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GOLDEN ERA 02 | A NEW SILVER ERA

»»— ༓ —-««

- SEPTEMBER

When Nova Aylin Black arrived at Hogwarts, she took the school by storm.

If she was candid, she ended up with both her parents' qualities that horrified them. Sirius had hoped she'd carry on the Marauder tradition as James Potter had hoped for his own eldest. And while Nova did inherit his strategic, scheming tendencies, she had no desire to carry out random pranks. Hermione hoped she'd be a strong, independent force who lived her life unapologetically. And while Nova was precisely that, she also didn't share her mother's self-imposed stringent views on right versus wrong. Her world existed in greys and depended very strongly on those she cared about.

So really, it was no surprise to her when she was sorted into Slytherin.

She was the first in her year to be sorted, and she left a good chunk of the school who knew either her or her parents in complete shock. Sirius Black was an infamous Gryffindor. With her bleeding heart and passion for justice and righteousness, Hermione Black could be nothing but a Gryffindor. But Nova was honestly pleased. As much as she loved her family and their friends, she knew her natural affinity lay with the regal house of green.

As she walked up towards the cheering Slytherin table, she beelined for the unique tuft of platinum hair, only to find an identical set of striking grey eyes glittering in amusement. Draco stood up to greet her, and she all but flew into his arms.

He chuckled when he stumbled ever so briefly before steadying himself, returning her hug warmly. The rest of the table stared in awe. Draco Malfoy was not a hugger. He was aloof, disinterested, posh, and always poised. Despite her Slytherin qualities, Nova Black had maintained the warmth and affectionate nature of the family she was raised in. The majority of Slytherin, still composed mostly of old pureblood families, was too obsessed with decorum to be so public about their affections. Oh well, it would change now that Nova was there.

"Should we be expecting a howler in the morning?" He asked her with mock seriousness.

"Oooh, I hope so!" Nova laughed. "Wouldn't that be the most deliciously dramatic start to the year?"

She could only imagine the abject comical horror on her father's face. Her mother would obviously try to assure her that she was still their daughter wherever she ended up, and they were proud of her. Nova and Draco both took their seats as the sorting continued, their voices dropping to hushed whispers.

"Can I be the one to owl your parents? Good god, I wish I could see their reaction."

"You just want an excuse to write my mother," she rolled her eyes.

Draco, a quickly growing third-year, blushed like a child. "I want no such thing."

"Right, it's not like you've been mooning over her since I was a literal baby," Nova smirked. "You might be more attached to her than her own godchildren."

"Your mum was the first person I remember being so open with me outside my own mother," Draco shrugged. "I might've been young, but I remember how hard it was for my mother those first few years. Hermione helped us."

"She's quite fond of you too," Nova admitted reluctantly. "In fact, that's probably the excuse I'll use. I'm in Slytherin to keep an eye on you."

Draco rolled his eyes, though internally, he felt a little relieved. His home life and school life felt like a sharp contrast that left him with whiplash every time he tried to transition between the two. Their families prioritized honesty and affection, making for a very involved and informal dynamic between him and all of his family and family friends. But Slytherin's house was everything his mother told him she was trying to unlearn. The stoicness. The constant facade. The air of superiority and entitlement. As his mother had wisely explained to him, none of those were actually traits valued by Slytherin House but rather an unfortunate convergence of pureblood culture within the house. He hadn't fully understood when she'd explained it, but he saw the nuance more and more with every passing year.

His natural tendency to keep things private helped him blend in with his house. But the Slytherin he felt pride for was buried by the formalities he couldn't connect to. Perhaps in another lifetime, he might have. Narcissa had explained that too. But Draco didn't miss that possibility. Instead, he'd occasionally glance at the other tables in envy as all his closest friends went about their lives in a carefree manner.

"I think it's time we got another snake in the mix," Nova smirked. "Things were getting too predictable."

»»— ༓ —-««

- OCTOBER

"How dare you speak to me that way? You filthy little mudblood!"

Nova paused in her tracks, whirling around immediately. Her face screwed up in distaste as her eyes narrowed on the scene before her. She immediately noticed a group of third and fourth years in Slytherin uniform and a lone Gryffindor glaring at them.

The girl looked familiar. Nova had heard about the witch in passing, and she seemed to be friends with all her Gryffindor friends. Granger, Nova thought? Hermione Granger. Nova remembered Harry mentioning her in passing during a Diagon Alley trip last year, and she only remembered because she shared a first name with her mum.

Having been raised with parents so closely involved in the Wizarding War, Nova was educated thoroughly on the politics around pureblood supremacy. But she was surprised to see the burning anger in the Gryffindor's gaze diminish as confusion took over.

Oh lord. She had no idea what the term meant.

That was also when she glimpsed Draco standing a few paces uphill from her position, which was where they were meant to meet. His hands were clenched in tight fists, his wand shaking by his leg. His jaw was so tense she could see the tick of the muscle in it. He looked a little scary, to be honest. Yet he didn't move.

Well, if he wouldn't do anything about it, she certainly would. Nova hardly cared that she was a first-year, and they were all older. Her parents didn't fight in the war for this. She may have a greyer view of the world than them, but she was no coward.

"Oi!" Someone yelled from the other side of the crowd. "You're foul, Bletchly!"

"I think you're referring to yourself, Weasley." The older Slytherin taunted. "How many people have worn that robe before you?"

Ron Weasley strode up beside Granger and then brandished his wand threateningly before bellowing, "EAT SLUGS!"

When the Bletchly was blasted back, the other Slytherins immediately drew their wands. Nova was on the verge of running for a professor when the outnumbered Gryffindors were joined by her parents' godchildren, the Potters, as well as Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. They quickly ushered their friends away, both groups keeping wary eyes on each other.

When Nova finally felt comfortable taking her eyes off the situation, Draco had already disappeared.

»»— ༓ —-««

"Granger," Draco spoke up stiffly.

Hermione Granger immediately stiffened as though someone had shoved a rod up her spine.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She said with a harsh edge to her tone.

Malfoy's eyebrows raised in surprise, though Hermione couldn't tell with her back to him. Unknown to both third-years, someone else was thoroughly intrigued by this turn of events.

Nova had come to her favorite spot by the Black Lake to read, and she'd climbed into the dense branches of the great weeping willow resting near the lakeside. She was surprised when Hermione Granger had come to the base of the same willow, resting against it with a weary sigh. Nova thought about speaking up for a moment but then decided, why bother? Why make it uncomfortable for both of them. Granger was just sitting there staring at the lake. Nova just wanted to read. And though the leaves were turning colors, they were still densely distributed enough along the branches to allow Nova to remain undetected on her perch.

But she hadn't expected Draco to come sauntering up to Hermione. She'd known in some far corner of her mind that the reason Draco worked so hard in academics was to beat Granger, who'd been at the top of his class for the third year now. But Nova assumed that was more about the prestige and accomplishment of being top of class rather than Granger herself. Outside of his anger about the situation a few weeks back, she'd never noticed Draco take much of an interest in Granger. Nova hadn't seen him approach as she was too engrossed in her book, but she could swear she detected unease in his voice.

She considered making herself known again. She quickly decided against it. She didn't want to deal with the awkwardness, and it appeared that she was in for quite a show.

Draco hesitated, shuffling awkwardly.

A rare occurrence indeed, Nova thought.

"Who spit in your food?" He retorted with an equally edgy tone. "I was going to ask if you were planning to join the Dueling Club, but nevermind. I suppose Potter would be a better challenge anyway."

Nova's eyes widened in utter surprise. She took most things in stride, but this, she could not. First of all, she'd never seen Draco be so outwardly childish and nasty in her entire life. His barbs were nearly always much more intelligent, and he relied on sarcasm more than anything. Secondly, Potter? Since when did he call Harry by his surname? Certainly never within her earshot during the multitude of brunches, dinners, and holidays they'd all shared over the years. Sure, Nova noticed that being in separate houses created an unanticipated distance between the Slytherins and Gryffindors, but that never affected how they treated each other over holidays and away from school.

"Why?" Granger spat bitterly. "Because I'm a mudblood?"

From her vantage point, she could see Draco flinch sharply before stiffening to marble.

"Don't assume you know a thing about me, Granger," he bit out lowly.

"Why not? I saw you there that day- just watching." Granger laughed then, a slightly hysterical sound with no joy. "I didn't even know what it meant at the time, but good Godric, there was no mistaking the hatred in your eyes. I wasn't scared until then, but hate that deep, and that strong is unmistakable."

Granger climbed to her feet, hastily swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Is that why you're always trying to beat me?" She asked when she finally faced him. By then, Draco had carefully arranged his features into a neutral mask, though Nova could see the tension in his frame. "You must hate that I'm top of our class. Me- a muggleborne!"

Suddenly Draco sneered. It was a rude gesture that Nova had never seen on his face before.

"I thought you were intelligent, Granger. Did you lose your brains somewhere along the way?"

The witch in question stiffened as though she'd just received confirmation for all her accusations. Walking hurriedly, she meant to brush past him as quickly as possible. When she passed Draco, Nova was surprised to see something between fear and panic in his features. He reached back, clamping his hand around her wrist.

Nova was astonished.

Granger swung around immediately, panic flashing through her eyes. She used the momentum to wrench her arm out of Draco's grasp and return with a sharp backhand to Draco's cheek that made his head snap to the side as the sound rang through the secluded area.

Nova nearly fell out of the tree.

Draco turned his head slowly back towards the witch whose hair was nearly crackling with magic. They stared at each other for a tense moment, and Nova didn't even dare breathe.

Granger turned to walk away once more. Draco didn't try to stop her again.

»»— ༓ —-««

- NOVEMBER

The eldest Black child stewed on the matter for a long time. Unlike the majority of her family, Nova did not rush into decisions. She was calculated and precise and went into most situations anticipating all likely outcomes.

She considered confronting her cousin about what she witnessed but ultimately gathered that there wasn't much value to that. He could tell her very little that she couldn't already put together. Despite Granger's misunderstandings, Nova knew, like every other person in their circle of war heroes' children had known, that Draco did not harbor sentiments of pureblood supremacy. Their Uncle Tonks was one of his favorite people, and he was muggleborne. They'd shared multiple conversations with Tonks about his experience at Hogwarts as a muggleborne, and they were all explicitly aware of his struggles. Nova had also seen his anger that day Granger was harassed and had correctly surmised that his "hate," as Granger so accurately identified, was directed entirely at his own housemates. She could tell why he'd immediately gone on the defense against Granger. Her hostile tone would've made anyone feel cornered, especially if they didn't interact directly very often.

Her most burning question was, why? What about Granger made her perfectly lovely cousin turn into this sneering, rude git that she'd never seen before? Asking Draco wouldn't be helpful- he'd never be truthful.

So Nova logically decided her next best course was to introduce herself to one infamous Hermione Granger.

She'd see for herself what the big deal was.

By now, it was common knowledge that Granger's favorite haunt was the library. Nova found her in a secluded corner near a window in the back. She smoothly slid into the chair opposite the studious witch. When Granger looked up from her books, it took all of Nova's concentration not to burst out laughing. The witch's hair was wild, and she had stray quills sticking out of it. The large pile of books scattered on the table, along with her disheveled appearance, made it clear that the witch had been in the library an hour too long.

"Hello?" Hermione tilted her head in wary curiosity.

"Hi there," Nova smiled confidently. "I'm Nova Black. I've heard a lot about you from my friends, so I thought I'd come to introduce myself and meet the infamous Hermione Granger."

Hermione's eyes bore into the first-year critically in a way that set chills down Nova's spine, though she would never admit as much. Her gaze looked eerily familiar.

"I'm not sure I like your friends," Granger said warily, glancing down at Nova's green and silver tie.

"You know, you shouldn't just make assumptions so casually."

Granger scoffed and rolled her eyes, giving a hint to her exhaustion with Slytherins. "I wouldn't be making assumptions without proper reason. And your house has not been very kind to me."

"Well, let me clarify," Nova continued smoothly. "The friend I can think of in particular who's dropped your name in passing is Harry Potter."

Nova could've laughed at the expression of abject surprise on Granger's face. That was new.

"Not who you expected, is it?" Nova smirked, strikingly mimicking her father. "He's practically family, by the way. My parents are his godparents. We've grown up together for as long as I can remember."

"I- I had no idea," Hermione stammered with unease.

Nova studied her with an edge of sadness as she realized what that meant. She also saw the moment the same realization dawned on Granger because her face became pensive and melancholy. She, in essence, knew so little about her friends. In the time Nova had observed her leading up to this planned confrontation, Nova had come to realize Granger was an odd piece. She didn't seem to fit with the Gryffindors with her studious nature. She wasn't exactly quiet and demure- the slap she'd witnessed told her as much. Despite interacting with Harry, Neville, and Ron the most, she was always slightly on the outskirts of whatever deeper connection they shared. Which, to be fair, wasn't surprising. Those three boys had grown up together as thick as thieves. But when Ron and Harry talked about Quidditch, she seemed to tune out. She was on slightly smoother terms with Neville, but even they had their boundaries.

"I don't blame you," Nova shrugged casually, instilling a lightness to her voice. "Since Draco and I were sorted into Slytherin, it's been hard to be as close during the school year. House rivalries and all that. You couldn't have known."

"Malfoy?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"He's my cousin."

Hermione's expression settled into a quizzical expression as she tried to think through the relations in the map of her mind. But as she paused, Nova was struck with a realization. The eery and uncanny sense of familiarity had been pounding into her mind since she'd sat down across Granger and now realized with striking clarity why. Like everyone else, Nova had been distracted by the bushy hair and brown eyes. But sitting across Hermione Granger in such close proximity, Nova knew exactly why her critical gaze and spattering of freckles struck such a chord.

"Cousin?" She finally asked.

"My father is his mother's cousin," Nova clarified distractedly.

"Oh..."

"And if you're wondering how we turned out so differently, we didn't." Nova insisted, finally remembering her purpose for approaching Granger in the first place. "I think you might've misunderstood Draco. I know the Slytherins haven't been kind to you, but he and I were raised very much aware of the dangers of pureblood supremacy. Our parents fought in the war against Voldemort."

Hermione met her eyes sharply. "Hardly anyone says the name."

Nova shrugged. "My mum always said fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself."

When Hermione fell quiet, Nova decided she'd gotten what she needed from this altercation.

"You don't have to like him," Nova spoke over her shoulder as she stood from the table. "Merlin knows, Draco's not perfect. But he's actually not one of the bad ones- not by a long shot."

»»— ༓ —-««

This time, Nova didn't even wait until the end of the day before seeking her cousin.

"So I talked to Granger," she mentioned casually.

She smirked when she noticed Draco's writing stilling over his parchment for a brief moment.

"Making friends with upperclassmen?" He asked casually, not bothering to look at her.

"You could call it that," she shrugged. "But you know something bizarre?"

Draco looked up warily now, meeting Nova's eyes cautiously.

"She looks bizarrely like my mother."

Draco's expression immediately recoiled into surprise. "She looks nothing like your mother. Have you seen her?"

A slow smile grew on Nova's face like a Cheshire cat, and Draco found himself growing uncomfortable. "From a distance, maybe she doesn't. But have you peered into her eyes and seen to her soul? Because I have. Her gaze, her face- it all looks like my mum."

Draco rolled his eyes, forcing his attention back to his parchment. "You would know better than I. Can't say I've noticed as much."

Nova couldn't help but laugh internally. Maybe he hadn't consciously, but she had no doubt his mind subconsciously made the connections long ago. After all, Draco's fiercely competitive nature only went so far. When Harry became the youngest Seeker in a century, Draco got himself on the Slytherin Quidditch team the very next year. But he opted to be a chaser. He was competitive, but it was never personal.

But with Granger, it was just somehow different. He took every class Granger did, and it still drove him crazy because he always felt like he was missing something. She always ended up in another class, and he always wondered how she had enough hours in the day to do so. Not to mention, it wasn't like Draco to try and be the best in every subject that existed. Every activity he truly enjoyed? Definitely. But Draco preferred focusing on a few choice areas of interest and becoming the best in them. For example, potions class was most definitely his academic niche. And while Granger's style was to absorb any and all information she could get her hands on whether it interested her or not, which Nova suspected was because of her being muggleborne and feeling the need to catch up, that was certainly not Draco's style. Yet here he was attempting to do it all- for what? To be top of his class? The reality was he could focus on the classes he liked and be best in those and still be top of the year. Granger always spread herself more thinly, which was never required to be the best student in the year. So why was he attempting to match her move for move?

"If you say so," Nova said disbelievingly.

»»— ༓ —-««

- DECEMBER

Hermione Granger was enjoying breakfast with the Gryffindors on a normal Monday. The boys were talking about Quidditch, like always. Neville was helping Bryony Potter with her herbology homework. And as always, Hermione's head was buried behind a book.

It wasn't until the chatter around her quieted uncharacteristically that she bothered looking up.

Sitting across from her at the crowded Gryffindor table on a busy Monday morning just before class was the one and only Nova Black. And the first-year was grinning at her like a cat that got the cream.

Everyone at the table, including the Gryffindors Nova had grown up with, stared at the pair in befuddlement.

"Can I help y-" Hermione began to say.

"Would you join my family for the Christmas holidays this year?" Nova beamed.

»»— ༓ —-««

A/N:

I swear it's only going to get better. I'm glad I waited for inspiration rather than forcing myself to write the Golden Era earlier.

I'm so excited- you guys are going to love this!

-ADHARYN