rounds could wait. Logic warred with dread. *It’s Peeves. Or a wounded animal. Or…* She pushed the stall door open. The scent of copper slammed into her. Draco Malfoy slumped against the wall, his face chalk-white, lips tinged blue. His Slytherin robes were slashed open, the white shirt benea...

Dramione Fanfiction Eclipse of serpents and lions Chapter 1: Shadows of the Vanishing Cabinet   Set: Hogwarts, early Sixth Year - Half-Blood Prince era. The castle feels colder, heavier, like it’s holding its breath. The library dust motes danced in the late October moonlight slanting through the high windows, usually a comforting sight for Hermione Granger. Tonight, they just looked like ash. She slammed *Moste Potente Potions* shut with more force than necessary, the thud echoing in the unnervingly quiet Restricted Section. Her brain felt like it was vibrating – Arithmancy equations warring with worry for Harry, who was becoming disturbingly obsessed with his mysterious Potions book, and Ron, who seemed perpetually annoyed with… well, everything, especially her. "Ugh, useless!" she muttered, shoving the heavy tome back onto its shelf. Slughorn’s impossible assignment on the properties of powdered moonstone under lunar phases could wait. What *couldn’t* wait was figuring out...

Wed to the War King   CHAPTER 4: The Language of Scars Queen Aria's POV The castle healers had barred the door like I was some invading army rather than a queen. Three hours I'd paced the length of that damned corridor, my bloodied nightgown still clinging to my skin, the phantom weight of Kael's body slumped against mine making my arms tremble. "He's stable," Head Healer Lin finally announced, wiping her hands on a stained cloth. "But he shouldn't be moved—" I was already pushing past her. The chamber smelled of crushed herbs and copper, the heavy drapes drawn against the dawn. Kael lay propped up on a mountain of pillows, his torso wrapped in bandages that did nothing to diminish the sheer presence of him. Moonlight caught the sweat-slicked planes of his chest, the old scars I knew by heart—the jagged one from Greymere where my dagger had slipped, the neat line from Silverpass where I'd nicked him through his armor. His eyes ope...

  Wed to the War King CHAPTER 5: The Fractured Crown Queen Aria's POV The riots began at dawn. I stood on the palace balcony, watching my capital burn—not from enemy invasion, but from within. The people I'd sworn to protect now tore through the streets, their shouts rising like smoke into the winter air. "Death to the Vareen alliance!" "Our queen beds the enemy!" My fingers turned bloodless against the railing. Three days. Three days since Kael had left to quell unrest in his own kingdom, and already my council whispered of civil war. "Your Majesty." Lord Torin appeared at my shoulder, his usually impeccable robes stained with soot. "The eastern provinces have declared for your cousin. The northern lords refuse to send troops. If we don't act—" "I know." The words tasted like ash. I turned from the carnage, my crown suddenly too heavy. "Prepare my horse. I'll ride out to the villages myself." ...

Wed to the War King   CHAPTER 6: Ashes & Absolution Queen Aria's POV The royal dungeon smelled of damp stone and despair—of old blood and older regrets. I stood before Prince Eliam’s cell, my fingers tracing the rough grooves in the wall where countless prisoners had carved their final prayers. The torchlight flickered, casting monstrous shadows that danced across his hollowed cheeks. Three weeks in darkness had whittled him down to something less than human, but his eyes still glittered with venom. "You misunderstand," he rasped, chains biting into his wrists as he leaned forward. "I didn’t act alone." Behind me, Kael’s presence was a living thing—warm and solid against the dungeon’s chill. His hand settled at the small of my back, fingers pressing just hard enough to remind me: I’m here. Breathe. "Names," Kael demanded, his voice low and lethal. Eliam’s cracked lips twisted. "Your precious Lord Torin wept like a babe when my me...