Author's Notes - I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to write this, but I think I'm going backwards in regards to having the ability to write. Is it just me, or are the sentences all awkward? Anyway, I hope this clears things up, etc!
Chapter forty-three.
Alice hissed at Cobweb, "And it didn't work for your mother either! So what makes you so sure it'll work now?"
Cobweb smiled coldly, "Ah, but in case you didn't notice, there aren't any innocent little Fae babies here to grab a hold of your crown. Only adults ('Draco...') that can be told to wait outside. And if I don't get that crown, Padma and her baby will pay the price.' Cobweb cooed, 'And I know you'll put them first; as preggers became your responsibility when you convinced her nothing bad would happen in Australia. And that smart friend of yours? You know that there's something wrong there too, don't you? Before you die, you might want to help her with that, or she'll never know her own history… You don't want that to be on your conscious as you die, now do you?"
Alice stared at her in horror as she laughed mercilessly.
Cobweb winked, "Oh, and that hunky Boy-Who-Lived? Totally mine now. Once you're gone, I'll fully take over your life, just with… adjustments. Like your personality," she finished, muttering to herself.
Hermione flew swiftly over the contours of the desert land before reaching the various wards she had put up and crossed them.
"Of course, I'll have to make sure that you don't actually survive the curse-breaking, and I have to admit, you do have more power than me… sooo, I'll be taking some of that too."
With a malicious grin, Cobweb started to draw away a defenceless Alice's magic. It was as easy as stealing lollies from a baby…
She had been drawing away her power for barely a minute when, with a screech, a magnificent owl swooped down, changing swiftly into an incensed Hermione Granger who began firing spell after spell at her.
Cobweb sneered at her in faked surprise, gave one last pointed look to a barely conscious Alice and disapparated away.
"Alice! Alice!" Hermione cried out and sent a quick spell at the ropes, letting her tumble down in a collapsed heap. Hermione didn't notice the blood or drooping blue wings as she helped the New Zealand witch up.
"Alice, its Padma! Something's wrong! We - "
"I know. Where is she?" Alice ground out.
"Back at the house, but there's heaps of wards up that'll take too much time to take down and we're too far away - "
Alice grabbed a hold of Hermione, pulled her away out of the magic immobilising charmed circle and disapparated away.
They apparated back into the kitchen of the house. Hermione gapped, "Alice – How - ?"
"Hermione, how many times do I have to tell you? Firstly, there is more than one type of magic that you have to ward against and know of, such as those House Elves you so admire and secondly, research things deemed myth. Stories always have a foundation of truth." Alice turned away and walked out of the kitchen, her head held high. Hermione's head was still spinning at the fact that her impenetrable wards had just been… penetrated.
Hmmm…Research was definitely in order.
Hermione blinked, she could've sworn she just saw wings on Alice's back.
"Oof!" Alice exclaimed as she felt herself pinned against the floor, with both magic and Hermione's body, her wings crumbled painfully under her body and the glass pieces dug even deeper due to the extra weight. Hermione glared into her face and directed her wand at Alice's temple.
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Alice?" she snarled.
"But I am the real Alice!"
"You can't fool me, Changeling Fae! Now what have you done with her?"
"Ch - Changeling? Fae?"
"Please! You have wings!"
Alice stifled the pain and looked up at Hermione with sorrowful eyes, "When I first met you I claimed to have never heard of Harry Potter, despite being a Pureblood. I then promptly followed this up by freezing Harry Potter in place when he tried to seal off my windows. Each night I ask you if we can have a window open and I always scent the breezes with smells from Australia and New Zealand… and hope that you don't notice."
Hermione stared at her in horror and climbed off her, "Al – Alice? Why do you have wings?"
She chuckled humourlessly, "The same reason Draco has wings, and the same reason why you can't remember it."
"Draco's a … Fae?" Hermione gapped and felt herself go limp in disbelief.
Alice stood up slowly and walked proudly towards her, her long blonde hair trailing behind her as her eyes glittered dangerously, her ears curiously pointed. Hermione tried to recall everything she had read about Faes, but could only remember things she'd been told as a child.
There was the Seelie Court, where all the benevolent magical folks resided in, and the UnSeelie Court; the home of all those whose magic had malicious intent. Members of the UnSeelie Court took every chance they could to trick and harm any hapless humans (Muggles and Wizarding folk alike) they came across.
Those in the Seelie Court helped deserving Muggles, witches and wizards…sometimes. But they could also be tricky and cruel, just not to the same extent of the opposite Court. And now a very angry looking Fae was heading her way…
"Now that I'm in my Fae form, I will be able to help you easily." Alice stared intently into the eyes of a suddenly shorter Hermione. She reached up and tried to place a hand on Hermione's temple. She gasped as the muscles tore again and her arm went limp. After a few false starts, which never got further than her arm being raised a few inches and ended in Alice grunting in frustration, Hermione gently took her hand and placed it on her temple.
Hermione gasped as she felt Alice shuffle painfully through her memories. Hermione's knees crumpled as she shut her eyes against the pain, her wand laid forgotten on the floor, but even then she knew that wouldn't help against a powerful and what she had thought mythological, Fae.
Suddenly, Alice came to a barrier that Hermione could see in her mind's eye, as if in a dream. The barrier gave off a happy vibe and Mental Hermione's hand reached out to curiously caress it, feeling the gentle warmth it let off. It felt as delicate and fragile as a small bird being held in the palm of one's hand. It fluttered like a small heartbeat and Hermione had the deepest urge to protect it with all her might.
She screamed as the barrier suddenly shattered into a million pieces; because of a determined Fae. Hermione gasped in horror as memories… and emotions…flooded her senses.
So many happy memories of her and Draco… And how they'd come to love each other…
When he first confessed, not his love, but his lack of hate…
"…I'm sorry. For everything. I- If you're going to find out about this, I might as well tell you everything… I'm not who you think I am, I don't hate muggle borns and I –I'm going to be a Death Eater.I'm a member of the Order and I've been groomed to be a spy, pretty much since birth. Snape… my Mother and Father… They're all spies too… But we have to keep up a pretence of hating muggles and muggle-borns, or else HE will know and it'll all be for nil. Then You-Know-Who will… well, you know what'll happen."
When he first asked her out…
"I – I want… Do you want to meet up again sometime? Maybe… go to the next Hogsmeade trip with me? I – I mean, that is - "
When he first confessed his love for her…
She sat against the wall in an abandoned corridor, sobbing after she'd accidently overheard Pansy Parkison slurring her name into the mud. Complaining about her looks, her status…her horribly long and complicated name.
"I love your name. 'Hermione'. Shakespeare isn't it? I've always been intrigued by Shakespeare… and intrigued by your Gryffindor tendencies. So different from Slytherin ones." Draco came out of nowhere and quietly rambled on for a few minutes to a slowly quieting girl.
"…And of course, you hold so many people's love - "
"-Really?"
"…yes…"
"Like whose?"
"Harry, for one. Ron, Luna, your dorm mates, (the entire Gryffindor house as a matter of fact), me, the Ravencl - "
"Wait… What was that last one?"
"The Ravenclaw house…?"
"No, the one before that."
"Me. I love you, Hermione Granger. I thought you'd know that, being the smartest witch in our generation." He said teasingly.
There had been so many clues as to her lose of memories too…
How she'd known about Alice Fletcher, even just thinking that she'd read about her somewhere…
"Hermione, if anything goes wrong, go to Sydney, Australia and look up Alice Fletcher. She's my cousin, well, sort of distant relation, but she'll be able to help you, no matter what.' He pulled out his wand, 'I'll put a charm on you so that, no matter what, you'll know of Alice Fletcher and that she'll be able to help you."
How come her friends had been so instantly accepting of Draco, instead of protesting…
All those times that Draco had joined them during their partying times…
All those times those suitors had been warded off… It wasn't because they thought that I couldn't handle myself, but because in their mind, I still belonged to Draco and I wouldn't be safe unless I had him…
"Look on the bright side, at least he was always called, 'The Slytherin Sex God', he can't be that bad in bed!" Neville joking on the platform… Everyone already knew…
"Oh! I am going to kill them! Why didn't they tell me?" Hermione yelled, furiously as the memories subsided.
"Would you've believed them?" came the soft voice of a tired, wavering Alice.
Hermione wilted, "I sup'ose not. But why didn't Draco just do that for me? Or why didn't you do that sooner?"
"Draco doesn't know enough for him to do that without permanently scarring your memories, and I… Well, I never knew. No one told me. There were clues, but it is terribly impolite to just sort through someone's mind on a hunch. Although, in my Fae form, I can clearly see your enchantment…"
Alice nodded briskly and, contrastingly, walked drunkingly out of the corridor and into the living room, where Padma still lay frozen. It was at that point that Hermione noticed the blood stained, sacrificial white dress that Alice wore.
Quietly, Hermione followed Alice into the room and hung back, unsure for the first time in a long while.
Swiftly, in the role of a Healer, the Time ward came down, Padma's screaming started again and murmurs from outside drifted in. Everyone gave a jolt as they saw Alice standing in the room, when; not even a quarter of a second ago, it had just been Hermione pacing and trying to figure out how to get the real Alice.
"I need everyone else out. Now." Alice commanded, the authoritive tone in her voice no doubt coming from commanding troops in the Air Force and the decisiveness of a Healer in charge of a dire situation. Shocked into a subdued silence, Molly, Hermione and the two other women were marched out of the door. Once they were out, everyone turned on Hermione, determined to find out how she'd known where Alice was and how to get her. And how on Circe's green Earth had they thought that that Changeling was the real one.
Before Alice could fully close the door, a very purple Harry Potter rushed towards her, sweating in the heat.
"Is Padma alright?"
"She should be fine." She replied dead-pan, before closing the door and locking it.
It was better this way. No one would miss her if she were horrible to them.
Something Cobweb hadn't counted on was Alice's skill in politics. Even politics from the past. Now lying on the desk of the Minister of Magic was the documents pertaining to the freedom of marriage to all War Heroes.
Now that Hermione remembered the love she'd held for Draco, they would probably be getting married regardless. While Harry, sweet, gentle and reckless (what a contrary idea…) would be free to find true love.
Everyone from England would be there for Draco and Hermione, not because a soon-to-be-forgotten Alice had made so many new friends. And if Cobweb still managed to hook The-Man-Who-Defeated, then at least Alice had tried.
Padma was crying and whimpering in pain again, "Alice…You're here…Alice, it hurts so much!"
Alice's forehead crinkled as she cast a quick diagnostic spell on her, "I'm sorry Padma, but I have a very difficult choice for you to make… You're in labour, but… If you want to live, your baby will die, but if you want your baby to live… you will die. Who do you want me to save?"
Padma glanced up at Alice in distress, before looking away in shame.
"Tell – Tell Ron I love him. Tell him to raise our baby right. And if he meets someone else… Tell him to go for it."
Alice nodded solemnly and got to work. What she didn't tell Padma was the fact that the curse meant someone had to die and Padma was so kind... She'd put her baby's life ahead of her own. Padma and her baby would both live, she deserved it.
Ron paced outside the room, his face rather green as he kept glancing at the door and hearing his wife's hysterical screams. No one had the heart to cast a Silencing Spell on the room, because for some reason, silence right now meant something had gone wrong.
Padma screamed profanities through the door at Ron, but slowly grew quiet as the Painless charms took affect. The charms could only last for so long and soon she was yelling again.
They could all hear the soft coo of Alice's tired voice as she looked after and encouraged the witch in labour.
"ARGH! ALICE! MAKE IT GO AWAY!"
"Shhh, honey, it'll be alright…"
"NO! IT HURTS TO MUCH!"
"Just one more push and she'll be fully out!"
"URGH!"
A baby's cry was heard, quickly followed by –
"Alice! Alice! Are you okay? Alice get up! NO! ALICE! SOMEONE HELP ME! ALICE HAS COLLAPSED! HELP!"
Everyone, who had been sitting close to the door, quietly listening in, jumped up and started to rattle the door handle, trying to open it desperately, casting charm after charm of unlocking spells.
Hermione spun around to Draco, deciding to take Alice's words to heart. They would need a Fae to enter a room locked by another Fae.
"Drake!"
"Right behind you." He and Harry rushed in from outside, where they had wandered out while Padma gave birth, talking in soft voices (Harry still letting off a soft Purple glow) and came running back as soon as the yells for help had reached them.
The door was blasted off its hinges and those closest raced inside desperately.
Padma sat on the bed, holding a bloodied, but healthy infant to her chest as she tried to weakly defend the unconscious Fae on the ground from the smug one prowling towards her.
"Oh, give it up already!" Cobweb growled, as she flicked a wrist, a silent 'Expelliarmus' knocking the wand out of her hands. She froze as she saw all the people gaping at her.
Harry blinked, "Alice, is everything okay? I thought I heard Padma say you collapsed…"
"Oh no, nothing of the sort - "
Padma shrieked, "What are you talking about? Alice is on the floor, right there!" she pointed hysterically at Alice's dying and flickering form.
"Shh, honey, it's just hysteria from the hard labour…"
"No it's not! You're the Changeling!"
Hermione and Draco jolted; most of the others hadn't even heard Hermione's theory yet, only Molly, Padma and those two sweet old ladies who'd gone to bed and Draco… well, what Fae hadn't heard of Changelings?
Draco waved his hand and Cobweb's disillusionment charm disappeared. She shrieked in anger, grabbed the dying girl and apparated away. Everyone gasped and Padma sat, rocking and crying on the bloodied lounge. Ron rushed to her side to reassure her and look at their tiny baby girl. Everyone quickly walked outside where there was more space and to give the small group some peace and quiet.
Hermione turned to Draco in dismay. "Draco… Why didn't you - "
"…You remember?"
"Every single, blasted thing…"
He looked shocked and then grinned, reaching down to hug her closely to his body.
"Congratulations you two." Ron said, smiling, glad to see the two school sweethearts together again.
"Congratulations? Don't you think we should be congratulating you on your baby girl?" Draco asked as he wrapped his arms around Hermione.
Harry was looking around, staggered, "Yeah, yeah, mate congrats… But was I the only one who just saw some crazy fairy apparate Alice away… And that Alice was dying?"
Padma started crying again, "I – I heard what the Fae said… That the only reason Alice was dying was because I was pregnant…"
"Paddy, the curse had to be placed on a pregnant lady for her to get the crown… Alice would've done it for anyone, regardless of her own health.' Draco soothed her, 'and I should know, her parents did it for my mother."
"Does that mean our kid'll be Fae?" Ron asked, awed.
"Yep."
"Brilliant!"
"Ronald!"
"So… did that Fae person get her crown?" Harry asked hollowly. He was just standing in one place as he stared at the spot Alice was apparated away from.
Ron looked down and noticed something glinting. Curious, he bent down and picked it up, bringing to light a small tiara.
"I'm a gonna guess…no."
His baby girl blindly waved her small arms around and grasped the tip of the tiara. A small flash recognised the small girl as the next heir, which went unnoticed by the others.
Padma gently stroked her baby's face, she had her mother's dark skin, but she was willing to bet that the baby would have Ron's eyes.
"Does that baby have…blue hair? Or am I imagining things?" Harry whispered. Hermione shushed him, before herding him and Draco out of the room and closing the door softly.
Ron ignored them and curled up beside his wife and daughter, "So what'll we call her?" he whispered.
"…Alice."