I'm sorry! I know I've updated REALLY, REALLY, late, so please forgive me! But I've been kind of busy… so anyways! Here's chapter 25! [DISC – I'd love to own Harry Potter, but we all don't always get what we want, do we?]
Read, Enjoy and Review! [RER!]
They were all thrown into a much older version of Hogwarts in the memory through the pensieve.
"What the….." Blaise muttered.
"AAAAAAH! NO! PLEASE! PLEASE LEAVE US! PLEASE NO! HELP SOMEONE!" a very familiar feminine voice cried for help.
"Where have I heard this voice before?" Ginny mused.
"I… I…" Hermione murmured, her eyes darkening.
"What?" Ginny asked, leaning in.
"No, nothing…" Hermione said, eyes still dark.
"Quiet you!" an unmistakable voice hissed.
"Voldemort!" Theo said, his breath catching in his throat.
"Where ARE they?" Harry asked in frustration, looking around for the source of the voices.
"No no! Please! Let her go! Please!" an all too familiar male voice shouted.
Draco's face wore an expression of shock.
"Merlin, I think I've heard THIS voice too!" Ron said.
Footsteps could be heard. Everyone turned towards the direction of the sound. All of a sudden, three figures came into view. One was definitely Voldemort. The faces of the other two could not be seen due their struggles with Voldemort. All that could be deciphered was that one of them was a boy and the other, a girl. Voldemort was holding the girl by her hair, and the boy was pleading him to let go of her.
Everyone was shocked.
"Come on!" Blaise urged. "I want to see their faces properly." He said.
They slowly walked towards the three figures.
"Please!" the boy was shouting. "Don't harm her! Please!"
"Shut up!" Voldemort's snake-like voice hissed.
Upon getting closer, the faces of the boy and girl were clearly visible.
Hermione looked ready to faint. Draco looked as if he was about to have a heart-attack.
The boy and girl were exact carbon-copies of Hermione and Draco.
"So that's why their voices….." Harry trailed off, realizing what was happening.
"I'm sorry, okay?!" the boy cried. "I shouldn't have tried to fight you. Forgive me, please. Don't harm her!"
"No, no, no!" Voldemort said, his voice incredibly calm. "None of you are going to be spared. You were foolish enough to try to fight me, and your girlfriend here was extremely stupid to join you. It was a huge mistake. And both of you shall be punished for it!"
"Look, look." The boy said. "It was I who started fighting you. Just kill me. She didn't do anything!"
"Fighting to save your true love?" Voldemort asked. He cackled. "I'm afraid she cannot be saved. And neither can you." He said and pointed his wand towards the boy.
"NO!" the girl yelled, her voice filled with desperation. "Let him go, please! Please!" she cried, uncontrollable tears flooding through her eyes. "Just kill me if you want, but don't touch him!"
Voldemort let go of her hair and she fell to the ground. The boy kneeled down beside her.
"Are you okay?" he asked. The girl didn't say anything, but just pointed behind the boy, her eyes full of terror. The boy turned around to see Voldemort holding his wand at him.
Voldemort smirked.
"Crucio!" he yelled.
The other Draco fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
"NO!" Hermione's copy cried and tried to sit up properly, but she didn't have enough strength left for that.
Voldemort laughed cruelly and pointed his wand at the girl.
"Crucio!" he said.
The girl once again fell, her body unable to take any more pain.
"Please, no." the boy said in a whisper.
At this moment, the girl's expression changed. Her pain filled face was replaced with anger.
"You IDIOT!" she yelled at Voldemort. "I know I'm going to die now. But I shall return, and mark my words, you will be killed by a boy, a mere boy, who shall become very popular. And I shall aid him in every way possible. YOU WILL DIE!" she cried as her breathing became ragged.
"Harry's the one they're talking about!" Ginny said.
"WE SHALL RETURN!" the boy shouted. "We will be together in this very castle. We shall walk these very corridors. History will repeat itself! But you will not be there to see us. YOU WILL BE GONE!" he yelled as he breathed his last.
"NO!" the girl cried, and with the little strength she had left, tried to lift her body upwards to reach her lover. Unfortunately, her hand slipped, and she fell to ground, lifeless, her hand intertwined with his.
"HA HA HA!" Voldemort laughed evilly. "You should never have messed with me! Now you're DEAD!" he said. "No one can kill me. You're both FOOLS!" he said and walked away, leaving the two lovers in their death.
Suddenly, they were all thrown back into Hogwarts. Everyone was shaken by the memory, especially Hermione and Draco. Hermione collapsed into a chair nearby and Draco held on to Blaise for support to stand. Everyone observed Draco and Hermione concernedly. Hermione tried to stand, but just fainted and fell back onto the chair.
Ginny and Pansy ran forward and helped to revive her. Draco's brain gave him strong instructions to run to her. His hand instinctively moved forward, but then, he retreated.
Blaise observed Draco's actions. He understood why Draco reacted that way. Meanwhile, Hermione was revived and was now sitting upright on the chair, her eyes wide open with Pansy and Ginny by her side.
"Miss Granger, are you alright?" Dumbledore asked.
"No." Hermione replied, her voice low. "How can I be alright?" she asked.
"We understand that this is a lot for both of you to take in." McGonagall said. "But you're both meant to be together."
"But… but why?" Draco asked weakly.
"Because you're destined to." Dumbledore said softly as he walked over to where Hermione was sitting. "I need not explain to you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger, that vows made in the Wizarding World are not simple. They are extremely powerful. As you have seen in this memory, your replicas vowed to return to Hogwarts, walk the corridors of this very school, and be together just as they were. And here you are." He said.
Hermione and Draco made eye-contact just for a millisecond then turned away.
"Is it really necessary that this has to happen?" Hermione asked.
"Of course." Dumbledore said. "As you know, magical vows made with great strength and determination cannot be broken. It is destiny. This is destined to happen. Not even death can put a stopper to it. And it shall happen, no matter how much you try to stop it from coming true." He finished.
"So… so that's why.. we've been experiencing all those strange, stupid feelings." Draco said, sharing a small glance with Hermione.
Dumbledore nodded. "Those two students are reborn now. You will experience such kind of feelings."
"But when did all of this – I mean, the memory we saw, when did it happen?" Blaise asked.
Before Dumbledore could answer, Hermione spoke up.
"Was it.. was it during the First Battle?" she asked Dumbledore.
"Yes." Dumbledore said. "You're right Miss Granger. It was."
"This is WRONG!" Draco exclaimed. "You can't force us into a relationship!" he said.
"We don't need to." Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his eyes shining even brighter. "You will take care of that. This is destined to happen. You are both destined to be together, and you shall be. No matter how much you try to move away from each other, you will come back." He explained.
"I…" Hermione said. "I need to get some sleep." She said and began to walk out.
"Just a minute, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said. "Do you want me to tell all the students that you two are the ones destined to be together?"
"No, please!" Draco and Hermione said together.
They stared at each other just for a second then Hermione turned to Dumbledore.
"Professor, even they have a right to know." She said uncomfortably. "So please, just tell them that the two students are in their seventh year." She said.
"Very well, Miss Granger. Mr. Malfoy, are you okay with this?" Dumbledore asked.
"I… yeah.. sure." Draco blabbered.
"Goodnight!" Dumbledore said, and they all walked out.
Back in Dumbledore's office, McGonagall said, "I do hope they'll be fine, Albus."
"They will." Dumbledore said, drifting off into a kind of dreamy state. "In fact, they will be more than fine. It's their destiny, Minerva. Whether they like it or not is another matter. They have to cope with it. And moreover, prophecies don't just pop up from somewhere, do they? Every prophecy has a meaning behind it Minerva. In this case, the inner meaning of this prophecy is that Draco and Hermione are really well suited for each other, and they will not get together just for the sake of the prophecy. They are the Destined Match." He concluded.
"And," he said, coming out of his dreamy state. "I really think they are well-suited for each other, don't you Minerva?" he asked.
McGonagall laughed. "You honestly are very funny Albus. But I must say, what you said is indeed, very much true."
Meanwhile, outside Dumbledore's office, the eight friends were standing and contemplating various matters. Draco and Hermione refused to even acknowledge the other's presence in any way and just went off into a deep state of thinking. Ron was clutching his stomach hard to stop it from making a noise. He was very hungry. Pansy and Theo were in deep discussion. Harry, Blaise and Ginny tried to create a much cheery mood, so they talked loudly about Quidditch. But the gloomy atmosphere still hung about in the air.
Then suddenly, Hermione began walking towards the dorm. Draco just lifted his head to watch her for a split second before hanging it back down.
"Mione!" Harry called, running up to her. "Mione wait!"
But Hermione just kept walking.
"Come on all of you!" Harry yelled, waving his arms. The others started to leave, but Draco just stood glued to the pillar.
"Draco!" Blaise yelled in his ear. "Are you coming or not?"
"Huh?" Draco asked.
"Oh, come on!" Blaise said and pulled Draco to make him come.
Finally, after a long, silent and awkward walk, they reached the dorms. Harry said the password and they went inside. Without a single word, Hermione went up to her room and shut the door with a bang. Draco just watched her go then did the same.
"Jeez!" Pansy said, sitting on the couch. "Who knew these two were the ones destined to be together!" she said.
"Yeah." Ginny said, seating herself next to Pansy. "This is getting more and more exciting."
"Where's Ron?" Theo asked, looking around.
"I'm in here!" Ron's muffled voice came from the kitchen.
"God!" Theo said, turning to Pansy. "How you are going to manage to live with him, I don't know."
"Oh shut up!" Pansy smacked Theo, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. Theo just smirked.
"Boy!" Harry said. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow!" he said.
"Yeah." Blaise agreed. "I'll bet you anything that Draco and Hermione will ignore each other as much as possible." He said with confidence, staring weirdly at Ron as he returned from the kitchen his arms overflowing with muffins.
"That's right." Ginny sighed. "But we won't let them!" she said suddenly, her eyes shining.
"Huh?" Theo asked.
"I mean, we'll try to make them talk to each other as much as possible." Ginny explained.
"We'll do it!" Pansy said.
"YEAH!" everyone cried.
"WHAT'S ALL THAT NOISE?" came a voice from above. The others lifted their heads to see Hermione standing there, her face showing an immense amount of anger.
"No-nothing!" Ron stammered.
"It'd better be nothing!" Hermione said. "Because I'm trying to sleep HERE!" she yelled and went back into her room and slammed the door for a second time. All of a sudden, Draco's door opened and his head appeared.
"Stop that hullabaloo." He said, his voice sounding completely exhausted.
"Sorry." Blaise said.
"Good night, all." Draco said and went back to his room, his door closing softly.
"Whew!" Harry said. "Hermione's really in a temper!"
"Oh no!" Pansy exclaimed, sitting up straight.
"What?" Ron asked. "Don't shout like that, you're going to make Hermione yell at me again."
"Sorry." Pansy apologized. "I almost forgot! I have owl Narcissa about all of this right now!" she said and started for her room. "Night, everyone!" she said.
"Merlin knows what's going to happen tomorrow!" Ginny said, also going up to her room. "Goodnight, everyone and don't forget our mission." She warned.
"Yeah" Blaise yawned widely. "Operation Destined Match" he said as they all went up to their respective rooms.
The task of executing OPERATION DESTINED MATCH did seem incredibly easy to the six friends. But it wasn't as easy as it seemed.
It was a hell lot difficult.
How was it? Did I make up for the late update? Tell me in your reviews!
[And please guys if you read the story then pls review! Because I see that a huge number of people read the story but only a few review. As a writer, your reviews mean a lot to me. So pls review!]