Jazzed
By TeSjah
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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and her associates.
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Chapter Two
'Prejudice'
Seconds later both Hermione and Professor McGonagall stepped out of the fire in a barely lit room. For all Hermione could see, the larger part of the walls were covered in bookshelves. Were she not in such an awkward situation, she would certainly check out what each and every book said.
"Professor?"
But McGonagall ignored her and went for her wand. "Lumos," she whispered. "Dawlish, Parkinson. You can appear now." And out of the blue, two Aurors came forth.
"Miss Granger. This is Magento Dawlish, I believe you two have met at 12 Grimmauld Place already." Hermione shook his hand uncertain. "And this is Rainier Parkinson, Pansy Parkinson's father. He's an Auror too."
"I have read about you," Hermione said with a faint smile. "I'm sorry about your wife."
"No need to drawl about that," he sighed. "I might have her back."
Hermione had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to give it a rest, there were other things to worry about. She seated herself onto the dark couch in the living room and watched Professor McGonagall and the Aurors.
"When will they arrive? Have you heard anything?" McGonagall asked fiercely.
"I assure you that I have used every possibility to contact them. I even have my daughter stationed at Hogwarts with her contact mirror. There is no news yet. But I do not think that either of them wishes to take the risk of being captured by an outsider, or more likely; an insider." Mr. Parkinson lit a cigarette.
"We know that, Rainier. But you know what Severus had to do, don't you? That takes up time. He is far more skilled than Peter Pettigrew, but he is a perfectionist. Not to mention; he is the one that needs to return," Dawlish explained.
All four people in the room were startled by a knock on the door.
"Miss Granger. I suggest that you keep your wand inside your pocket," Mr. Parkinson said. He went for the door and opened it.
"Rainier," Narcissa Malfoy said, out of breath. "I'm sorry for the delay. We were having trouble with the safe." The woman pulled someone else into the house. None other than Draco Malfoy.
Hermione was infuriated. She didn't know exactly what had gone down at the Astronomy Tower, yet she did know that Malfoy was the cause of the Death Eaters entering the school. "You," she said.
"Miss Granger. This is no time to work out personal vendetta's. Please keep your wand inside your pocket." Dawlish turned towards Draco. "Mr Malfoy, please be seated. We have little time to cover the plan."
"Why is he here?" Hermione blurted out. "He got Death Eaters into Hogwarts, for crying out loud. Why are you all talking to him like he is an ally of some kind?"
"Because he is, Miss Granger." McGonagall answered. She held up her hand to the other adults in the room, to say that they should silence themselves. "Though this was not Mr Malfoy's own choice; It was his mother that initially contacted us." Narcissa nodded at Hermione. "Even after she went and visited Professor Snape, she wanted more stableness about the protection of her son. So that is when she dragged him to the current hide-out of the Order. How she knew is still a mystery to me."
"I have my ways, Professor."
"Anyhow. Mr Malfoy confessed that he had been called on by You-Know-Who to create a way for the Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts and that he had taken the Dark Mark onto his skin. He… grudgingly agreed to help, for he said that he joined because You-Know-Who threatened to murder his parents and friends and we could provide their safety."
Malfoy huffed.
"Is there something you would like to share, Mr Malfoy?"
"Nothing."
"Oh, do tell," McGonagall tempted.
"Right. How did you lot exactly define 'safety'? My friends have no Auror protection, not even a simple charm, no lock on the Slytherin dorm. They could have very well died this night. Furthermore, my father is still in Azkaban. To tell you the truth: this isn't exactly the safest place for one to reside. And my mother? The only protection she's been given is one, one bloody Auror. It seems to me that the Ministry isn't too keen to protect their allies and to fulfil their wishes."
"We are not here to discuss you complaints, yet I found it useful to say that we have provided you with more than enough security than You-Know-Who would ever do."
"Of course you did. The Dark Lord doesn't give a right shite about his followers. Not anymore."
"Draco, language," Narcissa said strict.
Hermione had given Malfoy's rants some thought. She still didn't trust him; she never really did. But he sounded far more grown up than he used to. He must have, of course. And who knew that he cared so much about people, she never thought he could be able to love anyone dear. This certainly was a turning point.
"While this is all very interesting for some people. I still have no idea what I am doing here. If this discussion is all that will carry on for the night, I wish to return to my friends, pronto," Hermione said resolutely.
"Oh, but dear Miss Granger," Narcissa Malfoy said, "you really have no idea what you are about to do, haven't you? I should have known that the Order always came up with last-minute plans."
"Shush," McGonagall ordered. "We have no time for each others… opinions. There are more urgent matters to discuss. While Mr Malfoy is up to date on the subject, Miss Granger has been left in the dark."
Hermione gave her an 'I really hate it when people do that to me'-look. "Should I take notes?" she asked.
McGonagall cracked a smile. "No, that won't be necessary." She turned to Mrs Malfoy. "I assume you have brought the artefact."
Narcissa reached into her pocket and pulled out a leather bag. "Lucius is going to kill me," she muttered under her breath. She handed it to McGonagall.
"I am pretty sure he won't get and stand a chance," McGonagall sighed. She turned the bag upside-down and a rather large metallic necklace rolled out of it, onto the palm of the woman.
Hermione gasped. "That's a Time-Turner! But it can't be, we destroyed all of them two years ago, at the Ministry of Magic."
"You destroyed all Time-Turners located there, indeed." Narcissa Malfoy commented. "Yet you overlook the fact that some wizarding families own their own Time-Turners. After all the stories of complaint my son told me, I expected you to be a bit smarter."
Hermione folded her arms across her chest and snorted. "What I am to say: all legal Time-Turners were destroyed. And indeed, I should have taken the fact that some Dark Wizards have their own Time-Turners into account."
"Beware of whom you call 'Dark', Miss Granger." Narcissa said while grasping Hermione by the front of her school-robes. Hermione looked down at the woman's slender wrist and saw the downside of the Dark Mark peeping out from under her sleeve. She looked back up at the blond woman's face.
"Shouldn't I?" she simply asked.
"This used to have a different meaning, Miss Granger. You, as a Muggle-born can't possibly grasp the fact of aligning with a man like the Dark Lord." She said, letting go of Hermione's robes.
"Enlighten me."
"You see me, us, as evil persons. On the contrary, we're not evil at all. I am to speak for all of us when I say that we defend the wizarding world. As it is today, it is fairly horrible. Have you ever taken a look at the Law system? I'm going to assume you have read about it, if even a little. According to the law, every person accused has the right on an subjective trial--"
"You are to say that this law is codswallop?"
"Of course it is. My cousin Sirius, who you inevitably have met, was send to Azkaban for fifteen years or so, for several murders. Did anyone ever take a look at his file? No. Why? Because he was assumed to be a Death Eater, someone who rebelled against the Ministry, and so he had to have committed those crimes."
"Why do you even care about Sirius? He never spoke positively about you."
"I didn't expect him too. This may come as a shock: but back in the days, me and Sirius used to get along just fine. He was my cousin and, being pureblooded families, we spend a lot of time together, happy times. But everything changed for Sirius when I married Lucius. You see, Sirius thinks in black and white, much like your friend Potter, so there was absolutely no way I could ever do anything good in his eyes again." She paused and sighed.
"Anyway. Where was I… ah… yes. Dawlish!" she said out of the blue. "Have you ever used an Unforgivable on a suspect?"
"I have," he answered guiltily. "But I assure you, I had no other choice."
"I bet you didn't. What I am trying to say: How come Aurors have the very right to commit Unforgivables?"
"Mrs Malfoy, you are taking this too far!" McGonagall scolded. "We have to defend ourselves against murderous culprits!"
"Maybe the followers of the Dark Lord are to defend their selves from the members of the Order of the Phoenix. I for one, know that Mr Dawlish here used the 'Crucio' curse onto Agamenta Nott. And I know for certain that she was only standing between him and her children to defend them. She was even wandless. And because she refused to give Mr Dawlish and his companion information about her husband, she was tortured, in front of her little boy and her little girl. Now, I also know that Mr Dawlish was forced to commit this curse by his partner, Mr Moody. But that is not of importance. I ask you now, Minerva McGonagall, what am I, as a mother, like Mrs Nott, to think of this action? How am I to defend myself?"
"I assure you, Mrs Malfoy. If this is what really happened, Mr Dawlish and I will have a strict talk with Mr Moody. I agree that nobody can ever show this behaviour, were this on my or your side of this war."
"I am on nobody's side, Professor McGonagall. I am on my side. And my side wishes that the wizarding world rebuilds itself. My side wishes to see all Muggle-borns depart. Not because they are evil, but because they are a threat. They endanger our culture, not conscious of their actions, no. But they bring Muggle technology into out world. Things that we don't and don't want to understand."
"That lunatic. Everybody can learn how to use Muggle technology," Hermione said.
"Deary, you'll win. You will win this, Muggles will win this war. We have wands and Muggle's have… what do they call it again? Revolvers, I believe. Even though this thing does lesser damage to a wizard than to a Muggle, it was for more range than a wand and it's easier and faster to handle than to think of and say a spell. Do you not see that you are going to win if we, as purebloods, won't stand up. And that is the reason I, and many others, initially joined the Dark Lord."
"You may have got a point in that, but it doesn't take away that the Dark side is ahead of us. You may have noticed that tonight, Dumbledore died," Hermione flinched as she said it, "and the Order has been weakened."
"That may be. And I am sure losing Dumbledore is a great loss on your side. But what is happening too is that many Death Eaters and followers are losing confidence in the Dark Lord. And note that many of his most loyal Death Eaters have been captured and put into Azkaban," she said with a note of sadness in her voice. "Of course, the Dark Lord still has many people who believe in him, powerful people…"
"…and here is where you and Mr Malfoy come into play." McGonagall lifted the Time-Turned in the air. "You will go back into time, the year of 1966 to be accurate. There you will attend Hogwarts again, under a false name. Those names are already of knowledge there." She took the auburn-coloured bag our of her robes. "You are going to need this. Open it when you arrive."
Hermione took the Time-Turner and hung it around her neck. She was not looking forward to go on this trip with Draco Malfoy. But she realised that were she to change the future, she was going to need someone like Malfoy at her side, for he was more likely to get into conversation with the Future Death Eaters.
"Well, c'mon." Draco held out his hand and Hermione extended the rope around her neck to he would fit through too.
"They look quite lovely together, don't they," Mr. Parkinson whispered to Narcissa Malfoy.
"Not in a million bloody years, Rainier."
"Alright. Mr Malfoy will fill you in on the assignment, as far as he knows. The rest of the task lies in the bag you are carrying, Miss Granger. I must warn you, even though you know the rules of using a Time-Turner, you must be careful with every action you take. Even the tiniest action can have a tremendous influence on the world we know today."
Hermione nodded in understanding.
Draco grabbed the Time-Turner and turned the hourglass sideways, like a Muggle egg-timer. He saw Hermione's worried look. "My mother explained me how this one works, it's differently crafted than the legal ones. Well, the best of luck, huh."
She gave him a faint smile.
The world started spinning around them both as they were warped back into time. Instead of travelling back in slow-motion, as Hermione was used to in third year, everything went by them in flashes, nothing was recognisable anymore. She felt like she was going to pass out, but felt someone holding her upwards.
And all of a sudden, everything stopped.
Hermione opened her eyes and looked around.
"We're on the Hogwarts Express," Draco whispered.
"I see," Hermione said. She turned around to face Draco, and gasped. "Malfoy, you… you look eleven years old again!"
To Be Continued