Sold-Chapter 31-Two of Each, Again
By Marmalade Fever
Draco sat alone in the library, nodding off. He was so bored! Confound that woman! He had tried in vain to read by turning pages with his feet, but he couldn't see the print well enough.
He had come to a conclusion. He had made a horrible mistake in sending the "Good" Malfoys to his own dimension. Now that he had stopped to think about it (for several hours) he'd realized just how foolish he'd been. So he'd been able to use the cross-dimensional summoning (or rather dismissing) spell. It was only going to be a matter of time before the other two figure out how to do it and return. And then there was Granger… Odds were he'd blown any chance he had of ever wooing her. Besides, hadn't he insulted her by not realizing just how cunning she could be? He'd had her captive for all of… twenty minutes? And she'd held him captive in this chair for… he didn't know how many hours now.
Draco's eyes widened as he watched the flames in the fireplace burn emerald. His darling Granger stepped out, followed by (surprise, surprise) Dumbledore. Then came Evander and Lily, just along for the ride, he supposed.
Granger glared at him. He noticed that she was still wearing her pajamas from that morning, having never been able to return to her room to dress.
"Well, then," Dumbledore said, surveying him through his half-moon spectacles. "I think, Mr. Malfoy, that it is time for you to return to your home."
"Lovely," Draco scoffed. "Now if someone would be so kind as to untie me…"
"Why certainly," Dumbledore replied, eyes twinkling. He waved his wand and the cords disappeared. Draco groaned and stretched.
"Thank you," he said primly. He stood.
Evander watched him, hesitantly. "I just don't get you," he said, shrugging. Lily turned to raise an eyebrow at the boy.
"I'm evil," Draco said, simply. "What more is there to get?" He chanced a glance at Hermione, but she looked away quickly.
Evander shook his head. "No, I don't think you are. Not completely." Draco's heart swelled inside him and for a moment… he felt compassion toward his sort-of-kind-of son.
A thought struck him, and Draco turned to Lily. "You're… two years older than him?" he asked, carefully.
"Yeah," she said, her Potterness on high. "So?"
Draco could feel Granger's eyes boring into him and he turned to Dumbledore. "Mind if I have a word with Evander? Alone?" he asked, holding up his hands to show he was unarmed. The old man nodded and ushered the two females from the room. Draco turned to face Evander, kneeling down to be on level with him. "You really like her, don't you?" he asked, slowly.
Evander frowned, obviously unsure of why the man was bringing this up now. "Yes. Am I that transparent?"
Draco smiled softly… the boy had Granger wit. "Take this advice and don't ask me why… If you love her… marry her before you turn twenty-five. Trust me."
Evander looked as if he'd just been told that muggles were actually more magical than wizards. "Excuse me?" he asked.
"I…" Draco hesitated. "I don't think I can say much more. I'll just say this. She's more than a year older than you… so when you're twenty-five, she'll be out-of-bounds."
Evander tilted his head, but nodded. "Thank you," he said, after a great pause.
"And let me tell you that I'm no fan of being related to Harry Potter. This is…"
"Your way of saying you care?" the boy asked, a small smile creeping onto his face. "Thank you," he paused, "Dad."
Draco felt a small wave of warmth wash through him. "You're welcome." After he stood, Draco paused for a moment, to make sure that he wasn't in danger of an anvil falling from the sky onto his head. When he was sure that he wasn't cursed, he called for the other to come back in.
"Ah," Dumbledore said, smiling knowingly. "I see you're ready?" Draco and Hermione (when had he started calling her that?) nodded. "I suggest you go ahead and say your good-byes, and then, if you'd stand together, I'll perform the spell."
Draco stopped. "Wait, you're going too?" he asked, turning to her.
She nodded. "I can't leave you to send those two back on your own, now can I?" she said. "Besides, my place isn't here. I belong in that fiery-pit you call a home," she said succinctly.
"You've thought this through?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up, Malfoy, lest I start to think you have a heart in you, after all." She turned to Evander and Lily. "Give me a hug, kids," she said, opening her arms wide to receive them. She whispered something in their ears. "Bye," she added.
Draco stuck out his hand to shake Evander's, who was still looking rather skeptically at him. "See you around," he said.
"Yeah," Evander agreed. "See you around."
Hermione approached Dumbledore and wrapped him in a hug. "Good-bye Professor. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed seeing you again."
"As to you, Miss Granger." The very old man gestured for her to stand next to Draco. He took out his wand. "One… two… three…"
…
Draco, Hermione, and Harry, still under the cover of invisibility cloak, returned to the small manor, positively seething. "How dare that old cow? I mean, really?" Hermione muttered, hands shaking.
"Easy, Hermione, easy," Draco tried to calm her. "She's just… desperate."
Hermione shook her head. "No, I can see where she's coming from… but did you happen to notice that she was treating me like a mongrel dog that she was hesitantly deciding to use to breed puppies?" She kicked the rather ornate grandfather clock that stood in the room. "Let me tell you something, Draco, if I were the other Hermione, I'd have punched your mother square in the jaw!"
"And as it is," he said, attempting to soothe her, "we're lucky you're you, and that we're already married, and that you're already having my baby."
"OUR baby," she corrected, still in a minor fury.
"Yes, dear," he said, nodding quickly.
Harry shed his cloak and sat down on a couch. "You must be married," he muttered. "You sure sound like it." Hermione gave him a scathing look and sat down in a huff. Quite suddenly they heard a crash coming from the next room.
"What was that?" Draco asked, craning his head to see around the doorframe. He laughed. "I should have known."
"What?" Hermione asked, looking up.
"We have company," he said, smiling. He walked into the next room and returned with two very familiar looking people, since they were near-exact duplicates of two of the people already in the room. Harry sat up quickly, his jaw dropping.
The just arrived Hermione, with her recently elongated hair, gasped. "Harry?" she asked, before bounding forward and giving her old friend a very large hug.
"Couldn't keep her under control, eh?" one Draco said to the other, who shrugged discontentedly.
"Hermione!" Harry cried, actual tears leaking from his eyes. He spun her around in a little dance. As the commotion died down, Harry stepped back from his friend and surveyed the four in front of him. "This is just going to get too confusing," he said, blinking at them all. "You two," he gestured to the married couple, "you'll be Hermione and Draco A, and you other two, you'll be Hermione and Draco… Malfoy I should say, B."
Malfoy B frowned and gave Harry a look that could kill.
A.N.: I wrote this chapter a little earlier in the day and now I don't feel an enormous computer-ache coming on. I'm going to try and continue with the A and B labels to keep the confusion down. I'm so glad I got to fit in that section with Evander. Merry Christmas! Oh, and halfway to 1000 reviews, everyone, keep it up!