DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. does, and she has every right to do whatever she thinks is best for Harry Potter. I just love writing. So sue me. Wait, seriously… don't.
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"I can't believe I just did that." Hermione released a long, tensed breath as she followed Erin out of the Hospital Wing.
Erin scoffed in mockery as they walked towards the end of the hallway. "You should ease a bit. You've been uptight since you got here."
Hermione tipped her head sideways and bit her lip. "I reckon I should have done something more. It didn't feel real."
Erin seemed stunned at what she said. "Who are you kidding? You had me convinced."
Tucking loose strands of hair neatly behind her ear, Hermione didn't say anything. The next corridor was naturally empty as they turned left and she found herself wishing she had something else to do than loiter around for the next couple of hours.
It wasn't until Erin stepped in front of her that she snapped out of her trance and gave attention to the girl who was trying to catch it. "You were saying?"
"Nothing much. I just wanted to know if you have any plans for the rest of the day."
"I'm going to my classes." Hermione frowned as she answered. "Wouldn't; you be, too?"
Erin regarded her with an amused expression. "You never got around to reading the rest of your schedule, did you?"
The girl shook her head and said half-in jest and half-in sincerity. "I probably forgot after seeing my first class."
"Thought so." Erin put in, her eyes sparkling.
"Why? Don't we--?"
"Nope." Erin answered before she could finish. Then seeing the look of query in her eyes, she explained. "During Thursdays, we only have one class. The first and seventh years have Flying Lessons while the rest have either Potions or Transfiguration."
"Why?"
Erin just shrugged. "I haven't any idea. So, being new and everything, you decide on what to do. But don't make it tiring, I'm still beat from yesterday's work."
"Don't worry. You're not the only one who has a hangover. Last night's study session drained the energy out of me." Hermione said. "How about we just talk by the lake?"
"Sounds good." Erin agreed and went ahead to lead the way.
Hermione silently followed.
Going to the lake had been her immediate choice, knowing this was the only place where she could ponder on her thoughts thoroughly. And though she was vulnerable to thinking of Harry there, she'd take that particular risk if it meant having peace of mind.
She and Erin walked leisurely across the grounds and to the lake. Without knowing what to do, Hermione sat down and leaned on a rock near the shoreline.
Erin followed suit and sighed as she looked at the clear sky above them. Stealing a quick glance on the girl on her left, she smiled and asked uncertainly. "Do you miss him?"
Hermione, who had her eyes closed until then, abruptly opened her lids, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Hmm?"
"Do you miss him?"
"Who?" Hermione still asked even though she already knew who `him' was.
"Your friend." She finally cleared cautiously. "Harry, right?
Her heart hammering against her chest, Hermione initiated to ask. "How did you--?"
"Cole told me." Erin grinned at her apologetically as she answered her in the middle of her question. "And he also said, if you ever find out he told me, he's sorry. He knows he shouldn't have said anything, but knowing you won't just open up to anybody, much more a boy like himself, he thought it would be better if a girl would talk to you."
Hermione stared back at Erin after hearing this, surprised that the outwardly arrogant Nicholas Potter, who had given her a reserved and snooty welcome since she arrived here, had shown concern for her.
"Yeah, that's Cole." Erin suddenly said, knowing the look of confusion Hermione was wearing. She laughed quietly as she continued with intense blue eyes. "You don't see his softer side until you spend time with him."
"I guess." Hermione muttered, trying to relax her senses again.
"He's quite reserved to people whom he just met. Usually takes him….a month...not really sure. But you gave us a shock when you got him to mind you in a few days. Might be a connection, don't you think?"
Hermione jerked her head around defensively as she heard this but pulled back at the last second to remain quiet about the remark. Realizing it had a modicum of truth, she wasn't about to refuse anything.
Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, she clutched the locket unreasonably hanging in front of her robes and began playing with it.
"You and Lor have the same habit." Erin said out of the blue, looking at the locket Hermione was holding.
"Lor?" Hermione asked, ignoring the statement.
"Cole's sister." Erin smiled and paused for a few moments to relish the look on Hermione's face before continuing her explanation. "Nobody can tell they're related the first time they meet. But once you get a good look at them, you'll know they are. And since they're hardly seen together, people don't get to compare much."
Hermione nodded at this. "What makes them alike?"
"Well, it's not actually what they have but what they don't have that sets them apart."
"Care to elaborate?" Hermione voiced out.
"Cole's like a carbon copy of his ancestor. But there's one little detail that his genes missed out on, and that's what Lor inherited instead: green-eyes. One good look and people know she's one of them." Erin explained. "You may have seen her around and just not know that she's Cole's sister."
Vaguely remembering someone she saw the day before, Hermione asked. "Was she talking to Cole yesterday?"
"Tall, slim with long brown hair?" Erin asked.
"Yes, I think so." Hermione nodded.
"That's her."
"Oh." It was all she could manage to say without sounding shocked.
It would have been stupid if Erin knew she was stunned at what she heard when she knows for a fact that Cole and Lor were not the only products of Harry's marriage and a number of children came before these two.
Wanting to get rid of the thought, Hermione altered the topic to Erin's original concern. "So what's this about me doing something she does?"
"She also has a locket she holds and twists around when she's thinking." Erin answered, holding her knees up against her chest.
"A locket?" Hermione placed the one she was holding underneath her clothes nonchalantly as she voiced out her query with a feeling that the locket Erin was talking about was the same one around her neck.
If it was a Potter heirloom, the chances of the necklace being the same one that belonged to Lily Potter was undoubtedly great.
"It's been a part of the Potter lineage for years. Sort of looks a lot like yours but with more designs. It's really cool actually. It's especially bewitched to display every generation that the Potter family has produced. You just say the name of a Potter family member and it will magically show his or her kin." Erin explained.
"Sounds brilliant." Hermione said calmly, though her heart was beating so fast it started to get painful.
"I know. I wish my family thought of that one."
Out of nowhere, Hermione felt tiny goosebumps sending shivers all the way to her toes. She rubbed her arms to ward them off when a thought suddenly materialized in her mind.
If Harry had the locket with him to pass on to his descendants, that must suggest she had made up with him. But she was still here, wasn't she? This doesn't make any sense at all. Unless she was to go back to her original time and give it to him, there was no way Harry could get a hold of the locket.
But then…
History still hasn't changed yet. A voice suddenly muttered in her ear, `There are still 3 days left until it all alters.' It reminded.
"I don't really know what's going on, but I can't help noticing you spacing out. Are you sure you're okay?" Erin's voice pierced in her ear, causing her to reluctantly shrug her misgivings.
Still trying to recuperate from her distraction, Hermione shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just having a little trouble adjusting, that's all." Then, wanting to change topics, she asked. "What's Lor's full name?"
"Lauren." Erin said automatically.
With this answer, Hermione was reminded of what Cole said about his name before. "Was she named after an ancestress?"
"So, heard about the origin of Cole's name, have you?" Erin teased as she shoved her hand through her now messy hair. "To answer your question, no. Unlike her brother, they couldn't find anyone who resembled her. Not because she's not family but because it was the first time after a long while that a Potter married someone who isn't in their circle; you know, the families Potter, Weasley and Malfoy. Years ago, they had this sort of unintentional code in their friendship that made their offspring marry the children of either of their other two friends left...
…But it's not like they were forcing their children to marry the other. It's just that it had always ended up that way accidentally. And besides, some of them had married outside their group. But it seldom happened. So this time, when Uncle Allen, Cole's father, married Aunt Kerrie, who wasn't a Malfoy nor a Weasley, Lor's looks varied a bit."
With this explanation, Hermione remembered the conversation she had with Alex the night before that had been brought to a standstill. Wanting to find out more about it, she asked. "Do you know how the Potters and the Malfoys became friends?"
If Erin was surprised by the question, she hid it behind a smile. "I guess the story reached your country, huh?"
Hermione flashed her one of her own and said mischievously. "You could say that."
"I only know some parts, but I guess it will do. It started out during the time of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. They both didn't like each other all throughout their years at Hogwarts, but when their 7th year was about to end, Draco suddenly changed. And it wasn't until graduation day that they found out why."
Erin hung her sentence in a climax; eager to see the look of hunger in Hermione's eyes as she waited with bated breath for her next words.
"And?" She pressed on when Erin didn't speak.
She smiled before continuing…
"It turned out that…"
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Walking along down the corridor, Harry pondered on the recent conversation he had with the headmaster. How much of it was true and how sure he was were somehow the only thoughts in his mind as of that moment. Though he'd tried so many times to ignore its plausibility, he couldn't deny that he was afraid of what will happen.
Yet, he also couldn't see how it would. Hermione's life was here, Everything she has, from the people, down to her possessions, was in this time. So why would she refuse to go back?
He felt better afterwards, if only for a few minutes.
The hollow sound of his footsteps against the cold stone floor of the Hogwarts castle reverberated against its walls, breaking the silence that was prevailing in the air. The walk he was currently taking had been suggested by the professor himself when he had seen how he couldn't stay put in one place.
Saying it would give him something else to do, he practically shooed him out of his office, with Ron still asleep on the chair as the last thing he saw before the door closed in front of him.
Marveling at how considerate Dumbledore was, Harry turned around the corner to make his way out of the castle and backed against the corner when he saw Draco Malfoy at the other end talking to someone whom he couldn't see.
Thinking it would be too late to just walk away and ignore it; he edged a bit closer and hid himself behind a statue as discreetly as he could.
"What else do you want from me?" Malfoy asked. "I've already said sorry."
"They didn't really believe you, if you ask me. Maybe you should apologize again." Came an all-too familiar voice he recognized instantly.
Ginny…
"It's not as if it's the easiest thing to do, luv."
Luv?
What's going on?
"I know it's not. And I understand. But could you just, I don't know, try harder?" Ginny said. "If we want this relationship to work, you must get along with my family."
"What about having to get along with mine?"
"It's not the same, Draco." Ginny said quietly. "You know who your father is and it simply can't be done."
"Gin, if you think of my father that way, how much more your family of me?"
"You're not him. There's nothing wrong with you. All those rows you had with Harry were just something you wanted to do because you thought you should be like your father." Ginny shook her head and looked up at him with a profound smile. "But you're not him. I've seen who you are and have come to love the real you."
Then her voice dropped into a whisper. "I want this to be fine with all of us. I don't want to choose between my family and you because I know I don't have the heart to give up either one. So, please, do this for me and for yourself."
Harry swallowed hard.
Ginny and Malfoy?
How long has this been going on?
"I'm willing to do it, Ginny. But every time I get close enough to Potter, he looks at me as if I have this hidden agenda or something."
"Because that's how he knows you." Exasperated, Ginny reasoned. "And that's the very impression I want you to change. Make him see how you want it."
"They would only think I'm doing that because you told me to."
"I did tell you." Ginny said with a great deal of confusion in her voice. Then little bubbles of happiness appeared before her eyes. "You really want it, don't you? You really want to get along with them."
"Why are you smiling like that?" Draco asked with amusement and disbelief in his voice, a tone Harry would never believe he even had, if he hadn't heard it himself.
"Nothing." Ginny said as she smiled broadly. "I didn't think you wanted to do this, but…"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in. It's bad enough I want to. The last thing I want and need is you broadcasting it."
"I'm s-sorry." Ginny couldn't abstain herself from giggling. This was all too wonderful and she couldn't contain the happiness she was feeling.
"Knock it off, Red…" Draco said, clearly embarrassed, the sudden coloring on his cheeks giving away his feelings.
"Ok, ok." Ginny kidded. But after a few seconds, "Thanks, Draco." She said seriously.
Harry could sense Malfoy nodding and soon he found himself shaking his head.
`I can't believe this.'
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"Ginny and Draco?" Hermione's eyes were wide from shock.
"Surprising, isn't it? But you know; anything in life can happen. And I'm glad it turned out that way. Cause if it didn't, then I wouldn't be here right now."
"So you and Shawn are descendants from both a Weasley and a Malfoy?"
"Maybe." Erin shrugged. "But we can't really be sure. Our ancestors married the children of either of the two families after all." Erin reminded once again.
"What about Cole's ancestry?" Hermione asked once more, hoping if she kept on firing her with questions, she would get the answer she wanted.
"Cole? His lineage is the same as mine." Erin looked thoughtful. Then she suddenly interjected, "If you want to know more about them, you could check in the library."
Hermione frowned in disbelief. "Why would they be there? Aside from the fact of their history with the Dark Lord, I mean."
"There's a scrapbook copy of the graduates of Hogwarts in the library. In it are names of students, whether they were married, whom they married, their descendants and other things." Erin explained. "My family has a copy, but I've never really opened it. But I remember its name. If I'm not mistaken, it's called Tyro Elucidates After Hogwarts." Erin answered.
Hermione muttered an indecipherable phrase.
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