Disclosure Hp belongs to Jkr. The storyline, new character development, new events, and new characters are my intellectual property. Glorioux
Old Dreams Come True
It was Hermione, with the two bodyguards.
'"Please come in," he invited her into a smaller room in the library.
Her bodyguards sniffed the air and were making aggressive sounds. Draco was sure that they turned bigger. Who were these people?
"Sorry," she said, "they sense my pain in this house, from you know when."
Draco paled, "So sorry, I had the main room closed since I saw you last, and ordered to destroy all the rooms that housed my crazy aunt and her cohorts."
"Wait outside," Hermione ordered.
"Sorry, my Lady, cannot do, your fathers orders were specific."
"You work for me, stay out."
Draco noticed a different demeanor, regal he would say.
They gave up, and Hermione walked inside.
A small golden owl landed on her shoulder, and to Draco's surprise, caressed her face with a wing. Then she pecked Hermione's ear softly.
She grinned, and his heart stopped for a second. Old feelings came back on like a stampede of wild horses. They had been at the surface of the meeting days ago. To his dismay, he had erotic dreams about her, daily; wet dreams every night. He couldn't stop thinking about her.
Tory was far away, the weight of her betrayal weighed heavily. Draco had found out her daybook; Tory wrote that Harry was one of several lovers.
It seemed that Pansy and Tory had a penchant for anyone who ever has loved or liked Hermione, or was a dear friend to her. Ron declined them; he wasn't game. Actually, all the Weasley men turned her down; it angered her. She had tried to seduce each one of them more than once. He had made a lot of errors in judgment.
The worse was that Tory had never loved him, she wanted the name and the fortune, nothing else. And she was in love with Harry and hoped he would ask her to marry him.
The second owl flew from Draco's shoulder to Hermione's, and Draco saw something he never had before. The owls were combing her long hair with their beaks, and they were quite good. Hermione was laughing, delighted. The air felt lighter, the guards outside grinned.
Waves of positive, happy energy, untainted with sadness, reached them, and also him. It was a heady feeling, something different, no wonder she kept Harry Potter sane. Who was Hermione? He remembered Scorpio saying Rose made him happy beyond words. Who were Hermione's people?
"I didn't know they were hair-owls," Hermione laughed when they started braiding her hair, an elaborate French braid.
"Me neither. I had the hair-owls all my life; Hera, Vera, be careful. I hope they are not bothering you." Draco looked amused at the fey owls' antics. With their magic, they were adorning the braids with tiny stones.
She shook her head, "I am not familiar with them; who are they."
The large white owl, wearing a gold medallion, moved to perch set in the back of the couch, Draco heard his voice, "I am under a contract that expires 30 days after your father's demise. I am going with my lady afterward. It will be an honor." Draco sighed.
He told her their story and added they liked nobody but him, until now. Scorpio had tried unsuccessfully to attract them. Astoria was their enemy, they wouldn't tolerate her; moreover, she was afraid of them. They used to like his grandfather before him.
Before they sat, the second surprise came. The giant wolfhounds stood and walked to Hermione. They stood in front of her and pushed her hands. They wanted to be pet; their tails were wagging.
"And who are these handsome gentlemen," she patted and scratched them, talking all kind of nonsense. They seemed to be in dog heaven and licked her hands gently. Draco was fascinated. The air had changed; the sadness seemed gone.
"They are Brutus and Negus. Neither one of them has ever liked anyone else, nobody outside of Scorpio, myself, and my father. The dogs were my father's, but this is a first-ever."
"It is I, other creatures like me, it is on our nature," Vera hooted, agreeing. When Draco called them, they looked away. L' Roy just looked at Draco haughtily; at least he wasn't mournful anymore.
"I hope you are not planning to take my only companions away," he teased.
The owls hooted twice, he understood, she stayed, or they were leaving. He worried, the owls were hundreds of years old. They had been in the Malfoy family for centuries, but the story was that they came waiting for someone; some said they were lost and came to wait, probably for her. During the Dark Lord stay, they had gone to the Malfoy Island, they left with the brothers and much of their magical staff.
As for L'Roy, a Lord from the dark realms, not really an owl, well, he could try to sway him. "No you cannot, any of my brethren would want to be in my place. You should be on your knees, you don't deserve her. When my brethren know about her, they will be at her door, begging. She is pure joy. The best I felt in my long life. You cannot buy this feeling."
Hermione was thoughtful, "Maybe, I could invite one as my guest. I feel better already." Both hooted at the same time.
Draco could hear the guards laughing, one told the other, "He doesn't know what comes next; no pet is safe." Draco suspected that much.
"We will talk about it." He saw the advantage, an excuse to be close to her. Right then, she looked like a queen surrounded by her magical court. Even Magnolia, the old Kneazle, his father's ornery feline, jumped on the already crowded couch, to sit stuck to Hermione. He took a photography maker and shot three times. She looked like a Fae Queen surrounded by her fairy court.
Drexel came in, sir, "Please..." He stopped when he saw Hermione; he went on a knee and lowered his head, "My Lady, at your service."
Drexel uncovered his head, now Draco was baffled, Drexel and his two brothers never took off their hats. Draco only saw him without once, defending him. They were not human, their hair was soft like goats hair, they had short horns, and their legs could turn into goat's legs.
They were called mountain gargoyles because, during a battle, their skin would turn to stone, and they would turn into giants; they were armies of one. They liked to live in steep mountains, hence the legs. Drexel and his brethren resided in Malfoy Island. The island located in an in-between, not quite in this world. They had come hundreds of years ago, maybe thousands. There were only males of their kind, not many. Their females and their world had been destroyed by the Dark hordes.
Hermione touched his shoulder, "Please stand up, there is no need for this."
Drexel raised his head, "My brothers and I are your servants. We will avenge your child."
Hermione nodded, "Then be it, thanks." She was bloodthirsty. "I will be grateful, the guilty should pay with their lives."
"From now on, one of us will be with you at all times." Drexel didn't ask.
Draco nodded, he wanted her safe. He would ask later, but why hadn't this happen in 1998?
It was as if she could read his mind. "At the time, I didn't know who I was. It is irrelevant."
Draco understood she was able to hear his thoughts or some at least.
Hermione evaluated Draco. He was Lucius, and Sirius, as well. A Malfoy and a Black, his hair had definite waves. He was a beautiful male. She had seen him from far away, when he came to the MoM, she stayed away. She disliked the Malfoy. But since the day he came to see her, something had triggered inside; he was compatible and then some. Her mother was concerned since her parents wanted to leave. Rose's loss weighed heavily on everyone.
Hermione had other pressures, the twin brothers wanted a commitment. The twin brothers came from an underworld. Like many others like them, they tried to control the gates between worlds, hence an on-going war. They accepted peace if Hermione would marry them. They worried that Hermione would be the next to be killed and wanted to take her away.
The peace was tenuous. At present, the twins demanded an allegiance, they have been behind her mother's abduction, and something had gone wrong. They took her mother to force them to turn Hermione to them. They wanted what Hermione could give them happiness.
They knew the answer but didn't like it.
"Hi, may I call you Draco?" She asked- when they were alone. Before he could answer, tea arrived. He had ordered a tea service that was brought by four elves. Draco raised his eyebrow, "What is this, how many need to help?"
"We wants to see the Miss Grangy, the bestess for elves. We is all happiest she be here." Young Pretzel announced, a little pushy. Or in other words, Hermione was a folk heroine, their heroine.
Draco was annoyed when they served the tea and stayed on. All their staff came, seven elves to serve tea, the others came to bring different things. They all stood near, staring at Hermione, not even blinking, smiling, not sad after all the gloom.
"Go on now."
"We waits, maybe you needs something. We is waiting on Miss Grangy. It is polite, we stay." Axel, usually so obedient, announced forcefully. He didn't sound obedient at all.
"No, you don't stay. Leave right now, I will call you, out," Draco huffed, they were always obedient.
She covered her mouth and giggled, Draco smiled back. This was the best he had felt since that horrible day. He stared and pointed the finger at the elves, and they left mumbling and grumbling of his unfairness, blocking them from 'The Grangy.' How they were less sad and so on, reminding they also had feelings, and he was being selfish. Hermione chuckled the entire time. They pop away one by one, slowly, but not quietly, when the elves were gone, he answered.
"Ah, yes, call me Draco, of course, Hermione?" The name sounded good.
"Ah, hmm, call me Ermi, or Mimi, either, my name for friends. It is closer to my real name."
His heart fluttered.
"Ermi, so why are you here? Not that I mind, come whenever you want, unless you want to steal my friends, and then, I might object." He realized that he was flirting.
"Two things, first, my brother, Teddy, and my son didn't find any traces of either Rose or your son. Second, err, there were traces of a Potter-Greengrass baby." She blushed, "traces of your father were also gone."
Draco's face registered zero surprises, "Continue, I already knew, your friend, err, well, stay away from him." He meant Harry, and she knew it.
Hermione nodded, "No need to say it. I know it."
"How is that there are no traces of them. I had them analyzed and came to the same conclusion. How? I saw them all dead."
"No idea, we are looking into it, I will confess that it makes me hopeful, or worried. Although you would have found out what I am about to say, I want an unbreakable."
"There is no need," he pulled out his wand and a small knife before she could object, he pricked his finger and pointed the wand. "From now on, what you tell me stays with us unless you wish otherwise."
A thin rope appeared and went around both their wrists. Draco showed her his finger; he had a small red freckle.
"Malfoy magic," Draco was unapologetic.
She didn't tell him that her views about blood 'magic' had radically changed, and all was well.
Hermione stood up. In her place, someone else stood, it was her, yet it wasn't. Draco couldn't tell her skin color, it made Hermione blend with the environment. Her eyes were nearly colorless, her hair the color of autumn foliage and rather wild; she was narrower. It lasted for a few seconds. She took his breath away.
"Before you ask. I didn't find out that I was different until after the battle; my grandparents, both sets, came and revealed it in a fit of anger. They wanted to take me away. It was an awful fight; my parents were mad at me for lying so much. If Dumbledore were alive at the time, he wouldn't have been for long. About your aunt, they wanted to go back in the past and tear her apart, limb by limb. My parents were furious for a while, but the worst punishment was losing my freedom, guards from thereon. For now let's say, I am not human, or not much, probably 'borrowed.'"
He was frozen in place, but asked, "Russia?"
"In a way, I will explain later. Let's say a place accessible thru Russia. We think that someone took our children's bodies; for what reason, we don't know. But we hope that they are alive somewhere. Though I am not sure what happened to your father. There are mixed opinions, maybe he wasn't even there. We are not certain."
Tears rolled down his cheeks, "I hope that is true, I suppose. About my good son, he hated what my father stood for. I do hope; how can we find out? My father was there, I saw his body, mangled, bleeding. Who knows. Scorpio was the best of us since he was a toddler, he was different. He saw Rose when he was four at Diagon Alley, you weren't there. It was at Fortescue, when he saw her, he looked at me and said, "my dolly." I grinned and recently reminded him of that day. You know what he said? He said that he remembered."
Hermione and Draco both cried quietly for a few minutes. He was itching to tell her about the first time he saw her during the train ride. He also thought that she was a tiny doll, he remembered thinking, 'my dolly.' Like Scorpio, he never forgot 'his dolly.'
"We need to work together, my parents think that I should stay here with my son, brother, and Teddy. And of course some of my guards. I am taking a sabbatical from my work at the MoM.
"Teddy, as in Teddy Lupin?"
"Yes, he works for my father, he, my son and my brother have started a new business, they are more like brothers. Your aunt lives in our land. She has for a while. Did you know that your mother refused to see her? She denied her of her only family?"
"I know," he was ashamed.
"Your aunt is married to one in our staff, to someone like me. You should visit her sometime. She is changed, you might be surprised, you have a cousin, a young one."
Hermione realized that Draco was dressed in a strange get-up. An open robe, worn over leather trousers, soft boots, and a tunic-like theirs with unusual9 stitching. Her mother was right, it had to be. How strange not to have known before.
"Your clothes, they are different."
"Yes, they are Malfoy traditional house clothes. My father didn't like them, but my grandfather did, Scorpio also liked them."
She would be living under his roof. It was like a good dream, he used to dream about it knowing that it would never happen.
Of course, it sounded beautiful.
Before
"Here try this," he didn't know what he was doing, but he moved to next to her and fed her a small pastry.
Hermione opened her mouth and took it from his hand, letting his fingers linger on her lips for a second, and he turned red again, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend."
"No offense." His proximity was making her feel odd, out sorts. She remembered when she found him hiding at Hogwarts; she felt the same, affinity, really desire. She hadn't welcomed it then.
"Well, that is out the way, the next. It is a difficult subject, and I decided it is best if I tell you." She looked stressed.
"Between my people, females are highly revered. They are the life makers. My parents are important for their people, and with Rose gone, my parents are worried. You see, my mother was captured after my brother was born and cannot have more children; she was injured...she was taken once before by those old hopefuls. She has been taken four times." She paused.
"Normally we have children every 17-20 years with our husbands, and I guess that is the reason Hugo came soon after Rose. She was Harry's daughter, as to the how, who knows, I wasn't with him for at least three years before I was pregnant with Rose, I think that he polyjuiced as Ron. That would be a crime."
Draco felt murderous, "Maybe he was left with a taint."
Hermione nodded, "We think so; that wasn't him before, but it is his call; he is not seeking help."
"So what you need?" Draco had ideas.
"My family indicates that I need to have another child or more. Harry is out the question," she blushed.
"I am not compatible with him, no longer, I am most unhappy. He had come around daily, and frankly, after Rose, when I told them my theories, he is less than welcome. After my parents learned and found more, they want punishment. I'll share something else, Hugo saw Ron with your mother, not Ron, it was probably Harry. My parents suspect that he might have come to me as Ron, maybe until recently. When I think about it," she shuddered lightly, "well, never mind. He must be using strong dark magic, probably found in the Black Library."
"He should be put away, that is rape," anger was making him boil inside; you didn't take the one you love by force. The idea that this happened to her made him extremely upset.
"My family is considering it. I don't want to dwell on it. Now, I think you need an heir, and although it is too soon, I want to propose a union between us. My parents say it will work," she didn't add why.
Draco was tongue-tied, he had never wanted to marry again. Astoria was forced down his throat, but this was an old unattainable dream. Something was telling him to agree.
"And Harry, how will he feel? You loved him, I am certain you did."
"Who cares." She meant it. Her heart was closed to him.
He held her hand, "Hermione, will you marry me?" He asked, smiling crookedly, uncertain, afraid of the answer.
a/n a comment: Veelas in the Slavic Mythology were females sirens. According to numerous legends and literary works of fiction had the power to entrance any man, seducing him to his death in a variety of ways, the most common of which were draining his energy or driving him to a state of over-obsessed, feeble mindedness. Moreover, Samodivas had other sinister powers, such as throwing fire from their clawed hands after turning into menacingly looking monstrous birds.
A female's son has Veela blood, it is true. Will the son be a harpy? Why not? The Veelas of Harry Potter were females, who knows, it is all fantasy and fiction. You can make up whichever you wish. HP has modified traditional mythology, and that is fine as well.
As far as this story goes, let's wait. :)