You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.

C.S. Lewis

It was nearly seven when Harry and Hermione finally got back to her apartment. Finn was already there, in the kitchen cooking dinner. His way of making it up to Hermione for not going to lunch with Emily. She thought this was a sly move all things considered.

"Where have you two been?" he asked when they came through the door. "I didn't see you come back from lunch." He took a pot off the boil and strained the pasta he had made from the hot water before placing it into a large serving dish.

"I took Harry to the Met." Hermione said giving Harry a meaningful look before hanging her purse and coat on the rack.

"I take it lunch didn't go well?" Finn asked coming out of the kitchen and kissing her cheek.

"I think we have sat through worse Harry, don't you?"

"What?" he looked a little sheepish having not been paying attention to what was going on. "Oh yes…much worse."

"I didn't think it would go as well as Em thought it would. Hope you can forgive me for not wanting a front row seat for that car crash."

"If dinner is as good as it smells than all will be forgiven." Hermione said moving into the kitchen to see what was on the stove. He really was a good cook Hermione thought when she pulled the lid off the pot of sauce that was still simmering. "I'll set the table; Harry why don't you go get changed."

She watched her friend go before pulling out the plates and bowls from the cabinet. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist, she melted into them trying to push her conversation with Harry to the back of her mind. She had forgotten that Finn would be over for dinner again, she just hoped that Harry would be able to keep it together for the rest of evening.

"So how bad was lunch?" he asked as he trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone.

"Well about as good as one could hope for all things considered. I mean she had to have known how the two of them feel about another. I know they are different people now, especially Draco, but somethings will never change, the way those two feel about each other is one of them."

"Well at least everyone came out in one piece and no blood or wands were drawn." This was one of the things that she liked about Finn; you could always count on him too look at the bright side.

Harry came back into the room and cleared his throat, the two of them pulled apart and Hermione got busy setting the table for dinner, while Finn took the remaining pot off the stove and made his way over to the table. "Hope everyone likes Italian."

Dinner turned out to be just as good as it smelled. Harry joked about Ron finding out how good of a cook Finn was. "I think Ron would try and steal him from you Hermione. You know Luna can't cook; he is always sneaking off to his parents for a good old home cooked meal from his mother."

As dinner wore on, they were both able to forget the conversation that had sitting in the Met that day. It seemed that Harry's trip had been a successful one, tomorrow they would be signing the finally deal for the exchange program in the morning. By this time next month each department would have new face among their ranks. Hermione was proud of the work she had gotten done while here, this program she hoped would be the first in a long line that would bring the country's closer than ever before. It was nice to know that Britain finally had an ally across the pond.

"Harry how did you like the Met?" Finn asked when talks of the new partnership drifted.

"It was nice, I have never been one for museums. But I know how much Hermione loves them."

"Did you know there is a portrait of a witch hanging there?" Finn asked. Hermione nearly choke on her wine at this.

"What?" she nearly spit her wine out, trying to speak.

"Come on, you have to know the legend of Helena Eason."

"Helena who?" leave it to Harry to be the calm and collected one in all of this.

"Eason, I can't believe you two don't know this. I mean she was from England herself." Finn said oblivious to the near heart attack Hermione was having.

"We are both still pretty new to this world, we didn't grow up on old wizarding folklore." Hermione said trying to regain her composure.

"The story goes like this. Once upon a time there was a wizard by the name of Henry. He was a powerful pure blood who was set to marry a young woman named Cassandra from the neighboring village. That was until he met Helena, Cassandra's lady in waiting. Helena was beautiful, and Henry couldn't help falling in love with her. The match was undesirable of course she was the daughter of a poor wizard, and a muggle woman. Her blood alone made the match impossible and then when one took her station in life into account. Henry didn't care though; on the day of his wedding he and Helena ran away together. He took her as his bride instead leaving, Cassandra heartbroken and shamed. Cassandra was a powerful witch though; she used her blood to curse them for eternity. The legend is, even though they are both long dead their souls still live on. Always so close, yet still so far away from finding true peace."

"That is some story." Harry said, now hearing it for the second time today. "Does legend say how the curse can be broken?" Hermione thought his voice held just the right amount of curiosity.

"Only the one with the Horned Serpents blood will be able to break the curse."

"The Horned Serpent? Like the Ilvermorny house?" Hermione asked.

"Don't know. Its just part of the legend. A few years ago, the painting appeared at the Met. No one knows how it got there, but we had all heard the story growing up. It is rumored that Cassandra moved here with her eventual husband at some point. But no one really knows, it is just a cautionary tale."

"To not take what isn't yours?" Harry asked.

"To be careful of who you fall in love with, I think. Cassandra loved Henry, though it was an arranged marriage they had known each other since childhood. One day someone swoops in and catch's his eye, and she is left heart broken, she acted out of grief, and in doing so she destroyed not only her life but that of two people whose only crime was falling in love. Which I think most people can all agree, sometimes you have no control over."

"That's a sad story." Harry said looking to Hermione who had been very quiet.

"Well its just legend, no one really knows if its true or not." Finn said looking over to Hermione who had the look of a deer caught in the headlights. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she seemed to snap out of it. "Yes, sorry. I can't even imagine how horrible that would be. Stuck searching for the one you loved for centuries."

With the dinner conversation coming to a crashing halt Hermione stood and started clearing the dishes from the table. Harry stood quickly and helped giving her a meaningful look. He was there in silent support, which she was grateful for. Finn who seemed unaware of the shift in Hermione's mood helped, flicking his wand in the direction of the sink where the pots already sat, they began to wash themselves all on their own. It took no time at all before the kitchen was clean and everything neatly put away in its rightful place.

Harry excused himself to the restroom to get ready for bed. "Do you think Harry will mind if I stay tonight?" he asked once they were alone.

"No, its not like he doesn't know where I go when I disappear in the middle of the night anyways." Hermione said leaning into him. She wanted any thoughts of Helena and Henry pushed to the farthest reaches of her mind. Everything Finn had just told them had changed the way she saw her future, or futures. They wouldn't be able to break this curse all on their own.

"Good." Finn said as he inhaled her rosy sent.

Her thoughts drifted to Draco and she wondered if he knew the legend. He was friends with Finn after all. It was a reasonable conclusion to think that he did. If he did why had he not told her? When Harry came out of the bathroom, they both wished him a goodnight before retiring into her room, with the door firmly closed behind them. That night she allowed him to kiss all the bad thoughts and memories away.

Hermione wasn't sure when she would be able to see Draco again and confront him about what he knew and didn't know about the legend of Helena and Henry. He had back to back out of town meetings with various hospitals and with Ginny's arrival it made it impossible for her to slip way. Finn helped keep the Potter's busy over the weekend, he introduced them Quodpot by taking them all to a game. Hermione was horrified, the Potter's loved it.

The two couples took a stroll down Fifth Ave, Ginny had been especially excited to see all the Muggle designers that Hermione had always referred too. Harry had a hell of time pulling her away from the window displays at Tiffany's, which made Finn and Hermione double over in laughter. Saturday afternoon they headed over to Main Street, Hermione wanted to explore more of the street and wanted to make sure Harry and Ginny got to see it before they headed back to London.

It was decided they would enjoy dinner on Main Street at the French Bistro that was close to the entrance from the No-Maj's world. Hermione had seen it on her first two excursions down Main Street, and Finn had raved about the food. With temperatures dropping as the sunset they asked to be inside in the warmth, but immediately regretted the choice when they saw who was already seated inside.

Not two seconds after they stepped in the door, did Hermione see Emily Chamberlin standing and waving to them from their table. Draco beside her looked grumpy and annoyed. The look on Harry's face wasn't much different, and Ginny who had no clue as to what was really going on here in the States was shocked to see Draco 'Ferret' Malfoy sitting with the woman she clearly knew was Vice President. "Looks like you get a front row seats to the car crash, after all." Hermione said turning to whisper in Finn's ear. He groaned "Do you think, it will just be a hello, how are you. Or is she going to make us sit with them."

"Oh, we will be sitting with them, that is for sure." Finn heard Harry groan, causing him to crack a smile.

Sure, enough Emily was already ushering the waitstaff to add another table so the four newcomers would be able to sit with them. Only Emily looked happy about this.

"You must be Ginny." Emily said with a big smile once they were all seated. "Hermione has told me so much about you."

"That would be me." Ginny said while she eyed Draco who had an arm slung over the back of Emily's chair.

"It is such a pleasure to meet you. I saw you on the cover of Draco's Quidditch Weekly last month. You play for the Harley Head Harpies."

"Going on three years now." Ginny said with a huge smile.

"What's it like playing professionally? I have always been a big fan of the sport, even though it isn't as popular here in the states as it is overseas."

"It's a dream job for sure. I grew up playing the game with my older brother's. It's kind of nice being the only one of the seven kids to play it in the big leagues. Charlie could have if he had wanted too but he preferred dragons."

"Well you were always the best of the bunch Red." Draco said in his deep draw.

Ginny gave him a questioning look before saying "Thanks ferret I think."

"Ferret?" Emily and Finn asked at the same time looking between all the Hogwarts alum.

For the first time since they had entered the restaurant Harry smiled, as he told the story about the time the imposter Mad Eye Moody had turned Draco Malfoy into a bouncing ferret. Emily and Finn both laughed hysterically, as they imagined the always well put together Draco bouncing around as a ferret. The story was what defiantly broke the ice, dinner seemed to go a lot smoother than their disastrous lunch. Even Draco who had joined in on the conversation, as oppose to letting Emily take the lead. Hermione wondered what their younger selves would have made of it, if they could see them all sitting around the table in what could only be described as peace.

Hermione excused herself halfway through dinner to use the restroom, needing to escape for a moment to catch her breath. Her thoughts were straying to the new information Finn had shared with her and Harry. She still couldn't help but wonder if Draco had known and was keeping it from her. The thought that he might be hurt. She thought they had come a long way, and yet maybe they hadn't. She splashed cold water on her face trying to push it all to the side so she at the very least could get through this dinner, and the rest of Harry and Ginny's trip. She could worry about the rest of it Monday once they were gone, and everything was back to her new normal.

When she opened the door to return to the table strong arms were pushing her back into the lady's restroom. Looking up she saw Draco standing in front of her waving his hand towards the knob, locking it with a wandless spell.

"You have been silent most of the night." He said leaning against the now locked door.

"My mind has been elsewhere." She said not giving much away.

"If I am not mistaken, you told Potter. I can tell by the way he has been eyeing me all night." He didn't sound mad, just curious. It had always been an unspoken rule of theirs never to tell anyone who they really were.

"He could see the way you were looking at me at lunch. I couldn't lie to him."

"Does Red know?" this was a reasonable question.

"No." it was something about the way he just casually leaned against the door without a care in the world that irked her. "Do you know about the legend the American's tell?" the look of surprise that crossed his features before the mask of indifference fell back into place told her what she had already suspected. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I am not even sure if its true. I mean, we have lived four hundred years and have never heard it."

"We have never lived here." She countered.

"I didn't want to worry you. Beside its not like you knowing changes anything."

"It changes everything Draco. Simply denying who we are isn't going to break the curse. Someone must break it for us. Someone out there has the power to release us from it." Something crossed his face, that she couldn't put her finger on. And then it all clicked into place. The one with the blood of the Horned Serpent. "You think you know who it is."

"Yes." He said pushing off from the door and coming to stand directly in front of her. He pushed the stray curl that had fallen from her bun, so it now rested behind her ear. "I think you do too." He looked deep into her eyes searching for something she wasn't sure he would find.

"Emily." She said softly. It would make sense, if she were to be a descendant of Cassandra's. It would be rather poetic. "Is that why?" she couldn't bring herself to ask the question that was burning at the tip of her tongue.

"No, I had already been with Emily for months, and had already asked her to marry me before I knew of the legend the American's tell of the two poor souls. It wasn't till the portrait appeared did I learn from Finn about it. Apparently, there is a wizard who works at the Met, his soul purpose is to make sure that no magical artifact falls into the hands of the No-Maj's. It was the talk of the town when the portrait showed up for viewing."

"Maybe we are playing with fire."

A look of fear crossed through the deep grey depths of his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"We are dangerously close to the line." He took a step back from her and put his hands in his pockets.

"I don't plan on changing my mind about her, and I don't plan on trying to change yours. We are who we are, but life is a little more bearable with you in it. You knowing doesn't change anything. I still love her, it's fitting don't you think. I would fall for the one person who could free us from this."

"We should get back." Hermione said tearing her gaze from him. "I'll go first." He didn't say anything just let her move to the door which she unlocked with another wandless spell before slipping out. The whole thing was bittersweet, it was so very poetic that after all these years he would end up married to the great many times over granddaughter of Cassandra Thomas the woman they had taken everything from, and in return she had taken their happiness.

Authors Notes: Thanks for all the love guys, it really means a lot. Hope you guys liked this chapter, we started to learn a little more about this curse that has our favorite couple so entangled. If you feel so moved leave me a comment and tell me what you think of what was just reveled. Till next week guys!