Generations: Tales of the Last Stand
PART II
"Come on first years, move it!" Hearing the call Leshia and the others scrambled to their feet and rushed out to the common room finding Sarah holding one of the horns they had bought at the world cup and Amy standing by a box of what could only really be described as supplies.
"What's going on?" Katie asked as they made their way through the worried first years to where Luke and Tom were laughing with their friends and taking apart some canary creams, siphoning the contents into a large jug.
"You guys should know, we hear it was your idea," Tom said cheerfully. Leshia beamed at them and dropped down on the sofa beside Luke.
"Is this for the chicken run?" she asked them gleefully, as she reached out and lifted up a bottle of nondescript clear liquid. "What's this?"
"It makes the feathers last longer," Tom replied gleefully and he reached out and took it from the girl's hands placing it gently back down on the table. "Watch yourself Leesh, you don't want to spill that on yourself," he warned her fondly.
"I can't believe we're actually doing this, it's so exciting!" Rachel crowed happily. Leshia gave her friend a lopsided grin and shook her head, still thinking of the overstuffed girl that had been lying in bed moments ago moaning about having to initiate the first years. "Yeah I know, I changed my mind!" the redhead quickly complained with a grin.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Leshia asked eagerly.
"Rally up some distracters," Luke told her before he carefully mixed some of the clear mixture into the canary cream mixture.
"What's a distracter when it's at home?" Katie asked with a frown.
"Someone to ward off the teachers when we take these birds for a run," came Tom's reply as their mixture started emitting a yellow steam. Leaving them to fine-tune their concoction Leshia and her friends headed over to their extremely curious second year friends.
"How do you guys fancy being distracters?" Rachel asked them eagerly.
"Is it something to do with all this?" Sam Thomas asked wearily and the girls nodded with big smiles.
"We'll do it," Parys offered indicating himself and Rodeo.
"We need two more," Leshia said lightly, looking in the direction of Nicola and Ashley, silently begging them to help out in yet another harebrained scheme. With a sigh, and wondering how they always got roped into these things, the two girls nodded tiredly.
"Great!" Rachel cheered and she lunged forward hugging the two girls roughly round the neck.
"Here's what you have to do…" And so Leshia gave them their instructions, feeling a little sorry for them that they'd miss out on the amusement of the Chicken Run. The first years were beginning to get a little worried about why the older students had gathered them together and why the rest of the common room was enveloped in a frenzy of mischievous activity.
"First years," Sarah bellowed over the children, frightening them into looking at her with wide eyes. "Welcome, to Gryffindor."
"You're probably wondering why we've dragged you down here, when you probably just want to go to bed," Amy continued.
"Well the answer is, initiation," they concluded as one, and a few of the first years grew more afraid as their fears were realised. Following this announcement they stepped forward with quills loaded with ink and then proceeded to write the children's names on their foreheads. Following this they were lined up and fed a portion of the potion the boys had been brewing, before bursting into feathers one by one.
"Don't be alarmed," Tom told a few of the girls who had started frantically tweeting to one and other. "The effects will only last half an hour! If any of you have ever had a Canary Cream, being covered in feathers won't be an alarmingly new experience for you." The large canaries that now stood before them seemed to appreciate this information.
"Right, now we're going on a chicken run!" Luke told the amused first years. "There's something important you have to know about the chicken run, and that's the foxes!" On cue, Adam North and Peter Sanda (Luke and Tom's partners in crime) jumped out from behind the drapes transfigured rather expertly into foxes. Their sudden appearance caused not only the first years to scream in alarm.
"They look wicked!" Rachel gasped from the other side of the common room.
"Yeah! This is awesome!" Katie added happily, though Leshia was feeling slightly put out, this had all been her idea…why wasn't she being included? Did no one respect her any more? The first years were now being informed that should they see or hear a fox they were to dive to the ground for protection, lest the foxes get them. In order to demonstrate what a fox attack might look like and how the 'chickens' ought to appropriately respond, Pete and Adam jumped around roaring quite convincingly at the impressionable first years, who dove to the ground throwing their arms over their heads. Everyone in the common room roared with laughter appreciatively.
"Very good!" Tom called to the first years and he looked over to Leshia, nodding to her, letting her know they needed her distracters right about now. She sighed heavily; still feeling relegated to the background, but led her friends over nonetheless. They headed out into the corridor and fanned out making sure the coast was indeed clear, before they signalled behind themselves, allowing the chicken run and their drovers to make their way out into the abandoned castle corridors. Leshia walked over to join them, grinning at the ludicrous sights of the 'chickens', but what she hadn't realised was that she too would be expected to keep the coast clear. As the daughter of two teachers, she would be perfect in heading them off relatively punishment free.
"Leesh what are you doing, you've got to keep the coast clear up front!" Sarah called to her as she doubled over laughing at the 'chickens'. The young girl forced a smile onto her face before she turned and stalked off with Katie and Rachel in pursuit.
"Leesh are you okay?"
"Never better." Her friends exchanged a shake of the head, before they turned back on their ringleader worriedly.
"What's wrong?" Katie tried sounding concerned.
"I told you, I'm fine."
"Are you angry that they haven't included you in the plans?" Rachel asked, as usual, more insightful into Leshia's emotions than her raven-haired cousin. Leshia's silence only served to confirm Rachel's suspicion. "They didn't mean to exclude you Leesh, they just get carried away with themselves you know?" Leshia nodded stonily.
"It's not that," Leshia finally explained sounding petulant. "They don't respect me…that's all I want, respect." So like her father, Leshia's most fervent desire was for the world to respect her. She didn't wish for everyone to love her, as she was realistic and realised this could never happen, but respect…respect was something she felt she had earned.
"They do respect you," Katie countered as in the distance they heard roaring and frightened tweeting. All three girls fought to suppress their smirks.
"It is funny," Leshia finally admitted as they carried on walking, slowly relaxing back into her normal carefree self. For twenty minutes there were very few signs of trouble. At one point Katie had to head off Peeves by running down a wrong corridor to draw his attention away from the 'chickens' and on another instance Rachel had to feign a stomach ache and pretend she was on her way to the hospital wing to head off Professor McGonagall – though it meant sacrificing herself to the hospital wing. It would be Leshia though, who was charged with the most important task of all.
"Oh no," she suddenly exclaimed and reached out holding Katie back with her arm. She was looking into the distance where the telltale swagger of Draco, heading away from them was barely visible.
"What?" Katie whispered, as behind them another 'fox attack' caused the 'chickens' to burst into reams of amused tweets. Leshia didn't waste any time and she dragged Katie back behind a statue as in the distance her father stopped.
"It's my dad," Leshia whispered hoarsely. "You have to go back and tell them to be quiet, absolutely silent! And tell them to run back to the common room, I won't be able to head him off all night!" Katie nodded quickly; wide-eyed and afraid that Draco was barely a corridor away. "I'll go head him off."
"Good luck Leesh," Katie offered and Leshia nodded, before ducking out from behind the statue to find Draco was indeed heading towards them.
"Dad," Leshia called out to him – hopefully loud enough for the leaders of the chicken run to hear. Knowing full well that Katie would not be able to escape and tell the others with Draco looking their way, she rushed ahead to her father, running past him a little so as he might turn around.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, still looking the way she had come with a suspicious look on his face. He was evidently sensing some sort of mischief coming from down the corridor and Leshia's arrival had not served as a strong enough distraction. Frowning angrily Leshia tried desperately to think of something that might provoke him enough into forgetting about the impeding mischief makers that any second now were going to come round that corner.
"Dad I came looking for you because…"
"Hmmm?"
"Well I want to know more about Krum?" Wincing slightly in case of an explosion of anger on her father's part, Leshia was put out to see that he had barely responded.
"I told you already, we're not going to discuss it Leshia," he said sounding very much responsive, and yet, he was still looking the other way. Okay then, time to step it up a notch.
"Dad I just sent him a letter," she said and this time her ruse worked.
"You what?" Draco demanded and he spun around on the spot giving Katie the precious time she needed to jump out from behind the statue and tell the others of the trap that was waiting round the corner for them. She needed more time.
"Yes well, you weren't going to tell me and I'm a part of this family too so I…" she began confidently.
"Alecia Malfoy," Draco said slowly in a dangerously low tone. "What on earth possessed you to do something so stupid?" His tone rose steadily until he shouted the very last part. Behind him the 'chickens' rounded the corner, as Katie was yet to reach them. Leshia's eyes went wide in terror and the breath caught in her throat. Seeing Draco up the corridor and Katie sprinting towards them with a look of horror on her face Amy and Tom at the head of the group quickly ushered the first years back round the corner. Draco noticed his daughter's expression and in an instant spun around just barely catching the tail feathers of the slowest of the chickens disappearing behind the wall.
"You should have told me what I wanted to know," Leshia complained, hoping her cockiness would infuriate Draco enough into returning his attention to her. Her wish was granted.
"What?" Draco managed angrily and he turned back on his daughter looking at her in an almost bewildered way, her normal tactic was to avoid angering him, not marching right up to him and announcing she'd done exactly what he had asked her not to. Something was wrong…unless…her tactics were helping her escape from even more trouble that she was trying to stop him from finding out about. Giving his daughter a thoughtful frown, he turned back and started marching up the corridor the way she had come.
"Didn't you hear me? I said I've written to Viktor Krum asking him if he was in love with my mother and why he hates you…dad! Did you hear…" Leshia called after him.
"No you didn't," Draco called back and he sped up. Terrified of what he would find, and wondering how long the chickens would need to get back to the common room, Leshia sprinted after him and jumped into his path, pushing him back.
"Okay you're right, I didn't," she said and Draco actually stopped and crossed his arms, looking down at her curiously. "If you go round that corner you will find ten chickens being chased by two foxes and it's all my fault," she said truthfully with a sigh. Draco's head dropped forward in incredulous shock and then he shook it.
"Leshia! Stop lying!" he complained and he pushed her aside and started walking again. She had to run to keep up with his fast pace.
"It's the truth! I'm not lying! Why don't we go and get some truth potion and you can test me? Doesn't that sound like fun, you could invite Snape, he'd love it!"
"Professor Snape, Leshia," Draco corrected her as they carried on up the corridor. He was nearly at the corner, and as a last straw Leshia threw herself at him hugging him firmly and slowly pushing him backwards.
"Please dad please, don't go round this corner," she begged.
"Why?" Draco asked and he sounded concerned. "What have you done that is so terrible?" Leshia craned her neck and looked up at him, resting her chin on his chest.
"We're initiating the first years," she said sadly. "We've transfigured them into chickens and afterwards we're going to send them on a scavenger hunt in the grounds." Draco raised his eyes to the ceiling, counting calmly to ten so as to avoid bursting into laughter, and blowing his top all in one.
"Where are they now?" he finally asked calmly.
"I've told them to go back to the common room," she said vulnerably, still looking up with large doleful eyes.
"You do realise I'm going to have to punish you," he said sounding miserable. Leshia nodded as best as she could with her neck craned to such an angle. Draco sighed slowly and then kissed his daughter's forehead firmly before releasing her arms and stepping backwards. "Come on, I'll take you back to your common room." On their walk back to the common room Leshia hoped against hope that the others had guided the first years back to Gryffindor, as she knew Draco would have no qualms punishing all of them, and she didn't want the first years' first night to be a miserable one. This initiation lark was meant to be fun for them also.
"So let me guess, this whole thing…it was your idea wasn't it?" Draco asked with a small smile as they walked the silent corridors. Leshia nodded sadly, and hung her head, missing the momentary proud grin that crossed Draco's face; his daughter was so like him in so many ways, it had to make him smile. He'd certainly raised one of a kind, though her mother's goodness was there also, if she had been a carbon copy of himself, then she would never have sacrificed herself to get the others out of trouble. "Just do me one favour baby?"
"What's that?"
"Don't mention that arrogant meathead's name in my presence again?" Draco uttered feeling his skin itch at the thought of the Bulgarian seeker. At his side Leshia giggled and nodded. The rest of their walk back to Gryffindor tower was relaxed and with every corner they turned, the more Leshia began to unwind. Finally when they reached the Fat Lady Leshia turned on her father and hugged him firmly.
"Thanks dad," she uttered into his shirt.
"For what? Giving you detention tomorrow evening at eight?" Leshia laughed once more and stepped backwards meeting his comfortingly familiar eyes with a smile.
"Just for being my dad," she said happily as she turned to the fat lady. "Golden…" The girl quickly remembered her father's presence and went bright red, before clearing her throat and adding as quietly as she could, "Balls" Beside her Draco grinned at the password and then he leaned down as the painting swung open and kissed the top of Leshia's head.
"Don't let me catch you up again," he said softly and he walked away down the corridor. Leshia watched him go before she dove into the hole behind the portrait and found most of the house was up and sniggering from trying to remain silent.
"Is he gone?" Sarah asked softly and Leshia nodded with a roll of her eyes. A cheer went up around the common room and Leshia noticed the defeathered first years were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace beaming at her, they were evidently having a great time, and were facing their next task the boat race – in which the girls and boys would have to race one and other as a team in 'who could finish the ten bottles of butterbeer the quickest'. Leshia sidled over to her friends, who were sitting in their usual window box and she quickly joined them.
"Did you get in trouble?" Katie asked worriedly and Leshia grinned and nodded.
"Of course," she laughed. "But my dad was okay, he wasn't angry or anything, but we're going to have to call off the scavenger hunt."
"Oh they already have, there's more fun stuff to be getting on with here," Rachel laughed. They watched in amusement as the first years messily completed their challenge and rolled around laughing when one of the boys snorted butterbeer out of his nose. Had the girls been looking forward to relaxing and watching the first years be welcomed into the house, they would have been very much disappointed when all of a sudden Luke and Sarah singled them out and headed over, but as at these sort of occasions they were always drafted in to fixing others' mess, they didn't find it surprising at all.
"We've got a problem," Luke said grimly.
"We've lost two of the first years," Sarah added with a grimace. Leshia stared at them in amazement – this was worse than she had thought.
"Lost them? Which ones?"
"Those twins, they were there one minute and the next they were gone!" Luke complained. Leshia sighed dramatically before jumping down from the window box and looking to her friends tiredly.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked worriedly.
"Where do you think? To find them," Rachel complained. "That is what you came over here to ask isn't it?" The other two nodded gratefully as the girls headed over to the portrait hole. As soon as they closed it behind themselves Katie reached into her jumper and pulled out a familiar object.
"Yes, you've got it then." Rachel cheered as Katie spread the invisibility cloak over the three of them.
"You think I'd have left without it? I knew we'd end up cleaning up their mess in the end!" And so the girls set off, searching the route and any open classrooms on the route for these two mysterious twins that had gone missing. They had nearly given up hope when they heard someone talking in the distance.
"Oh no, anything but that," Leshia whispered sounding pained, but sure enough, that drawling voice coming from round the corner was none other than Snape himself and he had evidently saved the girls the trouble of finding the twins. "Damn it, you two go back, I'll get them."
"Leesh no, we'll go together," Katie complained.
"Don't be stupid, we don't all have to get in trouble," Leshia countered and she turned around and smiled at the others. "Let's just say that's twice those guys owe me!" With a determined sigh, she threw off the cloak and jogged to reach Snape and the girls before he'd scared them half to death.
"Professor Snape," she called out when she rounded the corner and found the two identical girls – rather similar in design to young Leshia – cowing under his fierce look. "It's my fault!" Snape turned around slowly with a small-satisfied smile on his face.
"Miss Malfoy, I should have known," he said drolly. Leshia sighed exasperatedly and she glanced to the twins, silently wondering if they were all right. They seemed very pleased to see her. "I suppose you thought it was funny, sending these two impressionable young girls out to get into trouble?" Leshia narrowed her eyes at the man and merely shrugged her response. "Very well, all three of you return to your common room. Miss Malfoy, for your callous and cruel trick I am giving you detention every night this week…"
"Uh, I can't do tomorrow night sorry," Leshia quickly interrupted.
"And why not?"
"I'm already booked, sorry," the girl said with a cheeky smile. Snape inhaled angrily through his large nose and narrowed his eyes further at the girl.
"Very well, then you may join we at the weekend as well. As for you two," Snape continued looking at the small blonde twins with a disdainful look. "If I were you I would steer clear of Alecia Malfoy, you do not want to get caught up in her dramatics." The twins however, were watching Leshia with admiring looks that told her that that is exactly what they wanted. "Now all three of you, go back to your common room!" They didn't need telling twice and Leshia quickly led the girls back round the corner towards Gryffindor tower.
"Thank you so much," one of the frighteningly identical girls whispered – she had the name Eliot written on her forehead.
"Yeah, that was amazing! He really hates you!" the other – Jaime, if her label was to be believed – added in a similar tone of awe. Leshia grinned.
"Nah, old Snape doesn't hate me, he wouldn't dare, he's friends with my dad," she explained. "Now tell me, do you guys think we deserved a scare for what we put you through, or did you just get lost?"
"We got lost!"
"Yeah we've been having a great time!"
"And are these your actual names?" she asked indicating their foreheads. The twins giggled and then nodded. "Alright then, I'm Leshia, Leshia Malfoy."
"Jaime and Eliot Wood," Jaime explained and she held out her hand to Leshia, which Leshia readily accepted.
"Wood, don't suppose you're relations of Oliver Wood?" Leshia asked curiously, wondering if these children were related to the international level quidditch goalie Oliver Wood, who had unfortunately been out for the World Cup with a broken arm. The twins looked to one and other and then grinned proudly.
"Yeah, he's our dad."
"I thought he was Scottish?" Leshia remarked, noticing that the twins had rather nondescript English accents.
"Yeah he is, but our mum's from London, and that's where we grew up so…" Eliot explained and she trailed off as they had reached the portrait.
"Golden balls," Leshia repeated for the second time that night and the Fat Lady swung open allowing them to walk into the jubilant common room where everyone cheered happily at the return of the first years. Leshia once more skulked over to her friends in the window box and joined them.
"So, what did he say?"
"Detention all week," Leshia sighed. "But the kids got off, and that's what matters."
"You should have let us take the blame with you," Rachel complained.
"Ah maybe," Leshia said cheerfully with a shrug of her shoulders. "Who cares, it's just a week!"
XXX
The next morning Leshia's outlook on her impending punishment was less positive. 'Just a week' seemed like a frightfully large amount of time as she grimly pulled on her uniform and filled her satchel with books, quills and parchment On their way down to the great hall, several of the first years tagged along with them, and seeing their jubilant faces forced a smile onto Leshia's face; the important thing was that the new first years felt like part of the house, and they had provided entertainment for everyone else. As the girls dropped down at Gryffindor table they found their new timetables awaiting them.
"Oh great, charms first thing," Rachel sighed.
"Yeah and then Defence Against the Dark Arts," Leshia sighed and she looked up to the head table where her father was chatting to Snape with a frown. "Oh and I bet Snape's telling him about last night, so I bet I'll be in even more trouble!"
"Hey Leesh, check your mum out, she's majorly giving Professor Ramble the evil eye," Rachel laughed out loud. Leshia did turn and look and was surprised to see the suspicious and angry look on her mother's face as she surveyed the new buxom blonde teacher.
"Why is she so ticked off?" Leshia chuckled, but one look at Ramble and she instantly understood. The young woman was not-so-surreptitiously watching her father with a dreamy expression on her face. "Ah…yeah that would probably do it! You know, I really don't remember that woman very well."
"Well didn't your mum say she left when you were about eight?" Katie asked. Leshia shrugged.
"I dunno," she said with a smile. "God Katie you remember everything!"
"Look, the point is, you probably don't remember her because you were so young," Katie continued, ignoring her friends' sniggers.
"Yeah, but if she was serious about wanting to like woo my dad, then why did she never come round our house? Come to think of it…you guys were the only people that ever came round our house! Dad's friends never came round."
"Maybe they were keeping it a secret about where you lived, in case the Death Eaters caught you," Rachel suggested.
"There was this one time…" The girl trailed off and hung her head, the presence of the dream floating between the girls as though it were a heavy cloud.
"Do you still think your dream was real?" Rachel asked softly. Of course Leshia had told her friends the moment she got home in two carefully written letters. They had concluded that it was very strange that Leshia should have such a lifelike dream and then discover the consequences of it to be true.
"The thing is," Leshia said softly and she looked up. "My dad always told me his father was dead." All three girls looked up to where Draco was now frowning at them all suspiciously. "He doesn't normally lie to me." Their serious thoughts were suddenly lifted though as Rodeo and Parys dropped down opposite them, with Rodeo sporting a rather feathery jumper. The girls instantly burst out laughing.
"What happened to you?" Rachel managed through her laughter. Rodeo grinned dashingly at the red-haired girl and shrugged, looking down at his down-covered attire.
"Made the mistake of leaving my jumper down in the common room last night didn't I?"
"What were you doing in your uniform yesterday, we didn't have classes you moron," Leshia giggled accusingly. Rodeo grinned at her charmingly.
"Ah, well you see the whole sleeve was unravelling so Nicola fixed it for me."
"Nicola?" Everyone stared in surprise at Leshia's unexpected venomous exclamation Leshia's eyes went wide as she was evidently thinking, 'damn, did I say that out loud', and with an embarrassed cough she turned back to her timetable, pretending to find it incredibly fascinating. Her embarrassment lasted all the way through their first lesson of the day, in which she couldn't meet Rodeo's eye, despite his best efforts to attract her attention. On their way down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class Leshia hurried ahead with Rachel and Katie hot on her tail, when it looked as though Rodeo was heading towards her.
"What's wrong with you?" Rachel asked with a big grin.
"Yeah, it's not like you to be jealous," Katie added softly.
"I'm not jealous," Leshia complained as they rounded the corner and found the Slytherins waiting for them, Damian Allseyer with a rather smug look on his face, his crony-like friends surrounded him, although on this occasion a person who didn't normally deign to grant Allseyer with his presence stood at his side, whispering something in his ear: Julius Black, believed to be one of the last remaining Blacks alive. He had remained in the shadows all through the last year, seemingly cantankerous with his peers for simply being. The girls had heard dreadful stories about the tall dangerous looking boy, and desperately wanted to know whether any truth lay in the stories.
"Oh look," Allseyer hooted happily. "It's the blood-traitor." He smiled even more as Leshia approached and he noticed the bruises and cuts his fists had inflicted were still prominent on her face.
"Don't you ever get bored of saying the same old thing over and over again?" Leshia asked in an uninterested tone.
"Watch it Malfoy, I hear Damian beat the stuffing out of you at the weekend, he could do it again," Tia Zambini, one of the dreadful Slytherin girls, cackled snidely and she hung off Damian's shoulder.
"Only this time you wouldn't get away so lightly," Allseyer added bitterly. "Though I must say, your appearance has enjoyed a remarkable improvement, perhaps you would like me to offer you this service every weekend, so you can start every week looking so healthy and fresh?" To the Slytherins' utmost surprise Leshia suddenly snorted before doubling over in laughter.
"Allseyer you're too much," she laughed. "Is that the best you can think of?"
"The blood traitor has a point." Everyone stared in surprise as Julius Black spoke aloud in public for the first time in…well…anyone's memory. He turned his cold pale eyes on Leshia and it felt as though he were glaring right into her soul. She glared right back at him angrily and for a moment everyone watched as the two children remained locked in a silent exchange.
"Professor Malfoy's coming!" Violet Pazz suddenly hissed and everyone jumped into line as Draco indeed appeared at the end of the corridor, a darkly mischievous look on his face. He looked from one face to the next slowly, making each and every one of the second years feel incredibly uneasy.
"I see the summer has caused you all to forget how to dress yourselves," he finally said loudly, a lopsided smile on his face. Knowing what he was talking about, several of the students rushed to tuck their offending shirts in. "Shirts!" he barked when several of the Slytherins had not understood his meaning. Once everyone was presentable the young man stepped backwards and pushed the door of his classroom open. His new schedule allowed him the privilege of having the first lesson on Monday mornings off, and so, the classroom was still sparklingly clean, having not been used yet. The only semblance that children had once graced it with their presence were the carefully scrawled 'Professor Malfoy is fit' messages on several of the desks, that had indeed been written in Everlast Ink. Professor Filch had wanted desperately to replace the desks and had begged the headmaster to place a charm on them all that would prevent the children from defacing school property again, but the cheerful old man had refused him, telling him that each and every note scribbled on a Hogwarts desk was part of its history. The grouchy caretaker had got the distinct impression that Dumbledore was rather amused by the whole thing.
"Why do we have to have Defence Against the Dark Arts after Charms, Flitwick doesn't care that we have our shirts untucked," Rachel grumbled quietly as they started filing in.
"Yeah, at this rate, we'll get in trouble every Monday," Leshia added in a similar tone.
"Do I need to remind you of the no speaking rule as well?" The girls looked up and found Draco looking at them with a borderline scary look on his face; he really was in a foul mood this morning. What on Earth had Snape told him?
"But we're not even in the classroom yet," Leshia countered.
"One more word out of you Miss Malfoy, and you'll be getting detention," Draco told her firmly causing his daughter to don a highly disgruntled and surprised expression. Behind her in the queue the Slytherins started to snigger and Leshia turned around fixing her glare on Allseyer, who at this moment in time was doing an impression of Leshia cowing in fear before her father. Feeling entirely furious Leshia pushed past her father when she got to the door – where he, as usual, was waiting to intimidate all the students as they filed past him – and stormed over to her desk. Her friends sat down either side of her; Rachel donning an expression similar to that of their ringleader, and Katie looking anxious that Leshia was going to get them into trouble. By now all the students had taken their usual desks with one exception, Julius Black had moved to Violet Pazz's place right beside Allseyer. What had he done that meant he was now in high favour with the Slytherin ringleader, or perhaps a more apt question would be, why had he now decided to grant them the privilege of his advice and conversation?
"Your other teachers may have decided to be lenient with you as this is the first day of term," Draco told them as he walked to the front of the classroom. "But as you ought to know, I am not that kind of teacher. You've had all summer to relax; now it is time for you to do something worthwhile again. If anyone steps out of turn you will be receiving detention, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Professor Malfoy," the class chimed, somewhat petulantly.
"Good, then let's begin. Last year, you were taught the very basics of dark creatures and beings associated with Voldemort," Draco announced. "We will return to those topics in a few years time in more depth. This year, we are going to cover the basics of dark magic, mainly hexes, curses and how to defend yourselves against them. Please open your textbooks to page twelve." Most of the students begrudgingly opened their new copies of Dark Magic: Basic Lessons and Defence and started turning the pages. A few of the children were slower than the others, which caused Draco to add frostily, "I trust you all brought them with you?"
And so the lesson got started, with most children engaging in the lesson enthusiastically and in a well-behaved manner, so much so that Draco soon started to ease up and within no time he seemed borderline cheerful; only a little mind you. Even Leshia started to cheer up a little when Draco had deemed her answer on one of the questions worthy of five housepoints and had even smiled at her proudly, however her mood soon turned a little sour once more when a note landed on her desk carried on some magical breeze. Draco currently had his back turned as he was writing up the ten most common curses on the board. Judging from the satisfied smile on Allseyer's face, it had come from him. It displayed a badly drawn moving sketch of Leshia being surrounded by Slytherins and pleading for her life before they started to beat her up. Fuming now, she ripped a corner of her parchment off and scribbled:
You wish
Care to put your money where your mouth is?
Then, hoping her father would continue to have his back turned she nudged Rachel beside her, in an attempt the note would be passed on to Allseyer. However, Draco, aware that mischief was afoot suddenly stopped writing.
"Nobody move," he ordered and everyone froze in surprise as he turned around and found Leshia and Rachel mid-reach, both of them holding onto the note. With a heavy sigh Draco took out his wand and made a silent incantation that brought the note flying to his hand. He read it with one eyebrow raised and then looked up at his daughter with a bemused expression. "See me after class Miss Malfoy," he told her simply. "And to the rest of you, if I see one more note about anything other than curses, you will all receive extra homework." With this he returned to the board, missing the silent laughter that had all the Slytherins bent over their desks and turning red in the face. After crossing her arms and slouching back in her seat Leshia decided she would have to sort out Allseyer before he became too great a menace.
The lesson progressed without further complications and soon the bell for break rang. On cue Draco turned the board round revealing the title of the essay he was expecting them to write for their lesson on Friday:
Compare and contrast the effects of the Spinewater Curse and the Bone-tickler Hex.
Using evidence from the Magical Maladies catalogue, choose one of these and present your theory for a counterspell
The children stared in surprise at the essay title; they had never been set anything so difficult, before they frantically started writing it down beneath their notes.
"You will find that a conclusive and effective counter spell has never been devised for these curses as they are not terribly long lasting or life-threatening," Draco explained to the class. "Do not merely copy an existing counterspell, as I know each and every one of them. You will also be required to provide the theory behind your spell. I understand you have never done anything like this before, but I would not have set it if I did not believe you to be capable of it. Right…" All the children waited on tenterhooks, half way out of their seats already, just waiting for the all clear. "You may go." As all the other children filed out quickly, Leshia watched them all go past grimly. Her father was wiping the board clean while she remained slouched in her seat, her satchel on her desk, just waiting to be released.
"Uh…sir?" Leshia finally spoke aloud when Draco had finished wiping the board and looked no nearer to addressing her.
"I spoke to Professor Snape, he told me he caught you up last night, even after I had explicitly told you not to leave the common room again," he finally said and he looked up with a cold and questioning expression. "He also told me you were responsible for attempting to get two first years into trouble."
"I didn't…" Leshia began, but Draco held up his hand to silence her.
"I know, I told him he must have got it wrong. So what really happened?"
"They got lost on the chicken run," Leshia explained. "I found out when I got back to the common room and volunteered to go find them, but when I did they were with Snape."
"So why didn't you explain to him that they were lost, instead of talking back to him as you seem to have a habit of doing these days?" Draco was looking almost petulant; as though he were upset that Leshia's behaviour towards him was getting less and less respectful.
"He jumped to the wrong conclusion, besides, I didn't want those kids to get in trouble. It was their first night! And it was our fault they were up anyway," she complained. Draco nodded, feeling a stab of pride at her selflessness – the character trait she had inherited from her mother.
"And this?" he then asked holding up the note she had written. "I see this was in retaliation to someone's provoking…whose?" Leshia stared him in the eye and then shook her head; she was not a grass. "Very well, I didn't think you'd tell me. Let me make myself clear young lady, any fighting out of you and…" He trailed off; evidently threatening her with detention didn't appear to be a very good deterrent. "I will be very disappointed in you." Leshia sighed heavily, but her mission to put a stop to Allseyer's self-belief of invincibility still held strong. "Right then, seeing as your schedule for the foreseeable future is already fully booked, you are going to enjoy your punishment now?"
"Now?" Leshia repeated incredulously. Draco smiled evilly.
"Yes now," Draco said and he brought forward a box full of parchments and manuscripts. "Peeves got into my office last night and wreaked havoc. I've dealt with him, but he knocked over a pile of important documents." With this he moved Leshia's bag off her desk and dropped the box down, before taking one of them out. "You can tell which belong together by the code in the top hand corner, the rest you'll have to figure out for yourself."
"I'll never get all this done," the girl managed sounding grim. Once more her father smiled at her.
"Well then it's a good thing that you're coming round this evening," he said happily and started towards the door.
"This isn't fair," Leshia grumbled.
"What was that?" The young man turned around at the door and looked her in the eye with an unimpressed expression on his handsome face.
"Nothing…sir."
"I would suggest, that if you don't enjoy giving up your free time to help the teachers, then you should stop breaking the rules. Enjoy!" With this he headed out of the door and shut it silently behind himself. Out in the corridor he ran into Rachel and Katie, waiting patiently for their friend. "I'm afraid Leshia's going to be unable to join you this break time girls," Draco told them before heading off down the corridor whistling a cheerful tune.
XXX
Once Leshia was released at the end of break by Draco's return, she flat out ignored him and ran towards the west entrance, which would lead out to the steps down to Hagrid's hut. She was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures at this rate. As she burst out into the chilly September morning she could see her classmates gathered around the half-giant outside of his hut.
"Damn," she cursed to herself and sped up, which at the end of the day, she decided was the cause of her fall. Tripping over her loose robes she sent herself hurtling down the steps, eventually coming to a halt when she spun off the steps and into the thicket alongside the path. Ignoring the searing pain from her already painful bruises, Leshia's attention was instantly captivated by a pair of extremely pale eyes illuminated in the bushes beyond by a shaft of light. "Hello?" she called out groggily. The eyes started to move away into the darkness of the woods beyond. "Please…help me!"
"Leshia! Are you alrigh'?" It was Hagrid, and after feeling a heavy hand on her cloak, the girl was easily lifted out of the prickly thorns and back onto the path where several of her friends were looking very worried. The remainder of the class – the glib Slytherins – were all gathered at the bottom of the steps silently cracking up with laughter. They had all seen Leshia tumble.
"I'm fine Hagrid," Leshia exclaimed breathily giving him a beaming smile. "Really, it's nothing," she added rubbing away a trickle of blood on her thumb.
"Are you sure? It didn't look like nothin'. Yeh took a bad tumbling Leshia I'll tell yeh that. Maybe you ought'a go to the hospital wing just to be sure eh?" Leshia thought of the embarrassment she would endure should she go to hospital wing. Things were bad enough as it was, so ignoring the painful throbbing in her head, and the searing stinging her thorn cuts were causing she shook her head.
"No really, can we just you know…get on with the class?" she asked hopefully. Hagrid sighed and nodded heavily.
"O' course, if yer sure." With this the massive teacher headed back down the stairs and as he turned Katie and Rachel rushed to Leshia's side.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Katie asked softly as the whole class followed Hagrid back down to the hut. Leshia nodded bravely.
"Yeah."
"That fall was wicked Leesh, you should have seen it!" Rachel crowed happily.
"Yeah, but it was pretty scary though," Katie quickly added shooting her cousin a 'be a little more sensitive' glare, which the redhead flat out ignored. They varied greatly on their estimations of how much Leshia could withstand.
"Did you guys see anyone?" Leshia asked, having not even heeded them. Her thoughts were on the strange eyes she had seen in the woods.
"What? Did someone push you?"
"No," Leshia said exasperatedly, giving Rachel a frustrated look. "Look…it doesn't matter. What are we doing today?" And so they started their lesson, with Leshia enduring more teasing from the Slytherins. Her day continued to get worse as their next lesson was with Snape in the dungeons and the girl managed to lose her house fifteen points. Finally the day drew to a close with a painfully boring History of Magic lesson.
"Done!" Leshia cried out triumphantly when they retreated to their dormitory to get rid of their heavy satchels. "The worst day of my life is officially over!"
"Uh Leesh?" Rachel asked wearily as she tipped out the contents of her bag over her bed so she could refill it for tomorrow's lessons and be done with it. "Don't you still have detention with your dad?"
"Yeah, and I don't know about you two, but I'm going to get started on the Defence Against the Dark Arts essay now, there's only a few copies of the Magical Maladies catalogue in the library, and I bet no one will be using it now." Rachel and Leshia stared dumbstruck at their friend, who didn't seem to notice as she was stacking up all her relevant textbooks and a roll of parchment to take down to the library.
"Katie, it's the very first day of term, we are not going to do homework!" Rachel exclaimed, seemingly appalled by the very notion.
"Yeah!"
"Fine, you two can bum around playing chess for all I care, but don't come complaining to me when there are no copies available and you can't find of any evidence to use in your essays." With this she flounced out of the dormitory, nearly knocking Nicola and Ashley, who were just entering the room, off their feet. Her friends watched her go before turning on one and other with wide grins on their faces.
"So, chess it is then?" Rachel asked happily, and despite wanting to formulate a plan to get back at Allseyer, Leshia agreed and they spent the entire afternoon wrapped up in an exuberant game, which at one point had everyone in the common room watching and Tom giving a running commentary with a magically enhanced voice.
Dinner came and went and soon Leshia was trudging down to her father's office. Without knocking she walked in and found her parents intertwined on the settee, enjoying a glass of sherry. Upon the arrival of their daughter Hermione quickly got to her feet and walked over to her, worriedly examining all the new cuts and bruises that littered her face.
"Hagrid told me," she said sounding concerned. Leshia rolled her eyes and smiled genuinely, trying to let her mother know that she was fine.
"Mum really, I'm fine, don't worry about it," she complained good-naturedly and she pushed away Hermione's outstretched fingers, which were reaching for the worst of her thorn-related injuries. Her mother frowned worriedly, but pulled back anyway and looked over to where Draco had got to his feet and was making his way over to his desk where three of boxes full of documents were waiting.
"Right," he told his daughter and lifted one of the boxes down from his desk and laced it on the floor beside the settee. "Off you go." Leshia fixed him a dark look, before walking over to the box with her head held high. With a roll of her eyes Hermione walked up beside her husband and planted a firm kiss on his cheek.
"I had better go and finish packing," she told him with a smile.
"Packing?" Leshia asked curiously as she sat down beside the box of unsorted manuscripts.
"Yes, I don't have any lessons tomorrow, so I'm going to a site that has just been unearthed in the north."
"For how long?"
"I'll be back Wednesday in time for my lessons," Hermione assured her with a smile. Leshia still looked unconvinced by the whole thing.
"You will be careful?"
"I'll be fine, I promise!" Hermione assured her daughter, before she walked over and ruffled the girl's hair. "Try not to get any more detentions while I'm gone." Leshia smiled and nodded.
"I'll try." With this Hermione left her family to it and while Draco worked Leshia sorted through the papers until finally, after two hours the box was done and Leshia offered her father a goodnight before she rushed back to her common room just before curfew. Her friends were sat in their usual window box looking as though moments earlier they had been arguing.
"What's wrong with you two?"
"Nothing," they both replied forcefully. With a frown Leshia decided to abandon trying to pick apart their personal problems and soon she had joined them up in the window box.
"We have to think of a way to get Allseyer," she told her friends firmly. "He's walking all over me, making me look like such a…well…a loser!" Unsure of how much trouble this was going to get them into, her friends obliged, and by the time they were curled up in bed, they'd already brainstormed enough of an idea together to know that their plan, whatever it was going to turn out to be, would involve snakes ("For the Slytherin that he is", Rachel had added gleefully).
XXX
The following morning Leshia awoke to the sound of Katie being rudely awoken. Guessing that Rachel was on her way to terrorise her next, she slid out from under the covers and threw open her curtains just as Rachel was making a pounce for them. The resulting collision sent both girls flying over the bed and out the other side, giggling fit to burst.
"So this is what it would be like to have an annoying little sister," Leshia said cheerfully as she finally picked herself off the ground and headed over to her trunk where she had laid out her uniform the night before.
"Hey less of the little you!" Rachel complained, bringing herself up to her full height – an entire foot taller than her blonde friend – and puffing her chest out.
"Well I am older."
"By a fortnight!"
"So, older is older."
"Yeah, but I'm bigger, so there," Rachel chirruped happily, before she skipped back to her own bed to change.
"Size isn't everything," Leshia grumbled as she shut her curtains again, changing in the privacy of her bed, though she and the girls had grown up together and they were still too young for teenage shyness, Leshia didn't want her friends to see that she wasn't developing…in the slightest. As they had been unpacking into their chest of drawers the first night, the girl had noticed both of her friends unpacking a selection of bras and she had felt so ashamed of herself that she had unpacked later, when the others had gone to bed. Her distinct lack of growth was beginning to worry her more and more, as she noticed Katie was receiving an awful lot of male attention…not that she wanted boys to look at her. Perish the thought. So why did it pain her when Rodeo's eyes lit up as Katie entered the room?
Her worries were soon forgotten as Parys challenged her to a race on their way to breakfast, and she very nearly would have won had Professor Snape not materialised in their path with his arms crossed and a frown on his miserable face.
"No running in the corridors!" he barked at them. "That's ten points from Gryffindor!" He turned around and on cue Leshia narrowed her eyes at him, before entertaining her friends with a funny impression of the hook-nosed teacher. "And that's another five for your cheek Miss Malfoy." Parys though was laughing and this made it all worthwhile for Leshia, who remained in decidedly good spirits throughout breakfast.
"Hey look, some witch called Tamzin Taelius has gone missing," Katie remarked as she poured over the Daily Prophet her mother had subscribed her to. "They say that there are no leads and she went missing somewhere in Australia…weird…"
"Taelius…that sounds oddly familiar," Leshia thought aloud as she chewed on her breakfast cereal. For a moment it felt as though the girl knew where she had heard that distinctive name before, but just as it was creeping into her mind the post owls flocked into the great hall through the rafters, seeking out their targets with expert precision. Leshia was pleasantly surprised to find a large Barn Owl drop down in front of her with a small package and letter attached to its leg addressed to her. She quickly fed it a Cornflake, before untying the package and reading the letter:
Hello my darling,
Well, I've arrived safely. I've been working all night, there's so much to learn and so little time to do it in! There's a little shop here in the boarding house, and I saw these and thought of you and the girls. Hope you enjoy :)
I'll see you tomorrow sweetheart!
Love Mum xxx
PS Don't give your father such a hard time, he's only doing what he thinks is best
With a smile – with the knowledge that her mother was safe and that she was thinking of her – the girl dropped the letter and turned on the brown paper bag. Carefully she took it apart revealing a mountain of gem like stones in a variety of colours in a book-sized crystal box with the words 'Heaven Drops' etched into the top.
"What are they?" Leshia asked with a frown and she pushed open the lid, picking up one of the surprisingly light stones.
"Hey," Jaime Wood suddenly piped up from down the table. Hearing her sister's surprise and glee, Eliot too looked up and the moment her eyes fell on the box and its contents she too suddenly looked as though she'd been secretly charmed with the cheering charm.
"Where did you get those?" the girl asked, hardly able to contain her excitement and wonder.
"My mum sent them. Why? What are they? Some sort of game?"
"Some sort of game?" Jaime repeated sounding flabbergasted.
"You've really never heard of Heaven Drops, best sweets in the world?" Eliot asked, her eyes hungrily sizing up the sweets.
"They're also the rarest, there's only one wizard in the whole world who knows how to make them and he's up in the north of Scotland. They take thirty years to mature…how did your mum get them?" Leshia shrugged, but was looking at her present with newfound glee.
"She's at a dig site really far north…"
"Why are they so great?" Rachel cut in as she reached for one of the red small stone like gems and after a moment's thought popped it into her mouth. Everyone leaned forward in their seats eagerly, waiting for something fantastic to happen. For a few moments it looked as though the sweets' glory had been grossly exaggerated, as Rachel frowned, trying to figure out why these sweets were considered legendary, but then it happened; it was as though a rainbow was gliding down the back of her throat, filling her body with pure happiness. Her eyes swam with tears of jubilations and for a moment she started to hover out of her seat as the full effect of the sweet took hold. The effect lasted for a full minute, until she softly drifted back down onto the bench with a completely satisfied expression on her face.
"That was," she finally sighed slowly, that silly smile still plastered on her face. "Without a doubt…" Pause, for another contented sigh. "The most amazing experience of my life!" With looks of wonder on their faces Leshia and Katie both reached out and took a sweet, while offering one to the twins, before they too experienced what Rachel had felt. Once their feelings of euphoria had diminished, and all that remained was the feeling that one was being enveloped in a big hug, Leshia reached out and closed the crystal box, pulling it close to her for safe-keeping.
"My mum…is…by far…the best mum…in the whole world," Leshia finally managed through a lot of contented sighs.
XXX
"Good morning children," Professor Ramble called out to her new class of second years, a combined Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class. They had been seated a while as she had had an uncomfortable run-in with Peeves; though she was glad to say Draco Malfoy had helped her fix the problem by banishing the little fiend into the great lake where the darkness would disorientate the poltergeist for the better part of the morning.
"Good morning," a few of the children greeted her in return. Even though the effects of the Heaven Drops still had Leshia and her friends giddy with happiness, the moment Ramble turned to smile at them they all stiffened a little, knowing full well that this woman was a shifty character at best. "My name, is Professor Ramble and I'm going to be taking over from Professor Tinreed. My mother was a muggle and for the longest time I knew only the muggle world, that is, until I got my letter." The beautiful woman paused to beam at the children, before she continued with her introduction. "It is a different world, one that is not without its merits, but alas, one that comes with its fair share of trouble too. I believe that your last teacher taught you the very basics of muggle life, electricity, fuel and the transport system, yes?"
As though controlled by one mind the class nodded as one. With the exception of a few very eager and sheltered children from wizarding families (who were fascinated by all things 'muggle'), the majority of this class found muggle studies a tediously boring class and were all eager to drop it as soon as they were able after their third year.
"I had the pleasure of reviewing your examination papers from the end of term, and I must say, I am very happy to have the pleasure of teaching such a high calibre class." Pandering to the children's' vanity seemed to pay off and soon most of the children were sitting up and paying attention. "Very well, let us begin."
"They're all buying into her big smiles and batting the eyelashes routine," Leshia whispered to Katie and Rachel, her eyes trained on Rodeo on the other side of the classroom, who was sat straight up in his seat watching Ramble with a goofy smile. "Besides, why's he paying attention, he never pays attention, he knows all there is to know about muggles! He is muggle born after all!" Ramble, who either possessed a more lenient approach to chitchat in her classes, or possessed none of Draco's keen hearing, ignored the girls' whisperings as she crossed the classroom over to a long table that contained a series of oblong shapes under a veil.
"Every time we start a new topic, we will begin with a practical, so as you might better understand the subject matter when you come to it," Ramble was telling the children as she walked over to the veil, ready to lift it. "As you all know, Hogwarts Castle seems to have a dampening effect on muggle technology, too much magic disrupts the electricity that fuels all of their gadgets and gizmos. However, I have had a word with Dumbledore and together we had figured out a way to supply this classroom, and this classroom alone, with the means for electrical power." The children grew more interested, so much so, that even Leshia leaned forward a little, wanting to know what was under the veil. "Now, can anyone tell me ways in which muggles relax?" Several hands darted into the air. "Yes Miss White?"
"Watching the tevelision?" she suggested hopefully. Ramble smiled.
"Nearly, it is called a television, and yes, you are most correct, it is a common form of muggle entertainment," Ramble told the class and she lifted one corner of the veil revealing a strange black cube, with a glass front. Muggle-borns and a few of the wizarding children knew exactly what a television was and recognised it for what it was – Leshia in fact, had grown up watching muggle-television (or rather, the 'picturebox' as Draco had called it) when her father had not had the time to devote to her before her coming to Hogwarts. "Anyone else?" Fewer hands flew into the air this time, as the television had been the most obvious guess for the majority of the class. "Mr Holsson?"
"Playing on the computer Professor," Rodeo replied smugly. Once more Ramble nodded with a big smile.
"Very good," she beamed and unveiled a strange object that looked very much like the one that had come before only this one had a strange slab with keys attached to it, and so Ramble continued to unveil several games consoles, a music keyboard, a CD player and a selection of muggle sports equipment.
"For today's lesson, I would like everyone to get familiar with these items…" For a moment the new teacher was forced to pause as a chorus of jubilant cheers went round the classroom, even the girls couldn't help but join in. "We will be starting our first topic tomorrow, Muggle Leisure Activities, and I would like you to be personally acquainted with the themes and objects we will be discussing."
By the end of the hour-long lesson every single child was convinced that Professor Ramble was their new favourite teacher and that Muggle Studies was going to be their new favourite subject. Poor Professor McGonagall, who had them afterwards for transfiguration, grappled to maintain their attention as she taught them the basics of transfiguring live objects into inanimate ones, as they were all whispering to one and other about the great muggle toys they had played with.
"You know," Leshia whispered cheerfully as she feigned to take notes. "She's not half bad, that Ramble woman."
XXX
Later that afternoon Leshia begrudgingly remembered that she had detention with Snape before dinner, so after their last lesson of the day she parted with her friends outside the Gryffindor common room and sulked away, leaving Rachel and Katie in good spirits to enter the bustling common room.
"Are you guys coming outside to play a game of football?" Rodeo asked them as they sat down in their usual window box. After exchanging a look that said Katie couldn't spare the time to play and Rachel didn't consider the game worthy of the time it took to tell Rodeo where he could go stuff his football (only meant in jest, this had become rather a running joke amongst the friends) the boy rushed off with a big grin on his face. Though this was nothing to the way Katie's face lit up as she watched him walk away to where the boys were waiting for him.
"Katie, not again," Rachel suddenly groaned. Her raven-haired cousin looked to her in guilty surprise, though a trace of anger lingered in her green eyes.
"I haven't done anything!" Rachel lowered her head with an incredulous look on her face.
"So I just imagined that little trickle of drool dribbling from your mouth the moment Rodeo's back was turned?" she asked pointedly, though her large blue eyes filled with concern.
"Yes, as a matter of fact you did!"
"Oh Katie, I just don't think it's a good idea for you to go fancying Rodeo, that's all."
"Well why?" Katie suddenly complained with a forlorn expression on her face. "I mean…you know…hypothetically," she quickly added.
"Just because of…Leesh and everything," Rachel tried tactfully. At this remark Katie's face seemed to morph into an anger that she normally held below the surface.
"Well why should Leshia get first dibs on all the boys, it's not as if she's stuck a flag into him and marked him as Leshia-only territory is it?" Katie complained. "I mean for pity's sake, she doesn't even fancy him."
"She does," Rachel countered firmly. "You know it, I know it…and deep down…well she knows it too, she just hasn't realised it yet."
"What, and while she grows up the rest of us are supposed to just hang about in the rafters picking up her cast offs?" The two cousins looked one and other in the eye hotly, until both softened their expressions and looked away. "I didn't mean that…you know I didn't. It just bugs me, I mean, I really like Rodeo and I think, well, I think he likes me too." Rachel sighed and hung her head thinking, 'that's what I'm afraid of'. Though she could never choose between her cousin and their best friend, she knew how Leshia would respond to Katie putting the moves on Rodeo. Leshia wasn't emotionally mature enough to deal with something like this, but the girl did believe that Katie was mature enough to put aside her feelings for the boy, so as their friendship might last.
XXX
It took Leshia all of half an hour to dawdle her way down to Snape's office. So much so, that by the time she got there he was most unimpressed.
"You're late Miss Malfoy," he barked at her the moment she walked in. Strongly considering walking right back out again, Leshia set her face in a grim expression and walked forward, despite her legs wanting very much to run in the opposite direction.
"I'm sorry sir, but…"
"That isn't important," Snape snapped and he handed her a large metal bucket. "I believe you know what to search for if I tell you to collect Kaan Husk seeds?" Leshia couldn't hide the pained expression on her face – she had spent an excruciating Saturday last year siphoning the contents of these impossibly hard husks into buckets. "Ah yes." The old Potions Master smiled. "I see you do remember. Very good, off you go then." Seeing that argument was futile, the girl glared forcefully at her father's friend before stalking out.
"Bloody Elf work," she grumbled as she made her way through the grounds – passing an exuberant football match Rodeo was heading – to the edge of the dark forest. Arguably, her task was easier than the year before as she had learned a new spell, which would split the husks open without the use of a sharp branch. Even better still, Snape had somehow bewitched the bucket to empty itself (either that or it was a bottomless bucket), so she could avoid any contact with the ghastly man. And so, the afternoon dwindled on and the sun started to fall behind the mountain ridge that snaked around the great lake. By dusk Leshia was sure she had collected enough seeds to fill ten thousand buckets, and she was getting thoroughly annoyed at the whole thing.
Crack
The girl stopped what she was doing, nearly dropping her wand in surprise. Very slowly she turned around and peered into the dark forest. Someone was there…watching her…she could feel it, even though she couldn't see further than a few yards.
"Hello?" she called out with more courage than she felt. "Is there anybody there?" Silence. And yet still she had the feeling as though somebody was waiting on the very edge of her vision, watching her. Feeling the little hairs on the back of neck starting to rise, the girl slowly climbed to her feet and started heading towards the darkness, her wand stretched far in front of her. "I know you're there! Show yourself!" As though on her command, slowly a shape started to emerge…or rather, a human-shaped object became slightly less black than the surrounding impenetrable blackness. It was not this that had Leshia worried; it was those eyes…they were back!
"Miss Malfoy what are you doing? Get away from there!" Spinning around Leshia found Snape walking towards her quite quickly, looking determined to get the girl away from the border of the forest. "Students are not allowed to enter the dark forest!" With an angry guttural noise Leshia spun around to hide her anger and noticed that she shape, along with its hypnotic pale eyes, had retreated back into the darkness.
"Did you see it professor?" she asked as she felt the slimy teacher walk up behind her, evidently watching over her shoulder.
"See what Malfoy?" The girl turned around and looked up suspiciously at the Potions Master, he too was hiding something.
"Nothing, sir."
XXX
Snape personally escorted Leshia to the great hall where she was happy to see that her friends had taken a Heaven Drop from their hiding place and had left it waiting on Leshia's plate for her return, knowing full-well that detention would probably not put their friend in the best of moods. The sweet soon worked its magic and within no time Leshia was happily laughing along with the others about Rodeo being beaten by a Ravenclaw girl at the computer games they had enjoyed earlier that day – despite the girl being a wizard born child! The young girl did not notice Snape leaning in close to her father to whisper something in his ear, that instantly made the young man pale and turn to look at his daughter with a slight look of suspicious concern. However, the young girl did not look, and she went to bed that night with a conscience clear of her father's worry.
The week progressed slowly, though Leshia was happy her mother returned in one piece and also that Snape had changed her punishment to sorting out his stock cupboard instead. After their initial burst of love for Muggle Studies, it had soon returned to its position as least favoured subject, especially when Ramble set them a four-foot essay on the importance Leisure activities have had in forming Muggle Culture. In fact, the second years were noticing a marker increase in their homework-loads and by Thursday night Leshia and Rachel were sat hunched over a well-fought for copy of Magical Maladies, trying to complete their Defence Against the Dark Arts essays for the next day. It was late, as they hadn't been able to complete it before dinner due to Leshia's punishment. Curfew was nearing and this particular copy of the catalogue had been turned into a Library Only copy as children had actually cursed each other into the hospital wing trying to fight over it at the last minute.
"Should we have one more Heaven Drop, just to see us through?" Rachel asked hopefully. Leshia sniggered, but shook her head, quickly noting down a quote from the catalogue to help her equations for her counterspell.
"If we have one of those sweets we won't be in any fit state for working, now come on Rach, concentrate," the girl chuckled. "I think I'm nearly done with mine, here, what do you think?" Rachel peered over her friend's equations and by the grim expression on her face Leshia guessed that either her work was utter rubbish, or Rachel realised that Leshia had solved it and now she'd have to work alone.
"That looks well good," the redhead sighed. "I bet you just invented a real counterspell, and they'll name it after you or something." Leshia had to suppress the urge to roll around laughing as they had already been told off three times by the irritable librarian. "I wish my mum was a wizarding genius. All mine's good for is making up new spells to keep your hair ultra shiny, or a self manicuring nail set…" The girl trailed of and sighed heavily, making Leshia's heart ache a little; she hated seeing her friends suffer.
"Your mum loves you Rach, at least you know that," she tried tentatively. Rachel sighed and for a moment it looked as though tears were glistening in her eyes. Leshia frowned heavily, she had rarely ever seen Rachel crying, what was going on? Evidently there was more to Rachel's sombre mood than she had first thought. "Rachel what's wrong? Has something happened?"
"No," Rachel suddenly said with a forced smile, and she pulled back sniffing heavily, forcing her emotions back into her subconscious where no doubt they would swell for a further few weeks, and would undoubtedly be the cause of a very bad stomach ache further down the line. "Come on, now you're done you can help me!" With a comforting smile Leshia nodded once before she leaned over and peered over Rachel's notes.
"Okay, first thing's first," she said with a smirk. "Wand is spelled with a 'w' and not a 'v'."
The girls managed to finish their homework just in time, as Rachel had finished lasting the last letter of her essay the book suddenly snapped shut before them and floated obediently back to its shelf. They chased one and other happily back to the common room – or rather, Rachel tried to attack her best friend for accusing her of being illiterate and not listening to her cries of embarrassment that she knew perfectly well how to spell 'wand' and it had been a slip of the quill, that was all. They were nearly there when all of a sudden Leshia was hugged firmly from behind and half lifted from her feet.
"Hello you." It was her mother and after spinning round and grinning at Hermione, Rachel ran on ahead leaving the mother and daughter some time alone. "Glad to see you've been doing something productive," her mother told the girl brightly. Leshia grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Hardly, dad seems to think it's important to figure out a counterspell for the Spinewater Curse, but I think it's just funny." Unable to help herself Hermione smiled conspiratorially.
"Go on then, let's see," she said eagerly and Leshia showed her mother her work with a big smile on her face. Seeing the look of pride swell on her mother's face was well worth it and soon she'd been enveloped in another hug. "What's wrong with you mum? Did someone feed you love potion or something?" Hermione laughed genially and she let the girl go once more, beaming at her.
"I'm just so proud of you little one," she said and Leshia could have seen tears welling up in her eyes.
"Mum," she grumbled happily. "You can't call me that anymore, I'm nearly thirteen!"
"Well, you're still little aren't you?" The girl cast her mother a disapproving look, which soon had Hermione laughing fondly once more. "Don't worry darling, you will grow!"
"Yeah, fat, knowing my luck," Leshia grumbled with a small smile. "So where's dad?"
"Prowling," Hermione replied with a conspiratorial smile.
"Good to know," Leshia admitted simply.
"Hey you, you know you're not supposed to roam the corridors past curfew, it's not safe," her mother countered sounding surprisingly serious. "I'm serious Leshia, if I hear you've been breaking curfew I won't be happy with you." Leshia sighed and nodded, defying her father was one thing; she'd been doing it her whole life at home when he was a relatively soft touch and her favourite pastime was driving the already irate houselves to distraction, but defying her mother was another. Hermione had an awful talent for making her feel indescribably guilty.
"So what were you doing out here anyway?" Leshia asked, trying to change the subject before she entered into a promise she was bound to break.
"Your dad and I were wondering if tomorrow evening you'd want to have dinner with us in Hogsmeade?" Hermione smiled happily when Leshia couldn't contain her excitement and her face broke into a happy smile.
"Hogsmeade? Why, what's the special occasion?" Leshia gabbled, tripping over her words in excitement.
"Well, since you asked…it's our wedding anniversary," she said with a bashful smile. Leshia frowned. "Thirteen years ago tomorrow I was about to become the happiest witch in England."
"You got married right before I was born?" Leshia asked with a wrinkled brow. Hermione laughed and nodded.
"Well, it was a popular time for weddings actually…" She trailed off. It was hardly appropriate to tell her preteen daughter that once everyone celebrated the downfall of Lord Voldemort rather too carelessly and discovered that in nine months time there would be a major baby boom, a lot of weddings suddenly started cropping up just in time to avoid an entire wizarding generation being born illegitimately.
"And Professor Dumbledore says I can go?" Leshia quickly asked, pushing the thought of her parents' wedding from her mind. Hermione smiled and nodded.
"He thinks it's delightful that we celebrate as a family…" Hermione stopped speaking and stared down the corridor with narrowed eyes.
"Mum?" The girl frowned and turned around to see why her mother had suddenly turned frosty and instantly saw what the problem was. Her father was walking towards them, though he hadn't noticed them as he was bowed in a rather intimate looking conversation with none other than Professor Ramble. Draco was nearly upon his peeved wife before he realised that the two women in his life were staring at him nonplussed – so like mother and daughter, their expressions were identical.
"Oh," Draco said sounding surprised, though the frown on his face indicated he didn't realise why they were glaring at him. "What's going on?" He glanced to Ramble for guidance, but the young woman was looking just as surprised as he, if not more so.
"One of the children set off an exploding card deck right by ear," the blonde bombshell suddenly erupted loudly, causing Hermione to dart back a little and Leshia to cover her ears. "I'm sorry," Ramble managed slightly softer. "I can't really hear very well, ever so sorry." She looked so humbled and embarrassed that Leshia softened her expression.
"Who did it?" she asked.
"I'm sorry?"
"Who did it?" the girl repeated louder.
"Who did it?" Draco stepped in, leaning close to the woman and speaking loudly in her ear. Ramble smiled and shrugged, trying to indicate that she didn't know. Leshia smiled kindly at the teacher, though Hermione still looked at her with a scowl.
"Have you eaten a sour lemon drop?" Ramble asked very loudly and Hermione gasped in surprise. "I hear they're circulating the school." Quickly the young mother shook her head and stepped behind her daughter, placing her hands on her shoulders. Ramble sensed the family tension and decided to make a getaway, so after she had positively bellowed her goodbye, Draco turned on his wife with his arms crossed, and a borderline angry yet amused expression. It was a stance he'd assumed many a time before while telling young Leshia off, and out of pure habit, she tried to move out of the firing range, but Hermione held her shoulders tightly.
"And?" Draco finally asked sounding amused. "Is there a reason why you keep shooting daggers at the poor woman?"
"Uh, mum?" Their daughter was ignored.
"Yes, I don't trust her," Hermione exclaimed firmly, causing Draco to snigger with laughter.
"Um…dad?"
"You just don't like her because she's the new favourite teacher around here," the young man laughed. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, but a smile pulled at her face.
"I can assure you, that's not it."
"Really, I should go and do my homework," Leshia tried, but her parents seemed oblivious to her.
"Granger," Draco chuckled, put he approached his wife, firmly kissing her while cupping the back of her head with his hand. Leshia squirmed out from between them and gave them her most disgusted look.
"Ugh yuck! There are impressionable minds present if you hadn't noticed," she grumbled and turned to go.
"Wait a minute," Draco called after her and Leshia turned around with a grimly anxious expression, what were they going to do next? "I think I've been very lenient with you on the whole Tally arrangement this week, not once have you come to say goodnight. Have you changed your mind or something?" Leshia grinned happily and quickly rushed forward embracing her father tightly. "Oh, so you haven't suddenly started preferring the houself to your old man then? That's good." Reaching up on her tiptoes Leshia kissed his cheek firmly, before turning round and hugging Hermione tightly.
"Goodnight," she said happily, before rushing off to the Fat Lady before her parents could break into another kissing match. As she entered the common room she found Katie and Rachel commandeering the comfy settee with the rest of their friends. After dumping her satchel and her finished homework in their dormitory Leshia rushed back down again and dropped down amongst them, leaning against the side of the settee and bringing her legs up over Parys, who in turn was half slouched over Rachel and Nicola.
"I'm going to have dinner in Hogsmeade tomorrow!" she announced proudly and she spent the rest of the evening basking in her friend's jealousy over such an exciting prospect.
XXX
"Essays," came Draco's bark the following afternoon when the children filed in for their last lesson for the day – an especially long lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts. It had somehow been scheduled that instead an hour of lesson followed by the last half hour lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts would consume the entire final hour and a half of lessons of the week. Nobody seemed keen on this idea, not least Draco, who would have to find new ways to entertain – or terrorise – the children into paying attention. On his command, seventeen essays floated out towards his outstretched hand.
"Allseyer, Dregon and Stump…" Draco finally uttered darkly, looking up at the boys with one eyebrow raised. Across the classroom Leshia happily grinned to her friends; it was nice to see her nemesis be the subject of her father's anger for once. "Is there a reason why your essays aren't in the pile?" Damian Allseyer's cronies trembled a little under Draco's gaze, but the sharp-featured young man sitting between them did not. He felt he was above filthy blood-traitors like Draco Malfoy, and refused to feel intimidated by him.
"We couldn't get hold of the catalogue," Allseyer drawled. "Those two were hogging it last night and wouldn't let us use it!" Here he cast a furious glare across the classroom to where Leshia and Rachel were grinning smugly – this was strictly true, and at the time they had been gleeful to deprive the Slytherins. Draco turned for a moment and looked at the girls, who promptly stopped smiling and stared back at him expressionlessly. Surely he couldn't tell them off, they'd done their homework!
"Perhaps you ought to have done your homework on time instead of leaving it till the last minute," Draco finally said, giving all five of the children a pointed look. "That's thirty points from Slytherin and you three can join me after class in detention!" Feeling outraged at being punished for something the Slytherins believed to be Leshia and Rachel's fault anyway; they seethed all the way through the lesson. Not feeling concerned in the slightest that they might seek out revenge, Leshia and the girls happily partook in the lesson and by the time the final bell of the day rang they were in very high spirits. Even Leshia's penultimate detention with Snape failed to ruin the mood.
"What's he got you doing today?" Katie asked as they paused by the main stairs that would lead Leshia down into the dungeons and the girls up to their common room.
"Oh, something to do with reference notes or something in the staff work room," Leshia explained with a shrug. Rachel offered her a comforting smile.
"Don't worry Leesh, just one more and then you're free!" Leshia was well aware of this fact, and she couldn't wait to get it over with so she could reclaim the precious little free time they were given as it was. Snape was waiting for her outside his office and without a word he flounced off. Wanting very much to turn around and walk away, Leshia begrudgingly followed him through a series of corridors she'd never been down until they reached a large room full of filing cabinets.
"In here you will find the reference card for every article, decree, spells written on scraps of parchment and even student lists," Snape explained as he pulled open a filing cabinet and a stack of cards jumped into the air. "I need you to find cards referencing any work written by a certain P L Eldegar. Is that understood?" Leshia nodded and sighed as Snape left her to it. It was a tedious job, searching through the many filing cabinets, especially when it turned out that Peeves had got into the occasional one and messed up the alphabetical listings. An hour in and Leshia was taking a small break behind one of the filing cabinets to read an interesting card she'd found about a certain Nigeleus Malfoy (a student at the school a hundred years previous) when the door to the reference room swung open and three figures stalked in. After glancing around themselves to check that they were alone, they slammed the door shut.
"Damn blood traitor, when my father hears of this one he'll be furious." It was Allseyer, and evidently, he and his thuggish cronies were alone. Hearing this jab at her father, Leshia instantly jumped to her feet and stepped out from behind the filing cabinet.
"Watch who you're calling blood-traitor you filthy bigot," she cried out to him angrily. All three boys spun around in surprise, they hadn't known the girl was in the room with them.
"Any pureblood who sullies their bloodline with mudblood offspring are traitors Malfoy!" Allseyer hissed and he started to approach Leshia, while his cronies slowly started making their way round the room. Had Leshia not been so blinded by her anger for this cretin before her, she may have realised in time that they were closing her in. "You may carry the name Malfoy, but you and that mudblood loving father of yours don't deserve it," the boy spat. Leshia laughed aloud mockingly.
"Oh you think you're so bad don't you? You think that just because your dad was a supporter of Voldemort that you can act like the tough guy? I didn't see your dad sacrificing himself up to be a Death Eater? He was a wuss just like you!"
"Well it's better than being a traitor like yours! We've all seen it, that mark on his arm he wants so much to hide, but no, it'll never go away! He was a traitor and he'll be reminded of it every day for the rest of his life!" Allseyer yelled angrily.
"Oh get over yourself," Leshia snapped. By now Dregon and Stump had circled her and too late the girl realised she was trapped, and Allseyer was approaching her with an evil grin on his face. She lifted her wand and began a spell, but before she could utter out the words her wand was snatched from her hand from behind and she was kicked hard in the back of her legs causing her to drop to her knees in pain.
"I'm going to enjoy this, you little blood-traitor…"
XXX
After a short spell of darkness and a lot of pain, Leshia pried her eyes open to the serious face of Snape.
"Oh, it's you," she managed with a grimace and she sat up quickly, feeling every bone in her body aching.
"Indeed," Snape said icily. "I am beginning to grow tired of scraping you off the ground Miss Malfoy. Can you walk? I believe your arm is broken." With a wince of agony the girl climbed to her feet and realised that yes she could walk. "Who did this?" the tall man demanded as they walked at a painfully slow pace towards the hospital wing.
"It was an accident," Leshia complained through gritted teeth.
"Walk into a fist did you?" Snape muttered petulantly. He had guessed that the girl wouldn't tell him even if he tried to force it out of her. She had some delusional idea that she was not a grass (no matter what pain was inflicted on her) and that revenge was far sweeter when delivered personally, rather than through the teachers.
"Something like that." Finally they reached the hospital wing and Madam Pomfry descended on young Leshia, quickly mending her broken arm and her nose, which had also unfortunately been broken. Within no time the young girl looked back to normal, though a few bruises and cuts remained, merely adding to the collection she had already gathered from her other 'accidents' previously in the week. It wasn't long before the hospital door swung open and Leshia's parents rushed in, in varying degrees of worry. Hermione looked extremely concerned to see that once more her daughter had been used as a human punch bag, whereas Draco merely looked angry that some student was taking his family for a ride.
"Oh Leshia!" Hermione exclaimed worriedly as she sat down beside her daughter and hugged her firmly.
"Mum I'm okay, Madam Pomfry fixed me," Leshia complained and she pulled back.
"Who did this to you?" Draco asked sounding dark and distant.
"I don't know," Leshia lied firmly.
"Damn your pride Leshia, who did it?" Draco was angry. How on Earth could he protect his daughter if she wouldn't let him?
"Draco, calm down," Hermione warned, but she turned on her daughter with a firm look. "We know you're not telling us the truth, who keeps hurting you sweetheart?" Leshia looked incredibly pained to be confronted with the concern in her mother's eyes, but she had to fix the Allseyer problem herself; she had too much pride and there was too much at stake. Hermione shut her eyes and for one horrible moment it looked as though she was about to cry, but the tears didn't come, and after a few moments she got to her feet.
"Come on," she told her husband softly. "We should all go and get ready for this evening, if you're up for it that is?" The mother looked to her daughter with concern in her face, which told the girl that she was forgiven. Hermione could never understand Leshia fully, the girl had too much of her father in her, but she knew that she couldn't get mad over this. She and Leshia were two different people, and from the very beginning Hermione had told herself that no matter how difficult it was at times, she would never judge her daughter for being the way she was.
"Yeah I'm fine," Leshia said with a smile, eager to go out for dinner. Hermione turned to go and Leshia began to clamber off the bed, but Draco didn't move.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me," he said dangerously, moving to stand in her path, his arms crossed and his expression dark. Leshia looked up at him with a similar expression and shook her head.
"I can't tell you what I don't know."
"I think you do know."
"Well I don't." For a moment the pair stared one and other in the eye, until the silence was broken by the doors swinging open once more and Rachel and Katie running over.
"Are you okay?" Katie demanded worriedly.
"Yeah we just heard that Parys and Rodeo overheard a bunch of…" Leshia quickly shook her head urgently and her redhead friend quickly fell silent and bit her lip. Draco stared from one child to the next with an incredulous expression on his face, but before all Hell could break loose Hermione took him by the arm and started to pull him away. Knowing that Hermione was distressed by the whole situation Draco let it drop – for now – and then after fighting an internal battle he shrugged his wife off and crossed the distance between himself and his daughter with one stride, before he roughly kissed the top of her head. He had easily masked his concern behind his anger, but beneath that he was terrified hat one day whoever was assailing her (and he had a very good idea about who it was) would go too far and he would loose his precious child.
"Leshia meet us in thee entrance hall in fifteen minutes okay?" Hermione called after their daughter as she and Draco walked out. Once outside the young man let out a heavy sigh and felt very much like slamming his fist into the very solid wall.
"Draco please, you have to remember, she's exactly like you!" Hermione tried soothingly and she wrapped her arm through his, squeezing it tightly. "She's too proud to let you fight her battles for her." Draco shook his head, but he knew his wife was right. When he was a boy, he would have wanted to take revenge himself, but that only opened the door to further worries. What if Leshia did something terrible that ended up getting her expelled…or worse?
"I worry for her," he finally muttered softly. Hermione cast him a fond smile and sighed contentedly.
"We can't live her life for her Draco," she said sadly. "She has to make her own mistakes."
XXX
Once the girls had hurried back to the common room Leshia told them all about the attack on her as she sorted through her chest of drawers for something to wear out. To say the least the girls weren't in the least bit surprised when she disclosed the identity of her attackers.
"That Allseyer is so going to get what's coming to him," Rachel bristled. Leshia nodded to her briefly before she climbed onto her bed to change behind the shelter of her curtains.
"Hey Leesh," Katie suddenly said curiously.
"Hmmm?"
"I hear that Daisy Cartwright in Ravenclaw fancies Rodeo and that he might fancy her back." Rachel turned to stare at her cousin in shock; where had that just come from? While she was desperately trying to shake her head to stop Katie from going any further, the curtains slowly opened revealing a dressed Leshia with a forced natural look on her face.
"Really?" she managed as she jumped down and searched for her coat in her trunk.
"Yeah, they might even go out," Katie added, expertly trying to gauge Leshia's reaction, but the girl had her back turned to her friends.
"So? Who cares about Rodeo's love life?" she finally exclaimed with a lopsided grin. "I mean it sounds as though she's got you to ask my permission. Why would I care?" Katie shrugged with a small smile.
"I was just thinking out loud," she finally said. Leshia nodded slowly, her expression pensive.
"Hey here's an idea, how about we all have a Heaven Drop before you go," Rachel suggested cheerfully and after making sure the coast was clear she lifted the corner of Katie's mattress and pulled out the box, hidden securely in one of Grandma Weasley's famous knitter jumpers. Before the other two could object Rachel had popped one into both of their mouths before enjoying her own sweet.
"I could never get bored of these," Katie finally sighed contentedly as Leshia started making for the door.
"Enjoy your boring Hogwarts dinner children, I'm going out," Leshia announced proudly and even though she was feeling giddy from the Heaven Drop, her excitement still peaked a little when her friends gave her grumbling expressions. With that she was gone and only when they were sure that the young Malfoy had disappeared through the portrait hole did Rachel turn on her cousin with an accusing expression.
"What the heck was that Kate?" Katie rolled her eyes, but still remained firm.
"How else are we supposed to find out how she really feels about Rodeo?"
"Yeah, well…did you see how funny she got? Don't do it Katie, I'm begging you!"
"Don't do what?" Katie demanded petulantly.
"Don't ask him out, please!"
"You know what Rachel, you've been siding with Leesh all term. Forgotten that we're related have you?" And with this the taller girl flounced off leaving Rachel angry at her for being so blunt, and also feeling sorry for her that she was being put in an awkward situation.
XXX
Leshia remained gleeful as she and her parents took a ride in one of the horseless carriages out of the school grounds and down towards the village she had never truly explored. The station lay on the very outskirts of Hogsmeade and from the tracks the view of the village was very obscured. Hermione pointed out all the shops and pubs that she remembered so fondly from her days at school. Finally their carriage came to a halt outside a small cosy establishment with the words 'Corman's Cauldron' written on an ageing sign.
"Who's Corman?" Leshia asked curiously as Draco helped her down, before offering his hand to his wife.
"He's a very talented chef," Hermione said softly. "The only one in fact, to have been named Witch Weekly's favourite chef fifty times!" Leshia frowned.
"Fifty? How old is he?"
"Very," Draco muttered with a grin and he held out his arm to his wife, which she took while smiling adoringly up at him. "Shall we?" And so the small family made their way in to the cosy restaurant. Every table in the main dining hall was different, having come from different nations from across the world, and every single one of these tables was full of happy customers, who were surprisingly hushed, though judging from the joyous expressions on their faces every time they took a bite, this was because they were spending most of their time savouring their food, and not enjoying their company. The Malfoys were led to the only empty table in the restaurant, and in Leshia's view, the best, as it was a large gothic mahogany table from Eastern Europe placed in one of the secluded bay windows, alight with candles. Draco and Hermione sat down opposite one and other as man and wife and Leshia was guided to the seat beside her father.
"You know when we were in school I always wondered what this place was like," Hermione said contentedly and she leaned forward, her eyes roving round the room. Draco was watching her, his eyes beaming brightly, an ever so slight small on his lips.
"I took Pansy here once," he finally said with a lopsided grin, which only intensified when Leshia spun around and looked up at him somewhat disgustedly.
"That woman at the world cup? You and her…" With an expression that read clearly that it didn't bear thinking about Leshia looked to her mother, who was smiling fondly.
"That was in sixth year wasn't it? I thought the rumours were true." Draco shrugged. "And, did she enjoy herself, or was this place not up to her high standards?" The young man chuckled, mainly at the continuing look of disgust on his daughter's face.
"Well, she certainly ate it all, and then most of mine," he said cheerfully.
"Why weren't you hungry?" Leshia finally asked. Draco looked away and caught Hermione's eye. She saw the sadness that lay there, the sadness that spoke of the torture Draco endured in sixth year, of what he had to do…of what he was going through…he couldn't hold down a single meal in those days, such had been his suffering.
"Well, because of the way she ate of course," Draco finally managed with a grin. "It was ghastly!" For a moment the small family was interrupted by being granted the menus.
"So how did you two get together? If you were with that Parkinson woman?" Draco and Hermione cast each other a fond look.
"Well," Hermione explained. "It all started in our seventh year, when we all believed poor Albus to be gone and Lord Voldemort was fast becoming more powerful than he had been before. Your father turned spy against him for the order of the Phoenix, even though it nearly killed him on several occasions."
"Why?" Leshia asked humbly.
"Because Voldemort was a very powerful wizard," Draco explained softly, closing his eyes to block away the memories of those dark times. "He knew what most didn't."
"We were preparing for a great battle…"
"The Battle of the Ages?" Leshia asked hopefully, referring to the large battle that had taken place on the night Voldemort had been defeated. Hermione nodded.
"I was helping your heal your father's leg after he'd barely escaped with his life from a run in with a band of rogue aurors who didn't know he was on our side, and well, we just sort of got talking…"
"You should be more careful Draco, you're too important to us to throw your life away to some scared vigilantes with sharp sticks," an eighteen-year-old Hermione complained hotly as she tried tentatively to focus her Healing charm on an eighteen-year-old Draco's leg. He smiled dashingly at her, gritting his teeth against the pains shooting through his body.
"Granger, you flatter me," he managed brusquely, a darkly amused glint in his bloodshot eyes. Hermione glanced up at him with a small smile.
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Oh I know, perish the thought of sweet and innocent Hermione Granger deigning to dote some attention on evil Draco Malfoy," the young man chuckled, mocking Molly Weasley, who still had a very disapproving opinion of him. She flat out refused to speak to him and would leave the room when he entered the kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place with news that he had undoubtedly risked his life to bring to them. Such was her anger over his part in Dumbledore's decline.
"Oh leave Molly alone," Hermione laughed. "And besides, you are evil," she added with a teasing smile.
"That hurts Granger, really it does," Draco replied and he threw his hand over his heart, suddenly adopting a horrified expression, for all pretences, looking as though he were suffering from a heart attack.
"Oh my God Draco! Are you alright?" Hermione called out and she rushed forward, dropping down at his side and leaning down to see whether he was still breathing. As she did so his expression suddenly turned into a charming smile.
"That's what I like about you Granger," he said simply and sat up, twisting his hands together awkwardly. "Even though for six years I've acted despicably…and even though I've done terrible things…you'd still help me. As far as good people go…well…you're the best one I know…" It had obviously taken the young man an awful lot of effort to say these things so Hermione smiled and reached out her hand, which after a moment's hesitation, Draco took tentatively.
"Well, as far as evil people go…you're by far the most surprising," she said kindly, with an expression that read that all else was forgiven, and all that mattered now was getting Harry through the following weeks, which would hopefully bring about the end of Voldemort.
"So did you get together then?" Leshia asked eagerly. Draco smiled and shook his head.
"No, not that day anyway," he said and he hung his head, feeling bashful over the events that had followed.
"Your father fell in love with me," Hermione told Leshia happily.
"Well, sort of," Draco quickly tried as he lifted his head and grinned at his wife.
"Only he didn't have the courage to tell me!" Hermione continued with a big smile, which soon faded. "I don't think he ever would have said anything had he…"
"What did he do?" Leshia asked eagerly.
"I saved her life," Draco replied softly, feeling renewed tension in his chest as he thought of the day he nearly lost his true love before he'd even had the chance to tell her…
Draco dragged Hermione's unconscious body from the fray he'd just risked his life to save her from. She was badly injured and terrified that he was going to loose her, there were tears streaming down the young man's bloody face.
"Hermione," he called loudly, trying to rouse her. "Granger please, you have to wake up! They've set up an anit-apparation spell over this whole area, I can't get us out of here, you have to wake up!" Still the young woman's eyes remained closed, her heavy eyelashes, thick with the ash that was choking the air and blocking out the sun, fluttered against her bloody cheeks. Around them the sounds of the Great Battle filled the sky. Like a mighty roar the cries, the curses, the screaming, all culminated into a deafening sound, one that echoed around the burning forest. The young man scrambled in his bag for a flask of a drought that Hermione herself had cooked up, one which might help bring fallen comrades round. At the time Draco had teased her for her use of the word 'might', but now, it was his only chance of saving her. He eased a little of it into her mouth, but were he expecting something spectacular, then he would have been gravely disappointed.
"Hermione please," he cried out when the woman of his dreams looked no closer to waking up. "I can't go on without you, I can't…" The tears were streaming down Draco's face as all around him the Roar of the battle rose into the sky. "I'm afraid, I'm afraid of losing you, when I've never even told you how much you mean to me. Damn it Granger, I love you!" Feeling as though the entire world was coming to an end Draco dropped his face into Hermione's cloak, trying to block out the horrors that night had brought.
"You what?" Draco pulled back in surprise and stared into Hermione's eyes in amazement. "You love me?" Hermione croaked once more. Draco swallowed against his tears and nodded ashamedly, but Hermione didn't look appalled…no, she was smiling. Very painfully, the young woman forced herself to sit up and then she reached out a bloody hand and touched the young man's cheek. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I couldn't…not after everything I've done…after everything that's happened. I couldn't bare for you to turn me away…"
"But what made you so sure I would?" Draco looked up, his eyes filling with hope. Hermione was smiling back at him, a few tears trickling down her cheeks. Draco lifted his hand and wiped them away with the backs of his fingers. "I love you Draco Malfoy."
"And then what happened?" Leshia asked eagerly. Hermione and Draco met each other's gaze and their eyes crinkled in fond memory. What happened next was hardly appropriate for their twelve-year-old daughter to hear.
"Well…" Hermione began awkwardly.
"We got separated," Draco cut in, skipping out the awkward part of the story. "Molly and Arthur Weasley found us and they took your mother back with them, because she needed medical care and I went to find Harry…" He hung his head; this part of the story was too painful and not for Leshia to hear as it involved his father. "And together we took on Voldemort."
"And won," Leshia added triumphantly. Draco grinned broadly at her and nodded.
"But that meant that he had to go into hiding and I had no idea if he was alive, or if he was ever coming back again," Hermione explained softly. "And when he did things just got complicated because of Viktor and…" Everyone at the table fell silent and whereas Draco was staring in shock at his wife, his expression slowly becoming unimpressed, Leshia looked surprised.
"Krum?" she asked.
"Drop it Leshia," Draco warned and Hermione looked pained, before hanging her head.
"But dad!" Leshia cried out exasperatedly. "Mum just…"
"I said drop it," Draco repeated firmly. All set to go into belligerent preteen ranting mode Leshia squared herself up for an argument, which never came. Thunderous explosions roared up from the streets, followed by the shrieking sounds of the windows breaking and the doors groaning under the pressure wave. Outside in the street, something had just come to a fiery end. Without thinking Draco was on his feet within seconds, his wand held out in front of him with one hand, and his daughter wrenched to her feet and now running to catch up with him while he still held the scruff of her jumper in the other.
"Mum!" Leshia cried out as she searched the panicking crowds for her mother's familiar face. "Dad I can't see her!" she cried out sounding terrified as they flew out onto the street where the fire had consumed a row of carriages. Black burned wood and twisted metal littered the ground and the air was acrid with black smoke and swirling red flames.
"Draco!" It was Hermione, and she sounded as though she were in pain. Without thinking Draco headed back, still trying to keep his daughter by his side, but it would seem fate had other ideas as she was wrenched from his grip by a passing throng of terrified villagers. Leshia was swept away hearing her father crying out her name, but try as she might the girl couldn't fight the crowds. She eventually escaped down the other end of the burning street, but her view of the restaurant was obscured by the swirling flames and the terrifying smoke. Feeling as though she would much rather curl up tightly in a little ball, Leshia slowly placed on foot in front of the other, heading back towards the chaos and the debris with a heavy heart. She had only stepped forward a few paces when there, emerging out of the flames like two beacons in the dark, those two grey eyes lit up in the distance…
XXXXXX
END OF PART II
Thanks for the reviews I received, I have tried to take the advice into consideration :)
Please review, won't someone please think of the fanfic writers?
Update 19/11/05: If you guys want more, you're going to have to review. Sorry to seem harsh, but if this story isn't generating interest (though enough of you are reading it), then I won't continue to post – got better things to do than rush to finish a chapter for people who don't even seem to like it
