Hello! I hope everyone is doing well :) This part of the story is actually almost done. I did write a sequel but I'm thinking about adding it to this one as a part two or something. Before I do that though I'd really appreciate it if I could get a few reviews. I'm just really curious about how people are liking the OC characters, and the story in general. It seems like a lot of people are reading this all the way through so there must be something you like about it haha. So, pretty please with sugar on top, leave me a few reviews just to put my mind at ease. :) :)
Chapter Twenty Six
The next morning, Danielle excitedly made her way to the hospital wing from the library. She'd been in there practically all night doing more research for the cabinet. She had been hoping to find something good to surprise Draco. After being hit with that terrible curse the day before she figured he could use some cheering up.
"Draco," She cheers as she rushes through the doors and up to his bed. Her smile faded when she saw him just lying there and staring up at the ceiling. "You look bored."
"That's an understatement," was the short reply.
"Hasn't anyone else been in here?" Danielle asks curiously as she notices how empty Draco's nightstand was. There were no get well cards, sweets, or gifts.
"No," Draco says flatly and Danielle frowns.
"Not one?" Danielle asks feeling annoyed, "Not even Blaise?" Draco shakes his head. "Great friends," Danielle says sarcastically. "You were nearly killed and they don't even come to make sure you're ok."
"It doesn't matter. I didn't expect them too," Draco snaps looking annoyed at Danielle's prodding. "Why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be going to Hogsmeade today?"
"Oh! Yeah! I am going, but we're not leaving until noon" Danielle tells him with a shrug.
"Then why are you even awake?" Draco says irritably, "You look like death. I know you're as sleep deprived as I am." Danielle just gives him a huge grin before reaching into her school bag and pulling out an old, thick, leather bound book.
"I haven't slept because I've been in the library," She tells him proudly. "I think I found something that will help us."
"Really?" The boy's face lights up with excitement and he tries to sit up but winces in pain.
"It's still hurting you," Danielle frowns as she watches Draco struggle to push himself into a sitting position. She wanted to help him but knew he'd be angry at her if she offered.
"It's just the burning," Draco waves her off. "What's in that book?"
"It's about old magical household objects," Danielle explains as she hands the aged book over. "There isn't anything about … what we have specifically, but I read something very interesting in there. Apparently there are certain potions used on magical objects to enhance the magic already on them. It's like a stain or varnish that you can just brush on."
"You think that's what we might need?" Draco asks eagerly flipping through the pages.
"Yeah," Danielle leans over to look too. "I mean, the cabinet has been working a little bit you know? When we put something in it disappears but we either can't get it back or something is wrong with it if it does get back. What if the magic is just old? What if it just needs this enhancer?"
"It's possible," Draco runs his fingers over the words. "We need to be careful though. We don't want to do something that could possibly make it worse."
"I don't think it will," Danielle says. "But to be sure, I was going to do some more digging in the library tonight. Hopefully we can get started on making this potion as soon as you're better."
"Here," Draco says as he hands the book back to Danielle. A look of guilt crosses his face, "You don't have to worry about going to the library tonight. Get some sleep. We'll start back up once I get out of here so that I can help you."
"It shouldn't take me too long to find the rest of the information we need," Danielle tells him. "I don't want to be in Hogsmeade too long anyway. I hate shopping."
"You hate shopping?" Draco looks shocked, "What kind of girl are you?" Danielle laughs.
"The longer I walk around a store the more I want to bash my own brains out just to be rid of the mind numbing misery," She tells him seriously. She could care less about clothes, shoes, purses, or make up.
Draco widens his eyes at her, "You are seriously the most…"
"Interesting and unique person you've ever met?" Danielle offers slyly. Draco's cheeks flush at the memory of his oddly worded marriage proposal.
"Yeah," He shakes his head and looks down. Danielle laughs at his embarrassment.
"Alright, I suppose I should get going now" She tells him, "don't have too much fun without me."
"Yeah, not likely" Draco grimaces and Danielle gives him a sympathetic smile.
"You could always send for Pansy," she shrugs. "I'm sure she'd love to nurse you back to health."
"That's ok," Draco frowns as he watches Danielle pick up her bag and throw it over her shoulder.
"Alright," She sighs. "I suppose I'll see you later then."
"Yep," Draco replies. "See you." Danielle gives him one last wave before turning around and walking out of the hospital wing.
"It's too bad Abby isn't allowed to come here with us," Ron says as he, Harry, Hermione, Danielle, Tracy, and Seamus walk through Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade. "She would love this store."
"She'd like Fred and George's shop better," Harry says as he picks up some odd fanged Frisbee toy. "Their ideas are so clever."
"I still can't believe what they did last year," Hermione shakes her head.
"It was brilliant!" Seamus looks to Danielle with a laugh.
"What did they do?" Tracy asks, wondering why she hadn't heard this story yet.
"Right before exams last year, they burst into the great hall on their broomsticks and flew around the entire room lighting off hundreds of fireworks," Seamus explains with a huge grin. "It was incredible. And once they'd caused as much trouble as they possibly could, they just flew off away from Hogwarts without a backwards glance!"
"Dumbledore let them get away with that?" Tracy asks in disbelief.
"Dumbledore wasn't there," Hermione replies sadly. "Last year the ministry was trying to take over Hogwarts to try and control what all the students were learning. They made Dumbledore step down so that he couldn't tell any of us the truth about you-know-who and put this terrible tyrant ministry woman in his place."
"What Fred and George did was to defy the ministry," Ron explains. "It was a success too. They are like Hogwarts legends now, even to the professors. When they crashed into the great hall, I swear I even saw McGonagall smile!" Danielle and Tracy laugh at this.
"Yes, well, as entertaining as it was" Hermione adds in, "It was still wrong. They were seventh years. They were so close to graduating! They should have just taken their exams."
"I reckon they're doing just fine without their Hogwarts diplomas," Seamus says seriously. "Business is booming for them."
"Those are your older twin brothers, right Ron?" Danielle asks curiously and the red head nods in confirmation. "That's crazy. Your family is so large… four kids, wow."
"Not just four," Hermione smiles. "Ron's one of seven siblings."
"What?" Tracy gasps as she looks to Ron in awe.
"It's true," He laughs, "My oldest brother's name is Bill. He works as a curse breaker at Gingotts. My second oldest brother is Charlie. He works in Romania, training dragons."
"Dragons!" Danielle widens her eyes, "Wow! I guess all you Weasleys are wild!"
"I know! It drives our mom nuts" Ron laughs. "But we aren't all like that. Percy is the third child. He's sort of the odd ball of the group. He works for the minister of magic right now. We haven't spoken to him in a while though since he helped the ministry spread the lies about Harry and Dumbledore. Then there's Fred and George, and then me. Ginny is the youngest."
"Your parents are crazy," Tracy declares with a laugh before frowning at her boyfriend who was causing a commotion by playing with a screaming yo-yo. "Harry! Put that down!"
"Sorry," He mumbles sheepishly. He puts the toy down, and they all head out to go check out Honeydukes, the candy shop, down the street.
"Anyway," Danielle raises her eyebrows at Ron. "I couldn't imagine having so many siblings. Just having one sister is enough for me."
"It's pretty crazy sometimes," Ron admits. "But I like it." Danielle sees Ron frown then and point, "Is that Pansy Parkinson?" Danielle turns quickly and sees the troublesome Slytherin girl stomping up to her and her friends looking angry. Seamus moves next to Danielle protectively but she pushes him back.
"If you guys try to defend me it'll be worse," Danielle tells them.
"You!" Pansy finally comes up and stops right in front of Danielle, "Just you wait until I tell Draco that his fiancée is out shopping with a bunch of Gryffindors while he is still held up in the hospital wing! He almost died and here you are laughing and joking with the guy who cursed him in the first place!"
"For your information, Draco knows that I'm here and who I'm with," Danielle says calmly. "And I don't see you making an effort to be with him either."
"I can't, remember? He told me to leave him alone" Pansy crosses her arms looking angry and embarrassed. "I really don't get how this happened. You don't deserve him."
"Neither do you," Danielle argues back confidently. "You don't know a thing about him except that he's rich and popular. If you really knew him, you wouldn't want him so bad. Unless you really are that desperate to be with someone who will only pretend to love you when you are out in public together?"
"What?" Pansy narrows her eyes at Danielle dangerously.
"Do you really think being married to Draco will be that great for you? Is his power and money worth having to conform to being someone you aren't? Is he really worth living a long, miserable, loveless, and lonely life?"
"Draco would love me!" Pansy stops her foot, "I know he would! He would love me because I'd be the perfect wife!" Danielle frowns and actually feels a little bad for the girl now. It was like she was brainwashed.
"Draco would use you to get a male heir and then leave you to rot," Danielle tells her seriously. "Yes, he'd probably shower you with gifts and buy you expensive things but it wouldn't be because he loved you. It would be to keep you happy and out of the way so that he won't have to put up with you."
"No…" Pansy defends, "No, that isn't true! Draco and I are meant to be together!"
"Yes, and you'll keep on telling yourself that even after you realize what a huge mistake you made," Danielle crosses her own arms now. "You'll turn a blind eye to your pain though, and pretend that you're happy because you won't want to admit to yourself that marrying the most handsome, richest, powerful pureblood in the world was absolutely nothing like you thought and were told it would be."
"How could you possibly know that?" Pansy asks then, looking uncomfortable.
"You know it too Pansy," Danielle says honestly. "You've seen it. It happened right in front of us at Malfoy Manor on Christmas Eve. None of those people are actually happy with their lives. It's all just a show. They go to these parties to brag about their money and status but have to go home to these huge empty homes with spouses that don't love them. It's sick."
Pansy sputtered over her words for a moment before stomping her foot again, "No! You're just saying this so that I'll leave you alone to be with Draco!"
"No I'm not," Danielle assures her. "I'm trying to tell you that you think Draco is so great when you could do so much better than him! He will not make you happy Pansy. If you marry him, you'll be wasting your potential. That's why I don't want to marry him either. I have hopes and dreams for my life. But, all that goes down the drain though if I have to force myself into the role of 'perfect wife'. And really, who is he to decide what a perfect wife is anyway? Is it so wrong to want to marry someone with ambitions? I'd like to see how he'd react if pureblood traditions were reversed. What would he do if he had to give up all his money and his home just to be able to secure himself a marriage?" Pansy was watching Danielle with wide eyes and she seemed to be overwhelmed by the Ravenclaw girl's rant. After a moment, Pansy just turned around and walked away without another word. Danielle wondered if her words had affected the Slytherin girl at all.
"That was a little harsh," Tracy says to break the silence.
"It was the truth," Danielle states feeling a little embarrassed to have gone on such a tangent in front of her friends.
"Do you really think she'd be miserable if she married Malfoy?" Hermione asks curiously.
"Yes," Danielle nods her head. "Draco hates her. He is really mean and cruel to her even now. She thinks being married to him would change that but it won't. She has this fantasy world in her head that just won't ever happen. Not with Draco at least. The sooner she figures that out, the better."
"I say let her marry him," Seamus shrugs, "That way at least you won't have to."
"Maybe Danielle can start a woman's rights movement among the purebloods," Hermione then suggests with a smile. "She could get them all to break free of tradition and leave all the guys like Malfoy without wives."
"Brilliant!" Ron laughs.
"Then perhaps they'd have to work for their women instead of the other way around," Tracy says teasingly. Danielle shakes her head.
"Let them liberate themselves," she laughs. "I just want to go to Honeydukes and get some candy!"
"Same here," Harry agrees. "Then I think a round of butterbeer at the three broomsticks is in order."
"I couldn't agree more," Danielle nods her head before leading her friends towards the candy shop.