Unofficial Portkey Archive

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

Summary: The three new students at Hogwarts are hiding a secret. Who are they and role do they play in Ginny's visions of the future? Meanwhile, as their parents try to figure out their identities, the Potter and Malfoy kids find themselves in a deadly race against time...

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. Duh.

Author's Note: Done a bit of revision to the original version...as well, I've tried to get rid of the most significant pet peeves that people have had about Harry Potter fanfiction, but I'm warning you - the characters may still sound a bit OCC. So anyways, enjoy and don't forget to review! =)

Chapter 1: The Shooting Star

Down in the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a party was in full swing. It was the party right before the Christmas holidays when exams were done with for the term and students were celebrating before most of them went home for Christmas. However, there was one student who hadn't joined in the fun.

High up in the astronomy tower, a solitary figure could be spotted if one looked carefully.

Hermione Granger stared out the window of the Astronomy Tower. Her eyes were thoughtful as she searched the star splattered night sky as though they had an answer to her problems. Even as a small girl, she had been fascinated with the many different stars in the sky and would often spend all night just gazing through her parent's telescope before going to bed. However, just because astronomy happened to be a hobby of hers didn't mean she thought that you could see your future just by looking at the stars. That she would leave for Trelawney, that old fake.

The stars of the Big Dipper sparkled at her and her silver prefect's badge shone, reflecting the moonlight. For a few minutes, the only sound was her quiet breathing as the same thoughts ran throughout her head again.

"I like Harry. It's just a phrase. I'll get over it. But he's Harry freaking Potter! One doesn't get over Harry Potter. But I like him as a friend too." Here she placed her head in her arms and growled. "This is not good!!"

Why him?! Hermione swore that she could spend the next year asking herself that same question and still remain without an answer, even though there were so many reasons. She was in denial - and she was going to remind in there until this silly phrase of crushing on the Boy-Who-Lived passed.

Suddenly, she head footsteps echoing on the stairs to the tower. Who could it be at this hour? A head of wavy auburn hair was soon seen and Hermione sighed in relief, if not a bit disappointed. There was a tiny part of her that wished Harry would miss her presence enough to go look for her.

"Were you expecting somebody?" asked Virginia Weasley, as she stopped beside Hermione.

"No, was I suppose to?"

"Well, I know that some couples usually meet up here..."

Hermione blanched. "No, that's definitely NOT why I'm here." Then her expression grew wistful, "Besides, I'm not paired up with anyone anyways."

"Yeah, Harry's always been a bit dense when it comes to these things. Men are like that, I suppose. When a girl hates a guy, he complains that she's throwing him mixed signals, but when she does, he's too stupid realize it. When he finally does, chances are the girl's given up already." Ginny paused. "It's complicated.

However, Hermione's eyes had widened at the mention of her best friend. "Why," She said slowly and then cleared her throat. "Why did you mention Harry?" she asked cautiously.

"You fancy him." It wasn't a question.

The latter blinked. "No I don't!" she said haughtily. "He's my best friend!"

"That's what they always say." muttered Ginny "Everyone's always in denial." she rolled her eyes inwardly.

The other girl chose her words carefully, "Ginny, didn't you, uh, fancy him a bit a few years ago?"

Hermione was surprised when the other girl burst out laughing. "My crush on Harry? Oh, that ended in 3rd year. It's more than painfully obvious that he's only interested in one girl, only he's too dense to realize it."

"Probably Cho."

"Nah, rumor is that she's met some guy back in Hong Kong during the summer."

"Interesting." Here Hermione looked at Ginny, "So why aren't you at the dance? I always thought that you enjoyed that sort of thing."

"I do, but it's just, well, Hermione, promise me you won't tell Ron or Harry about what I'm going to say next."

Hermione shook her head, "If it's something life-threatening, then I can't promise you that."

"Well, Dumbledore already knows about it, so it should be alright."

"I guess. So what's bothering you?"

Ginny gazed out the window. "Hermione, what do you know about seers?"

Hermione closed her eyes. "I know that there's only a small population of people that are actually real 'seers'. These people have what is known as the Second Sight which allows them to see ahead into the future. However, this only occurs when they reach their mid or late teens."

There was a brief silence after this before Ginny finally spoke. "I've been getting those visions ever since the end of September." she said quietly.

Hermione's eyes flew open. "You're a seer?" she breathed. "Ginny, that's wonderful! Does your family know?"

"Only Mom, Dad and Charlie do. I don't want Ron to know yet though."

"But why not?" Hermione's eyes were confused for once.

Here Ginny snorted. "Because I don't want to be widowed before I get married."

"You saw who you were marrying?"

"Not exactly saw...but I'd say it's pretty obvious with all the wedding photos around the house, not to mention my son looks almost exactly like him. I haven't decided whether that's a good thing or not though. It can be pretty unsettling sometimes."

"I think you're losing me." murmured Hermione.

"Why don't I start at the beginning?"

"That would be nice."

"It all started one day in History when I was getting bored out of my mind as usual..."

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Ginny looked around warily as Professor Binns droned on about yet another Goblin Revolution. It was amazing how these bloody battles could sound so boring when he was teaching it. Too bad Natalie wasn't here to keep her company, then she'd have someone to pass notes to at the very least. Ginny glanced out the window sleepily and spotted the sixth years down on the Quidditch fields with Madam Hooch. Why did the teachers always insist on putting the Slytherins in the same class as the Gryffindors? No doubt Harry and Malfoy would soon end up in yet another fight. Although, now that she thought about it, Malfoy had been strangely out of character ever since the middle of last year. However, sleep finally overcame her and she drifted off...

"Dong, Dong, Dong."

The sound of a Grandfather clock awoke Ginny from her nap. Sighing, she just closed her eyes again when a thought registered in her mind - there wasn't a Grandfather clock in the classroom... Her eyes flew open immediately and she sat up hastily, looking around at her surroundings. Somehow, instead of sitting in the History classroom facing Professor Binns, she was lying in a comfy armchair, in a corner of a huge room which seemed to be somebody's living room.

Ginny stood up in amazement - this place was huge! Red curtains hung from the side of a tall window and looking out, she could see a vast expanse of fresh green grass.

Where was she?!

Finally Ginny calmed down enough to think about what she had gathered so far. Obviously whoever owned this manor, and she could tell from the vast field of freshly cut grass and the beautiful, well-kept gardens beside it, had to be stinking rich. The owner didn't seem to be home though, judging from how quiet the house seemed to be.

"That's good," she thought, heading away from the window. "It wouldn't help to be caught trespassing on unknown property." This way, she'll have some time to find her way out before the owners arrived.

However, as she made her ways to the tall doors that led out of the living room, she noticed some pictures sitting on the mantle of the fireplace out of the corner of her eye. Curiosity soon won and she made her way over, starting at the left side of the fireplace.

"Malfoy?!" she thought incredulously. It seemed like a picture of a younger Draco, though; he had the same blond hair, same arrogant smirk, brown eyes...wait a second. Malfoy had silver-gray eyes, not brown! Ginny looked more closely at the photograph and noted more subtle differences between this boy and the Malfoy she knew.

"Must be a relative of his." she thought as she moved on to the next photo. In this one, the boy from the previous photo was present, only he seemed to be a few years younger. Beside him were two girls, twins, apparently, judging from their almost identical smiles. The only difference was that the one on the right had curly red hair while the other one had blond hair. Both the twins had silver-gray eyes. "They must be related to Malfoy." thought Ginny, placing the picture back on the mantle, "I haven't seen eyes that color anywhere else."

She continued looking at a few more pictures containing the three siblings before she paused at a larger one. "Finally." This one was a wedding photo. From what she could see, the bride had long wavy auburn hair while the groom had pale blond hair. However, their faces were obstructed because the two of them were currently kissing. "Very passionately too," noted Ginny, but she was getting frustrated. Who were they?!

When the two figures in the photo finally separated and smiled at each other, Ginny felt her legs give way as she collapsed onto the carpeted floor. She knew where she was now, alright, and she knew who the kids in the photos were too. They were her children - and their father, her husband, was Draco Malfoy.

Her family was going to freak when they heard about this.

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Meanwhile, Hermione had an expression on her face that was halfway between amusement and disbelief. Actually, at the moment, she wasn't even sure if she had heard Ginny right. A Malfoy and a Weasley?

"You think I'm lying, right?" a quiet voice cut into her thoughts.

Hermione changed the subject, "So, who else besides me knows about these visions you're receiving?"

"Professor Dumbledore does. He even gave me a pensieve so they wouldn't overwhelm me."

"Well, if the Headmaster believes you, then you are telling the truth." said Hermione slowly and then she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've seen too many fakes like Trelawney to realize who's a genuine seer."

"It's okay, Hermione." The redhead smiled at her. "I thought I was hallucinating at first. But then I talked with Natalie and Luna and they said I was perfectly fine, so I went to see McGonagall and she took me to see Dumbledore."

"Did you tell him about you and Malfoy?"

Ginny flushed scarlet. "No...I, uh, kinda left that part out."

"But then, what did you tell him?"

"Well, I've had some other ones too, besides the...um, Malfoy-related parts."

"So were you in the vision or just witnessing it?"

The redhead paused. "It's hard to say. Sometimes I'm just invisible and sometimes.... Maybe I'm just dreaming the other times." Her eyes took on a faraway look.

Hermione looked at her sympathetically. "Are they so horrible?"

"No," said Ginny slowly, "But I never thought he would be so...." Here the blush returned to her face again and she looked at her shoes, "It's so intense I can't even look him in the face after one of those sometimes." she whispered. How could she when all she could think about was the feel of his body over hers? Ginny felt her face heat up even more at the memory.

The other girl grimaced. "I can just imagine Ron's reaction when he hears about this." It probably involved a numerous amount of hexes and jinxes, not to mention a black eye or two once Ron decided that his fist was more efficient.

"No!" Ginny burst out, grabbing onto Hermione's arm. "You can't tell him!"

Hermione winced slightly at the tight grip Ginny had on her arm.

"Sorry." mumbled Ginny, noticing her reaction, "But it's not something I want him to know yet."

"I wasn't going to tell him." she said, "You're old enough to make your own decisions. Besides," Here Hermione grinned at her, "Your brother maybe too busy with Luna to beat Malfoy up anyways, despite any past disagreements they may have had."

"Thanks, Hermione." Ginny gave her a grateful smile.

"Are you avoiding him?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"A bit." Ginny fidgeted slightly. "I mean, he has changed somewhat after that incident last year at Malfoy Manor, but he's still Malfoy."

"Well, at least he and Harry can actually have a civil conversation now." said the older girl wryly, "I'd never thought I'd see that."

"Speaking of which," A glint appeared in Ginny's eyes, "What are you going to do about Harry?"

"Do?" Hermione started wringing her hands unconsciously. "I'm not going to do anything! There's nothing worth doing. It's just a little phrase, I'll get over it."

"What about your children? I don't think they'll agree." Ginny thought to herself, but then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a streak of light shooting across the star-covered night sky. "Oh, look Hermione! It's a shooting star!"

"So it is." commented Hermione as she leaned out beside the younger girl.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" demanded Ginny, although her eyes were sparkling. "Make a wish!"

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Meanwhile, at the exact same time the shooting star appeared in the sky, a brilliant flash of light occurred and three figures suddenly appeared in one of the dark empty hallways of Hogwarts school.

They stepped out of the shadows and made their way along the familiar hallways to the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance of Professor Dumbledore's office. However, they discovered that the password now was very different from the one they had been used to...

"Pumpkin Pastry?" the lead figure asked tentatively. His jet-black hair and emerald-green eyes were almost concealed by the dark-colored cloak he had on.

The gargoyle remained still.

"Of course it's something different, stupid! Do you honestly think Dumbledore uses the same password twenty years in a row?" The second spoke contemptuously.

"As if you're so smart, Malfoy!" hissed the third figure. Like her brother, her eyes took after their father as well, but right now they were shooting fire at the blond beside her.

"I know I am, thank you very much." he replied arrogantly.

"Argh!" the girl gritted her teeth in frustration. "How can you honestly stand him?!" she spoke furiously to her brother, gesturing towards the smirking blond.

"I'll curse him later. I'll use the one Dad taught us on Saturday - very useful for dealing with annoying ferrets." He added as he dug around in his pack. "Which one of you has the map?"

"I do! Gimme a sec while I find it..." The girl swung her backpack onto the ground with a thump.

"Wait a minute. This better not be one of those curses that-"

"Don't worry, we'll leave your beautiful face intact." said the dark-haired boy with a straight face.

"Don't even think about turning me into a ferret."

"I forgot. You Malfoy men are awfully sensitive about that, aren't you?"

"Sometimes I really wonder why they didn't put you in Slytherin."

"Simple. I'm the heir of Gryffindor. The question is, why didn't they put you in Slytherin? You are the heir, aren't you?"

"And get stuck with all those dim-witted Death Eater wannabes? Are you crazy? Besides, they wouldn't want to have the heir of Slytherin slaughtered on his first day just because his dad had some sense."

"You wouldn't be slaughtered. You'd just be an annoying git, as Uncle Ron is fond of calling your father, not that you aren't already." The dark-haired boy said the last part under his breath.

"And you call yourself my friend?"

"Your best friend, actually."

"Since when did this new development occur, Potter?" asked the blond sarcastically.

The other boy gave him a dry grin and opened his mouth to reply, but they were interrupted as the girl handed the old piece of parchment over to her brother.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." he whispered, tapping his wand against the parchment. They watched as lines burst from where the wand touched the parchment to form a complete map of Hogwarts from where they were standing.

In a louder voice, he turned to the gargoyle again and spoke. "Strawberry drop."

This time the gargoyle finally sprang aside, and they made their way up the spiraling staircase and into the Headmaster's office.

"Now what?" questioned the girl out loud.

"Now we wait." said the boy with black hair, his green eyes reflected by the light the moon was shining in.

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So concludes Chapter 1.