Chapter Twelve- The Dagger
Summary- It has been about eight months and no one has heard from Hermione, and it seems as though no one misses her. Harry and Ron have each been married since school let out and they still bear a grudge for their old friend. Hermione is leading another life, away from the man who used her and broke her heart, and has a terrible secret. Draco Malfoy is the present heir to the Malfoy fortune and is unhappily married to Pansy Parkinson Malfoy. He still has haunting dreams of another love. Around eight months after graduation, Pansy and Draco come across something extraordinary, which links them to the last person they had in mind.
Pairing- Ron Wesley and Lavender Brown Weasley, Harry Potter and Parvati Patil Potter, and at the beginning- Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson Malfoy, but subject to change.
Spoilers-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone,
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Disclaimer- I do not claim to own any of the characters from the Harry Potter series. They all belong to Ms. Rowling. Don't sue, I have a disclaimer and I'm not afraid to use it!
Previously- After what seemed like hours, Draco shattered the silence, bringing them back from the blissful world they once shared, brought them back to the cold and bitter present. "Hermione." He said urgently, "I need to tell you something, Jul-" "No Draco." She cut him off again, blinking away new tears. "Draco, you and I both know…we both know we cant." And with that, she tuned away from him, and continued walking towards the castle, oblivious to Dracos desperate cried to her, she took her light with her, the light from within herself she was using to teach the stars to shine, and once again, Draco was plunged into darkness. Again he whispered, "No amount of tears will repay the amount of love I owe to you"
~*~
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned it's back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relieve and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face they day
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
Because there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breath again
When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone
Savage Garden-Crash and Burn
~*~
Weeks had past since Hermione and Draco's confrontation, but in both of their minds, it was only a few hours. Christmas was looming closer and closer, and the Hogwarts grounds accumulated more snow. Hermione loved winter in the magical school. She once told Ron that the snow at Hogwarts was unlike any snow she had ever seen, not because it was enchanted, because it wasn't, but because in Hogwarts, there was nothing foul to mess it up. No cars to turn the white crystals into slush, and no pollution for miles and miles. Christmas was always a pure time, a time were Hermione relaxed and enjoyed the outside world, even if it were just for a short time.
~*~
The children of Hogwarts were enjoying the snow in a completely different way then Hermione however, as Juliet, Ryan, and James all ran out into the snow, protected by heating charms, and launched themselves into a full-fledges snowball fight against each other and their housemates.
Everyone in Gryffindor, and the school for that matter, knew what a bond the three children had, and it surprised them all. The wizarding community was that of tight knit gossip and solid foundations. A Malfoy being friends with a Potter and a Weasley was unheard of, yet the young children acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and, to the uninformed stranger, that's exactly what it looked like.
"Hey Julie! Catch!" Julie turned around, "Wha-" SPLAT. Juliet's face met a very cold snowball. Juliet giggled and was soon warm again by the effects from the handy warming charm. She took out her wand at pointed to a pile of snowballs that the boys had been bust constructing. "Wingardium Leviosa!" She shouted, and she watched as the snow pile rose up, and James and Ryan ran for it. Juliet chased them with the levitating snowballs, until with a flick of her wrist, she finally hurled the snow to the back of her friends head.
Juliet them plopped down in the snow and began to mover her arms and legs together and apart, together and apart, until when she stood up, her figure was now a snow angel in the fresh powder.
"Your gonna get it Juliet!" Ryan said to his friend. Juliet yawned. "How about a rematch tomorrow guys? I'm so tired." James gave her a concerned look and said, "Ok Jules, want to go inside?" She nodded and the three friends trudged into the great school, still quite warm.
"I'm going to the library." Juliet said as soon as they entered through the massive front doors. "What to come keep me company?" She looked at them with big brown eyes. "Sure." James said, and Ryan nodded, and they made their way toward the library.
"Hey Jules?" James asked his friend in the library, a few hours later. "Yea?" She mumbled, completely engrossed in a book. "Did you give up trying to figure out what the sorting hat meant?" James asked, as cool and collected as possible. "Of course I did." Juliet said in an exasperated tone. "It was completely senseless, of course my mum is, well, my mum!"
Ryan and James looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Should they tell her? Or keep her in the dark forever? They knew their favorite teacher was miserable. Hermione had developed unsightly bags under her usually bright eyes. Her hair was never as glossy as it had been weeks earlier. Ryan and James where convinced it was a broken heart of missing her child, even though she didn't know she was in fact teaching her child on a weekly basis.
"Jules?" James asked once again. "What James?" Juliet asked, still not looking up, but sounding a bit more annoyed. "Julie, we need to talk." James said. "So talk." Juliet said behind her book. Ryan, known for his blunt approach to things, took the book right out of her hands and set it on the table top, and looked at her. "We need your full attention, Julie." He said, and looked at James. Juliet looked at the raven haired boy as well. "What is it?" She asked, in a slightly softer voice. "It's, well, it's…" James was having a hard time getting what he wanted to say out, and really, who could blame him?
"We thing we found your real mum, Juls." Ryan said the bluntness resurfacing. Hermione, who had made a move to get her book back, stopped in mid reach, and gasped, "What?!" She then snapped her hand back and into her lap, and continued. "Ryan Weasley, if this is some kind of joke, I really must inform you, it's rather sick!" She looked furious, and James couldn't blame her.
"Its not a joke, Juliet." Ryan said gravely. "Trust me, if it were a joke, James and I would be laughing by now, you know how bad we are at keeping things to ourselves." Juliet looked from one boy to the other, her eyes glancing back and forth, as if she were waiting, or daring one of them to crack even a faint hint of a smile. She found none. "My mum?" She asked faintly. "How do you know?"
"The pictures." James said, before Ryan could continue with the directness that was bound to get them both hexed one of these days. "We talked to the portrait that guards the Head boy and girl dormitories…..where your mother and father were head boy and girl together."
Juliet bowed her head and sat there for a moment, slightly shivering. Ryan removed his heavy Hogwarts robe from himself and draped it gently over his friend's shoulders. Juliet barely acknowledged it.
"Was she in Gryffindor?" She finally asked quietly, her head still bowed. "One of the best." James said in a gentle but strong voice. "She had a plaque in the trophy room, for outstanding service for the school, actually, she has three." Juliet looked up at him, and Ryan and James were startled to see her eyes where faintly bloodshot, as if she was vigorously fighting back tears.
"Juliet, don't you want to know….don't you want to know what we found out?" James asked kindly, as though he were talking to a three year old. "I don't know." Juliet said truthfully. "If you tell me, everything I grew up to believe will become a lie, and someone I barely know will become someone who is supposed to be the most important person in my life. How would you feel?" "Rotten." James said, "But I would want to know." Juliet bit her lip, "Ok, tell me."
~*~
Draco was yet again pacing in his study. He shooed away various house elves and ghost butlers, all offering him things from strong drinks, to medication to food. Draco felt as though his world was coming undone. Slowly, as if someone were trying to empty the Sahara one grain of sand at a time, he felt his emotions dwindling. All he could feel was nervousness and anxiety, which did not mix well with a below empty stomach and a bottle of Vodka.
Draco knew he needed to see Hermione again, there was no way around it. She couldn't possibly have meant what she said, she still loved him, because he still loved her, no matter what stupid mistakes he did along the way, he loved her more then he loved himself, and for Draco Malfoy, that was definitely saying something.
It hasn't even been half a year after Pansy's death before Witch Weekly started running 'Wizarding world's mose eligible bachelor' contest every week. The magazine that the Dana the house elf just delivered confirmed Draco as the fourth consecutive winner.
Draco sighed and placed the glossy magazine on his desk. It seems like all his life was anymore was death and disappointment. His fathers death, his wife's death, why not his own? He did not enjoy living, he loved nothing but two things, Juliet and Hermione, and only one returned his love. Nothing mattered, Narcissa could take care of Juliet, she loved his child as much as he did.
His child. Juliet was really his. By blood. He had always treated her like his own, and it wasn't hard, because they looked so alike, and no wonder. She was the thing that would always link him and Hermione together. But what good was it if Hermione really didn't love him anymore. He knew he wronged her, but he had to! Couldn't she see that? No, he couldn't expect her to.
Draco closed his eyes for a moment and wondered what it would be like to finally be at rest. To finally leave this hell that he had been destined to, his birthright. He was a Malfoy. One of the most influential and powerful wizards in the world, but that didn't make him happy. He opened his eyes again and breathed in the musty smell of the dark study. He sat up in his chair and opened one of the heavy drawers of his large desk and reached into it. He fumbled around the drawer blindly until his fingers brushed against a smooth, cold object. He grasped it and pulled it out into the dim light- a dagger.
The object itself was a thing of beauty and destruction. The hilt was made of hardened, molten lava and onyx, chiseled away into the shape of an angry looking snake, ready to strike at a moments notice. Around the edge it was encrusted with bright emeralds, which they themselves looked to be on fire. A cold fire. The blade was steel, with a diamond tip that could slice evenly through a piece of Draco's own fine blonde hair. He knew that because his father had shown him when he was a young boy, the day he gave the dagger to Draco, the day he made Draco kill his first muggle. The blade bore the words Mal Foi- the origin of Dracos name today, bad faith.
Draco wanted to throw the dagger out the high window of the manor, to throw it to the ends of the earth, or drop it into the deepest part of the ocean, but the beautiful object captivated him, drew Draco into staring at it, moving his finger over every crevice, knowing its every dent, dip, and engravment.
He toyed with the dagger awhile longer, contemplating what he was about to do. He tested the diamond point on his forearm, dragging the tip from the inside flesh from his elbow to about 2 inches from his wrist. He watched, transfixed as the tip left a small sliver of blood, which steadily seeped through his pale skin like an angry red serpent.
Draco closed his eyes and pushed the dagger in a little deeper, drawing more and more blood. He raised the knife once more and examined it. The crystal point was touched by blood, but by no accounts more then what it had before. Draco descended the dagger back down to his arm, about to cut another river of blood through, when something flashed on his finger- the ring he had bought to match the ring he gave Hermione.
"Hermione, I have something I want you to have." A seventeen year old Draco said nervously to a pretty brunette, who was facing him. "What is that Draco?" She asked, her big brown eyes filled with the innocence Draco had been robbed of from an early age. The young Draco pulled out something from his pant pocket and held it out to her in the palm of his pale hand, a ring. "Draco!" Hermione gasped. "Its beautiful, but it must have been expensive! I can't take this from you, but, oh my God, it's beautiful!" Draco wordlessly took her hand in his, and slipped the ring on her finger. "I want you to have it, Hermione." He said firmly. She raised his hand to her eye level, showing the matching ring he bore. "I want you to always wear it, to always be reminded about how much I love you, no matter what obstacle we face, I want you to know that I love you, and always will love you, even if I may not be able to show it in the way you deserve." Hermione steered into his steely eyes, eyes that shown bright with emotion- emotion for her. She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest, and hugged him close to her. Then she pulled away, and motioned for the bed. Draco stared at her, wide-eyes, "Hermione, are you-" Hermione silenced him by putting a finger to his lips, and silently began to unbutton her Hogwarts robe, letting it fall to the floor. She pulled him close to her, and closer to the bed, and they began to kiss, kiss more passionately then they ever had in their lives. Draco gently laid her on the bed, the very essence of beauty herself, and they began to kiss once more.
Draco remembered something from the night he talked to Hermione on the quiddich pitch, something he had completely looked over until now. He remembered a flash of red and green in the pale moonlight on her finger- Hermione was still wearing his ring.
~*~
"It's Hermione Granger, Julie, she's your mum." James took a deep breath and waited for Juliet's reaction. If he was expecting for her to blow up, he didn't get it. Instead the small eleven year old quietly got up from her seat and left the room, with two very confused boys inside.
Juliet walked through the empty corridors, still unfamiliar to her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she didn't know why. She had found out who her real mother was, if Ryan and James were right. Juliet was so upset, she wasn't watching were she was going, and she collided straight into-
"Professor Dumbledore!" Juliet backpedaled a few steps. "I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't watching were I was going, and I- Oh I'm, so sorry." Juliet was crying freely now, but Dumbledore seemed unfazed. "Shh child, shh." She said, and held out his hand to her shoulder. "Follow me, Miss Malfoy, I do believe there is a secret you need to be let in on."
(A-N)
That was a truly pitifully short chapter, but all the juicy stuff if coming up next, heres what to expect:
1)Juliet learned about her parents and Grandfather
2)Hermione and Draco meet again
3)Ron and Harry talk to Juliet
Those are the main things, we're starting to wind down now, I'd say another 3 to 4 chapters to go!
Now for a shameless plug-
PLEASE GO READ MY OTHER FIC- when love and hate collide, its a lot darker, in a sense, but im getting awfully proud of it, so go go go! Also, I am starting a mailing list for all my stories. Email me or send in a review with your email address and ill add it to a list. you will get an email everytime I update any of my fics, or start a new one, cheers :D Now, onto the reviewers!
Lindsey- lol, yea, they met, it had to happen sometime, huh? Lol. slash bad, teachers old, 'nuff said.
Chibisama- thanks for the longest review I have ever received, lol. you made some very strong points, but the grammer ones were not needed. I hate grammer with a passion, lol. rest assured I don't usually write like that for school papers and such, but for casual things like these, I do not bother myself to do it correctly, as not too many people even notice. Next thing- sappy and unrealistic is my middle name! that's why I love fiction so much, I can do whatever I want, and not have to worry about it being unrealistic! Draco and Hermione falling in love is unrealistic, but it hasn't stoped anyone yet, and whos to say people don't launch into long speeches about what is pulling their heart strings :D lol, I can see Harry doing it, Draco too, their both passionate people, two different sides of light and dark, but passionate non the less. Lol, its going to take a lot more then that to deflate my healthy ego ; ) much love
Vanessa- Thanks a bunch. Im not really sure what Narcissa is like, as JK portrayed her to be stuck up in Harry Potter 4, but really, what woman in her right mind (or in control of her mind) would marry a man like Lucius? Its just unfathomable. I honestly think JK gives us these small clues to lean towards a nicer Draco later on, Oh holy geez I cant wait for the next book!!!!!!!
Tom felton's babe- lol. don't worry, happily ever after is inevitable.
Jacemia- you know mione, shes stubborn like that :S
Jase- hoep I don't disappoint you with this unforgivably short chapter, ill do better, I promise!
Dark Rouge- forgives him…..well, love is worth forgiving for :D
Pearl- thanks! I hope you liked this chapter!
Sugar- Aww, hope your feeling better now. Your very generous with compliments!
Moo- I don't know wether to be insulted or not, um, er…
Hopeless romantic- join the mailing list! lol.
Even angels fall- I know, I really like that saying, I actually discovered it from an old church psalm! Lol, since im in my church choir, it's a very pretty song. I altered it a little of course, lol. I think love could be that strong, actually, I fully believe it. I don't think Draco deserved it, he was trying to protect her, and it worked, obviously. Lol, but im sure you already know whats going to happen
Chloe Riddle- Hey, lol, I love Draco/Hermione too. I don't even know how I got into them, I was just reading different stories on ff.net before I started writing them, and just fell in love with the whole forbidden love thing, its fantastic. Im about an hour from Pittsburgh.
Sweet Sorrow- I am very rushed, but by my own standards, lol
Shadows Flame- lol, I got the broom ride thing a lot, what is bromide? Lol
Christina- Thanks!
Zubie- I hope you like this chapter!
Evelyn- Im glad you like it
Draco lover- Thanks!
TheWalrusWasPaul- lol, cliffhangers are a writers trick to get the readers coming back for more, is it working? :D
Jessica-thanks!
Lisawescott- lol, I like new angles, but I like traditional too, I guess its just a matte rof keeping a balance. Lol, maybe?
Eternal Queen- Thanks! I do believe I will!
Baby-gurl25, thank you, I really appreciate it
Ghetto_superstar- I liked that song a lot back when it was really popular, oldy but a goody! Thanks for reviewing!
Kyra- Poor Mione, always the last to know, well, anything that concerns her!
Animagus- lol, I see that bothers you too, ill break it down more :D
MeL-wow, thanks, I like hearing stuff like that :D
Heather J- Of course, love is worth forgiving for, after all :D
Psychojo- her friends of course! With some help from Dumbledore
Veralidaine's daughter- wooo, tough to spell name, lol. thanks for taking the time to review then, I reallt appreciate it, especially coming from a hands off reader, lol.
Helena- Thanks!
School comp1 – hehe, thanks, sorry so short, and sorry it took so long to post!
Emma- thanks!
Jade- I know! Boys are evil! Lets make them pay!
Rabid-d – hey, im sorry this wasn't a light chapter, as there was almost a Draco suicide, but there was a snowball fight! Does that help? Er…yea.. *goes back to writing* oh *pops a skittle*
Angel_1215 –hehe, I like that line too, that's why it was good enough for a second round, and I can almost guerentee it will pop up again.
Tracy- Thanks!
Puppy- I hope you like it!
Casper- sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I should be heald at gunpoint until I update again, but….ehh…. lol
Kou Shun'u – lol, that bromide thing was bad huh? Lol….whoops *blushes* sorry about that :D