Chapter 1
Helga Hufflepuff
It was a usual snowy Saturday in December in the Hogwarts grounds. The lake was frozen and most of the seventh years decided to try something they've seen muggles do in the television: Skate over a frozen lake. Some Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were skating on the frozen lake. The Slytherins, on the other hand, who thought that they were too good for anything, simply stood by and watched them with equally revolted faces. Yes, nearly everyone was out in the grounds. All except, a brown-haired witch.
Hermione Granger chose to spend her time reading the revised edition of Hogwarts: A History in the library. Some new artefacts and revelations about the four founders have recently been discovered and have been added to the book. Hermione thought that this must have been very big considering that they have found what was believed to be Helga Hufflepuff's diary. Hermione turned the page and scanned her forefinger over it; looking for a likely paragraph to read. When she finally found one, she adjusted her position on the chair and began reading.
Strange incidents have been occurring in Hogwarts for the past few years. The headmaster of the school, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore has agreed to speak of this matter and this is what he had to say.
"I believe that some of the founders' personal possessions have been left unscathed somewhere in the school. One of them may have been Helga Hufflepuff's diary. Helga Hufflepuff, as we all know, was one of the greatest seers in her time and is still the best prophet that may have walked these grounds. The said diary is believed to include things that Helga alone knew, things that not even Rowena Ravenclaw, who is like a sister to Helga, knew. It is also assumed that the memoir does not contain happenings in Helga's everyday life. More on the prophecies about the heirs of the founders who would continue their legacy"
Just last June, the school's headmaster has given Ministry Officials to search the perimeter of the school for the reclusive diary. It was found, in a small chamber underneath what is known as the "Room of Requirements" found in the fifth floor of the school.
Hermione didn't even have time to read the next bit as she heard the unmistakable sound of dragonhide boots on the marble floor. It had occurred to Hermione, that wherever she was, he would always find her. It seemed as if some invisible force was connecting her to him. She turned around and looked at the silvery-grey eyes that belonged to none other than Slytherin's resident playboy, Draco Malfoy.
"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" she asked him as she stared into those beautifully expressive eyes that could somehow put someone in a trance.
"I should be asking you the same question." He told her. He fingered the spines of the book on the shelf behind him and looked at the book Hermione was reading. "Bloody hell. You're reading that again?" He asked her. "I thought by now, you'd have memorized everything that book says!"
Hermione closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. She seated herself on her usual chair and looked at Draco. "What do you want now?" she asked him.
"Oh…" Draco sat down the chair opposite Hermione and he looked at her chocolate-coloured eyes. "I think you know perfectly well what I want. Or have you forgotten?" a smirk was now playing along his pink lips.
Hermione sighed and looked at those eyes again. "Malfoy, you do know that we're in a library. And I don't think I want to know what you're talking about."
Draco looked around him. "Yes… I do in fact know that we are in a library. I'm not as stupid as the others might think, you know. And I do know for a fact that you do know what I'm talking about. And another thing, don't call me Malfoy. As I've said a million times before." He stopped talking for a while and looked at Hermione again. "When do you plan to tell Pothead and Weasel?"
"I don't think I want to tell them." Hermione said and she looked away. She and Malfoy have been seeing each other since the end of the sixth year after that incident in detention.
"You do know that they're going to find out sooner or later. And if they do find out, would you want them to find out in that way?"
"I suppose not. But how do you think I'm going to tell them 'Harry, Ron… Draco and I have been seeing each other ever since we had sex in detention last year.' I don't think they're going to react positively to that." Hermione said.
"Of course they won't!" Draco said this as if it were the most obvious thing on earth. "Let's say you were in Harry's position. How do you think he'd react if his best friend told him she was sleeping with his arch nemesis?"
"He'd look at me as if I had just told him I was married to the Dark Lord and that we have fifteen children." Hermione said.
"Well… That was very nice. I can just imagine Potter's face!" Draco said. He snorted and began to talk again. "Does anyone know that you're seeing me?"
"Ginny does." Hermione said.
"Weaselette?" Draco said. Hermione gave him a piercing look and he knew he said something wrong. "I mean… Weasley's little sister knows? How?"
"I couldn't exactly keep anything from her. I mean… I didn't exactly tell her… She just kept asking me questions about it and I guess she read my expression."
"Well… no point in hiding now, is there?" Draco Malfoy said. He stood up and looked at the books on the shelf behind him. He was running his hand on the spines of all the books and reading each title. He suddenly passed one book that didn't have a name on the spine and he pulled it out, wondering what it was doing in the library. There was nothing written on the cover either so he decided to open it and read what was inside.
Knowing that Draco rarely reads books, Hermione was quite surprised to see Draco reading one. "Draco?" she started. Then, she stood up and walked over to him. "What are you reading?"
"Frankly," Draco began, "I don't know." He closed the book and turned around to face Hermione. "It's full of dates from a thousand years ago and things that haven't happened in their life. I'm thinking it's Wendelin the Weird's diary. He likes to write bizarre things…"
"A diary?" Hermione said. Her face suddenly lit up with curiosity. "You said that the events written in there haven't occurred yet?"
"Yes." Draco said as he gave the diary to Hermione. "It looks like someone mental wrote it."
"Let me see it." Hermione took the diary from Draco and flipped through the pages. "Draco…" she began. "This is Helga Hufflepuff's diary!"
"How did you know?" Draco said and he snatched the diary from Hermione and began flipping through its pages.
"I was reading Hogwarts: A History a while ago, remember?" Hermione questioned Draco. "It was a revised edition and it mentioned something about Helga Hufflepuff's diary. The diary was full of prophecies. That was why the events haven't happened yet."
"Are you sure Helga Hufflepuff wasn't a nutcase?" Draco asked. "She sounds a lot like Wendelin the Weird."
"Would you seriously have thought that she was a founder of the school if she was a nutcase?" Hermione asked Draco. He had a blank expression on his face. He shrugged his shoulders and Hermione smiled. "I thought so. Anyway, there was probably a reason why. After all, she was the greatest seer of their time. They would probably be significant at some point."
"No point arguing with you." Draco said as he sat on a chair and put his feet up on the table. "So what does it say? Are there any predictions about what might happen in our time?"
"I don't really know." Hermione said as she read the very first prediction written in Hufflepuff's diary. She flipped the pages again and found something that caught her eye… Three words in Helga Hufflepuff's diary caused her to read the whole prediction. She was silent for a moment and Draco noticed the change.
"Hermione?" He asked her as he got off his chair and started walking towards her. "Is everything alright, dear?"
"Draco…" She began. She turned around and her face was ashen. The only colour on her face was her caramel-coloured eyes. "There is a prediction in here… In our time. And it concerns you."