PART 2
Ch. 13- As the summer began.
I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER
The Sun shone brightly above the forest behind Malfoy Manor. In the distance, Draco could see his mother's roses growing magically along the old stone of their family home. From where he stood, he would not be seen until he took flight on his broom. He had been home for a few weeks, for the Summer holiday. He sat with his back against the old tree, his broom sitting beside him as he waited for his friends to arrive. Draco crumbled the piece of paper and incinerated it with his wand. Frustrated and groaning he looked down at the page again.
Hermione,
He stared at the page, unable to think of what to write to her, unable to come up with anything to say to her. Her letter felt heavy in his pocket. He didn't need to see it to know what it said, he had read and reread the letter he found in his pocket after the Hogwarts Express. Most of the letter frustrated him, but it was his own fault. Hermione was right, he knew she was. He had suggested it to her himself, although his will power to stay away from her crumbled in their last days. There was something about the finality of their relationship that made Draco want to save it. But alas, he knew they could not be together. Draco now stared from his paper in front of him to the Daily Prophet beside him. It wasn't front page worthy stories undermining Hogwarts Headmaster, but if you read the entire paper, as Draco often did to pass the time, you would see it. They were subtly establishing a pattern, questioning his sanity and intentions. Potter too, and although their jokes would have made him laugh before, now Draco saw them for what they were. A cover up. The ministry did not want to believe, what he himself only knew because of who his father was. The Dark Lord had returned. He didn't know what that would mean for him, a pure blood wizard, from a noble family, but he did know what it would mean for someone like Hermione. Hermione, brilliant witch that she was, was still a muggle born. The way he felt about her had altered him. He looked back down at the page. The letter feeling heavier with every passing second. Hermione had told him that they could not be together, no matter how much she loved him. And that one part, made his heartbeat faster, even now. Hermione loved him as he loved her. He knew that he would never be the same. He had returned home a new person, heartbroken and terrified of the future, but a new person none the less. Draco had flinched when his father had called someone a Mud blood, a word that had not bothered him before his relationship. The more his father spoke about a new world order, the sicker Draco felt. No, Draco was not the same person who had left his home last summer, but that fact had not changed anything. He was still part of this family. And although he disagreed with them, he loved his parents. He looked back down at the page.
Hermione,
I understand, believe me, I do.
Draco felt terrified of what the Dark Lord's return meant for the girl he loved. She was in more danger than any other Muggle born in the wizarding world, simply because of who she was friends with. Hermione was best friends with Harry Potter. The Dark Lord had marked Potter for death, since the moment he had returned and Hermione choosing to stand with him, would certainly put her in danger. The thought had plagued his every thought and every dream became a nightmare. It was always the same ending. Hermione being tortured and then the green spark erupting from a wand and ending her life. Draco always too late to stop it. The idea made his heart race and his palms sweat. He could feel the anxiety creeping in. He did not know how to protect her, without putting her in more danger because of their association. Draco closed his eyes and laid his head back against the tree.
His eyes snapped open, and his hand wrapped around his wand in his pocket, when he heard rustling coming from the direction of his home. His mother came through the trees, into the small clearing where he sat. He stood up abruptly, shoving the page and quill back into his robes. She smiled at him and called out behind her.
"I've found him." His mother said clearly. Draco peered around her and could see his father leading a small procession towards him. He looked at her confused. He had been waiting for his friends. "Your father has guests." She whispered to him. He nodded and stood taller, knowing his role as representative in his family. Another job for the Heir of Malfoy family.
"Ah, there you are Draco." His father said to him when he saw him. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and turned to the approaching men. "Here he is Avery, what did I tell you? Practically a man." He said proudly and Draco smiled. Draco recognized the man; he had gone to school with his parents and was coming around often. Draco could only assume Avery, like his father, was a death eater.
"That he is, a young image of yourself, Lucious." The man said. "How are you Draco? Making the Slytherin Name proud?" He asked smiling. Draco nodded and cleared his throat.
"I'm well, sir." Draco shook the man's hand, and his mother smiled wryly. Draco could see an older man, reaching them, followed by a girl about his age. He recognized the man immediately through previous social engagements. "It's good to see you Mr. Avery." Draco said, shaking the man's hand when he arrived. The man's cane resembled his father's own cane. They both bore the crest of their family.
"Fine young man, Lucious." Mr. Avery turned back towards the girl beside him. "Let me introduce you to my Granddaughter." The girl stood timidly beside her grandfather. Draco noticed how her alabaster skin almost shone in the dim cover of the trees. Her hair was very long and dark. She wore it tied at the nape of her neck and poured over her right shoulder. It ended in small curl ringlets. Her eyes looked up at him and they resembled his own grey eyes. "Primrose." Mr. Avery spoke, and the girl smiled shyly at Draco.
"It's very nice to meet you." She spoke in a soft and calm voice. She stood quietly again beside her grandfather.
"My niece was just admiring the grounds, Draco." Avery said from beside his father.
"Yes, they are lovely. I've never seen anything quite so grand." She said, but she frowned at herself and continued. "Until your estate, Grandfather." She corrected and the man nodded, a cold look on his face.
"Both have been in our families for generations." Draco's mother interrupted from beside him.
"Draco, perhaps you can entertain Primrose and show her the rest of the grounds." Draco heard his father say. It sounded like a request; however, Draco could hear the ring of obligation in his voice.
"Of course, I will be happy to." Draco said. "Should I wait for my friends to arrive first?" He asked his father.
"I sent word to your friends dear. They will be joining us for supper with their families instead." His mother said from beside him. "It will give Primrose a chance to meet other people her age." Draco nodded. He thought he knew what this was by the tone in her voice. Primrose appeared to be exactly the type of girl his family would approve of. He thought maybe his mother was taking matters into his own hands.
"Wonderful." Draco said, looking at Primrose. Draco stood beside the girl, who inched away from her Grandfather slightly.
"Brilliant, shall we go attend to some business." Mr. Avery told them.
"Yes, of course father." Avery told him and they started walking back up the uneven path. "Have fun." He called out to them. Draco's father followed close behind and only his mother remained.
"I will let you know when we are ready for dinner." She spoke. Draco thought he understood the double meaning. Perhaps don't come inside until she says. Draco nodded and she too left. Draco watched them leave and took in a deep breath, preparing himself to entertain.
"What would you like to see first, Primrose?" He asked, but the girl was watching his mother leaving. When she was far enough away, the girl's tense stance relaxed.
"Please, call me Rose." She said and Draco heard the subtle differences in her speech. "I don't know why my mum gave me such an uptight name. Primrose Lily Avery." She smiled.
"Rose, then." He corrected and she nodded. "What would you like to see?" He asked.
"You don't have to entertain me. My family is very secretive, they just wanted me out of the way so they could speak freely." She said but then her face changed again. She frowned at herself. "What I mean is I'm sure the business they have to discuss is not my concern and they didn't want me to be bored." She said and moved towards the tree Draco was sitting at previously. Her eyes scanned his broom leaning against the tree.
"Do you ride?" He asked and she nearly snorted.
"No, can't say that I do." She told him as her fingers brushed the wood. "I've never learned." She told him.
"They don't offer flying classes at your school?" She didn't look at him as she spoke, just continued to admire the broom.
"I've never attended school." She said and Draco stared at her confused.
"Never?" He asked her. Draco was amazed by this information. Although it shouldn't surprise him. Some families didn't trust their children to be taught alongside Muggle born wizards, they preferred to isolate them. The Avery family seemed just as that sort of family.
"No, my Mum taught me from home. We lived just outside of Stirling." She said, looking back at Draco sadly.
"Are you here visiting with your mother?" He asked her. He wondered. He had never heard of the girl, never previously met her. His family was close to the Avery family. They often attended the same social events, but he had never met this girl.
"No." She said, and Draco saw her smile falter. "My Mum passed a few weeks ago." She spoke softly.
"I'm Sorry." He told her and she nodded. "Are you going to live with your family?" An odd smile played across her face.
"My family. I didn't even know I had other family, until she died. It's always been just me and her." She told Draco, who felt sorry for the girl.
"What about your father?" He asked her. She shrugged.
"I never knew my father. My Mum didn't like to talk about him." She said wiping a tear running down her cheek. "I thought I knew her." She whispered, but Draco wasn't sure it was meant for him. "I'll be staying with them, until my uncle can find my father."
"Do they know who your father is?" Draco asked. The question shouldn't have been asked, he didn't know this girl and their conversation was too deep already. But there was something familiar about her, something about her that made him feel he could trust her.
"Another secret they are keeping from me." Her face fell as soon as the words escaped her mouth. "What I meant to say was that my Uncle doesn't want to give me false hope, he doesn't want to share that particular piece of information until he finds him." She corrected. Draco wondered why she felt the need to correct herself. Was she afraid he would tell the others what she said?
"Perhaps." Was all Draco could say to her. She edged away from him and back to the broom. She wiped her face and a forced smile spread across her face.
"Does it go fast?" She asked him and Draco looked at her confused. "Your broom?" She asked, clearly changing the subject.
"Pretty fast." He told her. Draco looked at her, the longing look in her eye. "Would you like to go up for a ride?" He asked her and her face brightened.
"Yes." She said now sounding excited. "If you don't mind." She said softer and Draco laughed. He mounted the broom and lifted off the ground for a moment. She took his waiting hand and slung her leg over the other side. Draco took off and she held onto him tightly, all the while laughing. When they were over the trees she gasped.
"What do you think?" He circled slowly above.
"It's brilliant." He shot in every direction, showing her tricks and diving into the woods, lifting at the last moment. She laughed and screamed and before he knew it, Draco had distracted himself from his worries. He was having fun too. After about an hour, they flew slowly circling the grounds.
"It's exactly like I always thought." She muttered.
"What is?" He asked her.
"Flying." She smiled. "It's like being free. This is what I think of when I think of being free." She pointed down at the house, where they could see the others gathering in the study. "Away from everything and everyone." She spoke.
"I know you don't know them, but they're your family." He told her and she shook her head.
"My mother was my family. The only family I've ever known. They are strangers and I'm an obligation they don't want." She told him. The second it left her lips, the regret spread across her face. "I didn't mean it like that." She sounded panicked. "Please don't tell them what I've said." She cried, but Draco shook his head and started descending downward. He helped her off the broom and they landed not too far from where they began. Draco dismounted. "Please you don't understand." She spoke. Draco was going to tell her that she had nothing to worry about, he of all people understood what it was to keep a secret from his family, but then her hair started to change color and he froze watching it.
Her dark black, long hair started changing lighter and lighter until it was white, her eyes changed through all the colors. Draco watched in amazement. She stopped talking when she realized what he was watching and a new panic set in. She turned away from him and closed her eyes.
"Stop it. Stop it." She whispered to herself. Draco looked at the broken girl. She was so full of grief and pain and worry, he just felt sorry for her.
"It's alright." He told her turning her back to him. "I won't say anything." He spoke. Draco watched her. "I promise." She opened her eyes slowly and they returned to grey. Her hair darkened a few seconds later. "That's pretty rare." He said and she shrugged.
"I can't control it. Grandfather doesn't like it." She spoke. "I didn't mean to speak ill of my family. I don't want to sound ungrateful. I don't know what I would have done without them now." She explained.
"It's alright." He spoke. "It can't be easy living with people you don't know, family or not." He offered. She nodded.
"My mum should have told me about them. I don't know why she didn't." She said sadly.
"Maybe she wanted to protect you." Draco thought about his own familiar obligations and understood.
"Protect me from what?" Draco shrugged, but in the same instance he remembered where he knew her from. Her mother's death had been in the Daily Prophet. A small article about the return of the long-lost Avery Heir. He looked at her now.
"Being a part of this sort of family is not easy, Rose." He remembered his own predicament. "It comes with family obligation and sacrifice. You are expected to do and be a certain way. Maybe your mother just wanted to protect you from that. You are the Heir of Avery. Your uncle has no children, it's up to you to continue your family line. You will inherit it all." She scoffed and he stared at her.
"Look Draco, I don't really know you, but there's no way that's happening." She told him. "My uncle can barely look at me and my grandfather keeps calling me Amelia, my mother's name. When he realizes I'm not her, he gives me a disgusted look. I don't know if it's family obligation or if they need something from me, but they definitely don't want me here to inherit anything." She spoke.
"I'm sure that's not true." He told her, but as he said the words, he wasn't sure they were true.
"I am here, because I have nowhere to go." She said and he looked at her. "I don't know what they want from me, but I know they don't want me here." She said, looking straight into his eyes, peering into him. "I just hope that they find my father before they get tired of me and leave me to fend for myself." She told him. Draco stared at the girl. He had only just met her, but he had learned more about her in their short time, than he had in all his years at Hogwarts with his friends. He felt sorry for the poor girl, who had lost her mother. The girl who felt lonely and unsure of herself. The girl who was different but pretended to be something she wasn't so that she could please other people. He wanted to protect her, he wanted to help her. He wasn't sure why. His gut and heart were telling him to save this girl he wasn't sure why. She started pacing, her hair starting to lighten again.
"Wait." She stopped looking at him. "Did your mother tell you anything about your father?" Rose looked down at the ground. The sun had started to set, and the surrounding forest started to look darker.
"Not really. I think she loved him very much. I could see that it pained her to speak about him, but when I was younger, I would pester her until she would tell me something." She smiled, clearly picturing it in her mind. "They met at school, while they were both at Hogwarts. I was born the year after my mother graduated." Draco nodded. "She said that he was handsome and brilliant and a bit of a troublemaker."
"Anything else?" He asked her.
"Not that I can recall. It was a long time ago, and like I said, it hurt her to speak about him." She said and he nodded. He understood that all too well.
"There's got to be someone besides your uncle who knows who he is." Draco muttered. Draco heard his mother's voice growing in the distance, calling them inside. "We'd better go inside." They turned in the direction of the house and she walked quietly alongside him.
"Wait." She stood up and dusted herself off, fixing her hair. "Is everything back to normal." He looked at her hair, perfectly normal and her grey eyes too. He nodded. "Good." She walked beside him, her eyes on the path. "Thank you." She said in almost a whisper, as the house came into view.
"For what?" He asked her.
"For listening, I haven't been able to feel like myself since my mum passed." She muttered. Draco smiled. When his mother was close enough to hear, Rose's demeanor changed again. She became the timid girl she was when she arrived. She stood to the right of her uncle, slightly out of sight.
"Did you have a nice time, Primrose?" Draco's mother asked.
"Oh, yes. It was quite nice." She said softly and Draco almost laughed at her expertise to become a different person.
"Very, you have a lovely granddaughter sir." Draco said and the old man nodded.
"Thank you. Amelia is a brilliant girl." He said and her uncle looked down at his father sadly. No one corrected him and the old man did not notice. His father appeared from inside.
"Ah yes. Wonderful. Your friends will be here soon, along with their families. Why don't you go wash up? We will keep Ms. Avery company, while you're gone." He said and Draco excused himself and left. As he turned up the stairs, he turned back and saw Rose smiling widely at him. The idea came to him in an instant. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about it earlier. He pulled from his robe pocket the paper and the Quill and began writing at his desk.
Hermione,
I understand, believe me I do. This letter is not to pressure your decision in any way. But the way we left things is not the way I want to say goodbye. Hermione, you are brilliant and beautiful and astounding. There has never been anyone quite like you. It is because I love you, that I will do as you ask and keep my distance. I will not seek you out or put you in harm's way. But if I can leave you with one final token. A memory of our time together. I hope you can find it in your heart to accept it.
Draco.
No, he didn't know why the idea had suddenly come to him, but it was as clear as day. Draco pulled from the drawer of his desk a small leather pouch and poured the contents out. Now lying a top of his desk was a silver necklace. There was nothing extravagant about this necklace. He had purchased it, before leaving school last year from Hogsmeade. He had bewitched the small snowflake charm to glow at its center as the orbs they had made during their time together last year. The charmed glowed steadily to the rhythm of his pulse. Draco smiled and pulled out a book as well. Protective charms and talismans. Draco skimmed through the pages until the passage he read was just as he had suspected. The magic would not be easy, but he had to try.
Draco closed the book, the necklace holding his place and slid it back into his drawer. This was how he was going to protect Hermione. He smiled at himself, as he changed and fixed his hair. He would keep her safe and he would do so, by not putting her in more danger. He smiled again. His breath did not catch in his chest, for the first time, since leaving her at the end of term, Draco had hope.