Off Limits

Blue Lady

Rating: PG13
Genres: Romance, Mystery
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 08/02/2003
Last Updated: 22/12/2004
Status: paused

While Hermione ponders about her friendship with Harry and Ginny starts receiving visions of a possible future, Draco and Harry team up to discover the real identities of the three new students at Hogswarts, unaware that their children from the future are here on a mission to prevent an apocalypse before time runs out... H/Hr, D/G, R/Lu (TIME TRAVEL FIC)

Chapters

1. The Shooting Star

2. Snowday

3. The Mysterious Trio

4. Investigations

5. Tale of a Dark Future

6. The Pensieve

7. Dreams, Potions and Evil Plans

8. Malfoy vs. Destraine

9. Pride Cometh Before a Fall

1. The Shooting Star

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..."

*******************************************

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.

***************************************

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!"

********************************************

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.

*******************************************

So concludes Chapter 1.

2. Snowday

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own this plot, crappy as it is and anyone who tries to steal it will find themselves in a dark stinking pit along with 312 biting tarantulas (I'm so nice, aren't I?). Anyways, the gang's in 6th year while Luna, Natalie and Ginny are in 5th. This follows off from PoA so it doesn't follow the events in GoF and OotP in any way, except my inclusion of Luna in here so Ron wouldn't feel left out. ^.~ I would also like to thank everyone that has reviewed so far - I really appreciate it!! For all the FF.net readers, this is going to be H/Hr, D/G and a bit of R/Lu. For those of your @ Portkey, this should be fairly obvious by now.

P.S. Ginny's going to be blushing quite a bit for now, but no flames about that, please!

Chapter 2: Snowday

Hermione opened her eyes slowly as her alarm clock went off. Yawning, she sat up on the side of her bed and stretched before reaching for her school robes. Minutes later, she was walking down the stairs to the common room where she spotted Ginny.

"Morning," she said sleepily.

"Good morning," yawned Ginny, "The boys aren't up yet, are they?"

"Apparently not. Let's go get some breakfast. I'm really hungry." Hermione said as her stomach let out a growl.

Walking out of the Gryffindor common room and down to the Great Hall, she let out another involuntary yawn.

"Did you skip dinner too last night-" Ginny shrieked as a hand clapped itself down on left shoulder.

"Where were you two last night? Harry and I were looking all over for you!" demanded a new voice.

"Good morning to you too, Natalie." said Hermione amusingly.

"DO YOU REALIZE YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK ONE OF THESE DAYS?!" yelled Ginny angrily, turning around to face their friend.

Natalie just ignored this as she repeated again, "So where were you two?"

"Astronomy Tower."

"So you gave up Harry-staring to go star-gazing."

Hermione flushed. "I do not stare at Harry!"

"No more than Ginny here is avoiding Draco." replied the other girl breezily.

The redhead rolled her eyes in exasperation, "I am not!"

However, her thoughts soon drifted towards the blond Slytherin. One particular incident stood out in her thoughts...

Last year had been a year of surprises. First there was the arrival of Natalie, who, surprisingly, turned out to be the daughter of Slytherin's Head of House.

When Harry had been kidnapped in a trap laid by Lucius Malfoy and Lord Voldemort, Natalie, Hermione, Ron and Ginny had rushed off to the rescue, not knowing that Harry had already worked out a plan with Draco. In the end, Draco had saved them by betraying his own father and almost losing his own life in the process. He had been in coma for two weeks already at that time.

During those two weeks, Ginny was often by his bedside as were the rest of the gang. Ginny had cried herself to sleep those nights, telling herself that it would be her fault if Malfoy had died. Afterall, Lucius Malfoy had aimed that curse at her, not him. She also remembered how relieved she was when she'd heard that he had finally awoken. After everyone had left, she had creep in quietly, in case he was sleeping again.

"What is it, Weasley?" he had asked, only this time it was without his usual sneer.

"I want to thank you for sa-sav-saving my life, wh-when you didn't have to and you know..." she had stammered.

"You're welcome," he said gruffly.

Boy, was she surprised. That had certainly not been the reaction she had been expecting. Noticing that she was staring, Ginny flushed. She started to walk around the bed to the door, when she paused and came back.

To Draco's amazement, she leant down and placed a soft kiss on his left cheek. "Thank you." she said softly and then she left.

If she had looked back, she would have seen that the usually unfazed Draco Malfoy had been staring at her, dazed, one hand on the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

Of course, she hadn't been counting on receiving more visions/fantasies on what would happen if Malfoy actually had some feelings for her. She cursed inwardly as she felt her face heat up again at the memory of some of the more recent visions she had received. Why couldn't she have normal visions like a normal seer?!

"Hmm...Ginny's face seems to be turning an interesting shade of red," commented Natalie, scrutinizing the redhead's face. "Maybe Draco can help..." she added mischievously.

Ginny froze for a moment before she turned around slowly. "You have a death wish - and I will be happy to grant you that wish." she said with a evil smile.

The grin faded rapidly from Natalie's face as she gulped at the expression on Ginny's face - and ran.

"Oh no you don't!"

Hermione simply shook her head before she followed them at a more normal pace.

Up ahead, Natalie was just looking back to see where Ginny was when she smacked right into someone.

Half a second later, Ginny rammed into them and the three of them went tumbling onto the ground.

Ginny placed a head on her head as she opened her eyes - and then she closed them when she saw just who they had collided with. "Oh no." she moaned, "Not you."

"Thanks. I feel so loved, Weasley." a familiar voice replied sarcastically.

***************************************

"Geez, I know you girls just love making advances at great-looking guys like me," Draco drawled, "but don't you think you could have waited until after breakfast?!" He scowled at the two girls currently sprawled on top of him.

Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but Natalie beat her to it. "I thought you were used to girls falling at your feet," she said sarcastically as she got up and dusted herself off, "You know, the daily routine of being a great-looking guy such as yourself. Ginny, are you planning on getting off him anytime soon?" She said the last part with a tinge of amusement in her voice.

Ginny fought the blush that was straining to appear and tried moving when a hand suddenly pressed itself tightly against her waist.

"Watch where you put that leg of yours, Weasley." said Draco in an oddly strained voice.

She looked down and wished that she hadn't - her knee was currently digging against a particularly sensitive part of his body at the moment. That wasn't good.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she scrambled off of him and dusted herself off, throwing a glare at the girl beside her. "I know what you're thinking." she said darkly.

Natalie tried to look innocent. "Do you now?"

"Yes, and I do NOT feel that way about...you know what."

"Hey, you're the one with the erotic dreams, not me."

"They are VISIONS and they are NOT erotic!" Ginny hissed.

"I believe you. That's why you're going out of your way to avoid Mr. Mal-" Ginny clamped her hand tightly over Natalie's mouth and dragged her over to the doors leading to the Great Hall.

Meanwhile, Draco just raised an eyebrow as he was left standing alone in the hallway. "What was that all about?" he wondered out loud.

****************************************

Once they were inside, Natalie jerked away from Ginny's grasp and hurried over to Professor Snape, who was currently making his way towards the Staff table.

"Mind if I sit with you today?" she asked innocently.

Severus gazed at his daughter with a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Students aren't allowed at the staff table."

She grabbed onto his arm. "I'm going to be hexed, cursed or poisoned if you don't. How can you do this to me?!" Natalie finished this on a slight wail.

"I'm sure you can take care of yourself perfectly fine." he said briskly, "Malfoy looks as though he could use some company though."

Natalie brightened. "That's a great idea! Thanks, Professor!"

At the Gryffindor table, Ginny stared darkly at the other girl. "Remind me to owl the twins later."

Hermione reached for a piece of toast. "What for?"

"To tell them that I've found a guinea pig for them to test their new products on."

*********************************

"Aren't you a bit old to be playing tag?" Draco sneered as he leaned back in his seat.

"Hey, it's not my fault someone can take a joke."

"Interesting scenario out there, Malfoy." Draco started as a voice sounded in his head.

He growled, "What is it now, Potter?"

Nobody knew about it, but the events leading up to the final battle and defeat of Voldemort had contributed to the mind bond that Draco and Harry now shared, both of which used it to annoy the heck out of the other. Especially during exams, when Draco would be taunting Harry about his dismal potions mark which the latter retaliated by mentally singing the song Draco detested the most all through his exam in History of Magic. It was a win-win situation in a certain sense.

"Amusing, that scene back there in the hallway."

"Well, unlike some people who have trouble finding a girlfriend, woman literally throw themselves at me." replied Draco breezily.

"Must be all that cuddly ferret charm of yours."

"Go shag Granger already and leave me the hell alone."

He smirked when he saw Potter spit out the pumpkin juice he had just been drinking before throwing him a glare.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"I'm fine. Really, I am." He added as she raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying something, Malfoy?" He thought back angrily, "Because that is the-"

"So you're not getting laid. That's not my problem now, is it."

Harry placed his hand over his eyes in exasperation. "Is that all you ever think about, Malfoy?"

"No, which is why my grades are so much better than yours. For example, your marks in Potions are simply pathetic while-"

"Shut up, Malfoy."

********************************

After breakfast, the four of them wandered out onto the snow-covered grounds, Luna having joined them for breakfast a bit later after the incident out in the Great Hall earlier that morning.

Hermione smiled, "I've always liked the sight of fresh snow." she said to Harry. "It seems so peaceful..."

"Let's have a snowball fight!" said Ginny gleefully.

"Or not."

"C'mon, it'll be fun! Luna and I can go against you and Hermione and we can pelt Ron when he finally gets his butt out here!" The redhead grinned at them.

"Mm hmm." replied the blond absentmindedly, her eyes focused onto the distance.

Ginny bent over and picked up some snow. Packing it into a snowball, she tossed it up and down as she cast an eye over the grounds. Suddenly, a mischievous grin appeared on her face as she spotted her target. "On second thought, hold that snowball fight for a minute. I have some revenge to dish out!" Draco and Natalie had just came out on of the side doors of the castle.

Harry raised an eyebrow and gave Hermione a slightly uneasy look, "I don't think I like the sound of that."

"Oh, c'mon. At least I'm not doing anything the twins wouldn't do."

"Which is not much."

Suddenly, Harry had an idea. "Hey Malfoy."

"What is it this time, Potter?" asked Draco irritably.

"Move two steps to the left and don't look behind you."

"And why the bloody hell should I listen to you Potter?"

"Just do it!"

However, Draco was curious enough that he did the exact opposite - putting him right in the path of Ginny's magically enchanted pile of snowballs.

Harry just sighed as Draco was hit by about eight snowballs in a row, pelting him and his cloak white. "You just never listen, do you?"

"Shut up Potter." snarled Draco, angrily brushing some of the snow from his face as Ginny came running up to him.

She watched nervously as he continued brushing off the snow from his clothes and hair. "Are you okay?" she asked timidly.

"Great going Gin!" Natalie cheered.

"You're not helping!" hissed Ginny.

Meanwhile, Draco's silver-gray eyes narrowed as they fastened onto the redhead. "You are going to pay dearly for that little stunt of yours, Weasley." he said coldly.

"Look, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Even so, nobody pelts me with snowballs and gets away with it!" growled Draco.

"I already said I was sorry. What else do you want me to do?!"

By this time, the two of them were standing so close to each other that Draco could see the light freckles on Ginny's nose.

"What do I want you to do?" drawled Draco, as he realized that things weren't going anywhere at this rate. Time for Plan B. "I want a kiss, Weasley." he said silkily.

Ginny just looked at him as though he had grown another head. "You're kidding."

"No, I don't believe I am." he edged closer.

She pressed her hands against his chest. "No, I will not. What is wrong with you today, Malfoy?"

"So that means I'm not getting my kiss?"

"Go jump off a cliff."

"Well, if you want to be difficult..." Draco shrugged, but then in one quick movement, he wrapped his arms around her legs and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Malfoy! LET GO OF ME!" yelled Ginny, kicking and beating him on the back with her fists.

"Temper, temper, my dear Weasley."

"Malfoy!" Hermione shouted, running after him as he made his way to the castle. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Weasley here owes me a kiss," he drawled, "Now if you'll excuse us..."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but she was stopped by Natalie's hand on her arm. "Let them go." she said softly.

"But..."

"She's been avoiding him for quite a while now...and I think there are some things they need to sort out."

"Well," Hermione was doubtful, but then she recalled last night's conversation, "Alright."

"No! Don't leave me with him!!" howled Ginny. However, the blond ignored her protests as he gave the others a lazy salute before he disappeared into the entrance way.

***********************************

"Ginny doesn't look too pleased," mused Luna.

"Of course! But she'll thank us for this later." Natalie gave the three of them an evil grin, "It's about time those two got together!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Don't look so skeptical Hermione! It's about time Ginny did something about those visions of hers."

It was Harry's turn to look surprised. "What visions?"

"Nothing!" said Natalie quickly before continuing, "But this way she can see once and for all if her you-know-whats with you-know-who is actually true or not!"

"I'm pretty sure the you-know-what is true." Hermione crossed her arms. "It's the you-know-who I'm concerned about, especially when her family finds about this."

Natalie waved it off carelessly, "We'll cross that bridge when we, uh, they get there."

Harry closed his eyes. "And I don't get a single word of what you're saying."

"It's alright, Harry." Luna patted his arm, "It's called girl-talk for a reason."

**********************************

"Hey, let's go back inside." suggested Hermione, "My hands are starting to get numb."

She was surprised when Harry took her hands in his. "Better?"

"And she saids she doesn't like him." muttered a voice behind them, which Hemione ignored. He was just being a friend. That was all. Then why was she suddenly feel so...happy?

Unknown to Hermione, Harry, Luna and Natalie, three pairs of eyes stared after them from under an invisibility cloak...

"And you think my parents are bad..."

"Hey, at least my dad's not carrying my mom over his shoulder like some sort of caveman!"

"So what do you think your parents are doing now?" added a new voice.

"Chances are they're making out," commented the second voice before he was elbowed sharply in the ribs by the person beside him.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"I want to be born, but not five whole years earlier, lizard-brains!"

***********************************

"Put me down, Malfoy!"

"You know, you would enjoy it more if you just stopped making everything so difficult."

"Enjoy what?! This?!" Ginny was furious.

"You'll see what I mean in a second," he drawled.

"And your face will be meeting my fist once I get down," she muttered darkly.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Draco finally stopped in front of an empty classroom on the third floor. Walking in, he kicked the door shut behind him. Ginny's eyes widened as she heard the sound of a lock turning into place.

"Malfoy..."

Draco placed her down on her feet, but then his fingers rapidly closed around her wrists as she tried to punch him.

"What is your problem?" she hissed at him. To hell with her visions! There was no way in hell she was marrying this man.

He looked at her hungrily, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for a chance to get you alone." he said silkily.

She was prevented from speaking as his lips closed in onto hers hungrily.

************************************

Ginny didn't know how long they spent like that, but an involuntary noise of protest came out when Draco finally broke their kiss off. With one arm still tightly around her waist, he untangled his other arm from her hair and gently stroked her cheek with his long fingers.

However, she simply stared into his eyes, which, normally so cold and mocking, were now kind of glazed over with wonder and an emotion she couldn't decipher.

Seconds later, he lowered his head once more and she closed her eyes as she felt his lips on hers. Unlike the first time, this was a much more gentle kiss than before.

"I wonder if this is what it feels like to be kissed for real..." she thought to herself faintly, "Because if it is, I don't want him to stop..."

Seconds later though, Draco abruptly creased his exploration of her mouth and released his tight hold on her waist. His eyes met hers for a moment before he spun around sharply and stalked out of the room.

From behind him, Ginny just gazed at his retreating back, feeling very confused inside.

**************************************
Out on the school grounds, a arm suddenly appeared in mid-air and jerked the cloak off.

"Thank you," gasped the girl, "I was practically suffocating in there."

"We definitely need to get a bigger cloak." remarked the black-haired boy.

"If somebody hadn't forgotten his..." said Nina, eyeing the blond.

"You try packing your supplies in five minutes while your house is overrun with Death Eaters if you're so smart!" said Shawn irritably.

"Excuses, excuses."

"Besides, let's not forget whose saintly dad got us into this mess in the first place," sneered the blond.

Nina's eyes narrowed, "Leave my dad out of this, Shawn. At least my grandfather wasn't a bloody head Death Eater."

Meanwhile, Benjamin rolled her eyes impatiently. He sighed as his eyes travelled from his sister to his best friend. When one of these arguments occurred, he had found out that it was best to stay neutral.

Absentmindedly, he bent down and started packing snow into a snowball. It seemed like only a few days ago when the only things he had to worry about were the Winter exams and thinking of which WWW products he had to restock. These were the drawbacks of having Harry Potter for a father - not that he minded though.

"-all your dad did was take down one little dark wizard, big deal." Shawn was saying.

"Yeah, but I seem to remember hearing that your dad almost fainted dead away from the shock when he first saw that little dark wizard." Nina shot back.

Shawn narrowed his eyes, "My dad can kick your dad's butt all the way across the English Chan-"

"Oh really," thought Benjamin idly. Making sure his snowballs were in position, he took out his wand and pointed at them, muttering a useful spell his father had taught him.

Shawn yelped as he was suddenly pelted with snowballs.

Nina took the opportunity of grabbing a handful of snow and shoving it down his collar.
Brother and sister both laughed as Shawn gave off a string of colorful curses while trying to dry his clothes.

"That was uncalled for," snarled Shawn.

"That'll teach you to insult my dad." she replied with a satisfied smirk.

Shawn glared at her, "I'll wipe that smirk off your face, you little-"

"Little?!?! You're only a year older!"

"Well, it has been a long time since we've had a snowball fight," mused Benjamin, packing a snowball. He gave an evil grin, "Well, Shawn?"

Shawn ducked as the snowball missed the top of his head by a few inches. "Give it your best shot, Potter."

*************************************************

Meanwhile, Draco was in the process of pacing around his room. He also felt an intense urge to ram his head against the wall for some reason he couldn't figure out, but after a moment of reflection, he decided that the wall-ramming option might ruin his good looks, not to mention causing potential brain damage, so that was ruled out.

Originally his plan for revenge had involved seducing....well, kind of, and ditching her once she got herself infatuated. However, that hadn't worked out exactly as planned. Who would've thought that he would enjoy it so much as well?

And to add to the fun, her family just happened to be mortal enemies with the Malfoy clan (at least when Lucius was still there), the fact that she could barely stand the sight of him and conveniently, also had six brothers and Boy Wonder to beat him senseless if they ever found out that he was thinking that way about their precious baby sister.

At least his father was no longer here to give him his opinion on the matter.

******************************************

On the other side of the castle, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Natalie were currently lounging around the warm fire in the Gryffindor common room. Hermione, as usual, had her head stuck in a book. She had her back against Harry, who was playing wizard chess against Natalie while Ron was pleading with Hermione to let him see her essay.

"Please, Mione?" he whined, "I only need another two inches."

Hermione looked at him over the top of her book, "Then you should have no problem, since it's only two inches."

"Hey, Ginny, long time no see." said Natalie conversationally, moving her knight away from Harry's queen. "So what happened?"

Ginny threw a warning glance at her, indicating that Ron was in the room. "He won." was all she said.

Natalie's eyes noted the bruise on Ginny's neck. "By a whole lot too, I'd say." she thought to herself. "Ah...interesting, uh, mark you have there on your neck."

Ginny's hands immediately flew up to her neck. When did that happen?

She threw her head back as Draco's lips fastened onto her neck. Letting out a moan, she tightened her arms around his neck, her fingers weaving through his hair as his mouth travelled upwards, lavishing attention to her lips once more.

"Damn." was the only thought that came to mind as Ron turned his gaze towards her.

"Who is it?" he growled.

"What makes you think that's it somebody?"

"Honestly Ron, Ginny's old enough to take care of herself," said Hermione, "Calm down."

"Calm down?! Some perverted freak is after my sister and you're telling me to CALM DOWN?!?!" Ron was incredulous.

"Calm down, Ron. I ran myself into a wall, okay?" said Ginny irritably.

"That or it came into contact with a certain blond-" muttered Natalie. Ginny gave her a sharp nudge.

"Ow!"

"What was that?!"

"Checkmate."

Natalie's eyes widened, "WHAT?!"

"Checkmate." repeated Harry.

Natalie looked at the board before settling her gaze on Ron. "This is your fault."

"What do I have to do with it?" asked Ron indignantly.

"You must have been helping Harry! I know it!" she growled.

Ron held his hands in front of him, backing away as he tried to reason with her.

"There they go again," Harry whispered, rolling his eyes. Hermione hid a smile.

Ron ran behind the couch where Harry and Hermione sat. "Help me out here," he whispered.

"Don't do anything...rash," said Ginny, as she noted Natalie's flexing fingers.

"No, I was thinking of requesting Professor Snape to double his Potions homework." said Natalie with an evil smile. "Or maybe a detention or two..."

Ron groaned. "Just beat me up. It's more merciful that way

3. The Mysterious Trio

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

Here's Chapter 3 of my revised vision. Well....there hasn't been any drastic changes, but if anyone wants to read it again, that's fine with me! =) Hmm....maybe I should just throw in some Draco/Hermione for good measure..no, wait, that's for another story. Nevermind!

Chapter 3: The Mysterious Trio

Hermione had been in the middle of raising her spoon to her mouth when the letter came. Raising an eyebrow as she noticed a familiar scrawl on the paper, she looked over at Harry to see that he had received one as well.

"So what does it say?" Ginny swallowed the piece of toast she was munching on and regarding the envelope the other girl now held in her hand with a curious glance.

Hermione,
Would you please drop by my office after breakfast. There is a little arrangement I wish to discuss with you and a few other students. You will be excused from all your subjects today. The password is Strawberry Drop.
Professor Dumbledore

"Some people have all the luck." From his seat beside Harry, Ron sighed, "What I would do to be excused from a day's worth of classes..."

"What can possibly be so important though?" Hermione wondered out loud. "I mean, I'm going to be missing Charms, Astronomy-"

"Not to mention that test in Divination." Ron grinned at Harry, "Think I used the being-transfigured-into-a-pet-parrot outcome yet?"

"Don't think so. But the best thing is, I'll get to miss this." and he proceeded to imitate Trelawney's voice: "Oh my poor boy. The signs are not good. ("As if they ever are," interjected Ron.) I see that you are in great danger of getting mortally injured by yet another walking tree."

Ron snickered while Ginny gave an uncharacteristic snort.

Meanwhile, Hermione just rolled her eyes, "I wasn't aware that trees walked."

"Dudley's new video game." explained Harry. "He chucked it into the fireplace when his character got killed by a moving tree."

"What a waste of money."

*******************************************

BAM!

Draco Malfoy swore as the hex came hurling back towards him, almost singeing the tips of his hair in the process. His hands quickly flew to the top of his head as he let off another string of curses.

"Tsk, tsk, such language." came a voice from behind him.

The blond rolled his eyes. This day couldn't possibly get any worse....

Harry snapped his fingers directly in front of Draco's eyes. "Malfoy."

"What, Potter?" he snarled, shoving Harry's hand away from his face.

Harry just gave him grin that made the blond want to punch him - and soon. "Did you get a letter too?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything-"

"I guess you're illiterate then." cut in Hermione, "He gave you the password for a reason and I have a feeling that one of the reasons is to prevent you from blasting his door apart."

"There was a password in there?"

"You don't read your letters, do you?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I was reading it before Ms. Parkinson kindly plopped herself down into my lap and my letter fell into Goyle's cereal!" Draco snarled, whirling around to face him.

His glare intensified as he noticed the tips of Harry's mouth twitching. "Don't you dare laugh Potter."

"You want to try hexing me with that spell that almost singed your hair off?" suggested Harry, as his lips curved into smirk. "I've never seen that one before, I must say."

Draco's eyes shot daggers at him. "It's a spell used to blast away huge obstacles."

"One of Lucius's illegal spells?"

"It's not entirely illegal, especially if it's being used for a good cause," he said evenly, looking pointedly at Harry. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Boy Who Lived would soon find himself on the receiving end of one if he didn't stop asking questions.

"Are you two done yet?" demanded a voice from behind them. They turned to see Hermione tapping her right foot impatiently. "In case you haven't noticed, we're going to be late. I'm sure the two of you can argue later."

A sneer appeared on Draco's face, "Not bloody likely. I wouldn't want to talk to him for any longer than is needed."

"That hurt Malfoy."

"Good for you."

Hermione just sighed before she took out her wand and pointed it at the immobile gargoyle. "Strawberry drop."

"Now children," A evil smile appeared on her face as she turned to face them, "Let's all try to get along now, shall we? Because I'm starting to lose my patience!"

Harry gulped visibly at the look on her face before she turned around and stormed up the stairs.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she made her way up the spiral stone staircase. "Men." she thought, "Can't live with them, can't live without them...although I'm seriously reconsidering that last part."

Harry and Draco followed behind her silently until they reached the polished oak door with the brass door-knocker.

The brown-haired prefect gave them another warning glare before she pushed open the door. As they made their way in, they were surprised to see that they had company. Also seated were two boys and a girl, one of which bore a striking resemblance to Harry.

*********************************

Shawn, Benjamin and Nina had arrived at Dumbledore's office about half an hour earlier.
Now as they sat waiting, Nina felt slightly nervous at the prospect of meeting her parent's younger selves.

"Nervous had to be an understatement." thought Nina. She was a seething wreck! What the heck was she suppose to do? Go up to Harry and Hermione and say something along the lines of "Hey, you don't know me, but I'm your daughter and I've come to make sure Lord Voldemort stays dead in this lifetime so he won't be around to murder all of us in about 15 years time. By the way, you have to marry Hermione here or else I'm gonna be majorly pissed when Ben and I don't get born." Yup, that was going to go over real well.

Nina placed her head in her hands and groaned inwardly. She could feel a migraine coming on. Beside her, her brother put a comforting arm around her. To his left, Shawn just sat there, brooding silently.

They had been told to keep their identities to themselves for the mean time, but Dumbledore had decided that they would be safer staying with their parents. That way, they could look out for each other.

Personally, Benjamin had a sneaky feeling that one of the reasons was that they could stop his father from getting into another life-threatening situation, which coincidently, only seemed to happen every single year.

Shawn however, had voiced the opinion that it would take all three of them to drag Uncle Ron away from Draco whenever Ron felt the urge to rearrange the older Malfoy's face, which was quite often.

Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, rearranging some papers. The three of them jumped as they heard a loud BAM! coming from the direction of the staircase.

"That must be Mr. Malfoy," smiled Dumbledore, "Right on time as usual."

"I thought so." muttered Shawn under his breath.

****************************************

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as she took in the other three occupants in the room.

If she hadn't known better, she would've sworn that one of them almost looked enough like Harry to pass for his brother! The only thing missing was Harry's trademark lightning bolt scar.

Was this what Dumbledore had wanted to tell them? That Harry had a brother? But he wouldn't have sent for her and Draco then....

She was broken out of her thoughts by the Headmaster's voice. "I'm sure you may have been wondering why I have called you three up here."

She nodded as she snuck a quick look at Harry to see if he had noticed the resemblance as well.

Dumbledore continued, "Being some of Hogwarts's best students, I'm giving you permission to miss today's classes to show our three new students around."

"Zachary, Joanna and Adam, I want to you to meet your guides for the day. This is Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy."

Ben and Nina exchanged a look. The two of them had been placed in Gryffindor, but Shawn had been placed in Slytherin to keep an eye on Draco, much to Shawn's annoyance - he never liked the Slytherin common room much, preferring the warm, comfortable Gryffindor common room instead.

"Since all three of you are prefects, I hope you won't mind having a roommate for the time being until we can arrange something for our new students," Dumbledore said apologetically to the three sixth years.

"No, that's fine." said Hermione. The other two nodded, although Draco was mentally calculating how much stuff he had to hide away.

"Now, off you go. I'm sure the six of you would like to get better acquainted." said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye.

****************************************

As the gargoyle sprang back into place behind them, Draco turned to Shawn. "I guess I might as well show you where the Slytherin common rooms are."

"Sure." Apparently Shawn wasn't planning on being very talkative today. The sullen look had been replaced temporarily with an impassive expression.

As they made their way downstairs, Harry turned to Hermione, Nina and Ben. "So where do you want to go first?"

"Can we go to the Quidditch field?" asked Ben earnestly. "It's been so long since I've last played."

"Yeah, last time we did, we totally smashed Sly-" Nina stopped abruptly. "Nothing." she mumbled when Harry and Hermione glanced at her questioningly.

"Well, I guess we'll see you two at lunch then." and with a wave, Harry and Ben both disappeared around a corner.

Hermione turned to Nina, "Is there anywhere you want to go first?"

Nina smiled at her, "Can you show me where the library is? I want to catch up on some reading and Hogswarts, A History said that this school has a huge library."

However, what she really had in mind was getting her hands on some books on curses and hexes. Never knew when that might come in handy.

Hermione blinked. "You sure?" she finally said, a few seconds later. 'I never thought I would find anyone who liked the library as much as I did.' she thought in amazement.

"Positive!" Nina grinned at the look on her mother's face.

As they walked along, Hermione attempted to start up a conversation, "So, what school are you from?"

Nina paused for a second, "The Salem Academy of Magic. It's a private school in the United States." she added quickly after she noticed Hermione's inquiring glance. "I'm a 2nd year at my school, the guys are in 3rd year."

"Does that mean your parents decided to move to England?"

The younger girl suddenly bowed her head, "No." she said quietly, "My family came under attack by a powerful Dark Wizard and my parents decided that we would be safer in England."

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," said Nina softly. "It's nice to see you again, mommy." She thought to herself as she gave the older girl a small smile.

**************************************

Meanwhile, Draco and Shawn walked along silently. Shawn kept on glancing around. Hogwarts castle hadn't changed that much after all - give or take 15 years.

His nose wrinkled as they approached the Slytherin common room. He had never liked it down here, on the few occasions when he and Ben had come down to leave one of their surprises at his father's old House. The Slytherins were a rotten bunch, and even though Shawn was technically half a Slytherin himself, he could never bring himself to like them.

The House itself was synonymous for turning out dark wizards and from what Shawn had heard from his father, he wasn't too keen about staying there for the duration of his visit.

"The things I do for my parents..." he sighed inwardly to himself. "I must speak with Father about raising my allowance, by say, at least 300% when I get back for all this trouble I'm being put through."

On the bright side, he would be given unlimited access to Slytherin House and that would always come in handy when he and Ben got back to their own time, provided that they ever got back...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they finally arrived at the Quidditch fields, Ben almost rammed into Harry as the older boy suddenly stopped.

"Damn, I'm an idiot." muttered Harry, "You take people to the Quidditch field, but you forget to bring a broom?!"

"Is anything wrong?" asked Ben cautiously.

Harry smiled at him sheepishly, "I forgot that I left my broomstick in my room."

"That's not a problem." said Ben, taking out his wand from a side pocket. "Accio Firebolt!"

Seconds later, Harry's firebolt came zooming towards them. Harry grabbed ahold of it and handed it to Ben. "You want to have a go on it?"

Ben brightened, "I can?" His expression was one of awe as he looked at Harry's Firebolt before he mounted it and flew off towards the goalposts at the other end.

However, Harry was perplexed as he watched Ben fly. Why did it seem that the kid could almost read what he was thinking?

*************************************

When the time came for lunch, Hermione and Nina were already chatting away like old friends. Nina, for one was surprised at how much more interesting her mom was when she was in her teens. Of course, this was before the Darkness that had descended once more upon the wizarding world about ten years after the defeat of Voldemort.

Spotting Ron and Luna at the far corner of the Gryffindor table, Hermione grabbed Nina's arm and led her towards the rest of her friends.

As they sat down, Ron gave Hermione a strange look.

"What?" asked Hermione, "Did one of you clowns dye my hair bright pink again?" she reached for a lock of hair.

"No," Ron still had a look of awe on his face, "You're not freaking out even though you just missed two classes! I can't believe it!"

The brown haired girl reached over and gave him a light smack on the head. "Very funny, Ronald."

"OW!" Her friend glared at her balefully as he rubbed his head.

"Anyways," Hermione ignored him, "This is Joanna. Professor Dumbledore wanted me to show her around the school since she's just arrived from America."

Just then, Ginny plopped down in the chair across from Ron. "Whew, what's with McGonagall and her pop tests? Teachers are suppose to give pop quizzes." she complained. "So what did Dumbledore want to see you for?"

"He wanted me to show Joanna around. She's new to Hogwarts." she turned to Nina,
"Joanna, this is my friend Ginny."

"Hi," said Nina shyly.

Ginny's eyes widened slightly before she finally managed a weak Hi.
"It can't be." she thought.

However, she soon received another shock when Ben walked over with Harry. "I must be seeing things." she told herself, "There is no way Harry's kids are sitting right in front of me. I am not going crazy, I am not..."

"Ginny, are you okay?" asked Hermione. The younger girl had been unusually quiet ever since she had first seen Joanna; then when Zachary had walked in, Ginny just froze.

"I'm fine," said Ginny in a unnaturally high voice, "I really am," she added when she saw Hermione's look of disbelief.

************************************

As they finished lunch and headed towards the doors, Ben suddenly gestured to someone near the Slytherin table.

Shawn joined them a few seconds later outside at the bottom of the stairs.

"So what did you think of your lovely housemates?" said Benjamin casually.

The blond threw him a dirty look, "What do you think?"

"You sure he's not related to Malfoy?" Ron whispered to Hermione, "Because I swear those two are somehow related, attitude and all."

"I don't think so. His last name's Parker." Hermione whispered back. 'Although I must say that he does resemble Draco quite a bit.' she mused inwardly.

Ginny overheard this and she finally looked up. When they first ran into Adam, she had assumed that it was Draco and she was trying to look everywhere but at him. However, since it wasn't Malfoy....

Her eyes widened again as she realized just who it was she was staring at. It was Malfoy all right - there was no question about that - it just wasn't the Malfoy she had been expecting...

She gasped as Shawn's brown eyes finally met her own.

"Shawn?!"

*********************************************

To be continued...

4. Investigations

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

Summary: The three new exchange students at Hogswarts aren't all they seem to be. What secrets are they hiding and what do they have to do with Ginny's visions?

Genre: Romance/Mystery

Pairings: H/Hr, D/G

Disclaimer: I own the, hmm....pretty much nothing, except Shawn, Nina, Benjamin and the weird storyline. Rest belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, etc.

Author's Note: Many readers have told me that they have found the story confusing, but don't worry, things will clear up soon. Anyways, as many of you have realized, Benjamin, Nina are Harry and Hermione's children and Shawn is Draco and Ginny's son from the future. However, the gang has yet to figure out why they are here in the first place. Trust me, many things should clear up within the next few chapters. As for Natalie's "interest" in Ron - that was the point. I love keeping people in suspense. ^_^ So far Ron is with Lavender... well...I haven't read OotP yet since I'm waiting for the price to go down some more before I buy it, but I could try and fit a Ron/Luna pairing into this story later on if anyone wants it (when I finally get around to reading OotP of course).

Chapter 4: Investigations

Ginny overheard this and she finally looked up. When they first ran into Adam, she had assumed that it was Draco and she was trying to look everywhere but at him. However, since it wasn't Malfoy....

Her eyes widened again as she realized who she was staring at. It was Malfoy, but it certainly wasn't the Malfoy she had been expecting...

Shawn's blue eyes met her own as she gasped.

"Shawn."

****************************************

Shawn blinked rapidly at his mother's revelation. "So much for keeping our identities a secret," he thought, groaning inwardly.

He could see Benjamin mouthing to him from behind Hermione, "Now what?"

Shawn shrugged and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Shawn?!" asked Ron, looking at the blond suspiciously, "Do you know him, Ginny?"

"Yes, enlighten us, Weasley." drawled a new voice from behind Shawn, who almost jumped two feet up into the air from shock.

"Great, just what we need - a Malfoy family reunion," Nina groaned inwardly as Draco joined them.

Ginny ignored them, keeping her eyes fastened on Shawn. Since Shawn was here, then the other two - her eyes travelled over to Ben and Nina - then those two had to be Benjamin and Nina Potter.

"Okay, I don't know what the three of you are doing here, but we're going to have a nice long talk when classes are over." she said, looking straight at Shawn.

"Only Shawn, right?" asked Ben hopefully.

"Oh no, you don't! You're in as big of a mess as I am." growled Shawn, glaring at his friend.

"We'll discuss that later." said Ginny curtly, breaking off the Shawn's reply, "First of all, am I the only one that knows that you're here?"

"Only Dumbledore does, and maybe some of the teachers, he didn't exactly say," said Nina, fidgeting slightly under Hermione's scrutinizing gaze.

"Why are you guys here though?" asked Ginny.

"You want us to tell you...here?" Shawn said incredulously.

"Oh right." said Ginny, as she noticed the large group clustered around. They didn't know about her visions and she didn't want to spend all day explaining just who the three new students were. After all, the Headmaster would have told them if he had wanted them to find out. "Tell you what," she said, looking at them, "I'll meet you in the library after classes end, okay?"

The three of them nodded.

Meanwhile, Hermione, Harry, Ron and Draco were still in the dark.

"Care to explain what's going on?" asked Draco in an irritated voice. There wasn't anything he hated more than being in the dark.

"Yeah, Gin, what was that all about?" Ron asked his sister.

"Nothing!" replied 4 voices.

Benjamin nudged his sister, "C'mon, let's go before they start asking too many questions." and they hurried out after Ginny, Benjamin almost yanking Shawn off his feet on the way.

"Hey, watch it! You almost wrung my arm off, you-"

"We'll be right back," called Ben, "There's something I need to discuss with my associates." and the three of them all but fled to the front door leading to the school grounds.

Ginny just shook her head as she headed up the stairs, hiding a smile.

"Do you get the feeling they're hiding something from us?" asked Ron, glancing at where the four of them had been.

"Brilliant, Weasley, you just figured that out?" sneered Draco.

"Stuff a sock in it, Malfoy," growled Ron.

"Well, we aren't going to get to the bottom of this mystery any sooner by just standing here insulting each other." said Harry irritably, "Let's go after them."

"Yeah, I have to agree with you for once Potter. Let's get to the bottom of this fine mystery." drawled Draco as he and Hermione headed off after Harry.

*************************************

"Okay, you guys, we need to think of something and fast." said Nina, pacing in front of Ben and Shawn. "What are we suppose to tell Harry, Hermione and Draco?"

"I don't know, maybe we could always tell them the truth," said Shawn sarcastically. "Hey, Draco, I don't think I'm mentioned this, but you're my father. Oh my god, it sounds like something from that muggle movie...what was it called again?"

"Star Wars."

"Oh right..."

"So you want us to start calling you Luke now?" Nina asked sweetly.

"..........."

"Blonds." Nina muttered under her breath.

"Hey, I heard that!" replied Shawn indignantly.

"Hey," Ben cut in, "Let's focus on the issues at hand first."

"Yeah, find the nearest time turner and hop on back into the right time-"

"And what?! Get yourself killed?" growled Nina, stomping her foot, "Realistically now, Malfoy!"

"Why are you so worried anyway?" Shawn scowled at her, "I'm the one who's ending up unborn here, not you."

"You two, cut it out for a second!" said Ben, glaring at them. "First of all, how did Ginny even know who we were?"

"I remember mom saying that she started having her visions sometime around fifth year," said Shawn, "If that has to do with anything." he added grumpily.

Nina rolled her eyes.

"But what does she want to know then?" asked Ben, frowning.

"What I want to know, genius. Why we're here in the first place." said Shawn in a sarcastic voice.

"We can't tell her that! We all know the consequences of messing with time!" said Nina.

"Who said we were going to tell her anything?" Shawn shot back.

Nina gave him an exasperated look, "We have to tell her something, besides, you can't even lie to her properly."

Shawn narrowed his eyes, "I'm a Malfoy! Of course I can lie properly!"

"She's your mother, stupid."

"Now, now children," said Ben, his arms folded, "Let's all try to get along, shall we?"

"You-" said Nina, pointing at Shawn, "-tell him that."

"Note to self: find a few good hexes to throw at the both of you when I have time." muttered Ben, walking back towards the castle.

"Is that any way to treat your best friend?" complained Shawn.

Nina walked on Ben's other side, "Where are we going?"

"To find Professor Dumbledore." he replied, "But we'll have to avoid...some people for the time being. They'll be wanting answers."

"Can't you just use the map?" suggested Shawn, "Unless you happened forgot to bring that too." he added sarcastically.

Ben ignored the last sentence as he grabbed the Marauder's Map from the pocket of his cloak. Unrolling it, he glanced at it for a second before turning back to the others.

"Okay, they're on the second floor, near the Gryffindor common room entrance. If we go this way," he continued, tracing a route along the map with his finger, "We would be on the other side of the castle from our...parents."

"Then let's go!" said Nina as the three of them sprinted towards the castle.

*************************************

Moments later, after almost running into Snape, they finally arrived at the stone gargoyle.

"Strawberry Drop," panted Ben and they ran up the stairs as the gargoyle leapt aside.

Shawn banged the griffon-shaped knocker, but hearing no reply, the three of them made their way in.

Since Dumbledore didn't seem to be there, the three of them simply collapsed in the chairs in front of his desk. As their breathing started to slow down, Shawn groaned, "I think we must have broken some bloody record for that sprint."

"Okay, why the heck are we here again?" asked Nina once her breathing had finally returned to normal.

Shawn rolled his eyes at her, "To get our parents off our backs, remember?"

Nina slammed her hands down, glaring at him. "What. Is. Your. Problem?!" she said slowly, emphasizing each word.

"I don't know what the heck you're talking about, Potter." he replied just as coldly.

"Will you stop being such an infuriating jerk already?!" Nina shouted at him.

The blond just snorted, "Believe me, I've been called worse."

*****************************************

"Where could they have gone?" asked Harry in frustration as they headed downstairs.

"What are we? Baby-sitters?!" Draco snapped, "I'm sure that they can take care of themselves perfectly fine, Granger."

"Professor Dumbledore told us to show them around and that means keeping them out of trouble," said Hermione irritably, "No need to get all worked up, Malfoy."

"Who said anything about trouble, Granger? They're probably lost," snorted Draco and almost smashed right into Harry who had suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I am sooo stupid!" Harry muttered.

"Yeah, well what else is new, Potter?" Draco's lips curved into his trademark smirk.

Harry glared at him, "Shut it, Malfoy," before he resumed searching his pockets.

"Found it," he cried seconds later, taking out the Marauder's Map.

"Knew there was a brain up there somewhere," said Draco, "Now look them up and we can go."

Hermione was just about to tap the map with her wand when she froze, "Malfoy, you know what this is?" she whispered.

"Of course, it's Potter's famous map of Hogwarts."

Hermione paled before looking at Harry, "Don't ask, it's a long story." he said quietly before averting his gaze.

After awhile, "Are you sure this old rag works, Potter?"

"Of course it does!" said Harry irritably, "They're on here somewhere...but why are all the last names missing....Malfoy!"

"What?" Draco said defensively.

"Did you do something to my Map the last time you borrowed it?" Harry gave him a suspicious glance.

"Yes, just so I can make both our lives miserable - of course not, Potter!"

"What happened?" asked Hermione.

"All the last names are gone!" said Harry in frustration.

Ever the smart one, Hermione thought back to an earlier conversation. "Why don't you try looking for the name Shawn? I don't think there's anybody else into the school with that name."

"Okay, they're in...Dumbledore's office?!" said Harry incredulously a moment later.

"But wouldn't we have seen them on our way down?" asked Hermione.

"Not if they went that way," said Harry pointing to the map.

"And I would get the hell out of here quick if I were you." said Draco, already on his way to the staircase.

"Why?" demanded Hermione.

"In case you haven't noticed, Granger, there's a little dot named Argus heading straight this way..."

**************************************************

Meanwhile, back at the office....

Nina had resumed her pacing while Shawn looked around, bored. Benjamin was petting Fawkes absentmindedly while observing the whirling silver instruments that stood on the spindle-legged tables.

Shawn had gotten tired of waiting. Moodily, he fingered the Sorting Hat and unconsciously placed it on his head..."Ah, what have we here?" said a small voice in his ear.

"Hmm....interesting, another Malfoy. Not from here, obviously. A Gryffindor, eh? Well, I'm sure I had a hard time making up my mind about you!"

"Why is that?" thought Shawn.

"You would have done exceptionally well in Slytherin House as well."

"I asked to be placed in Gryffindor."

"Yes, but you would have done well in Slytherin as well. It's in your blood."

Shawn gritted his teeth in anger, but just before he was about to tell off the Sorting Hat, Dumbledore walked in.

Jerking the Hat off in anger, he glared at it for a second before resuming his seat in front of the desk. "You're wrong," he thought darkly, looking at the Hat.

"Professor Dumbledore, we've seem to have ran into a tiny problem," said Nina uncomfortably.

"I was wondering when she would find out," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"You were already aware of this?" asked Shawn, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Ms. Weasley came to see me a few months earlier regarding some curious visions she was having. I had to convince her that she wasn't going crazy even though she kept on seeing Mr. Malfoy in her visions." smiled Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling.

Nina and Ben both hid a smile as Shawn buried his head in his hands, "I am so doomed."

**********************************************

Ginny sat impatiently through History class, her mind unconsciously tuning out Professor Binn's tedious drone. Her thoughts were focused solely on the three "new students" she had met earlier.

"Shawn looks so much like Draco," she mused to herself. "I wonder who he acts like though." Ginny thought about this for a moment before she came to a conclusion, "Probably Draco, only without the smartass attitude - I hope. Well, he did make it into Gryffindor, I suppose that has to count for something..."

Her thoughts were interrupted when an owl flew in through the open window. Professor Binns stopped midway through his lecture of the various torture methods from the Salem Witch Trials to read the note.

"Ms. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore wants to see you after class. Now where was I?" he continued in his monotonous tone, while the rest of the class whispered to each other.

"What does Dumbledore want to see you for?" Natalie whispered to Ginny, "What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything...yet." Ginny said the last part under her breath. However, she remained quiet for the rest of the class and not even Natalie could pry out of her what was the matter.

Immediately after the bell rang, Ginny had to restrain herself from knocking down the people in front of her, who, she thought, seemed to be walking even slower than usual today.

However, in her hurry, she didn't notice Natalie glancing after her with a strange look on her face.

"First my visions, then Malfoy decides to kiss me senseless and now my son decides to pay me a visit." thought Ginny dryly as she hurried along to the third floor. "Next thing I know, I'll be seeing my grandchildren as well."

She arrived at the gargoyle which glanced at her and immediately jumped aside. Hurrying through the hole in the wall, Ginny climbed the spiral stairs and entered the Headmaster's office.

Dumbledore waved her to a chair beside Shawn.

"Ah, Ms. Weasley, please take a seat. I believe our three new students have a rather interesting story to share with you."

*****************************************

Meanwhile, Hermione, Harry and Draco had split up, Harry having to go to Quidditch practise and Draco to who-knows-where, all the way muttering about how Malfoys didn't baby-sit.

Hermione, however, had decided to head to the library when somebody smashed straight into her. She barely caught herself as she realized who it was. Natalie sat on the ground shaking her head. "Sorry about that." said Natalie, groaning, "I seem to run into a lot of people these days." Hermione extended her hand to help the other girl up, "Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"I was looking for Ginny. I don't know why, but she's been acting even more weirdly then usual ever since lunch ended. Would you happen to have any idea why?"

Hermione had a pretty good feeling it had to go with the new blond student who seemed to be on a first name basis with her, but the brown-haired girl kept her mouth shut. "I don't know, but I'm sure Ginny will be fine."

Natalie smiled, "Thanks Hermione." The older girl smiled back and continued on her way. However, Natalie was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. Pausing in front of the entrance to the Headmaster's office, she looked around for a second before she pulled out her wand. Having a father who was also a professor had it uses, afterall, including a password that allowed entry to all the entrances to be found inside the castle. Natalie quickly tapped the gargoyle and jumped in after it sprang aside.

Stopping at the heavy oak door, she leaned slightly over to peer through the crack and began listening to the intriguing conversation currently taking place on the other side.

********************************

This is kind of a..."filler" chapter, in a way, seeing as nothing much happened. Of course, it does add a few more plot twists...^.~

As usual, please tell me what you think so far. Comments, threats and whatnot.

5. Tale of a Dark Future

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

Sorry for taking so long! I was the middle of revising Chapters 1-3, but I never seemed to be able to find the time, so it took waaaaaaaaaaaayyyy longer than I expected. Thanks for being so patient though.

Chapter 5: Tale of a Dark Future

Meanwhile, Ginny listened with rapt attention as the kids began their story.

"It all began about a year ago. Things reminiscent of the Last Wizarding War began to spring up again. It seemed as though a new wave of terror had begun again." began Ben.

"At first, most wizarding folk didn't really take it that seriously, after all, Lord Voldemort had been dead for years. They thought it would just blow over. Only some of the Aurors took it seriously."

"My dad certainly did," said Shawn, taking off from where Ben had left off, "Since he was the one who had infiltrated the Death Eater ranks which resulted in Voldemort's defeat, he knew he was going to be very high up on their hit list."

Ben continued, "Meanwhile, my parents weren't too keen about the idea of a Dark Lord from the Undead either."

"I remember Mom saying to Dad that she and Uncle Ron were getting too old to haul Dad's butt out of trouble every time he had to go off and save the world." Nina commented.

"Then incidents began happening. People were getting attacked randomly, sometimes even in bold daylight. Then a few months later, the Dark Mark appeared for the first time since Voldemort's defeat many years ago. It seemed as though Voldemort had come back to life."

"But that wasn't so," Shawn continued, "It was the work of somebody even more powerful than Voldemort had been. He was known as the Lord Elddir. The rumors were that he was Voldemort's illegitimate son and he was even more unstoppable than his father had ever been. Then one day-" he stopped abruptly.

Nina placed a comforting hand on Shawn's shoulder and explained to Ginny and the Headmaster what had happened.

"One day near the end of summer vacation, there was a Death Eater attack on Malfoy Manor. Shawn, Estella and Cindy had managed to escape to our house by Floo Powder, but his parents must have blasted the fireplace apart after they left, so that the Death Eaters couldn't go after them. My dad and the other Aurors had rushed off immediately to the Manor, but when they arrived, the Dark Mark was hanging in the air and the house was on fire. The Death Eaters had disappeared...but so had his parents."

The office was silent for awhile. It didn't take much to realize that the Death Eaters had probably blasted Draco and Ginny into oblivion or else they were prisoners.

Ginny glanced at Shawn. His head was bowed, but even she could see the unhappy expression on his face. Her heart went out to him - the poor kid probably blamed himself for getting his parents into that mess even though he had nothing to do with any of it.

Shawn was startled as Ginny gave him a warm hug and he hugged her back. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead in a position like this in public. "It's not your fault," said Ginny softly, "I know I would do the same thing if that ever happened again."

"Thanks...Mom." said Shawn and he looked up at her, "Am I suppose to call you Mom or Ginny, anyways?"

"Call me Ginny when there are other people around." Ginny grinned at him, "I can see that this is going to get some used to."

Shawn smirked.

Ginny blinked, "But don't start calling Malfoy, Dad yet, okay?" Inwardly she groaned, "He looks too much like Draco for his own good."

The blond shrugged, "He probably wouldn't believe me if it wasn't accompanied by ten DNA tests. By the way, do you think Dad's a good kisser?" he asked, tongue-in-cheek.

"Well, he's not that bad, considering he's the only one I've- Shawn Xavier Malfoy!" Ginny flushed.

"Ah...." said Shawn, "Just wondering." when Ginny scowled at him.

He glanced to the side to see Ben and Nina giving him their "I told you so" look.

Shawn had to restrain himself from jumping when Professor Dumbledore suddenly spoke. The Headmaster had remained unusually silent throughout their "reunion". "I wonder if Ms. Palmer would like to join us."

Ginny, Shawn, Benjamin and Nina all gaped as Natalie walked in sheepishly.

Ginny was the first one to speak, "Natalie!" she said accusingly.

Natalie looked at her shoes, "Sorry, Ginny, I was worried about you. You haven't exactly been yourself ever since school started and you kept on spacing out this afternoon."

Ginny gave a small smile, "Thanks for being a friend, Natalie," and she gave her a hug.

"Thanks for not being angry." She paused, "It is nice to have my best friend back though" Natalie grinned suddenly as she turned to Shawn, "Don't worry, at the rate Ginny and Draco are going, you'll be lucky if you not born at least two years ahead of schedule"

"Natalie!"

****************************************

"So, is this guy unstoppable?" asked Natalie, once they had all calmed down.

"From what I have gathered from Benjamin, Nina and Shawn's accounts of the events, he seems to be even more powerful than Voldemort was at the height of his power. However," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling, "Even a Dark Wizard, no matter how powerful, has his weak spot."

"Um, one problem, Professor, the Aurors have tried every single curse, hex and spell they can think of. I think he may very well be invincible." said Shawn.

Ben cleared his throat, "Actually, there's something I forgot to mention. A few days before we left, I think my Mom had discovered what this weak spot is."

Seeing he had everyone's attention, he continued, "Remember Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets? Sorry, Aunt Ginny," he added as Ginny shivered unconsciously.

"Well, I remember Dad saying that Riddle was like that too, but he disappeared after Dad had driven a Basilisk tooth into his diary. Well, apparently Elddir was like that too, only there's one little problem."

He nodded to Nina who continued on with their story.

"When the term started, Mom and Dad immediately sent us to Hogwarts, after all, as Dad was fond of telling us, the safest place is where Professor Dumbledore is."
"Your father overestimates me sometimes, Ms. Potter." remarked Dumbledore.

Nina smiled sadly, "Afraid so, Professor, because disaster soon stuck. There was a Death Eater attack at Hogwarts one afternoon and even though the students weren't seriously hurt, the East Wing of the castle was blasted into oblivion. Mom and Dad arrived soon afterwards and it was only then we found out why."

Ben took over, "As you probably know, the East Wing was where the Chamber of Secrets was located. Well, apparently Elddir had hidden an object in there when he was a student at Hogwarts. It's similar to Riddle's diary because if you destroy that object, he is no longer invincible. The only problem is that whatever that object is, it's now buried under a couple hundred feet of rubble, plus we don't even know where it was in the first place."

"Which is why we're here." said Shawn. "It was hidden sometime in Dad's second year. Yes that's the year when the Chamber was last opened. How do you think he got in if it wasn't?" he said, answering Natalie's unspoken question.

Ginny frowned, "So we're suppose to find this object and destroy it first?"

"That's the basic idea." Shawn told her.

Natalie looked around, "I think we need to let a couple more people into this secret. After all, the more help we can get, the better. But since we don't know who exactly this Dark Wizard is, we'll have to be careful." she said thoughtfully.

Ginny nodded, "How about Harry and Hermione?"

Ben and Nina glanced at each other. "How about we include Dad later? He had this tendency to find trouble, besides, I think he needs a vacation from all this life-saving stuff." said Ben.

"Besides," added Nina, "I don't think he has terribly fond memories of the Chamber of Secrets."

"But what if there's another Basilisk in there?" demanded Natalie, "We need somebody who can speak Parseltongue."

Ben and Nina both grinned, "You're looking at them." said Ben.

Shawn looked at them in surprise, "You two can speak Parseltongue?"

Ben smiled and hissed at him, "Did I forget to mention it? Ssssorry."

The blond glared at him.

"Well, that solves that problem," said Ginny briskly, "And we need to get Hermione in on this when she finally believes that you three are from the future, most probably after alot of convincing and one or two DNA tests. Of course, we'll have to wake her up first after she faints dead away from shock when I tell her."

Four pairs of eyes stared at her.

"What?"

******************************************

The five of them walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Benjamin and Nina in the front with Natalie. Ginny and Shawn walked behind them silently.

Ginny found herself glancing at Shawn occasionally. "Do I have something on my face, Mom?" asked Shawn after awhile. Ginny flushed at having been caught staring. "No, I just need some time to get use to this."

"So do I," thought Shawn, stopping as they arrived at the Portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Chocolate frogs" said Benjamin before the Portrait swung open. As they made their way up into the Common Room.

Nina smiled as she found herself back in her home-away-from-home. The Common Room was pretty much empty, except for Hermione, who was curled up in front of the fire, reading.

She looked at Ginny who took a deep breath. "Well, here goes."

Ginny walked slowly towards the older girl. Hermione looked up and smiled as she spotted Ginny, "Hey Ginny, Natalie said she was looking for you."

"She found me." She paused, "Anyways, I know you may not believe what I'm about to tell you, but it's all true."

"We need your help."

Hermione looked confused, "We?"

Ginny waved the others over. Hermione raised an eyebrow as Benjamin, Nina and Shawn came into view.

"I'm afraid our three exchange students haven't properly introduced themselves yet." said Ginny, her lips pressed into a thin line as she watched Hermione closely.

Shawn was the first one to speak, "Shawn Malfoy."

"Nina Potter."

"Benjamin Potter." said Ben quietly.

There was silence as Hermione glanced slowly around, from Shawn to Benjamin to Nina.

Finally her sharp mind processed what they seemed to be implying...

"You're kidding."

******************************

As usual, please review and tell me what you think so far.

6. The Pensieve

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

I don't own Harry Potter, but I know who does! (Doesn't that count for something?!) I was always about a chapter ahead on FF.net with this story, but since I've paused that one for..oh, half a year to revise all the chapters I had up, it's now at the same speed with this version. I really should update my stuff, I guess. *sweatdrops* Thanks to all those people that took the time to review Chapter 5.

Chapter 6: The Pensieve

"Believe me, that's what I thought at first," chuckled Natalie.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "I'll take your word for it. Okay, let me guess." She looked at Shawn, "Draco and Ginny, right?" Shawn nodded.

Her cinnamon brown eyes travelled over to Ben and Nina, "Harry, no doubt, and..." and then she paused for a second. "Cho?" she said tentatively.

Ginny's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

Natalie and Shawn exchanged a knowing glance as the Potter kids groaned. "Look who's doomed now," said Nina under her breath.

"Nobody's doomed!' said Ginny sharply, glaring at Natalie who was shaking silently with laughter.

"Not yet anyways," was the muttered response.

"I told you she catches on quick," remarked Natalie after she had calmed down a bit, "But that's only 9/10, Hermione."

"And why is that?" asked the genius, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry is not ending up with Cho."

Hermione still looked in doubt.

"And Malfoy here thought he had a hard time," Ben thought a bit sourly as he wondered how many tests his mom wanted to run on him before she believed that he was her kid and not Cho's. He grimanced.

Ginny sighed before she grabbed Hermione's hand. Yanking the brown-haired girl to her feet, she dragged her in the direction of the girl's dormrooms. "The rest of you, just wait here a sec, okay? I want to show Hermione something."

**********************************

"What is it, Ginny?" asked Hermione as the other girl began rumaging through her trunk.

Under many layers of clothes, parchment, books and other stuff, Ginny finally found what she was looking for.

She carefully pulled the glowing object out and handed it to Hermione.

"Is this what I think it is?" asked Hermione in wonder as she gazed at the shallow stone basic which was shining with a bright silvery white light.

"Yes," said Ginny, "It's my pensieve. Here, there's one particular memory I think you'll be interested in..."

She moved it around in her hands for a few seconds, trying to sift through the swirling light to find the memory she wanted.

"Here," she said, handing it to Hermione, "Just look at it, okay?"

Hermione found the request a bit curious, but nevertheless she complied. Pressing her face closer to get a better look, she suddenly found herself thrown forwards and pitched headfirst into the whitish silver substance.

Suddenly, Hermione found herself in an elaborately decorated room. Turning around and discovering hundreds of pairs of eyes on her, she flushed.

"I'm sorry, I-" That was when she noticed that nobody was paying any attention to her. Their eyes were fastened solely on the front of the room. Suddenly they all began clapping and cheering.

Her eyes widened as she finally turned to face the front where an older version of Harry and her were waving happily to the crowd. As her older self threw the bouquet, the scene in front of her slowly dissolved as another one replaced it.

She found herself in a huge living room, but she wasn't the only one there. Sitting on the couch were her and Ginny.

Hermione watched fascinated as her older self beckoned to a girl of no more then two towards her. The girl was just learning to walk as she walked quite unsteadily. Finally she made it to her arms where her older self promptly hugged her, "I'm so proud of you, Nina," she said. Beside her, a older Ginny watched amusingly.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in ran two boys, one with messy black hair and one with pale blond hair. Hermione guessed that were about three to four years old.

"Tag, you're it!" yelled Ben cheerfully as he finally caught up to his friend.

"Hey, no fair!" protested the blond.

"Now Shawn," admonished Ginny's older self, "He did tag you."

Shawn scowled.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Hermione was startled as Ginny suddenly appeared beside her. "I can show you more if you like," she offered.

"No," said Hermione, looking at the scene with an undescribed feeling of joy inside her. Her children. Harry's and her children. "I believe you."

************************************

Meanwhile, Natalie, Shawn, Nina and Benjamin were waiting down in the common room. Ben and Natalie were engaged in a game of Exploding Snap. Suddenly they heard footsteps coming their way.

The brown-haired genius was looking usually thoughtful. Ginny gave them the thumbs-up sign from behind Hermione.

"How did you manage convince her?" whispered Natalie, as Ginny sat down beside her on the couch. Hermione took the armchair while the three kids were currently sprawled on the floor.

"I have my ways." smiled Ginny mysteriously.

As Hermione gazed at Benjamin, Nina and Shawn, she wondered how she could have been so dense. Of course, she had recognized the fact that Ben and Shawn did bear a somewhat close resemblance to Harry and Draco, but she had simply shrugged it off as being unimportant. Her next thought was: How was Harry going to react when he finally figured out Benjamin and Nina's real identities?

Ben's voice broke into her thoughts. "Harry and Ron are headed straight this way," he said calmly, looking at the Marauder's Map on the floor beside him.

"I guess I should be going now." said Shawn uncomfortably, "Can I borrow your cloak, Ben?"

Ginny turned her head towards him, sensing his sudden change in mood. "What's wrong Shawn?"

Her son gave her a slightly sheepish smile, "I don't think Uncle Ron would enjoy finding a "Slytherin" inside the Gryffindor Common Room."

Natalie gave Ginny an amused glance, "And I'm sure we're all familiar by now with your brother's tendency to strangle a certain Malfoy...."

"If he lays a hand on Shawn, I'll hex him, favorite brother or not." growled Ginny.

"Nah, then he'll think that I'm manipulating you or something...and we all know that Dad's the only one that can do that." smirked Shawn as Ginny made a face at him.

Putting on the cloak, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mom."

"Bye Shawn." said Ginny softly as the portrait swung open. Shawn quickly snuck out behind Ron and Harry before it closed again.

*****************************************

Later that night:

Hermione sat on her bed, seemingly engrossed in her copy of Hogswarts, A History. However, her mind was anywhere but. She was a mother...well, for the time being, anyways. While Nina and her had been on friendly terms this morning, she couldn't help but think that everything had changed now with the revelation of their new identities. What if Nina and Ben ended up thinking that she was a horrible mother? What if..."Arrggh.." thought Hermione in frustration - there were so many things that could go wrong it wasn't even funny.

Her chain of thought ended abruptly as Nina suddenly spoke up. "Um..Hermione?"

"Yes Nina?" she asked kindly.

"You're not, um...mad, are you?" asked Nina nervously and then she rushed on, "I mean, I understand if you are-"

"What ever gave you that idea?" interrupted Hermione, staring at her in amazement.

Nina looked at the floor, "Well, I guess I should've told you who I was at the beginning, but Professor Dumbledore said not to, and well...please don't be mad." she pleaded.

She was startled as the other girl suddenly walked over and evaloped her in a giant hug.

"Oh Nina," said Hermione, "Of course I'm not mad. After all you and the boys have been through, I'm just happy all of you are okay."

"Besides," she continued after a slight pause, "I'm not even sure that I can live up to your expectations of what you're used to expecting from your real mother." Hermione confessed.

"I guess we're even then." said Nina and then she gave an involuntary yawn.

Tucking her in, Hermione brushed Nina's long black bangs away from her eyes. "Good night, Nina."

"Night..Mommy."

Meanwhile...

"So where were you all afternoon?" Harry asked Ben.

"In the Headmaster's office." Harry noted inwardly that Ben hadn't lied about his wherabouts. "Sorry for running out on you like that," continued Ben with a slightly sheepish smile.

"That's okay. So..you're best friend is Adam, right?"

"Adam?" thought Ben confusingly until he remembered that it was what they were calling Shawn. "Oh yeah, we grew up together."

"He looks an awful lot like Draco." remarked Harry, "Think they're related?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." said Ben, even though Harry wouldn't get his double-meaning.

****************************************

"Mom! Dad! I'm not leaving you!" Draco jerked awake to the yells of his new roommate. He squinted at the clock beside his bed. 2:31a.m. It was definately waaaaaaaay too early.

"Kid must be having a nightmare," he thought sleepily. Pushing aside the curtains, he walked across to the other bed. Adam would wake up the entire house soon if he didn't stop yelling out loud.

"Hey, Adam." he said, shaking Shawn's shoulder. "Adam!"

Shawn's eyes flew open. For a minute he stared at Draco as though he had saw a ghost.

"Are you okay?" asked Draco after awhile.

Shawn blinked, "I am now." and he added apolegetically, "Sorry for waking you."

"It's not your fault," said Draco gruffly.

As Draco headed back to bed, Shawn sat up and leaned against the headboard. What was it with that dream of his? Was he doomed to witness his final glimpse of his parents for the rest of his journey?!

A memory sudden floated to the surface of Draco's mind as he shifted under the covers. Somehow it brought back memories of the time when he had managed to get himself locked up in a dungeon at Malfoy Manor with Harry last year. It was only then did he find that Boy Wonder still had nightmares about his parent's death every now and then.

As Draco drifted off into sleep, his last coherant thought was "Don't be going all Potter on me now, Junior..."

**********************************

Yes, the kids finally have some interactions with their parents. Not much D/G or H/Hr for now..sorry about that, but I can't have them snogging each other without a good reason...or can I? Hmm..I guess I'll think of something. *grins*

7. Dreams, Potions and Evil Plans

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

Ah...I have finally figured out approximately the direction this story is heading. Yay me! *grins* Also, Natalie's going to play a more vital role as the story progresses....whether or not she ends up with Ron remains to be seen though. As usual, I do not own Harry Potter...okay...if someone is dumb enough to sue me, then chances are they're not going to be smart enough to win. Enough said. I am aware that it has been an awful long time since I've last updated. Sorry for the long wait!!

Thanks to all the people that reviewed Chapter 6! =)

Chapter 7: Dreams, Potions and Evil Plans

Harry was tired. After an exhausting Quidditch practice to prepare for the upcoming Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match, he was really looking forward to a shower and after, collapsing onto his nice warm comfortable bed. Anyone who tried to wake him before his alarm rang tomorrow would be cursed with the most horrible hex he knew.

As he wearily entered his room and pushed the door shut behind him, his exhaustion was quickly replaced by surprise as he noticed the figure sitting at the end of his bed.

It took a few seconds before he finally managed to speak. "Hermione?" he croaked, "What are you doing here?"

His best friend simply gave him a mischievous smile as she walked up to him.

"I was waiting for you," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. "Oh."

However, he couldn't deny the fact that this wasn't typical Hermione behavior. Someone must have added something to her dinner. Now...the only question was - what was he suppose to do now?

All thought immediately fled as he felt her lips brushing against his. With a groan, he crushed her against his body, hungrily devouring her lips with a passion he didn't know he possessed. Seconds later, he was pulling her down with him onto his bed, one of his hands tangled up in her hair while the other one held her tightly against him. Finally separating for air, Harry raised his head and her passion-filled eyes met his before she pulled his head down to hers again.

At that moment, his alarm clock chose to go off. Trying to ignore the annoying shrill, he broke their kiss regretfully as he reached over - and fell right out of bed.

"Ow! Damnit..." Harry shook his head as he pulled himself up against the bed. That was when he noticed the faint ray of light beginning to seep through the curtains into the dark room.

"Hermione?" But as he looked around, the room was empty. That's strange. He could have sworn he had just been kissing Hermione...

Running his hands through his hair, he looked around the room. "Did I just dream all that?" he asked himself in disbelief. Glancing over to see that Zach's curtains were still shut, he sighed in relief. At least his little dream hadn't awoken his new roommate.

Yet, it had seemed so real though....but when did Harry Potter start dreaming about making out with his gorgeous, brainy best friend?

Harry's eyes widened before he gave himself a firm shake. "Now I know I'm going crazy." he muttered as he climbed back into bed.

Behind the curtains in the other bed, Ben smiled as he leaned back, idly twirling his wand around his fingers. "Part 1 of Operation Matchmaker successfully carried out."

***********************************

Ginny was walking down the hallway when she realized that she had forgotten her Transfiguration textbook in the Common Room. Heading for Gryffindor tower, she was startled when a hand suddenly covered her mouth and she found herself being dragged into a dark broom closet.

"What the-" Ginny struggled against her abductor, but then she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

"Calm down, Virigina." said Draco softly, his warm breath caressing her cheek. He had been looking for an opportunity to kiss the redhead again. Somehow that kiss the other day had left him yearning for more and when he saw her coming down the almost empty hallway, this gave him the perfect opportunity to get in some more snogging.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ginny hissed, yanking his hand away from her mouth.

"I think we have some unfinished business to take care of," he replied coolly.

"And what gives you the right to kiss me senseless whenever you feel like it?" she asked crossly. It wasn't that Ginny minded being kissed senseless by the handsome Slytherin, she just didn't like being cornered every single time Draco felt the urge to kiss her.

"You didn't seem to mind the last time, Weasley." drawled Draco.

"So we're back to last names now, aren't we?" Ginny was furious, partly at him for putting her in this situation and partly at herself knowing he was right, "And quit smirking at me." Draco chuckled, but didn't say anything.

Ginny shot him a dirty look, but she knew that he wouldn't see it in the darkness of the closet. His arm was draped lazily around her waist and one of his hands had traveled under her shirt, stroking the smooth skin of her back.

"Grr..You are infuriating!" she finally grounded out after a moment of silence, yanking on his robes.

Unfortunately, she had pulled harder than expected because Ginny soon found herself flattened against the wall with Draco pressed tightly against her.

"Smooth move, Virginia." Ginny swore she could see the smirk on his face in the darkness.

"Just shut up and kiss me already." she grumbled and then her eyes widened. "Wait! That wasn't what I-"

"Too late." Draco's lips descended upon hers before she got the chance to finish her sentence.

**************************************

About ten minutes later, Ginny rushed to the Gryffindor table and took her seat between Nina and Natalie.

"You do realize that you look you've just been making out with someone?" Natalie commented nonchalantly.

"I really didn't notice." came the sarcastic reply, "And it's all you-know-who's fault!" she shot a dirty look over at the Slytherin table.

"Frolicking with the Dark Lord now, aren't we? My, what Draco must be thinking..."

"Yes, yes." said Ginny briskly, digging into her lunch.

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Ginny, did I mention that I'm running away with Seamus to Australia and that Harry just proclaimed his undying love for Crabbe?"

"Whatever you say." replied Ginny absentmindedly.

Natalie gave Hermione an exasperated look across the table and tried again. "Ginny, Draco's kissing Blaise at the Slytherin table."

"What?! She can't do that! That jerk is MINE!" Ginny was furious as she quickly scanned the Great Hall for the said couple.

Seconds later, she flushed scarlet as she noticed Natalie trying hard not to snicker.

"Get a life." the redhead growled, trying to hid her burning face beneath her long hair as Natalie finally burst out laughing.

**********************************

As Hermione waited for the others to finish, she thought back to their conversation yesterday...

The five of them, Hermione, Ginny, Natalie, Ben and Nina had gathered in Ginny's room to discuss their plans.

"We need a plan of some kind." Ben began.

"Okay, but first, let's start with what we know." Natalie interrupted. "We don't know who this bad guy is in the present or if he's even here. We think that there's something in the Chamber of Secrets that can stop him, but we don't know what this is either. However, we do know that it's the only thing that can stop him."

Ginny nodded. "That's about it."

"So most of it is guessing," said Hermione, scribbling into her notebook, "But we'll have to make do."

"Okay then," said Ginny briskly, "First things first. We need find a day to sneak down into the Chamber. It's almost Winter Break and since most of the students are going home, there won't be much people hanging around."

"And that's about all we can do right now, since there's nothing I can research at this point in time."

"Meanwhile, one of us has to keep an eye on people so they don't catch onto our activities - as well as any potential Elddir candidates." finished Natalie.

"That sums it up nicely." remarked Nina quietly. Little did the other three know that the kids also had an agenda of their own - something they had dubbed "Operation Matchmaker".

*****************************

"Palmer. You're partners with Anderson." called Severus as he proceeded to pair off the rest of his Fifth Year Potions class.

"Weasley. Lewis."

"Hi, Natalie." said her partner as he sat down beside her. Natalie gave him a bright smile. Even though Ricky Anderson was in Slytherin, she still found him to be pleasant company. Sometimes, she wondered why he was in Slytherin in the first place - he was to darn nice to be in that house!

"Class. You have half an hour. You may begin now."

"So, did you finish your Transfiguration homework yet?" asked Natalie as she carefully chopped up their ingredients.

"Yeah, but I had a hard time finding a good hiding place for it." said Ricky, making a face as he read through the instructions.

"Well...I guess it's not your fault that all Slytherins are lazy." teased Natalie.

"Thanks a lot." he replied wryly.

"Hey, freak." sneered a voice in front of them suddenly.

Natalie's eyes narrowed as she glared at Karl. He was the unofficial leader of the Slytherin Fifth Years and his favorite hobby was insulting her whenever it seemed that Professor Snape or any other teacher was out of hearing.

"Hey, Anderson, I wouldn't be so chummy with the Mudblood-loving Gryff if I were you. It might rub off on you."

"Get lost." said Natalie coldly.

"It's a free country - and what are you going to do? In case you haven't noticed, Weasel seems to prefer Loony Lovegood over you."

Karl smirked as her slowly reddening face. Ricky faced a hand on Natalie's shoulder, "Ignore him, Nat."

However, Natalie had other ideas. Grabbing a wormroot from the pile, she chucked it straight at the back of Karl's head. Unfortunately, Karl saw it coming and ducked quickly. Giving Natalie a superior smirk, he turned and...

BOOM!

Apparently, the wormroot had landed in his potion instead. Natalie and Ricky both jerked backwards as the liquid in cauldron exploded, splattering Karl, his partner and the few Slytherins around them in bright neon pink.

She gave Ricky an innocent look, "Oh, did I do that?"

"Natalie..." groaned her partner.

"Nice." Ginny said appreciatively from beside Natalie, "Couldn't have done a better job myself."

"WHAT just happened here?!" Severus was back - and he was certainly not pleased to see a quarter of his room spattered in bright neon pink.

Karl pointed an accusatory finger at Natalie, "She threw something into my potion!"

"Prove it." said Natalie smugly.

"Why you little-"

"Oh yeah, you started it, you creep-"

Severus knew he was going to get a headache if they continued. "That's it!" he roared. "Palmer! Destraine! BOTH of you have detention!"

There was an abrupt silence before Natalie jumped up.

"Yahoo!!" she cheered, pumping her fist into the air.

Only Ginny and Ricky understood the reason behind their friend's joyfulness. The rest of the class just looked at her as though she had grown another head.

"And you - wipe that smile off your face." Severus growled at Natalie.

***********************************

"Figures that you would be the one jumping for joy after the Professor gives you a detention." remarked Ricky as they headed to the library to work on their report.

"Well, it's Potions...." said Natalie and then she grinned evilly, "Maybe I can convince Dad to have him scrub the cauldrons without magic!"

"What about you?"

"He'll probably just get me to mark some essays for him or something like that....Destraine looks real nice in neon pink, doesn't he?"

"Better than usual." replied Rick good naturely, "But then he's bound to be in a foul mood for the rest of the week. You better watch out for him." he warned.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself fine." she said reassuringly.

Her partner didn't look convinced.

****************************************

Meanwhile, in the Slytherin common rooms, a dark-haired girl stared moodily into the fire. Blaise Zambini was having a horrible day indeed.

When she was getting ready that morning, she discovered to her dismay that one of the other girls had used up all of her eyeshadow! As if that wasn't enough, she spotted Draco, her Draco disappearing with the Weaselette just before lunch time!

Blaise was deep in thought when another blond made his way into the common room. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye without much interest. This must be the new student - so she had been told - and Draco's new roommate. He was only a third year, Blaise mused, but he was kind of cute.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. Nobody (except a certain Malfoy) could resist her charms afterall...and it was winter break. Most people were leaving anyways, so why not have some fun? It would be amusing to have him trailing after her like some kind of lovesick puppy - and then she could just brush him off at the right intervals... Maybe Draco would even get jealous and ask her out again!

A satisfied smile slowly appeared on Blaise's face as she followed the blond's movements. Yes, this was perfect.

However, as Shawn gathered his books and made his way out to meet Ben and Nina, he failed to notice the dark-haired girl who was steadily watching his every move.

*************************************

The plot thickens (kind of). ^.~

Coming up in later chapters: Blaise is going to try and seduce Shawn, Draco finds out something about his new roommate and Ben finds himself the victim of an overzealous crush. Also, Elddir finally makes his first move!

8. Malfoy vs. Destraine

Off-Limits by Blue Lady

At first, I was going to go over the following scene two times, once in Shawn's POV and the other in Draco's POV. However, since I know some readers really dislike reading the same scene two times in a row, I've combined it into one scene. I hope nobody gets too confused. As usual, I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 8: Malfoy vs. Destraine

Shawn Malfoy had only been at Hogwarts for less then a week - and he had already made himself a new mortal enemy. Well, not exactly new, considering the fact that their family rivalry stretched back decades, but still.

Luis Destraine was Karl Destraine's younger brother and a pain in the ass.

It had all started when Luis had sneered at him for hanging around with the "mudblood-loving Griffs" and then the bloody bloke had tried to kiss Nina! Then he had the nerve to insult his father! All this resulted in a very pissed-off Malfoy and added to the stress and guilt he had been suffering from ever since he had left his own time, it was enough to tip him over the edge.

Of course, he shouldn't have been terribly surprised. The Destraine and Malfoy family had never gotten along very well, especially since Lucius Malfoy had Karl Destraine Sr. kicked out of Voldemort's Inner Circle before Draco was even born. Needless to say, it had taken the Destraines a lot of time and energy to get back in the Dark Lord's good graces.

However, since the Destraines insisted him on making him a member of his family about a decade ahead of time, he supposed that he might as well enjoy it.

On that particular day, he had only been walking around with Ben when they heard a familiar shriek followed by a resounding SLAP.

Ben's face went pale. "Nina!"

Shawn raced off after his friend towards the direction of the sound only to skidd to a stop when a flash of black ran straight into Ben's arms.

"What happened?" Ben asked his sister quietly. Shawn noticed that she was still clinging onto her brother tightly, although she seemed to calm down more now that Ben was here.

"I was just walking to the library when I felt somebody following me." she whispered.

At first, she had dismissed it, feeling that it was probably just nerves. However, the feeling increased and Nina tried to lose them. Just when she thought she had succeeded, she felt a hand latching tightly onto her wrist.

She looked up and her eyes widened. "You!"

"What?" Luis Destraine smirked, "Never seen a Slytherin before?"

Nina tried to wretch her arm from his iron-like grasp, but his smirk just widened. "Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?"

"Yes!" hissed Nina, "Far away from you."

"That's a shame," he moved his face closer to hers, "Because I don't think I'm done yet."

"Let me go right now or I'll-"

"Scream? That's too bad, baby, I know this school better than you do and I know for a fact that this is one of the most infrequently used corridors at Hogswarts."

"Besides," Nina could feel his breath on the side of her face now, "I can show you a better time than that blond snobby airhead you seem to like for some odd reason."

Nina stood absolutely still and as he loosened his grip on her arm, she immediately wretched her arms away and slapped him across the face with all the strength she could muster. "That was for implying that I would even consider liking slime like you." she hissed and then she kicked his ankle, hard. "And that was for insulting Shawn."

Luis took on a murderous expression as he rubbed his ankle. However, Nina was already running towards her brother who had suddenly appeared in the nick of time...

"I am going to make sure he dies a painful death." Ben's voice was cold. He had promised his parents that he would take care of his sister and he would make sure he did by cursing the imbecile that had dared to touch his sister into utter obviation.

"Get in line." growled Shawn, "It's about time I settled some things with the slimy git over there." Rolling up his sleeve, he started forward toward the other boy.

However, Luis's smirk only widened. Shawn itched to wipe that smirk off his face, once and for all. Unfortunately...

"What's going on here?" cut in an obnoxious voice. Shawn snarled - Karl had arrived.

Luis waved a hand lazily at the trio. "Oh, I was just minding my own business when the chick there literally threw herself at me. There was something about her boyfriend there being a total sissy and how she wanted to get to know a real man."

Nina felt like gagging. Meanwhile, Shawn's expression was rapidly approaching the same intensity as that of a thundercloud as the other boy continued.

Luis ignored her, "Then her boyfriend showed up and she started acting as though I were the one putting on the moves instead of her." Shawn closed his eyes and took a deep breath to refrain himself from socking the other boy in the jaw right there and then.

Karl smiled knowingly, "Lucky for all of you I came just in time. Since fighting is against the rules, 10 points off from Gryffindor." He looked at Shawn, "As for you, we'll have to see what Professor Snape has to say about this."

If looks could kill, Karl would have been dead ten times already.

"Not happy?" mocked the older boy, "What are you going to do? Run and tell Drakkie that big bad Karl Destraine's been threatening you?"

*********************************

Draco had been writing his History of Magic essay when something compelled him to stop.

It was as though someone was beckoning him. At first, he tried ignoring this, but a few minutes later, he threw his quill down in frustration as he looked at what he had written.

One of the main figures in the 1276 Goblin Rebellions was Anni of Indipea, who was rumoured to be the most beautiful witch of her time, although I'm sure that her hair wasn't nearly as nice and smooth as Ginny's...

"I. Need. Major. Help." thought Draco and he tried to erase that last line. However, the beckoning increased and he gave up.

Stalking out of his room, he felt something dragging him towards the West side of the castle. "This better be good." he thought irritably.

"I don't know how you do it Malfoy, but if I walked around with my eyes closed, I'm sure I would have smacked into a few walls already." remarked a voice a few minutes later.

"It's a gift, Potter." said Draco, his eyes still closed, "And Weasley, stop glaring at me."

Ron scowled.

"So what the heck are you doing?" asked Harry curiously.

"I don't know. I feel something pulling me..." Draco trailed off as his ring started to glow. The pull increased and Draco was literally dragged through the hallways by an invisible force.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Malfoy went loony." remarked Ron to Harry as they ran after him, "Maybe it runs in the family."

"To a certain extent," Harry replied dryly, "Sirius turned out okay, even if Snape doesn't agree."

Three hallways and two turns later, they found Draco leaning against the wall, looking around.

"What's so..." Ron started.

"Shut up!"

Ron started to retort, but Harry stopped him. "Let's see what's happening first."

**************************

"I can take care of my own fights." said Shawn quietly, but the evil intent underneath his words was visible to both his friends, "Leave Draco out of this."

"Is that a challenge, Parker?" sneered Luis.

"It's whatever you think it is." An odd gleam appeared in Shawn's brown eyes.

"A fifth year against a third year? I don't think that's really fair."

"Why? Are you chicken, Destraine? Heaven knows your father was, considering the way he conveniently freaks out whenever he so much as sees his boss, not that I blame him," Shawn smiled thinly, "Considering the fact that old Voldie is in need of some plastic surgery."

A pink flush appeared simultaneously on the face of both the Destraine siblings.

"As if your precious Drakkie's much better," sneered Luis, "I hate to break it to you, but he's a chicken! He was so scared of the Dark Lord that he ran away screaming like a girl the first time he saw him!"

Ron snickered, but he quickly shut up when he found a wand pointed two inches from his face.

"It really is pathetic. Everyone thinks that he's some kind of hotshot, the freaking prince of Slytherin! I wonder what people'll think if that story ever got out."

"Remember that ferret incident two years ago? That was hilarious!" added Luis, giving his brother a nudge, "Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret!"

Harry heard someone growl beside him and he quickly grabbed onto the back of Draco's robe as the blond started around the corner. "Let me go, Potter!" snarled Draco, "When I'm done with him, he'll have trouble recognizing his own mother-" Harry yanked him back.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, "I thought you were the one that wanted to listen in!"

"Fine, but when I get my hands on those two...." Draco chuckled unpleasantly, a dangerous gleam appearing in his silver eyes.

Meanwhile, Ben and Nina were watching the events unfolding in front of them uneasily.

"Ben, I don't like this." Nina told her brother in a hushed voice. "I don't think Shawn's going to last any longer."

"And we both know what happened the last time," Ben rolled his eyes, "C'mon, let's get him out of here."

Shawn snarled when Nina latched onto his right arm and his best friend grabbed ahold of his other arm, "What do you think YOU TWO ARE DOING??!"

"Saving you from yourself." said Ben grimly. Like it or not, Shawn was Lucius Malfoy's grandson and sometimes there was no telling what he would do when he was angry; experience told him that angering a Malfoy was not a wise decision.

"Yeah, listen to the green-eyed freak beside you. I bet you're just like Draco - all talk and no action."

Shawn had reached his limit. Roughly shaking Ben and Nina's hands off of him, he stormed forward.

"I think it's about time I followed up on some of my threats then," Shawn gave the siblings an evil grin. "So, you think Draco and I are pathetic?"

"In addition to being total losers? Yes. You want me to repeat that?"

"No, that won't be necessary," said Shawn softly and then he started chanting a spell under his breath.

Meanwhile, Draco's hands tightened as he thought of all the various curses and hexes he itched to use on the Destraines right there and then. Only there was the problem of finding the one which would cause the most pain and last the longest. It really was a shame that the Cruciatus curse was illegal.

"What was that? I can't hear you." Luis smirked. He failed to notice that the ring Shawn wore on his left hand had begun to glow a bright neon green color.

However, the blond just smiled knowingly and raised his hand before a powerful burst of energy burst forward from his fingertips.

Quick reflexes ensured that Karl only got singed slightly in the process, but his brother wasn't so lucky. Luis's mouth opened, but no sound came out before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. His whole body went rigid and then he toppled over, face forward.

All within the space of a few seconds.

Shawn looked down emotionlessly as Karl kneeled beside his brother.

"You killed him!" roared the other boy roared, glaring at Shawn with unmistakable fury in his eyes.

"I wish I had," Shawn rolled his eyes, "It would have been a step towards achiving world peace."

"I'm going to have you thrown in Azkaban for this." snarled Karl.

To Draco's surprise, Shawn just threw his head back and laughed. "I'd like to see you try, Destraine."

"And just what do you find so amusing?"

"This curse, which I have just had the pleasure of testing out on your brother, is not known to the Ministry of Magic."

"Get to the point already!"

"And ruin my good mood? Are you crazy?" Shawn smirked, "I haven't had this much fun in ages!"

"He's gone bonkers." whispered Ron from his hiding place behind Harry and Draco.

Karl gripped his wand so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "Give me the countercurse. NOW!"

However, Shawn just wagged a finger at him. "Now, now, mustn't be impatient now, Destraine."

"You don't know who you're up against, Parker," Karl said slowly, the threat evident in his voice.

"Actually, that's Malfoy to you." Shawn smiled evilly, "And so far the score is Malfoy 2, Destraine 0."

"Malfoy?!"

This was echoed by Harry and Ron as they stared at Draco with amazed expressions on their faces.

"What?!" asked Draco defensively upon seeing the uneasy looks on Ron and Harry's faces.

"I didn't know that you had other relatives." said Harry duly.

"Hey, it's not like anyone bothered to inform me that I had a long lost brother." said Draco moodily as he turned back to the conversation around the corner. "And you being Black's godson doesn't make you my relative either!"

"Who on Earth would want to be related to you?" muttered Ron.

"The feeling's mutual, Weasley." sneered Draco as they turned back to the conversation in front of them.

Shawn rolled his eyes, "Just because Lucius got himself killed doesn't mean that you can push the rest of us around." He couldn't resist another jab at the other boy. "And I've heard that the Dark Lord isn't too happy with your father these days..."

"Leave my father out of this."

"Then leave mine out of it!"

Karl looked at though he wanted to retort, but all he gritted out was, "What's the countercurse?"

"Sorry," an apologetic expression appeared on Shawn's face, although his eyes told a different story, "My father never told me what it was. I think that Draco might know though."

The other boy remained silent.

Shawn turned to walk away, but he stopped and said coldly, "When your brother awakens, tell him to keep his hands to himself before I make him an appointment to have a few important organs removed."

And with that the blond disappeared around a corner. Nina started to go after him, but a hand on her shoulder restrained her.

"Typical Malfoy behavior." muttered Ron.

"You want me to make an appointment for you, Weasley?"

"Sod off, Malfoy."

If looks could kill, Shawn would have been dead already. But seeing as there was nothing he could do before he got the countercurse, Karl sighed and lifted his brother up, ignoring the Potter siblings.

"Why are we still standing here?" demanded Nina as Karl stormed away, "I want to see if Shawn's alright."

"I think we should give him some time to himself first." Ben said quietly, "He just took a huge risk there by telling them his real identity."

Nina gave an involuntary shudder. "Shawn has more of his grandfather in him than he realizes." she said, turning to her brother.

"I know. Draco has it too." said Ben softly and then he sighed, "I don't know if they can ever escape Lucius' legacy."

Draco blinked as the two of them walked off. How did they know so much about him? And the kid was a Malfoy?! What the hell... If this continued, he would be getting one major headache soon.

"Well, that was interesting." commented Harry dryly, "It seems that we have another Malfoy in our midst."

He looked at Draco out of the corner of his eye, "You think he's a spy?"

Draco thought for a moment and shrugged, "I don't think so...but he is a Malfoy, that I know."

"And what makes you so sure?" cut in Ron.

"Weasley, what you fail to appreciate is the fact that only people with Malfoy blood can perform that spell."

"Do you Malfoys always have to be so damn special?" grumbled Ron.

Harry gave his friend a warning glance, "How does it work?"

Draco rolled his eyes, "The ring he has on his third finger is what intensified that curse he just threw at Luis Destraine. As well, the ring itself is a priceless family heirloom..."

"Maybe it got stolen."

However, a perplexed expression appeared on Draco's face, "...but how can he have it when I'm the one wearing it?"

Draco stood in a daze until Harry's voice snapped him out of it. "So what would happen if someone who wasn't a Malfoy used that curse?"

"I doubt if the other person would get so much as a nosebleed and Destraine," he gave Ron a meaningful look, "-almost had his head blown off, just in case you didn't notice."

"Great, that means my sister's running around with a Malfoy. As if you weren't bad enough."

"Thanks Weasel. I think I feel so much better now."

***********************************************

Guess what happens next. Okay, only some of the events I mentioned at the end of Chapter 7 happened...but hey, I never said that they were going on in the same chapter.... Anyways, review and yeah. :)

9. Pride Cometh Before a Fall

Off-Limits by Miranda Aurelia (Blue Lady)

One of my slightly longer chapters! Don't worry, they will be entering the Chamber of Secrets soon, in case anyone thinks that I've forgotten totally about that vital part of the plot in my quest for some more "character interaction". ^.~

Sorry for taking so long!! Hopefully not everyone has abandoned this fic yet...

Chapter 9

Two hours later, Shawn's mood hadn't improved. True, he had managed to curse his father's archrival into unconsciousness, but it occurred to him that he should have left out that little part about his parentage.

The look on Destraine's face had been priceless though.

Shawn had seen them both back in his time and that encounter hadn't been pleasant. That afternoon, he had been in Diagon Alley with his father when they had ran into Karl Destraine....

***************************

Flashback

"Hey Dad, isn't that the new racing broom?" a much younger Shawn Malfoy gazed into the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies with awe.

Behind him, Draco chuckled.

"It looks like the one Uncle Harry has..."

"Then we're certainly not getting that one." His father replied with a glint in his eyes, "Anything Potter can get, we can get better."

Shawn raised an eyebrow at his father, "Didn't Mom say something about ending that...what did she call it? That stupid, unending rivalry between you and Uncle Ron and Uncle Harry?"

"No, kid, she told me not to spoil you too much." Draco ruffled his son's hair, "Although I don't see how buying my son everything he wants is considered spoiling."

The smirk his son gave him resembled his own. "Yeah, I recall her saying something like that. Something about me turning into an exact copy of you at this age."

Draco looked scandalized. "And what was wrong with me when I was your age?" he demanded.

Shawn shrugged his shoulders. "She did mention something along the lines of being an arrogant, immature, stuck-up ferret..."

His father's eyes flashed. "Is that so? Well, your mother and I are definitely going to have a few words..."

"Not again." thought Shawn, refraining from rolling his eyes. That look on his father's face usually meant that his parents would be spending some time together engaged in certain activities which he wasn't supposed to know about.

Shawn shuddered as he thought of what he had personally dubbed the 'incident-that-must-never-ever-be-mentioned-unless-someone-gave-him-a-concussion' - it was a good thing he hadn't seen much, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that his parents were obviously doing that so he had wisely bolted to the far end of the Manor before he found himself scarred for life...

Suddenly, his father's grip on his shoulder tightened and the hairs rose up on the back of his neck.

"If it isn't the ferret and his spawn..." He heard a voice sneer.

"Destraine." Shawn was surprised when his father replied in the same sneering tone, "I thought that you'd be keeping the Dementors company by now."

Karl Destraine ignored him. Instead, his eyes fastened malevolently onto Shawn. "So this is what the great Malfoy genes have produced. A mere squib of a boy."

Shawn bristled at the insult, but luckily Draco was not that easily put off. "Well, then I presume I should congratulate you on having such a lovely daughter." He deliberately stressed the last word.

"Daughter? When did Marcus become a girl?" Shawn became even more confused as his father started snickering at the darkening expression on Karl's face.

"Malfoy, you are going to learn a very painful lesson soon," snarled Karl, taking a menacing step forward.

Draco picked Shawn up into his arms, "I wonder what your grandpa will think about that." He told his son before giving his enemy a meaningful look. This was definitely one of the advantages of having the Minister of Magic for a father-in-law.

Karl clenched and unclenched his fist before he spun on his heel and disappeared around a corner.

"I think I got it now, Dad," Shawn looked up at his father as they continued in the other direction.

"Got what?"

"Marcus being a girl."

The two of them exchanged a grin before Draco glanced at his watch. "C'mon kid, we've got to get home soon."

"So you can stick you tongue down Mom's throat again?" muttered Shawn under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

End Flashback.

****************************************

As Shawn entered the room he shared with Draco, his eyes immediately fell upon his father.

"Uh oh," he thought inwardly. That posture usually meant that he was in for a huge lecture and if Draco was anything like his future self, that meant that it wouldn't be pleasant.

Draco was the first one to cut into the silence. "I was walking by Flitwick's room when I stumbled onto something very interesting."

Shawn remained silent.

"Apparently we haven't been properly introduced, Mr. Malfoy." It wasn't a question.

The younger boy groaned inwardly. He had two options right now: admit the whole thing or bluff. Turning around slowly, he pretended to scrutinize the empty space behind him before he turned back, raising a questioning eyebrow at Draco.

The older boy's scowl only deepened. After awhile, Shawn finally spoke up. "Look, if you're thinking that I'm possibly related to you in some way-"

"You are."

A mirthless chuckle emerged from Shawn's lips. "Well, isn't this a small world." However, judging from Draco's body language, it seemed as though option two would soon get him strangled. He decided to switch to option one. "Shawn."

"What?"

"That's my name."
"Shawn, is it now?" Draco's voice was cold, "I should have known that my relatives would side with Lucius. So you're the one they sent out...I would have expected you to be a bit more careful about revealing your identity though."

Silence followed this comment before Shawn finally spoke up. "I'm not a spy," he said quietly.

Draco slammed his hand on the desk beside him. "Fake name, sneaking around the castle, not to mention that load of bullshit you must have fed the Headmaster and you're telling me you're not a spy?!"

"I'm here on a mission."

"To make me pay for saving my own neck, perhaps?" Draco asked sarcastically. "I don't think so. If I can kill Lucius, than I can most certainly do the same to you."

Shawn appeared unfazed. "Is that a threat?"

"What I mean," Draco continued coldly, "Is I don't need some third year brat with a Potter complex getting in my way."

"Potter complex?!" Shawn spluttered mentally, "Do I look like Harry freaking Potter to you?"

Draco ignored the glare coming from the other blond, "And stay away from Weasley."

"No."

"What did you say?"

"I said NO!" Shawn had reached the end of his patience. "Now if you can shut up for a second and let me explain!" Without waiting for Draco's answer, he continued coldly, "Look, the only thing I lied to you was about my name. Whether you believe it or not, I really am here on a mission and it isn't spending my valuable time spying on you! It isn't to chase after your girlfriend either, you insufferable prick. It isn't my fault she's practically the only one that's willing to talk to me! As for Destraine, he needed a lesson and I gave it to him. However, since it's not bloody likely that you're going to believe me, believe whatever the hell you want. And I'll have you know if you weren't my fa-" He stopped abruptly.

"Weren't what? Family?" Draco spat out the last word, "Don't worry, you're no family of mine."

Shawn felt as though he had the wind knocked out of him as those words flowed into his mind. "I wouldn't want to be related to you anyways, ferret boy!" he spat out angrily.

Normally, Shawn would never dream of using this against his father, but today, he was too blind with anger to reason. "Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret.." He laughed cruelly, "I bet everyone loved that one."
Draco's eyes flashed angrily and half a second later, Shawn found himself crashing into wall beside the door. As his head started to throb in pain, a pair of black shoes entered his vision. "I would watch that mouth of yours if I were you," Draco said coldly, "Or there will be a ferret running around here soon."

"I'm shaking all over," Shawn said sarcastically as he slowly picked himself up off the ground, giving him a baleful glare.
"Get out of here." Draco snarled, before he turned away.

"Gladly." The younger blond didn't even spare him a glance before he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

******************************************

Shawn threw himself wearily onto the couch by the fire. It wasn't everyday that he got to see this side of his father and it was certainly the first time that he had had that anger directed at him. He had always grown up being proud of his name. Malfoy. But now, it was his pride and his name that had landed in deep trouble.

"So much for keeping an eye on Draco," he thought bitterly, "Now I have to keep an eye out for him so he doesn't kill me."

His bitter musing were interrupted as a shadow fell over him and he looked up with a scowl. It was only Blaise though.

"You must be the new student, right?" Blaise deliberately sat down close to where the younger boy was just enough that her legs brushed against his.

To her annoyance, he just nodded and continued to stare sulkingly into the fire, not even sparing her a glance.

"So what's a guy like you doing out here all alone?" she asked causally.

Shawn snorted, "His highness is in a bad mood right now."

Blaise dismissed this comment with a careless wave of her hand. "Draco's always like that. Moody and brooding."

"Oh?"

"I should know after all," Blaise continued nonchalantly, "His is my...boyfriend after all."

To his credit, Shawn did manage to keep the outrage from showing on his face. No matter how much unreasonable his father seemed to be in this time period, Shawn knew for a fact that they would be only one woman in this world good enough for his dad - and it wasn't the girl pressing herself shamelessly against him.

"Shouldn't you be in there comforting Draco then?" Shawn asked, sarcasm lining his voice.

"Later, perhaps." Blaise twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "Are you busy tonight?"

Shawn blinked at this abrupt change in topic as he inched away a little on the couch. "Why?" 'Don't tell me she's thinking what I think she's thinking....'

"I was wondering if you wanted to visit the Astronomy Tower with me," Her hand, which had been on his shoulder, slowly slid down his back.

"What about Draco?" Shawn asked calmly. He could feel her warm breath on his face as she leaned in even closer.

"He doesn't have to know," Blaise whispered, her lips brushing his cheek.

Shawn debated inwardly whether to let her continue, but then the thought of a laughing girl with sparkling emerald green eyes rose unbidden into his mind. Breaking out of his trace, he jumped up so quickly that Blaise toppled over sideways onto the place he had just occupied.

"Thanks, but no." was his only reply before he sped out of the common room, the wall sliding shut behind him.

Blaise swore at the blond as he disappeared from sight. She had been so close...

************************************

Meanwhile, Shawn wandered through the halls aimlessly. He wasn't looking forward to seeing his father at the present moment and now Blaise was throwing herself at him. He gave a slight shudder. Yes, it was true that Blaise was very attractive, but the fact that she was technically old enough to be his mother was enough to rid him of any possible attraction he may have harbored towards her. Then there was Nina....

Personally he thought that it was rather unfortunate that his father had passed on his reputation onto his son. It was enough to make his mother worry that she would be a grandma before his seventeenth birthday. It also didn't help the fact that said reputation also discouraged any possible relationship between him and anyone with the surname Potter - not that he liked Nina Potter that way or anything.

Finally looking at his surroundings, he discovered that he had unconsciously wandered up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady gave him a suspicious glance, but the portrait still swung open after he dully said the password.

It was only after he appeared in the portrait hole and all chatter had immediately died away did he finally remember one important fact. He wasn't a Gryffindor in this time.

"Hey Adam," Ben got up from where he had been involved in a game of exploding snap with Harry, "Hey, mate...what's wrong?"

A new voice cut into the silence. "Look," Ron Weasley had gotten up angrily from his seat, "I don't know how you got in, but you're leaving. Now!"

Another thing Shawn had trouble getting used to besides his father's drastically different personality was having Uncle Ron look at him with such...loathing.

"Ronald Weasley! You leave him alone!" yelled another voice.

"But Gin-"

However, Shawn had already disappeared back outside. Ginny ignored the stares she was receiving from the other students and rushed outside where she found her son slumped against the wall halfway down the hallway.

"Shawn..."

Ginny was surprised to say the least when he threw himself straight into her arms, silent tears pouring down his face. Ignoring the shouts that had started from behind the portrait of the Fat Lady, she focused on comforting her son.

"Shawn, talk to me," she spoke softly, patting his back.

"Dad's mad at me." Shawn's voice was muffled from where it was pressed against her shirt.

"Why Draco's always like that!" Ginny spoke to him soothingly, "Don't worry, he's not one to hold a grudge."

The only response to that comment was with a snort.

"Most of the time," His mother hastily corrected before she threw a wary look back at the entrance to Gryffindor tower. "Come, let's go somewhere else. I don't think Hermione can hold back the calvary much longer.

************************************

"What do you think you're doing Hermione?" Ron was almost spitting fire from his eyes. "That Slytherin brat, a Malfoy no less, just barges in here, takes Ginny away and you're telling me I can't go beat him into a bloody pulp?!"

"He didn't take Ginny away, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated. "Besides, it's her business who she decides to talk to."

"Hermione!"

"I mean it, Ron." She gave him an exasperated look. "I wish I could tell you what this is all about, but I can't."

Ron opened his mouth to retort but, surprisingly, it was Harry that intervened. "Calm down, mate. Ginny's old enough to take care of herself anyway."

"Am I the only here that hasn't been affected by whatever that evil ferret lookalike slipped into your food?!"

"Ron, we ate the same thing you did."

"Fine! You're under some kind of evil spell!"

"What kind of spell?"

"I don't know! It's some kind of evil spell that makes you...I don't know...it makes you want to...to.....to defend Malfoy!"

Hermione blinked. Seconds later, her mouth started twitching. Soon, she was bursting with laughter and Harry followed her.

Ron was not amused. "What?! What's so funny about that?!"

****************************************

"So the next thing I know, I've pissed Dad off, some girl old enough to be my mother is trying to come onto me, I'm going to be expelled and when Dumbledore kicks me back into the future, I'm probably going to get killed by some overzealous Death Eater." Shawn said in an emotionless before he gave his mother a defeated look, "Go ahead. I deserve whatever you feel like throwing at me and I promise I'll shut up this time."

Shawn and Ginny were currently seated in front of a warm fire in the Room of Requirement. With a dejected voice, he had gone over the day's events, leaving out nothing, from the confrontation with the Destraine siblings to his unexpected arrival at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room.

His mother simply shook her head. "I can't exactly say that you were thinking properly when you threw that curse at Luis because you weren't." However, it wasn't necessary for Draco to throw all those accusations at you, not to mention," her brown eyes flared up with anger, "throw that curse at you."

Shawn felt the back of his head and winced. Ginny cursed Draco again as she moved over and placed her fingers on the bump on her son's head. Thank goodness she helped Madam Pomfrey occasionally in the infirmary, thought Ginny.

"I kind of deserved it," muttered Shawn, fidgeting slightly, "I did throw that ferret incident in his face."

"That does not excuse his behavior though!" Ginny's eyes flashed angrily, "The next time I see him, I going to-"

At that moment, a loud knocking sound gave them a momentary start. Ginny glanced at Shawn and placed a finger on her lips to indicate to him that he was to remind silent.

"Who is it?" she called out.

"Ginny! It's Hermione! Open up!"

Ginny opened the door a crack. "My brother isn't out there, is he?"

The other girl shook her head. Finally Ginny opened the door so that Hermione and the two Potter siblings could get in before she threw one more quick glance out at the darkened hallway, closed the door and locked it behind her.

"Are you feeling alright?" Nina asked softly as she took a seat beside her brother's best friend.

"Considering that I just received a tongue-lashing and a stone wall to my head from my own father, that I'm possibly getting expelled for giving Destraine a lesson he deserved and incurring the wrath of my own uncle, I'm feeling perfectly fine!" He gave a sardonic chuckle, "In fact, I have this urge to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower right now."

The black-haired girl beside him shook her head sadly. "I know how you feel, but you can't give up now. Your parents and sisters are depending on you. We're depending on you."

"What would you know Potter?" Shawn sneered before he could stop himself, "Your parents aren't dead! Dear Merlin..." he snorted, "And Dad says I'm the one with the Potter complex!"

"Now you're just acting like a total prat, Malfoy."

"Shut up Potter!" Shawn whirled around to face Ben, his face darkening.

"Shawn Malfoy!" His mother's angry voice cut across the suddenly silent room and he looked up to meet his mother's eyes. "Apologize to Nina."

"What for?" he asked sullenly, "I was just telling the truth."
His mother bristled at this and his thoughts drifted rather irrelevantly to the image of an enraged lioness.

The silence seemed to continue as Shawn and Ginny remained locked in a battle of wills. Finally he sighed and turned to Nina. "I'm sorry."

Hermione gave a small cough. "Now that we've all decided to get along, maybe we can actually get down the business now?"

Shawn and Ben threw each other a dirty look.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that Shawn's identity is out of the bag," Ginny sighed.

"And we can't let him go back to the dungeons," pointed out Hermione, "It wouldn't be safe. We'll have to see about getting him a new place to stay."

"Shawn can share my room," offered Ben.

Shawn shook his head. "Sorry, too crowded. Not to mention I getting some bad vibes."

"Bad vibes?!"

The blond gave him a sideways glance. "The last time I checked, your dad wasn't too pleased to see me either."

"In that case..." Ginny made up her mind. "Shawn, you're sleeping in my room tonight."

Her son gaped at her. "Mom, you really want Dad and Uncle Ron to kill me?"

"They won't."

Shawn gave her a look of disbelief, "Dad told me to stay away from you, remember?"

Ginny brightened, "That means Ron and Draco actually agreed on something!"

"Not funny," her son said sullenly.

However, Ginny just wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You'll be alright," she grinned cheekily at him, "I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve as well. Besides, it's their fault you're my new roommate, so they can complain all they want."

Impulsively, Shawn gave the redhead a quick hug. "Thanks Mom." he whispered. "I'm not usually this sentimental," he added quickly, "Just so you know."

Ginny laughed and ruffled his hair. "Of course. We wouldn't want to ruin that bad boy reputation of yours now, would we?"

"Mom!"

"Now you're just whining."

Shawn roughly shoved over a still snickering Benjamin Potter as he got up. "Oh shut up."

*************************************

Again, I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out!! Hopefully I can get finish the next one sooner....

Happy Holidays, everyone! :)