Harry Potter isn't mine.

Chapter 13 Resurrection?

"Ginny pushed me!" an eight year old Kat had wailed. As she recalled, Mum wasn't home, most likely preparing for the Summer Solstice Ball.

And therefore, she wasn't coddled. Mum wasn't there to bark at Mrs. Weasley to discipline Ginny or she would. Nope. The two of them were being watched by Dad, a rarity that was often resulting in a day of sweets and no bed time. That day, however, Dad had given her some advice. Bad advice, any rational adult would say, but advice nonetheless.

"Push her back," Dad said casually.

Kat blinked, trying to make more tears come out. Once he realized that she was crying, he would surely give her a hug and kiss while making Ginny go home. "But—"

"You can't let these things happen to you and expect others to take care of it, Kat. You're growing up with some of the toughest purebloods in the country," Dad told her a bit more firmly. "Show her that she can't push you and only get a few minutes in time out. Push her back."

Kat frowned and reluctantly ran off to go find Ginny. When her friend laughed at her, she did indeed push her back. She didn't like it, and a scuffle ensued, but from then on, Ginny never pushed when they were racing and she saw that Kat was winning.

To Mum's horror, Dad's advice stuck, Kat thought as she ran throughout the Forest in search of Zabini. When Mr. Granger cursed her, she felt weak, too weak to push back. Dad had told her many times that she was strong, but this year, she hadn't believed it. Her feet pounded through the grass as she ran in Zabini's direction. She was going to find him and push back.

"Hey!"

Kat looked over her shoulder to see Delphi running after her, eyes wide in confusion as Kat ran by her past self, who was too terrified by Snape on top of her in his wolf form to notice her future self.

"Help Malfoy with the dementors!" she yelled over her own screams. She saw a flash of red light as Delphi stunned Snape and her past self at the same time. There was no time to stop and see if Delphi had listened.

As she ran, she thought she saw a rat, but it was so dark. She just knew it was him. She just knew it. And it was.

The rat ran behind a tree, but Kat couldn't see. She could barely see anything really. What she thought was a rat could have been a baby acromantula for all she knew. As she was contemplating this, a man appeared from behind the tree and punched her right in the jaw.

But growing up with the Weasleys taught Kat to fight through the stars after being punched in the face. Growing up with Hermione taught her to fight dirty. She could do this. For once, she could be strong enough.

Draco hoped for the love of everything good in the world that Delphi was levitating the past Potter as she ran towards her. Then, he still had hope that Potter would come and help him with the hundreds of dementors that were honing in on Regulus.

Delphi didn't hesitate to take out her wand and yell with him, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Her patronus was almost corporeal, looking like an image of an animal that had been smudged. It didn't seem like enough, and she shoved an unconscious Potter at him in an effort to concentrate further. As Potter stumbled into him, his vision started fading fast, reminding him of that day at the Quidditch match when they both had passed out and started seeing each other's memories. He was immediately thrown into one of Potter's, one that he was familiar with.

"I'm bored," Potter had complained. They were in Granger's room and just as he had recalled, were so surrounded by books that Draco was a bit jealous. The pea-brained Potter was bored out of her skull.

Granger grinned, eager to show Potter something, and ringed a bell. "Watch this."

That was where the short-lived memory had ended, as if Potter were trying to subconsciously push it down. Now, she was stunned and knocked out. She had no control, allowing the memory to continue.

"Yes mistress?" a voice rasped, as if it were being forced to answer. Something about the voice sounded familiar and not familiar at the same time. Whoever the woman was, she slowly opened Granger's door, causing it to creak.

She only had one hand, and her face was covered in greenish, purple scales that seemed to be irritating her pale, sallow, human skin. Her eyes were dull, almost lifeless, but Draco recognized them anywhere.

"Mum and Dad are using her to find a better cure for Dragon Pox," Granger showed off. Then, she turned to the woman and snapped, "Narcissa! Make us some tea!"

The woman sluggishly left as Potter watched in horror. "But she's d—"

"Mum and Dad took her," Granger went on, eager to tell a secret to who she thought was her trusted best friend. "That night at Malfoy Manor. She's under the Chattel Curse. So she has to do whatever Dad says while they use her to find a cure. And he told her to do whatever I say."

"I want to go home," Potter gasped.

Granger frowned, not understanding. "Why? I can make her sneak into the section of the library Mum says I can't go in. We can read about Dark Magic all night and—"

"I want to go home!" Potter cried as Draco started to come to.

Draco moaned as he struggled to get his vision to focus. That was Potter's memory, meaning it was real. How many diseases have the Granger's cured over the past decade? They were famous healers, thanked time and time again by the Ministry for saving so many lives.

As he struggled to stand, the pieces began to fit together. Potter's crumbling friendship with Granger, why she was cursed not to talk about his mum, why her boggart was his mum… Her fear was because of guilt, she couldn't face his mother knowing that she was being experimented on. But that meant…

"My mother's alive," Draco whispered. He looked at Potter, who was still out cold with a frozen look of terror on her face. "My mother's alive!"

A dementor sensed his spark of hope, the fact that he was daring to be happy at such a ridiculous notion, and swooped in. But as the seconds passed, Draco's happiness grew. His mother was alive. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A giant owl burst out of his wand, pushing through the dementor and swooping through the rest of them, but Draco could hardly bring himself to care. His mother was alive!

She scratched, kicked, and even spit, but the fact was that she was smaller than him. Not much, Kat forced herself to think as he shoved her to the ground. He turned to leave her until he saw her getting up. The look in his eyes made Kat's entire body seize up in fear.

Mum was annoyed when Sirius and Dad taught her self-defense. Mostly because it was before her first date with Ron. He's not an animal, Mum had said. And she was right. For all his flaws, Ron wasn't an animal. This guy was.

He lunged at her, and Kat did her best to turn away, but suddenly, he was on top of her and his hands were going through her throat. Kat tucked her chin in to try to block his thumbs and wrapped her legs around his waist, turning roughly from side to side to try to throw him off balance.

As he started to fall towards her, Kat reached up and pushed her thumbs in his eyes, causing him to scream and reach for her hands. Kat pressed harder with one hand, but he grabbed her arm when she tried to reach for her wand in her pocket with the other.

"Stupid bitch," he spat as he twisted her arm. Kat screamed but refused to give up. What had Sirius said? Do whatever you can to catch them off guard! Zabini was still on top of Kat and jumped back when she started peeing herself. This gave her enough time to get her wand, putting her at an advantage. She had one, and he didn't.

"Expelliarmus!"

He went flying into the nearest tree but wasn't totally unconscious. So Kat grabbed a rock.

As soon as the dementors disappeared, dozens of what could only be aurors swarmed in, picking up Regulus by his arms and starting to drag them away. Draco, as the fog cleared and his past-self became visible, ran into the cover of the trees. He heard an auror yell, "What are all these kids doing out after curfew, Captain?"

She seemed to be arguing with a large black man, but Draco had backed so far away that he could only hear what they were saying when Delphi started yelling. "They were protecting Regulus, Kingsley!"

Kingsley said something that Draco couldn't hear, but Delphi yelled, "They weren't bewitched! If you could just listen for once—"

"Shut up!" Kingsley barked. "Make sure the kids receive medical care. You obviously couldn't handle this case."

The man must be above her because Delphi complied.

Once they were gone, Draco counted to a thousand before running out of the cluster of trees. He had to act fast. His past-self couldn't have been unconscious for that long. The sky was just starting to turn pink as the sun started to rise.

From a distance, he saw the crowd with Regulus heading for the Astronomy Tower. What he wouldn't give for his invisibility cloak right now.

But time was on his side because as was following them, Delphi was getting fired and scaring the shit out of Fudge. He, in a very unmanly way, squealed when she was suddenly behind him, talking like she had been there all along.

"Did you know Black can cry on command?" she said cheerfully. "Sirius, I mean. Lied and said he botched Severus's potion when in fact he had forgotten to take the last dose."

"Bloody brilliant," Draco muttered breathlessly as they walked towards the Astronomy Tower.

Delphi went on as if she didn't just terrify him. "Was crying so hard, that my former coworkers didn't see me steal these." She winked and held up a vial. "Cover your nose."

Aurors were guarding the stairs every few steps, and the vial hit the floor before they saw them. Pink smoke filled the air and when it cleared, the aurors were lying on the floor. Delphi put a finger to her lips, and swatted at him when he tried to move his hand away from her mouth. She covered her face again, and waited.

The aurors watching over Regulus must have heard the rest of their team falling because five aurors came running down, and Delphi threw another vial.

This time when the smoke cleared, she spoke. "There might be one more up there." She handed him another vial and pulled up his hood. "They seem me on a daily basis. Whoever it is will recognize me. If you see someone, throw this. We can always wake Regulus up."

Hesitantly, Draco took the vial and crept up the steps, careful not to step on the unconscious aurors. At first, he thought no one was up there. The fat man held up a hand when Draco tightened his grip on his vial. Another man was stunned at his feet.

"Professor Riddle told me." With a wave of his wand, there was a creak, and Draco turned to see Regulus stumble out of his makeshift cell.

Regulus stared at the man. "Pettigrew? Really?"

Pettigrew shrugged. "I know whose going to win this war. Luckily, I'm rather skilled at memory charms."

"I'm more stunned that you managed to become an auror," Regulus muttered as he turned to Draco. "You shouldn't have… Are you alright? Is everyone alright?"

Draco shrugged. "Potter is missing, but I don't really like her. Everyone else is fine."

Regulus cracked a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I-I don't know how to thank you…"

"You could thank him by getting the hell out of here," Pettigrew grumbled. "My first day back from vacation. Christ."

Draco forced himself to laugh. "Let's go."

They tried to run down the stairs, but Regulus was obviously too weak. Delphi seemed annoyed by how long they took, but was ever vigilant as they exited the Astronomy Tower.

"Change into a dog," Delphi commanded. With a raise of an eyebrow, Regulus changed as she went on with her instructions. "Lay low in the Forest until we sort this out. I'm sure Sirius will have accommodations for you."

"Oh joy," Regulus mumbled, causing Delphi to give him a tight smile. Draco could only imagine what it would be like to have to hide out at Sirius Black's house.

They walked silently into the Forbidden Forest. Draco honestly didn't want to leave him out here. Once the trees thickened, Regulus changed back. Hagrid often hunted for his pets in the Forest, and Regulus wasn't one to catch a break.

"Listen," Regulus whispered. "I know that I don't have the upper hand right now, but… I was made your godfather, when you were a baby."

"I know." Draco felt himself blush, remembering how he reacted to the news.

Regulus sighed, as if reading his thoughts. "So… I know you have a home, but I mean, even if it were only for a few days out of the summer. I mean, well, I know Andromeda can be a troll and Bella…"

"Are you asking me to live with you?" Draco asked, stunned.

As if embarrassed, Regulus rubbed the back of his head. "If being in such a close proximity to Sirius is too much, I understand. Especially during your break from him. But, if somehow, I can get on my own feet…"

"I would love to," Draco said before he could stop himself.

Regulus broke out into the first true smile that Draco had ever seen on the man, reminding him of his parents' wedding photo. But of course, before they could a proper heart felt moment, the devil herself appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Is anyone going to fucking help me?!" Potter panted as she tried to drag someone. She would manage a few inches before she would stop and take a deep breath to try again. "He's a lot heavier than he looks!"

Delphi ran past them as Draco felt his mouth hang open in shock. She had Zabini.

Delphi levitated Zabini and stunned him when he started to stir. Draco slowly walked with Potter in silence until Delphi and Regulus was out of earshot, even though she probably already saw his thoughts. He needed to ask Potter privately, without Regulus.

Draco wrinkled his nose as soon as he got closer to her and noted her stained jeans. "You smell like piss, Potter."

"Shut up!"

"Did you piss yourself?"

"It's a defense mechanism." But Potter still turned pink. "And-and I said shut up!"

"Riiiight…" Under normal circumstances, he would have never let her live this down. However… "I saw your memory," he whispered. "When you were stunned. About what's been triggered your asthma."

Potter looked startled for a moment, but didn't say anything. Instead, she nodded so slightly that Draco barely saw it. He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a hallucination.

"Be careful," was all she said, all she could say. He had to figure out how to break her curse. Without Potter, he might not be able to rescue his mum, especially with Delphi, and probably by default, Professor Riddle, out of favor with the aurors. Somehow, he had to save his mum.

Delphi told Regulus to change again and get a head start for Professor Riddle's office. As they neared the Hospital Wing, they heard the shrieks of the formidable Lily Potter.

"He was on top of my daughter!" Mrs. Potter screamed. "Could have bitten her neck and killed her! And you're going to left him off free! After what you did to Remus because he couldn't keep his nose out of other people's business! At least Remus did his best to keep others safe! This-this creature was ready to eat my child!"

Professor Snape kept his exhausted face blank at her words, but his eyes told a different story. The emotion they held was something Draco didn't quite understand, like Professor Snape was broken in some way. Mrs. Potter couldn't see it or didn't seem to care during her tirade.

"And he has the Mark," Mrs. Potter hissed venomously.

"As do you, Mrs. Potter." Professor Riddle did one of the things that he did best, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Regulus was at his heels as a dog. "Professor Snape thought the children were endangered by Regulus back, and in a panic, clearly forgot about his affliction."

Mrs. Potter turned her hateful green eyes to Professor Riddle, but managed to see her daughter in the process. In a flash, she was pushing past Delphi and hugging Potter fiercely. At first, Potter was stunned, but then she breathed a sigh of relief and tightly hugged her mother back. Professor Riddle ignored them.

"I see you've found what you've been looking for," he said quietly. Even though Delphi was his daughter, his tone with her seemed rather formal. "Come with me, and we'll take care of everything."

Regulus and the stunned Zabini went with him, and Draco suddenly felt very alone in a hospital wing full of people. Uncertainty made him too nervous to talk to Professor Snape or try to find Blaise or even to see if Pansy was okay in her Hospital Wing bed. What was going to happen to him, to Regulus, Zabini, and Blaise? No matter what, someone was going to be heartbroken.

Sirius was babysitting Kat, which Lily knew she was going to end up regretting, but she needed to talk to James. Her soon-to-be-ex-husband was going to be released in a few days, and the world was going to be a lot different from when he left it. Lily waited until his breathing tube was out, and the healers started magically healing his throat.

As soon as he could talk, he didn't ask about Kat like she thought he would. He had a look in his eyes, a look she hadn't seen since the War. She doubted he ever gave Delilah that look. He would never trust her like he trusted Lily. As soon as the healers were gone, he said hoarsely, "I want you to kill William Granger."

She had her suspicions towards him causing James's illness, so Lily didn't even hesitate to say, "Consider it done, my love."

When he told her why, Lily saw red.

Thank you myafroatemydog, dannymask, Percy Ross Vulturi Uchiha, gr8rockstarrox, and Superflarrow17!

Dannymask: She'll go back and forth, especially 5th/6th year.

gr8rockstarrox: Delphi will never forgive Snape for their past. She doesn't have a pairing for now. A lot of her back story is in 4th year!