Chapter 20

That night, Hermione draped the ruby necklace over her fingers gently, the rubies sparkling in the moonlight. Since the incident with the Fury, Draco locked the window each night, and Hermione had put a circulation spell on the room so it remained cool.

"Go to bed, Hermione," Draco said from the desk, where he was sorting through Marissa's letters. "I think we should do some research on finding Marissa tomorrow. I want to know where she went after selling this house to Dumbledore."

"Sounds good to me," Hermione replied sleepily, placing the necklace in her drawer. "Marissa sounds very interesting, I'd love to meet her."

Suddenly a knocking noise came at the window. They looked up to see a snow-white owl pecking the window, an envelope clenched in her talons.

Draco opened the window slowly, and shut it behind Hedwig. She dropped the letter in Hermione's hand, and proceeded to drink from the little dish they kept at the window for owls. When she was finished, Draco let her out, and she flapped off into the night.

The letter was addressed to Hermione in Harry's familiar scrawling writing. She opened slowly, and pulled out a letter covered in messy, green, smeared ink.

Dear Hermione, the letter read.

I feel honor bound to tell you what has conspired between Ron and I. Ron and I are no longer compatible as a couple, and I felt the need to break of relations such.

He remains a friend, but we are no longer dating. When I told Ron, he seemed fine, but I know not if this is truly the current situation.

I am currently dating a girl in the neighborhood, and I have chosen not to tell Ron. I apologize for not informing you of what had happened, but I did not want you to point fingers.

I was sure if you did that your finger would fall upon me, but I know now that you would not falsely accuse me of anything. It seems that fate has transpired against me once again, but do not think that I am not still your friend.

Fondly, Harry

Hermione silently handed the letter to Draco, who skimmed it quickly, and gave it back. She put the letter back in the envelope and let if fall from her limp hand to the bed.

"He sounds like he thought about it a lot," Hermione said quietly. "This is so confusing. I mean, Ron and Harry weren't like, destined to be together forever, but I always though that they'd at least part on good terms."

"They seem like they're on good terms," Draco pointed out.

"Emphasis on 'seems'; they won't be when Ron finds out that Harry's dating someone else."

Draco glanced at the letter. "This is awkward, but there is really nothing we can do about it. We can't choose sides, because then you'll end up without either Ron or Harry as a friend."


The next morning, Draco and Hermione rose early.

"So, where are we going?" Hermione asked, sliding Harry's letter into her purse. Draco chose not to notice this, and buttered her slice of toast.

"We're going to see my aunt Andromeda, and see if she can direct us towards Marissa," Draco said, handing her the buttery toast. "Jam?"

"What?" she asked, still thinking about Harry and Ron.

"Jam, on your toast?" he asked, waving the jam jar in front of her nose. She laughed suddenly, and nodded, still completely out of it.


When Andromeda Black had married Ted Tonks, she had been completely aware of the repercussions of marrying a muggle-born boy. Now that she was old, and had a child of her own, she knew that it was as much out of spite as out of love.

She was in her forties, had a grown child, and hadn't talked to a pureblood in a good twenty years. At times, she regretted it. After losing her sisters, it was hard gaining another family that thought she was an accountant.

Ted and she had come to an agreement upon marriage. Beyond Ted's immediate family, his muggle relatives would not know her real occupation. It was hard, especially in the years following Nymphadora's birth.

Nymphadora had shown signs of magic early on. Aunt Izzy had gotten a rather nasty shock when Nymphadora had changed her head into a turnip and then to a rather large cast iron pot. Poor Aunt Izzy had dropped the baby in the crib, and ran screaming into the kitchen. The magic-reversal squad had to be called in.

Yes, Andromeda Tonks had had an interesting and productive life. Not the happiest life, for she had lost much over the years. The most scarring and painful was the jailing of her cousin, Sirius. She was sure he was innocent, but he had disappeared into the world, and she knew he was dead to her.

The return of Voldemort had also taken its' toll on her. Her once jet-black hair now had streaks of grey in it, and faint creases lined her still shocking blue eyes. Ted often said that her eyes were the only young part of her remaining.

She had long given up hope of being reunited with her sisters, one was as good as dead, and the other had forked over her life for the sake of purity of blood.

And Andromeda never expected that her sister Narcissa's only son and only hope would appear on her rather muggle doorstep one breezy mid-July morning.


Draco knocked the knocker on the small muggle house, hoping half-heartedly that his aunt didn't recognize him. If she did, it would be hard to talk with her.

The door swung open slowly, and standing before them was a middle age woman with dark hair and pale blue eyes.

Draco recognized her immediately; it was a carbon copy of how his Aunt Bellatrix would have looked. Her dark hair had a couple streaks of pepper, but her eyes were that of the Black family, his mother's eyes. But these were not cold and heartless; these were the eyes of a woman who had seen a life of happiness and beauty.

"Lucius?" the woman asked, recoiling instantly.

"No," Draco said, swallowing the pain that accompanied the mention of his father. "I'm Draco, your nephew."


A/N: Officially fifteen years old. Scary, huh? Okay, I'll let you all alone. Leave a review!