All characters belong to JKR
Chapter 21: Truths and Consequences:
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked Claire. They were walking along a rocky path, which Hermione already knew led to the little graveyard. She had visited here with Phillip the day they found Miriam's 'fake' grave.
"You're going to find me the definitive proof, the last bit of evidence that I need to prove that Miriam Weasley and Otto Malfoy were married, and then you will destroy it for me. That way, my sister's son will be the rightful heir," the disturbed woman said. She pointed the end of her wand into Hermione's back and said, "Hurry up."
"Who's your sister? Who's her son?" Hermione asked, pretending to be in the dark, although Phillip had already told her the story.
"Candace! My sister is Candace and her son is Thomas!"
Hermione turned to face the woman and said, "Then let me put your unbalanced mind at ease and tell you that I already know that Thomas is the rightful heir. Miriam Weasley and Otto Malfoy never married, at least, not according to her letters. I know that goes against everything that Phillip believes, and you were led to believe, but I believe it is the truth."
"Don't lie to me, Mudblood! I know that you found some sort of proof that they married, besides those paintings and the letters, and you wanted to write that fictional account of their love affair! I know that you want to take Draco and his money away from us! I burned those paintings and those letters, because they proved that they did marry! Stop trying to manipulate things!" Claire screamed.
Hermione said, "Those letters you destroyed were forged by Phillip Cranston. The real letters were sent to me by Mr. Weasley tonight, and from what I've deduced from them, and from one real letter that I found in the beginning and that you didn't destroy, Otto never showed up the night they were to run off and marry. His letters, which Draco has, states pretty much the same thing. Something must have happened to Otto before they could marry. She was pregnant, but they never married."
"Why would Phillip forge those other letters?" Claire wondered aloud.
"I really don't know. He told me that he forged them to throw you off the track, but why, I don't know, especially since you don't want them to have been married, and the fake letters said that they were. He said that there was a curse, or charm, placed upon members of his family, and he was under that curse, therefore he could never tell the secret outright, but he tried to reveal things slowly to me. For the life of me, I don't really know to this day what he wanted me to believe, but it doesn't matter, because the secret's out."
"What secret?" Claire asked. She looked deranged.
"The secret that he's the grandchild of Miriam and Otto, because his father was their illegitimate child," Hermione told her.
The other woman screamed in frustration.
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Draco rushed up to Phillip, pointed his wand under his chin and said, "Stop with the phony stories and lies and just tell me the truth, once and for all!"
Candace walked up to Phillip, took his hand, and said, "Tell him the truth. Tell me the truth, please."
Phillip looked defeated. He said, "I know the story of Otto and Miriam because it's my father's story, because as I just told you, he was their son. Nevertheless, you're right. I've been lying. I've been lying for so long, about so many things, that sometimes it's hard to tell the truth, but you deserve the truth, Malfoy, and so does Candace, Hermione, and little Thomas. Even Claire deserves to know the truth."
Phillip sat down on the bench outside the cottage and said, "Here's the whole truth. The one that I've concluded on my own, with no proof, yet I know it to be real. Yes, Miriam and Otto fell in love. Yes, their families discouraged their love. Yes, they were to meet secretly and were to marry. The day he was to meet her, my great uncle Morrison stopped him. There was a struggle, and your great uncle was killed. He was thrown off the bluff by the cottage, while waiting for Miriam, and Morrison buried the body at the graveyard, under another man's name. You see, Morrison loved Miriam too, although she didn't love him. It was one sided. He killed Otto before Miriam and he could meet and marry. They never married, but the only person to know that the marriage didn't happen was my great uncle."
"He blackmailed your grandfather and great-grandfather, Otto's brother and father. He ran the Hall of Records, and he forged a marriage certificate and then he forged a birth certificate for my father, to use them to blackmail the Malfoys, knowing that his real birth certificate was in London. Your grandfather didn't want a blood traitor to be the heir of the Malfoy fortunate, so my great uncle blackmailed him, and said that he would keep the child's identity and birthright a secret, for a price. Malfoy, your grandfather and great Uncle, Otto's brother, paid him for many years to keep a secret which was ultimately a lie."
"The reality is that the child was born out of wedlock, so therefore, according to Wizard law, he wouldn't have been recognized as the rightful heir anyway."
"How do you know all of this?" Candace asked, "And where does Claire fit into the equation?"
"Several years ago, I was helping my great-uncle in the Hall of Records, and I found a secret passageway underneath the building. There, deep inside this cavernous cellar, were the real records of their child, along with his adoptive records. It was my father. I went to my uncle, to ask him what the truth was. That was when he put the curse on the real records, which prevented me from ever sharing the truth to anyone. I couldn't even tell my own father about his true parentage. He doesn't know to this day that he was adopted. The only people who knew were me, Morrison, and the person who ran the parsonage, and kept the church records."
"Shortly after that time, I decided to do some more digging. Curse be damned, there was nothing to keep me from knowing the truth. I went to the little church to try to read the records there. Morrison never once tried to hide these records, but the protection he put on the records in the Hall of Records extended to the church records, and I couldn't even enter the little structure. I asked the parson to read the records for me, and he did. Everything I found out was confirmed, along with another little tidbit of information. I was shocked when I found out that my own father had a secret affair while married to my mother. That affair resulted in the birth of Claire. That was how I met her. You'll remember that I met her long before you did, Malfoy. In fact, I feel like it's my fault that she came into our lives."
"That means we have the same mother, but different fathers. That would make her only my half-sister, too. Did you ever tell her that she was your half-sister?" Candace asked.
"No, I couldn't really tell her the truth, because of the curse. Instead, I befriended her, and through me, she met Malfoy. That was when she decided that she wanted to marry him for his money. That was when I decided to try to stop her. If she believed that Draco wasn't the legitimate Malfoy heir, I thought she would back off, and we already had all the fake proof of Otto and Miriam's marriage set up by my uncle, so I just showed her all of that, but she never backed away. She faked a pregnancy to marry Draco, and to secure her future."
"You see, before they married, I told her the fake story of Miriam and Otto, the one that Morrison started. The story that I led Hermione to believe. He had already fabricated all the evidence that I thought I would need to make her believe the lies, so I told her that they were married, and that whoever their child was would be considered the real heir, and then I told her that I was searching for that heir. Little did I know how that one lie would throw all of this into motion."
"It doesn't matter, because she didn't get pregnant," Candace said.
"No, and then Malfoy divorced her. By this time, she thought that Malfoy wasn't the real heir anyway, but she also thought that I hadn't yet discovered who was, so she figured if she hid all the evidence of Miriam and Otto's 'marriage' then she could continue with her plan to get Malfoy's money. That was where you came in," Phillip said to the other woman.
Candace sat beside him and took his hand. "Why didn't you try to stop her? She's tried to ruin everyone's lives. She wants to control my son. She wants to kill Hermione Granger because she thinks that Hermione has discovered that Miriam and Otto married, and then had a child. She thought Hermione was writing a book about it. She destroyed her manuscript, and now she wants to kill the woman who wrote it."
"I'm sorry," Phillip told her. He looked toward Draco and said, "Everything's gotten out of control. At first, I really did think that Hermione was writing a book about the whole thing. I didn't know it was a piece of fiction. I told Claire that she was writing it. I let her continue to think that. I led her to believe that Hermione was writing that story. I showed Hermione the same marriage certificate, and tintype picture, and the paintings, that I originally showed Claire, in the hope that she would add it to her story. I really thought if Claire believed there was so much proof that they married and had a legitimate child that she would finally leave it all alone."
"Though I tried to lie to Hermione at first, too, I saw that she was too smart, and I thought hell, maybe I should try to reveal the real truth to her. Maybe that was the best way for it to come out. That would free us all, if the truth came out. I knew she would find out the reality when she read the real letters from Mr. Weasley."
"I didn't know that Claire would become unhinged, and want to hide all of these things. She was still hell bent on controlling the fortune through her sister, Candace, and her son. She was blackmailing Candace, isn't that right?" He looked over at Candace.
"Yes, she was. She killed my first husband, and she told me that she would make everyone believe that I killed him, and she's crafty enough to do just that, so I was afraid. She wanted Draco to get me pregnant, marry me, and make his son legitimate. She told me never to tell Draco that I was her sister. I was afraid of what she would do next. I think she planned on killing me and Draco, so that she could take over Thomas, and thus the fortune, for herself." Candace turned toward Phillip and said, "I wish you had told us all of this a long time ago. If the real truth had come out to the rest of us, we might have been able to stop her."
"I never thought the truth had to come out. I just wanted to find my half-sister. I had no idea she would become so obsessed with everything Malfoy. Now that Hermione knows the truth, she'll probably tell Claire everything. Hermione's life might be in even more danger now, because Claire will know that I lied to her, and she'll probably take out her anger on Hermione," Phillip surmised.
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Claire was beyond angry. She was livid. She continued to scream. Hermione backed toward the little stone church. Claire said, "You must be lying! Phillip showed me all the evidence that Miriam and Otto married! That's the reason I'm doing all of this! That's the reason you're writing that story! If they never married, then Thomas is the rightful heir anyway, and everything I've done has been in vain!"
She turned toward Hermione and pointed her wand again. "You're the liar!" she screamed at Hermione. "You just want Draco and his money for yourself! You don't want my son to be legitimate!"
Hermione slowly said, "Your son?"
"I mean my nephew!" she screamed.
Hermione calmly said, "What are you planning?"
"Do you really want to know?" the other woman asked, calmer now, which scared Hermione even more. "I'll tell you my whole plan, because it doesn't matter if you know. You're going to die soon anyway. My plan is to find the last piece of evidence, the church records, which prove that Miriam and Otto married. My plan is to find out who their real heir is, and to kill that person. My plan is to kill you. My plan is to kill my sister!" Her voice began to take on a shrieking effect. "My plan is to kill Draco and then Thomas will naturally go to me and I will have MY MONEY!"
"Go get the damn proof yourself, then," Hermione said.
"Don't you think I've tried?" the other witch beckoned. "For some reason, each time I try to look at the damn church records, which are the last bit of evidence, I can't even enter the church! There must be some spell on it!"
Hermione realized that the woman was right. There must be a spell that prevents her from entering, similar to the enchantment that old Morrison placed on the real records at the hall of records, proving that Miriam and Otto never married, and the same enchantment that kept Phillip from revealing the truth of his father's parentage outright. She wondered, "How did you enter my cottage earlier?"
"I walked in, you stupid bint," Claire spat.
"There's an enchantment on my cottage, placed there by Otto to protect Miriam. Unless invited in, only an heir of a Malfoy or a Weasley can enter," Hermione explained.
"I was a Malfoy," the other woman said, baffled.
"I don't think that's it," Hermione said. Ignoring the unbalanced woman with the wand, (after all, Hermione had faced worse fears in her life) she turned and walked into the little church. Claire stood in the doorway, her wand at her side, a confused look on her face.
Hermione went to the altar behind the pulpit, opened up the top, and looked at all the old tomes inside. She found one with the dates "1925 to 1935" printed on the outside. She pulled this heavy book out and set it on the top of the stand at the pulpit. She opened it. She looked through several pages toward the middle.
Then she saw the truth.
Born: 1 April 1932, to Miriam Weasley and Otto Malfoy, a son, Albert Edward Weasley Malfoy. Parents never married. Adopted by Jonas and Annabelle Cranston, 14 April 1932. Name changed to Albert Jonas Cranston.
"What does it say?" the other woman asked.
"Just a moment." Hermione let her finger travel down to a footnote written in reference to that entry. It read, "See book 52, page 125, entry eleven." Hermione placed this book on the top of front pew, and went to retrieve book 52.
"What are you doing?" Claire asked, still from the doorway. She stepped into the small building, but then some unseen force blocked her from entering, and she remained at the entry.
Hermione opened the other book. On page 125, Phillip's birth was recorded. It said nothing at all about being a Malfoy heir. However, written underneath Phillip's entry, and before the entry for Phillip's sister Adelphia, was another entry, written in a different handwriting.
This one read, "Born 16 October 1980, in London, Claire Marie Cranston, to Lucy Ryan and Albert Cranston. Parents not married. Child adopted by Lucy Ryan's husband, Nicholas Ryan."
Hermione looked up toward Claire and asked, "What's your mother's name?"
"Why?"
"Please," Hermione said.
"Lucy, why?"
Hermione shook her head. She knew she had to tread lightly. She said, "Is there a chance that your father wasn't your birth father?"
"How did you know that? No one knows that! My mother had an affair, with a pureblood I might add, which resulted in my birth, but only my mother, father and I know that!"
"It's written right here. That's how you entered the cottage. You're also an heir of Miriam and Otto's. Your Phillip's half-sister."
"YOU LIAR!" Claire ran into the church, but the same unknown force from earlier pulled her back out. She stood back in the doorway and said, "Tear out the pages that prove that Otto and Miriam married, and the ones that will tell me who their heir is, and then give them to me!"
Hermione was getting tired of this! She said, "Listen here, you stupid cow! I'm telling you that all this proves is what I've already told you! They didn't marry, so your nephew is the rightful heir all along! You've worked hard to secure his birthright, when it was already secure! Miriam and Otto didn't marry. Their son is Phillip's and your father! That's what this says! That's the truth!"
The other woman's head was spinning. She ran outside the little building, at a loss of what to do next. She didn't know what to believe. Was it that easy? Was Thomas the true heir after all? Was she really a Malfoy, albeit an illegitimate one? Hermione stood in the doorway, watching as Claire paced all around the little enclosed stone courtyard of the rectory, talking to herself, disturbed as ever.
Hermione saw Draco, Phillip and Candace approach the churchyard, from the side of graveyard. Claire hadn't yet seen them. It was quite dark out, though dawn was soon approaching, but Draco could tell that Hermione saw them. He held out his hand, for her to remain quiet.
Claire looked toward Hermione, and saw that she was looking at something behind her. She whipped around and saw the other three. She screamed in fury. "You lied to me!" She pointed her wand at Phillip.
"I'm sorry. I wanted to get to know my other sister, but I couldn't tell you the truth. I physically couldn't, because of the curse. I had to let you believe the lies that Morrison perpetrated…the lies that Miriam and Otto were married all along, because the curse kept me from telling you the truth. I had no idea that you would go to such elaborate means to get the Malfoy fortune. I just wanted to know you, but now I'm sorry that I do."
Claire turned to her sister and said, "I suppose you're happy now, right? Your precious little Thomas is the real heir after all!"
"None of that ever mattered to me," her sister stated.
She turned to Draco last and said, "And you make me the sickest of all! You get everything! You get your precious son, you get your money, and you get the woman you love! Well, I have it in my power to take away one of those things!" She turned her wand toward the little stone building, where Hermione still stood in the arched doorway, and she yelled out a spell with rage and wrath.
The building started to collapse, starting with the arched doorway. Hermione had no choice but to run deeper inside the building. She ran to the pulpit, kneeled on the floor, and ducked her head under the structure, as the building…stone, bricks, mortar, and wood, began to rain down around her.
Draco called Hermione's name as the building began to implode. Candace let out a scream, and Phillip rushed to Claire and knocked her off her feet.
Dust and debris flew all around them. Claire was underneath Phillip, whimpering.
"Help me," Draco said desperately to Phillip. Phillip stood from Claire, forgetting to take her wand, and he and Draco ran over to the collapsed, destroyed building, and began to remove the stones and debris with magic. Candace walked up to her sister, who remained crying on the ground, and she kneeled beside her.
The next thing that occurred happened fast. Claire scrambled to her feet, knocking Candace over on her back. She began to run through the graveyard. Candace struggled to stand, and started to run after her, calling her name.
Phillip took flight as well, leaving Draco alone to rescue Hermione. The truth was that Phillip felt that Hermione was probably dead, and he knew that he had to stop Claire before she killed anyone else.
Draco continued to search through the rubble for Hermione. He called out her name, frantically. Before he knew it, his father and several men and women had joined him in the graveyard.
"We went to that cottage, and you weren't there," his father said. "What happened here?"
"She's in there," Draco said softly, pointing toward the mess. Was this how it was to end? Was their love story to conclude with a tragic ending, just like Miriam and Otto's story, or were Hermione and Draco going to be given a second chance?
Lucius began barking orders to everyone. The other witches and wizards began to remove the rest of the rubble.
Daylight began to streak through the sky when they finished. When the last stone was unturned, and the last piece of wood removed, it was evident – no one was inside.
"I saw her, Father," Draco said. He felt close to tears. Then he finally thought about his son. He turned and said, "Where's Thomas?"
"At Carrington House with your mother, and he's well protected."
"Claire wants to kill us all and take him from us," Draco said, though he didn't have time to explain. "We have to find Hermione, and we have to get to Thomas, and then we have to find that crazy bitch!"
Father and son ran toward the gate that enclosed the graveyard, and that was when they saw such a horrific sight, which at first made Lucius flinched and Draco close his eyes.
It was Claire, crying over the body of her sister, Candace. The other woman was dead. She was killed with the killing curse. Close behind them, stood Phillip, who was also silently crying. Claire looked up and said, "I didn't really want to kill my sister. I didn't mean to kill her. She tried to stop me. She thought I was going to take Thomas. I don't think I would really have done that, Draco. Do you think I would have? I just wanted what I thought was due to me. Now that I know that I'm really an heir, I feel it's due to me even more, but that doesn't mean I wanted to kill her."
She continued to mumble incoherent things. Lucius looked toward Draco. Draco didn't know where to begin. He said to Phillip, "Phil, explain the story quickly to my father, and then take Claire into custody. After that, go check on my son."
"Did you find Hermione? Where's is she?" Phillip finally thought to ask.
"I don't really know." Draco didn't know, but he would find her.
"She wasn't in the wreckage?" Phillip asked.
"No, we didn't find her," Draco stated plainly.
"Thank our lucky stars!" Phillip exclaimed. "The protection worked!"
"What?" Draco asked.
"Morrison Cranston, who I hope will soon rot in prison for killing Otto, for blackmailing your grandfather all those years, and for committing all those lies for so long, couldn't do anything about the counter charm, placed by Otto so long ago."
He rushed up to Draco and said, "I read it in one of the letters when I was a child. You see, I used to visit Miriam when I was young. Of course, I now know that she knew I was her grandchild all along. She was always so kind and wonderful to me. I didn't know at the time of our connection, but I loved her like a grandmother anyway. In one of the letters from Otto to her, he stated that he was afraid that Morrison would try to hurt Miriam. He knew that my great uncle was infatuated, though it was unrequited, with Miriam. He told her never to fear, because he placed another charm on the little cottage, in addition to the one that made it so only Malfoys, Weasleys, and the people they loved could enter. This charm was a sort of honing device. If Miriam ever found herself in danger while here at the village, the little cottage would act as a sort of beacon, and would draw her to its protection. It's similar magic as a portkey, though no physical item is necessary for transportation. Hermione has to be at the cottage! The same magic that protected Miriam from Morrison has to extend to Hermione. Perhaps because you're a Malfoy, and she's the woman that you love, the magic works for you too, also. You've got a second chance with her, Malfoy! Go to the cottage. I'll take care of everything here. Go to Hermione!"
Draco apparated on the spot.
Coming up: Happy Endings and Conclusions