Here's the next chapter! Thanks to all for reading!
Chapter Thirteen
At last, Hermione decided the time was right for the three of them to journey to Godric's Hollow. She had picked three hairs from random people during her trip to the village for use in their Polyjuice disguise. Harry transformed into a balding, middle-aged Muggle man, with Hermione as his petite and mousy wife. Draco was to be their teenage son, tall and thick around the waist.
"I still think we should use the Invisibility Cloak," Hermione was saying as she packed the last of their things into her bag.
"Nobody recognizes us, Hermione," Harry protested. "We have our disguises on." Draco noticed that he patted his chest, making sure that the Horcrux was safely bestowed beneath his shirt.
Hermione clucked her tongue disapprovingly, but took Harry and Draco's hands and Disapparated before either of them could say another word. Draco opened his eyes feeling the ground below him.
They were standing in a snowy lane under a dark blue sky. One by one, stars began to appear in the clear sky. The houses and cottages around them were lit up by Christmas lights and decorations adorned the windows. A short way ahead of them, a glow of golden streetlights indicated the center of the village and a small church nearby.
"All this snow!" Hermione quietly exclaimed. "Why didn't we think of the snow? After all the precautions we took, we'll leave prints! Hurry, now, I'll get rid of it. You two in front!"
Draco and Potter exchanged an exasperated look. "Hermione," Draco started, "I'm sure we'll be all right."
Hermione threw him a dirty look and continued to slyly sweep their footprints away with her wand. "Just keep walking."
"Where are we going anyway?" He glanced at Potter for answers and knew it was a lost cause. Potter had a starry-eyed look in his eyes and he was constantly glancing all around him, as if something was to give him the answers he so desperately needed.
They slowed down a bit as they approached the village square. Around them, more people were bustling around. There were colored lights strung all around and a war memorial was erected in the center, with a windblown Christmas tree in front of it. A number of shops, a post office, and a pub were alive with people and the three of them heard snatches of chatter and pop music as the doors around them opened and closed.
"Draco, I think you were right when you thought it was nearly Christmas. It must be Christmas Eve!" exclaimed Hermione.
"You really think so?" asked Harry, looking around doubtfully.
"I'm sure it is," said Hermione. "It looks like everyone's finishing up their Christmas shopping!" Her eyes swept around to the church. "Harry…they…they'll be in there, won't they? Your mum and dad? I could see a graveyard behind the church."
Draco looked at Potter and saw something like excitement light up his eyes. He had never seen that look in Potter's eyes before, but Potter seemed a bit hesitant. Without a word to Hermione or Potter, Draco started walking toward the church.
Halfway across the square, Hermione grabbed Draco and Potter's arms. "Look!"
She was pointing at the war memorial. Draco hadn´t paid attention to it, but now that he was looking properly at the memorial, he noticed that it had transformed. Instead of an obelisk covered in names, there was a statue of three people: a familiar-looking man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms. A thin layer of snow lay on their heads.
Potter took a step closer with Hermione and Draco taking a step behind him. Hermione put an arm through Draco's and pulled him back from Potter. She gave him a small smile as if to tell Draco to let Potter have a bit of privacy. Draco nodded and the two of them took a few steps back toward the square.
"Did you know that was there?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No, I never imagined they'd put something up like this."
"This is Potter's first time seeing it?"
"Yeah. This is the first time he's been back at Godric's Hollow since…well, since they died."
"C'mon, let's go," Potter said, suddenly appearing at their sides.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Hermione asked.
He nodded, but began walking toward the church. Hermione kept her arm entwined in Draco's and the pair of them walked a step behind Potter. They crossed the road and Draco glanced back at the statue. It turned back into the war memorial.
They heard singing as they approached the church. It grew louder and louder as they continued closer. Draco was taken aback by a fond memory of Peeves bellowing rude versions of the carols from inside suits of armor. He actually missed Hogwarts around this time. He never had stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas holidays except for his fourth year, when the Yule Ball had taken place there. But it reminded him of home.
A wave of unexpected tears came to Draco's eyes. He tried to sniff them away, but it was a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Hermione.
"Are you all right, Draco?" she asked quietly. Potter had opened a kissing gate at the entrance to the graveyard and they edged through it quietly. She looked at him with concern in her eyes as she finally let go of his arm.
He nodded in response, blinking his tears away. "Um…reminds me of…my mother…"
Hermione nodded and squeezed his arm. "I'm sure she's thinking of you, too."
He nodded. "It just…I wonder what kind of Christmas I would have had this year, with Uncle Ted and Aunt Andromeda…" He wiped his eyes quickly. "I'm sorry. I know you must miss your parents, too."
She nodded sadly. "I do. But…" she trailed off and shrugged her shoulders, then gestured to Potter. "We should…"
"What am I thinking?" Draco said aloud. "At least you and I have parents to spend Christmas with. Potter…"
"This'll be my second Christmas with them, Draco," Potter said, brushing aside some snow from the nearest grave.
Draco was a bit embarrassed. He hadn´t intended for Potter to hear him. He didn´t even realize that Potter had used his first name for the first time since…he couldn't even remember. "I'm…I'm sorry. I just—I dunno."
He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He moved closer to the nearest grave and looked at the name. "Hey look at this! It's an Abbot, could be some long-lost relative of Hannah's!"
"Keep your voice down!" warned Hermione.
The three of them waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, each heading into different directions. Draco brushed aside some snow, but didn't recognize any names.
"Harry, Draco! Here!"
Draco hurried to Hermione's side. Potter waded through the snow and showed up next to him. "Is it—?"
She looked apologetically at him. "No, but look!" She pointed to the dark stone.
Potter and Draco stooped down to get a closer look and saw, upon the frozen, lichen-spotted granite, the words "Kendra Dumbledore," with dates for her birth and her death, and also, "Her daughter, Ariana."
"Dumbledore's mother and—"
"And sister," answered Hermione.
"He could've said something to me," Potter said.
Draco bit his tongue. Potter looked so hurt at Dumbledore not telling him this piece of information that even he didn't have the heart to make fun of how being Dumbledore's favorite still didn't afford him some things.
"Are you sure he never mentioned—?" Hermione began.
"No," Potter said curtly. "Let's keep looking."
The three of them resumed looking through the gravestones.
"Draco, Harry, come here for a moment."
Draco saw a brief flicker of irritation flit across Potter's face before he turned to join Hermione. "What is it?" Potter asked.
"Look at this!"
Draco and Potter glanced at the grave that Hermione seemed to care for. She pointed down to the old and weathered grave. "That's the same mark in the book! The symbol that we were wondering about."
They peered at the place that she was pointing at. Though it was faded and nearly completely worn out, they could see a triangular mark with a circle around it.
"Can you read the name?" Potter asked.
"I…I think it says…Ig—Ignotus, I think…"
"Right. Well, I'm going to keep looking for my parents, all right?" Potter turned away and went to another row of tombstones.
Draco continued down his row of graves. He brushed aside some snow from the graves and noticed some familiar surnames and wondered if they were Wizarding ancestors of his classmates. He continued down another row of headstones and brushed aside some more snow.
He saw a familiar date and dropped to his knees to brush aside the snow that gathered from the top. The lights in the church had just turned off and it grew dark. The stars twinkled brightly above them.
"Potter…" Draco started. He brushed aside some more snow and saw "James Potter" engraved in this marble white tombstone. "Potter…" he said a bit louder. He looked around and saw Hermione and Potter at the other end of the graveyard, still looking through the tombstones. "Harry!" Draco called.
Immediately, he glanced up, looking surprised to hear his name from Draco's mouth.
Draco beckoned them toward him. "I…um…I think I found them."
Harry and Hermione hurried over to Draco and the three of them stared at the tomb silently. Harry took a step forward and knelt down. Draco read over the words written on the stone and listened to Harry and Hermione talk about it. Hermione had taken Harry's hand and knelt down beside him.
Once again, Draco felt a bit out of place. He didn't belong in such a private moment for Harry Potter. He didn't know what to do. He felt like he and Harry were becoming friends, but…could Harry forgive him? Draco had treated Harry like crap when they were at Hogwarts. Could they really move past that and become friends?
Draco watched as Harry knelt closer to his parents' tombstones. He felt sorry for him. Draco had two parents, one who loved and cared for him and the other who didn't seem to give a rat's ass about him. Harry had none.
He raised his wand behind them and moved it in a circle through the air. A wreath of Christmas roses blossomed before them. Harry caught it and laid it on his parents' grave. Hermione looked up at Draco with a smile of gratitude.
Harry stood up and looked as if he wanted to disappear. He put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and she put hers around his waist, and they turned in silence and walked away through the snow. Draco followed on Harry's other side. He patted Harry's shoulder a few times, to which Harry acknowledged with a slight nod and a small smile.
"Stop."
"What's wrong, Hermione?" asked Harry. They were a few yards away from the kissing gate.
"There's someone there. Someone watching us. I can tell. Over by the bushes."
"We look like Muggles," Draco said.
"But we were just laying flowers on your parents' graves, Harry! I'm sure someone's there."
"There's no one there, Hermione," said Harry. "Let's just go."
The three of them left the graveyard and headed down toward the square again. But instead of following the same route they had taken, Hermione led them down the other street.
"Hey, look!" exclaimed Hermione.
Draco looked up at a broken-down cottage and instantly knew it was where the Potters had lived when they had been alive. The entire right side had been blown apart, but most of the cottage was still standing. The hedge had grown high and wild and the gate stood on rusted hinges. Harry put a hand on the gate.
"You're not going to go inside? It looks unsafe!" said Hermione.
"Wait, look!" Draco exclaimed. He pointed to a sign that seemed to grow from the ground in front of them. Words describing how Lily and James Potter lost their lives appeared before them. Graffiti appeared on the sign, all bearing similar messages—messages of support for Harry Potter.
"They shouldn't have written on the sign!" said Hermione, indignant.
Draco bit back a laugh. "No, this is great."
"It's brilliant. I'm glad they did," Harry said, grinning at her. He broke off when a heavily muffled creature hobbled toward them.
Draco frowned at the sight of the newest arrival. Hermione looked as wary of her as he did, but Harry seemed sure that it was Bathilda Bagshot. The three of them followed Bagshot back to her house, but Draco preferred to stay outside while Harry and Hermione followed her in. He pulled out his wand and kept it close to him.
He stood outside of the house, facing toward it, but turned around in a circle to see if anyone was approaching him. He was getting a bad feeling about being here and it didn't seem as if Bagshot had the sword.
Why wouldn't she speak to them?
Draco glanced into the dark house. "All right, nearly time to come out, right?" he thought. He glanced at his wrist, before forgetting that he didn't wear a watch. Draco warily looked down the street and noticed that all seemed to be going quiet now. Lights turned off in the cottages around him.
It was dark and only seemed to be getting darker. He glanced back at the house and noticed sparks. Wand sparks.
Draco held his wand in front of him and crashed in the house. "HERMIONE!" he called. "WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Up here, Draco!" she yelled up a dark staircase. The wand sparks seemed to be brighter. "Help!"
Draco ran upstairs and took in the scene of complete madness. Harry and Hermione were yelling out spells while a giant snake seemed to be fighting them. He could barely see anything, everything was blowing up—furniture and other things.
"Nagini?" he asked aloud, recognizing the large snake. His eyes widened. "He's coming! You-Know-Who's coming!"
Fear gripped Draco's heart and he ran as fast as he could to Harry and Hermione. Without any thought, he took her hand and placed his on Harry's unconscious form and in a swift moment, they Disapparated into the air.
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