Y'all I started this ONE YEAR AGO TODAY!? That's WILD!
Alright here is the next chapter for you. A few things are wrapping up from last chapter, and new plans are being made!
May 2-7, 1998
Hermione
She was supposed to be the organised one, the planner, the one who everyone looked to. In those moments after Draco Malfoy had collapsed in her arms, she felt like she was wading through Jello. Rather distantly, she watched Theo call for Darcy and Bennett, and felt a small sense of wonder at the colourful lights emitting from his wand. She hadn't stood from where she was kneeling in the grass.
She'd just gotten him. He couldn't go now. Harry was gone and Dora. She'd thought she could go back and fix everything, but yet again she was a failure. She was supposed to be the Brightest Witch of her Age, but here she was kneeling in the mud, useless.
She saw Theo look up at her and watched his mouth move, not hearing what he was saying. He took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her. They were both covered in blood.
She looked down again at Draco's form and saw that his cheeks had a light flush and his chest was rising at a steady rate.
"Mia, he's going to be alright. He's going to be okay. Draco is alive," he was murmuring into her hair.
She let out a sob and let Theo help her stand. He helped her into the house followed by Bennett who was levitating Draco.
"Should we be taking Mr. Draco to his room?" the elf asked.
"N-No," she said quietly, "take him to my bathroom."
She ignored Theo's smirk and made her way to the room. When Draco was levitated into the bathroom, Hermione stood at the door. "I-I'll use your bathroom to clean up, will…" she looked over at Theo who was watching her thoughtfully and trailed off.
"We'll get spick and span and then we can reconvene," he said with a soft smile.
Hermione made her way to the boys bathroom with a jumper and joggers wadded in her arms. As she stepped under the water and watched the blood and dirt spiral down the drain, she let out a loud sob. She didn't know how long she stood there, but the water was running clear.
She mechanically shampooed her hair (even though she'd done her weekly shampoo already), because she swore she could feel the dirt and blood in her curls. She rinsed the shampoo away and began to condition her curls, taking the time to coat each curl. As she let the thick conditioner set in her hair, she scrubbed her skin until it was raw.
"M-Mia?" she heard Theo call from the hallway, she sank to the floor of the shower and wrapped her arms around her knees. She could feel the water beating against her back as she tried to catch her breath.
She heard the door open and felt the curtain move away. "Come on," Theo said softly, "let's get this conditioner out and get you dried off."
Theo, the consummate professional, helped her wash the conditioner out of her hair and then handed her a towel. When she was dried and dressed in the clothing, he led her back to her bedroom.
She saw Draco laying on her bed, tucked under the covers, and if she didn't know any better, she'd say he looked like he was asleep. Theo led her to the end of the bed and had her sit down. He began to comb out her wet curls, adding product to each of them. She watched Draco's chest rise and fall, sinking into Theo's ministrations on her hair.
"We're here, together," he murmured. "All three of us."
"B-but we failed," she said quietly.
"We have two more jumps we can try, Mia," he said firmly. "We're not giving up. I know how much Potter meant to you."
"H-he's really gone…" she felt her breath catch as Kingsley's Patronus came through.
"Please report to Headquarters at 1400, debrief and next steps will be discussed," it said stoically.
"W-Will you come with me?" she said softly.
"Of course," Theo said. "I'm all done with your hair, why don't you try to get a few hours of sleep before we have to go. It would do us both a world of good."
"I- How could I s-sleep, Theo?" she said with a sob.
Without saying anything, he handed her a small vial of Dreamless Sleep. She didn't even bat an eye, throwing it back. And curling on top of the covers. Theo covered her with a throw blanket and kissed her on the forehead. Before he'd even walked away she was asleep.
Draco
When Draco blinked his eyes open he was greeted with Hermione's face. She was curled around a pillow, her curls tucked away in a silk hat. With a quiet groan, he reached out his hand and stroked her cheek. She shifted in her sleep, moving closer towards his hand.
"I might have hallucinated," he whispered, "but I think you kissed me, and now you're here, curled up next to me."
"You're not hallucinating," came Theo's quiet voice. Draco turned his head and saw Theo slumped on the chair in the corner of the room. "Well I guess I can't be sure about the kiss as you'd already passed out when I got outside, but she's really there. I don't think she could stand to be separated from you."
"Wh-What time is it?" Draco asked, trying to sit up.
"Try not to move, mate," Theo said, finally standing and coming towards him. "It's just after 11, we've to get to Headquarters in a few hours, but I gave her some Dreamless Sleep so that she could rest. She barely closed her eyes before you got here."
"I-Is she alright?" he asked, looking back at the girl next to him.
"Nothing physically wrong, but she's pretty torn up about how everything turned out. We'd barely factored Potter dying, because there was no way we could have predicted it."
Draco just nodded minutely. "Wh-What do you need from me?"
"She should be up in the next thirty minutes. We should debrief and come up with a plan for what's next. In the meantime, I'm going to run a few diagnostics. You were in really rough shape when you showed up, Drake."
Draco watched as the diagnostics flashed above him, waiting for Theo to tell him how he was."You'll live, but I need you on bedrest for as long as possible," he said softly, resting his hand on Draco's shoulder.
"I can probably give you two days," Draco said with a sigh.
"I'm going to force you under for most of that then, your body needs to heal, and the best way to do that is to rest."
Theo helped Draco to the bathroom. He was staring at himself in the mirror with horror. He had a huge scar across his cheek that Tom had had Dolohov carve into him. He was still shaking lightly from the numerous Crucios he'd endured, and he was bruised on almost every visible inch of skin.
"She should be up in a minute," Theo said from the doorway. "Let's get you settled back in bed."
Draco nodded and let Theo help him back to the large bed. Once he was settled, he felt Hermione stirring next to him. He watched her blearily blink her eyes open.
"Draco!" she whispered. "You're awake!"
"Yeah I had to run some diagnostics," said Theo from the foot of the bed. "I figured we should debrief and plan a bit while we're together, we'll have to go off to Headquarters in a little bit and I'm going to put Draco back under to heal."
Hermione nodded and sat, her back against the headboard and curled her knees up to her chest. Theo settled on the foot of the bed after fluffing Draco's pillows one more time.
The two of them looked at Draco who sighed. "It was… really bad. I'll spare you the excruciating details, but it seems that all three of us have a reason to get rid of Dolohov now." Theo's face crumpled a bit and he saw Hermione running at her chest next to him.
"Tom and the rest tortured me to see if I was loyal," he spat. "They think I am, although I was barely able to make it to you before…"
Hermione's hand found his under the blankets and she squeezed it softly. "All in All, my position is more secure than it was previously."
"Small miracles," Theo muttered.
"I'll say it if you two won't," Hermione said after a few moments of silence. "We need to jump back again, we have to go to the First Wizarding War."
All three sat in silence. "I think we need more support this time though," Theo said, "I think we need to talk to a few people who were actually around for the first War."
"Andi and Ted, and Remus, I'd trust the three of them with my life," Hermione said confidently.
"We'll bring them back after the meeting," Theo said. "I think we should get moving on this as fast as possible."
Hermione nodded, but Draco could feel exhaustion creeping over him. Theo cleared his throat, " Well, er I'm off to make some tea then."
"Draco." "Granger," they said at the same time.
"You first," she said.
"Did I dream it?" he whispered.
"Dream what?" she asked quietly, flushing but not looking at him.
"You kissing me."
"No, you didn't dream it, I practically tackled you," she chuckled awkwardly.
"Do you regret it?" he asked quietly.
"No! Of course not!" she cried, finally looking at him." I only regret hurting you."
"No, never," he whispered. "Would you mind terribly leaning this way? You see I'm not quite prepared to kiss you the way I'd like, but I don't think I could wait another mom-"
And then she was kissing him, her body turned towards his, her hands in his hair. He rested his hand on her waist and groaned at the feeling of her lips.
"This is better than I could have imagined," he murmured against her lips.
He'd never been especially passionate about kissing, but kissing Hermione Granger was a religious experience. He could feel their Magic swirling together. He went to deepen the kiss and her fingers tightened in his hair, causing a sharp pain in his scalp.
As he winced she pulled back, "Oh, Draco I'm so sorry," she gasped. "I've hurt you!"
"No, no I'm fine, come back," he said with an attempt at a smirk, that ge was sure came off more like a grimace.
"You need to rest," she said softly, brushing the fringe from his forehead.
"Will you stay until I'm asleep?" He asked quietly, feeling his face flush. Since when did he get so sappy?
"Of course," she smiled at him, "we are, after all, in my bed."
"Is it really your bed, Granger, or is it ours?" he teased, soaking in the flush that painted her cheeks.
"Well seeing as I'm not your girlfriend yet, I'd say it's mine," she teased back.
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked quietly. When she nodded, he pulled her in closer to brush a light kiss on her lips. "Well that's settled then," he grinned at her.
"Mmm yes," she smirked at him, "and now my boyfriend needs to get some rest."
Theo
Being around the majority of the Order of the Phoenix was trying on a normal day, but that afternoon was awful. Theo tried to avoid feelings when possible, preferring humour to "talking it out." Mia had of course forced him to talk about things fairly often but even she couldn't completely destroy his shell.
The Weasleys were sitting huddled together, red faced and red eyed. Lupin was sitting like a mannequin, holding Teddy while Andromeda kept her Pureblood Society Mask as Ted looked distraught. Lovegood sat staring off into space as she was wont to do. Aunt Gussie and Neville pulled him towards them almost immediately when they arrived. Hermione followed aimlessly and sunk into a seat next to Theo. Shacklebolt stood in the corner facing the door and nodded when Hermione and Theo sat.
"Thank you all for coming today, I know that this is not what we hoped would happen today, but I know that all of those that are gone would want us to carry on the fight." There was light murmuring around the room, and Theo took in how everyone reacted. There were a lot of Gryffindors, although the Tonks family, Shaklebolt, and Lovegood skewed the numbers away from fully overtaking the group.
"Although we need to take out time to heal, we cannot sit on our laurels for long. We have heard from the Hospital House and they have informed me of the casualties." He gestured to the wall behind him and Theo saw a chalkboard appear.
Verified Deaths:
- Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter
- Nymphadora Tonks
- Molly Weasley
- Narcissa Malfoy
- Hogwarts Students
- Colin Creevy
- 37 Unidentified
- Death Eaters
- Lucius Malfoy
- Bellatrix LeStrange
- Vincent Crabbe
- Thorfinn Rowle
- Scabior
He felt a jolt at seeing Narcissa's name up with the Order of the Phoenix. It was no less than she deserved. He felt Hermione grip his hand and he squeezed back.
"In the coming days, we will begin planning our next steps. For now, I want you all to bury your dead and heal to the best of your ability. Please let me know what I can do to support you at this time."
Shacklebolt stepped away from the board and moved toward Lupin who still hadn't moved. Hermione made shirt eye contact with Ron, and he felt her collapse on herself a bit. Moments later she was across the room, hugging Andi who looked like she was doing everything in her power not to cry.
"We have to take on your Magic," Aunt a Gussie said quietly, "why don't you stop by tomorrow or the day after and we'll do it."
"You're welcome to stay with us," Neville said, looking over at him for the first time.
"No, I'm with Mia," Theo said looking back at the girl in question who was holding Teddy now. "I'll send you all a letter in a few days, I'm worried about her."
Neville nodded. He, more than most of Hermione's Gryffindor friends, understood Hermione for who she was. "I'll reach out and let her know she's always welcome at Veridian View," Neville said. "I'm glad you made it out alive, cousin."
"You too, Nev," Theo said, squeezing his shoulder. He stepped towards Hermione who was smiling softly down at Teddy. "You ready to go?" he asked.
"The Tonks' and Lupins have agreed to come live with us as soon as the Granger Estate is finished."
Andromeda looked to Theo and he could see how difficult of a time she was having. "I think for now," he said to Hermione, "we should get out of their hair, there is a certain impatient patient waiting for us."
"Send my thoughts to my nephew," Andromeda said softly, looking between Hermione and Theo. "Family is crucial now."
Hermione
The rest of the week was a blur, they'd claimed Theo's Magic again, and helped Draco claim his own.. The elves had taken it upon themselves to finish up Granger Estate in record time so that they would have enough space.
Hermione almost swooned when she saw the place, it was almost exactly to her taste, although it definitely had touches of both Draco and Theo throughout. Draco was up and about quicker than she would have thought possible. She pretended to ignore how much more difficult it was for him to move about the space.
On the day he was going to go back to Malfoy Manor full time, he lingered in her doorway. She could tell how hesitant he was to go, and she found that she felt the same. They'd spent countless minutes in each other's arms over the past few days.
"I-" he started. She looked up to meet his eye in the mirror she was in front of. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too, Draco. I'll be thinking of you constantly.."
"If I brought back a piece of Courtship Jewellery," he said awkwardly, "would you, er wear it?"
She chuckled at him. "I'd prefer something not from the Malfoy vaults, personally, but yes I would."
"No heirloom jewels, got it," he said wryly.
"It's not that I don't want them," she said, "I just think we need to start our own traditions, and adding to the Granger Heirlooms, seems like a good way to do that?"
He grinned at her now, an expression that was quickly becoming her favourite. "Maybe you should be buying me Courting Jewels," he teased.
"W-Would you like that?" she asked, avoiding eye contact.
"Would I like for my witch to claim me as I claim her?" he asked, coming up behind her. "It would be a dream, Hermione."
She flushed and turned slowly toward him. "One more, before you go?" he closed his eyes and nodded.
"One more." This time he leaned in and kissed her, possessively. She felt like he was branding himself into her. His hands were in her hair and hers rested on his chest, she could feel his heart beating quickly against her palms. Their bond was singing between them. He rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. "Bloody fuck, Granger. You're going to be the death of me, aren't you?"
"I have a feeling that goes both ways, Draco." He smirked against her, lips leaning in to brush his against her own one last time.
End Part II
So there is the end of part II. We only have a few more chapters left in this "book," then we're going to move to "book 2" and another time jump. Any hypothesis?
Let me know what you think and as always, thank you to bam2305!