- Malfoy Manor Ball Room, 25th of December 1992 –
Narcissa Malfoy had outdone herself so much that Madam Bones was jokingly asking her if she had ever considered using her skills to become a wedding planner. Accepting the compliment, the witch told her future cousin-in-law that she would always be willing to assist her with any parties she was planning on throwing. Lord Black looked at his fiancé and cousin in near horror as he realised what the two women had just said.
Draco's mother raised her glass of champagne at him, as she noticed he was escorting Hermione throughout the ballroom and introducing her to some of the guests.
Daphne was escorted by Theo, and Blaise was attending together with Tracey. The African-Italian wizard had asked Luna if she'd wanted to accompany him, but she and her father were currently somewhere in Scandinavia. Apparently, they were following some lead on a yeti that was claimed to be living in the northern region.
Earlier today, the diary that Draco, Hermione, and Harry shared had been blinking rapidly. Their best friend had notified them that he had completely forgotten he was supposed to escort Susan to the ball. After berating him for forgetting an appointment with a lady, Hermione had told him not to worry and that Draco would just have to up his game to keep her entertained.
"I hope you are feeling entertained, Miss Dagworth-Granger." Draco drawled as he led the two of them away from their friends and towards the entrance of the ballroom, wanting to welcome Harry who had just entered with Susan and was now talking to Narcissa.
"Your company is tolerable, Heir Malfoy." Hermione answered, holding her chin high in the air.
He rolled his eyes at her as she giggled behind her hand. "You do well to remember that the high society of the wizarding world is attending, Mione. But please, for the love of Merlin, stop that proper nonsense when it's just us. It makes my skin crawl when you act like one of those-"
"One of those pure-blooded bigots?" She asked, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Don't worry about me, Draco. Amelia and your mother prepared me for exactly this. As one of the few half-bloods in this room, I know how to play their game."
Pride filled him as he watched her, smiling politely at the people who stopped and greeted them on their way. She was right. She was playing their game. Only he and Harry would know that her smile never truly reached her eyes, especially not when some of those bastards offhandedly commented about how lucky she was to have been deemed worthy to lead House Dagworth-Granger. And such a shame it was her parents were nothing but squibs. Draco had to admit, she took it all in stride, and never let any of their words truly reach her.
Finally having reached Harry and Susan, the raven-haired boy immediately started complaining as he pulled his hand through his hair, the sleekeazy thankfully keeping his birdnest in place.
"Couldn't you guys have warned me that these events are so… Stiff," Harry said, adjusting his collar and tie. He was clearly uncomfortable and Susan leaned over to smooth out his jacket, getting a grateful smile from Harry in return.
"You look spiffy, Harry," Hermione complimented him as she let go of Draco's elbow to grab her best friend a glass of pumpkin juice from one of the house elves that ran around. "And what a beautiful dress, Susan. The yellow really compliments you."
The Hufflepuff smiled brightly, and mentioned how cute Hermione's dark green dress was. The earrings that Daphne had given the brunette for her birthday were glittering under the Yule lights in the ballroom as the four of them made their way over to their four Slytherin friends. Even Draco got a flattering remark from Susan, as she saw how the dark green accents on his black robes suited his date's outfit.
Hermione's cheeks seemed to turn red at the word 'date', but before either he or she could comment, a blushing Neville suddenly showed up on the arm of his Grandmother.
"Everyone," he began sheepishly, darting his eyes to all eight second-years. No one had talked to him ever since that fateful night of the duelling club, so the Gryffindor realised fairly quickly that he'd walked in on what was quite a tense situation. "May I present to you, my grandmother, Lady Augusta Longbottom."
All of them greeted the Longbottom matriarch politely, the boys even kissing her hand lightly, and the four girls curtsied before engaging in conversation with her.
Eventually, Lady Longbottom excused herself and took the girls with her to introduce them to one of her female duelling club friends. "Not to worry, gentlemen. I will take utmost care of your dates." She sternly assured the boys as they walked off.
The four Slytherins were left looking at Neville expectantly, embarrassment and awkwardness clearly flooding his face.
"Look," the Gryffindor began. "I'm sorry about not approaching you at Hogwarts, Harry. Or any of you, really. Gryffindor House right now is…" A frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he struggled to find the words to explain. "Let's just say that things have been very uncomfortable, especially for me and Ginny. The twins don't care what the others think, but Ron has been quite adamant about you being the spawn of all evil. Well, all of Slytherin House really, considering you are snakes." He said, rubbing a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair. "Ginny has been suffering the most. It's as if Ron knows whenever she finds the courage to come up to you. It's honestly as if he's possessed or something. He has his eye on her, and on me, and he always manages to find some sort of excuse to keep us from talking to you. I tried talking to the twins, and they said they'd talk to their father, but they couldn't make any promises."
As Neville continued talking and explaining that both he and Ginny missed joining the study group and hanging out with them, a familiar tingle at the back of Draco's mind distracted him.
"That honestly still feels so strange to me." He confessed to Deandra. "I know that my Mione knew to enter my mind with so much ease, but she was at least three years older when she started learning how to do that. I never realised how gifted she truly was with wandless and silent magic until I felt her send her magic to me a few days ago. Now she's already reaching across the room to make me notice her on purpose."
Deandra almost snorted. "Hermione has always been especially gifted at wandless magic. Don't you remember? She confounded Cormac back in sixth year all the way from the quidditch stands. Wandlessly too so no one would catch her do it."
Draco nearly chuckled. She'd defended her actions to him, saying that Cormac would never be the right fit for the team, even if he was slightly more skilled than Ron. She had been right of course. Anyone with a tactical brain could see that Cormac would lead the Gryffindor quidditch team to ruin, as he could only think about himself. But still, his Mione had been just a few days short of being of age when she pulled off that stunt at the Hogwarts quidditch pitch. This Hermione was only thirteen now. How had she managed to get so skilled so fast? Had he just never noticed before?
A more urgent tugging made him excuse himself, and when he turned around he could see her standing alone in the corner of the room, waving him over with her hand. Lady Longbottom and the other girls were nowhere to be seen. She'd clearly managed to escape their notice, an admirable feat as Neville never seemed to be able to escape his grandmother's scrutiny.
He frowned as he walked over to her as fast as possible. "Is everything alright?" he asked concerned once he'd reached her.
She grabbed his elbow, smiled, and said quietly. "We need to go to the library, now."
Wondering what she was on about, he just nodded as she pulled him towards her favourite place in the Manor. The only issue was, they first needed to get through all the other guests. They were stopped quite a few times on their way out of the room, some people asking him who the bewitching witch – ha ha, old people humour, Draco thought dryly – at his side was. Draco could feel the impatience within Hermione growing, even though she had a perfectly pleasant smile plastered on her face every time they had to stop and chat.
"Please excuse us." He said to the last couple that stopped them on their way out. "Miss Dagworth-Granger wanted me to accompany her to the gardens for a breath of fresh air."
As soon as they were outside of the ballroom and Draco closed the door behind him, Hermione kicked off her tiny heels, took her shoes in hand, and broke off into a run.
"Dobby!" She yelled while sprinting towards the stairs, Draco hurrying behind her.
The elf popped up next to her, bowing, his ears moving in confusion as she rushed past him. The elf's little feet tried to keep up with her as he asked Miss Hermie what exactly the problem was.
"Most of the library is catalogued based on the Dewey Decimal Classification, right?" she asked the elf as she lifted her dress to get up the stairs more easily, taking two steps at a time.
"Yes, Miss Hermie. Is there anything Dobby can-"
"Could you please put any books that belong under classification 597.96 ready for me and Draco to read?" She asked, slightly panting now. Merlin's beard, this girl had some energy in her. Even Draco who regularly trained for Quidditch was struggling to keep up with her.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Mione, but I think you are spending too much time with Madam Pince. Did you just refer to a subject in the Dewey system because you know the number by heart?" Draco joked as Dobby nodded at Hermione and snapped his fingers, apparating away.
Hermione's laughter echoed throughout the hallway, making one of Draco's ancestors who was reading a book in a large painting on the wall jump in surprise. "You will thank me for spending a lot of time in any library I see in just a second." She chuckled as they neared the library.
The doors of the library burst open even before Hermione had reached them, and a soft humming in the walls made his best friend smile as she realised Deandra was helping her in her pursuit of knowledge.
"Thank you!" She yelled out loud to the Spirit, dropping her shoes at the entrance of the door.
Dobby had already put five books on one of the three desks in the library and the candles in the room started lighting up so they would have enough light to read. The little elf himself was still looking at the catalogue and apparating from bookshelf to bookshelf, checking if he'd missed anything, as Hermione threw open the biggest tome lying on the edge of the desk.
"Would you please tell me what this is about Mione?" Draco asked as he finally caught up with her, catching his breath as he leaned over her shoulder to see what she was reading. "I'm sure you weren't just planning on having a running competition just because you felt like reading a book."
Her hair which had been tamed into soft curls was crackling with her enthusiasm, the magic making it frizzier than it had been before. Draco swore that the pages of the book were almost turning themselves, Hermione not being able to reign in her magical power. Then, suddenly, the pages stopped moving and a burst of triumph filled him, making him feel high on her feelings. He inwardly cursed at the bond for being so strong that even his occlumency couldn't keep her out, but couldn't help but revel in the glee she was feeling.
"I knew it!" She yelled, taking Draco's hand and pulling him next to her now, nearly shoving the giant old tome in his face. "Just our luck that your mother has invited some less savoury individuals to this ball. When I heard two men behind Mrs. Longbottom talk about 'stabbing its eyes after the toad hatched the chicken egg,' I suddenly remembered one of the things Daphne, Luna, and I encountered in the restricted section. We didn't think it could be true at first. It's illegal, and honestly who in their right mind would ever think about breeding such a thing?"
She smiled at him and he could feel her watch him as he read the page she was referring to. The whole chapter was on basilisks. She'd figured it out. Again. All this time he was wondering how he could bring up the topic without letting his knowledge on the future slip, and here she was, staring at him excitedly. She'd solved the puzzle. Well, partly anyway. What she hadn't figured out yet was that Ron was actually being possessed like Neville had mentioned so offhandedly earlier.
Draco looked over to Hermione, smiling at her. "Bloody brilliant, Mione."
She blushed at his praise for a tiny second, and he couldn't help but notice she'd been blushing a lot in his presence lately. What had that been all about? He'd always praised her intelligence, had he not?
"Let's assume that the basilisk at Hogwarts is indeed Salazar Slytherin's. Do you think Harry could control it? As Lord Slytherin I mean? He could perhaps stop it without anyone else getting hurt, even the Basilisk itself. Perhaps it doesn't even know what it is doing? If it does, and it is dangerous, we can always take some roosters with us since-"
Draco nearly tuned out as she unknowingly kept seeping her feelings of excitement and pride into him. In this moment, she reminded him so much of her. Their enthusiasm when discovering something new, someone no one else had thought of, was exactly the same.
He closed his eyes for a second, thinking, nodding absentmindedly at her words. Both his wife's and this incarnation of her which had become his best friend, their feelings were so pure, unlike the backstabbing manipulations he'd grown accustomed to as a child. How grateful he was that she was still by his side. That she was still his friend, no matter what.
Hermione's chattering suddenly stopped, embarrassment filling her. No, that wasn't the right feeling. Was she shy?
She cleared her throat and he opened his eyes to see a mistletoe growing from the ceiling, making its way down to them. What the? His mother had explicitly stated that any and all mistletoe would only be growing in the ballroom or the hallway, this could only mean… Draco looked over at Dobby who just grinned before apparating away. Sneaky little elf.
"Is this becoming our Yule tradition to be caught under one of these thanks to our friends and family?" he joked as he picked up her hand, bowed, and kissed it like the old customs demanded.
Hermione giggled at his antics and smiled brightly when Harry walked into the room.
"Always such a gentleman, Malfoy." The Boy Who Lived spoke up. "I see I taught you well last year after I gave you that romantic kiss on your hand during Christmas at Hermione's house. I'm glad to see you still remember!"
"Romantic? You thought you were romantic?" Draco laughed at his best friend. "Mister Potter, please join us under this mistletoe and let me right all of these wrongs! How dare you assume you are more romantic than me!"
Harry dodged Draco's arms and ducked underneath them as the blond had his lips puckered at his best friend, teasing him. Instead, the raven-haired boy planted a small kiss on Hermione's cheek and looked down at the tome on the desk. "So this is what had you two running off like that? I already thought something had happened, but researching particularly large snakes was not what I had in mind for this fine evening."
Hermione grinned at Harry. "How would you feel about trying to befriend a Basilisk with that new-found skill of yours? Perhaps you can invite them to tea in the dungeons?"
Harry chuckled. "Should I ask the house elves to serve cookies with that?"
"All jokes aside, there's still one problem though." Draco interrupted them.
"A problem?" Harry asked. "It's just a giant snake. I thought we'd be having to face off against Moldypants again!"
Shaking his head, the Heir of Malfoy Manor laughed. "No, I meant, who's controlling it now? The Basilisk can't have just left its den on its own right? Who could be behind all of this?"
"I have a pretty good idea who might be responsible for all of this," Neville suddenly spoke up as he showed up in the doorways, clearly out of breath, surprising all three of them.
Just ten minutes later, the silver trio and Neville were sitting in a circle on the Malfoy Library floor.
Hermione carefully tucked her knees under her to keep some sense of modesty considering she was wearing a dress. Most of her hair had come undone in all the excitement, but since it was charmed, she now had long curls falling over her shoulders instead of her usual frizzy hair. Draco could see her huff at her hair and try and fling it behind her shoulder, only for it to fall back and frame her face again. With a wave of his hand Draco conjured a hair tie for her, Hermione thanking him as he handed it to her.
Dobby had served all of them some tea and biscuits, and Tipsy had come in to look for them on Narcissa's behalf. The elf had scolded them for not allowing her to conjure some more armchairs. She just couldn't believe that the four of them had chosen to sit on the floor like the 'common folk' instead. Draco laughed. That elf was hanging around his mother a bit too much.
"It has to be Ron, right?" Neville asked. He'd been so convinced earlier, but now he was quite unsure and twiddling his fingers. "But why? What does he have to gain out of any of this?"
Draco had been wondering exactly that. Why had Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets? Last time, it had been Ginny, but the Horcrux had been controlling her. The book his father had dropped into the youngest Weasley's cauldron was not a Horcrux this time, but it was cursed with a vile dark magic, making the owner lose all of their control and inhibitions in order to achieve whatever they wanted. According to the research they had done, the one who owned the book would literally stop at nothing to fulfil their wildest dreams, which was why it had brought wealth to some families, but despair to most others.
What did Weasley want? Why would he want to hurt his own sister and keep her away from Harry and his friends? None of it made any sense. Something didn't sit well with him the more he thought about it. Sure, Weasley had been a bit of a jealous bigoted git. But he wasn't evil. Something else was at play here. He just hadn't figured out what exactly.
"Before we find out the why, we should perhaps do something about the how," Hermione stated. "Would it be possible for Harry to… control the Basilisk, you think? I suggested it earlier, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's actually a good idea. If it doesn't listen to Harry, it might end up killing him after all."
Neville's eyes turned wide, and he spat out his tea. "A Basilisk? Merlin's beard, Hermione! Is that what has been attacking everyone?"
Draco had to agree that to some extent, Hermione's plan made sense, even if it was dangerous. If Harry could talk to the Basilisk, perhaps even make it stop attacking everyone, then the issue of petrified students would be solved immediately.
"When I heard it speak, it said it was going to kill, Mione," Harry quietly said. "I've been hearing it in the walls for months now. It's always looking for someone, but since it keeps coming out, I suppose it hasn't found that person yet."
Hermione was quiet for a while, her typical thinking frown on her face before she spoke up. "The pipes! It's moving through the pipes, which means the Chamber would be connected to Hogwarts' plumbing system. Do you remember Mrs. Norris? She was lying in front of a puddle of water-"
"That's right, Hermione," Neville agreed, getting caught up in her excitement. "She was found close to the second-floor bathrooms, the one that's haunted by Moaning Myrtle! Do you think the snake came through there?"
Draco thought about this for a moment. Hermione's suggestion made perfect sense. He too had assumed it was moving through the pipes, he just hadn't thought of a place where it could exit the castle's plumbing system. Myrtle's bathroom should have been a dead giveaway, however. But would it be wise to go looking for the Basilisk? Without any preparations? Hermione had suggested the roosters, but he couldn't risk his friends getting hurt. Even if Harry had survived the first time around, anything could happen to him because of all the changes to the timeline that had been made. "We should get Professor Snape involved." The blond said. "This is way over our heads."
Neville nodded. "We could also tell the Headmaster-"
"The Headmaster has never truly come to our aid, considering everything that has happened so far." Hermione scoffed. "He might be one of the greatest wizards alive, but he doesn't see the dangers lurking in the castle. I'm doubtful he would listen to us. Your godfather might be our best bet, Draco."
Neville sighed in defeat. "You're right. Grandmother has been saying the same about Professor Dumbledore for years, ever since mum and dad… She's quite displeased with the Headmaster for not protecting our family when it was so obvious that You-Know-Who and his followers were after us, after he heard that damned Prophecy. She blames Dumbledore for the state mum and dad are in now."
Draco blinked. Neville knew about the prophecy? The one his father had been trying to steal? Had the contents of that damned thing always been so easy to access? Could they have just asked Neville bloody Longbottom?
"The boy knows," Deandra confirmed. "This could confirm our suspicions. If Harry truly is the one to defeat the Dark Lord, then we need to train the boy. He's stronger this time. As courageous, as bold, as fierce, and loyal to his friends. But he's allowed his cunning and ambition to grow. He is not in the Headmaster's grasp this time around, no longer in his shadow."
"Did you just say prophecy, Neville?" Draco asked, feigning surprise, Hermione and Harry clearly as interested as he was.
Noticing the look on Harry's face, the Gryffindor blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I thought you'd at least heard of it, Harry, since both of our families were notified once we were born…"
Harry just stared at Neville, encouraging him to continue. "About half a year before we were born, Dumbledore witnessed Professor Trelawney foretelling the downfall of Voldemort. It's the reason our parents went into hiding, even though we now know that they weren't protected well enough. Neither one of our families were hidden properly."
"I'm sorry," Draco said, actually shocked. "Did you just say that Trelawney is actually a seer? I thought all of her premonitions were just a hoax. She predicts the death of at least one student every year!"
"Grandmother is doubtful if she's a seer, or if she just has seer blood," Neville shrugged. "Either way, the prophecy was shared with our parents who were part of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society under Dumbledore's leadership that fought Voldemort and his followers."
"Why were our parents told the prophecy?" Harry asked. "Sirius has never told me about it, and I'm sure he would have if he'd known about it."
Neville went quiet. "What my grandmother has told me, was that Voldemort was targeting us specifically. The prophecy stated that: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. That's all I know. That's why our parents went into hiding. Both of us were born at the end of July."
"So, one of us is going to have to kill Voldemort?" Harry asked, a shiver running down his spine. Harry might do anything to save his friends, to save the world even. But he was still just a 12-year-old boy. They were all still children, but Draco realised that even now, the war was always lurking around the corner.
The blond frowned. He had come back wanting to prevent this, but it looked like they would end up in a war no matter what. Voldemort would return. That much was certain.
"No, Harry," Neville said solemnly. "It won't be you or me. There's a reason why you are the Boy Who Lived… Why you have that scar. Grandmother is convinced that you will have to kill You-Know-Who."
"Are you sure?" Hermione whispered the fear for her friend obvious in her eyes as she clasped Harry's hand in hers.
"Harry would have to go to the Department of Mysteries and listen to the Prophecy to learn of its contents." Draco supplied. "We should talk to Sirius and go as soon as possible."
Hermione agreed and spoke softly. "Don't worry Harry. We're in this together. If you really are the chosen one, we will be there with you every step of the way."
Tears in his eyes, the Boy Who Lived smiled at his best friend. "I know that, Mione. I'd never doubt your support for a second. Or Draco's."
Draco swallowed when he heard those words come from his previous archnemesis turned best friend. He supposed that it was true. He was there for Harry, every step of the way. At first, he'd been by Harry's side because of the promise he'd made to his wife. But now… He loved Harry like a brother too.
"We'll always have your back, mate." Draco agreed.
Slowly getting up and dusting off his pants, Harry stood up straight. He was ready to go and talk to his godfather to figure out how to deal with this nonsense.
As the Boy Who Lived and his two best friends said goodbye to each other that night, all three of them knew that things would change from now on. But as long as they had each other, the silver trio was determined to finally meet their destiny.