Hey Guys! Here's Chapter 2! I hope you enjoy it! Please take a moment and leave a Review!
September 2, 1998 (Continued…)
"Professor Dumbledore…" Hermione said, surprised that whatever was going on involved him. "I'm sorry, but what's going on?"
McGonagall nodded to the portrait which sighed, "I can only say so much, Minerva. You will have to explain certain details."
She nodded but let him start the explanation.
"Hermione…" He said as his painted, yet still twinkling blue eyes met her brown ones, "You are not a muggle-born witch." His words filled her with confusion.
Of course she was. She thought, her parents were both muggles and there was no questioning that they were her real parents, not with the strong physical resemblances.
"Let me explain." Albus said, "Your grandfather, Leonardo Granger was a pureblood wizard and his wife, Andrea Granger was a pureblood witch."
Hermione swallowed and shook her head, "That's not possible." She whispered.
"Ah, but it is, dear girl. You see, I knew your great-great-great grandfather back when the two of us went to Hogwarts together but that is of no matter at the moment. What is important right now is that there was a wizard back in the time that your grandfather went to school here. He wanted your grandfather's powers…your family's powers. He was a pure blood wizard just like Leonardo and Andrea, but his powers were nothing in comparison to theirs. They were two of the most gifted magical beings known to ever grace these halls. Coming from the families they came from though, that was of no surprise." Dumbledore said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "The feud had originated generations before Leonardo, but it grew immensely during Leonardo's time here. Truly, it's a feud as old as time. Beings seeking more power than they should have. The Wolfe family, being the family I'm speaking of. Well, Ezra Wolfe was rather deranged and took the feud a grade higher than his father, grandfather or great-grandfather ever did." Dumbledore met Hermione's eyes and she saw sadness in them, though she wasn't sure how that was possible since he was simply a painting.
"On the evening of January tenth, in nineteen-sixty, Ezra Wolfe stripped Leonardo and Andrea of their magic, claiming it for himself." Albus explained, his eyes meeting McGonagall's for a moment. Hermine felt as if something was being held buck but didn't have time to think on it as Dumbledore continued. "It was a terrible night. He also stripped your father and his younger brother, Christopher, of their powers, using a curse that was meant to keep magic from every generation to follow. However, somehow you broke that curse. Well, not somehow…we know how it happened." The portrait explained.
"How?" Hermione asked, desperate to understand.
"There's a prophecy, Miss Granger." He replied, his eyes moving to meet Draco's confused, grey ones. "Involving the two of you. You and Draco."
The room remained silent for a moment of pure shock as Hermione looked at Draco before looking back at the portrait. She spoke up. "What does it say?" she asked.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, catching their attention. The couple turned to face her as she spoke. "A seer in France, by the name of Patrice Travers delivered this to Professor Dumbledore on the evening of June fifth in nineteen eighty." Professor McGonagall said, pulling out a piece of parchment and sliding it over to them as she looked at Draco.
That was the day he was born.
Hermione took the parchment and read the swirling print.
The Dragon descended from serpents must wed the half-pure sorceress descended from the lions lost in the oblivion to spare the fate of the progeny of both families. Their love will be true, and though destined to be together, many will not accept them in the genesis. As the moon cycles, and the hidden world sees their truth and strength, they will grow to be revered. The posterity of the Dragon and the Lioness will bring forth new powers into the magical world that was once thought to be stalled by the family named from the beast. The pairing of the Dragon and the Lioness holds immense power and once the Divine is back in the proper hands, their destiny will be sealed.
Hermione swallowed and handed Draco the parchment, letting him read it as well.
"I understand that this is a tremendous amount of information to take in." Professor McGonagall said. "I expect that you have a few questions…" She said, looking at Hermione.
The brunette sighed, turning to the portrait, "Professor Dumbledore…sir?"
"Yes?" The portrait replied.
"Why…excuse me, but why did you never tell me about this?" She asked. "And what does the prophecy mean by once the Divine is back in the proper hands?" She added.
He nodded, "I understand that you have questions and that I am the one with the answers but for now, I'm afraid I cannot answer those. There is a great deal of danger that goes hand and hand with them and though I know how capable you are of protecting yourself and those around you, this entails too much danger. I do hope that you can understand." He said.
Hermione sighed. She should have known. The man had kept so much from Harry. Why should she expect he'd be any different with her?
She nodded and turned back to the Headmistress as Draco spoke up, "Are you concerned about Carter Wolfe? Is that why you put a Warden in the Eighth Year Dorms?"
Professor McGonagall nodded, "Yes. I wanted someone there to keep an eye on the situation."
"Is there anything else you can tell me about my family or the curse or…anything?" Hermione asked with a slightly desperate tone.
McGonagall glanced up at the portrait before looking back at Hermione, "Something has been discovered since the passing of Professor Dumbledore, so his portrait would have no knowledge of this. There is a researcher at St. Mungo's by the name of Rocco Reid, who is doing research on a cure for the exact curse that was placed on your family. It's not complete yet but if it were to work, it would reveal your father's, uncle's, and cousins' magic, giving them back their powers. They could then take courses to learn how to control their magic." She said before adding, "Though, that would not alter what the prophecy states about your marriage to. You two do understand the prophecy, correct? You are meant to marry each other and the children that come from that marriage will be immensely powerful."
The couple nodded together but didn't speak.
"There's a bit more to speak about, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall said, "This subject is highly restricted. You can only tell the people that you trust the very most and only in person. Owls can be intercepted. Tomorrow, should you choose, you may use my fireplace and Floo to the Malfoy Manor to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Granger as well as Mrs. Malfoy." She turned her head to Draco, adding, "I have spoken with Chief Healer Dario Tufin. He and Rocco Reid will both be in your Healing Courses on Tuesday and Wednesday. They have specifically asked for your help on this cure for the curse."
Draco nodded and looked at Hermione, "Hermione…" He said quietly.
She looked at him.
He raised his brow, "Do you want me to help work on the cure? I'll only do it if you want me to."
She swallowed, unsure of what to say.
McGonagall saw the hesitancy and spoke up, "Well, just keep all of that in mind. We can speak more on it later on. I'll let the two of you get back to your friends. If you need anything at all, please let me know."
Hermione sighed, "May I keep this?" She asked, pointing at the Prophecy.
McGonagall nodded, "I have the original. This one is a copy. You are welcome to take it with you."
Hermione nodded and grabbed the parchment, folding it as Draco stood up. He held out his hand to her and she smiled, feeling relieved that he wasn't pulling away after reading the prophecy, though she was still full of questions. She grabbed his hand and inhaled deeply as she stood as she pocketed the folded parchment.
The couple walked towards the Great Hall in silence. Halfway there Hermione finally spoke up, "So…what did you think of all of that?"
He looked at her, knowing her tone was nervous.
Sighing, Draco looked around before pulling her into an empty classroom, "Love, don't look at yourself differently. You're a Half Blood." He shrugged, "You're still the brightest witch of her age and I still love you. That's not going to change." He said simply.
She smiled, "I actually meant, what did you think of the prophecy?" she said, looking at him adoringly.
He chuckled, "Well, I think I could certainly marry you one day. Let's hope you don't get tired of me though." He chuckled.
She smiled and cupped his jaw, shaking her head, "I don't see that happening." She said, leaning in to kiss his lips.
He kissed her back and for a moment they both forgot about everything else.
As they separated Hermione bit her bottom lip nervously, "Erm…did there seem to be…a lot of holes in Dumbledore's explanation?"
Draco sighed and nodded, "That man always liked to be the mystifying type. Death doesn't appear to have changed that much." He said before adding, "I'll help you figure all of it out though. I know that you're a professional researcher, but I've done my fair share." He winked.
She smiled and nodded. "I know you have and you're brilliant. Thank you, love."
He nodded and kissed the tip of her nose before the two of them continued to the Great Hall.
However, when they arrived at the Great Hall, they found that all of their friends had left, Hermione turned to him and asked, "Do you suppose they've gone out to the Quidditch pitch already or back to the Common Room?"
"Well, Lovegood was going to make that cake, though I thought that would be down in the kitchens. Let's try the Common Room." He replied, tugging her to come with him.
She nodded and they headed to the Eighth Year Dormitories. There, they found everyone sitting around on the sofas.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked, noticing them first as he looked up from the game of Wizard's Chess he and Ron were playing.
"We'll tell you, but we have to all go up to Draco's dorm." Hermione said quietly.
Luna nodded, "We can go in two minutes. The cake is nearly finished." She said as a *ding* sounded through the Common Room. She disappeared into the small kitchenette. As the door swung shut, Draco got a whiff of the carrot cake that she had to have been baking in there.
"I thought that was just a small kitchenette." He said, confused.
"It was but she's persistent and so I asked Professor O'Conner if I could Transfigure a small space in there into a stove." Theo explained with a grin, "He said yes. Professor Madden was quite impressed. He came in to oversee it. He's our new Transfiguration Professor, and he's rather cool."
Draco nodded.
"All right." Luna said, "The cake is iced and ready to go." She said, hovering the cake platter out in front of her.
"Magic is a wonderful thing. In the muggle world, that would take at least two hours." Harry remarked.
The group headed up the right staircase and into Draco's and Blaise's dorm room.
The sat through the space and waited until Hermione finally spoke up. She went into detail, Draco adding bits and pieces as she spoke. Each new detail caught the group by surprise. No one had expected it and Ron was the first to speak up.
"Bloody hell, so you're a Half blood?" Ron asked Hermione, pointed his finger at her.
She nodded, "Yes, apparently."
"And in order to prevent the future generations of your family from suffering from the same curse as your grandparents, dad, uncle, and cousins; you and Malfoy have to get married…and have kids?" Ron said, in utter shock while Harry read the Prophecy.
Hermione bit her lip, nodding, "Pretty much."
Harry shook his head, "Bloody hell." He muttered, handing Ginny the parchment.
"When's the wedding?" Theo asked in a sardonic tone.
"Prophecies…bloody damn things seem to follow us everywhere." Harry mumbled.
"But you mentioned that possible cure at St. Mungo's. It would give your dad, uncle and cousins their magic, right?" Blaise asked.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, it might."
Pansy nodded, "Would you want to do that?"
Hermione looked thoughtful. She honestly wasn't sure. She knew it made her appear selfish and it was selfish, but the magical world had been hers and only hers for so long. Now though? Now she might have to share it with her family…
"There's still so much that doesn't make sense." Neville said, looking at the Prophecy in Ginny's hands.
"Yea. There's a lot of bloody holes in that story." Blaise added, "For instance why does Wolfe call you that horrible word if his family knows you're not muggle born?"
"And what is the Divine?" Ginny asked, confused.
Hermione sighed, "I don't know."
"We're going to get answers." Draco said, standing up next to her. He rested his hand on her lower back in a comforting, and supportive touch., "It's just going to take some time."
"How about we go out to the Quidditch Pitch and celebrate Theo's birthday? We will help you research all of this but let's do this first?" Luna suggested.
Hermione nodded, "Yea, let me just grab Theo's gift from my dorm."
The group headed down to the Common Room. As the group gathered in the room, Hermione ran up the left set of stairs to the girl's dorms.
"You lot go ahead. We'll be right out." Draco said.
Harry and Ginny nodded, herding the group out the open painting.
Draco walked over towards the stairs and leaned against the nearby stone wall. He waited patiently, letting his mind wander over his thoughts on the prophecy and the possible cure. He couldn't help but wonder want in could Dumbledore…Dumbledore's portrait be holding back and why? He lost himself in those thoughts until he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
As Hermione rounded the corner, and he pulled her close, making her squeal, "Draco! I thought you went outside with the others!" She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck as his hands landed on her hips.
He slid them into the small alcove under the stairs and kissed her deeply, pressing her against the back, rounded wall.
Her right hand came down and cupped his jaw as she kissed back.
After a moment, they slowly pulled back.
She smiled up at him and whispered, "You're sneaky."
He chuckled and nudged her nose with his before swallowing and quietly asking, "Are you all right?"
She nodded with a small smile, "I'm fine. It was just a lot of information in a short time and there are still so many questions."
He nodded but could see something else in her eyes, "What else is it? Please tell me."
Her eyes began to tear up as she sighed once more and replied, "I just feel so…so bloody selfish, Draco."
"Why?" He asked, confused, holding her close while still looking at her.
"This world…this magical world full of wonder has always been my place. It's been my escape from the muggle world but now…Merlin, now, if I get that cure for my father and the others, then it won't be mine anymore. I truly am being so utterly selfish." She groaned, pressing her face into her hands, ashamed.
He shook his head, "No. I understand. I do." He said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, "Take you time and think it over."
She shook her head as she pulled it back and met his eyes, "I don't know what to do."
He remained silent as she sighed. "I should just go up to me dorm. There's no point in going out to the Pitch with the others, I'll just bring their spirits down."
He shook his head, "No. Right now, you need your friends. You need to have fun. Trust me. Come on." He said, pulling her towards the painting.
She sighed but followed his lead.
As they walked out to the Quidditch Pitch, Hermione looked over at Draco and smiled. He knew her better than she realized.
"There you two are!" They heard Ron shout.
As they got closer Blaise smirked, "Practically engaged and they slip off to snog all the time."
"Hey!" Draco chuckled, "We're not engaged. We're simply…foretold. Did any of you actually doubt that?" he grinned, pulling her close and kissing her cheek.
She smiled.
Foretold.
They were foretold and she was beyond grateful for that.
Blaise passed Draco the bottle of Firewhiskey and grinned, "To Theo on his birthday and to the foretold couple. May all of you be happy."
Draco chuckled and took a drink before handing it to Hermione.
They had been out there about an hour when a group of owls flew down, each with an envelope for them. The envelopes contained their weekly class schedules, and they spent the next while, comparing to see who shared which classes.
A few hours passed when Ron's stomach began to growl and her groaned, "Merlin, I need some food."
"Let's go in." Theo said, grinning.
Draco nodded, looking at his wristwatch, "It is lunch time." He said, as he wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist.
The group headed back up to the castle. As they entered the Great Hall, there heard shouting and saw a ball of light fly past them as someone shot a curse through the Great Hall.
"You son of a bitch!" Nolan Whitcombe, one of Wolfe's sidekicks, shouted at a younger student. Though Wolfe was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm sorry. What'd I do?" Oscar Malfoy asked, shakily as he backed away from Whitcombe and the wand aimed at his chest.
"Another bloody Malfoy!" Nolan seethed.
"Leave him alone, Whitcombe!" Draco and Luna said at the same time.
Draco knew he should have left it to Luna since she was Head Girl, but this was his cousin and he had promised to look out for all four of them. He stepped in front of the fourth year and glared to his fellow eighth year while Luna attempted to confiscate Whitcombe's wand.
Nolan angrily turned his wand on her, causing the group that had gathered around the scene to gasp in shock.
"Try it, Lovegood." He muttered.
Draco saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and the next moment Theo had transfigured Nolan into a rat.
"Don't ever aim your wand at my girlfriend." Theo said angrily as he levitated the rat in the air and took him over to the entrance where two Wardens had just run in, wands brandished to deal with the situation.
Draco chuckled to himself and turned to his cousin, "Are you all right?"
Oscar nodded, "Yea. Thanks. Could…could you possibly help me out?" he asked nervously.
"Sure. What can I do?" Draco asked as the audience that had formed around the scene dispersed, going their separate ways.
"I am no where near as skilled with casting spells as others at this school. I'm a fourth year but the school we went to before wasn't as advanced as this place." Oscar said, speaking quickly out of nervousness.
"You need tutoring?" Draco asked.
Oscar nodded, "Yea."
Draco nodded, "I'd be happy to help. Have you gotten your course schedule yet?"
"Yes. I just received it." Oscar said, holding out a parchment with his weekly class schedule on it.
Draco looked it over and nodded, "Here, on Wednesdays, I have a free period right before dinner. We can meet in an empty classroom and work on your spellcasting." Draco said as Hermione walked over.
"All right!" Oscar beamed, "Which classroom?"
Draco thought about it for a moment before suggesting that they meet up in the Entrance Hall and find one together.
After Draco finished talking with Oscar, he turned to Hermione, "I'm going to be tutoring him a bit on Wednesdays before dinner. He's struggling with spellcasting."
She nodded, "That's awfully sweet of you. You're a good cousin."
He smiled, "I don't have much to compare it to, but in the letter from this morning, Mother asked me to help them. Evidently, Uncle Ezio asked." He said, ignoring the constant attention they seemed to get from everyone in the castle.
She nodded, "Speaking of the letters this morning…my mum did say in her letter that the lot of us are all going to spend Christmas together." She said with a small grin.
He nodded "Mother mentioned that as well." He paused as something occurred to him, "You know, Mother also mentioned something about a witch that you reminded her of that also had the surname Granger." He said, reaching into his pocket to grab the letter.
He pulled it out and unfolded it, scanning the words until he found what he was looking for.
"Look." He said, pointing at the paragraph.
Hermione leaned in and read where he pointed.
How is Hermione? I do hope she is well. She's such a lovely young woman, Draco. It's strange, she reminds me of a witch I read about who I believe had the surname Granger as well. Though, they can't be related, seeing as Hermione is muggle-born.
Hermione furrowed her brow, "Would you ask her who she was referring to and where she read about them?"
"I'll ask her tomorrow when we go to the Manor."
She smiled and thanked him as they made their way over to the Gryffindor table to join their friends and eat lunch.
That evening, he and Hermione were laying in his bed, cuddled up while Blaise and Timothy spent time in the Common Room.
"I've made my decision." She murmured as he lightly traced circles on the back of her arm.
"You have." He remarked quietly, waiting for her to continue.
She nodded and pulled back a bit to meet his eyes, "I want to cure them. All of them. My dad, my uncle, my two cousins and even my cousin's daughter. I feel as though…I was so lucky to have these powers. Why would I want to keep that from anyone, especially people I care about?"
He nodded, "That makes sense."
She smiled and pulled back to look at him. "You knew I'd come to this decision?"
He nodded again with a grin, "Yea."
"How?" she asked.
He sighed and looked into her eyes, "Because I've gotten to know your heart over the past few months. You're such a good person. Magic or not. Muggle born, Half Blood and Pure Blood. None of that matters, love. You have the most important thing of all. You have a pure heart and that's greater and more important than any blood status."
She blushed and glanced at his lips, shaking her head.
"What?" He asked.
"You." She said. "I got lucky enough to be foretold with you."
He chuckled and kissed her lips, knowing that he too was grateful to be foretold with her.