Ok here is the latest update for this story. NOW BEFORE YOU ALL READ IT THERE IS SOMETHING IMPORTANT THAT I MUST MENTION!!!!!!!!! This chapter goes off track from the story a little, but it is vital information for later chapters!!!! As it is the plot on it own, it will all be fully explored in the side story that i will be writing called 'The Power Of Blood' which will not be centred around the whole Hermione/Draco theme but will of course feature them in it.
So to all of you who are patiently waiting for more Draco/Hermione action, it should all be in the next update, which i will start writing as soon as i finish uploading this one!!
Usual Disclaimer: i do not own Harry Potter nor any of its characters, though i will admit to owning the plot line for this story, its the only thing that i can safely say is all mine!! YAY!!
Chapter Four: Surprises
Everyone tensed in readiness when the box glowed with a green light. When the light dissipated all that was left was an enormous ancient picture frame. The portrait inside was of a life sized stag with a beautiful red haired woman sitting astride it. Silence ensued as the adults lowered their wands, then the silence was broken by Sirius who spoke in a shaky whisper,
"Prongs?"
The figures in the portrait didn't move, it was almost as if they were frozen, then, the woman's hand twitched, her eyes blinked and she shook her head, her red hair cascading behind her in a shimmering curtain.
"Oh my god! I can move! James! James! I can move, the spell is broken!" The woman cried as she slapped the neck of the stag before climbing off and groaning, "Oh Merlin! James Potter you need to lose some weight, my legs are killing me! I feel like I've been sitting on a fat elephant for ten years" she glanced at the stag who still stood there, though his ears were twitching, "Well don't just stand there looking stupid, hurry up and transform" the woman scolded. The stag twisted its head to look at the woman before it transformed into a man with messy black hair, brown eyes and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, he was holding his back and groaning loudly,
"Merlin Lily, I haven't ached like this since my first transformation, I think my back's broken" groaned the man as he straightened his body and heard a crack coming from his back.
"James stop being so melodramatic, you sound like Sirius!" Lily scolded
"Lily didn't you hear it when I straightened up? Are you sure you lost all that baby weight after you had Harry?" James asked, then grimaced when Lily turned and slapped him upside the head,
"James Harold Potter how dare you! One more word like that and you will be sleeping on the couch for the next six months!" Lily snapped,
"We can sort that out later, first thing I'm going to do is hunt down that rat and skin him alive!" James growled,
"James, first we have to find Harry, Sirius, Remus and Albus!" Lily retorted
"That's if we ever get out of here, I don't even know where we are…" James trailed off as he noticed the group of people surrounding their portrait, "Sirius? Remus?" he asked,
"James? Lily? Oh Merlin! I can't believe its really you!" Sirius cried as he rushed towards the portrait of his best friend and his wife,
"James, we didn't know that you and Lily had a portrait painted of yourselves" Remus said as he moved to stand next to Sirius,
"We didn't! Voldemort captured us and trapped us in this bloody thing" James answered,
"But you're both dead! Voldemort killed you both! We saw your bodies" Sirius stammered,
"He didn't kill us, and the bodies you saw were most likely fake" James replied
"Sirius, where's Harry? Is he safe? Please tell me that Voldemort didn't kill him" Lily begged,
"Harry's fine, he's right here" Sirius answered, as he took hold of the stunned Harry's arm and pulled him forwards till he stood between him and Remus. James and Lily's eyes opened wide as they stared at their teenaged son,
"Harry?" Lily asked tentatively, tears streaming from her eyes. James wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he took in his son's appearance,
"Mum? Dad?" Harry whispered, still shocked to his core that his parents were talking to him,
"Yes Harry, its us" James answered, then he turned to Dumbledore, who had approached and was standing behind Harry, "Albus!, how long have we been trapped in this thing?"
"Fifteen years James, we had all thought that you had both been killed, if we had known that you were both alive but trapped we would have searched for you"
"Fifteen years" Lily sobbed, her eyes never leaving Harry, who had tears streaking down his face,
"What's happened? How did you find us? Is Voldemort still around?"
"No James, Voldemort was destroyed two years ago, he is gone for good" Remus answered
"Oh thank Merlin! Well what else has been happening?" James asked,
"James I think that it is best for us to concentrate on how to get you two free, all the rest we will fill you in on after that" Dumbledore answered,
"Alright Albus" James nodded,
"Ok, lets all sit down and see what we do about getting you two free" Dumbledore stated as he moved back to his seat behind his desk and levitated the portrait so that James and Lily could see everyone in the room. James and Lily greeted everyone individually and received shocked greetings in return. Harry was still to shocked to speak, he just sat in his chair and stared at his parents, drinking in the sight of them, he focused on his mother when he heard her speak,
"Cissa! Oh its so good to see you! How are you?"
"Lily, oh I can't believe that you're alive! Lucius tried to warn you of the attack by sending sparks into your bedroom window. It was the best he could do, Voldemort didn't tell him of the attack until the last minute" Narcissa replied,
"Oh, so that's who it was! Thanks for that Lucius, nearly singed my eyebrows off, but still thanks" James commented, Lucius just nodded stiffly in response,
"What do you remember about when you were placed in the portrait?" Dumbledore asked,
"Nothing, the last thing I remember is telling Lily to take Harry and run, then the door being blasted off its hinges, I fought Voldemort for a few minutes, then I got hit with a spell. A few minutes later Lily turned up with me, then the next thing I know is Lily is slapping me on the neck, climbing off my back and telling me to transform. I don't even know how I ended up as Prongs" James answered,
"What about you Lily?" Remus asked,
"Like James told you, I did as he said and grabbed Harry from his crib, but when I turned to run he was already at the door. I slammed the door and locked it then moved to the wall and shielded Harry with my body. The door blasted in and Voldemort strode in, telling me to stand aside. I just remember begging him not to kill Harry, to kill me instead"
"Anything else?"
"He just kept telling me that he didn't want to kill me, that he had other plans for James and I, he said something about a frame and a box where we would be frozen until the box was opened, then next thing I know he shot a spell at me, I screamed then ended up sitting on James in his Prongs form, then hearing a noise and waking up here" Lily finished,
"Hmm, so neither of you have any idea on how to release you?" Dumbledore asked, Lily and James both shook their heads,
"No, sorry Albus" James replied. Harry slumped down in his chair dejected. Hermione however had been studying the frame throughout the entire conversation. Rising from her seat she approached the portrait and took a closer look at the markings carved into the wooden frame.
"Miss Granger, what are you doing?" McGonagall asked sharply,
"Just looking for something to confirm my suspicions Professor" Hermione replied as she continued to study the frame. Finally she found what she was looking for in the bottom right hand corner, "I thought so" she murmured to herself,
"Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked,
"The markings in the frame are runes inscriptures, I was just trying to find the signature that indicates which ones they were and they are Incan"
"Incan inscriptures are extremely difficult to translate, it will take weeks to translate all that" Narcissa stated, Hermione turned to her and smiled,
"No, I created a spell for that, it will take me but a few moments" Moving to her bag, Hermione pulled a blank piece of parchment out of it, then after drawing her wand she pointed it at the frame. Narcissa leaned over and whispered to Lucius,
"No wonder she is the top in the school if she can create a spell like that" Lucius nodded but remained silent, his blue eyes watching Hermione admiringly,
"Translatio Incan Doth Runo" Hermione stated clearly, a jet of orange light shot from her wand and snaked its way around the frame, covering all the inscriptures before returning to the wand, once the light returned Hermione tapped her wand on the parchment three times and this time a purple light came from her wand and hit the parchment, leaving words in its wake. Once the light disappeared Hermione pocketed her wand then returned to her seat, reading the parchment with narrowed eyes,
"Did it work Hermione?" Ron asked,
"Yes"
"What does it say Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked, Hermione raised her eyes to the Headmaster, then returned her eyes to the parchment and began to read.
Blood from two disloyal to the cause,
The family symbol of the sire, the crest of the ring,
Blood from the son of those who freedom do seek,
Dog and Wolf should repent, a hair from each with the blood traitors consent,
Finally Pureblood to counteract the Mudblood friend,
Blood and Hair stirred together thrice over a flame of green, coat the symbol then find the lock, turn the key and those trapped will be forever free.
"It's a cross between a recipe list and a riddle, how will we ever figure that out?" Ron groaned,
"Oh honestly Ron, its not that hard, its just that the way he has formed this, its obvious that he really didn't expect anyone to find them, much less attempt to release them" Hermione retorted,
"How do you figure that Hermione?" Harry asked,
"Well its too simple really" Hermione responded. The adults in the room as well as the two in the portrait were silent, watching with interest as the sixth year Gryffindor worked out the riddle,
"What do you mean?" Ron asked confused,
"Well the first part is 'Blood from two disloyal to the cause'. Well its obvious he means his cause, so we need a drop of blood from two disloyal Death Eaters" Hermione started with a glance at Lucius and Snape, who both nodded,
"Well what about the next part?" Harry asked,
"This is the hardest bit but I think I have it right, 'The family symbol of the sire, the crest of the ring'. That obviously means a ring with the family crest, and by the way the next line is worded I'm assuming that he means the Potter family crest as your dad is your sire" James turned to Lily,
"Didn't you put the family crest ring in a safe place?"
"Of course I did, lets finish the riddle first then I'll instruct someone on how to get it" Lily replied, then she turned back to her son's best friend, "What's next Miss Granger?"
"Please call me Hermione, Mrs Potter" Hermione blushed, then continued, "This part is easy 'Blood from the son of those who freedom do seek' that's a drop of Harry's blood. The next part is easy as well, 'Dog and Wolf should repent, a hair from each with the blood traitors consent'"
"Well I'm glad you think that's easy" Ron grumbled,
"Ron are you forgetting third year?" Hermione snapped
"No, why?"
"Oh honestly, Dog and Wolf! Ring any bells? He's talking about Sirius as Padfoot and Remus as Moony, he wants a hair from each of them"
"But what's all that blood traitor stuff?" Ron asked
"They are both purebloods, Voldemort saw them as blood traitors because they were friendly with muggles and muggleborns, so we need their consent"
"Brilliant, how are we supposed to get the consent of Remus while he's a werewolf?" Ron asked,
"The wolfsbane potion Ron"
"But the next full moon isn't for another three weeks" Harry stated,
"I already have some of Moony's hair, he gave it to me over the summer for my potions stores" Hermione replied smugly,
"For once Hermione I'm not going to pick on your dedication towards your studies" Harry commented, Hermione ignored him,
"It's the last one I'm not sure on but I think I might have some idea"
"What is the last one?" Harry asked,
"Its 'Finally Pureblood to counteract the Mudblood friend'"
"Well that's easy, that could be Ron to you" Harry replied,
"No Harry, its not"
"Why not?"
"Because when he did this spell we were all one year old, how would he know that we would end up being friends? He's talking about a pureblood friend of your mothers"
"That would be me" Narcissa interjected, Hermione nodded,
"That's what I worked out"
"What about the part of a green flame? How are we supposed to get a green fire without using floo powder?" Harry asked,
"I'm sure Professor Snape has a potion to do that, either that or Professor Dumbledore knows how to conjure a green flame" Hermione replied,
"Yes Miss Granger, there is indeed a potion that creates a green flame, Voldemort insisted that all the fires in his Mansion were green, red flames reminded him too much of Gryffindor and Albus" Lucius replied,
"Thanks Mr Malfoy" Hermione smiled at him before returning her gaze to the parchment that she was holding, "Now all we need is the hair from both Padfoot and Moony and the Potter family ring, then we have all the ingredients to do this" Hermione stated as she looked up from the parchment. Lily turned to Narcissa,
"Cissa do you remember that small box that I asked you to hide when we found out about the prophesy and went into hiding?"
"Of course Lily"
"It has the Potter family ring in it" Lily explained. Narcissa turned to Dumbledore,
"Albus, I need to borrow Dobby for a moment if that's ok, I gave the box to him and asked him to hide it without telling anyone where he hid it"
"Of course Narcissa" Dumbledore answered before he called for Dobby. There was a soft pop and Dobby arrived in the office wearing his tea cosy and his mismatched socks,
"You called for Dobby Professor Dumblydores?"
"Indeed I did Dobby, Narcissa here needs your help for a moment" Dumbledore answered indicating Narcissa. Dobby turned around and a huge grin appeared on his face when he saw Narcissa and Lucius,
"Miss Cissa! Mr Lucius! Dobby is so happy to see you, I have been doing the favors that you has asked of me, I have been watching and helping young Mr Draco and young Mr Harry, just like I promised"
"Yes and a fine job you have been doing indeed" Lucius answered with a small smile and a nod. Dobby beamed at the praise, Lucius had been a strict owner but a kind one, and after the plan to get Dobby into Hogwarts so that he could keep and eye on and protect both Harry and Draco, Lucius had come and visited Dobby in the kitchens to see if there was anything that Dobby needed to help him.
"We thank you for that Dobby but I needed your help in another matter" Narcissa added,
"Yes Miss Cissa, how can Dobby help you?"
"Do you remember when I asked you to hide a small black box for me and to tell no-one of where you hid it?" Narcissa asked, Dobby nodded his large head
"Yes Miss Cissa, Dobby remembers"
"Could you go and get it for me please?"
"Yes Miss Cissa, Dobby go get it now" Dobby answered, then with a pop he disappeared. After Dobby went to get the ring Hermione turned to Snape,
"Professor, could I please have permission to go the your classroom and retrieve Moony's hair from my potions cabinet?" Snape nodded,
"Miss Granger if you accompany me I will get the potion and the small cauldron needed for the fire and to create this concoction" Snape stated in his usual tone. Even he had to admit to himself that he was impressed with the Gryffindor's intelligence in creating that translation spell, he would never admit it to anyone though.
"Use the fireplace Severus, it will be quicker and cause less questions" Dumbledore instructed, Snape nodded then he and Hermione disappeared through the fireplace. A few minutes later they returned with everything they needed. Once Hermione placed the vile containing Remus's werewolf hair on Dumbledore's desk she returned to the portrait and started searching it again.
"What are you looking for Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked curiously,
"While I was in the dungeons with Professor Snape, I remembered that the translation mentioned something about finding a lock to fit the key. I'm assuming that the family ring is the key so I'm looking for the lock" Hermione answered the deputy Headmistress. Harry watched her for a few moments, then something she said earlier came to mind,
"Hermione, you said earlier that you thought that Voldemort obviously never thought that anyone would find my parents or try to release them, and yet this whole thing seems so simple. What made you say that?" Hermione continued examining the frame for the lock as she answered,
"Its just the things that he included in the spell to release them Harry"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he made it simple to follow, yet he never thought that anyone would free them, he must have created this spell and frame before he went to your house that night. His powers were destroyed when you rebounded the killing curse back at him. It would have been impossible for him to create it afterwards"
"Your point being?" Ron asked,
"Honestly Ronald, you're not that stupid! Voldemort was an arrogant man, he never thought for one moment that he would have two disloyal followers, he probably knew that the Potter family ring had disappeared, he thought that he would have killed Harry, therefore unable to collect his blood, as for Sirius and Remus, he and Pettigrew had framed Sirius so they thought that he would be in Azkaban, the wolfsbane potion wasn't invented yet, so how were we supposed to get Moony's hair with his consent and as for the last one, Narcissa is the wife of the man he thought was his most loyal Death Eater, he never expected that if someone actually found the Potters that they would be able to get everything needed to free them" Hermione explained,
"Whoa hang on, back up, what do you mean that Peter and Voldemort framed Sirius and he would have been in Azkaban?" James asked suddenly,
"Sirius was framed for your murders and thrown in Azkaban" Remus answered,
"WHAT?!" James shouted,
"Its true Prongs, when I confronted Peter over his betrayal he tricked me by blowing up a muggle street and killing twelve muggles. During the explosion he cut off his finger and then transformed and disappeared into the sewer so I was convicted of his murder as well" Sirius added,
"Well didn't you tell them at your trial that Peter was our secret keeper? Not you"
"I didn't get a trial James, they just threw me in there"
"I don't bloody believe this" James snarled, then he looked back at Sirius, "How did you get out?"
"I escaped in Harry's third year and went after Peter when I found out that he was living as Ron's pet rat, he got away and I have been in hiding ever since, er well until two years ago at least when Voldemort was destroyed and I received a trial. I was questioned under Veritaserum, after the truth came out, I was pardoned"
"If you were in Azkaban, then where was Harry living?" James asked warily,
"At Lily's sisters place" Remus answered, then cringed at the thunderous look on Lily and James's faces,
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS HE DOING THERE!? WE SPECIFICALLY SAID THAT HE WAS NEVER TO LIVE WITH THEM! IF SIRIUS WAS UNAVAILABLE THEN HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED WITH YOU REMUS!" James shouted
"I'm afraid that that's my fault James" Dumbledore interrupted,
"Albus what the hell was going on, we told you that he was never to live with my sister" Lily demanded angrily,
"I had no choice Lily, she was his only living blood relative"
"Your point being?" James growled out,
"The scar that Harry has on his forehead is where Voldemort's killing curse bounced off him, and that was because Lily was willing to die to save him. In order to protect him from Voldemort's followers, as well as the fact that I knew that he would return, he had to live with his mothers blood relative to help keep up the protective charm. He has been living with Sirius since Voldemort was destroyed and Sirius was pardoned" Dumbledore explained. James started cursing under his breath, even Sirius and Remus, who were well aware of James's swearing vocabulary were shocked by his tirade. Harry was about to say something when Hermione's voice put a stop to the argument,
"I found it!" she called triumphantly from the side of the frame,
"Where?" Ron asked,
"Harry come over here and have a look, since you will have to be the one that wears the ring and turns it in the lock" Hermione replied ignoring Ron's question. Harry rose to his feet and walked over to where Hermione was standing next to the frame. Hermione pointed to a small round hole in the side of the frame,
"Are you sure that's it Mione?" Harry asked excitedly, his shock over his parents sudden appearance was wearing off,
"I'm sure Harry" Hermione replied, a small popping sound interrupted whatever Harry was going to say and Dobby appeared back in the office,
"I have it Miss Cissa!" he cried excitedly, presenting a small black box to Narcissa, Narcissa looked at the box in surprise, it still looked like it had the day that she had given it to Dobby to hide,
"If you don't mind me asking Dobby, where did you hide it?"
"Dobby hid it in a cave behind Niagara Falls, Miss Cissa. Dobby made it invisible so that nobody would know it was there if they found the cave"
"Thankyou Dobby, you did a wonderful job" Narcissa smiled,
"Dobby was happy to help Miss Cissa" the house elf replied before he disappeared again with a small pop.
"Well we have everything, are we ready to do this?" James asked shakily from where he stood next to his wife in the portrait. Narcissa walked over to Harry and handed him the box. Harry took it, then, with shaking hands, opened it and stared at the golden ring glinting up at him,
"Put the ring on your right ring finger Harry, that is where it traditionally belongs" James instructed his son. Harry, unable to speak from the emotion clogging his throat, nodded, then pulled the ring from the box and placed it on his finger. The ring magically resized itself to fit his finger and he glanced up at his father, who nodded in approval. Snape moved to Dumbledore's desk and with a wave of his wand conjured a small fire. He pulled a small vial from the pocket of his robe and dripped three drops of the potion into the centre of it. The flames sparked slightly then turned an emerald shade of green, after placing a mini cauldron, no bigger than a goblet, over the fire, he turned to Hermione.
"Miss Granger, if you could please call out the ingredients in the order that they appear on the parchment we shall proceed" he stated stiffly, Hermione nodded as she returned to her seat and picked up the parchment that she had placed on it when she had left it to examine the frame for the lock.
"The first one is 'Blood from two disloyal to the cause'" Lucius stood from his seat and made his way over to Snape as the potions professor accepted a small silver knife that the headmaster had conjured. With quick movements he pricked both his and Lucius's thumbs, then they both allowed a drop of their blood to fall into the cauldron,
"What was the next item?" Snape asked as he and Lucius healed their thumbs,
"The family symbol of the sire, the crest of the ring" Hermione replied,
"Potter, come here and tap the ring on the edge of the cauldron three times" Snape instructed Harry. Harry stood and did as Snape asked, then stepped back a couple of paces, waiting for the next thing that Hermione would say,
"Blood from the son of those who freedom do seek" was Hermione's next words. Harry grimaced as he held out his thumb, which Snape promptly pricked with the silver knife. Harry held his hand over the mouth of the cauldron and watched as a drop of his blood fell into the cauldron and mix with both Lucius's and Snape's,
"Alright Miss Granger, the next if you please" Snape requested as he healed Harry's thumb,
"Dog and Wolf should repent, a hair from each with the blood traitors consent" Hermione supplied. Remus and Sirius stood from their seats, Remus approached first and after removing a single hair from the vial that Hermione had placed on the table, he looked at Snape who nodded, then dropped the hair into the cauldron. The hair hissed and a small puff of green smoke erupted when the hair touched the blood already in there. Sirius transformed into Padfoot and padded up to Remus, cocking his shaggy head he indicated that his friend and fellow Marauder should pluck a single hair from his tail, then yelped slightly when Remus did so. Transforming back into his human form, Sirius collected the hair that was held between Remus's fingertips,
"That hurt Moony!"
"Stop your whining and put the hair in the cauldron already" James laughed from the portrait, Sirius childishly stuck his tongue out at James, but did as he said, then jumped, startled when red sparks flew into the air when it mixed with the rest of the ingredients in the cauldron,
"Miss Granger?" Snape asked, ignoring his childhood enemy's actions, Hermione nodded, then turned her eyes back to the parchment that she held in her hands,
"The last one is 'Finally Pureblood to counteract the Mudblood friend'" Narcissa moved to Snape's side, and stood silently as he gently pricked her thumb the same way he had done with Harry, Lucius and himself. Narcissa squeezed a drop of her blood into the cauldron then gasped when a large billow of gold smoke shot up out of its small mouth. Snape healed her thumb, then once again turned back to Hermione,
"What are the rest of the instructions?"
"Blood and Hair stirred together thrice over a flame of green, coat the symbol then find the lock, turn the key and those trapped will be forever free" Hermione answered, Snape nodded, using his wand he stirred the mixture three times, then enlarged the mouth of it so that Harry could fit his hand into it easily.
"Dip the ring into the mix Potter, and make sure that you coat it thickly" Snape instructed. Nodding, Harry did as he was told, once the ring was liberally coated with the mix of blood and hair, he moved to the portrait and inserted the ring into the small hole that Hermione had found earlier. The frame began to glow bright green and Harry could feel a pulsing sensation in his hands, starting from where the ring encircled his finger. Slowly as if fearing that his hopes would be dashed and that it wouldn't work, he twisted his hand and turned the ring in the lock. There was a loud clanking sound and an unseen force threw Harry backwards. Lucius who had been behind Harry, caught him and righted him back onto his feet,
"Thanks" Harry muttered, with a quick glance at Lucius who simply nodded, then he turned his attention back to the brightly glowing green frame that housed his trapped parents. The frame glowed brighter, then started to swing open, much like a door would. It opened fully and James and Lily tentatively stepped out onto the stone floor of Dumbledore's office. Harry barely had time to comprehend that it had indeed worked, before he was wrapped tightly in the loving arms of both his parents, as they hugged him fiercely.
Well there you go, a nice long chapter. As i said it goes off track from the main storyline but the inormation is essential for later chapters trust me!! Please read and review, but no flames please as i enjoy and get encouragement from all the reviews i recieve, it tends to motivate me to update faster because i know that readers are waiting for the next installment.
Thankyou to all those who have read and reviewed this story so far!