Chapter 4: Oddly Quidditch.
Two weeks and already Kodi was tired.
There was nothing that either her or James could do for Shane. He didn't make the Quidditch team this year. No matter how much he talked and talked and talked to the Captain, he wasn't on the team.
Kodi felt bad for him and wrote to her mum on it.
Thankfully Hermione knew what to do and told Ron of what happened and Ron came to Hogwarts as well as Hermione.
"This brings back memories," Ron said smiling.
They were up in one of the stands for the Quidditch game.
Hermione stayed quiet. She had seen Kodi with James and Shane in their section for Gryffindor, but Hermione did not see the field in the present.
Ron was rambling with that of Hagrid excitedly.
.
"Granger?" she heard from behind her when she darted across the grounds, hiding her time-turner.
She whirled around and stared up at Draco Malfoy.
"What do you want?" she softly asked him, all of her hate was gone for him.
"I could ask what you are doing here, but that would be nosing where I don't want it," He retorted back, his eyes looking her up and down.
"I need to get to my class, Malfoy. Though I never did tell you thank you for what you did last year," she softly said, walking a little closer to him.
Draco was just finishing up Quidditch practice on his year old broom from last year. Flint was really putting him through the paces of a seeker and so far none of it was fun.
"A 'thank you'? For what?" he sneered at her.
"For saving the students here at Hogwarts. When the Basilisk was set upon us. And also helping me figure it out to help Harry," she explained, hoping that what happened last year wasn't just a fluke.
Draco walked closer to her; he had an angry sneer and whispered harshly "Keep your voice down, Granger. I didn't just hand that to you so that you could get frozen like that of a bloody statue in the end,"
"But why give it to me?" she hissed back.
"Because, I didn't want to see you like the others. However you didn't take my advice seriously and got frozen," he snarled low.
Hermione heavily sighed and whispered softly "I will take it from now on. Just why protect me?"
"Because, I know that you and the other two oafs of a friends can help undo what our parents couldn't and have carried on. And one day, will change the world for the greater good," he whispered back, his face was soft and poker like.
Hermione stared up into his eyes and saw a lot within them. Knowledge, secrets, little rays of wisdom, displeasure and something else.
.
"Hermione!" Ron hissed at her, shaking her shoulder hard.
"Ah, what Ron!" she snapped back, glaring at him.
"Game is about to start," he mumbled low.
"Who cares!" she retorted back, walking away from him in their box.
The professors that were within their box just shook their heads. They knew that having Hermione here would bring back memories of the past.
Knowing that Ron had messed up, he walked over to her and said low "Look, I know that something had happened when we were here at Hogwarts. I am sorry, for shaking you out of your memories, but I would hate to see you get hurt from a quaffle or bluger,"
"He gave me the page of when we were in our second year here at Hogwarts. The page to know what a Basilisk is and what to look out for," Hermione whispered low, staring off into the Forbidden Forest.
Ron was utterly shocked by this.
"The same page that I put Pipes on," she hindered more to him.
"That is how you two fell in love? How it all started," Ron said, putting it together now.
"Yes. After that, he always wanted me safe. If you remember correctly of Quidditch world cup? After the game, he told us to not be there, mostly me," she said, looking up at Ron.
Heavily sighing with "Bloody hell. And here we always thought it was a love potion that he forced you to take,"
"No. D…he never forced me into anything. If I didn't want to do something, he always found a way around it," she couldn't say Draco's name.
Ron nodded and then softly asked "Will you ever tell me how you two officially started?"
"Officially?" she asked, looking at him suddenly.
"Yeah. Like did he ask you or did you two just agree silently that you two …uh…are a couple?" Ron very wisely thought his words out.
"It was during our 5th year that he asked me officially. When we split up after ….his manor, he port keyed me to a safe house. Only he knew where it was and he took care of me. In fact the safe house isn't that far from Hogwarts," Hermione explained more, looking once more at the Forbidden Forest.
Ron nodded "That is why you two got to the forest so quickly,"
"Yeah. But also I didn't know that I was pregnant with his daughter at the time either," Hermione whispered low, looking down at her feet.
"Hey, did you heard about Harry's cousin?" Ron asked her, changing the subject.
"No? What happened?" she replied, curious on what happened.
"Yeah, Harry's cousin, Dudley had twins and both of them; boy and girl, are a wizard and witch," Ron said back to her.
"I bet Harry was stunned to have gotten that letter," Hermione said, shocked by it.
"No, his cousin showed up on his doorstep. His cousin almost had Harry take them in, but Harry and his cousin talked it out. Harry is going to show his cousin Dudley the magical world and hopefully in 11 years, attend Hogwarts," Ron explained further.
"Ooh," was all Hermione said, making a mental note to owl Harry as soon as this Quidditch game was over.
Hermione and Ron weren't the only ones who were watching this game.
Somewhere, in one of the tallest trees within the Forbidden Forest a cloaked figure stood on one of the branches. He sneered at the kids and parents.
'If only they knew,' he bitterly snarled in his head.
The ginger haired man and the light brown haired woman, he knew of. How could anyone not know who Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger were?
"KODI LUSINE MALFOY!" he heard Hermione screamed frantically at the bright bleached blonde hair girl who was leaning far over the railing.
"Malfoy?" the cloaked man muttered in confusion.
He could hear the little girl sniffling out "But mum!"
"NO EXCUSES! You are all that I have after your father died!" Hermione shrieked back at her only daughter.
This stunned the cloaked man and then the game soon was under way.
Kodi sat by her mother and felt extremely sad on trying to get the rest of the Gryffindor banner up. However, with just one flick of her wand, Headmistress McGonagall fixed it.
"Do not worry, Kodi," the headmistress whispered to her.
"She did a lot more than that," she mumbled back.
"Oh trust me I know. However, you are her only daughter and the last of what is of Draco Malfoy," the headmistress soothingly said "Not everyone knows this of myself and I highly wish that it remained between us,"
Kodi looked up at the older witch before her "Yes, Professor,"
"I never had any children. However, there have been several throughout my teaching career. Your godfather, Harry Potter, was one of them. And when he was sent to the Hospital Wing or was in the bloody Triwizard Terminate, I always feared that he would die. I see him every now and again but, while he was here, I tried to keep my emotions of …a mother, at bay. All of the students here, I care to see as my own but not truly," The Headmistress confided in with Kodi.
"You did?" Kodi asked her.
"Indeed. Though, with your mother, it is highly different," The old Gryffindor Professor said with a soft smile.
"Okay. But sooner or later, she will have to let me go," Kodi then told her.
Another expression flickered across the Headmistress and said "Yes, she will, but that is your father coming out,"
Kodi sat very still and then slowly nodded.
"And that there, is what reminds your mother so much of how much was lost," Headmistress McGonagall told her.
Kodi stayed silent. Pondering over what was revealed to her. Granted she could ask for more, but she didn't know how much she could take of all the information of her father, being told to her, at once.
Hermione however was once again was looking out at the Quidditch pitch as it was Gryffindor against Slytherin. So far, Gryffindor was winning by 175 points. It reminded Hermione of when Ginny took over the team and scored high before the snitch was caught, adding 150 points to that big of a toll.
.
"I won't hurt you," Malfoy's voice drawled softly at her third year self.
"I don't trust brooms," she firmly said uncomfortably.
Draco smirked as he walked over to her, sizing her up and down quickly before standing right in front of her.
"I don't think the dementors will get you, Granger," he whispered low to her.
"It's not the dementors that I'm scared of," she bravely whispered, looking up at him.
"Then what is it?" He whispered too.
"I hate heights," she mumbled unsure of how he's getting these answers from her.
Draco nodded and then whispered "It's not that scary, if you know what to look at. Come on, I'll show you,"
Hermione looked around, it was growing darker by the minute.
"I promise you that I won't let you fall," Draco swore to her softly.
"Just no sudden dives," she told him.
Draco smiled fully at this and mounted his broom stating "No one will see us, unless you have to go somewhere,"
"No. Just ….wrong time," she hinted to something else.
It confused Draco greatly but he didn't question it that much. Hermione walked over and blushed because it seemed so stupid to get embarrassed over. It was just a teenage boy and his broom.
"Swing your leg over and I'll secure you with wrapping my arm around your waist," Draco softly encouraged her.
She looked at him and softly asked "You're sure you'll be ok with it?"
Draco stared back and mumbled "Just get on, Granger,"
Hermione rolled her eyes and swung onto the broom. The arm that snaked around her waist jolted her back into Draco's solid body.
"Easy, Granger. It's a broom, not a snake," Draco stated to her and very gently lifted them up off of the ground.
Hermione gasped and clung onto Draco's arm.
"We're not that high, look. Just a few feet off," he whispered into her left ear.
Which was true, they were only a few feet off of the ground. So if Hermione wanted to, she could just hop off of the broom and land safely on the ground.
"Okay…" Hermione said, fear gripping her soul once more.
"Look over to the forest, Granger. The grounds….the towers….the hills or something. The fear is controlling you," Draco said, pointing each one.
Hermione closed her eyes and heavily sighed. Summoning up her Gryffindor courage, she opened her eyes and stared at the Quidditch pitch.
Draco risked them going a bit higher. They were now just above the walls.
Hermione looked around even though that the few stars that were twinkling far away in the inky black sky, they danced with joy.
"See, it's not that bad, when you go slowly," Draco teased her, smirking.
"You never did answer my question. Are you alright being here with me?" she asked him again.
Draco was silent. He didn't know why he was changing his tone or that he was being so kind to her. Just that every single time he sees her smiling, his stomach flips with butterflies.
"Father wants to kill that creature that hurt me. But I know it was my fault," Draco muttered back.
For someone who is in Slytherin, he sure was being stubborn.
Hermione gasped at this.
"What? Because you called him a great ugly brute?" she shrieked at Draco.
"Yeah," he muttered, his mind was confused on a lot of things.
Hermione was silent and just enjoyed what Draco was giving her.
.
The game was close to 920 points with Gryffindor winning as Hermione came out of her memory.
Kodi was screaming next to Ron cheering their house on. It brought a smile to Hermione's face.
In the trees of the Forbidden Forest, the cloaked figure was no longer there. Instead, he was walking close to where the trees ended and open land began. He also crept towards Hagrid's hut.
He waved his wand and opened the door.
His eyes darted around looking for that new dog of Hagrid's. It wasn't here. He took what could without it being missing by the half giant.
The cloaked wizard eyed the fireplace but doubted that it was hooked up to the floo network.
Eating what he could, he snuck out the backdoor and crept along the side of the trees of the steep hill to the owlry.
He looked at the Quidditch Pitch once more, staying still.
It wasn't until Kodi's owl glided down and landed on his shoulder. Snapping his head towards the animal, the wizard smirked.
"Guide me to the headmistress's office without being seen," he muttered to it.
The owl, granted it was only an animal, cocked its head to the side and then took flight.
Running with his hood up, a lot of paintings saw this mysterious figure go through Hogwarts. And a lot of paintings were racing to get the Headmistress's attention.
The cloaked figure had gotten past the griffin gargoyle and closed the door to the office.
The past headmasters and headmistresses were chatting loudly and then were silent.
BANG!
The wooden door to the office flung open, as Harry Potter held his wand out in front of him.
The cloaked figure; his hand losing his grip on the Floo powder, smirked and then bright green flames flared out around him.
As the person disappeared before Harry's eyes, everyone was completely silent.
"Well I do say, that this is an interesting devolvement," Professor Dumbledore said in his painting.
"OH hush, Dumbledore!" an older past Headmaster sneered at him.
"Just where did he go?" Harry asked any of them.
The past headmasters and headmistresses shrugged.
"We do not know, Mr. Potter," The same old past Headmaster said back to him.
No one saw that Dumbledore's painting was now blank.