* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART THREE
The Eighth Year
Chapter 38: A Valentine's Day to Remember
It only took a week for the news to spread around the school like wildfire. As Valentine's Day loomed ever closer, the entire school found out about the mysterious girl in the hospital wing. On Harry's journey from the door of the Great Hall to the eighth year table, he heard that she was a time traveller, that she was an alien, that she was the first house elf to transform into human form and that she was the long lost illegitimate child of Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
"Wow, Hogwarts rumour mill is getting wilder by the day," Harry commented casually as he sat down at the table where everyone was gathered and busy.
They had their first really big assignment due soon for Potions, and everyone was pouring over their notes and essays at the last minute. Harry's comment was met with silence, and he merely shrugged, "So, last night, I found Dennis naked in the corridor, and he told me that a giant moth ate his clothes."
Still nothing.
Harry rolled his eyes, "GUYS!"
This got their attention, well, some of them anyway. Draco and Theo glanced up from their books, and Neville, who was further down the table, turned away from his conversation with Hannah.
"What?" Draco asked irritably. When he looked up, Harry frowned, "Why are you wearing glasses?"
Draco took them off hurriedly, "Because my eyes are tired."
Daphne rolled her eyes and handed the glasses back to Sadie, "Because he's an idiot who won't admit that he needs glasses."
Draco scoffed, "I don't need glasses," he muttered
Harry had a feeling that there was more to it than the Potions essay. Draco didn't stress over essays or exams. Harry had seen how suave and chilled he had always been when everyone else was freaking out.
"I just wanted to tell you that McGonagall is making an announcement about Melody today," Harry said as he eyed Draco suspiciously.
The blonde boy shrugged, "Cool," he said as he turned away. Harry snorted; he felt very underappreciated this morning.
Before Harry could whine anymore, McGonagall stood up and called for silence. The hall fell silent quicker than usual as everyone was eager to hear about the mysterious new girl in the hospital wing.
"I have a few important announcements this morning," McGonagall began, her eyes flitted briefly over the eighth years, "Many years ago, a horrible accident caused a seventh-year girl to get trapped in the form of a cat. Due to new research and exceptional intelligence, some of our experimental research potions students found a cure. As of Monday next week, Melody Norris-Filch will become your classmate. She is in a time foreign to her, and I would ask you all to be kind to her and help her in any way that you can."
McGonagall had paused for breath, and the hall exploded in excited chatter as everyone started to gossip. The last name hadn't slipped their minds; it didn't take a genius to work out that Norris-Filch was the name of Filch's ever-loyal cat and his own name.
McGonagall cleared her throat loudly, and silence fell once more, "I would like to remind you that Saturday the 14th of February is, as always, a Hogsmeade weekend. Finally, the seventh and eighth years are required to attend a compulsory meeting in my Transfiguration classroom at 5 pm tomorrow night for a new project that is beginning this year. That is all."
With that, McGonagall took her seat, and the chatter started up once more. Most people were talking about Melody, apart from the seventh and eighth years.
"A new project. What does she mean?" Harry asked everyone in general.
Neville frowned and shrugged, "I don't know, but if she won't tell us in front of the rest of the school, I'm guessing it's bad."
"I just hope it doesn't have anything to do with homework," Draco grumbled. He slammed his book shut and stood up.
"I doubt it," Harry said as they left the hall, "McGonagall knows how much pressure we're under right now."
Draco gave a slight nod, "Did you say something about giant moths earlier on?"
Harry put on his best poker face and said, "No... I think you've been studying too much."
Harry spent most of Herbology talking to Neville, although he occasionally glanced down the table at Draco and his sullen face. He was worried about more than an essay. Harry sighed and mentioned it briefly to Neville, who said that Draco was probably just stressing out. When Herbology was over, Draco headed off for Ancient Runes, and Harry had a free period, so he decided to go back to the dorm room for a nap since he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.
When Harry arrived in the dorm room he shared with Draco; he noticed a conspicuous pile of papers sitting on Draco's desk, which was odd because Draco was usually very tidy. Being a Gryffindor, and more to the point being Harry Potter, Harry couldn't resist glancing at the papers. He frowned when he saw the heading on what he could only assume was one of several earlier drafts of Draco's potions essay.
They had gotten to choose their own subject and research it. They had to hand in their first draft today, but they had until the end of the term to complete the project, making up a large proportion of their N.E.W.T grade for Potions. Harry had chosen to do his on squibs and why they were rarer than Muggle-borns, his theory so far was that it had much to do with wealthy pureblood families pressuring children from a young age. The potions aspect of his paper was made up of the fact that certain potions given to a child too young could affect their magical ability, as could dark magic, explaining why several purebloods produced (and hid or killed) squib children.
The title of Draco's paper read in large squiggly black writing, "Infertility amongst purebloods."
Harry couldn't resist looking closer and reading the small paragraph underneath the heading which read;
"This paper shall examine why pureblood families produce fewer children than half-bloods or muggle-borns. This paper will assess the use of potions during pregnancy, and it will compare the lifestyle of a half-blood pregnant woman and that of a pureblood pregnant woman."
Harry sat down at the desk and looked through the paper. It was good; it talked about the differences between half-bloods and purebloods and how they could affect infertility. Purebloods more often than not had house-elves whereas only a few half-bloods had them. It talked of how more often than not, purebloods were surrounded by dark magic.
On the last page, Harry found a list of pureblood families and the number of children they had. He was shocked to see that most purebloods produced one or two children, three was very rare, and only one family was on the list with four children. The anomaly in the pureblood list was the Weasley's with their seven children. Next to their names, Draco had scrawled "Blood traitors, effect?"
The half-blood list, however, was a different story; the average amount of children was three but ranged to seven. Harry noted that he was the anomaly on that page as he was an only child. A note next to his name said, "Would likely have had more children had they lived longer. James Potter was an only child born to two purebloods, however."
The list of prominent muggle-borns was very similar to the half-bloods. Harry was intrigued, but he didn't want to say anything to Draco because he knew the Slytherin would be angry with him for poking around in his things without his permission. He couldn't go for his planned nap anymore; he had far too much on his mind now. So Harry went for a walk instead. All the while, he wondered if his project on pureblood infertility was the reason for Draco's bad mood.
The day dragged by, and their first drafts of the Potions essays were handed into Professor Slughorn in Potions. A weight was temporarily lifted from their minds because their marks wouldn't be in until after Valentine's Day.
However, there was clearly still something wrong with Draco because he isolated himself in the common room that night. As the hour grew closer to midnight, the room emptied and eventually, at half an hour past midnight, only Harry and Hermione remained in the common room. Both of them were kept up by worry for their mutual Slytherin friend.
"Something's not right with Draco," Harry and Hermione said in unison the moment the last person ascended the staircase to bed.
They both laughed a little awkwardly, and Hermione joked, "Whose boyfriend is he?"
Harry chuckled, her mood lifted his a little, "I thought he was stressed at first, but the project has been handed in now."
"I know," Hermione said as she bit her lip, "I don't want to ask him about it. You know how he hates that. I just have to assume that he'll tell me when he's ready."
Harry nodded; he understood how she felt. He wished Draco felt he could talk to him too; after all, they were friends now.
Hermione sighed and stood up, "Goodnight, Harry," she said, worry still laced her voice as she kissed her friend on the cheek and made her way up to her dorm room.
Harry stood up too as the fire in the fireplace, which had been flickering dimly, eventually died. He left the room in complete darkness and made his way upstairs to his dorm room; he assumed that Draco would be asleep now.
The last few nights, Draco had made use of the barrier in the middle of the room he had put up for privacy. Harry had assumed from the scratching of a quill and the flutter of pages that he was sitting at his desk working.
However, tonight was different. When Harry arrived in his dorm room, the barrier was gone, and the curtains around Draco's bed weren't pulled shut. The Slytherin was lying in bed, fully clothed and awake; he was staring with intense concentration at the top of his four-poster bed. Harry frowned but didn't say anything; he didn't want to disturb his friend, who had been snarky lately when anyone interrupted his thoughts.
"Your project is about squibs."
Harry was alarmed by the random comment that had come out of Draco's mouth. Harry's frown deepened as he climbed into bed, "Yeah, it is. So?"
Draco sighed and took his eyes off of the four-poster to look at Harry, "I think you could help me with something."
"Okay," Harry said slowly as he waited for Draco to elaborate.
Eventually, Draco said, "My project is about infertility in pureblood families, and your study about how more purebloods produce squibs could help me out. If you wanted to combine forces, I think it would help both of our grades."
Harry then finally understood. It was as if the light bulb in his head clicked on. He wondered if Draco could see it in his eyes, but if he could, he didn't say anything or react in any way, "Obviously, I'd be happy enough to do that. But I know it's not the reason you're upset. You're worried about not being able to have the amount of kids you want with Hermione."
Draco's cheeks flushed bright red, but he didn't flat out deny what Harry was suggesting. He remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Yeah, I suppose I am."
"So what do you hope to gain from this?" Harry asked curiously as he propped himself up on his elbow.
Draco rolled onto his side to face Harry, "I don't know. I just want to see if I can find some connection and if there is anything I can do to prevent it from happening to me, then...I'll do it."
"How come you think my squib research will help?" Harry asked.
"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? Lack of children and lack of magical children, it's like something is draining purebloods which I know sounds crazy, but it's the only way I can think of to describe it."
"I don't think it sounds crazy. I am wondering about how you plan on doing this research though," Harry admitted. He had exhausted the Hogwarts library already for all it had on squibs.
Draco got a mischievous twinkle in his eye that Harry knew well, "Malfoy Manor had a library with a huge records section. It's not just my family, it's a lot of prominent wizarding families, and there are even some records of famous muggle-borns. My Dad was obsessed with it too, but for a different reason...he wanted more heirs because he didn't think I was good enough to take on the Malfoy name."
The bitterness in Draco's voice amazed Harry. He had never heard anyone sound so bitter when talking about their own flesh and blood, but he did understand why Draco felt so betrayed.
"Where are the records now that Malfoy Manor has been donated?" Harry asked.
"In my Gringotts vault," Draco said offhandedly, "I can transport them to Potter Manor, and we can study them there."
"Theo and Neville might be able to help," Harry said as he nodded.
"How?" Draco asked curiously. Once upon a time, he would have sneered at the suggestion that Neville Longbottom was capable of helping him, but things had changed since then.
"Well," Harry said, "Their projects sort of concern the same area. Neville's is a study of premature death amongst pureblood children, and I think Theo is doing something about the effects of house-elves on infertility and premature death in the wizarding world."
Draco hummed thoughtfully at Harry's words. He nodded as the Gryffindor spoke and eventually said, "That could be useful. I think we should try and convince them to come to the manor tomorrow night; we can dig deeper and see what we find."
"On one condition," Harry said.
Draco frowned, "What's the condition?" he asked.
"You need to tell Hermione what's going on," Harry said, "She's worried sick about you."
Draco groaned, "How do I start that conversation? 'hey Hermione, sorry for being a prat lately, I'm just worried we won't be able to have kids cause I'm a pureblood wanker'?"
Harry laughed at Draco's frustrated rant, and he was about to reply to his friend when someone else did it for him.
"It would probably be better to say 'Hermione; lately I've been worried, what with my project being about pureblood infertility and all, I just wonder if we ever get to that point, will my blood status ruin it?' she'll think it's sweet and say you're cute or something."
"Daphne," Harry said slowly, "Why are you hovering above my balcony on a broom?"
Daphne grinned as Harry opened the doors and let her in. She shrugged, "I got cold?"
Harry chuckled at his girlfriend as she jumped into his bed in her pyjamas.
"Do you think that will work? With Hermione?" Draco asked. The random appearance of his ex-girlfriend didn't faze him.
Daphne nodded, "Of course it will."
Draco seemed to be wrestling with himself, but eventually, he said, without sounding or looking confident in any way, "Alright, I'll do it tomorrow."
"Awesome," Daphne and Harry said in unison as they shared an amused grin.
The next day was slow for Draco, who eventually managed to get a moment alone with Hermione during their free period. They ended up sitting in ridiculously comfortable chairs in the room of requirement with a very awkward atmosphere in the air.
"Draco...you're not breaking up with me, are you?" Hermione asked cautiously.
"What?" Draco asked. He was affronted by the very thought, "No, no, it's nothing like that," he paused, and the air was filled with nothing but silence. He momentarily forgot that they were in the room of requirement, and he wished for some noise. With a pop, an open window appeared with birds singing loudly outside of it.
Draco blushed as he caught Hermione's eye. She laughed as soon as she realised what had happened.
"Okay, Hermione, I'm just going to say this...I'm sorry for keeping my Potions project a secret from you. The reason I did is because the subject is infertility amongst pureblood families. It compares the number of children pureblood families have with half-blood families and how many children two muggle-borns would have if they bred."
Hermione glared at him, and he frowned, "What?"
"Bred? Seriously Draco? We're not animals," Hermione muttered.
Draco hesitated, "I'm sorry. I'll rephrase that when they reproduce."
"Much better," Hermione approved. She was already making Draco feel comfortable about talking to her without him even realising it.
"So I've finished my first draft, but I'm not any closer to finding out a definite reason or several if there are any. All I have to go on is that purebloods make more use out of house-elves and dark magic. But one of the things I found out scared me. If you are surrounded by dark magic for a long time, it negatively affects your fertility. The darkest families had the least children…"
Hermione smiled, "Draco, I understand."
"You do?" Draco asked. The relief that laced his voice was probably very noticeable to his girlfriend.
"I get it; you're worried about your evil dark past. You think it is going to make you unable to have kids, and because I'm your girlfriend, you feel the need to tell me," Hermione began.
Draco opened his mouth to say something but didn't get the chance as Hermione continued to speak, "But if you and I ever do reach that stage, I doubt you'll have anything to worry about. Eighteen years of dark magic won't match the effect that a lifetime will, and besides, I'm a Muggle-born, and according to every report I've read, we breed like bloody rabbits."
Draco laughed out loud and grinned; her reaction had been perfect, "Thanks," he said because he couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Now come on," Hermione said as she got out of her chair, "We've got McGonagall's meeting to get to."
Draco stood up and took Hermione's hand in his as they left the Room of Requirement. He took in the look of smug amusement she was trying to hide and narrowed his eyes at her, "You know something about this meeting, don't you?"
"No," Hermione lied.
Draco chuckled, "Hermione, for someone who had to lie as much as you did in the war, you are a terrible liar."
Hermione scoffed and looked away, "Draco, I'm not lying. I know as much about it as you do."
"Yeah, right," Draco said, he wasn't convinced, but he was amused at Hermione's attempt to cover up the fact she knew something, "You're the Head Girl Hermione. She must have told you something."
"She didn't tell me anything," Hermione said far too quickly as she sped up and walked into the great hall for dinner. The meeting would take place directly after they had eaten.
Draco chuckled as he slid into a seat next to Hermione and dropped the subject; after all, they would all find out soon enough what the meeting was for.
"Oh, Draco, hey," Harry said as he jumped up from his spot next to Daphne and squeezed in next to Draco.
"Hey..." Draco said slowly; he looked slightly intimidated.
"So I've got recruits. Theo and Neville are up for tonight," Harry said enthusiastically.
From next to them, Hermione sniggered, "What are you up for tonight?" she asked Draco as she suggestively raised her eyebrows.
Draco rolled his eyes, "That's disgusting; I thought Hermione Granger was sweet and innocent."
At Draco's comment, both Harry and Hermione snorted in unison which caused the blonde boy to look from one to the other then shake his head in exasperation, "I still can't believe one of my best friends slept with my girlfriend."
"I'm one of your best friends?" Harry asked. The comment had taken him by surprise.
Draco cursed inwardly; he had thought it but had never actually told Harry that.
"He's one of your best friends? Potty wee Potter? The boy who didn't die? The hero who saved the entire wizarding world?"
"Theo-"
"Don't Theo me, Draco! The damage is done! You've replaced me with a newer, less evil, more annoying version!"
"Oi!"
"Shut up, Potter."
"Theo-"
"It's too late Draco, our friendship is over."
Theo then sat down on Draco's other side and pushed Hermione so far that she fell off the bench with an "eep".
He grinned at Draco and Harry, "Just kidding, Harry," he said.
Theo then turned to Draco, "But you better not forget what we've been through together."
Draco shook his head in amusement and laughed quietly under his breath, "Don't worry Theo, I won't," he said as the others around them laughed.
"Anyway, what Harry was saying before Theo got jealous," Neville said as he appeared across from them and sat down, "He recruited us to come to the manor tonight to help you with that, um, secret...thing, of yours, that is a secret..."
Draco rolled his eyes, "She knows Neville, I just told her."
"Oh," Neville said, "Well, that makes things easier; we'll help you with your project tonight to see if you and Hermione can have lots of bushy blonde-haired babies."
Hermione blushed from where she was now sitting next to Hannah at the other side of the table, and Draco threw a roast potato at Neville while Theo and Harry sniggered.
"I would come and help you all tonight, but I can't. I have patrol duty, and unlike some people, I actually do it," Hermione glared pointedly at Theo.
He shrugged, "Meh, I have more important things to do, like ensure my BFF can have babies."
Hermione only rolled her eyes, "I do have some insight that might help, though. You said one of the big things you found out was that dark magic influences infertility, but I would have to challenge that. Yes, you have purebloods having fewer kids at one end of the scale, but then you have the Weasley's who are purebloods and have seven children, and I agree that they don't use any dark magic. But what about those in the middle?"
"I agree, although I don't know the full idea," Susan piped up, "I'm a half-blood, but I'm an only child. My parents tried for more kids, but they just got me, and they didn't use dark magic."
"You're another exception, Susan," Theo said to the Hufflepuff, "Your Mother was such an exceptional witch that you're more of a pureblood than half-blood. It happens occasionally. Like with Harry, and of course, Hermione."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"He means although you're a Muggle-born, you don't seem like one. There is a blood sample of everyone at Hogwarts on file, and your blood is 80% magical, which is rare for muggle-borns. Most half-bloods only have 60-70%, and most muggle-borns range from 40-50%," Draco explained; he sounded very scientific.
"That sounds complicated; what about me? What's my blood like? And how come you know so much about this?" Harry asked several questions very quickly.
Draco rolled his eyes, "You're another exception; you have 92% of magic in your blood, which is much closer to a pureblood than a half-blood. Neville is a pureblood, and he's only got 85% because his family bred with Muggles more than most pureblood families did. The reason I know so much about it is because I used the files for my research on my Potions essay."
"What about you? And Theo? And all the Slytherins?" Neville asked. He was just as curious about this notion as Harry was.
"I have 98% of magic in my blood, and I can tell you that the 2% comes from a Muggle my Great Great Uncle Orion had an illegitimate child with and a Muggle boy my Great Great Great Great Cousin Cassiopeia ran away with," Draco said, offhandedly, he sounded like a shadow of his old self.
"As for Theo, his blood isn't as pure as his Father liked to believe."
Theo smirked in amusement, "60%. My family were politicians; they were good at covering up scandalous affairs with Muggles and marriages with half-bloods."
"Most Slytherins range from 85% to 95%. Theo and I are exceptions at opposite ends of the scale," Draco informed the others; he shared an amused grin with Theo.
"As interesting as all of this blood purity stuff is," Hermione said as she got to her feet and checked the time, "We better get to this meeting, or McGonagall won't be happy."
The others agreed and were eager to find out why they had been called to the meeting, so they headed off together towards the Transfiguration classroom to find out more.
The noise level was high when McGonagall walked into her classroom and called for silence. There weren't enough seats in the classroom for all of the seventh and eighth years, so people were sitting on desks, cross-legged on the floor or leaning against walls around the room. Shortly after McGonagall's entrance, silence fell over the entire room.
McGonagall got straight to the point, "As you are all aware, we have a new Minister for Magic and a Ministry which is slowly being reformed. Because of this, the Ministry has proposed new educational reforms, and one of the requirements is to introduce a new class at seventh year, and in this case, eighth year, level. In the lead up to the Great Wizarding War, people were afraid that they might not have much time left. This led to certain scandals during and after the war with couples marrying young and having children young," She glanced over at Harry in particular before continuing, "Many of you are the result of this 'baby boom'. Still, at the time, it was highly frowned upon by the Ministry."
Harry raised a hand.
"Yes, Mr Potter?"
"The Ministry disapproved of people getting married?" Harry asked sarcastically.
"No," McGonagall said sternly, "They disapproved of 17-year-olds getting pregnant, and they disapproved of shotgun weddings which became far more prominent. This new class is part of reforms to ensure we don't make the same mistakes in the aftermath of this war, so it has been christened 'family planning', and it is compulsory for all of you to take part."
There were groans all around the room at this, but they stopped with a sharp glance from McGonagall, "This class is short and fairly easy to pass. If you get a good grade, think of it as extra credit. This is especially true if you intend to work with children or wish to work within the medical magic arena. If you fail," for some reason, she looked at Theo upon these words, "Do not think about having children anytime soon and do not try and become a paediatric healer."
At this point, they all shared nervous glances as they wondered what the hell McGonagall had planned for them.
"This class will only last for one week. In that week, you will be given a child, and you must care for it. If the child comes back safely, you will pass. It is simple, the happier the child, the better the grade," McGonagall explained as a look of dread spread throughout the faces in the classroom.
"The Ministry has asked that I pair you into couples randomly. However, I disagree with this rule; the people in this room most likely to prematurely have children are those in relationships. Therefore, I find that it makes more sense to force you to deal with this burden and show you how difficult raising a child is. Those who are not in relationships will be paired randomly," McGonagall caught Harry's eye at that point, and Harry realised how human she really was, as strict as she could be at times.
"On Monday, I will announce the pairs and give you your child. You will look after this child for one week," McGonagall was saying, "The child's age and sex will be randomised, but it will look like its parents. These children are not real; they are products of experimental Ministry technology very similar to what Muggles call 'holograms'. However, these 'holograms' can be touched, heard, and smelled like real human beings. I would ask you all to try not to get too attached because, as I have said, they are not real children. Does anyone have any questions?"
Theo's hand shot up into the air.
"Yes, Mr Nott?" McGonagall asked warily.
"How do you fail?"
"If your child dies, you fail, Mr Nott."
Hermione's hand was next.
"Yes, Miss Granger?"
"How do we attend classes if we have to look after children all week?"
"You will drop the children off at 8 am in the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey will look after them. This is the equivalent of a Muggle day-care centre. You will pick up the children after classes end at 5 pm. You will take them to the great hall for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you will stay in makeshift quarters for the course of this week with your partner and the child."
There was silence after that, so McGonagall nodded and said, "You are all dismissed. I will see you back here at 7 am on Monday. Until then, enjoy your weekend and enjoy Valentine's Day."
When Valentine's Day dawned, all of the guys had impressive dates lined up for their girlfriends.
Draco, Harry, Neville, Theo and Dean had decided to make their way down to the village together. They were going to have a few drinks in The Three Broomsticks while they waited for the girls, who they knew would take a long time to get ready. The guys knew better than anyone else how long the girls took to get ready, and they decided they would rather wait in a warm pub than shiver in the eighth year common room for two hours.
"So where are you taking yours?" Theo asked as he ordered his 3rd butterbeer of the afternoon.
Draco snorted at his friend's choice of words, "They're girls, not animals, Theo."
Theo rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean," he said casually.
"I'm taking Hermione to Paris for a meal at the top of the Eiffel tower," Draco said rather pompously.
Harry sniggered, "Could you get any more cliché if you tried?"
"What? It's romantic!" Draco said as he glared at his friend, "Where are you taking the ice queen Potter?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm taking her out for a meal on a floating boat restaurant in Amsterdam. She has no idea; she thinks we're having dinner at a restaurant in Edinburgh."
"So who came up with the romantic boat idea? You or Hermione?" Dean asked with an amused grin.
Harry grinned back, "Hermione, but that's not the point, I'm paying for it!" they all laughed, and at that point, Harry asked, "So Theo, what are you doing with Sadie?"
Theo smirked, "Oh, you know, just taking her to Italy to the place where Romeo and Juliet were said to have met."
"Hah! And that's not cliché at all!" Draco mocked as he and the others laughed at the cheesiness of Theo's plan.
Theo didn't seem to mind; he just smiled, "Make fun all you want. Sadie's into all that cheesy stuff. She'll love it."
"Well, not all of us are rich pureblood millionaires like you lot," Neville began to say, but he was interrupted when Harry piped up, "I'm a half-blood billionaire actually!"
Neville chuckled, "I can't afford to take Hannah somewhere romantic in Europe, so we're just going for dinner in London."
"Technically London's in Europe," Dean pointed out.
Neville laughed, "True."
"And I think it's a good idea," Harry said, "Hannah prefers the simpler things."
"Exactly," Neville said. He didn't feel so bad about his plan now that someone else had said it sounded good.
"I think I've got you all beat on the cliché factor anyway," Dean admitted as he pulled a little black box out of his pocket and opened it so that they could all see the beautiful ring inside. It was gold with a shining diamond set in the centre, "I'm taking Tracey out for dinner, and I'm going to propose."
"Wow," Harry and Neville said in unison. They had no idea their friend had been planning this, "That's a big step, Dean."
Dean shrugged. He was still smiling as he slipped the box into his pocket, "It is, but I know it's what I want. I just hope Tracey agrees with me."
"I don't think you've got anything to worry about there, to be honest," Theo said. He smiled genuinely at Dean; he and the Gryffindor had hit it off since coming back to school, "Tracey's mad about you. There's no doubt in my mind as to what her answer will be."
Dean positively grinned, "Thanks, man," he said. It was clear that no matter how sure he was that it was the right thing, Dean was still extremely excited and nervous about the day ahead.
Harry glanced at the clock on the wall with a frown, "The girls should have been here an hour ago," he pointed out. They had gotten so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the time going by.
The others all turned in their seats to look at the clock on the wall. Harry was right, the girls should have been here at 1 pm, and the clock had just hit 2.05 pm.
"They wouldn't be that late. It doesn't take them that long to get ready," Draco said warily.
"I know," Neville agreed, "Something's not right."
Harry was about to calmly suggest that they go up to the castle and have a look for the girls when the door to the pub burst open. In a flurry of snow, wind and red hair, Ginny Weasley appeared in front of them.
"Hermione," She gasped, she was clutching her chest as she tried to catch her breath, "And the others. There was shouting, and I heard her scream and then," She took a deep breath, "I ran into the alley, and they were gone, and I didn't see who did it. I'm sorry, Harry."
As Ginny got her breath back, the others jumped silently from their seats, "Show me, Ginny," Harry demanded, and she nodded.
She hurried from the pub with the others hot on her heels. They ran through Hogsmeade after Ginny to an alleyway in-between Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and a boarded-up shop. Several footprints gave hints as to what happened; it looked like three people had apparated, walked to the end of the alley, grabbed the girls and then apparated away again. Draco and Theo were cursing loudly about how they were going to kill the bastards, Dean seemed to be in shock and Harry, and Neville stood at the front of the group doing the same thing. They kept a calm head and counted the marks in the snow where the girls had been dragged.
"Seven," They said at the same time.
Harry sighed, "Hermione, Daphne, Sadie, Tracey, Hannah, Susan and Lilly," he realised.
"Why would anyone want to kidnap them?" Neville asked in a quietly dangerous voice. He ignored the chaos behind them as Ginny tried to calm Draco and Theo down.
"I don't know, but I can think of a few Death Eaters out there who have something against every person in our little group," Harry said darkly.
Before any more could be said, Ron came rushing out of the shop and skidded to a halt in the snow, "Harry! What's going on?"
"Someone has taken the girls," Harry said quietly.
"Hermione too?" Ron asked anxiously.
Harry merely nodded, and Ron walked forward, "Then I'm coming with you to find who took her."
"She's my girlfriend, Weasley," Draco said irritably.
"She's my best friend," Ron hissed.
"And some best friend, you've been!" Draco yelled as he walked down the alley towards Harry, "Who the hell would do this! I swear I'm going to kill the bastard who took them! I'm gonna-"
"Calm down!" Neville roared and silence fell immediately. Neville shouting like that was so foreign that it scared them all enough to shut them up, "We aren't going to help them by standing here shouting. We need to find out more; we need to find out who did this so we can figure out how to find them and punish them."
The silence remained for a moment until Theo asked quietly, "Do you think they are..." he trailed off, but everyone knew what he was thinking.
"Yes," Harry replied honestly, "I think they are alive. Now, can anyone think of someone who would want to do this? Someone who has a grudge against us?"
"I can," A new voice replied. They all jumped and turned around to see Percy Weasley strolling into the alley.
Nobody had even heard him apparate here, and he didn't look at all like himself. He was wearing skinny jeans, biker boots, and a leather jacket.
"I'm a bounty hunter," Percy explained as he flashed his badge, "I quit my job at the law firm earlier this year. And I just got information on two Death Eaters who apparated into this alley."
"Why were you tracking them?" Harry asked.
"They were due to appear in the Wizengamot this morning," Percy explained, "They skipped their court date, so I was trying to hunt them down."
"Well, whoever they are, they've kidnapped seven people, including Hermione!" Ginny told her brother in a frightened shout. She had tears rolling down her cheeks, and Percy put an arm around her as he said, "Don't worry, Ginny. I'll track them down, it's what I do, and they still have the trace on them. I just need to wait until they stop moving around so I can get a permanent fix. They've apparated several times within the last 10 minutes."
"Who are they?" Draco asked in an angry hiss.
Percy didn't hesitate in giving Draco this information, "Evan Rosier and Walden MacNair."
"Bastards," Draco and Theo hissed in unison.
"Percy, can we assist you on this one? The girls they took were our girlfriends, and most of us want to become Aurors anyway; we'd be of use to you," Harry suggested. He wasn't begging. He was cool and calm, and he had learned during the war that it was best to keep your head in a crisis. That was something that Neville understood, but Draco and Theo did not. Dean hadn't said a word; the others suspected he was still in shock.
Percy mulled this over for a moment, "You can help on one condition, no heroics," he looked specifically at Harry.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," Ron said with a glance at Harry.
The raven-haired boy nodded, "We just want our girlfriends back. Once we have them, you can do whatever you want with Rosier and MacNair."
Percy nodded. His arm was still around Ginny, who was shaking, "We should go," he said as he closed his eyes and frowned, "I've got a location."
"Alright," Neville said. He turned to the others, "You coming?" he asked. He was mainly directing the question at Dean. He knew the others were so angry that they would want revenge, and he knew Harry well enough to know that he was of the same stance of keeping calm and unleashing hell when it came to the duel.
Dean nodded, as did the others, and they followed Percy to the end of the alley, where it was at its darkest and quietest.
"They are hiding in plain sight, but they apparated all around Scotland in an attempt to throw me off. They're in the mountains just north of the village. I can't be certain where, but the signal is weak, so I suspect they are somewhere underground. We'll apparate to the edge of the mountains, and I should be able to get some more information from there, understood?'
Everyone nodded to confirm that they had understood Percy's brief. The redheaded man then gently told Ginny to go and inform McGonagall of what had happened before spinning on his heel and vanishing. The others did the same until only Harry, Ron and Ginny were left in the alley.
"Screw what Percy says. I'm coming with you," Ginny said firmly as she took a step forward.
"Ginny, I know you want to help. But trust me; I promise we'll find them. Please tell McGonagall, if something goes wrong up there, we need her to know what happened," Harry practically begged.
Ginny nodded. She hugged them both tightly, "Be careful," she said quietly.
Harry nodded, "I'll try," he promised as Ginny walked away up the alley.
As she did so, Harry turned to Ron, "I need to tell you something, Ron."
"Is now really the time, mate?" Ron asked shortly.
"Yes," Harry said quietly, "Lilly...she was with the girls when they were taken."
Ron's eyes darkened, but he said nothing at first. He just nodded and swallowed hard, "Come on then. We can't waste any time."
The redhead spun on his heel and vanished, and Harry followed him instantly.
When the group of seven reached the edge of the mountain, Percy warned them to be silent, and they obliged as they trudged through the deep snow after him.
It seemed like they were walking forever; they had no sense of time and nothing but an ache in their stomachs and worry pounding through their heads. They felt like they had been walking for hours when they eventually came to a halt outside of a cave.
Percy pointed to the entrance and indicated that he would take point and that the others should follow him. They all nodded; they understood what they were getting themselves into as they hurried into the cave, wands blazing.
When Hermione opened her eyes, she winced at the pain in her head. It felt like she had hit it very hard. She thought that she was blind at first because all she could see was blackness, but after a moment of squinting, she saw small rays of light shining through cracks in the wall, which meant that they were underground. As the grogginess and heaviness began to leave her body, she became more aware of her surroundings. She was sitting on the floor with her back against a hard rugged wall, and her hands and legs were magically bound together.
She squinted to the left and the right and realised that she was at the end of the row of girls. At the far end, Tracey was still unconscious, in order along the 'line' Hannah, Daphne, Lilly and Sadie were unconscious too, but Susan, who was next to Hermione, was beginning to stir.
"Where are we?" Susan asked groggily. Her voice sounded rough and harsh.
"I don't know," Hermione replied in a whisper, "But I think we're underground."
Susan tried to move and realised that she couldn't. She groaned in pain and leant against the wall, "We must have been out for a good couple of hours with the strength of the stunning charms they hit us with."
"I think you're right," Hermione said quietly. She looked around the room for any movement, but she saw none, "Did you see who grabbed us? All I know is that it was a woman."
"There were three of them, two men and a woman," Susan said, she winced, and Hermione saw why. She was nursing a large bump on her head where the stunning charm had hit her, "I recognised one of them as MacNair."
Hermione cursed under her breath, "The other is probably Rosier then. They tend to work together."
"Who the hell is the woman then?" Susan asked in an undertone as further along the 'line' the others began to stir.
"I've no idea," Hermione replied honestly, and at that point, their conversation ended as they quietly relayed their findings to the others who had just woken up.
"They took our wands," Daphne cursed as she moved around on the ground. She couldn't feel her wand in her back pocket or on the ground anywhere near her.
"I know," Tracey groaned, her head hurt just like everyone else's, "Does anyone still have their wand?"
"I do," Susan replied in a whisper, "I just can't get to it."
"Where is it that they didn't find it?" Sadie asked, her voice carried around the room, which made Hermione suspect that it was a cave.
Susan managed to smirk for a moment despite their dire situation, but nobody saw it in the din of the cave, "It's in-between my boobs. I figured nobody would find it there."
At any other time, this would merit a laugh, but not today.
"Can't you reach it with your teeth?" Daphne asked.
Susan hissed in pain and shook her head, "No, and my hands and feet are bound."
"Brilliant," Daphne said sarcastically, "Only one of us has a wand, and we have no way to reach it."
"How did we even end up like this?" Hannah asked tearfully, "We were in Dumbledore's army! We were trained to avoid something like this happening."
"Don't blame yourself, Hannah," Lilly said calmly. She, Hermione and Susan were keeping a cool head more than the others at this moment, "We didn't expect it. We were out for what was supposed to be a relaxing day in Hogsmeade right next to Hogwarts. The war is over; why would we expect Death Eaters to appear out of nowhere and grab us?"
Hannah sighed, "We should have fought back at least."
"Well, we didn't," Hermione said, "And talking about what we should or could have done isn't going to help us now. They're going to come back soon, and we need to think of a way to get out of here before they do."
But it seemed they didn't have as much time as they thought because, at that moment, three figures emerged from the darkness at the other end of the cave, and all of them were wearing satisfied smirks. There were more than a few gasps when the girls realised who the woman of the group was, but their shock didn't last for long as fear soon set in instead.
The cave system the men were making their way through seemed never-ending. Percy had said that he knew what cave they were looking for but that they had to approach via the west entrance to avoid being detected. As a result, they had spent the last hour making their way through tiny tunnels and vast damp caverns, and they had been attacked by bats twice.
The darkness looming over them didn't give them any more hope about what they would find when, or if, they found the cave. The silence in the group was foreboding; with every minute and every hour that passed, they knew there was less chance that they would find their girlfriends alive, and for that reason, they were all terrified.
Eventually, Percy came to an abrupt halt and drew them all towards him to say, "The next exit is the cave. The moment we come out of the tunnel, they will start shooting spells. Somebody has to get the girls their wands and give them back to them. That person has to be cutting them loose while the rest of us fight."
"I'll do it," Dean said quietly. It was only the second time he had spoken since they had found the alley with the footprints in it.
"Perfect," Percy whispered, "Theo, Neville, make sure you have his back. He'll be unprotected while freeing the girls. Harry, Ron, Draco, I imagine that you three are the best duellers, so take the offensive with me but remember that this isn't the DA. If you need to kill to protect yourself or another member of the group, then kill, got it?"
"Got it," Harry, Ron and Draco whispered while the other three boys merely nodded into the darkness.
"Ready?" Percy asked, finally. Everybody nodded, so Percy pointed towards the tunnel and quietly as they could, they crawled through it to the sound of groans and laughter. Someone was being tortured.
Percy emerged from the tunnel first, and the others followed. Immediately the chaos began. The person being tortured was Hermione, but the moment the Death Eaters saw the intruders, their target changed.
As Percy had said, this was the real world, not a duelling competition and Harry, Ron and Draco quickly realised that. Not long into the duel, Percy was disarmed and knocked unconscious when a spell caused a piece of the roof to crumble away. It hit him on the head with a sickening crack.
Draco and Ron worked together to duel Rosier while Harry was locked in an intensive duel with MacNair. Dean rushed over to where the girls were bound, and he grabbed their wands as he set about quickly unbinding them. He started with Hermione and made his way along the line as fast as he could. Neville and Theo rolled into position behind a few rocks and shot spells at Rosier and MacNair when a laugh from behind them put them off and made them turn quickly.
They had thought there were only two people involved in the scheme, but a figure was emerging out of a dark corner of the room, and Neville felt his stomach churn, "There were three sets of footprints," he said in a horrified whisper.
He and Theo both raised their wands, as did Susan, who had seen the figure first. All three of them shot spells towards the woman, but she had raised her wand already, and before any of their spells hit her, a bright green light sped across the room, almost in slow motion, to the corner where Dean was on his knees cutting the binds that held Tracey in place.
The others watched in horror as the curse sped for Tracey. Dean saw the light and moved in front of her. He took the full force of the curse and fell backwards amidst screams from several people in the room. They had thought it was over, that the mysterious figure was unconscious, but she raised her wand again and whispered the killing curse one more time as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. This time Susan was faster but not fast enough. She hit the woman with a killing curse that finished her off, leaving her lying on the floor with her glassy eyes staring into the darkness.
It was too late, however, because the killing curse had already left her wand. Susan screamed as she saw the curse hit an unsuspecting Tracey, who had been sobbing wretchedly over Dean's body which was getting colder by the second. For a moment, she looked shocked and then she slumped lifelessly over Dean's body amidst screams, shout and sobs.
At the front of the cave, Harry, Draco and Ron were utterly unaware of what had just taken place behind them.
All Draco knew, as he avoided a killing curse and threw one aimlessly at the Death Eater he was duelling, was that he had never felt adrenaline like this before and that it scared him how much he enjoyed it. He watched with wide eyes as the curse hit Rosier in the middle of the chest; the Death Eaters eyes widened as he fell back and lay spread eagle on the cave floor. Draco gasped and dropped his wand with the shock of what he had done.
From the corner of his eye, Harry had seen what had happened and managed to catch it just in time. MacNair had turned away from his duel with Harry when he saw his friend fall to the ground dead. He had raised his wand and was pointing it at Draco.
"Avada Ke-"
Not thinking, not knowing what made him do it, Harry screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" and sent the curse flying towards the Death Eater. MacNair had been stupid to turn his back on his opponent, and he fell to the ground before the incantation could fall from his lips. Draco spun around in shock; he saw the Death Eater dead on the ground and Harry shaking as he looked at what he had just done. Aside from Voldemort, Harry had never killed anyone.
"Harry," Ron said quietly as he moved to his best friends side, "Are you…"
"No," Harry choked out, "I'm not okay but the girls must be worse. Go check on them, Ron."
Ron nodded; he knew when to follow Harry's orders and not question him. As he turned to witness the chaos at the darkened end of the cave, Draco shakily made his way over to Harry. In a rare show of emotion, he let Harry see through his walls as he hugged his friend tightly, "Thank you," he said quietly.
Draco felt Harry shaking as he tightened his grip on his friend.
Harry tried to chuckle, but it came out as more of a sob, "That's the third time I've saved your life," he said weakly.
Draco then drew away from Harry and stared at the back of the cave in horror.
Harry frowned. He turned around and followed Draco's line of sight. He couldn't believe his eyes as he ran towards the group of people gathered around the two bodies lying on the ground; both were cold and dead with wide, scared eyes.
"H...H...How..." Harry managed to gasp out as he fell to his knees next to Daphne, who was hugging Tracey's body and sobbing so hard that her entire body was shaking.
Susan was pale, and tears were streaming down her face, "It was my fault...the woman...I saw her, but I didn't hit her fast enough, and she killed Dean. I thought she was dead, but I must not have meant the curse enough and then she killed Tracey," Susan was sobbing as hard as Daphne, "I should have been faster; it was my fault."
Harry shook his head and wrapped his arms around Daphne as he tried to pry her away from Tracey's body, "It wasn't your fault Susan."
Sadie was sitting against the wall where she had been bound; she was rocking back and forward and hitting the back of her head against the wall each time she did so, Theo was sitting by her, he was holding his hand behind her head which was already bleeding to stop her from hurting herself even more.
Hannah was crying from a distance as she stared at the two bodies in horror, Neville knew his girlfriend was upset, but at that point, he also knew that Susan needed someone more than Hannah did, so he made his way over to where she was sobbing over Tracey's body.
He took Susan's hand and led her away from the bodies to where Hannah was sitting, "Susan, it wasn't your fault," Neville soothed, he wrapped his arms around Susan and watched as Hannah looked on helplessly, she wanted to help her best friend, but she didn't know how to.
Lilly was wrapped up in Ron's arms; he was crying as he whispered to her. His eyes were shut tightly so that he didn't have to look at Dean, he had been friends with the boy for years, and he was certainly closer to him than Harry had ever been.
Lilly and Tracey had known each other since their first year, and they had been friends. Not as close as she and Daphne but close all the same, and she was taking this very hard.
Hermione hadn't known Tracey as well as she had known Daphne and Sadie, but they had been friends, and Dean had always been there for the last seven years...in the common room, at Quidditch games, even if they had never been incredibly close. She wasn't crying, but that was partially because she had been tortured more than anyone else and didn't quite understand what was happening. Her whole body ached, and she shivered violently; she was covered in gashes where she had been hit with cutting curses. Draco had scooped her into his arms, and he was currently trying to warm her up. He didn't know if she could feel his warm tears falling onto her face, but if she could, she gave no indication.
The duel that Draco had just fought had been the most horrible of his life. He had used dark magic more than once, and he had killed a man. He was selfish; he was crying for himself as much as he was crying for Tracey, who he had known since he was a child.
They didn't know how long they stayed there for. The sound of sobbing filled the room for a long time, but eventually, Neville managed to get them out of the cave. He had cried as much, if not more, as Daphne had.
Dean had been one of his best friends, he and Harry hadn't always been as close as they were now, and during the first few years when Harry was very much part of the golden trio and not much else, he had spent a good amount of time with Dean and Seamus.
All the same, Neville was still the best equipped to deal with the situation at hand as he was the only one with a clear and cool head; everyone else was in shock. He stood and was surprised by how shaky his legs were. Then he conjured up two stretchers which he moved Dean and Tracey onto. He enchanted them to hover and said in a quiet, hoarse voice, "We need to get them back to Hogwarts."
"What about them?" Hannah asked quietly. She pointed at the three dead bodies that littered the cave; the female body was Dolores Umbridge. That was a shock to them all, even those who had disliked their former teacher.
"Enervate," Harry said quietly. He pointed his wand at Percy, who opened his eyes with a groan as he felt a large bump developing on his head.
"They are all yours," Harry said. His voice was still and quiet.
"What..." Percy glanced around at the three dead bodies, "What happened?" he asked. His eyes widened when he saw Dean and Tracey's lifeless bodies on the floating stretchers.
"They attacked us. We defended ourselves, and obviously, we didn't do the job well enough," Draco explained bitterly from where Hermione was still shaking in his arms. He had tried to get her to walk, but she had screamed in pain. Draco was reasonably sure that she had a broken leg.
"We need to get them back to the castle," Harry said in that strange quiet voice that didn't sound like his own voice at all.
"I understand," Percy said solemnly, "I'll be at the castle soon to take your statements. I'm sorry, but it has to be done."
Harry only nodded, and then he followed Neville towards the exit of the cave. It didn't take long to get out of the cave when they took the front entrance, and the crisp winter air and cold snow on their skins made everyone feel more awake. It brought them back to their senses in some small way.
They hoped that they wouldn't have to walk through a busy Hogsmeade with the bodies as they reached the bottom of the mountains where the grass turned into gravel and then concrete as they emerged near the Hogs Head. The group were surprised by the silence and emptiness of the streets as they silently walked through the village. Everyone was still crying, Daphne and Sadie, particularly who were pretty much being held up by Harry and Theo.
They didn't pass a soul as they walked through the village, and it was not until they reached the gates of the castle that they came face to face with someone. McGonagall and Flitwick rushed forward; they feared the worst when they saw the stretchers. McGonagall's face turned white when she saw Dean and Tracey lying lifelessly on the stretchers. She gasped and clutched at her heart, "What happened?" she asked in a small voice as she took in Hermione and her horrendous injuries.
For the first time, Hannah spoke up about what had happened in the cave, "We were kidnapped, Professor," she began shakily.
"By Death Eaters and Dolores Umbridge," she took a deep breath and continued, "She said she wanted to torture us to scare our boyfriends so that they would abandon their plans to join the Ministry and end the corruption."
"Percy Weasley has them, Professor," Harry said, still in that odd voice, "He's a bounty hunter. He's taken them to the ministry...they're all dead."
"All...dead? Merlin...who..." McGonagall trailed off, and Draco said in a broken voice without catching McGonagall's eye, "I did...and Harry. We were duelling Rosier, and MacNair...we needed to, or they would have..."
"I killed Umbridge," Susan whispered.
"She killed Dean and Tracey, Professor," Sadie said through her tears, "Susan tried to stop her, but she didn't hit her in time."
"It's my fault they're dead," Susan sobbed. She became a little hysterical, and Hannah stepped in to hug her tightly.
McGonagall herself seemed close to tears as she ushered the group inside the gates. She told them that all students had been forced back to Hogwarts as soon as Ginny had let her know what had happened, which explained why the village had been deserted when they had walked through it.
As the group made their way through the empty, quiet school (all of the students were confined to their common rooms) towards the hospital wing, everybody realised that their life would never be the same again.
Not after what had happened today. What was supposed to have been the best day of Dean and Tracey's life had ended up being the last.
* ~ TBC ~ *