Disclaimer: I'll own Harry when hell freezes over.
A/N: Alas, the moment all….hmmm….six of you have been waiting for. Thanks to my wonderful Claire. Yadda yadda… PLEASE review. If you aren't giving me some feedback, how can I improve? Sigh. Read on then…
Chapter 7
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
-Yogi Berra
Hermione found Ron's body near the bottom of the pile and quickly checked for a pulse. "I found it!" She said aloud to no one in particular, "He's alive!" She looked down at her husband, his face cut and bruised, and she was swarmed with memories of a young red-headed boy riding a stone horse across a chess board. She thought about how stupidly brave he always was, and the memory caused her to choke down a mixture between a sob and a laugh. "I love you, Ronald…" Her salty tears fell onto his face, stinging his wounds.
"It's about time you..."
"Shhh, don't talk sweetie…" she stroked his cheek so lightly he could barely feel it, yet the comfort he received from her touch made his face turn slowly away from a painful grimace.
"But I need to tell you something…"
"No. Rest. I'm going to get you out of here, and you're going to give your son a huge hug, and tell Heather how much you love her…"
"Let me talk, would you! Emeline, she's after Emeline and Andy! The ultimate power…" Hermione looked into her husband's eyes and saw him smile, reach up to kiss her lightly, and then fall limp in her arms, passed out.
oooo
Draco dragged Andy out of the hospital bed and quickly pulled him outside of the big, oak doors. "Listen to me…" Draco whispered, "if you are anything like your father, you'll want to help me with this." Draco pulled his cloak away, exposing a dusty glass sphere. "Can I trust you? Will you help?"
Andy answered him by fixing his big, green eyes on those cold, grey ones. "Yes sir, anything to keep Emeline safe." This answer startled Draco for a minute, and then he remembered the prophecy. He still was slightly suspicious, though. The kids had just met! It wasn't even their second day of classes! How could Harry Potter's son be so devoted to his daughter?
"Why? Why Emeline?"
"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, Mr. Malfoy. What I do know is that for some reason I'm drawn to her. I can't stop thinking about her. And I might know where she is."
"Where?"
"With Castor, I think."
"Where is he?"
"Follow me."
oooo
Darcie walked calmly into Hagrid's Hut to find her mother and let her know what was going on.
"Mum, Aunt Hermione's gotten some bad news."
"Is everyone ok?" Ginny asked, starting to get a little worried.
"No. The Ministry sent a note to her, saying Uncle Ron died."
"WHAT? Are you kidding me? My own brother dies and still nobody feels the need to even tell me!"
"Settle down, mum. He's fine. He's alive."
"How do you know?"
"It's a long story…"
"Darcie, I know you. Give me the short version."
oooo
Harry ran as fast as he could to Hermione's office, and by the time he reached that familiar stone gargoyle he was panting for breath. He had actually thought he'd grown out of this whole hero nonsense a long time ago. He prayed Andy and Darcie wouldn't get dragged into this mess, he finally could identify with Sirius and Lupin's determination for him not to do anything dangerous when he was in school.
"Bat-nose bars." he said, and the gargoyle moved away from the opening it was guarding. Harry automatically entered the staircase and came to the old door with the griffin knocker. A pleasant, familiar voice greeted him as the door swung open and Harry ran toward a half filled wall of portraits. "Dumbledore, McGonagall! Wake up!" He turned his head toward the wall. "Ginny? What are you doing up here?"
oooo
Andy had known something was different about Emeline from the moment she tackled him in the hallway. He thought it must have been just that intoxication he felt when he was around her, the rumble of warmth deep in his stomach when he saw her hair like liquid silver. But then he had an epiphany. He finally understood what Castor had been trying to tell him.
They hadn't said anything.
Not out loud anyway, but they had talked to each other within themselves. That's why everyone had been staring at them. Nobody even knew they were talking.
Andy felt very overwhelmed.
Could he read minds? Could Emeline? Why hadn't he discovered this power earlier? Was this why he was so entranced by her?
'Em- where are you, love? Your dad is with me, we're going to come and get you…' He'd been trying ever since his epiphany to form that connection with her again. While he tried that, he still had a frustrated father on his hands. It was a long shot- but knowing Castor, the first place Andy dragged Draco Malfoy was the dusty, worn books of the library.
