Right... Here we go with the last completely new chapter before we get back into the beginning of the original Prophecy. We're going to find out a bit about our friends and their families. Let's take a look at the last carefree summer of the Eight, and two others.
The Prophecy of Eight
Chapter Two
Life is Good, Mostly.
OoOoOoO The Evans, The Evans Estate, Montana. June 05th 2014 OoOoOoO
"Rose, where is James? We have to leave now if we're going to be on time." Mary Evans didn't bother calling for James. Rose could find him faster, and even talk to him, since their insane stunt two months ago. She shivered again, remembering James pushing the door open with a bloody Rose in his arms and two small girls following him.
Rose Evans closed her eyes and felt for the presence that was always in the back of her head now. "James? Where are you? We're going to be late for the Match." She knew about where he was, and he wasn't far, and getting closer quickly.
"Relax, Flower Child. I'm coming. We'll be there to kick Michael's a-."
"James Tiberius Evans, don't finish that thought!"
Rose looked around as she heard a horse coming. As she thought, James was on Buttercup again. She stayed well back and he drew the sixteen hand Appaloosa stallion to a stop. "See? I told you I'd be here." James rubbed the stallion's neck affectionately. He took off the hackamore that was his only gear and looked the horse in the eye. "Go to the barn. Do not bite anything on the way. Close your stall behind you."
The stallion eyed James for a minute and blew loudly. He started toward the barn, looking back to see if James was watching. James was, and Rose shook her head. Those two were just freaky. James was the only two legged creature that could get close to the stallion, and very few four legged creatures were willing to test the temper of the horse. They heard the stallion's stall door thump closed and James started toward the house.
"James, why is there blood on the back of your shirt?" Rose was worried. They had a Quidditch Match in less than two hours, and if James was hurt again. Her train of thought was interrupted.
"Relax. I just got scratched a bit on a low hanging branch." In James' mind was a picture of running Buttercup through the forest.
Rose caught up with James and lifted his shirt. It was just a scratch, easily taken care of. Rose sighed. James' idea of a "scratch" and other people's idea of one didn't always match. She grinned to herself as she remembered a time James had called three claw marks running from his collarbone to his waist a "scratch".
Mary Evans smiled as she watched the twins coming toward the house. They were still young enough that they were physically very simular. Both of them had black hair and the Evans eyes, with strong features that would be arresting when they were older. They were built from the same mould as well, both with the athletic build of children that spent more time outside than indoors.
Mary rolled her eyes at that thought. James would never come inside if he didn't have to. Somewhere back in the Indian heritage they had gotten from their father, whose grandmother had been a Flathead Indian was a wild nature and James had gotten his share and Rose's. He was far more comfortable in the buckskins and moccasins of his cousins than he was in regular Muggle wear or robes.
That he was more comfortable in the woods of their native Montana and with the wildlife that roamed them worried her. Rose was more normal than James in that respect, preferring jeans and blouses over robes or buckskins. She smiled at them as they came in and Rose turned James around to show Mary his back.
She sighed and pulled out a vial of the Healing ointment the Indians made for minor injuries. At least this time it wasn't an animal's attack that caused this.
Ten minutes later, the Evans family was on its way to the North American Junior Quidditch Championship.
"It's a beautiful day for Quidditch, friends and we've got two great teams here today. For those of you that are new to the Championship, here is Donald Meyer, the Secretary of Magical Education and Sports to fill us in."
"Good afternoon, Quidditch fans. As most of you know, all of the local leagues keep the statistics on their players, and from those stats each year, the Department of Magical Education and Sports chooses the best fourteen players from across the continent. This year, we have two firsts. James and Rose Evans are appearing in their third Junior Championship, having been the Beaters for the red team in each of the two preceding years. Many of the younger Beaters will be glad to know that they start at one of the Magical schools next year, and will not be eligible to play in this league."
"This year is also the first year we have three members of a single family in the Championship. Michael Evans, cousin to Rose and James, is the Keeper for the Blue team."
"The other players are as follows. For the Red team, Charles Magnum of Merced, California is the Team Captain and Keeper. Their Chasers are Miguel Sanchez of Tijuana, Mexico, Juanita Cortes of Mexico City, Mexico and Gabriella Mercier of Alberta, Canada. The Seeker is another Canadian, Gary Joinville. As I said earlier, James and Rose Evans, of Yaak, Montana are the Beaters."
"For the Blue team, Michael Evans of Yaak, Montana is the Keeper. Mary Stuart is the Captain and lead Chaser, with William Percy of Clarksville, Tennessee and Darya Monroe of Evansville, Indiana filling the other two Chaser positions. The Beaters for the blue team are from totally different areas, but both of them have shown amazing skill, which they will need against the Evans twins. Jesus Sanchez is from New York City, New York and Ch'eng Tsu is from Buenos Aires, Argentina originally, until his parents moved here last year. Now from Tribune, he's fast becoming a local celebrity for his Quidditch play."
"Let's give a big welcome to the teams as they come out for the twenty-fourth Annual Junior Quidditch Championship!"
"Thank you, Secretary Meyer. The Red team has won this Match three years running. Can they keep the streak alive this year, or will this be the year the Blue team snaps their winning ways and goes home victorious?"
Rose and James were in the locker room. James was pacing back and forth. "I've seen the stats on Tsu. He's very good. Driven to excel, and nearly dangerous, even with the modified Bludgers they make us use." James looked up. Rose had heard all of this before and was pretending to sleep. The rest of the team had gotten used to the twins and their ways over the last two weeks as they practised.
"James, you said that yesterday." Gary sighed. "We'll be careful, not that I expect him to see much of the Bludger. You two are bloody uncanny with those things."
"Especially since they never talk to each other. I think they're some military experiment, two bodies with one brain." Charles grinned at them to show he was joking.
James grinned. "Actually, we used a spell I modified that was designed to simulate a bonding to create a permanent mind link between ourselves." James said all of that with a straight face and his team mates stared at him for a minute before bursting out laughing.
"That was good," said Gary admiringly, "you didn't crack even a slight smile."
James grinned again. "Better," he told Rose, "since every word was the complete truth." Since James used the mind link he'd spoken of, no one else heard him and Rose sent him a mental picture of her rolling her eyes. James sent her a picture of him sticking his tongue out, and Rose sent it back, with his tongue a bright blue. James coloured as she reminded him of the time he'd stuck his tongue out at their mother and Rose smirked as she chalked up a point for her.
They were all distracted then, as the bell that told them they had five minutes before the match rang. Charles looked around. "We're good. Very good and I expect us to prove it out there. We all know what to do and how to do it." He glanced at James and Rose. "Since you two are the senior members of this team, and this is your last year, would you lead us out?"
James grinned at him. "I would be honored, if I didn't think you were allowing us this honor so you could see if we change colors as we go out the door."
Laughter came from the team as they lined up. Four days running, the first person out the door during practises had changed colors and the rest of the team was still trying to figure out how the twins had done it. They led the way to the door and James bent down, allowing Rose to climb on his back. She reached over the door and pulled down a small disk from the frame over the door.
James stood up after she was back on the ground and smirked at the others. "It was only good for a week anyway."
"You and those disks," groused Miguel. "At least you could sell me a few."
James grinned. "We'll be glad to, after we're done and we don't have to watch everything we do, looking for your revenge, Mr. Pink."
Miguel rolled his eyes. "Pink is not my color, you know."
They lined up behind James and Rose, waiting for their signal to fly out. James grinned at Miguel. "Next time, I'll make sure you're another color," he promised. The bell sounded again and the Evans twins flew out to greet the crowd. The rest of the team followed.
"Here come the defending champions. Let's give a warm welcome to the red team!" James and Rose led the team around the Pitch, flying circles around each other, close enough that they could have held hands.
The link they shared was the only thing that allowed them to fly that close together and they took full advantage of it. Cheers rose, and they played to the crowd. James didn't really like it, but Rose understood people, and made him follow her lead in this. "Sounds like a pack of rabid wolves," he groused.
Rose sighed. "They're cheering for us, James, not for our heads."
"Sure they are."
Rose sighed. Give James the most violent and bloody animal in the woods, and he was fine. Usually, he'd have the beast eating out of his hand in a week. Put him around people though, and he acted as if they were aliens from another planet. Rose sometimes thought James was wilder than any of the animals he brought home occasionally.
She pushed those thoughts aside as they landed to watch the blue team come out.
"And our Challengers, the blue team!"
Rose and James watched them as they flew around the Pitch. "Tsu is good," Rose said, "He's got a deft hand on the broom."
"Look at their left-hand chaser," James said aloud, so the whole team could hear him. "He's flying a bit wide, as if he's not sure of the others."
Charles nodded. "Good eye. I expect you'll be exploiting that hole."
James turned and looked at him. "Exploiting? If that means we're going to push him as wide as we can, then yes."
The two teams were introduced and the referees came out. Unlike a professional game, the Junior games had four referees, all dressed in white. They were there not so much to watch the game play, but to make sure that no one got hurt. Even with the softer and modified Bludgers they used, a person hit right could still be knocked off their Broomstick.
"And the game begins! The red Team takes early control of the Quaffle and the Bludgers, with James and Rose showing the form that has earned them a spot on this team three years running."
James and Rose swept everything else away and sank into their bond. With both of them aware of the other all the time and able to talk without anyone else hearing, keeping the blue team away from their goals was easy.
If anyone knew about their link, they would call it cheating, but James didn't care. It was an advantage and he exploited it ruthlessly. James was a serious competitor, striving to always win, no matter the odds or the game.
After an hour of play, the blue team called a time out to replace a Broomstick with a cracked handle, where the chaser had glanced off the stands. Ch'eng Tsu flew by the stands and an older Asian man called something to him.
James and Rose noted the change in the blue team's play as soon as they came back. "Rose, watch left!"
Rose ducked right and Ch'eng Tsu flew by, missing her by inches. "He was trying to hit me," Rose said in amazement.
James frowned as Tsu sent a Bludger at his head. "Something has changed. Watch him while I try to break their Chaser formation."
James flew toward a Bludger only to have to duck as Tsu flew by, with his feet on a level with James' head. Only Rose's warning kept him from a kick in the back of the head.
They collected the Bludgers and sent them both high, after the Blue Seeker. While they waited for them to return, they watched Tsu break up their Chasers by flying right though them, forcing them to move or collide.
James flew toward Tsu. "Watch him. I want to see something." James settled in on a course that would bring him close but not intersect Tsu's path.
Tsu saw him coming, as James wanted and altered his course so James had to pull up or hit him.
"That was deliberate." James was frowning and Rose felt the first flickers of anger in James.
"James, as long as he doesn't hit anyone, he's within the rules." Rose sent a calming feeling down their link. The last thing they needed was for James to explode in the middle of a Match being watched by most of North America. The secret their mother had kept for nearly twenty years would be blown to hell if that happened.
James nodded. "Let's spend some time working on him. We need to keep him away from the others. I'll be the target and you watch my back."
They started shooting Bludgers at Tsu, making sure he didn't have time to harass their Chasers. Since he was a Beater, he could hit the Bludgers back, and James seemed to always have his eyes somewhere else when Tsu hit a Bludger.
Rose though, kept James informed, and the Bludgers never touched him, which made Tsu angrier as the Match went on.
At the three hour mark the score was the Red team ninety, the Blue team seventy.
James and Rose were keeping Tsu busy and with the three of them using the Bludgers, the rest of the teams were flying against each other.
At least until Tsu ignored a Bludger and shot down, diving on the red team Chasers from above. He blew by them and James saw his foot hit one of them in the head, causing Miguel to veer and run into Juanita. She fell, only to be caught by a referee. She was set on the ground and James waited for the penalty call. It didn't come and James frowned. Apparently, he was the only one that had seen the deliberate foul.
He fought his anger, not wanting his team to go down a Beater.
As the fifth hour of the game began, the Snitch finally made its appearance and everyone paused to watch the Seekers chase it. With a score separated by only thirty points, this would decide the game and James and Rose cheered as Gary Joinville caught it after a short chase.
"The red team wins again, for the fourth consecutive year!"
The two teams flew down and landed to shake hands. James shook hands with Tsu. He looked at the Asian boy. "Your tactics are borderline. Kicking people in the head goes over that line though."
James spoke softly, and only Ch'eng Tsu heard him. The other boy colored but remained silent.
The two teams returned to their locker rooms to change and each of the members of the red team found a small pouch of disks in their lockers. James just grinned. "Use them in good fun, and look for them in stores soon."
They finished dressing and went out to find their parents for the awards ceremony. James and Rose took a short cut between two buildings and heard an angry voice. They slowed and stopped.
"You are useless. A pathetic waste of blood and flesh. I am ashamed to call you kin, let alone my son. It must be your mother's blood that makes you a loser."
James' anger flared as the diatribe continued, and Rose had a hand on his arm until they heard one last comment. "Maybe what you need is another reminder of your place." The threat was followed by a solid thud of flesh striking flesh and James' restraint disappeared.
They went around the corner to find Tsu being held up by one arm as an older Asian man struck him in the chest again. Ch'eng Tsu's face contorted with pain and James' anger flared, into the rage. Rose swore, but she wasn't far from rage herself.
It wasn't until James was behind the older man that she figured out what he was going to do and her anger disappeared under fear. "James, No! We don't."
She stopped as James put every prank disk he had on the man at once and activated them all.
The flash of light was eclipsed only by the scream that rose from the man's throat and then trickled away to a bubbling gurgle.
Rose was holding James by the arms as an outcry came, and people started pouring into the alley.
She looked over his shoulder and gagged. The thing in the robes the man had been wearing bore little resemblance to anything alive, and she only knew it was alive because the heart and lungs of the thing were on the outside and still moving. James kept trying to break free, to attack the thing again.
Ch'eng Tsu stared at his father in horror.
Robert Evans came up and swore silently. He knew what James had done, but not why and damn it, this was going to be messy. He came up and quietly stunned the still struggling James.
Four hours later, Rose was sitting by James' bed when he woke up. "Ch'eng is fine. He wasn't happy to have his secret exposed, but I wasn't going to let you get into the trouble you would have been in if we didn't tell people what we saw."
James blinked, still groggy from the stunning. "And the scumbucket? What of him?"
Rose winced. "The Healers say it will be a couple of weeks before he's back to normal. He would never be normal, if most of our pranks didn't wear off in an hour or so."
"Pity I didn't have some of the longer ones."
Rose grabbed James by the hair. "You listen to me, Mr. Evans. Our father kept you from being banished only by paying for his care, and even that wouldn't have worked if he wasn't fixable."
James growled. "Are you saying that he can hit Ch'eng, and nobody cares?"
"They care, but you nearly killed him, James."
"So?"
Rose sighed. "James, he's not one of your animals. He's a man, with all the rights thereof. That includes the right not to be killed simply because he offended us."
James looked at Rose. "I know he's not one of my animals. They wouldn't do something like that. And you wonder why I don't like most people."
Rose sighed. Sometimes, she could almost agree with James.
OoOoOoO The Weasleys, Potters and Hagrids, The Burrow. June 14, 2014 OoOoOoO
Tiffany nodded at her ally and they attacked their target. Both of them grabbed a leg and tried to pull the boy over. Hangeld looked down and the girls wrestling his ankles and picked them both up, one in each hand. "Emma, Tiffany, what do you think you're doing?"
Hangeld Hagrid had inherited the massive size of his half Giant parents. He was only nine years old, but he stood two metres tall and had more muscle to move that mass than most teenagers. His hair and eyes were the dark brown of his father, although his features were a bit softer, courtesy of his mother.
He set the girls down as he waited for their answer. Emma grinned at him. "Trying to knock you over, of course." Emma Weasley would stand out in any crowd. She had gotten the bushy mane of thick wavy hair that was her mother's, and it was the red of a Weasley born. The two combined stood out like a flag.
The only other thing that was easily noticeable about her was happy nature. Emma was incurably cheerful, looking at the entire world as one big adventure created just for her and her friends. Since it was just for them, everyone in the world was just a friend she hadn't met yet.
Tiffany nodded. "You're much too tall to talk to standing up, so we thought we'd bring you down a bit." Tiffany Potter had the same red shade of hair Emma did but it was more like her father's hair, which is why Tiffany never cut it. The longer it was, the better it behaved. She had no desire to go though life looking like a scarecrow. Honestly, daddy's hair was a constant case of bed head, even when he hadn't slept in a day or so. Tiffany had also gotten her daddy's eyes, the brilliant green of his mother's eyes, Lily Evans.
Hangeld sighed and sat down. "Wouldn't it have been easier to ask me to sit down?"
Emma frowned at him. "Where's the fun in that?"
Hangeld just sighed. Emma was irrepressible. Not that he really minded. No one here ever said anything about his size or his ancestry, even though they all knew that both of his parents had been half-Giants.
Hangeld and the girls chatted for almost fifteen minutes before Emma was urging them to do something else. Her two best friends continued to talk while watching her. Emma was physically incapable of sitting still for long and a very short time, she was wandering around the garden behind the Burrow, still home to Molly Weasley and whichever Weasley child was visiting this week.
Since Ron and Hermione lived just over the hill in back of the Burrow, Emma didn't even need the Floo to visit grandmother Weasley.
"Hangeld, come help me." Hangeld and Tiffany went to see what Emma was doing and found her holding a garden gnome. "Toss him for me, Hangeld. I can't throw them far enough."
Hangeld sighed and grabbed the gnome by his arm. A second later the gnome was flying though the air as the girls watched. "Good throw," Emma said, smiling at Hangeld. "Those things are overrunning the garden, grand mum says."
That started a gnome hunt, with Tiffany and Emma chasing them down and Hangeld throwing them over the fence. That lasted for almost an hour and after that the three of them flew the modified Broomsticks that Harry had gotten for all the various Weasley grandchildren and the children of most of his friends.
They wouldn't go very high or very fast, but they were fun for younger children. They flew until Molly Weasley called them inside for lunch. She watched them as they ate. Tiffany and Emma had normal appetites for their age, but Hangeld could eat as much as Ron ever had. Of course, with his size, that was a normal appetite.
Molly sighed as she looked at the quiet boy. Olympe Hagrid had contracted one of the wasting diseases that even Wizard Healers couldn't do anything about and died when Hangeld was seven, two years ago now. Since then, Molly had tried to be a surrogate mother to him, as she'd mothered every child to pass through her door for the last forty years.
The rest of the day passed in more play, until Harry showed up to collect Tiffany. Molly came out to see Harry giving Emma a ride on his Broomstick, a ride that consisted of Harry performing some of the more daring acrobatics Molly had seen in a few years.
Emma was laughing and urging Uncle Harry to go faster. Molly winced as Harry performed a Wronski Feint, eliciting more laughter from Emma.
Hangeld and Tiffany were on the little Broomsticks, and trying to follow Harry as best they could, considering Harry was using a Firebolt Nova, the fourth model of the Firebolt Broomstick Co. It wasn't the best Broomstick anymore, not since the Nimbus Co had released the Nimbus 2014 and the Firebolt Co. had released the Firebolt Supernova, but it was far better than most people had.
Molly smiled to herself. She suspected that Harry would soon have the newest Firebolt, as soon as he convinced Ginny that he needed it. She sighed. Harry was a regular Seeker in pick up games, but the Voldemort War had prevented him from playing Quidditch professionally and afterward Harry had been given the tasking of rebuilding the Aurors, all but decimated by the War.
He'd also used his experience training the DA to create a standard seven year plan for the DADA class at Hogwarts, a plan that had proven so effective that Durmstrang's and Beaubaxtons had both picked it up and several other schools from around the world were considering it.
These days, Harry was researching new ways to improve the DADA curriculum and working with the Aurors to create an effective Dark Lord detection program, aimed at catching them before they got as bad as Voldemort had.
Hermione came from around the house and sighed. "Harry Potter, what do you think you're doing?"
Harry grinned at his oldest friend. "I think I'm taking my Goddaughter for a ride." He demonstrated by doing a double barrel roll to Emma's screams for more.
Hermione shook her head resignedly. Emma was always wired after on of her flights with Harry, and she wouldn't settle down for hours. Privately, Hermione didn't mind, but she had to keep up appearances.
All in all, it was just another day in the lives of the three friends.
OoOoOoO Melissa Xavier, The Xavier Estate, June 20th, 2014. OoOoOoO
Melissa frowned as she pored over a text book. The reaction table for potions ingredients was involved. Don't add this, don't mix those... This was going to be a pain. She was reading about the uses of Beetle eyes and what not to mix it with when her Empathy registered someone in distress.
Empathy was the ability to feel another's emotions. You couldn't read their thoughts or anything like that, but you could tell exactly how they felt. It was a common talent in the Xavier family, Wizards and Witches who had studied healing for over a thousand years. Even their Squibs studies Muggle medicine, bringing that knowledge back to the clan, to be incorporated into the store of knowledge, and evaluated to see if it could be used magically somehow.
Melissa frowned as the distress continued. She could, with a great deal of effort, shield against it, but it felt wrong to her, like deliberately blinding yourself, or removing any of your senses. Empathy was just that to those that had it, another sense. She got up and began following the feeling. She followed it outside and found a younger cousin sitting by a hole. She sat down next to him. "What's wrong?" she asked gently, doing the one thing that let everyone know she would be a Healer when she achieved puberty. She reached out and broadcast soothing emotions to the young boy.
A person with Empathy could feel your emotions, but not broadcast their own. That ability was tied to the Healing talent, and was far rarer than Empathy. The Healing talent was sex-linked, occurring only in women, and allowed the Healer to use their magic to create a healing energy, which manifested as a green glow. It would fix almost anything, and far faster than any spell or potion.
"My ball rolled down the hole and I can't get it back." Melissa smiled at him. If only all distress was this easy to fix. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the hole. "Accio ball," she said, concentrating on getting the spell right.
A few seconds later, the ball rolled out of the hole and Melissa gave it to her cousin. "I'd find a new place to play with it, OK?"
He smiled and Melissa felt her gratitude and happiness as he ran off to play. He didn't say thank you, but Melissa didn't care as she retraced her steps to the library. The calm restored to the emotional aura of the estate was all the thanks she needed.
She put her wand away, thankful that her family started teaching their children about magic at a young age. The Xavier family believed that lessons taught early were better, and more easily learned, an idea that Muggles were beginning to learn. It would probably take another hundred years for the rest of the Wizard world to figure it out though, as they were beset by Custom, which stated that children under eleven shouldn't be taught magic.
Melissa went back to her book, aware that her life's path would be dictated by her Healing talent. Once the talent manifested, in her twelfth or thirteenth year, she would have to use it. Not using it would cause the Healer increasing pain until it was used.
Since Melissa would be a Healer, one of her classes in her schooling had always been about healing. Anatomy, basic first aid, magical and Muggle, and more, including classes on the ethics of healers. The Xavier family was proud of being the finest healers in the world, with a reputation unmatched anywhere, and they were determined to maintain that. A healer without ethics was a terrible thing, capable of using their training to inflict injury and pain unmatched even by the Cruciatus Curse.
The Xavier family would not let that happen.
OoOoOoO Lisa Malfoy, Malfoy Estate, June 20th, 2014. OoOoOoO
Lisa stood patiently, listening to her father rant about Pureblood Superiority and the Malfoy name again. She glanced at her little brother, Draco Jr. and sighed silently. He was totally absorbed in what their father was saying. He believed all this tripe.
Lisa had learned not to question the rants aloud, but she had read too many things and been tormented by too many people to believe this line of thought. She nodded in all the right places though, and kept her opinions to herself.
She was not stupid, and arguing with her father would only bring pain. Since Lisa was not fond of being hit or hexed, she kept her thoughts quiet and thanked Merlin regularly that Draco Sr. had never learned Legilimency. "Not," she thought irritably, "that he'd bothered to learn much after leaving Hogwarts, except how to play the Game of Houses better."
An hour or so later, after a verbal test on what her father had been saying, Lisa finally escaped to the Malfoy library, the one place where her father wouldn't go. He had not set foot in the library since the day the Aurors left, taking every book or a dark or questionable nature with them.
They had also taken a lot of other things with them, some of which Draco hadn't even known about until then. It was his own fault, Lisa knew, since he'd turned Lucius Malfoy in as a Death Eater to avoid Azkaban. Lucius had not told Draco everything before that, but under Veritaserum, he'd told the Ministry everything he knew.
Lisa looked around, making sure she was the only one in the room and then checked her traps. Someone had triggered the first one, she saw and smiled. She'd know soon enough who it was, although she thought it was either the little brat or a House Elf under orders. The rest were undisturbed however and she quickly disarmed them and pulled out the books that she had bought in Diagon Alley.
If her father ever found out she owned these, she'd be very lucky to continue living. Few things could send Draco Sr into a murderous fury faster than the mention of the names Harry Potter, Hermione Granger or Ginny Weasley.
Ron Weasley could set him off, but not as badly. Having read "The Voldemort War, An Insider's Tale.", she could understand that. Harry Potter had killed Voldemort, ruining all the plans of Lucius and Draco Sr, and Ginny Weasley had been the one that had used a magically created whip to beat Draco so badly that he still had the scars of that beating.
That she'd done it in the middle of Diagon Alley, with more than fifty laughing witnesses, only made the flames of hate well higher.
His hate, though was mainly aimed at Hermione Granger-Weasley. Besides being a Mudblood, she was smarter than Draco, stronger magically and an author. It was that last point that keep Draco at a slow boil. Hermione Granger had written "The Voldemort War, An Insider's Tale," and she had written the complete truth about the war, as told by Professor Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, and other survivors of the first part of the war.
She, Harry and Ron had supplied the details about the second phase of the war, with collaborating details from everyone they could find, including Victor Krum and Fleur Delacourt.
Needless to say, the book did not paint a very good picture of the Malfoys. The Malfoy name was becoming a swear word and a serious insult to most of the Wizard world. Lisa had done some quiet research and had been unable to refute any of the details in the book however.
She sighed, staring at the picture of Marnet Malfoy, the only Malfoy to win an Order of Merlin, first class. Four hundred years ago, he had led the fight against the Dark Lord of his time. Now, the Malfoys were the dark lords. Lisa stared at her ancestor and a slow resolve grew in her heart. She would restore the family name.
If a family could fall from such a height, they could regain it.
OoOoOoO Adam Brooks, Surrey, June 21st, 2014. OoOoOoO
"Creating different colors is an art all in its self, and will be the basis of this class."
Adam Brooks sat and listened as the instructor lectured about the nuances of creating shades of color. He looked around, noting that as usual, he was the youngest person in the art class by at least a decade.
As he listened to the instructor, Adam began drawing a scene from his memory. Most people would not have remembered a scene they saw once last week well enough to recreate it in a drawing, but Adam had already discovered that he was unusual in that regard.
Adam had something called an eidetic memory. In simpler terms, Adam never forgot anything he saw or heard. That made him a bit different, and he'd taken a bit of teasing in school for it, but Adam had learned to deflect the teasing.
Adam Brooks was a quiet boy, short, with brown hair and eyes that allowed him to fade into the background and observe things. Between his size, and his quiet, polite nature, Adam was far more popular with the females of his age group than the guys.
Adam's one quirk that everyone thought was a bit strange was a fascination with the American Old West, as expressed in Louis L'Amour books. Adam could recite entire sections of the books from memory, and had espoused the "Sackett" family as a near perfect example of family and kin.
Where Adam had gotten this fascination was unknown, as he had not been out of England in his life. Mr. Louis Brooks was a good man, but his imagination was limited to hoping his team won the series, cup, championship, or whatever the pinnacle of the season was. He loved his son, but he didn't understand him.
Mrs. Rochelle Brooks loved Adam dearly, all the more since he would be the only child she would ever have. The difficulty of his birth had made it inadvisable for her to have another child. She understood Adam better than his father did, as Adam got his artistic talent from her. She was a sculptor, rather than a painter, but her designs sold well, and if anyone had actually checked, she made more than her husband. The Brooks, however, were just another middle class family, and nothing about them really stood out, and they didn't do anything that caused gossip.
In short, they were so average that nobody saw them at all.
OoOoOoO Somewhere, Somewhen. OoOoOoO
The light called Greeneyes was fuming again. He was watching the children he'd waited centuries for and the actions of some of the people around them was just... annoying.
Annoying most beings is bad, but these two beings had been tasked with watching over a Prophecy, and that had made them something more.
Every true Prophecy has a Guardian, or in this case, two Guardians, to watch over the events on earth and make sure the Prophecy events happened in the correct order. They did not influence which side of the Prophecy won, merely insuring that the Prophecy came together.
To that end, they were given great power to influence events, nudge fate and basically work behind the scenes to accomplish their goal. Direct interaction was possible only once, so most of the Guardians saved that for very special occasions or dire emergencies.
Greeneyes frowned as one of his charges was hurt again. "I am going to make him regret his life," he said and the other being merged with him.
The other being watched for a minute. "I know you hate watching this, Greeneyes, but this is only forging her Honor to a steel edge. We need that sense of Honor. This is needed."
"I know that, Love. It doesn't make this any easier to watch."
The two moved on, watching over all of their charges. That was, after all, all they could do for now. The events had happened, the people were in place and now, they could only watch.
Once more, they would be called on to do something, and then they would rest.
OoOoOoO The Author, Here and Now. OoOoOoO
The next chapter will be a rewrite of Prophecy, chapter one, and things will continue about the same, until the Sorting. The Sorting is going to be very different.
Raven
