Just Too Tempting
By Avadne
Chapter 22: A Situation
Lily had gone off to give some Ravenclaw friends merry wishes, and Hermione had also set off. It was time for a fortnightly talk with Dumbledore; at first, it had been weekly talks, but as the days went on, Dumbledore decided that once every two weeks would do. Draco and Hermione had not received any news about getting closer to going home after the one shot that could have worked, but didn't. But as it was the chosen day, Christmas Day on Sunday to be precise, Hermione met Draco in the corridor before Dumbledore's office and together they began walking. Hermione was eager to get back to her dorms & hoped the talk wouldn't take too long. The day had been dull without the Marauders around, but Hermione was determined not to make them suspicious, although she wasn't quite sure why they hadn't come back for the day time. Full moons were only at night.
The short way to Dumbledore's office was silent, as both Hermione and Draco were lost in their own thoughts. Draco uttered the password absentmindedly and both students entered, facing a ready Dumbledore.
"Please take a seat," he told them politely. Hermione and Draco both sat down without question; there was definitely something wrong. Dumbledore did not have his usual twinkling eyes or energetic aura. For once, he seemed like the tired, old man within. Never a good sign, as far as anyone was concerned.
"What is it, Sir?" Draco asked cautiously. Even Draco, who at the worst of times was clueless, knew that something was definitely wrong with their 'situation'.
"Now, you may recall, Miss Granger, that upon arrival, you asked me what was going in your future. Had time simply frozen or did the 2 of you mysteriously disappear? I told you that either option was likely. And I told you there was another alternative, but very unlikely…"
"It happened," Hermione said, making it more of a statement than a question. Dumbledore nodded slowly, carefully looking at both Hermione and Draco.
"Well, this other alternative… I received news today that it did indeed happen. You see, apparently, I from the future found a means of getting this message to myself of this time. I shall, of course, tell you what happened. I was carefully examining the 'Pensive' you fell into. Leaning a bit too close, I was also pulled in, but not completely. Now, as I looked down, words were writing themselves and then I knew that the last option had happened," Dumbledore said, somewhat sadly.
"Yeah, but what is the last option?" Draco asked impatiently, tired of this guessing game, as it were.
"Your world no longer exists," Dumbledore told them gravely. Draco's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Hermione, on the other hand, didn't move.
"I DON'T BLOODY EXIST?" Draco yelled, but his indignation-filled yells were not enough to break Hermione out of her trance.
"Please, Mr. Malfoy… Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked quietly. But Hermione just stared blankly at him. He sighed sadly, as if expecting this. Draco wasn't about to take it, though. Without any hesitation, he grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and shook.
"WHAT?" she shrieked. The shaking had cracked her little bubble, the bubble that had been her protection from the real knowledge. Yes, ignorance is bliss.
"I am to say that your future has been wiped out. It no longer exists. Your friends, you family, your homes do not exist in the future," Dumbledore said as gently as he could.
"No, no, it can't be. Harry, Ron… NO!" Hermione yelled, panicking. She put her hands to her face, jumping up suddenly and heading for the door.
"Hermione," Draco called out. She didn't stop. Sighing, he too jumped up and before she could leave, he grabbed Hermione around the waist, forcing her to stay.
"Please, allow me to fully explain," Dumbledore told them soothingly. Once again, Draco was amazed at how calm the Headmaster could be. Leading Hermione to a chair, he could feel her shake with disbelief and fear.
"I-I-I-" Hermione began, trembling all over, eyes wide.
"Now, you will listen to this. At first I believed that your future had temporarily frozen. But I have found out that that is not the case. The world you knew no longer exists. You cannot go back and by staying here, you are re-writing history. You have no choice now; whether you like it or not, you have changed everything," Dumbledore began quietly, looking at Draco and Hermione carefully.
"What about our parents then? Will they… re-have us when the time comes or something?" Draco asked, in shock. He didn't exist. Bloody great, he thought sarcastically.
"Possibly. It is more probable for Miss Granger, but not so much for you, Mr. Malfoy. Of course, it's still an option; you see, both of your parents are active magical beings. Mr. and Mrs. Granger are not; your time journey did not affect them greatly because they are muggles and this happened out of their world. However, you have sufficient knowledge of one possible future, which is one you can stop. So, now, if the Dark Lord prevails, unlike he did before, you may not be born again; both Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are in dangerous positions here," the tone of his voice was still equally quiet, but had gained some emphasis. If Dumbledore was trying to tell them something hidden, it wasn't working. Draco's mind just didn't think logically enough and Hermione was in a deep state of shock.
"So we are gone. We just don't exist," Hermione's voice was hollow, just like her eyes, her face. At the moment, she was like a shell; just the outside, nothing inside.
"But you do exist. Just in a different place, a different time. You've disappeared from an alternate future, and you are now unable to access it. Therefore, it has completely shut down. But you are here now, and this is your life. You have another chance," Dumbledore explained urgently, as if trying to convey a message to them without the exact words.
"Wha-" Draco began, having every intention of asking what the hell Dumbledore was on. But he was beaten to it… kind of.
"Your future being wiped out is not necessarily for the worse. You now haven't had a future, so you may do what you please. I told you before not to let anyone know about their alleged futures. That's out the window. You have a chance to re-do things again. Don't you see what this means? You can make other friends, learn other things, fall in love with other people… and the consequences are not yet foretold. You have already affected the lives of certain students here, whether you like it or not. You can save those lives, help those that suffered…" Dumbledore's eyes were wide now, staring at Hermione directly. She gave the slightest of nods to show she understood, just barely, before closing her eyes again as if once they were opened, she would be back with Harry and Ron. No such luck.
"So… we can tell them?" Draco asked hesitantly. Dumbledore nodded, standing up. He walked towards the door and opened it.
"Think about your choices carefully. Good day," he dismissed them, the twinkle returning to his light blue eyes. So many wrongs can be righted. But will they? He asked himself. It's up to that pair, now. Somehow, Dumbledore was feeling a lot more energized that what he had been feeling at the start of 'the talk'. Strange how these things work out.
"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked finally. She and Draco had been walking in silence, aimlessly around the castle, for a good half hour now.
"It's obvious, isn't it? We tell them. Everything," Draco replied stonily. He was carefully outweighing his options here, but there was only one choice, really. Tell them. And while telling the Marauders would be hard enough, Draco was a bit more worried about telling Marlene.
"It's the full moon tonight & tomorrow. We'll tell them on Tuesday… that will be the 27th," Hermione replied thoughtfully. Draco didn't say anything for a long, long time.
"I'm telling Marlene… tonight. I've got to go, Hermione. Good luck; I'll be there on Tuesday," Draco said hurriedly rushing off immediately, leaving Hermione alone. She sighed and began trudging back to her dorm; it was around 7:30pm and Lily said not to expect her back until around 9. The other girls in their dorm had all gone home over the Christmas break, so Hermione had some free time.
And she knew jus what she wanted to do.
"Marlene," Draco called out softly. Marlene was slumped against the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. She looked up and a soft smile graced her features.
"I'm listening," Marlene replied quietly, standing up. She didn't say hello, or ask where Draco had been. She didn't need to; as usual, she just got to the point.
"Come on, let's go somewhere," Draco said hesitantly, knowing he didn't want to tell Marlene here of all places. Any Slytherin could walk out of the Common Room and into their conversation at a given moment. Draco took Marlene's hand and led her to a secret room. Reaching into his robes, he extracted a small box.
"Happy Christmas," he whispered, moving a bit closer to Marlene and handing her the box. She took it and carefully opened it. Inside was a gorgeous pair of earrings; Draco might be a Brown here, but he was still a Malfoy at heart and that meant he could always afford the best. The earrings were white gold and dangly, with diamonds at the bottom.
Marlene silently handed Draco a gift. Draco opened it to find a strange kind of round platform, very small. It had a sphere floating above it and when Draco looked directly at it, the sphere turned to butterflies that were furiously flying around. Draco looked at it and bent down, kissing Marlene softly.
"Mood reflector; so tell me, Draco, what you're so nervous about," Marlene told him conversationally, breaking the kiss after a few seconds. Draco looked at her, taking in every detail, memorizing every line. Just incase he were to leave… or worse, Marlene would be so mad she'd never be around him again. Then he opened his mouth and began the story.
Hermione had gotten back to her dorm to find it deserted. But she didn't mind. Seating herself comfortably on her bed, she picked up the photo album from Sirius; it had been lying on her bedside table and Hermione had been meaning to take a closer look.
The first page was another note from Sirius.
Hermione,
Let the good times roll. And never forget them, alright? I guarantee you that while it was hard, this must have been the best time of your life.
Recording the good times and discarding the bad is what we do best.
I've always wanted a little sister… and it's only a matter of time until you and Jaime will get married, and since he's like my brother, you'll really be my sister.
But you're like my sister anyway. And then again, if you're like my sister, and Jaime's like my brother… ok, I'm going to stop thinking about that right now.
Good luck
Sirius
Hermione smiled at Sirius's words. Then she turned to the first photo; it was a copy of the one she had, the one before the Christmas Party. It featured all of them, moving between two poses.
Hermione flipped through the book, examining each photo carefully. Each photo features her, one of the Marauders, Draco & Marlene, Lily or special places. It was a beautiful collection and by the time Hermione had reached the end, her face was streaming with tears.
Putting down the photo album carefully, Hermione decided to take another glance in Remus's mirror before she went to sleep.
This time, the scene was terrifying. The Shrieking Shack, a stag, a large, grim-like dog and a rat… and a werewolf. A snarling werewolf, rolling around and fighting with the dog. And the stag was trying to interfere while the rat hid itself.
The worst thing was, Hermione didn't know if they were play-fighting… or really trying to kill each other.
End 22
Review, everyone, pretty please?
I'm really sorry about the long update gap. I recently found out that I'm moving interstate and have been REALLY frazzled. I promise the nest update will be sooner. Who knows, maybe I'll have decent internet in my new house.
I'd LIKE to personally thank each and every reviewer… I really don't have the time or internet capacity to do individual replies, but I want you all to know that you mean so much to me. You bring a smile to my face!
Avadne