Chapter 24
When Draco woke up the next morning, he had been surprised to find that he wasn't in the bedroom that he had been occupying while staying at his partner's home. In fact, he wasn't even in a bed, as he could tell by his upright position and the way his back was stiff from the angle had had gone to bed on. Despite the sleep that still filled his eyes, he opened them enough so he could map out his surroundings.
His eyes widened in shock when he realized that he wasn't alone. To his complete and utter surprise, he looked down to see Hermione nestled into his chest, with his arms around her body. She was still asleep, and he couldn't see a hint of the tension that had been plaguing her for the past few weeks.
She had been so broken last night that he felt a part of him shatter at the sight of her state. He couldn't comprehend how her parents refused to have anything to do with her. Magic was just as much a part of her as it was him, despite what he might have believed earlier. And she was more talented than anyone else he had known.
And if that wasn't bad enough, he was still reeling about what her parents had said. Sure, Scorpius might not have technically been theirs; that much was true. It wasn't the two of them who had created or raised Scorpius before. But that didn't make him any less theirs.
He could feel her shift against him as she let out a small sigh. Draco couldn't help but instinctively pull her closer. He wanted to protect her, despite knowing that she was far more than capable to taking care of herself. Despite the fact that they had agreed that they weren't meant to be together, he knew that he was failing in that aspect.
He cared about her; a lot. It wasn't just as one would care about one of their friends. He cared about Harry and Ginny as well, but it wasn't anything like that. He wanted to see every side of her. He wanted to see her wake up from deep sleeps, and he wanted to hold her in his arms late at night. He wanted to spend days with her and their son, just relaxing and running around the back yard. He wanted to cook dinner for the three of them and take her to Quidditch matches. But he also wanted to be able to shout it from the highest floor in the Ministry for the rest of the world to hear.
Draco wasn't blind. He knew that he cared about Hermione. Between Harry's not so subtle nudges and his mother's pointed looks, it didn't take a lot for him to finally put two and two together and realize just what was happening. And as stubborn as he may be, he knew better than trying to deny the truth.
He had had a few girlfriends in the past; he and Pansy had tried dating at school, but it was more because they felt they had to than either of them wanting to. And between Pansy's longing looks at his friend, and the way Theo would tense up whenever Pansy fakingly cooed over Draco, he could see the future relationship between the two, years before it even happened. Hell, if it weren't for the pair of them getting drunk at graduation and admitting their feelings, Draco wondered if they ever would have gotten together.
And he had tried seeing Astoria, but that had been an utter disaster. The last thing he wanted to do was relive those moments.
But the witch sleeping in his arms was much different. Despite being completely opposite to him in so many ways, Draco couldn't help but notice how similar they also could be when it came down to it.
Nor had he seen those memories and chosen to overlook the intimate moments between the two of them. They had been happy in the future, and he couldn't help but wonder when their relationship had even started up. The first time he had even come into contact with Granger was when he was lying in the hospital bed after being caught in an attack at work. He had wanted to talk to her that day; to apologise for their past and to see if they could be friends. Had that been the moment that was stolen from them when the earthquake had struck? For once it did, they were thrust together with all of these new events unravelling in front of them, and he had never had the chance to have her in his life the way he had planned, but now it was the way fate had brought them together. It was by force and without a single choice, thus preventing them from reaching the potential they were supposed to before.
However things weren't written in stone. The old future did not have to repeat itself, but that didn't mean that other events were no longer meant to happen.
"Good morning," he murmured to her, as he looked down and saw her eyes slowly open. She seemed disoriented at first, but as she came to, she seemed to realize where she was, and immediately sat up, pulling herself out of his arms, to his disappointment.
"What happened?" she frowned, "When did I fall asleep?"
"I don't know," Draco admitted, "We both must have drifted off at some point or the other last night. I woke up a few moments before you and realized we had fallen asleep on the couch."
"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked, looking up at him. Her hair was frazzled slightly from the sleep, and he couldn't help but note how she looked in the morning after sleep.
"You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to disturb you," he told her softly, "And after last night, I thought you deserved some rest."
Her eyes darkened slightly at the mention of the prior events, but to his surprise she responded with, "Thank you," she said softly, her eyes darting to the ground. "For last night. I really needed to talk to someone about it, so thank you for being a friend to me despite how I had treated you."
"Don't mention it," he said, his heart falling slightly at the word 'friend'. It had been why he had been there for her; there hadn't been any ulterior motives or anything like that, but it meant that she still refused to see him as anything other than that.
Meaning he had two options: one, he took a step back, and let the two of them simply remain as friends, or two, he fought to win her heart.
"Oh good, the two of you are up," he heard his mother's voice call out. He looked up shocked to see her standing there, holding a cup of tea in her hands as she gave them a knowing smile.
"Mother?" he asked confused, "When did you even get here? I thought you went home last night."
"I did," Narcissa said patiently, "But I found something, and I wanted to share it with the two of you, and whomever else was here."
Hermione looked embarrassed, but she stood up into a dignified pose, trying her hair back into a bun.
"Give me a few moments to freshen up and I'll join the two of you in the kitchen," Hermione said softly, exiting the room awkwardly.
"What?" he couldn't help but ask his mother, as he felt her eyes on him.
"The two of you are just looking much more cozier than you were before," Narcissa said knowingly, as he followed her to the kitchen where she had a few books laid out delicately.
Before he could return something in response, he looked up to see Hermione make her way back into the room, wearing a change of clothes, face looking fresh, and with mint on her breath. He stared at her in wonder how she had done all of that in less than five minutes, but rolled his eyes as she smirked at him.
"You wanted to talk to us about something?" Hermione turned, facing his mother.
Narcissa nodded, as she gestured for them all to sit down, "I have," she said softly, "It's about the stolen Gringotts item. I think I know what exactly what was taken," she responded.
"You do?" Draco said, surprised, "How?"
"When I first heard about it, I recalled something I had read when I was younger," Narcissa explained before turning to Hermione, "Miss. Granger, I'm not sure how much you are aware of wizarding traditions, but while I believe muggleborns attend school prior to entering Hogwarts, correct?"
Hermione nodded, slightly unsure where this was going.
"Wizarding children usually have tutors if their family can afford it to prepare them for schooling. In this time, they learn things such as history and our origins, they learn politics, languages, and other matters," Narcissa explained. "One of the things I loved to study was magical objects, especially because such a thing was not explicitly offered at Hogwarts."
Draco leaned in against the table, so his forearms were pressed to it.
"And you remembered something that relates to what could have been taken?" he heard Hermione ask curiously.
"I did," Narcissa said, "You see, from what you described, the object involved had a way of controlling the weather, as we could see with the tornado that struck, as well as what you mentioned you had seen in the memories. But there is no such object that does what you describe."
"But there must be!" Hermione argued, "It doesn't make sense for there not to exist an object which could control the weather-"
She was cut off as his mother raised her arm.
"There are objects that do indeed control the weather, but those have all been lost to time, or are securely locked up. What I meant is that none function the way you mentioned. For if one of those had been used, a simple severing spell, despite being used by several wizards would not be able to have undone such a creation. Instead, it was as if this was the result of a weather spell, magnified," Narcissa explained to them.
"So we're looking for something that could amplify the power of a witch or wizard?" Draco clarified.
"Yes," she nodded, "And I think I know exactly what would be capable of performing such a feat. You see, such objects are very rare, and every other item capable of such a thing belongs to different governments, so would not have been in Gringotts, except one item."
"Which is?" Hermione questioned, needing to know what was capable of doing such a thing.
"The Staff of Merlin," Narcissa said, "Or the Sidhe Staff. It once belonged to an ancient Sidhe, a member of the immortal race of Avalon, but was given to Merlin in his task to help King Arthur save their land from the evil plaguing them, the witch Morgana, Arthur's half-sister. You see, despite Merlin having magic, he wasn't powerful to rally against her and those who stood by her. And while it killed him to stand against some of his people, they were a dark race of witches and wizards, much like the Death Eaters in that sense, who did not care how many innocent lives were lost. That's where the staff came into play. As you both know, magic has laws applied to it. While magic cannot be created or destroyed, it can be amplified. The stone in the centre, forged by old goblins, had the power to magnify one's own magic, to allow them more strength and power."
"Which was why the tornado needed several wizards to destroy it," Hermione said, as he saw realization setting in on her face.
"And why the goblins had it in their possession," Draco nodded. It made sense that the banking race would want the staff returned to them if they thought they had an inkling of ownership over the powerful object, just as he knew they had taken back the Sword of Gryffindor.
"But if they have the staff on their side, how are we supposed to stand against them?" Hermione asked, sounding a bit terrified, "It helped Merlin defeat Morgana, and who knows how many other wars throughout time. But the outcome is usually the same; one who welds the staff usually wins against those who don't."
"We will win this war," Draco reassured her, "I won't let you or Scorpius be taken from me this time either. We already lose so much in the future the children came from, I refuse to let it repeat itself."
She smiled softly at him, but he knew that it was strained.
"Just because they have the staff doesn't mean that they're going to win," Narcissa said calmly, "From what you've told me, it sounds as if they're relying heavily on its power, combined with the fear of the nation. You just need to prove that you can be stronger. The country has heard from so many people that nothing bad is happening, but everyone knows that it is false. Maybe what they need is for someone to tell them the truth."
"Even if it puts the children in danger?" Hermione asked, worriedly, "Because once we tell the truth, the other side will know about them, and what if we lose them as a result?"
Narcissa looked concerned by that idea, "I'm not saying that's the only solution. I would be lying if I said I didn't care about the children. But the general message still stands in that you need to bring this country together, for once and for all."
Hermione sighed to herself as she held her shopping bags closer to her chest. Despite not wanting to go out today, and wanting to spend more of it looking into the staff, it didn't change the fact that Harry's birthday was coming up fast and she had yet to actually buy her friend anything. It had become a tradition for Hermione and Ginny to go out to buy a present for the raven haired man, and after spending the afternoon in the Leaky Cauldron enjoying some time away from everyone else. As nice as the Burrow was, it could be filled with an awful lot of testosterone during events such as these, and sometimes it was nice to spend with her best female friend.
She knew that Harry and Ron didn't really know when the friendship between the two females had formed exactly, but it had been during one of her and Ron's many fights during their third year. Ginny was no longer completely a blushing girl over her future husband, but she had found herself disappearing into the shadows, and Hermione, cut off from both her friends, had found the ginger girl alone in the library. As the two bonded, they found that despite their differences, they mashed well together.
"What do you think is going on up there?" Ginny stopped, as she used her free hand to point to a gathering crowd up ahead.
She craned her neck slightly, trying to see what was going on, but due to her distance, she couldn't quite hear anything. Hermione moved closer, despite sensing Ginny's discomfort.
"What has the Ministry ever done for us?" a man with a hood shielding his eyes asked, standing on a wooden crate as he spoke out to the crowd. "We suffered through a war we didn't ask for. We were punished for not picking a side. We were lied to about You Know Who coming back because the Ministry didn't want to face responsibility for it."
"Yeah!" Someone in the crowd cried out, as she heard murmurs of agreement from all around her.
"They put laws into place to restrict the common man," The man on the podium cried out, "The whole system is meant to benefit the wizard who has connections and knows people, and harms those of us who are just average! Not all of us know a famous witch or wizard! Not all of us are meant to end up prominent! But we are people too, and our voices deserve to be heard! We deserve to be heard. We deserve respect, and acknowledgement!"
"Yeah!" she heard the crowd yell out again, as fear started settling in through her bones. She knew that this wasn't just some annoyed person rallying the troops. This was the other side building a base and establishing themselves in the hearts of their people.
She wanted to speak up, but despite her power, she knew better than to challenge an angry mob of people. There were studies that people in mobs behaved rashly as a collective, when in their daily lives they would never even do half the things they would have in the mob.
"We must fight back!" someone from behind her yelled, as they pushed her forward. She felt herself falling to the hard ground, and when she tried to reach for her wand, it was kicked away from her. Due to the volume of people accumulating, she wasn't even sure they realized she fell to the ground.
She could hear Ginny calling out for her, screaming her name, and she tried to yell for help. She tried scrambling to her feet, desperate to gain control of the situation once more, but as the crowd pushed forward, she was knocked back down again. She looked up, feeling someone's eyes from her, and as she did, she could see a man behind the one on the podium, a dark hood on his face to cover it, but it didn't hide the sinister smile that formed as he seemed to be looking right at her.
She felt a bone snap as she felt someone step on her arm. As she cried out in pain, she felt a sharp pain hit her head, before the world went black.