Open Books
Chapter 1
By the Unlucky-charm
"Oh! Narcissa answered my letter!" Molly Weasley happily said, once the unfamiliar owl had dropped the letter in her hands and left.
This sudden casual exclamation from the mother of seven did not go unnoticed from the breakfast table, causing most of its members to spit out their drinks, spraying the person in front of them.
"Ew Ron!" Ginny squealed as a mist of orange juice landed on her face.
"She WROTE to you?" George asked in a reproachful tone.
"Well, she was nice enough to reply. This is her third letter actually." Molly continued as if there was nothing unusual about her having a correspondence with Narcissa Malfoy.
"You WRITE to her?" Ron stepped in.
"She started it." His mother answered defensively.
"Um, Mrs. Weasley..." Harry began calmly, trying to ease the tension in this situation, which he hoped was nothing but a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, the odds were not in his favour. "Why exactly did Mrs. Malfoy write to you?"
"J-Just like that." She stuttered, turning away from all of them, in fear of her lie being detected.
"With all due respect ma'am, I doubt Mrs. Malfoy would write for you just for fun." Hermione said.
"And since when is Mrs. Malfoy 'Narcissa'?" Ginny added teasingly, enjoying and also taking advantage of her mother's flustered state.
"What is this? Some kind of muggle police interrogation!" Molly said, her hands on her hips and a blush on her cheeks.
"Molly calm down. The children have every right to know. And if you refuse to tell them..." His voice wavered. "You can at least tell ME?" His demand sounded more like a question.
Exasperated, Molly sighed, throwing aside her rag. She sat at an empty chair and began her narrative of why, of all people, did Mrs. Malfoy bother write to her.
"Her first letter was an apology, a very sincere one at that, in behalf of all her family for having cause so much trouble." She paused looking hesitant. "During the war that is."
"Well that's... nice?" Harry said, not sure if the circumstances were right or if the adjective was a bit too forgiving. The war was over though right? So why keep grudges?
'It is very kind of her." Hermione said. "And Harry, I think you should thank her, I mean you DO owe her your life."
Before Harry could even agree, Ron slammed his hand flat onto the table.
"Bloody hell Hermione, should he take them a gift basket too? He doesn't owe that family anything! He's the Saviour of our world, after all. I think he had done enough."
"He should just say thank you, no one said anything about a gift OR about the whole family. Narcissa Malfoy seems to be a decent enough person. Compared to the other Malfoys, she seems to be a little less..." Ginny began to think for a word, but her brother cut her thoughts short.
"Cruel? Evil? A complete git?"
"I was going to say thoughtless."
"Either way, I am going to thank her." Harry said and got up.
"Well now you can." Molly said uneasily and then mumbled something under her breath as she turned back to the stove.
"What was that?" George asked.
"I um..." She mumbled something inaudible again.
"Mum, we can't hear you." Ginny said impatiently.
"Well...I might have...invited them to dinner..." She said, avoiding the widening eyes in the room.
"What?" Merlin knows how many of them yelled.
"And she seems to be quite thrilled." Harry said, now having made his way to the corner of the room, reading the letter that was tossed aside earlier. "She writes to you like an old friend." He added, amusement in his tone.
"Bloody hell mum, just because the war is over, you're going around befriending Death Eaters?"
"Back off Ron." George said before his little brother could go any further. "If mum said she's nice, then there must be a reason. So what if we're having ONE Malfoy over? She's apologetic AND Harry owes her some thanks...apparently." He said, somewhat awkwardly. He was obviously hiding how the situation to come was making him a little uneasy as well.
At his older son's words, Molly flinched and took a quick step back.
"What is it Molly?" Her husband asked.
"Draco and Lucius...might be joining her." She said, closing her eyes tightly as is awaiting a strong blow to come and hit her straight in the face.
This time it was Ron who stood up abruptly.
"What?" He hissed. "Draco and Lucius." He put very strong emphasis on both names. "Are they your friends too?"
"Well what else am I supposed to call them, Ronald?" She said, finally standing her own ground.
"You're not! That's the point. You're not supposed to be calling them anything! But NOW, they're coming over to dinner. Marvellous!" He slapped his hands together, and smiled sarcastically.
"Ron!" Hermione stood up, followed by Ginny."The war is over, we don't need you starting a new one."
"If you want, you can sit in your room, your presence is NOT required." His sister spat.
"Nope sorry. It actually is needed." Harry said casually, still in his damn corner with the letter. "Draco insists on speaking to all of us...especially to you, Hermione."
"Me?"
"Yes. Don't ask me why though, it's what the letter says. We might want to start getting ready though." Harry said, putting down the letter and strolling down to the staircase carelessly. "Since they'll be arriving tomorrow along with Mr. Weasley." It was ridiculous how unbothered he was by all of it.
"Tomorrow?" George asked, a little shocked. "When exactly did you plan on telling us that tiny bit of information?" He laughed.
"Why with me?" Arthur whimpered, looking worried.
"They will be joining you at the ministry. You will leave work with them."
"Right..." He was so not ready for this.
"If that git thinks I'm going to let him speak to you alone-"
"Ron look. I have saved your arse 200 times before, I think I can handle Draco Malfoy, that is, if he even tries anything."
The room began to laugh (especially George) and move along from the table, leaving Ron standing alone and absolutely furious.
Draco had never been so restless in his entire life. He couldn't stop moving and whenever he tried he would just end up fidgeting in his chair like some idiot. He needed to see Hermione; more precisely, he needed to talk to her. He couldn't write, it was too risky and the last thing he wanted was for the Weasley boy to find out. He was absolutely thrilled when he found out they were invited to the Weasley's for dinner. A year ago, just the sight of one of the red heads would have made him want to kill.
When his mother was writing back, he insisted on letting them know of his wishes before his arrival to avoid any problems it might cause. Besides, this way if they actually did have a problem, they could simply write back.
However, he couldn't help but feel anxious about the whole idea. It would be awkward, to say the least. All he really wanted to do was apologize, thank them and then take Hermione into a spot and bombard her with the questions who didn't seem to want to leave his tired mind alone.
"Draco! We're leaving soon, what are you going to wear?" He heard his mother call from downstairs. He didn't answer her. Why would he? It was such a silly question after all. He grabbed his black suit jacket and pulled it over his crisp white shirt, tucked into his also black pants.
What else could he possibly wear?
He still had time before they had to leave for the ministry, so he began formulating his thoughts. He realised that the 'culprit' could be anyone. Then again, it would be surprising that anyone but Granger could have pulled off such a complex charm. Whoever it was, he wanted nothing more than for he or she to remove it. He only hoped that Granger had some pity left in her. The more he thought about it, the more positive he was that it was her work that made him suffer so. Only she would be brilliant and yet creative enough to come up with such a hex. He just couldn't wait for her to get rid of it. Charm, hex, potion, dark magic: it didn't matter. He just wanted it. Out. Of. Him.
Truth was, what he really would rather do was go to a very talented wizard and ask he or she to remove to the spell, what made his hesitate was the fear of that wizard finding out the properties of the spell while getting rid of it and that would be way too humiliating for him to handle.
The one thing that puzzled him the most was how and when did Granger manage to hex him. Wouldn't such a charm be take time and energy to master? Those were two things Granger and his friends didn't have to spare. Draco doubted such a smart girl would waste such time for the soul purpose of causing him trouble, not to mention in the middle of their search for the horcruxes.
"Draco! Where are you!" He heard his mother yell.
Without thinking twice, he hurried down the stairs to the door, only to almost stumble over a very frilly, pastel blue gift bag. In their mostly dark green coloured house, the bag stood out like a sore thumb and consequently made Draco very curious about its contents.
"You're an open book, child." His mother told him, a small smirk dancing around her mouth. She must have read his mind again, his expression weren't that hard to understand after all. "It's for the baby." She said.
Draco's nod went only halfway before he fully took in his mother's words and froze in place. "What baby?" He asked.
"Teddy Lupin, your cousin." She said and picked up the bag. "Come now, your father is waiting for us at the ministry."
He had always hated how his mother always knew his secrets without having to ask him. Was he that obvious? He didn't think so, or else she would have found out about the charm he was under, wouldn't she?
Without another word she stepped into the chimney and motioned for him to join. Mumbling under his breath about the cousin he never knew he had, Draco joined her and in a smoke of green, they disappeared.
The Burrow was in complete and utter chaos, most of the mayhem being concentrated in the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley cooked all morning and where everyone circulated. The meal had to be perfect, none of them understood why, but Mrs. Weasley was putting her all into it. Ginny and George had been setting up the backyard all day so that they could eat outside where the weather and scenery were nice. Getting rid of the garden gnomes had been hard, but the task was done.
Hermione was supposed to be helping out as well, but Ginny had insisted she and Harry stay upstairs and plan out their confrontation with Draco Malfoy, saying she would cover for them. When trying to figure out Malfoy's behaviour, the two came up with a series of absurd scenarios, just in case all hell broke loose; the previous seemed to happen to them a lot.
"I wonder what he wants to talk to me about." Hermione told her good friend as she fiddled with her hair.
"I'm sure he has a mad crush on you and is simply going to ask you to run away with him to Mexico." Harry shrugged and received a delicate punch in the arm.
"Doubt it." Hermione said in a cold tone, although Harry could easily detect the smile she held back.
In the end, no matter how crazy the day had been and no matter how much Ron sulked in his corner, evening rolled around in no time. Everything was ready (even Ron) and all that was left to do was wait Everyone had gone from excited and busy, to nervous and restless. The family was to arrive with Mr. Weasley around 7 o'clock, however no one was brave enough to check the clock and countdown the minutes. That's probably why they all gasped when Ginny jumped up from her seat across the window and yelled.
"They're here!"
At the same time, everyone got up and stepped out to greet them. In a horizontal line, they stood at the door, as if they were blocking the way in. From the short distance, three blonde heads and one red began to walk towards the house. The only woman of the four hurried her pace and made her way quickly towards Molly, who greeted her with open arms...literally.
"Hello Molly!" She said and welcomed her embrace.
"Hello dear, how have you been?"
When the rest of the party arrived, everybody remained quiet and staring away from each other. Finally, George was the one to break the awkward silence and make a ridiculous move.
"Well, why don't you come in mate!" He said and swung an arm around Malfoy, ushering him inside.
The three friends along with Ginny stared in disbelief. During that time, Arthur directed a curt nod towards Lucius and they both followed George, Molly and, Narcissa inside. Harry, Ron, Hermione and, Ginny stood outside alone.
"I don't like this." Ron said.
"Let's just go eat." Hermione said. "There's no use standing here and listening to you complain."
They all walked to the backyard and sat down at the table. Molly and Narcissa had already began bringing in the food, as their husbands talked about Ministry things that not many people understood. George had already begun a lively conversation with Draco, making him feel very uncomfortable. Harry thought it would wise to save the poor blonde boy, before George got a little too close to him.
He sat in front of him and spared him a small smile to loosen things up. Ginny on the other hand, had a better idea and she, just like her brother, began to strike conversation with Draco. Harry couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for his rival. He must have be having mixed feelings about what was happening and was that a flash of fear he saw in his deep grey eyes?
To be perfectly honest, Harry had received so many apologies and thanks since the end of the war, he couldn't help but feel uninterested with what Malfoy would have to say to him. What he was really looking forward to was the blonde's secret conversation with Hermione. There were just so many possibilities, he wondered how unnatural a discussion between those two would be.
During the entire course of dinner, everyone had a pretty good time and tension was relieved as much as it could be, not for Ron of course, but for everyone else. Draco had some fascinating information to share, like the new potions master at Hogwarts and all the donations given for the renovations.
"They might add a new wing." He explained. "They want to name it after one of you."
"What will it be used for?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not too sure, but I believe they want to open up an art class. They'll need new teachers for it, but I hear Luna Lovegood volunteered." He said, lowering his voice when speaking Luna's name. Harry supposed that no matter how much time they spent together, the past will always follow, meaning Draco would always have trouble speaking their names. Plus, it wasn't like he could call her Miss Lovegood, that would be way too weird.
"Oh! Harry, I almost forgot!"
Everyone at the table turned their head toward Narcissa Malfoy, who was handing a light blue bag to Harry over the table.
"Um, thank you?" He said, taking the frilly bag and settling it on his lap.
"It's for Teddy." She explained. "You're his godfather, aren't you?"
"Oh! Yes, of course. You're related, I forgot." Harry handed the bag to Hermione. "I am the godfather, but I must admit Hermione is a much better caretaker."
The table laughed a little as Hermione opened the present. It contained a couple of things, mostly clothes, which were quite cute looking and decorated with adorable animal patterns.
"Oh, they're so nice." Hermione said, holding a one piece pyjama in front of her with the words "Baby Gap" written across the front.
"It's a muggle brand. The wizard stores didn't have anything appropriate." She explained, with a smile.
With another thank you, Hermione put the clothes back into the bag and set it next to her. "Teddy is being kept at Bill's and Fleur's for a few days."
"Oh, that's too bad."
It was obvious she was wanting to see the child, but it wasn't like they could just poof the kid back...but apparently, Mrs. Weasley had a better idea.
"Stay the night, he'll be back tomorrow."
A series of sudden outbursts came about, one louder than the other, some encouraging the idea and some politely declining it.
"It's no problem Lucius, if she wants to see Teddy, it can be arranged." Arthur said, surprisingly.
"No, we really shouldn't." Lucius tried to say, but his wife's giant grin stopped him.
"It's all right Mr. Malfoy, Draco here can sleep in Ron's room." George said and winked his brother's way, irking him all the more.
Before Ron could say something nasty back, Molly stepped in informing everyone that they had several free rooms since Charlie, Bill and Percy moved out.
"The sofa is pretty comfortable too." Harry added, he was encouraging but for selfish reasons. He didn't mind having the Malfoy's stay, but he wasn't going to let them leave without Draco and Hermione having their talk. What could he say? He was a curious boy.
Eventually, the parents moved to the living room and the young adults were left outside in the backyard to watch the sun set. They were silent and Harry decided it was his turn to break it.
"Your mom sent a letter." He said to Draco, who's head snapped up when the letter was mentioned. His lips parted and his cheeks flushed; he looked like he was lost for words. His eyes were wide and stared straight through Harry's blue ones.
"She said you wanted to speak to us about something?" Hermione inquired, snapping Draco form his daze.
"Y-yes, to be honest I just wanted to apologize to you all...and thank you of course...for everything." He sounded sincere, and even probably was. If you had told Harry that Draco Malfoy would tell him this 4 years ago, he would have laughed in your face.
"It's all right." Harry reassured him because he kind of looked panicked since no one was saying anything. Draco looked straight up at Harry and froze again.
"I-I had more to say but...but, I can't seem to remember..." He stuttered through the sentence. Poor guy seemed really nervous to Harry and judging by the faces around the table, they had noticed too. Except for Hermione, who seemed to be trying to read him.
"It's okay, we can forgive you with just that." Ginny said sweetly.
Draco gave her a slight smile, something Harry hadn't seen on his face for a while. The only time he could remember Malfoy smiling in the past was when he teased or made fun of him.
"All right, no more of this depressing stuff!" George intervened. "You excited to see your cousin mate? He's awful quiet, for a baby I mean."
"I didn't know he existed until this morning." He explained with a half hearted chuckle. "Kind of sad."
"Nobody ever told you?" Ron spoke for the first time. Even Draco seemed a little surprised.
"Y-yeah, I knew about Professor Lupin and Nymphadora, but I never knew they had a child together." After he spoke those words, he seemed to consider them himself. "Is...is he special...?" He asked, because the idea had obviously just occurred to him.
Apparently only Hermione and Harry had understood what he meant because the three Weasley just gazed at him quizzically.
"So far, his hair and eyes can change colour, I haven't seen him do anything else." Hermione explained to him. The topic of Teddy always had excited her, she once told Harry that it was like having a little brother.
Draco nodded. "Right." He gulped a little loudly and turned to Harry once more. "Is it true? You're his godfather?"
"Yes, but like I said, I'm not really much of a parent."
He nodded again and silence came over everyone once more.
Harry had just about enough. For 7 years of his life he had fought, had been patient and saved lives. It was time he did something because his curiosity was at its limit.
"Say, maybe we should go inside." He suggested and on time too because it was starting to get dark.
Ginny shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "Yeah, it's getting cold."
On their way inside, Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and kept her behind with him. But before he could say anything, Hermione must read his mind.
"You're an open book Harry." She sighed. "Yes, I'll find a way to get him alone with me."
Harry muttered an embarrassed thank you and sorry and joined the rest of the group inside. Once in, they all looked around for a place to sit, preferable without the parents who still talked about the Ministry or cooking; neither of the subjects appeased to them so they stepped into the quiet family room instead, usually reserved for reading and meetings.
On the way, Harry pretended to want to tell George something and ran to the front of the group, this time leaving Hermione behind alone with Malfoy. The light brow haired girl sighed and tapped Malfoy on the shoulder. The boy spun his head around, as if always alert and stared at Hermione, puzzled.
"Um, I'm going to take this up to Teddy's room, mind helping me put everything in its place?" It was a lame excuse and it was even lamer to have asked Malfoy of all people. "You should probably see his room, since he's your cousin and all." She added, trying to make her request a more convincing one. Luckily, Malfoy seemed to catch on and agreed.
In the family room, Harry was quite content to see that Hermione and Malfoy were not present. He knew she could do it! She had gotten out of tighter spots before. Still, he was still impatient and resisted the urge to go and eavesdrop on them.
"I know this was all your doing." Ron whispered to him. "You're lucky you're my friend, or else I would have kicked you for leaving them alone like that."
Ginny and George were currently in a heated argument, giving Harry the chance to answer without any one else hearing.
"Look, I just want to know what he wants, okay? There was no other choice, I don't think he would have just asked her himself...I just helped out." Harry said defensively and laughed when Ron stuck his tongue out at him.
Tonight, he would sneak into Hermione's room and squeeze the information out of her. It better be good, life after the war was good, but it was beginning to bore him.
Teddy's room looked like any other typical baby room. The walls were off white, the windows were large and let in a lot of light, and each corner of the room was occupied by either a change table, a cradle, a rocking chair or a book case. Right next to the change table were the drawers and that's where Hermione was crouched down, charming the clothes to fold themselves into the compartments.
"So what is it you want?" She asked him.
Although she only saw a glimpse, Draco was completely flushed and speechless. Hermione actually began considering the possibility of a crush but pushed the idea away as fast as it entered her mind. He would have too much pride to be able to confess, this was something a little more serious, she thought.
"I was wondering if you could remove a charm for me...something that possibly is...your work?" he squeaked out the last two words and took a step back, as if he was expecting Hermione to react badly.
"A charm?" She arched a brow and him and stood up.
"A hex, a potion...I don't know how you did it, but I was hoping you'd know how to get rid of it as well." He said, sounding a lot more scared than angry.
"But I didn't." Hermione said and regretted it at once when she saw his face fall and go from somewhat afraid to absolutely demoralized and somewhat panicked.
"Oh...Um...I see..." He looked like was about to hyperventilate, so Hermione didn't hesitate to jump in.
"Malfoy, are you okay?" She asked him.
"I...no, I'm not. I need your help." He almost begged her. He grabbed her shoulders and stared intensely into her brown eyes. "You need to get the charm off or else I might go crazy."
Hermione took a step back from him, leaving his arms hanging in the airs for a second and then dropping back to his sides.
"Okay, calm down. Take a deep breath, and calm down or else we won't be able to get anywhere."
Draco did as she said and took a few breaths before explaining his theories to Hermione rapidly. He told her everything about when it started and why he didn't tell anyone. He left out the part about being afraid of his mother finding out, but that was only to protect his ego.
"Okay, that's fine, but what's the charm?" She asked, finding it a bit odd that he would leave the most important part out.
"I don't know." He mumbled and looked away.
"Okay...what are the side effects, the symptoms? If it's bothering you so much, then it must be having SOME kind of effect." She told him, knowing that he was purposefully hiding it from her.
"It's sort of...I really don't want to say it...If you don't mind."
Hermione sighed. "I don't mind, but then I can't help you. I need to know at least one symptom."
"There is only one symptom." He said. "Well, one important one, that is."
Hermione sat him down on the floor next to her and tried to calm him down as much as she could. She asked him to tell her as much as he could and reassured him time and time again that it was not her, as convinced as he was, that cast the charm.
Thanks to a few calming spells here and there, Hermione managed to get the least important effects from him which included blushing, heat flashes, dry mouth and the inability to speak properly.
"Are you sure you're not just sick?" She asked him because that's what it sounded like. She even pressed her hand against his forehead a few times to check him temperature, but for the time being, he seemed fine.
"There's no need for that..." He mumbled, gently pushing her hand away. "The smaller symptoms arrive only when..." He stopped and seemed to reconsider what he was about to say. "Only when the biggest symptom is there."
Hermione finally lost it, and by 'it', she meant her patience. She needed answers concerning this 'big symptom' and wasn't going to wait around for him to feel comfortable enough to tell her.
"You know, I have Veritaserum is my room.." She said to him. And yes, it was meant to be a threat, although it took him time to figure that out.
"E-excuse me? No, no that will NOT be necessary." He said, going back to being scared.
"Then I suggest you spit it out before someone realises we've been up here for so long and come looking for us."
Draco Malfoy sucked it up. He wasn't ready to tell her at all, but this might be his only chance to fix everything and go back to normal. After having made her promise to never tell anybody about it several times, he began his narrative of what he believed was how the curse worked.
"It started a month after the war ended. My father was out of prison and our family name was somewhat cleaner. I began to feel...attracted..." He looked down at the floor. "I felt an attraction towards a certain person-"
He could not finish his sentence because Hermione's loud laugh had cut him off. Panicked, he began to wonder if she figured it out even before he told the story, but apparently, that was not the case.
"Malfoy, if your attracted to someone, then it probably means you like her. No charm needed. It's a crush, trust me. Do you know her name?" Draco stopped her before she turned in Pansy Parkinson, the gossip queen.
"N-no, listen! This...person can't know about this. I'm not even SUPPOSED to be liking this person!" He was about to lose his mind. He knew he would have to tell her straight up, or else she would never get it on her own. Who could blame her? Nobody in the world would ever be able to guess this!
"Forbidden love? Are your families rivals or something?"
Well she had hit the right spot, but Malfoy still doubted she was thinking what he was thinking...and couldn't stop thinking about for the pat few months.
"Something like that...but no."
"What do you mean? Does she live far away?"
"No she." He blurted out. "Not a she."
Hermione looked a little surprised, but not as much as Draco would have liked.
"He?" She asked, making sure this person was at least a human.
"Harry Potter." There, he had said. Point blank. Black and white. No way around it now.
The girl before him let her jaw drop to the floor and her eyes fly out of their sockets. For once, Hermione Granger had definitely NOT seen that coming. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out, only choking sounds of utter astonishment.
"What?" She managed to say a moment later.
"Someone hexed me and now I'm attracted to Harry Potter." He repeated.
She reacted as if it was the first time she had heard of it. The information hit her as hard as it did the first time. For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was speechless.
"I need your help. I need you to get rid of this spell. I can't handle living like this!"
Hermione mumbled something under her breath that Draco didn't hear. When he asked her about it, she blushed a little and refused to meet his gaze.
"M-Maybe...it's not a hex?" She said, sounding more like she was suggesting the possibility.
This time it was his turn to be left mouth gaping open. Was she actually implying that he be naturally attracted to Potter? No. Way.
"That's impossible." He said, sounding sure of himself for the first time that evening. "Please Granger, you need to help."
"I'll see what I can do."