August 2008
There aren't many things in this world which make sense and if it comes to magic, it makes even less sense.
Some people would say it happened by accident, nothing but an unfortunate coincidence, alas the magical folks didn't believe in coincidence, for they believed in fate.
Hariel Lilian Potter (just Hari please), was nineteen when their paths crossed for the first time. The war was over and most Death Eaters had been captured and tossed into dreadful cells in Azkaban. Life was good or so people liked to think, although some lesser Death Eaters were still on the run. Her best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were getting married. She was very happy for them and yet... Hariel felt helpless.
This was all she ever wanted, a normal life, no hypocritical so-called 'Dark Lord', no Death Eaters, no unlucky Halloween nights.. and still... she felt as if something was missing. And by somethings he didn't mean someone as Mrs. Weasley tried to convince her.
The next time Molly Weasley would set her up with some wizard she would jump off the astronomy tower. First, she tried to set Hariel up with one of her sons (so she could "finally become an official member of the Weasley family"). Percy took it with humour and they had a fancy (if not slightly awkward) diner. Seriously it was like going out with some cousin one grew up with, but hadn't seen in ages.
Then came that lanky guy who snorted at everything Hariel said (Merlin, she was about to ask him if he had some allergy) and that very nice young man from Diagon Alley who wouldn't stop talking about his Kneazle: "He wakes up very early in the morning" and "Mr. Kneazle likes a good rubbing.. not too hard, but not too soft." (she seriously doubted he was talking about his cat). She briefly wondered how Hermione would have dealt with him, maybe they would have gotten along and established some sort of Kneazle association.
She knew that Mrs. Weasley just wanted to take care of her and was a very protective mother who saw her as a second daughter, but it was getting rather was nineteen when they first met, although met wasn't even the right word. Their arms brushed against each other as they walked into opposite directions in one of London's livelier streets. They acknowledged each other like most strangers do when their eyes meet while passing by. For a few seconds, when their eyes meet, they are not strangers and have a strange bond which vanishes the moment they walk past each other.
She had been set up once again, this time with a cousin of Ernie Macmillan and - sweet Circe save her - that guy wouldn't stop talking about his most 'noble and ancient' family. He was almost worse than Mr. Kneazle and Mr. Kneazel had been bad. So when he was about to tell her more about his family relations with the Malfoys and Selwyns, Hariel excused herself to go the loo and promptly ran away. Not very nice, but hard times required hard measurements... or so..
Disillusionment charm set, she ran on the street. The balmy evening air filled her lungs and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She would so murder them. Definitely murder them. Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, and Hermione (the traitor!). Deeply lost in her murderous and highly creative thoughts she didn't notice how she lightly bumped into someone. She was about to apologise when her eyes met the blue eyes of the strangest muggle she had ever seen.
The man was tall, built like an athlete and looked down at her, he too seemed to be surprised that they had bumped into each other. His mouth was hidden behind some sort of black mask, his hair was longish, a bit shorter than Bill Weasley's, but the most prominent feature seemed to be his arm or what would have been his arm as it was made of iron.
The strange man stared into her eyes and she gulped.
"Er..sorry"
He wordlessly continued to walk away and disappeared in the busy crowd.
She didn't think much of it. Not like she knew much about Muggle fashion. Maybe he was a vampire or some foreign wizard. Hariel had had enough of adventures and secrets. Some things didn't make much sense in the wizarding world. It was magic and magic wasn't supposed to make sense.
six years later
"The healers said it's going to be a girl," Hermione smiled softly at Hariel, "Ron and I would like you to be her godmother if that's alright with you" she took another spoon of her sugar-free chocolate cream and licked it.
"Of course Hermione. I'd be honored!"
"You know, maybe you should go out with Theo he's quite handsome. Hmm... this stuff is good. Are you sure you don't want to try? He's very intelligent and-" Hermione spoke a lot about her colleague Theodore Nott these days.
"… and he's even more boring than Percy. No way."
"...fit" Hermione finished her sentence with a cross look in her brown eyes.
Her friend had reached the line where she wanted to set her up with a former Slytherin, this was a whole new development.
"Anyway. I asked Theodore out for you. You can thank me later."
"What?!"
"Well, you're not getting any younger Hari!" she pointed her clean licked spoon at Hariel to emphasise her point.
"I'm 25 for Merlin's sake! Did Molly brainwash you?" that came out a lot harsher than she had intended.
Please don't let her cry.
"I just want you to be as happy as Ron and I" tears were welling up in her brown eyes.
Sweet Merlin.
"Hermione, I know, I know, please don't cry."
What's it with pregnant woman and their bloody hormones? Hariel swore she was never ever going to get pregnant and she would never let Hermione know about her flings or one particular fling - well, now was not the time to think about that person. Later, yes, definitely later.
The sudden hooting of a large dark owl made Hermione stop crying in an instance. Harri took the parchment and sat down again.
"Oh, Merlin! I forgot to tell you" Hermione sniffed and dipped her spoon into her sup of never-ending nutritious ice cream .
"What?"
"Hmm?"
That must have been the most unintelligent thing she had heard her friend say in a long time.
"What did you forget to tell me?"
"Theo and you will go out tomorrow. I've already told him."
He wrapped his pale arm around her waist and sighed, pulling her closer to his naked chest.
"Nott," the man murmured into her hair, clearly not amused "you're telling me that you have a date with fucking Theodore Nott?"
She looked up to his face and kissed his pointy chin.
"I didn't choose to Draco" Hariel yawned, closing her eyes.
"Well, then tell those bloody.. your merry little friends to stop. Weasel and swotty can bugger off. Oi, don't you fall asleep on me. We're not finished yet Potter. If you want to sleep you can go home" he said.
"…Draco, you're in my apartment" she mumbled and patted his chest.
He grunted in response and snuggled his head into her messy curls. Yeah, right, he snuggled. Draco Malfoy, snuggler.
They still didn't get along most of the times, but Merlin help her, the sex was amazing. Their peculiar relationship had started when the two of them were ordered to team up to find Rabastan Lestrange somewhere in Wales.
To be frank, neither he nor Hariel had planned this, but they somehow ended up shagging. A lot. After a while they became something like - dare she say - lovers. More like shag buddies, really.
Her friends didn't know about Draco (only Luna did), there was no way she could tell Hermione or even Ginny without them making wedding plans or in Ron's and the other Weasley male's case for obvious other reasons.
This was alright, this was normal. No hard feelings, just shagging.
Hariel thought that maybe, she was not meant for any sort of romantic relationship. Even this thing with Malfoy wasn't exactly what it should be. She never expected it to become more than sex. At times Draco would gaze intently at her and when he looked at her with raw tenderness and affection, she felt sick .
"Kingsley?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt showed his age, not in appearance, but in the way, he held himself and in the way his eyes focused on someone. His gaze was severe and showed no emotions, albeit he always had a charismatic soft smile for those he cared about.
One look into the ex-aurors eyes and even a mountain troll, no a dragon, would begin to tremble.
They had all seen things in the war, but this man was one of the rare people who fought and lived through both wars. He was a survivor.
"Ah, Hari, there you are," he smiled at her his gaze softening "how are you? I'm afraid I have a rather difficult proposition for you" right to the point, it must be serious, he sounded urgent.
"Spill it, Kings"
"Yesterday some of the American aurors discovered evidence of Death Eaters near Chicago"
"So they sod off to the United States in hopes of not getting caught?" Hariel snorted.
"Yes."
It was no surprise that the remaining death eaters and their supporters would seek refuge in other countries. It was expected and hardly a concern.
The room was silent for a moment and Kingsley sighed heavily.
"What is it, Kingsley?" she smiled humourlessly "is Voldemort back again?"
He let out a sharp laugh.
"I need..." he furrowed his thick brows and mimicked her grim smile. Uh oh. Kingsley opened one of the desk drawers, pulled out some yellowing files and shoved them into Hariel's hands.
USPR GRINDELWALD/HYDRA xxxx xxwas written on it in bold letters underneath in smaller letters y.
She looked through the files. Inside were some detailed sketches of the human anatomy and some of magical creatures with maps which marked where to find them. It looked like some pages of an old encyclopedia of the Hogwarts library, pages of a book Hermione would love to get her hands on. What made Hariel frown, however, was the word 'mutant' written boldly at the very top of each page.
"What is this?"
"In 1710 or earlier even, we can't be sure, a squib called Theseus wanted to find a way to regenerate magic in squibs. He was what muggles would call a 'scientist' who wanted to proof that every squib had a drained magical core. Wizards didn't particularly like him. He was obsessed with the idea of finding a way to - heal - squibs."
Kingsley crossed his arms "The more time passed the more hateful he grew of wizards and focussed on creating new beings with powers which could kill the whole wizarding society.
He wanted to create an army against the wizarding world. He was a genius but touched by insanity. Theseus experimented for over 50 years, first with corpses, later with other squibs, but soon even they saw his madness and avoided him. That's when he began to kidnap muggles, especially orphaned muggle children, an unestimated number of muggleborns and lastly, women who sold their bodies to the night."
Hariel raised an eyebrow. That was a lot to take in, a crazy scientist squib who murdered and caused terror. Also, 'women who sold their bodies to the night', how poetic minister Shacklebolt. She had never heard of this Theseus character at Hogwarts.
"He managed to insert magic into pregnant women - into their unborn children. The babies were born with special powers. Not real magic, mind you, but something different altogether. His insanity made him believe he was a God. Fortunately, those special muggles didn't see him as their God and creator, nor did they want to obey him, so they killed him."
"Well, Kings that's all good an-"
Kingsley shot her an impatient look and she shut up.
"They still live. Many years later, before he became a Dark Lord, Gellert Grindelwald convinced them to rule side-by-side with wizards over muggles. He created a small group called 'Hydra' to train them and even hired a few very intelligent muggles into this group. After he died the group continued to exist and grew."
"Those individuals..er.. mutants they still exist?"
"Yes, they're not bad in particular and many of them use their powers to protect the world, but yesterday the Magical Congress of the United States informed me that former British Death Eaters joined Hydra"
Kingsley cleared his throat. "There is another group called SHIELD with their 'Avengers initiative' a group of brilliant people who fight Hydra, but we're not sure about their intentions."
"Why do you tell me all of this Kings?"
"A defected Hydra assassin called 'Winter Soldier' has important documents on Theseus' experiments. We need an individual to find these dangerous documents to prevent anything bad from happening."
"No," she interrupted him. "No way... I've had enough Kingsley. I've never had a time in my life which was this peaceful… this normal." Growing up, she had yearned for normality and a peaceful life. An almost forgotten voice in the back of her head was getting giddy at the prospect of a new adventure. It was like a drug. The danger, the thrill, the hurt. This is why you became an auror, Potter. SAY YES. Weirdly enough the voice sounded like Draco Malfoy. Could she ever come back to normal again? Had she ever been normal to begin with?
"We cannot trust SHIELD."
"You can't expect me to.." she shook her head "ask those bloody Avengers or what-is-their-name or assemble a group of hit wizards-"
His hand banged onto the table and she shut her mouth.
"This is an order Auror Potter"
They stared at each other in silence.
"Minister Shacklebolt." she nodded and went for the door
"Hariel," she stopped, but didn't turn around "You're the only person I trust."
I've had enough of it. I want a peaceful life.
She quietly closed the door behind her.
Who was she kidding?
The suitcase looked small on the outside but contained more than 55 books, several potions ingredients and almost all of Hariel's wardrobe. Merlin bless extension charms and Hermione Granger.
"Are you sure you want to go?" Ron handed her a small glass jar that seemed to contain newts eyes. He scrunched up his nose.
"Yes, Ron." she took the glass jar out of his hands.
"The food is awful. I've heard they eat gnome soup and there's no Quidditch in the US! Mate, hate to tell you, but you won't survive this" he said with wide eyes.
She simply shrugged. While Ron wasn't that concerned with her hasty decision, his very pregnant wife was not happy at all.
"At least tell me you'll go on the date with Theo, please. I could never look him in the eyes if you said no"
"Mione..I'll be gone tomorrow. Would it even matter?"
"Hariel Lilian Potter! It would matter!" she pouted "please just do it for me."
"Alright, one dinner with Nott. Don't expect me to stay because of him." Not even Hermione could convince her. She wouldn't let Kingsley down. She couldn't.
"Nott? As in Theodore bloody Nott? Merlin's sodding balls, what the hell, love!" Ron looked at his wife as if she was mad.
"Oh hush Ronald, he's a perfectly fine wizard and he could make Hariel very happy." she smiled smugly to herself.
Ron grimaced, "happy she says." Then he grumbled something else under his breath, but was fortunately clever enough to not anger Hermione.
Theodore Nott was an enigma.
Hariel had no idea what Hermione found interesting about him. Alright, he looked good or as she had said quite handsome.
He was a gentleman, deadly clever too, and still something was off. He had something secretive about him and not necessarily in a good way. He looked haunted. The way his eyes kept darting around the room made her nervous.
He seemed to watch out for someone.
They talked about his work and the weather. It was a dull, harmless conversation until she subtly pointed out that she wasn't ready for a relationship. Theo looked a bit disappointed but accepted it, after a short period of awkwardness he even tried to explain her spell creation.
Happy to show off his knowledge he took her hand in his and leaned forward to whisper excitedly about his heroes, great wizards who had died centuries ago like it was a big secret he was revealing to her. Merlin what a nerd, now she knew what Hermione liked so much about him.
He was about to eagerly demonstrate one of his self-invented spells when all hell broke loose.
"Keep your hands away from her Nott!"
Theo Nott suddenly let go of her hand as a fist came out of nowhere and punched him in his nose.
"What the - Malfoy?!"
Draco's face was flushed dark red in anger.
A shocked murmur went through the restaurant and a waitress ran to them.
"Sirs, please calm down.."
"What is your fucking problem Nott?
"My problem? Drake are you kidding me? What's going on?"
"You broke the fucking codex."
"I did not! You know that was ages ago when the codex didn't even exist!"
"She's my girl, Nott. You knew it."
His girl. Did Draco Malfoy just fucking claim her? What codex? What the hell was going on? Theo looked at him perplexed and suddenly his eyes grew wide. The waitress tried to pull Draco away but didn't stand a chance the tiny thing she was.
"I swear, I didn't know you meant Potter" Theo tried desperately and mumbled to himself "all this time he was talking about Potter?" he looked her up and down.
This was it.
How cliché could it be. It was like some bloody scene of one of those ridiculously romantic books Mrs. Weasley gushed over or some terrible teenage drama.
Hariel stood up, her chair squealing loudly on the floor and for another second everyone was deadly quiet watching the spectacle rather than eating their bouillabaisse.
"What in Morgana's name Draco. Your girl?" her voice must have been very high-pitched.
They completely ignored her.
"For Salazar's sake, believe me, I didn't know. How should I know Potter is the mysterious woman behind the mindblowing blowjo- look, I'd never break the codex. You know how much you mean to me. You're one of my best friends."
There was an awkward silence.
"Theo.." Draco looked conflicted.
They gazed intensely into each other eyes or as Ginny would have called it eye-fucked each other. She was too tired for this. Draco sniffed loudly and pulled Theo into a hug. Slytherins showing feelings. Merlin help them they were worse than 'Puffs.
People around them began to bloody applaud.
"What, will you kiss now?" Hariel leered.
They quickly pulled apart and she could swear the tips of Theo's ears reddened.
Draco coughed slightly, "Hari, darling, I need to tell you something. Here and now.."
Hariel might throw up here and now. Draco walked towards her with such a heated, determined look in his face. The soft drumming inside her head was getting louder and louder. Oh fuck.
"I love you"
Her hand moved on its own accord and fumbled for her wine glass. She gulped the content down at one swallow and almost choked.
"Draco…I…" she didn't know what to say.
"You don't have to say it. I just wanted you to know and," he smiled softly at her "I want to make things official"
She gaped at him unable to find words in her brain.
"This" she pointed between them "can't work out."
He opened his mouth and was about to protest, but she interrupted him.
"Merlin...I can't do this... Draco.. I just can't" and then - as if it wasn't bad enough, she ran away.
She ran away from her life in England.
Away from the life, she could have.
Right on a path which would lead her to her destiny.