All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.

Chapter Sixty-Five: A Malfoy Ritual Knot

Narcissa Malfoy – Present Day

April 1, 2001

Narcissa looked at the clock in her soon to be late husband's study. It was a quarter past midnight, which meant Lucius should have been put back in his crypt. Sighing, she slowly made her way out of the study, outside of her Manor, and apparated to the grave yard where the Malfoy crypt was. She stood in the shadows and stared at the stone building that held her husband. The door was slightly ajar, which was enough indication to her that Zambini had been inside and had returned Lucius. Narcissa found that she suddenly could not move forward. She had come to terms with losing Lucius; it was, after all, a promise they had made to each other. On the day Draco was born, her and Lucius swore that they would put him above all else, and vowed to do whatever was required for both his sake and the Malfoy bloodline. Staying true to her vow, Narcissa had orchestrated Lucius' death in Azkaban, so that Draco would be able to complete his Ritual Knot to Astoria. But Draco had caught on, and made a movement to try and save Lucius, and now here she was, having to orchestrate his death yet again. She took a few moments to compose herself, before telling her feet to move forward. It was one thing to accept the death of her husband, but it was another to have to be the one to take it from him. With her wand hand trembling ever so slightly, Narcissa entered the crypt and lowered her hood as she stepped into what should have been total darkness. Instead, however, was a little blue flame, held by a man she had never seen before.

"Good evening, Lady Malfoy. Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Gellert Grindelwald."

Draco Malfoy – Present Day

April 1, 2001

Draco paced back and forth around the edge of the Greengrass' property. He had arrived at the gathering as instructed by his mother, as today was his Ritual Knot ceremony, but the anticipation of seeing his father again was too much to keep him still. After what felt like decades, he saw his mother show up, and he headed directly towards her.

"Thank goodness, Mother, where is father?"

"He isn't coming, Draco," she said sternly.

"What?" he asked, confused. "So, the ceremony is off, then," he said, a little too cheerful for his mother's liking.

"It most certainly is not! I have made the necessary arrangements for today to be a success."

"But how-"

"Never you mind. Now, go and get ready; we will be starting momentarily." Draco said nothing, but instead leaned against a nearby tree. Had his mother actually killed his father? His stomach was turning when a young woman in deep burgundy and a long ugly veil caught his eye. It was not the first time that he had seen Astoria Greengrass, but it was the first time that he had actually looked at her. She was very thin and small, almost fragile looking. The veil hid her face, but from the way she was standing away from everyone, he could tell that she, too, would have preferred to be elsewhere. To his left, he saw his mother walk onto the raised platform in front of the small crowd, and motioned for Draco to follow suit. He adjusted his black, velour robes with the Malfoy crest, and slowly made his way to the platform. His stomach began to cause him pain as he thought about the one thing that had been making him feel ill for quite some time: Hermione. He reached the platform and stood in front of his mother, looking out into the crowd, but not looking at nobody in particular. From his peripherals, he saw Astoria join him, and he heard his mother begin her well-rehearsed speech, but Draco was not listening. They had overcome so many obstacles, including his betrayal, yet they always pulled through, and now here he was today, finally ending it all for good; today he was losing Hermione. Emotionlessly, he placed his hand on Astoria's arm, as was required of him for the ritual, and after another speech or two, a black ribbon started to form around their arms, which then weaved itself into a 3D triangle above their heads, then finally landed gently in Astoria's arms, with the Malfoy crest atop of it, almost staring him in the face. Draco stared back at the crest in her arms, and realized for the first time, that both Hermione and his father were gone forever.

Ginny Weasley – Present Day

April 1, 2001

"Are you ready, Ginny?"

Ginny nodded. "I'm almost certain there is nothing here that she can find. But I guess another look around won't hurt."

"I'll check Ron and Hermione's old desks again."

"And I'll check Harry's office." Ginny walked into the small office within the Dobwig Association, but before she closed the door, she turned back and said, "Hey, Cho? Thanks again for agreeing to be Secretary."

Cho smiled. "It gives me something to do. Besides, there is actual work that needs to be done in this department, and I know you and Harry don't have the time for it."

"Merlin knows that's true!" Ginny closed the door behind her and locked it for good measure. She had no intentions of searching through the desk again as she knew she had been thorough, her focus instead was on the wall behind the desk. It had seemed odd to her from the moment she had gained ownership of the department, but she never brought attention to it. Now, however, she knew she had to figure it out, before Umbridge came in and figured it out for herself. Ginny pulled out her wand and used it to take measurements of the wall. The office was a perfect square, which would seem normal to the average witch, but Ginny knew that the room next door was a lot larger than this room, and seeing as though the Dobwig Association faced the outside of the building, there should be nothing behind this wall, other than the street. So why then, did it seem like the wall was pushed a good few feet forward? She pushed on different places of the wall, looking for any indication that there was something out of place, and after a few tries, she discovered what appeared to be a door. Opening it, Ginny found herself looking into a small broom cupboard. Smiling, as what it was dawned on her, Ginny stepped into the cupboard, closed the door, and vanished.

Essa Delacour – The Past

July 9, 1995

Essa burst out laughing as she watched her best friend try and mimic flying on a dragon. "There is no way you would have lasted a minute on that dragon!"

"I wouldn't have lasted a second since I would never find myself on one!"

"Witch or not, I wouldn't find myself on one, either!" laughed Essa again.

"Yes, but you have a much better chance than a muggle like me! I'm sure if you really wanted one, you could just accio it!"

"You know, Daisy, for someone who isn't a witch, you sure know a lot about magic."

"Thanks to you," replied Daisy. "But my father can never find out!"

"Then maybe you should stop taking all my books!"

Daisy smiled. "You've noticed, then?"

"Of course I've noticed!" replied Essa, playfully hitting her best friend with a pillow. "You just needed to ask, you know!"

"Sorry, not sorry!" Daisy cackled.

"It doesn't matter how much you read, I'm afraid; you'll never become a witch if you don't have the gene."

"That's okay," replied Daisy. "I don't actually want to become a witch, I just want to know everything about them."

"For Richard's sake, I presume?" Essa teased.

"Of course!" answered Daisy. "He's a wizard; I have a better chance of him marrying me if he knows that I understand how his world works."

"Aren't you a little young to be thinking of marriage?"

"You are never too young to plan for the future!" responded Daisy dreamily.

"Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about; Richard is head over heels in love with you."

"He is, isn't he?"

Essa playfully hit her friend with the pillow again. "You're lucky that I introduced you two that day."

"I'll owe you for life!" Daisy joked. "I'll never forget that day… I still can't believe he thought I was a witch!"

"I told you, your last name is famous in our world; I would be surprised if he didn't think you were a witch."

"Oh, come on, I'm sure Potter is an incredibly common surname. Just because one famous person has it, doesn't mean we are all related to him."

"Still," said Essa, teasing her friend like she usually did. "Lily Potter had red hair and green eyes, and you have red hair and green eyes."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Are you to tell me that the wizarding world does not believe in coincidences?"

"Not usually, Daisy. Magic is often the answer to everything."

"Well, not in this case! I know my father would never in a million years have anything to do with magic."

Essa frowned. "If he ever found out about me…"

"He won't," said Daisy confidently. "As far as he knows, you're as much of a muggle as I am! And the same goes for Richard."

"Your father doesn't even know about Richard!"

"Not the point!"

Essa laughed. "I know that there is no way that your father is a wizard, but are you sure your mother couldn't be one? She is the one with the Potter name after all…"

But Daisy shook her head. "I don't know very much about her, since she died during childbirth, but from what my father says of her, there's no way she could have been."

"Oh, it was childbirth that took her? I knew she died when you were a baby, but I didn't know that was the reason."

Daisy nodded. "Both her and my grandmother died the same way, and I overheard my father talking to my Godfather once about someone else in the family dying that way, too." Daisy frowned after she said this.

"What is it?" Essa asked, knowing that look on her friend's face.

"Sometimes I have this funny feeling that my father is lying to me about my heritage."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because his story doesn't add up. He told me that his father and his grandparents were murdered in 1943, but his mother, Cecilia, lived until 1974."

"What's so strange about that?" questioned Essa.

"Because if my Grandmother, Cecilia, died in 1974, then how could she have died in childbirth if my father was born in 1960?"

Essa frowned. "Well, have you asked him?"

"Yeah, he said it was another child that she was giving birth to that didn't survive."

"There's your answer, then."

"But my grandfather, Tom, was murdered in 1943! He wouldn't have been able to get her pregnant!"

"It could have been a different man," offered Essa.

"Maybe," said Daisy, although she did not sound convinced. "He's just so secretive about everything! He told me he took my mother's last name to honor her, which is why we are both Potters, but he refuses to tell me what his surname was prior! Every time I ask, he says, my name is John Potter and that is all you need to know. It is so frustrating!"

"What about someone from your mother's side?"

"I don't know any of them," Daisy answered sadly. "I just know that my mother's name was Rosalyn Potter, but she died giving birth to me."

"So, let's figure it out together, shall we?"

"What do you mean? How?"

Essa paused for a moment before speaking. Finally, she said "you know that some of your relatives were murdered in 1943, right? A murder would have been documented. If we search who was murdered that year with the names of your grandfather and great-grandparents, then we will be able to find out their surname!"

A large grin spread across Daisy's face. "Let's do it!"

Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well! Not much to say here.. We will find out more about what happened in the Crypt between Narcissa and Grindelwald at some point.. (as well as what happened to Lucius!) The past scene was a good one, I think, a lot of little hints were dropped so let's see what you guys make of it.. Although I can confirm here that even with the hints I dropped, it does not confirm what happened to Daisy Potter! You will know in due time!

In regards to a review of the last chapter, you will learn more about Narcissa as the story goes, but just remember that she will do whatever it takes to protect her son.

Thanks as always, and I look forward to your reviews!