Title The Death eaters daughter
Author name Alexia and Ambyr Green
Author email drake_please@hotmail.com
Category Romance/action/
Keywords Hermione , Draco , daughter , jewl
Spoilers all books
Rating pg 13
Summary Hermione granger is a woman on the run , she is forced to flee to Australia with her new born child. Thirteen years later a old friend from the past reveals himself , does he hold the key to Hermione's past and what of the jewl she always wears around her neck? why is every one after it. It's up to Heather the amazing psychic Angelica the amazing pyscho and the dashing and debonair Mr Blau to find out
Disclaimer we dont own any thing , but you probably already new that.
Author'sEaters Daughter - Chapter 1
Look at the stars, like flowers th the ey shone in the inky black night. Yet they were eternal, they couldn't die, they would never whither away into dust. Just like the Immortals, one of them stared into the summer night, his eyes focused on the full moon. How beautiful she was...yet she was so lonely. The Immortals back stiffened and he turned.
Lord Voldemort was not used to the emotion fear, fear made you weak and when you were weak you had no power and, like most egomaniacs, he was determined to be the most powerful wizard in the world. However Voldemort, although he wouldn't admit it, was terrified of the Immortals. They were assassins, the original assassins and the most powerful. They had existed for over a millennium although there origins were unknown. However, one thing was sure about them, they would always fulfil their contract and they were never, ever caught.
"Your foolish for calling apon us Tom Riddle, we have already fulfilled many contracts of yours in the past and we are getting....tired of doing all your dirty work" the Immortal who was staring at the stars stated, it wasn't words exactly he spoke, it was more like statements imprinted into Voldemort's head like stone.
"Just one more contract please, this one is impossible to kill..." Voldemort cried desperately.
"You say that about all of them and they all prove to be strikingly easy" the Immortal stated.
"But this one.... I have tried to kill him no less than six times! Count them, six! and each time his slipped through my bloody fingers. I'll double your pay...I'll triple it if you kill this one person for me" Voldemort begged desperately. There was a pregnant pause from the Immortal and once again he stared at the stars.
"Look at the stars, Thomas Riddle, after thousands of years you begin to... forget how truly beautiful they are. Most of them are dead now, yet from this little world they are Immortal, like flowers blooming in the darkness" the Immortal trailed off.
"I didn't call you so that we could discuss philosophy, you death challenged murderer, I called you so you could take a human life" Voldemort hissed, stamping his feet.
"You have so much to learn Thomas Riddle. You want to kill this boy so you shall be like us Immortals, yet you have no idea what life is" the Immortal said. Voldemort stared at the Immortals face, which was covered by his thick black hood.
"I know what life is" he yelled.
"Really? what doesn't die cannot live and what doesn't live cannot learn, what doesn't learn cannot change. Do you want to be like this? do you want to alter your destiny revealed in the stars by killing this boy?" the Immortal hissed.
"Just get rid of the goddamned boy!" Voldemort shrieked, his face going bright red.
"Very well" the Immortal said, slightly bemused as he pulled out a tiny little sinister green jewel on a silver chain from his black robes.
"It is done, Harry Potter shall die!"
Voldemort shrieked gleefully.
****
"Hermione, we need to talk" Draco said, blocking her way in the Hogwarts corridor.
"I don't have time for this" Hermione said, pushing him out of the way.
"You cant deny what happened, Hermione, all that raw heat...that animal passion" Draco said, grabbing Hermione's shoulder.
"You are disgusting" Hermione stated with a grimace on her face.
"Your only hurting yourself by rejecting destiny" Draco cried.
"Oh come on Draco, you think by sucking up to me with this flowery praise that your going to get those kittens? it was bad enough that you actually watched our cats doing...that thing in the first place" Hermione said, going a bright shade of red.
"Oh come on Hermione, I need those kittens for my army" Draco whined.
"You really think that you can train a bunch of cats to be your killers of the night? in your dreams" Hermione snorted.
"Oh come, you have to admit the idea is pretty cool" Draco replied.
"It doesn't matter anyway, Crookshanks hasn't even gone into labour yet" Hermione said as she reached the Gryffindor portrait hole.
"Surrieler Green" she said and the portrait swung open while the fat lady grumbled about her beauty sleep. Hermione was horrified when she realised that Draco had followed her.
"Oh so your stalking me now?" she snapped irritably, Draco just rolled his eyes.
"Do you think I want to be seen hanging out with a mudblood in the Gryffindor common room? I am staying here 'till that undergrown tiger of yours has had my kittens" Draco sneered.
"They are not your kittens, they belong to both of us...and I told you Crookshanks hasn't even gone into labour yet" Hermione yelled. Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream from the boys dorms and a pelting figure with bright red hair ran down the stairs. It was Ron and when he saw Hermione he nearly passed out.
"Ron what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"I....I....I...." Ron stuttered.
"Calm down Ron, take big breaths" Hermione said helpfully. Ron stood there for several seconds breathing deeply then looked at Hermione fearfully.
"Hermione... I am so sorry I killed Crookshanks" Ron cried, tears forming into his eyes.
"What happened?" Hermione yelled.
"Well I was in the dorm looking through Harry's stuff so I could borrow the invisibility cloak without him knowing" Ron began, looking slightly sheepish.
"Invisibility cloak?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow only to be hit firmly by Hermione.
"Mind your own business, what happened next Ron?" She asked.
"Well, Crookshanks wandered into the dorm and he looked pretty ill, he was all groggy and swaying from side to side. I felt a bit sorry for him so I put him on Neville's bed. Next thing I know Crookshanks collapsed and something red and bloody came out of his ass! he died of constipation" Ron cried hysterically.
"Oh Ron, Crookshanks didn't die, he just had a baby" Hermione said kindly, patting Ron's shoulder.
"Oh that makes sense, he just had a baby...........WHAT? that doesn't make any sense at all!. How could Crookshanks have possibly had a baby?" Ron yelled.
"Well you see, Weasel, when a mummy cat and a daddy cat love each other very much...." Draco began, an amused expression on his face.
"I know about that... hey what are you doing here Malfoy? this is the Gryffindor common room, we don't allow snakes like you" Ron sneered.
"Spare me the lecture, pauper, shouldn't you be grubbing for pennies in a sewer somewhere?" Draco sneered. As soon as the words left Draco's mouth Ron lunged for his throat. In the tradition of all school students everywhere a crowd soon formed around the brawling duo.
"STOP IT!" Hermione screamed, trying to pull the two of them apart.
"He insulted my honour, Hermione" Ron sneered as blood from a head wound flowed down his robes.
"Well you called him a snake, Ron, you can't claim innocence" Hermione replied, folding her arms. Ron's eyes went wide with shock.
"I can't believe this...your taking his side!" Ron yelled
.
"I'm not taking anyone's side, Ron, I'm Head Girl damnit! And as long as I'm Head Girl you will obey me" she yelled to Ron's face.
"Well someone is certainly getting a bit egotistical, your not going to be Head Girl forever, you know. Schools over for us in a week "Ron replied.
"Geez, the weasel certainly knows big words, huh Hermione? I bet his swallowed a dictionary" Draco shot back.
"Both of you just get up now! Crookshanks is the main concern here, not your petty squabbling" Hermione snapped. The two of them at least had the decency to look guilty.
One of Hermione's downtraits that Draco often noticed was that she was convinced that she was ugly. Draco would never admit it, even under the Cruciatus Curse that Hermione was one of the prettiest, kindest, smartest girls in Hogwarts. To make a long story short Draco was absolutely head over heels in love with her. Perhaps it was the constant fighting that they shared, the hatred that boiled and simmered...it was a bit of a turn on. But there was also the incident at the Yule ball two years previously, he remembered how absolutely outraged that bull dog Pansy was when every one noticed how Pretty Hermione looked. Draco had reassured her that Hermione only looked tolerable and it was no wonder only Krumm had asked her to the ball because she wasn't pretty enough to dance with. However as soon as he had uttered those words he couldn't help but notice her eyes, what a pretty hazel colour they were with the flecks of green and gold and how her now shrunken teeth made her have a beautiful smile. That was when it started.
Draco snapped back to reality as the three of them stopped outside the Boys Dormitory. Draco immediately stepped forward and opened the door for Hermione, who gave him a puzzled look.
"I still don't understand how this could have happened Hermione, your cat is a boy and boys can't have babies" Ron said matter-of-factly as they entered the room. Hermione and Draco looked at each other shiftily.
"Well ... you see, technically Crookshanks isn't a boy anymore" Hermione stated carefully.
"His a girl and my cat Morbidda who used to be female is now male" Draco added helpfully.
"But.. .but how is that possible?" Ron said, turning a sickening shade of green.
"You see Ron, about six months ago Draco was failing Transfiguration" Hermione answered.
"Well I wasn't failing exactly" Draco snapped.
"You couldn't even turn a match into a pin, even first years can do that" Hermione answered, raising an eyebrow.
"That isn't the point, the point is that old hag Professor McGonagall insisted I do a extra curriculum assignment to bring up my grade. She also insisted that this Mudblood help me" Draco said.
"For Pete's sake, Draco, can you for once call me by my name?" Hermione said, slightly annoyed.
"Fine, the professor insisted that Hermione had to help me with my assessment" Draco said, rolling his eyes.
"Thank you Draco, so anyway we came apon a very old Transfiguration spell and if it worked it was bound to bring Draco's grades up. The spell was called Metamorphous Sexualises, it can transfigure males into females and females into males" Hermione chanted as if reciting from a text book.
"Hermione decided to practice on our pets before performing the spell on ourselves, however there was a slight problem" Draco cut in, making Hermione feel extremely annoyed.
"Our cats fell in love and Crookshanks, in her female form, got pregnant"Hermione said grimly. Ron stood there for a moment, letting this all sink in. Draco and Hermione had been working secretly on this project for months and he didn't even know. Ron secretly wondered if Harry new about this. Where was Harry anyway? he would go psycho if he knew Draco was in their Common room.
****
"Oh, not you again" Harry Potter said as he finally came-to and saw Wormtail's face peering at him.
"You think you could be a bit more greatful to me you know, I am about to save your life" Wormtail grumbled. Harry painfully rolled his eyes. The last thing he remembered was walking back from Care Of Magical Creatures class, but that must have been hours ago.
"I don't have to do this you know Harry, lord knows what my master will do to me" Wormtail said distractedly as he began to untie Harry.
"What am I doing here?" Harry asked as he realised he had been taken to the Forbidden Forest.
"The master has hired the Immortals to kill you, Potter, and believe me they will unless I help you" Wormtail replied.
"Why should I trust you?" Harry spat. A strange looked passed momentarily on Wormtail's face and he reached into his robes, a few seconds later he pulled out a tiny green jewel on a silver chain, it glowed like fire and seemed to pulse sinisterly.
"This is your life, Harry Potter, every thought, every memory, every second is summed up in this jewel. If it is destroyed not only shall you die but you shall also cease to exist, you would have never existed which means my lord ... my master shall never have been defeated" Wormtail hissed.
"Then why don't you just destroy it?" Harry hissed with bravery and foolishness.
"Because I can't, you saved my life, a debt I shall never be able to repay" Wormtail cried with frustration.
"Then what are you going to do with me?" Harry asked bravely.
"You are to run away, Mister Potter, and your to never return. I will hide this Jewel so no-one can find it. As long as the Immortals don't have the jewel you shall be safe" Wormtail replied.
"Why should I trust you? your a treacherous coward" Harry replied.
"Because right now I'm the only one you've got" Wormtail answered softly and for the briefest second Harry saw in Wormtail's eyes...trust.
****
"Right we have to get Crookshanks down to Hagrid as soon as possible, Hagrid said today in class he was going to set a nest up for her" Hermione said as she charged into the Boys Dormitory.
"Hermione this is the boys room!" Ron cried shocked.
"There's nothing here I haven't seen before, especially when Fred and George decided to boycott pants... well except that" Hermione said as she pointed at a what looked like a rotten banana, but turned out to be a pair of Dean's underwear.
Draco made his way swiftly towards Neville's bed and picked Crookshanks up as gently as possible, Crookshanks cried out with a mixture of pain and protest.
"Shhh girl, it's going to be OK" Draco whispered soothingly, almost immediately Crookshanks began to purr contentedly. Hermione looked at Draco with a mixture of shock and approval.
"Your good with animals" she said reluctantly, blushing slightly which filled Draco with glee.
"Well I spend a lot of time with them, she's haemorrhaging at the moment, the birth hasn't begun yet so we still have time" Draco said, walking slowly to the dorms door, cradling Crookshanks in his arms.
"All right, Ron you better stay here, you know, in case we don't come back or something" Hermione said vaguely as they exited the dorm.
****
The idea of being out alone on the Hogwarts grounds with Hermione under the light of a full moon was something that had often crossed Draco's mind. However clutching a pregnant cat to his chest hadn't been part of it.
Hermione shiftily looked at Draco out of the corner of her eyes. She had been doing that often lately, catching occasional glimpses of his spiky gelled blonde hair and broad shoulders. A voice in Hermione's head screamed not to associate herself with the likes of his lot but she couldn't help herself. There was something about that way he moved, the way he talked that drew her to him. There was also the smell, a strong spicy cologne that he seemed to wear whenever he was near her. Sometimes she could almost imagine catching occasional whiffs of it while sitting in class or doing her homework in the evenings. She would then spin around, expecting to see him and feel slightly disappointed when he wasn't there.
"Ride on a dragon and fly with me
Up, up into the starry night
I'll pick a flower that will never fade
and you can wear it in your long tangle mane
and together we shall be free" a voice sang near Hermione's ear. Hermione turned around, shocked when she realised it was Draco's voice. He was singing the same nonsense rhyme to Crookshanks over and over again in a soothing voiced. There was something about the way he cradled the cat in his arms, so loving so un-Draco that made Hermione wish he was singing to her.
"I've never heard that song before" Hermione said nervously as they continued to make there way across the Hogwarts grounds.
"You probably wouldn't have, it's a old Wizard Lullaby and your parents are MUGGLES" Draco replied coolly.
"It's nice, what doe's it mean anyway?" Hermione asked, Draco just shrugged his shoulders, but carefully as though not to disturb Crookshanks.
"It's doesn't really have a meaning I think, my mother used to sing it to me when I was a child. There was more to but I can't quite remember it" Draco replied.
"You know, some old nursery rhymes have deeper meaning, for example ring-a-ring-of-roses is an allegory of the Plague" Hermione said.
"Trust Muggles to turn a tragedy into a seriously disturbing Nursery Rhyme" Draco replied.
"What is wrong with you Draco? just occasionally I see a nice person inside you and then you begin to act like a jerk again" Hermione snapped.
"Well what's wrong with you? occasionally you can be cool, Granger, instead of a know it all Mudblood" Draco retorted.
"Will you stop calling me that?!" Hermione cried, Draco sighed as if defeated .
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, in fact I never mean it. I shouldn't call you a Mudblood, your far from being a Mudblood, to be honest I have a confession to make...." Draco began but was cut off when Hermione cried.
"Finally!" and pointed to Hagrid's hut, the two of them walked carefully down to the hut and knocked on the door, there was no answer.
"Oh, I can't believe this, after coming all this way" Hermione groaned, stamping her feet. She glared at Draco as if it was his fault that Hagrid wasn't home.
"Don't look at me like that, is it my fault the great brute is down at the Three Broomsticks getting drunk?" Draco sneered, Hermione glared at him and sat down on the dewy grass.
"He is not a drunk" Hermione said quietly as Draco carefully put Crookshanks down.
"I never said he was Hermione, you did" Draco said looking, into Hermione's hazel eyes with his own piercing grey ones, Hermione just looked away.
"Hows Crookshanks doing?" Hermione asked.
"Do you really think I want to look down there?" Draco asked.
"Well I'm not...that's disgusting" Hermione shrieked, her face going green.
"Oh come on, your the girl, aren't girls supposed to be into the miracle of life?" Draco sneered.
"Not when it's coming out of a cats butt!" Hermione cried, slightly hysterical.
"Oh god, something's coming out!" Draco cried.
"Well what is it?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know... it's bloody and wet and...and" Draco stuttered, his face going a deathly shade of white. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted into the grass.
"Oh god, Draco!" Hermione cried, leaning over him. She peered anxiously at his smooth, pale face and then firmly slapped him across the cheeks, her hand making a hissing sound in the air. It struck him across the face and his eyes burst open suddenly.
"I never tire of you slapping me, Granger, but can I ask what happened?" Draco said, his voice dripping with rage as he sat upwards.
"Well you fainted. Imagine that, the son of a Death Eater afraid of a little blood. I wonder what your father would think" Hermione grinned wickedly.
"Granger, are you trying to blackmail me?" he asked, completely shocked.
"That depends Malfoy, after all I don't want my cats babies to be trained to be your army of the night" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"You are such a complete and utter cow, Granger "he said, glaring at her, although he was thinking how seductive she looked when she was being evil.
"Well if that's the way you feel then why do you even bother to talk to me?" Hermione snarled, feeling extremely annoyed.
"Fine, how about I go and have a conversation with the Whomping Willow?...although I doubt anything can hit as hard as you" Draco replied.
"Just go away Draco, you obviously hate me and don't want to be here" Hermione hissed.
"I Don't hate you" Draco replied, startled.
"You don't?' Hermione asked, backing away slightly. By now Crookshanks kittens had been born and were desperately clawing around her for milk.
"No, in fact I sort of like you" Draco replied coolly, folding his arms. His words rang in Hermione's head like a Megaphone had been turned on, her shock was beyond expression.
"You like me, you know as in the way a boy likes a girl?" Hermione choked.
"Well, yeah, I mean you are beautiful and smart, not to mention kind. Plus your the only girl who has had the guts to slap me before" Draco grinned. Hermione's insides churned, she felt dirty but she felt also, despite the fact she'd never admit it, felt flattered and rather happy. Out of all the girls in Hogwarts he had chosen her, a Gryffindor and not to mention a Mudblood.
"So I guess the million dollar question here, Granger, is whether you have any feelings for me at all?" Draco asked quietly.
"Well....your not so bad yourself. I mean, you are kind of nice in an evil way and you are cute if you like that whole dark brooding thing. Plus your smart, I mean, you do get top marks in Potions. Oh, but what am I saying? your fathers a Death Eater, his a...." But Hermione's words were cut short as Draco reached over and impulsively kissed her. Hermione's eyes bugged out with shock as she felt his lips against hers, and next thing she felt his tongue massaging against hers, at first gentle and more forceful. She ripped herself off him and once again slapped him hard across the face.
"What are you, some sex crazed animal?!!" she shrieked, wiping her mouth with disgust.
"You mean you didn't want me to kiss you?" Draco asked.
"No....I mean you can't just run over kissing whoever you want to, it's called sexual harassment" Hermione said firmly.
"Not if the person wants you to kiss them" Draco said smugly.
"How did you know I wanted your tongue in my mouth?" she asked angrily.
"Your so obvious" Draco said smugly and then leaned in to kiss her again, but before he could there was a crash from Hagrid's garden, a sucking grinding sound followed.
"What was that?" Draco asked, feeling extremely annoyed the moment had been ruined.
"Draco, you would know that noise if you ever paid attention to Care Of Magical Creatures class. That's a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" Hermione choked as she pointed at the ten foot monstrosity.
"That great brute mustn't have locked them up for the night" Draco cried as Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and the kittens by bundling them up in her cloak.
"On the count of three run" Hermione choked, standing up carefully. Draco grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly with mute terror.
"OK one, two, three...RUN!!!!" Hermione cried, tearing off as fast as she could, dragging Draco behind her. The Blast Ended Skrewt roared with rage and set off after them.
****
The two teenagers ran as fast as they could though the Hogwarts grounds, tearing up mud and wet grass after them. Draco, with his free hand, was hurling hexes at the monster, but they all bounced off it's shell.
"Where are we going ?" he asked.
"The forest, it's our only chance" Hermione cried.
"WHAT? going into the forest would be suicide!" Draco cried, slightly hysterical. As they pelted down towards the forest, carefully pursued by the Skrewt, Hermione raised the hem of her robes, slightly revealing what looked like two wooden stakes taped to her socks, she then opened the pocket of her robes revealing a silver chain to use on a Werewolf.
"I'm covered" she puffed as they reached the woods edge. Just then Hermione felt something brush against her and slight pressure against her cheek, yet there was nothing there.
"Strange" she muttered to herself, but before she could investigate Draco had dragged her away.
"Keep running " he hissed as he dragged her into the wood. They ran down the woods path as fast as they could, crashing through the undergrowth until the sounds of the Blast Ended Skrewt sounded faint and distant. Finally the two of them reached a small clearing and collapsed, exhausted. Hermione lent her head on Draco's shoulder and breathed deeply, allowing air to gather in her lungs.
"How's the cat?" Draco snapped. Hermione looked down at the bundle in her arms.
"There's not a scratch on her or the kittens, suprisingly" she remarked. Her face suddenly screwed up with pain as she realised she was sitting on something sharp.
Reluctantly she sat up and looked, puzzled, at what looked like freshly disturbed earth. She looked up at Draco, but he wasn't paying attention. Not caring that she was getting her hands dirty she scrabbled at the earth until she felt her hands hit something small and smooth.
"Draco" she said shakily, Draco opened his eyes tiredly.
"What Hermione?" he asked, Hermione held up the slightly muddy jewel in front of Draco, who felt his eyes drawn to it.
"What's this?" she asked, puzzled. They both stared at the swirling shades of emerald green and yellow that seemed to moving like ink in water.
I don't know" Draco said suddenly feeling very uneasy.
****
When Draco walked down to the great hall for breakfast his mind felt strained and foggy. He actually forgot to walk with Crabbe and Goyle, which was a major first. Through the sea of black he managed to see a bushy brown head next to a red one bobbing through the crowd.
"Hey! Hermione!" he yelled, flagging her down. Hermione looked up, rather startled, and Ron just glared at him. Draco walked over to Hermione and smugly put his arm around her Shoulder while glaring at the one he called Weasel.
"Is there something your not telling me, Herm?" Ron said, a disgusted expression planted on his face.
"Haven't you told him yet Hermione?" Draco asked sweetly.
"No, now is not the time Draco. Something serious has happened, Harry didn't come back to the dorm last night" Hermione said, folding her arms.
"And I should care...why?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"Be serious Malfoy, his bed was un-slept in, not to mention his invisibility cloak was missing and his bag of money" Ron said, glaring at Draco with hatred.
So he did a runner, I'm not surprised...it is only a few days until the end of school which means it's only a few days until Voldemort is bound to strike" Draco said coolly.
"Harry wouldn't have run away like that" Ron said firmly.
"Actually, it's the sort of virtuous thing he'd do, go after Voldemort himself to make sure you two aren't hurt" Draco replied and by the expressions on their faces he knew he had hit the jackpot.
"Quick Ron, we have to go get the Marauders Map" Hermione said. Ron nodded sharply and the two of them tore up the stairs.
"Wait a minute, what the heck is a Marauders Map?" Draco yelled, running after them.
****
"WHAT?" Voldemort screamed in a voice insane with anger and rage. Wormtail trembled in front of his master.
"He.... He....got away" Wormtail choked, Voldemort studied Wormtail's face for a few moments as if to see if he was lying or not, however Wormtail now used to his masters mind tricks, kept strong. Voldemort turned away with disgust and glared at the Immortals.
"I thought this wasn't supposed to happen! I thought that you were going to kill him with the jewel!" Voldemort cried, sounding rather like a spoilt child.
"We cannot kill him, we do not have the jewel" the Immortal replied calmly. Immediately Voldemort turned to Wormtail, who was cowering to one side.
"You have it don't you! give me the jewel now Wormtail!" Voldemort hissed, his eyes glowing red.
"I don't have it master" Wormtail answered truthfully, shaking with terror.
"Right, round up the available Death Eaters immediately and scour the Forbidden Forest. We must find that Jewel" Voldemort hissed, marching away with disgust.
****
Draco burst into the boys common room to discover Hermione and Ron perched on the carpet, peering at what looked like a very ratty piece of parchment.
"He's not in the tunnels leading into Hogsmeade and I've checked the obvious places" Hermione said tiredly, eyeing the map intently with weary eyes.
"Have you checked the hidden bathroom behind the Potions dungeon".
"No he's not there either" Hermione replied. She looked up finally and saw Draco. Hermione quickly tapped the piece of parchment with her wand.
"Mischief Managed "she said, wiping the map clean.
'What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Harry's gone, that's all there is to it. I think it might have something to do with the jewel we found last night" Hermione said, looking up at Draco firmly.
"What Jewel? " Ron asked, Hermione reached down the front of her robes and pulled the still muddy jewel out .
"Draco and I...well Err...I found this Jewel last night in the woods" Hermione said, allowing Ron to look at it.
"Since when do we let the Snake on our side?" Ron asked, glaring at Draco.
"Since now Ron! this is serious" Hermione said as she looked up at Draco.
"We can trust you, cant we?" Hermione asked, Draco found his stomach do a flip flop and he nodded briskly and solemnly.
"All right, to begin Draco, has your father mentioned anything about Jewels or Voldemort lately?" Hermione asked.
"My father is not a Death Eater!......Okay, he may be a little Death Eater-ish but I swear he hasn't said anything about Voldemort for nearly six months" Draco said firmly.
"That must mean this is big, Voldemort hasn't even told his inner circle what he's up to" Hermione mused. She stood up thinking to herself and walked towards the Dormitories window.
"Harry didn't have much time to escape, he didn't even pack a spare change of clothes or his Firebolt, which is his most prized possession. From what I can see he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and some money and got out of here as quickly as possible. But how.....of course!" she cried triumphantly, turning to face the puzzled expressions on Ron and Draco's faces.
"He left through the hidden tunnel under the Whomping Willow! it all makes sense. From there he could have easily reached the Shrieking Shack and gotten into Hogsmeade. Plus last night when we were running away from the Blast-Ended Skrewt I felt someone brush against me, even though no one was there. It was Harry heading for the Whomping Willow" Hermione cried excitedly.
"Your making no sense, how could you have not seen Harry?" Draco asked, raising a silver-blonde eyebrow.
"Harry has an Invisibility Cloak, Draco, I thought everyone in Hogwarts knew that" Hermione replied.
"Well suddenly a lot of things are starting to make sense" Draco mused as he remembered the psychotic episode he had in there third year when he was convinced he saw Harry's head in Hogsmeade. His parents had sent him to a very nice psychiatrist that summer who gave Draco a bottle of bright pink pills that made his head feel lovely.
"But why would Harry escape?" Ron asked, expecting Hermione to have an answer...and as per usual she did.
"After I brushed with Harry, Draco and I stumbled into the woods where I found this jewel" Hermione said, holding it up so the shades of jade green and yellow caught in the light.
"It was buried shallowly in the mud as if someone had to hide it quickly. I think Harry must have hidden it. Voldemort was after this jewel and Harry hid it and then escaped" Hermione said, looking into the jewel.
"But why do you think he wants it? is it like the Philosophers Stone?" Ron asked.
"No, this seems different, it's so tiny yet so insignificant. I wish I knew what it was" Hermione said, a look of wonder on her face, she loved an intellectual challenge.
"Come on, lets go into research mode at the library" Hermione said brightly. Ron and Draco looked at each other angrily.
"Now look what you've done!" Ron cried.
"Me? how is it my fault?" Draco yelled.
****
Hermione sighed and pushed yet another textbook away, causing a cloud of dust to cover her face.
"This is hopeless, we have been searching for three days and we've found nothing" Ron groaned.
"I don't see why we just don't take the stone to Dumbledore, let him handle it" Draco sneered, he had already chipped several of his manicured nails on the table and rough-edged books.
"We can't run to Dumbledore with every one of our problems, he's to busy keeping Hogwarts safe from the Death Eaters" Hermione replied, picking up a thick volume called 'Healing Stones and their Properties'.
"Besides, haven't you noticed something strange going on?" Ron asked, looking up from the textbook he was reading which secretly had a comic book concealed inside it.
"No, what do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Harry's been gone for nearly three days and no-ones notice, no-ones even raised the alarm" Ron stated.
"Your right, that is weird" Draco drawled, rolling his eyes.
"No, I've noticed that to, I mean it's one day until graduation and no-one has even mentioned him once" Hermione commented.
"It's almost as if every one has forgotten him, as if he never existed" Ron said slowly.
"yeah, Ginny usually mentions him about ten times a day but since he ran away I Haven't heard about him once" Draco replied, looked up sharply from where he had been staring at Hermione's perfect long slim hands.
"Memorius" he said and then resumed staring.
"Memorius?" Ron and Hermione asked in union.
"You know, as in the Memory Charm" Draco said as it dawned on Hermione, Ron still remained confused.
"Memorius is a variation of the Memory Charm, except instead of making someone lose a memory Memorius just sort of pushes it away. It's usually used on large groups of Muggles by the ministry who have just witnessed magic"Hermione explained.
"So someone used a charm on our school to forget that Harry exists" Ron said slowly.
"Not forget exactly, more of 'out of site, out of mind'. As soon as anyone thinks about him they'll think about something else" Draco said as he gently slipped one of his hands onto Hermione's under the table. Hermione blushed slightly and cleared her throat nervously.
"You know it does make sense, if everyone in our school is under the Memorius Charm then Harry would easily be able to escape. But it's impossible, Memorius is a powerful Charm and charms isn't Harry's best subject" Hermione said, shaking her head.
"I think we need to tell Dumbledore about this as soon as possible" Ron choked.
"It won't work" Hermione and Draco said in union, then looked at each other, smiling.
"What do you mean it won't work?" Ron asked.
"Well the Memorius charm can only be broken by the person who cast it. So until we find Harry no-one will believe us" Hermione said, looking away from Draco. Ron looked at both of them suspiciously, there was something strange going on between those two but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Well then what are we supposed to do?" Ron asked, slightly panicked.
"We'll have to find Harry of course, the charm would probably have only affected Hogwarts, which means people at Gringotts would be immune. And if you were going to run away, the two things you would need are money and supplies" Hermione said, looking at both Ron and Draco.
"So your saying we have to drop everything and head to London, hoping to find Harry?" Ron asked.
" Not just us, we'll need help" Draco said.
"What do you mean we need help?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah Draco, we have gotten out of worse situations without anyone's help" Ron added. Draco rolled his eyes tiredly and stood up.
"Do you know how hard it will be to find one guy in this world when we have no idea were he's going?" He snapped irritably.
"Hey at least I'm trying, I don't even understand why your so interested in this anyway. I thought you'd be glad that Harry's gone, it will make it easier for your fathers Death Eaters to break in. Oh, and by the way Draco, Death Eaters sounds like some sort of wannabe rock group" Ron yelled, he was sick and tired of seeing Draco's pointy white face everywhere lately and he was sick and tired of getting into life threatening situations.
"Do you think I want Voldemort taking over? with him in charge there will be no Muggles for me to make fun of. Besides I quite like Muggle television, thankyou very much...and some Muggles are OK, I guess" he said, looking at Hermione.
Ron just scowled at him.
"But how do we know we can really trust you, how do we know your not just going to give this information to You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, determined to get Draco into trouble for something.
"Ron, will you stop being such a twerp? look, I am going up to my room to get Crookshanks and the kittens and when I get back I want you two to be acting civil to each other." Hermione said firmly, glaring at them both. She then picked up several of the text books and stormed out of the library.
****
"Bless my word wasn't that just....?"Beatrice Mille said to her fellow witch and friend Jasmine Bleathe.
"Why, I do believe it was Beatrice! why it was Harry Potter"Jasmine cried, excited as they enjoyed there Double Fudge Sundaes at Diagon Alley.
"I wonder what he was doing at Gringotts?" Beatrice asked.
"Well, getting out money I expect" Jasmine replied.
"Yes, but isn't it school term at the moment?" Beatrice said.
"I think school finished yesterday for the summer, dear, my niece Hannah Abbott just graduated from Hogwarts yesterday, you know" Jasmine replied and fished into her purse, revealing several photographs.
"Poor, poor Harry, while everyone else is on there summer vacation he has no-where to go. I mean he is an orphan the little dear" Beatrice remarked as she rifled through the photos of a smiling Hannah Abbott in her graduation robes.
"Yes but he's very rich, he could live wherever he wants. I wonder what girl would snap him up it's a pity he never noticed our Hannah" Jasmine said, taking a bite out of her Sundae.
"Well you know what they say" Beatrice said, shaking her slightly greying hair.
"No, what do they say?" Jasmine replied testily.
"That he's in love with his best friend, Hermione Granger" Beatrice said wisely, nodding her head.
"Oh... she's not the one with the curly brown hair, is she?" Jasmine asked.
"I think so, why do you ask?" Beatrice replied.
"Well, at the graduation I heard Mrs Weasley talking to Mrs Finnigan. Apparently she was most distraught because Hermione Granger was seen kissing a boy called Draco Malfoy. Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley couldn't understand why she would choose a Malfoy over there son, Ron" Jasmine said, pushing a strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ears.
"Lucius Malfoy? but wasn't he...." Beatrice began and Jasmine nodded grimly.
"The ministry official who turned Death Eater last summer, although most believe he was a Death Eater long before that. You can understand why Mrs Weasley was so upset, I mean Hermione Granger was one of Hogwarts best and brightest students and to be seen with that dark trash...." Jasmine muttered darkly, but stopped as she noticed a familiar face in the Diagon Alley morning crowd.
"There she is! Hermione Granger!" Jasmine hissed to Beatrice, pointing at a young woman with Bushy brown curls dressed in Muggle attire. She was accompanied by a tall gangly boy with red hair and a shorter more muscular boy with blonde spikes.
"She's coming this way!....act like we haven't been talking about her" Jasmine hissed to Beatrice, who nodded feverishly.
"So Beatrice, did you get that silk dress robe that your wearing to your cousins wedding next week?" Jasmine asked, changing the subject promptly.
"Oh yes, but I went against the dark red though, it made me look too hippy. I went for the pale lavender instead" Beatrice replied.
"Hello" Hermione said, walking up to the two women politely.
"Why hello Hermione, we met yesterday, I'm Hannah's aunt?" Jasmine said politely.
"Yes I remember. I was wondering if you could help us with something" Hermione asked.
"Well what is it dear?" Jasmine replied warmly, although she was glaring at Draco, instantly remembering him as that Malfoy boy.
"I was wondering if you've seen Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Why yes, we saw him come out of Gringotts just a few moments ago. You know it's funny but I didn't see him at the graduation yesterday" Jasmine replied, a perplexed expression on her face.
"Ah .. well thank you very much for all your help but we have to go find Harry" Hermione said hurriedly running off with Draco and Ron. Beatrice just raised an eyebrow and she and Beatrice began to discuss the weather.
~*~*~*~*
"I knew he'd have to come here" Hermione hissed as she charged through the busy shoppers, Ron and Draco closely behind her.
"But where would he be? there are at least a dozen shops in Diagon Alley!" Ron cried, slightly puffed.
"He'd need supplies so I suggest we check the Apothecary" Draco stated bluntly.
"Who died and made you boss?" Ron yelled sharply, annoyed at Draco's sudden bossiness.
"Well maybe if you were acting a bit more descicive instead of a brainless moron then I wouldn't have to" Draco cried defensively.
"Just shut up, both of you" Hermione screamed, for in the distance she had just seen a flicker of jet black hair and a pair of green eyes. Hermione pelted down Diagon Alley as fast as she could, pushing shoppers over in her wake. This wasn't like her and she knew it wasn't. For one thing she was now officially with Draco Malfoy apparently, not to mention that she was screaming a lot more lately.
Why was she even bothering to chase him? she knew she'd never catch up with him in time. However still she persisted on, her runners smacking hard against the cobblestones. She could see him through the crowd, she had gazed so many times at the back of his head that she could recognise him any were. Hermione had been so intent on her own thoughts that she hadn't realised she had run straight into Knockturn Alley.
Hermione found her feet slowing down slightly and she gazed around. Even though it was the middle of summer, Knockturn Alley had a chilly feel to it. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around, heart pounding in her chest. However, it was only Draco and Ron, both of them had identical worried expressions on their faces. Draco put a hand on Hermione's shoulder carefully.
"We have to get you out of here, they don't take to kindly to Mudbloods "Draco said, but Hermione just glared at him coldly.
"No, I have to find Harry, you two can go! see if I care!" Hermione said shaking Draco's hand off her shoulder. She tore down Diagon alley and the two boys sighed then followed her.
Hermione pelted down the slimy cobbled stones, occasionally seeing a flicker of black hair or the edge of Harry's cloak. Eventually she saw him run into a narrow alleyway, she pelted after him until she reached what looked like a dead end.
"Harry!" she yelled, the figure turned around and it was him. His face was haggard from not enough sleep and there were dark circles under his eyes. However his eyes went wide when he saw the jewel around Hermione's neck.
"Where did you get that?" he hissed, his voice dry and crackling.
"I found it Harry, Oh we've all been so worried about you. We know what happened, how Voldemort wants this jewel and how you hid it. But running away is not the answer, Harry, you have to come back" Hermione cried. Harry's shoulders slumped slightly, she obviously didn't know what the jewel really was and he couldn't tell her, it was for her own safety. He remembered Wormtail's words
"Run away Potter and never come back" he had to leave to protect her, the woman he loved.
"I can't come back" he choked hoarsely, avoiding her eyes. Just then Draco came pelting into the alleyway and paused when he saw Harry.
" So we finally tracked you down Potter" he said coolly as Hermione took his hand firmly for support.
"Go away" Harry said coldly, glaring at the two of them and then he disappeared in front of them. Hermione gasped with shock as the dead end of the alleyway was now empty.
"So what happens now?" Hermione asked, Draco just shook his head disbelievingly.
"We'll survive, we always do" he said quietly, scarcely able to believe that his arch nemesis, his mortal enemy was gone forever. Who would he compete with now? Ron appeared in the alleyway next and saw Hermione and Draco, but no Harry.
"I can't believe he'd do this to us, to everyone" Ron said and Hermione sighed sadly. She knew that Ron had always seen Harry as some sort of hero, a person he could always look up to and admire. Knowing that he had gone for good must have been devastating. Draco put his arm around Hermione and she lent her head on his shoulder. So much had changed these past three days that she no longer knew how to see the world, Harry was gone, she was with Draco and she had finished school forever. No matter where Hermione seemed to look the future lay in front of her, bright and uncertain.
****
One year later:
"Damn these Australian summers!" Heather hissed to herself as she heard a crash of thunder rock through the city. She knew there would be a thunderstorm that evening, she had heard it on the Muggle news. Of course, being a psychic she knew the storm was coming anyway, but that was beside the point.
She had firmly told her fellow Boarder and slight relative Angelica to take the washing in before it began to rain, but being Angelica she did the exact opposite of what Heather asked and was now gleefully pegging t-shirts and towels on the line while the rain poured down on her bright red hair.
Heather was eighteen years old while Angelica was very nearly sixteen years of age and were living in the boarding house that housed witches and wizards alike. Both Angelica and Heather were studying at the Southern Cross School of Magic and were staying at the boarding house during there school term.
In the other room Heather could hear the sounds of some of the other boarders such as Mr Blau, Dave the herbologist and the twin brothers Bill and Stanley. Over the sounds of the roaring wind and thunder Heather also heard the sound of the boarding houses door bell. She nodded to herself, half expecting it to happen, and then walked over to front door, opening it to the wind. Huddled in the doorway were two figures, one was a young man with silvery blonde hair and he was holding onto a young woman with her normally thick brown ringlets wet and straight with the rain.
Normally someone would have been shocked to find such desperate looking people on their doorstep, but Heather wasn't surprised at all. She knew they were coming, she had seen it in the cup of tea she had poured herself that morning.
"Your late" she said flatly as she allowed the two figures to step inside.
"Well the train had to be stopped due to lightning hitting the tracks....what do you mean we're late?" the young woman asked in a straight forward, no-nonsense voice.
"I was expecting you to be here twenty minutes ago, but I guess even tea leaves can't predict train disasters" Heather said, shrugging her shoulders.
Heather had meant to have a pair of towels waiting for the dripping wet couple, but of course Angelica hadn't brought them in.
"Do you study Divination?" the young woman asked, eyeing Heather with suspicion.
"Yes, but I suppose you wouldn't understand, you do think that Divination is woolly" Heather answered, an amused expression on her face.
"Look miss, this is no time to be showing off mind tricks, my...err...wife needs a room for the night" the young man with silvery blonde hair lied quickly. By now the young woman had removed her cloak, revealing that she was heavily pregnant. Heather eyed them both and then turned to the woman.
"What are your names anyway?" she asked.
"Can't you guess?" the young woman asked coldly.
"I'd much prefer it if you told me" Heather answered, folding her arms.
"My name is Hermione Green" the young woman answered, Heather knew that instantly that she was lying but kept her mouth shut.
"And you are?" Heather asked the man with the silvery blonde hair.
"I'm her husband Daemon Green" the young man answered, Heather just smiled and turned away.
"The Manager and his wife are out tonight for their nieces wedding, but we do have one spare room left" Heather replied.
"Mr Blau! where are the keys to the 18th room?" Heather bellowed, a nervous man with dark glasses peered out from the loungerooms doorway.
"Err.....um...here" he said, fishing into his pocket and pulling out a well-worn key.
"Here you go, second floor first door to your left" Heather said helpfully, the blonde man snatched the key out of Heather's hand and he and the woman walked up the stairs quietly.
****
"Do you think she suspected something?" the woman asked as soon as the man had locked the bedroom door tightly shut.
"No, why would she?" he hissed back, the woman sighed and pulled off her dripping wet jacket and sat on the flimsy bed.
"I just never thought I'd be doing this, running away, going into hiding" she said sadly, her eyes glazing over slightly.
"Well we don't have any choice" he replied, he noticed the miserable expression on her face and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her.
"Just a year ago I was Hermione Granger, a school student with a pretty normal life. Now I'm Hermione Green, a person with a completely different identity on the run from Death Eaters and about to give birth to the child of one of them".
"Look, If I could change this in any way, believe me I would" Draco answered, his voice was filled with remorse. Deep down they knew that under circumstances this would be the last item they would see of each other forever. Hermione however just remained quiet, staring out the rain soaked window.
A year ago at this time she was planning to go to university and study to become a Transfiguration Professor. A year ago she would have been spending the summer with her parents, but it had been months since she'd seen them , since Ron and Draco had decided for her that it was best if she went into hiding for her own safety. She looked up at Draco who now had his head in his hands and knew that she should have hated him, but deep down she couldn't. So much had happened in the past few months that her idea of Draco had changed dramatically, at first there relationship seemed something trivial and fun, not a real relationship by any means.
But then, well then Draco was forced to join the Death Eaters by his father and everything changed. He never wanted to be like them, sure he was rude, snobbish and egotistical....but he wasn't evil.
"I really do think she suspected something, you should have seen the way she looked at us" Hermione whispered, Draco just shook his head irritably.
"And so what if she does, no-one knows we're here Hermione. My father...I told my father I was in Albania rallying Dementors and you.." Draco stuttered.
"I know everyone thinks I'm dead, except for Ron and Dumbledore" Hermione trailed off. It had been Dumbledore's idea to fake Hermione's death after Draco's father had discovered his pride and joy, his only son was in love with a Mudblood. The only reason why Lucius hadn't killed Hermione straight away was because she was pregnant and he didn't dare kill the heir to the Malfoy name.
"Look Hermione, I have to go soon. You know I do. I'll apparate after here and I'll be back to Britain, gone forever." Draco said seriously.
"Pity, I always liked my home country" Hermione remarked, an amused smile on her face, Draco couldn't help but smile back.
"I'll leave some money here for you and the baby" Draco began but was cut off promptly.
"I don't need your charity" she replied smoothly.
"Fine I'll leave money for the baby, I am it's father" Draco finished, rolling his eyes.
"That hasn't been proven "Hermione replied swiftly. It was a game the two of them had, under all the pretend hatred the love for each other was still passionate and strong.
"I was thinking of Amethyst" Draco said, turning away from the rain soaked window.
"What?" Hermione replied, slightly startled.
"You know, if the kid turns out to be a girl. I always liked the name Amethyst, plus the stones rather nice" Draco commented.
"Draco I don't think this is the right time to discuss the babies name" Hermione remarked.
"Why not? after this I'll be gone and I should at least have I say in my child's name. Besides, Amethyst Malfoy has a nice ring to it, not you think?" Draco said, smiling at Hermione.
"But I thought we agreed, her surname will be Green just like my last name would be too" Hermione said firmly.
"Yes, but after all of this is over she'll have to come back to England to take over Malfoy Manor . You'll have to come too so, you know, you can be my..." Draco began.
"Your wife?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly.
"Well yeah, I kind of assumed that, you know if only things had been different. If only Pansy Parkinson could be as smart, kind and beautiful as you" Draco sighed as Hermione buried her head in his shoulder.
"And if only Ron could be a devilishly handsome, intelligent and romantic as you are" Hermione replied pulling her head up to meet his.
"You know I have to go now Hermione, it will only be harder if I stay" Draco said quietly, feeling as if knives were digging into his stomach.
"I know" Hermione replied quietly, Draco turned away from her and sat up.
"You know, before I go there is something you should know. Nearly being killed by that Dark Lord kind of puts things into perspective, you know? it makes you realise what your going to really miss if you do check out to the great Hogwarts in the sky. Which is why I have to tell you, even though I'm going to make a complete jerk of myself. I Love you Hermione, I mean the whole neon signs, fireworks always and forever kind of love. Which makes me want to ask....do you love me too?" Draco asked, Hermione sat there in complete and utter silence. Draco just shook his head with disgust and backed away from her.
"Of course I love you" Hermione finally said and Draco felt his skin tingle with a mixture of relief and happiness.
"But what good will that do to either of us. Either way, Draco, everyone is expecting us to grow up, you have to go now, there's no choice in the matter." Hermione said, as per-usual being practical.
"Well if that's the way you feel about it, Hermione, then I'm leaving . Goodbye forever" he said, opening the door then slamming it shut behind him with heavy force.
****
Draco closed his eyes and tried to not hear the sounds of Hermione sobbing bitterly and walked briskly away. He pushed past that girl he had met in the doorway, the one with the brightly coloured robes and auburn hair.
"Aren't you going to stay for the night?" Heather asked, confused and trying to balance a pile of horoscopes in her arms.
" No... *sigh* I'm leaving now. Just promise you'll take good care of her and the baby. I love them both" Draco said tiredly, Heather nodded, feeling slightly confused, and then he disappeared right in front of her eyes. Heather couldn't help but think something rather significant had happened right in front of her but she pushed it out of her mind and yelled.
"Angelica, what did I say to you about putting the lightning rod on the roof ? we are not going to be making servants out of the bodies of dead criminals!".
****
However inside her room, all alone, Hermione sat staring out her window, hoping and praying that one day he would return to her.
Author name Alexia and Ambyr Green
Author email drake_please@hotmail.com
Category Romance/action/
Keywords Hermione , Draco , daughter , jewl
Spoilers all books
Rating pg 13
Summary Hermione granger is a woman on the run , she is forced to flee to Australia with her new born child. Thirteen years later a old friend from the past reveals himself , does he hold the key to Hermione's past and what of the jewl she always wears around her neck? why is every one after it. It's up to Heather the amazing psychic Angelica the amazing pyscho and the dashing and debonair Mr Blau to find out
Disclaimer we dont own any thing , but you probably already new that.
Author'sEaters Daughter - Chapter 1
Look at the stars, like flowers th the ey shone in the inky black night. Yet they were eternal, they couldn't die, they would never whither away into dust. Just like the Immortals, one of them stared into the summer night, his eyes focused on the full moon. How beautiful she was...yet she was so lonely. The Immortals back stiffened and he turned.
Lord Voldemort was not used to the emotion fear, fear made you weak and when you were weak you had no power and, like most egomaniacs, he was determined to be the most powerful wizard in the world. However Voldemort, although he wouldn't admit it, was terrified of the Immortals. They were assassins, the original assassins and the most powerful. They had existed for over a millennium although there origins were unknown. However, one thing was sure about them, they would always fulfil their contract and they were never, ever caught.
"Your foolish for calling apon us Tom Riddle, we have already fulfilled many contracts of yours in the past and we are getting....tired of doing all your dirty work" the Immortal who was staring at the stars stated, it wasn't words exactly he spoke, it was more like statements imprinted into Voldemort's head like stone.
"Just one more contract please, this one is impossible to kill..." Voldemort cried desperately.
"You say that about all of them and they all prove to be strikingly easy" the Immortal stated.
"But this one.... I have tried to kill him no less than six times! Count them, six! and each time his slipped through my bloody fingers. I'll double your pay...I'll triple it if you kill this one person for me" Voldemort begged desperately. There was a pregnant pause from the Immortal and once again he stared at the stars.
"Look at the stars, Thomas Riddle, after thousands of years you begin to... forget how truly beautiful they are. Most of them are dead now, yet from this little world they are Immortal, like flowers blooming in the darkness" the Immortal trailed off.
"I didn't call you so that we could discuss philosophy, you death challenged murderer, I called you so you could take a human life" Voldemort hissed, stamping his feet.
"You have so much to learn Thomas Riddle. You want to kill this boy so you shall be like us Immortals, yet you have no idea what life is" the Immortal said. Voldemort stared at the Immortals face, which was covered by his thick black hood.
"I know what life is" he yelled.
"Really? what doesn't die cannot live and what doesn't live cannot learn, what doesn't learn cannot change. Do you want to be like this? do you want to alter your destiny revealed in the stars by killing this boy?" the Immortal hissed.
"Just get rid of the goddamned boy!" Voldemort shrieked, his face going bright red.
"Very well" the Immortal said, slightly bemused as he pulled out a tiny little sinister green jewel on a silver chain from his black robes.
"It is done, Harry Potter shall die!"
Voldemort shrieked gleefully.
****
"Hermione, we need to talk" Draco said, blocking her way in the Hogwarts corridor.
"I don't have time for this" Hermione said, pushing him out of the way.
"You cant deny what happened, Hermione, all that raw heat...that animal passion" Draco said, grabbing Hermione's shoulder.
"You are disgusting" Hermione stated with a grimace on her face.
"Your only hurting yourself by rejecting destiny" Draco cried.
"Oh come on Draco, you think by sucking up to me with this flowery praise that your going to get those kittens? it was bad enough that you actually watched our cats doing...that thing in the first place" Hermione said, going a bright shade of red.
"Oh come on Hermione, I need those kittens for my army" Draco whined.
"You really think that you can train a bunch of cats to be your killers of the night? in your dreams" Hermione snorted.
"Oh come, you have to admit the idea is pretty cool" Draco replied.
"It doesn't matter anyway, Crookshanks hasn't even gone into labour yet" Hermione said as she reached the Gryffindor portrait hole.
"Surrieler Green" she said and the portrait swung open while the fat lady grumbled about her beauty sleep. Hermione was horrified when she realised that Draco had followed her.
"Oh so your stalking me now?" she snapped irritably, Draco just rolled his eyes.
"Do you think I want to be seen hanging out with a mudblood in the Gryffindor common room? I am staying here 'till that undergrown tiger of yours has had my kittens" Draco sneered.
"They are not your kittens, they belong to both of us...and I told you Crookshanks hasn't even gone into labour yet" Hermione yelled. Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream from the boys dorms and a pelting figure with bright red hair ran down the stairs. It was Ron and when he saw Hermione he nearly passed out.
"Ron what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"I....I....I...." Ron stuttered.
"Calm down Ron, take big breaths" Hermione said helpfully. Ron stood there for several seconds breathing deeply then looked at Hermione fearfully.
"Hermione... I am so sorry I killed Crookshanks" Ron cried, tears forming into his eyes.
"What happened?" Hermione yelled.
"Well I was in the dorm looking through Harry's stuff so I could borrow the invisibility cloak without him knowing" Ron began, looking slightly sheepish.
"Invisibility cloak?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow only to be hit firmly by Hermione.
"Mind your own business, what happened next Ron?" She asked.
"Well, Crookshanks wandered into the dorm and he looked pretty ill, he was all groggy and swaying from side to side. I felt a bit sorry for him so I put him on Neville's bed. Next thing I know Crookshanks collapsed and something red and bloody came out of his ass! he died of constipation" Ron cried hysterically.
"Oh Ron, Crookshanks didn't die, he just had a baby" Hermione said kindly, patting Ron's shoulder.
"Oh that makes sense, he just had a baby...........WHAT? that doesn't make any sense at all!. How could Crookshanks have possibly had a baby?" Ron yelled.
"Well you see, Weasel, when a mummy cat and a daddy cat love each other very much...." Draco began, an amused expression on his face.
"I know about that... hey what are you doing here Malfoy? this is the Gryffindor common room, we don't allow snakes like you" Ron sneered.
"Spare me the lecture, pauper, shouldn't you be grubbing for pennies in a sewer somewhere?" Draco sneered. As soon as the words left Draco's mouth Ron lunged for his throat. In the tradition of all school students everywhere a crowd soon formed around the brawling duo.
"STOP IT!" Hermione screamed, trying to pull the two of them apart.
"He insulted my honour, Hermione" Ron sneered as blood from a head wound flowed down his robes.
"Well you called him a snake, Ron, you can't claim innocence" Hermione replied, folding her arms. Ron's eyes went wide with shock.
"I can't believe this...your taking his side!" Ron yelled
.
"I'm not taking anyone's side, Ron, I'm Head Girl damnit! And as long as I'm Head Girl you will obey me" she yelled to Ron's face.
"Well someone is certainly getting a bit egotistical, your not going to be Head Girl forever, you know. Schools over for us in a week "Ron replied.
"Geez, the weasel certainly knows big words, huh Hermione? I bet his swallowed a dictionary" Draco shot back.
"Both of you just get up now! Crookshanks is the main concern here, not your petty squabbling" Hermione snapped. The two of them at least had the decency to look guilty.
One of Hermione's downtraits that Draco often noticed was that she was convinced that she was ugly. Draco would never admit it, even under the Cruciatus Curse that Hermione was one of the prettiest, kindest, smartest girls in Hogwarts. To make a long story short Draco was absolutely head over heels in love with her. Perhaps it was the constant fighting that they shared, the hatred that boiled and simmered...it was a bit of a turn on. But there was also the incident at the Yule ball two years previously, he remembered how absolutely outraged that bull dog Pansy was when every one noticed how Pretty Hermione looked. Draco had reassured her that Hermione only looked tolerable and it was no wonder only Krumm had asked her to the ball because she wasn't pretty enough to dance with. However as soon as he had uttered those words he couldn't help but notice her eyes, what a pretty hazel colour they were with the flecks of green and gold and how her now shrunken teeth made her have a beautiful smile. That was when it started.
Draco snapped back to reality as the three of them stopped outside the Boys Dormitory. Draco immediately stepped forward and opened the door for Hermione, who gave him a puzzled look.
"I still don't understand how this could have happened Hermione, your cat is a boy and boys can't have babies" Ron said matter-of-factly as they entered the room. Hermione and Draco looked at each other shiftily.
"Well ... you see, technically Crookshanks isn't a boy anymore" Hermione stated carefully.
"His a girl and my cat Morbidda who used to be female is now male" Draco added helpfully.
"But.. .but how is that possible?" Ron said, turning a sickening shade of green.
"You see Ron, about six months ago Draco was failing Transfiguration" Hermione answered.
"Well I wasn't failing exactly" Draco snapped.
"You couldn't even turn a match into a pin, even first years can do that" Hermione answered, raising an eyebrow.
"That isn't the point, the point is that old hag Professor McGonagall insisted I do a extra curriculum assignment to bring up my grade. She also insisted that this Mudblood help me" Draco said.
"For Pete's sake, Draco, can you for once call me by my name?" Hermione said, slightly annoyed.
"Fine, the professor insisted that Hermione had to help me with my assessment" Draco said, rolling his eyes.
"Thank you Draco, so anyway we came apon a very old Transfiguration spell and if it worked it was bound to bring Draco's grades up. The spell was called Metamorphous Sexualises, it can transfigure males into females and females into males" Hermione chanted as if reciting from a text book.
"Hermione decided to practice on our pets before performing the spell on ourselves, however there was a slight problem" Draco cut in, making Hermione feel extremely annoyed.
"Our cats fell in love and Crookshanks, in her female form, got pregnant"Hermione said grimly. Ron stood there for a moment, letting this all sink in. Draco and Hermione had been working secretly on this project for months and he didn't even know. Ron secretly wondered if Harry new about this. Where was Harry anyway? he would go psycho if he knew Draco was in their Common room.
****
"Oh, not you again" Harry Potter said as he finally came-to and saw Wormtail's face peering at him.
"You think you could be a bit more greatful to me you know, I am about to save your life" Wormtail grumbled. Harry painfully rolled his eyes. The last thing he remembered was walking back from Care Of Magical Creatures class, but that must have been hours ago.
"I don't have to do this you know Harry, lord knows what my master will do to me" Wormtail said distractedly as he began to untie Harry.
"What am I doing here?" Harry asked as he realised he had been taken to the Forbidden Forest.
"The master has hired the Immortals to kill you, Potter, and believe me they will unless I help you" Wormtail replied.
"Why should I trust you?" Harry spat. A strange looked passed momentarily on Wormtail's face and he reached into his robes, a few seconds later he pulled out a tiny green jewel on a silver chain, it glowed like fire and seemed to pulse sinisterly.
"This is your life, Harry Potter, every thought, every memory, every second is summed up in this jewel. If it is destroyed not only shall you die but you shall also cease to exist, you would have never existed which means my lord ... my master shall never have been defeated" Wormtail hissed.
"Then why don't you just destroy it?" Harry hissed with bravery and foolishness.
"Because I can't, you saved my life, a debt I shall never be able to repay" Wormtail cried with frustration.
"Then what are you going to do with me?" Harry asked bravely.
"You are to run away, Mister Potter, and your to never return. I will hide this Jewel so no-one can find it. As long as the Immortals don't have the jewel you shall be safe" Wormtail replied.
"Why should I trust you? your a treacherous coward" Harry replied.
"Because right now I'm the only one you've got" Wormtail answered softly and for the briefest second Harry saw in Wormtail's eyes...trust.
****
"Right we have to get Crookshanks down to Hagrid as soon as possible, Hagrid said today in class he was going to set a nest up for her" Hermione said as she charged into the Boys Dormitory.
"Hermione this is the boys room!" Ron cried shocked.
"There's nothing here I haven't seen before, especially when Fred and George decided to boycott pants... well except that" Hermione said as she pointed at a what looked like a rotten banana, but turned out to be a pair of Dean's underwear.
Draco made his way swiftly towards Neville's bed and picked Crookshanks up as gently as possible, Crookshanks cried out with a mixture of pain and protest.
"Shhh girl, it's going to be OK" Draco whispered soothingly, almost immediately Crookshanks began to purr contentedly. Hermione looked at Draco with a mixture of shock and approval.
"Your good with animals" she said reluctantly, blushing slightly which filled Draco with glee.
"Well I spend a lot of time with them, she's haemorrhaging at the moment, the birth hasn't begun yet so we still have time" Draco said, walking slowly to the dorms door, cradling Crookshanks in his arms.
"All right, Ron you better stay here, you know, in case we don't come back or something" Hermione said vaguely as they exited the dorm.
****
The idea of being out alone on the Hogwarts grounds with Hermione under the light of a full moon was something that had often crossed Draco's mind. However clutching a pregnant cat to his chest hadn't been part of it.
Hermione shiftily looked at Draco out of the corner of her eyes. She had been doing that often lately, catching occasional glimpses of his spiky gelled blonde hair and broad shoulders. A voice in Hermione's head screamed not to associate herself with the likes of his lot but she couldn't help herself. There was something about that way he moved, the way he talked that drew her to him. There was also the smell, a strong spicy cologne that he seemed to wear whenever he was near her. Sometimes she could almost imagine catching occasional whiffs of it while sitting in class or doing her homework in the evenings. She would then spin around, expecting to see him and feel slightly disappointed when he wasn't there.
"Ride on a dragon and fly with me
Up, up into the starry night
I'll pick a flower that will never fade
and you can wear it in your long tangle mane
and together we shall be free" a voice sang near Hermione's ear. Hermione turned around, shocked when she realised it was Draco's voice. He was singing the same nonsense rhyme to Crookshanks over and over again in a soothing voiced. There was something about the way he cradled the cat in his arms, so loving so un-Draco that made Hermione wish he was singing to her.
"I've never heard that song before" Hermione said nervously as they continued to make there way across the Hogwarts grounds.
"You probably wouldn't have, it's a old Wizard Lullaby and your parents are MUGGLES" Draco replied coolly.
"It's nice, what doe's it mean anyway?" Hermione asked, Draco just shrugged his shoulders, but carefully as though not to disturb Crookshanks.
"It's doesn't really have a meaning I think, my mother used to sing it to me when I was a child. There was more to but I can't quite remember it" Draco replied.
"You know, some old nursery rhymes have deeper meaning, for example ring-a-ring-of-roses is an allegory of the Plague" Hermione said.
"Trust Muggles to turn a tragedy into a seriously disturbing Nursery Rhyme" Draco replied.
"What is wrong with you Draco? just occasionally I see a nice person inside you and then you begin to act like a jerk again" Hermione snapped.
"Well what's wrong with you? occasionally you can be cool, Granger, instead of a know it all Mudblood" Draco retorted.
"Will you stop calling me that?!" Hermione cried, Draco sighed as if defeated .
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, in fact I never mean it. I shouldn't call you a Mudblood, your far from being a Mudblood, to be honest I have a confession to make...." Draco began but was cut off when Hermione cried.
"Finally!" and pointed to Hagrid's hut, the two of them walked carefully down to the hut and knocked on the door, there was no answer.
"Oh, I can't believe this, after coming all this way" Hermione groaned, stamping her feet. She glared at Draco as if it was his fault that Hagrid wasn't home.
"Don't look at me like that, is it my fault the great brute is down at the Three Broomsticks getting drunk?" Draco sneered, Hermione glared at him and sat down on the dewy grass.
"He is not a drunk" Hermione said quietly as Draco carefully put Crookshanks down.
"I never said he was Hermione, you did" Draco said looking, into Hermione's hazel eyes with his own piercing grey ones, Hermione just looked away.
"Hows Crookshanks doing?" Hermione asked.
"Do you really think I want to look down there?" Draco asked.
"Well I'm not...that's disgusting" Hermione shrieked, her face going green.
"Oh come on, your the girl, aren't girls supposed to be into the miracle of life?" Draco sneered.
"Not when it's coming out of a cats butt!" Hermione cried, slightly hysterical.
"Oh god, something's coming out!" Draco cried.
"Well what is it?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know... it's bloody and wet and...and" Draco stuttered, his face going a deathly shade of white. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted into the grass.
"Oh god, Draco!" Hermione cried, leaning over him. She peered anxiously at his smooth, pale face and then firmly slapped him across the cheeks, her hand making a hissing sound in the air. It struck him across the face and his eyes burst open suddenly.
"I never tire of you slapping me, Granger, but can I ask what happened?" Draco said, his voice dripping with rage as he sat upwards.
"Well you fainted. Imagine that, the son of a Death Eater afraid of a little blood. I wonder what your father would think" Hermione grinned wickedly.
"Granger, are you trying to blackmail me?" he asked, completely shocked.
"That depends Malfoy, after all I don't want my cats babies to be trained to be your army of the night" Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.
"You are such a complete and utter cow, Granger "he said, glaring at her, although he was thinking how seductive she looked when she was being evil.
"Well if that's the way you feel then why do you even bother to talk to me?" Hermione snarled, feeling extremely annoyed.
"Fine, how about I go and have a conversation with the Whomping Willow?...although I doubt anything can hit as hard as you" Draco replied.
"Just go away Draco, you obviously hate me and don't want to be here" Hermione hissed.
"I Don't hate you" Draco replied, startled.
"You don't?' Hermione asked, backing away slightly. By now Crookshanks kittens had been born and were desperately clawing around her for milk.
"No, in fact I sort of like you" Draco replied coolly, folding his arms. His words rang in Hermione's head like a Megaphone had been turned on, her shock was beyond expression.
"You like me, you know as in the way a boy likes a girl?" Hermione choked.
"Well, yeah, I mean you are beautiful and smart, not to mention kind. Plus your the only girl who has had the guts to slap me before" Draco grinned. Hermione's insides churned, she felt dirty but she felt also, despite the fact she'd never admit it, felt flattered and rather happy. Out of all the girls in Hogwarts he had chosen her, a Gryffindor and not to mention a Mudblood.
"So I guess the million dollar question here, Granger, is whether you have any feelings for me at all?" Draco asked quietly.
"Well....your not so bad yourself. I mean, you are kind of nice in an evil way and you are cute if you like that whole dark brooding thing. Plus your smart, I mean, you do get top marks in Potions. Oh, but what am I saying? your fathers a Death Eater, his a...." But Hermione's words were cut short as Draco reached over and impulsively kissed her. Hermione's eyes bugged out with shock as she felt his lips against hers, and next thing she felt his tongue massaging against hers, at first gentle and more forceful. She ripped herself off him and once again slapped him hard across the face.
"What are you, some sex crazed animal?!!" she shrieked, wiping her mouth with disgust.
"You mean you didn't want me to kiss you?" Draco asked.
"No....I mean you can't just run over kissing whoever you want to, it's called sexual harassment" Hermione said firmly.
"Not if the person wants you to kiss them" Draco said smugly.
"How did you know I wanted your tongue in my mouth?" she asked angrily.
"Your so obvious" Draco said smugly and then leaned in to kiss her again, but before he could there was a crash from Hagrid's garden, a sucking grinding sound followed.
"What was that?" Draco asked, feeling extremely annoyed the moment had been ruined.
"Draco, you would know that noise if you ever paid attention to Care Of Magical Creatures class. That's a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" Hermione choked as she pointed at the ten foot monstrosity.
"That great brute mustn't have locked them up for the night" Draco cried as Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and the kittens by bundling them up in her cloak.
"On the count of three run" Hermione choked, standing up carefully. Draco grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly with mute terror.
"OK one, two, three...RUN!!!!" Hermione cried, tearing off as fast as she could, dragging Draco behind her. The Blast Ended Skrewt roared with rage and set off after them.
****
The two teenagers ran as fast as they could though the Hogwarts grounds, tearing up mud and wet grass after them. Draco, with his free hand, was hurling hexes at the monster, but they all bounced off it's shell.
"Where are we going ?" he asked.
"The forest, it's our only chance" Hermione cried.
"WHAT? going into the forest would be suicide!" Draco cried, slightly hysterical. As they pelted down towards the forest, carefully pursued by the Skrewt, Hermione raised the hem of her robes, slightly revealing what looked like two wooden stakes taped to her socks, she then opened the pocket of her robes revealing a silver chain to use on a Werewolf.
"I'm covered" she puffed as they reached the woods edge. Just then Hermione felt something brush against her and slight pressure against her cheek, yet there was nothing there.
"Strange" she muttered to herself, but before she could investigate Draco had dragged her away.
"Keep running " he hissed as he dragged her into the wood. They ran down the woods path as fast as they could, crashing through the undergrowth until the sounds of the Blast Ended Skrewt sounded faint and distant. Finally the two of them reached a small clearing and collapsed, exhausted. Hermione lent her head on Draco's shoulder and breathed deeply, allowing air to gather in her lungs.
"How's the cat?" Draco snapped. Hermione looked down at the bundle in her arms.
"There's not a scratch on her or the kittens, suprisingly" she remarked. Her face suddenly screwed up with pain as she realised she was sitting on something sharp.
Reluctantly she sat up and looked, puzzled, at what looked like freshly disturbed earth. She looked up at Draco, but he wasn't paying attention. Not caring that she was getting her hands dirty she scrabbled at the earth until she felt her hands hit something small and smooth.
"Draco" she said shakily, Draco opened his eyes tiredly.
"What Hermione?" he asked, Hermione held up the slightly muddy jewel in front of Draco, who felt his eyes drawn to it.
"What's this?" she asked, puzzled. They both stared at the swirling shades of emerald green and yellow that seemed to moving like ink in water.
I don't know" Draco said suddenly feeling very uneasy.
****
When Draco walked down to the great hall for breakfast his mind felt strained and foggy. He actually forgot to walk with Crabbe and Goyle, which was a major first. Through the sea of black he managed to see a bushy brown head next to a red one bobbing through the crowd.
"Hey! Hermione!" he yelled, flagging her down. Hermione looked up, rather startled, and Ron just glared at him. Draco walked over to Hermione and smugly put his arm around her Shoulder while glaring at the one he called Weasel.
"Is there something your not telling me, Herm?" Ron said, a disgusted expression planted on his face.
"Haven't you told him yet Hermione?" Draco asked sweetly.
"No, now is not the time Draco. Something serious has happened, Harry didn't come back to the dorm last night" Hermione said, folding her arms.
"And I should care...why?" Draco asked sarcastically.
"Be serious Malfoy, his bed was un-slept in, not to mention his invisibility cloak was missing and his bag of money" Ron said, glaring at Draco with hatred.
So he did a runner, I'm not surprised...it is only a few days until the end of school which means it's only a few days until Voldemort is bound to strike" Draco said coolly.
"Harry wouldn't have run away like that" Ron said firmly.
"Actually, it's the sort of virtuous thing he'd do, go after Voldemort himself to make sure you two aren't hurt" Draco replied and by the expressions on their faces he knew he had hit the jackpot.
"Quick Ron, we have to go get the Marauders Map" Hermione said. Ron nodded sharply and the two of them tore up the stairs.
"Wait a minute, what the heck is a Marauders Map?" Draco yelled, running after them.
****
"WHAT?" Voldemort screamed in a voice insane with anger and rage. Wormtail trembled in front of his master.
"He.... He....got away" Wormtail choked, Voldemort studied Wormtail's face for a few moments as if to see if he was lying or not, however Wormtail now used to his masters mind tricks, kept strong. Voldemort turned away with disgust and glared at the Immortals.
"I thought this wasn't supposed to happen! I thought that you were going to kill him with the jewel!" Voldemort cried, sounding rather like a spoilt child.
"We cannot kill him, we do not have the jewel" the Immortal replied calmly. Immediately Voldemort turned to Wormtail, who was cowering to one side.
"You have it don't you! give me the jewel now Wormtail!" Voldemort hissed, his eyes glowing red.
"I don't have it master" Wormtail answered truthfully, shaking with terror.
"Right, round up the available Death Eaters immediately and scour the Forbidden Forest. We must find that Jewel" Voldemort hissed, marching away with disgust.
****
Draco burst into the boys common room to discover Hermione and Ron perched on the carpet, peering at what looked like a very ratty piece of parchment.
"He's not in the tunnels leading into Hogsmeade and I've checked the obvious places" Hermione said tiredly, eyeing the map intently with weary eyes.
"Have you checked the hidden bathroom behind the Potions dungeon".
"No he's not there either" Hermione replied. She looked up finally and saw Draco. Hermione quickly tapped the piece of parchment with her wand.
"Mischief Managed "she said, wiping the map clean.
'What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Harry's gone, that's all there is to it. I think it might have something to do with the jewel we found last night" Hermione said, looking up at Draco firmly.
"What Jewel? " Ron asked, Hermione reached down the front of her robes and pulled the still muddy jewel out .
"Draco and I...well Err...I found this Jewel last night in the woods" Hermione said, allowing Ron to look at it.
"Since when do we let the Snake on our side?" Ron asked, glaring at Draco.
"Since now Ron! this is serious" Hermione said as she looked up at Draco.
"We can trust you, cant we?" Hermione asked, Draco found his stomach do a flip flop and he nodded briskly and solemnly.
"All right, to begin Draco, has your father mentioned anything about Jewels or Voldemort lately?" Hermione asked.
"My father is not a Death Eater!......Okay, he may be a little Death Eater-ish but I swear he hasn't said anything about Voldemort for nearly six months" Draco said firmly.
"That must mean this is big, Voldemort hasn't even told his inner circle what he's up to" Hermione mused. She stood up thinking to herself and walked towards the Dormitories window.
"Harry didn't have much time to escape, he didn't even pack a spare change of clothes or his Firebolt, which is his most prized possession. From what I can see he grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and some money and got out of here as quickly as possible. But how.....of course!" she cried triumphantly, turning to face the puzzled expressions on Ron and Draco's faces.
"He left through the hidden tunnel under the Whomping Willow! it all makes sense. From there he could have easily reached the Shrieking Shack and gotten into Hogsmeade. Plus last night when we were running away from the Blast-Ended Skrewt I felt someone brush against me, even though no one was there. It was Harry heading for the Whomping Willow" Hermione cried excitedly.
"Your making no sense, how could you have not seen Harry?" Draco asked, raising a silver-blonde eyebrow.
"Harry has an Invisibility Cloak, Draco, I thought everyone in Hogwarts knew that" Hermione replied.
"Well suddenly a lot of things are starting to make sense" Draco mused as he remembered the psychotic episode he had in there third year when he was convinced he saw Harry's head in Hogsmeade. His parents had sent him to a very nice psychiatrist that summer who gave Draco a bottle of bright pink pills that made his head feel lovely.
"But why would Harry escape?" Ron asked, expecting Hermione to have an answer...and as per usual she did.
"After I brushed with Harry, Draco and I stumbled into the woods where I found this jewel" Hermione said, holding it up so the shades of jade green and yellow caught in the light.
"It was buried shallowly in the mud as if someone had to hide it quickly. I think Harry must have hidden it. Voldemort was after this jewel and Harry hid it and then escaped" Hermione said, looking into the jewel.
"But why do you think he wants it? is it like the Philosophers Stone?" Ron asked.
"No, this seems different, it's so tiny yet so insignificant. I wish I knew what it was" Hermione said, a look of wonder on her face, she loved an intellectual challenge.
"Come on, lets go into research mode at the library" Hermione said brightly. Ron and Draco looked at each other angrily.
"Now look what you've done!" Ron cried.
"Me? how is it my fault?" Draco yelled.
****
Hermione sighed and pushed yet another textbook away, causing a cloud of dust to cover her face.
"This is hopeless, we have been searching for three days and we've found nothing" Ron groaned.
"I don't see why we just don't take the stone to Dumbledore, let him handle it" Draco sneered, he had already chipped several of his manicured nails on the table and rough-edged books.
"We can't run to Dumbledore with every one of our problems, he's to busy keeping Hogwarts safe from the Death Eaters" Hermione replied, picking up a thick volume called 'Healing Stones and their Properties'.
"Besides, haven't you noticed something strange going on?" Ron asked, looking up from the textbook he was reading which secretly had a comic book concealed inside it.
"No, what do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Harry's been gone for nearly three days and no-ones notice, no-ones even raised the alarm" Ron stated.
"Your right, that is weird" Draco drawled, rolling his eyes.
"No, I've noticed that to, I mean it's one day until graduation and no-one has even mentioned him once" Hermione commented.
"It's almost as if every one has forgotten him, as if he never existed" Ron said slowly.
"yeah, Ginny usually mentions him about ten times a day but since he ran away I Haven't heard about him once" Draco replied, looked up sharply from where he had been staring at Hermione's perfect long slim hands.
"Memorius" he said and then resumed staring.
"Memorius?" Ron and Hermione asked in union.
"You know, as in the Memory Charm" Draco said as it dawned on Hermione, Ron still remained confused.
"Memorius is a variation of the Memory Charm, except instead of making someone lose a memory Memorius just sort of pushes it away. It's usually used on large groups of Muggles by the ministry who have just witnessed magic"Hermione explained.
"So someone used a charm on our school to forget that Harry exists" Ron said slowly.
"Not forget exactly, more of 'out of site, out of mind'. As soon as anyone thinks about him they'll think about something else" Draco said as he gently slipped one of his hands onto Hermione's under the table. Hermione blushed slightly and cleared her throat nervously.
"You know it does make sense, if everyone in our school is under the Memorius Charm then Harry would easily be able to escape. But it's impossible, Memorius is a powerful Charm and charms isn't Harry's best subject" Hermione said, shaking her head.
"I think we need to tell Dumbledore about this as soon as possible" Ron choked.
"It won't work" Hermione and Draco said in union, then looked at each other, smiling.
"What do you mean it won't work?" Ron asked.
"Well the Memorius charm can only be broken by the person who cast it. So until we find Harry no-one will believe us" Hermione said, looking away from Draco. Ron looked at both of them suspiciously, there was something strange going on between those two but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Well then what are we supposed to do?" Ron asked, slightly panicked.
"We'll have to find Harry of course, the charm would probably have only affected Hogwarts, which means people at Gringotts would be immune. And if you were going to run away, the two things you would need are money and supplies" Hermione said, looking at both Ron and Draco.
"So your saying we have to drop everything and head to London, hoping to find Harry?" Ron asked.
" Not just us, we'll need help" Draco said.
"What do you mean we need help?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah Draco, we have gotten out of worse situations without anyone's help" Ron added. Draco rolled his eyes tiredly and stood up.
"Do you know how hard it will be to find one guy in this world when we have no idea were he's going?" He snapped irritably.
"Hey at least I'm trying, I don't even understand why your so interested in this anyway. I thought you'd be glad that Harry's gone, it will make it easier for your fathers Death Eaters to break in. Oh, and by the way Draco, Death Eaters sounds like some sort of wannabe rock group" Ron yelled, he was sick and tired of seeing Draco's pointy white face everywhere lately and he was sick and tired of getting into life threatening situations.
"Do you think I want Voldemort taking over? with him in charge there will be no Muggles for me to make fun of. Besides I quite like Muggle television, thankyou very much...and some Muggles are OK, I guess" he said, looking at Hermione.
Ron just scowled at him.
"But how do we know we can really trust you, how do we know your not just going to give this information to You-Know-Who?" Ron asked, determined to get Draco into trouble for something.
"Ron, will you stop being such a twerp? look, I am going up to my room to get Crookshanks and the kittens and when I get back I want you two to be acting civil to each other." Hermione said firmly, glaring at them both. She then picked up several of the text books and stormed out of the library.
****
"Bless my word wasn't that just....?"Beatrice Mille said to her fellow witch and friend Jasmine Bleathe.
"Why, I do believe it was Beatrice! why it was Harry Potter"Jasmine cried, excited as they enjoyed there Double Fudge Sundaes at Diagon Alley.
"I wonder what he was doing at Gringotts?" Beatrice asked.
"Well, getting out money I expect" Jasmine replied.
"Yes, but isn't it school term at the moment?" Beatrice said.
"I think school finished yesterday for the summer, dear, my niece Hannah Abbott just graduated from Hogwarts yesterday, you know" Jasmine replied and fished into her purse, revealing several photographs.
"Poor, poor Harry, while everyone else is on there summer vacation he has no-where to go. I mean he is an orphan the little dear" Beatrice remarked as she rifled through the photos of a smiling Hannah Abbott in her graduation robes.
"Yes but he's very rich, he could live wherever he wants. I wonder what girl would snap him up it's a pity he never noticed our Hannah" Jasmine said, taking a bite out of her Sundae.
"Well you know what they say" Beatrice said, shaking her slightly greying hair.
"No, what do they say?" Jasmine replied testily.
"That he's in love with his best friend, Hermione Granger" Beatrice said wisely, nodding her head.
"Oh... she's not the one with the curly brown hair, is she?" Jasmine asked.
"I think so, why do you ask?" Beatrice replied.
"Well, at the graduation I heard Mrs Weasley talking to Mrs Finnigan. Apparently she was most distraught because Hermione Granger was seen kissing a boy called Draco Malfoy. Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley couldn't understand why she would choose a Malfoy over there son, Ron" Jasmine said, pushing a strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ears.
"Lucius Malfoy? but wasn't he...." Beatrice began and Jasmine nodded grimly.
"The ministry official who turned Death Eater last summer, although most believe he was a Death Eater long before that. You can understand why Mrs Weasley was so upset, I mean Hermione Granger was one of Hogwarts best and brightest students and to be seen with that dark trash...." Jasmine muttered darkly, but stopped as she noticed a familiar face in the Diagon Alley morning crowd.
"There she is! Hermione Granger!" Jasmine hissed to Beatrice, pointing at a young woman with Bushy brown curls dressed in Muggle attire. She was accompanied by a tall gangly boy with red hair and a shorter more muscular boy with blonde spikes.
"She's coming this way!....act like we haven't been talking about her" Jasmine hissed to Beatrice, who nodded feverishly.
"So Beatrice, did you get that silk dress robe that your wearing to your cousins wedding next week?" Jasmine asked, changing the subject promptly.
"Oh yes, but I went against the dark red though, it made me look too hippy. I went for the pale lavender instead" Beatrice replied.
"Hello" Hermione said, walking up to the two women politely.
"Why hello Hermione, we met yesterday, I'm Hannah's aunt?" Jasmine said politely.
"Yes I remember. I was wondering if you could help us with something" Hermione asked.
"Well what is it dear?" Jasmine replied warmly, although she was glaring at Draco, instantly remembering him as that Malfoy boy.
"I was wondering if you've seen Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Why yes, we saw him come out of Gringotts just a few moments ago. You know it's funny but I didn't see him at the graduation yesterday" Jasmine replied, a perplexed expression on her face.
"Ah .. well thank you very much for all your help but we have to go find Harry" Hermione said hurriedly running off with Draco and Ron. Beatrice just raised an eyebrow and she and Beatrice began to discuss the weather.
~*~*~*~*
"I knew he'd have to come here" Hermione hissed as she charged through the busy shoppers, Ron and Draco closely behind her.
"But where would he be? there are at least a dozen shops in Diagon Alley!" Ron cried, slightly puffed.
"He'd need supplies so I suggest we check the Apothecary" Draco stated bluntly.
"Who died and made you boss?" Ron yelled sharply, annoyed at Draco's sudden bossiness.
"Well maybe if you were acting a bit more descicive instead of a brainless moron then I wouldn't have to" Draco cried defensively.
"Just shut up, both of you" Hermione screamed, for in the distance she had just seen a flicker of jet black hair and a pair of green eyes. Hermione pelted down Diagon Alley as fast as she could, pushing shoppers over in her wake. This wasn't like her and she knew it wasn't. For one thing she was now officially with Draco Malfoy apparently, not to mention that she was screaming a lot more lately.
Why was she even bothering to chase him? she knew she'd never catch up with him in time. However still she persisted on, her runners smacking hard against the cobblestones. She could see him through the crowd, she had gazed so many times at the back of his head that she could recognise him any were. Hermione had been so intent on her own thoughts that she hadn't realised she had run straight into Knockturn Alley.
Hermione found her feet slowing down slightly and she gazed around. Even though it was the middle of summer, Knockturn Alley had a chilly feel to it. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around, heart pounding in her chest. However, it was only Draco and Ron, both of them had identical worried expressions on their faces. Draco put a hand on Hermione's shoulder carefully.
"We have to get you out of here, they don't take to kindly to Mudbloods "Draco said, but Hermione just glared at him coldly.
"No, I have to find Harry, you two can go! see if I care!" Hermione said shaking Draco's hand off her shoulder. She tore down Diagon alley and the two boys sighed then followed her.
Hermione pelted down the slimy cobbled stones, occasionally seeing a flicker of black hair or the edge of Harry's cloak. Eventually she saw him run into a narrow alleyway, she pelted after him until she reached what looked like a dead end.
"Harry!" she yelled, the figure turned around and it was him. His face was haggard from not enough sleep and there were dark circles under his eyes. However his eyes went wide when he saw the jewel around Hermione's neck.
"Where did you get that?" he hissed, his voice dry and crackling.
"I found it Harry, Oh we've all been so worried about you. We know what happened, how Voldemort wants this jewel and how you hid it. But running away is not the answer, Harry, you have to come back" Hermione cried. Harry's shoulders slumped slightly, she obviously didn't know what the jewel really was and he couldn't tell her, it was for her own safety. He remembered Wormtail's words
"Run away Potter and never come back" he had to leave to protect her, the woman he loved.
"I can't come back" he choked hoarsely, avoiding her eyes. Just then Draco came pelting into the alleyway and paused when he saw Harry.
" So we finally tracked you down Potter" he said coolly as Hermione took his hand firmly for support.
"Go away" Harry said coldly, glaring at the two of them and then he disappeared in front of them. Hermione gasped with shock as the dead end of the alleyway was now empty.
"So what happens now?" Hermione asked, Draco just shook his head disbelievingly.
"We'll survive, we always do" he said quietly, scarcely able to believe that his arch nemesis, his mortal enemy was gone forever. Who would he compete with now? Ron appeared in the alleyway next and saw Hermione and Draco, but no Harry.
"I can't believe he'd do this to us, to everyone" Ron said and Hermione sighed sadly. She knew that Ron had always seen Harry as some sort of hero, a person he could always look up to and admire. Knowing that he had gone for good must have been devastating. Draco put his arm around Hermione and she lent her head on his shoulder. So much had changed these past three days that she no longer knew how to see the world, Harry was gone, she was with Draco and she had finished school forever. No matter where Hermione seemed to look the future lay in front of her, bright and uncertain.
****
One year later:
"Damn these Australian summers!" Heather hissed to herself as she heard a crash of thunder rock through the city. She knew there would be a thunderstorm that evening, she had heard it on the Muggle news. Of course, being a psychic she knew the storm was coming anyway, but that was beside the point.
She had firmly told her fellow Boarder and slight relative Angelica to take the washing in before it began to rain, but being Angelica she did the exact opposite of what Heather asked and was now gleefully pegging t-shirts and towels on the line while the rain poured down on her bright red hair.
Heather was eighteen years old while Angelica was very nearly sixteen years of age and were living in the boarding house that housed witches and wizards alike. Both Angelica and Heather were studying at the Southern Cross School of Magic and were staying at the boarding house during there school term.
In the other room Heather could hear the sounds of some of the other boarders such as Mr Blau, Dave the herbologist and the twin brothers Bill and Stanley. Over the sounds of the roaring wind and thunder Heather also heard the sound of the boarding houses door bell. She nodded to herself, half expecting it to happen, and then walked over to front door, opening it to the wind. Huddled in the doorway were two figures, one was a young man with silvery blonde hair and he was holding onto a young woman with her normally thick brown ringlets wet and straight with the rain.
Normally someone would have been shocked to find such desperate looking people on their doorstep, but Heather wasn't surprised at all. She knew they were coming, she had seen it in the cup of tea she had poured herself that morning.
"Your late" she said flatly as she allowed the two figures to step inside.
"Well the train had to be stopped due to lightning hitting the tracks....what do you mean we're late?" the young woman asked in a straight forward, no-nonsense voice.
"I was expecting you to be here twenty minutes ago, but I guess even tea leaves can't predict train disasters" Heather said, shrugging her shoulders.
Heather had meant to have a pair of towels waiting for the dripping wet couple, but of course Angelica hadn't brought them in.
"Do you study Divination?" the young woman asked, eyeing Heather with suspicion.
"Yes, but I suppose you wouldn't understand, you do think that Divination is woolly" Heather answered, an amused expression on her face.
"Look miss, this is no time to be showing off mind tricks, my...err...wife needs a room for the night" the young man with silvery blonde hair lied quickly. By now the young woman had removed her cloak, revealing that she was heavily pregnant. Heather eyed them both and then turned to the woman.
"What are your names anyway?" she asked.
"Can't you guess?" the young woman asked coldly.
"I'd much prefer it if you told me" Heather answered, folding her arms.
"My name is Hermione Green" the young woman answered, Heather knew that instantly that she was lying but kept her mouth shut.
"And you are?" Heather asked the man with the silvery blonde hair.
"I'm her husband Daemon Green" the young man answered, Heather just smiled and turned away.
"The Manager and his wife are out tonight for their nieces wedding, but we do have one spare room left" Heather replied.
"Mr Blau! where are the keys to the 18th room?" Heather bellowed, a nervous man with dark glasses peered out from the loungerooms doorway.
"Err.....um...here" he said, fishing into his pocket and pulling out a well-worn key.
"Here you go, second floor first door to your left" Heather said helpfully, the blonde man snatched the key out of Heather's hand and he and the woman walked up the stairs quietly.
****
"Do you think she suspected something?" the woman asked as soon as the man had locked the bedroom door tightly shut.
"No, why would she?" he hissed back, the woman sighed and pulled off her dripping wet jacket and sat on the flimsy bed.
"I just never thought I'd be doing this, running away, going into hiding" she said sadly, her eyes glazing over slightly.
"Well we don't have any choice" he replied, he noticed the miserable expression on her face and sat down next to her, putting his arm around her.
"Just a year ago I was Hermione Granger, a school student with a pretty normal life. Now I'm Hermione Green, a person with a completely different identity on the run from Death Eaters and about to give birth to the child of one of them".
"Look, If I could change this in any way, believe me I would" Draco answered, his voice was filled with remorse. Deep down they knew that under circumstances this would be the last item they would see of each other forever. Hermione however just remained quiet, staring out the rain soaked window.
A year ago at this time she was planning to go to university and study to become a Transfiguration Professor. A year ago she would have been spending the summer with her parents, but it had been months since she'd seen them , since Ron and Draco had decided for her that it was best if she went into hiding for her own safety. She looked up at Draco who now had his head in his hands and knew that she should have hated him, but deep down she couldn't. So much had happened in the past few months that her idea of Draco had changed dramatically, at first there relationship seemed something trivial and fun, not a real relationship by any means.
But then, well then Draco was forced to join the Death Eaters by his father and everything changed. He never wanted to be like them, sure he was rude, snobbish and egotistical....but he wasn't evil.
"I really do think she suspected something, you should have seen the way she looked at us" Hermione whispered, Draco just shook his head irritably.
"And so what if she does, no-one knows we're here Hermione. My father...I told my father I was in Albania rallying Dementors and you.." Draco stuttered.
"I know everyone thinks I'm dead, except for Ron and Dumbledore" Hermione trailed off. It had been Dumbledore's idea to fake Hermione's death after Draco's father had discovered his pride and joy, his only son was in love with a Mudblood. The only reason why Lucius hadn't killed Hermione straight away was because she was pregnant and he didn't dare kill the heir to the Malfoy name.
"Look Hermione, I have to go soon. You know I do. I'll apparate after here and I'll be back to Britain, gone forever." Draco said seriously.
"Pity, I always liked my home country" Hermione remarked, an amused smile on her face, Draco couldn't help but smile back.
"I'll leave some money here for you and the baby" Draco began but was cut off promptly.
"I don't need your charity" she replied smoothly.
"Fine I'll leave money for the baby, I am it's father" Draco finished, rolling his eyes.
"That hasn't been proven "Hermione replied swiftly. It was a game the two of them had, under all the pretend hatred the love for each other was still passionate and strong.
"I was thinking of Amethyst" Draco said, turning away from the rain soaked window.
"What?" Hermione replied, slightly startled.
"You know, if the kid turns out to be a girl. I always liked the name Amethyst, plus the stones rather nice" Draco commented.
"Draco I don't think this is the right time to discuss the babies name" Hermione remarked.
"Why not? after this I'll be gone and I should at least have I say in my child's name. Besides, Amethyst Malfoy has a nice ring to it, not you think?" Draco said, smiling at Hermione.
"But I thought we agreed, her surname will be Green just like my last name would be too" Hermione said firmly.
"Yes, but after all of this is over she'll have to come back to England to take over Malfoy Manor . You'll have to come too so, you know, you can be my..." Draco began.
"Your wife?" Hermione asked, smiling slightly.
"Well yeah, I kind of assumed that, you know if only things had been different. If only Pansy Parkinson could be as smart, kind and beautiful as you" Draco sighed as Hermione buried her head in his shoulder.
"And if only Ron could be a devilishly handsome, intelligent and romantic as you are" Hermione replied pulling her head up to meet his.
"You know I have to go now Hermione, it will only be harder if I stay" Draco said quietly, feeling as if knives were digging into his stomach.
"I know" Hermione replied quietly, Draco turned away from her and sat up.
"You know, before I go there is something you should know. Nearly being killed by that Dark Lord kind of puts things into perspective, you know? it makes you realise what your going to really miss if you do check out to the great Hogwarts in the sky. Which is why I have to tell you, even though I'm going to make a complete jerk of myself. I Love you Hermione, I mean the whole neon signs, fireworks always and forever kind of love. Which makes me want to ask....do you love me too?" Draco asked, Hermione sat there in complete and utter silence. Draco just shook his head with disgust and backed away from her.
"Of course I love you" Hermione finally said and Draco felt his skin tingle with a mixture of relief and happiness.
"But what good will that do to either of us. Either way, Draco, everyone is expecting us to grow up, you have to go now, there's no choice in the matter." Hermione said, as per-usual being practical.
"Well if that's the way you feel about it, Hermione, then I'm leaving . Goodbye forever" he said, opening the door then slamming it shut behind him with heavy force.
****
Draco closed his eyes and tried to not hear the sounds of Hermione sobbing bitterly and walked briskly away. He pushed past that girl he had met in the doorway, the one with the brightly coloured robes and auburn hair.
"Aren't you going to stay for the night?" Heather asked, confused and trying to balance a pile of horoscopes in her arms.
" No... *sigh* I'm leaving now. Just promise you'll take good care of her and the baby. I love them both" Draco said tiredly, Heather nodded, feeling slightly confused, and then he disappeared right in front of her eyes. Heather couldn't help but think something rather significant had happened right in front of her but she pushed it out of her mind and yelled.
"Angelica, what did I say to you about putting the lightning rod on the roof ? we are not going to be making servants out of the bodies of dead criminals!".
****
However inside her room, all alone, Hermione sat staring out her window, hoping and praying that one day he would return to her.