Daylight | By : pepperdoc Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13124 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3 |
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Summary: Nearly ten years after the final battle, Hermione wakes to find herself in a strange country with little information on how she arrived, Draco’s Deputy Headmaster of the school nearby, can she trust in his help?
Orange light flickering as consciousness returned. Don’t take a deep breath, continue breathing normally. Don’t move, body, stay relaxed. Am I captured? A quick check for pain anywhere, none. No bindings.
Cracking an eye open, a fire a few feet away nearly blinding her. Through barely opened eyes, she glanced around and saw no one. Was that all a dream? Grogginess made her thoughts seem coherent. Eyes opened a bit more, still no one. Nothing but the sounds of wood popping in the fire and a soft murmur of a stream behind her. No sounds of breathing or footsteps.
She glanced around as much as she could without moving, saw no one. Decided to sit up and figure out where she was. A tent to her right, another to her left. Well, I’m not alone, that’s for sure.
“Woah, there, young lady. You feelin’ alright?” A male voice asked from behind her with an American accent.
She whipped her head around to see a skinny dark-skinned man wearing shorts and a tank top. His hair was cropped short- or he was bald- from what she could see, but most of his head and face were covered by a baseball cap. He was coming out of the woods holding toilet paper and she almost wanted to laugh at how he was frozen mid-step.
“I’m not in any pain, if that’s what you meant. Who are you? And where am I?” She asked, trying to still her rapidly beating heart. She couldn’t feel the wand sheath she usually had on the left side of her rib cage. Her hand itched to reach for the empty space, but she wasn’t sure if he was Muggle or not. He is definitely camping like one. And what is an American doing… here? Bloody hell, Where am I?
He held his hands out palms facing her and told her reassuringly, “My name is Luis. You’re in Texas. I’m going to come sit over there, if you don’t mind. I’m not holding you captive and I’m not here to hurt you.” He seemed to understand her fears.
“Alright,” She told him uncomfortably. She shifted to sit with her legs crossed, grateful she was wearing Muggle jeans today. “What in the world am I doing in America?” She muttered to herself as he came closer. She watched him sit, and asked him, “You don’t have a Texas accent, do you?”
He smiled thinly, “No that accent you see in movies and T.V. are not what we all sound like. My parents moved a lot when I was a kid. I just live here, you know, not really by choice. The wife doesn’t have one either.”
“You’re married? You look so young.” She stated. Looking at him, he seemed much younger than her. He had a large nose, full lips and big eyes set on a small face. He was very thin, but in the firelight she could see the shading suggesting muscle on his arms.
He glanced at the tent to her left before answering. “Yeah, we’ve been married for about six months. I’m 27, not that young. What’s your name?”
She looked at him, surprised at his age, then answered, “Hermione Granger. How did I end up here?”
“Well, I was hoping you could tell us that. Good morning, Hermione. You don’t mind I call you that do you?” A tall pale girl was stepping out of the tent as she spoke. As she stood straight, she looked at Hermione with interest. Her face seemed young too, but Hermione could not figure her age, probably because of her dark framed glasses. She looked at Hermione with an intense stare, or maybe Hermione was just not used to her directness.
“No, not at all. I don’t remember what I’m doing here.” The tall girl was sitting as Hermione spoke. “It’s morning?” Hermione asked the girl.
She looked at her cell phone, Hermione was pleased to see. At least Hermione could call her parents if she needed to. “7:00 in the morning to be precise. The sun will be rising shortly. I’m Primrose, by the way. You can call me Rose if you like.” Her eyes were examining Hermione closely. “Great Britain, by the accent. What’s the last thing you remember?”
Hermione thought back, looking into the fire. “I was headed to a friend’s house. Someone came from behind and spoke but… I don’t know the voice. And then waking up here…”
Primrose frowned. “What year is it?”
“2009.”
Rose’s frown relaxed, “And who’s the friend you were going to see?”
“Luna.”
“Where does she live?”
“Edinburgh. It wasn’t that far from where I was staying for the week.”
“So how in the world… What day was it, can you remember?”
“Wednesday, April 14.” Hermione answered.
Primrose and Luis looked at each other with identical looks of surprise. “What time?” Luis asked, looking back at Hermione slowly.
“It was about noon. I was going to have lunch with Luna and go back to the hotel…” Hermione answered, still confused.
Primrose was doing something on her phone. After a moment, just before Hermione got impatient with their slowness, Primrose looked at her, shocked. She stared at her for a full minute it seemed, before Luis asked her, “What?”
“She showed up in our campsite an hour ago, right?”
“Yes.” Luis was frowning.
“That means she arrived in Texas almost instantaneously. Hermione. Today is April 14, 2009. In your time zone it is 1:00 in the afternoon. You have been here for an hour. How is that possible, unless-” She stopped herself and looked at Hermione closely. “I have a question for you. Just answer yes or no. Do you know what the word ‘Muggle’ means?”
Hermione was surprised. The people before her did not seem like Wizards. They seemed Muggle to the core. She whispered, “Yes.”
“But how the hell did you Apparate without your wand?” Luis asked.
She looked between them. “You’re a Wizard?”
“Well, of course we are.” Primrose unsheathed her wand from her back and Luis did the same from under his shirt.
Hermione could feel excitement and curiosity bubbling up within her. “Well, I had my wand before I arrived here. I remember…” The memory came crowding into her mind, she had pulled her wand to confront the voice which challenged her.
“So then. We will need to find a way to get you back. I know, the school is only a little ways away, they should have some ideas. I don’t think the Floo works over the Atlantic…”
“School?” Hermione asked.
Primrose smiled. “Of course the school for Wizards in Texas. I teach Herbology there.”
“And I run the kitchens.” Luis added. “Speaking of, hungry?” He asked Hermione.
“A bit. I’ve always wanted to try American food.” She said.
The married couple laughed, “American? Honey you’re in Texas, we make Tex-Mex and Bar-B-Que.” Primrose said through giggles.
Hermione grinned, certain they weren’t making fun of her. They seemed to be letting her in on a joke.
After a moment, Primrose stood and stretched. “Well then, Hermione, care to go for a walk while Luis cooks?”
Hermione stood also, feeling tiny in comparison to the tall woman. Hermione’s head barely came to Primrose’s collarbone. Primrose dipped her head to peck Luis on the lips before they set out.
“How tall are you, Rose, if you don’t mind me asking?” Hermione said, nervous that Primrose may be irritated with the question.
“6 feet. Let me think, you use the metric system, so that would be… 180 centimeters? Something like that. I’m no good with math.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not part-giant or anything, I’m just tall.” She was walking through a path silently. The sun was beginning to rise, so everything was in varying shades of grey. “Up ahead we’ll be able to see the school. Just figured I’d let you have some time to figure out some stuff if you need it.”
There was a break in the ugly and twisted trees making up the grove she had woken in. She could see the rosy light of the morning through the leaves and wisps of clouds illuminated in a rich golden hue. Then the trees were suddenly no longer surrounding them, as though the trees had a barrier they could not cross. There was about a meter of clear sight between the end of the trees and the sheer drop of a cliff. They were about 20 meters above a valley still lying in shadow, awaiting the dawn to break. From where they stood, the sun was just peeking over the horizon.
Hermione looked around her in wonder, they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There was an adobo building in the valley before her, and nothing else seemed to be man-made. Groves of trees dotted the flat land and a couple of lakes shone in the rising light. There was a herd of animals walking slowly across the greenest part of the field. Hermione pointed at them, “What are those?”
Primrose looked at them for a moment, “Jackalopes, likely. They seem far away, but they are not that far. Only a couple herds survive these days. That group looks like it might be getting on well... As long as the Chupacabras don’t escape their pen.”
“I thought the Chupacabra ate goats?” Hermione asked.
Primrose smiled and met Hermione’s eyes briefly. In a faux scary voice, she answered, “They eat anything with blood,” While saying it, she made like she was going to chase Hermione with her fingers raised.
Now that the light was beginning to become more pronounced, Hermione looked at the witch. She was pale, as Hermione had already noticed, but freckled too. Her face was beautiful with high cheekbones and full lips. Her bare arms were scarred in several places, most of them old, one across her bicep looked to be recently healed. Hermione thought to ask about it, but decided not to, yet. She watched as the witch smoothed back her long auburn hair into a bun at the base of her neck. Rose glanced over and met Hermione’s eyes with a humored expression, “I’m already married you know, and I don’t swing that way, honey.”
Hermione laughed and blushed, “Nor I,” She answered. “That’s the school there?” She asked, changing topics, pointing at the building.
“Yes. ‘Missions School for Wizards and Witches’. America has about ten schools across the country. Texas is so large, we are the only state with our own. We have about 75 students entered each year. Somewhere around 500 is our student body. How long since you graduated? Where were you schooled?”
Hermione smiled and glanced up at the taller woman, “I graduated about 10 years ago, from Hogwarts.”
Primrose’s eyes lit up, “So then you knew Harry Potter?”
Hermione smiled, “He’s a good friend actually.”
“Shit!” Primrose stepped back and looked at her anew, “Of course! Hermione Granger! How the hell did I miss that? The Deputy Headmaster will be pleased to see a friend, I think.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Hermione said with a laugh.
“He graduated the same year as you. Maybe you know him too, Draco Malfoy?”
Hermione looked at her in shock. “Surely, you’re kidding.”
Primrose frowned briefly, “I’m sure he told me it was Hogwarts. You don’t know him?”
“I do. It’s just…” Hermione looked across the valley at the school again. “He was not exactly the type I would imagine being Deputy Headmaster. Or anything other than in Azkaban.”
“Azkaban? Why would you think he’d be in prison?” Primrose’s face showed a lot of surprise at Hermione’s statements.
Hermione looked at Primrose fully in the now full sunlight shining on it. Primrose’s icy blue eyes were wide behind her glasses. “Because he was a Death Eater.” Hermione answered simply.
Primrose scoffed, “Oh, that. He turned to the Light side in the end, everyone knows that.”
“He what?” Hermione was shocked. Primrose had said it like it was common knowledge, but Hermione’s former bully had disappeared with his family after the Final Battle. No one knew where he had gone. Hermione herself was not concerned with what had happened to him. To even hear his name now only brought a reserved interest for her. She had simply not thought of him in so long she barely remembered what he looked like other than his hair. But even her reserved interest bloomed suddenly into real interest, now that this tall witch was informing her that Hermione’s opinion may be wrong.
Primrose looked slightly uncomfortable. “Perhaps you should ask him yourself. I never feel comfortable talking about other people’s decisions. It was a devastating time for him, and I’m not sure he would like me to tell you about it without his permission.”
Hermione stared out across the valley for a moment, and Primrose stood with her arms crossed across her chest. Hermione pondered her position. Without her wand, she couldn’t Apparate- even with permission. She only had about 20 Galleons with her, so she could probably not buy a new one. She had never asked, nor could remember reading anything about how far an elf could transport, so that would have to be asked about. Primrose had already mentioned the Floo probably didn’t work over the Atlantic. She might be able to have her parents wire her some money to fly back, if no other options were reasonable. With that settled she began to think about Malfoy. Harry would be interested to know where he was, since he had spent so much time worrying about the boy during their school years.
A meow brought them both back from their thoughts. “Well, hello, Mjölnir.” Primrose crooned as she squatted down with a hand out to the bright orange cat. The cat stroked his face against her fingers and looked up at Hermione with intelligent orange eyes. “That’s Hermione. Hermione, my familiar Mjölnir.” She said with a wink to Hermione.
Hermione crouched down to the large cat and extended her hand to him. He sniffed her fingers for a moment, examining her face as he did so. Hermione thought the cat was smarter than your average housecat. He suddenly rubbed his face on her hand and let her scratch his chin, closing his eyes and purring loudly in ecstasy. Primrose laughed.
“Seems he likes you, Hermione. Normally he’s distrustful for a while.” Primrose told her. Looking at the cat again, she suddenly stood. “I think breakfast is ready.”
They walked back quickly, the smell of bacon growing as they got closer to the campsite. Mjölnir led the way down the path with his tail held high.
“After breakfast I think we should have another look around for your wand, Hermione.” Primrose said over her shoulder as they walked. “We didn’t think you were a witch, because of your clothing.”
Hermione looked at Primrose’s clothes and thought them Muggle-made. “Well, you’re wearing Muggle clothing.” She pointed out, dodging a tree branch.
“Well, I’m Muggle-born. If memory serves, you are too.”
“I am. What about Luis?”
“His father is pure-blooded, from Mexico. His mother is a Muggle. We had just gone to see her for the weekend. So we had to dress the part.”
“Do you wear robes?” Hermione asked.
“When winter comes, yes. The summers are so hot here, we’d all get heatstroke, even with Cooling Charms. So in the summer, we have the students wear the school uniforms without robes and teachers dress in similar uniforms, different colors. Last year we had that Pureblooded Wizard from the north, you remember Luis?” They had just entered the campsite.
He chuckled over the fire where he was cooking. “He wound up wearing a woman’s dress thinking they were summer robes.”
Hermione laughed outright, imagining Slughorn wearing a woman’s dress.
They ate, broke down the camping equipment and headed down a different path sloping downwards. “You were down here a ways. Rose was looking for a certain type of mushroom native to the area for her fourth year class. It can only be harvested before dawn but after moonset,” Luis informed her. “She carried you back up the hill, terrified. She thought you were dead.”
Primrose was looking off in the distance, not seeming to be paying attention. She had a strange expression on her face, like she was daydreaming. Mjölnir was following her.
“Off to the right, Luis,” Primrose said. “See the broken branch? That’s where I cut my arm.”
Hermione looked back at Primrose curiously. “Fixed already, I hope, Rose?”
Primrose nodded and smiled vaguely.
The area where Hermione had appeared had broken branches and flattened underbrush in an outward pattern from where Primrose told her she was lying. It resembled a bomb explosion without char marks.
Hermione looked around in wonder for a few seconds before Primrose began to speak to her, “See, you were kind of huddled here, and I couldn’t find your pulse. So I picked you up and carried you to the camp in a panic. I didn’t think to look for a wand or anything, I thought you had been attacked by someone or something. In the light, now, look at the trees! I don’t know what kind of magic you used, but it was very powerful. Apparition doesn’t do this. Sorry, am I babbling?” She stopped talking and stared around her in shock.
Luis touched her shoulder affectionately and seemed to pull her back into the moment. “You did the right thing. The magic is weird here, huh?” Primrose nodded at her husband and they both looked at Hermione.
Mjölnir was sitting and looking at them wisely from the path. He seemed interested in what was happening, but not in coming into the circle of broken branches. His tail was flicking back and forth in agitation. He jumped when Hermione found her wand among broken shrubbery a few feet from the center of the pattern, and let out a celebratory shout.
“I’ve found it!” Hermione said.
“Good. Let’s go to the Mission and see if we can get you an Apparition authorization,” Luis said.
They followed the path downward to the plain below. The day was already heating up and the air was thick with humidity. Hermione carried her jumper over her arm. The gnats and mosquitoes irritated her until Primrose remembered to cast a charm to repel them for her. “Sorry,” Primrose said sheepishly afterwards, “Didn’t think about it.”
Hermione laughed lightly and told her, “Don’t worry. I’ll know it for next time.”
They stepped out of the trees into the valley’s sunlit landscape. Hermione was happy to see the Mission was only a little over a kilometer away. The grassy plain was filled with long grass waving in the breeze and a few groves of trees, all huddled together. They were traveling along a well-worn path through the grass which came to Hermione’s hip.
Primrose told her as they walked in single file across the quiet landscape, “This is how Texas was before it started to be settled. The German settlers brought some Muggleborns with them to the area, the English and Spaniards brought some Pureblooded Witches and Wizards too. The school was started by the English, the Spaniards wanted nothing to do with it at first, but they came around and the Germans were treated badly at first. It wasn’t until the Texas Revolution that the Mission became a permanent refuge for the children. Everyone mostly gets along now. Some Purebloods like to cause trouble now and then, but Voldemort’s cause was mostly lost on American Wizards. It was quite a shock for us when we went to England the first time. That was about two years ago. All the Wizards are so formal there! It’s so archaic. And the way they treat their elves!”
“I know what you mean. When I started Hogwarts it was like a whole new world. I’m used to it now, but I still try to get the elves treated better,” Hermione answered.
“I always like to think it was the Slave trade so prevalent in America that made us treat them nicely. Did you know that Lincoln was a Wizard?” Luis added from the front of Primrose.
Hermione was surprised, “He’s the one that was assassinated right? President during the Revolution? No… it was the Civil War, right?”
“Yeah, the Civil War. He was the first President of Muggle America and the Director of Magical America at the same time. He was a fascinating man,” Primrose said.
“And who is the Director now?” Hermione asked, curiously. American History was not something she had studied in depth. Not much about American Magic even travelled to Britain except for the occasional mention in the Prophet.
“His name is Zach Popham, from an old Wizarding family.” Primrose answered with a shrug. “He’s got little to deal with other than his re-election campaign starting next year. He’s a Pro- Muggle life kind of guy. Trying to get the schools recognized by the Muggles as private schools so the kids can transition easier into Muggle life. That’s been his biggest platform for a few terms now.” Primrose cleared her throat and asked Hermione, “So will you be trying to go back right away or stay for a few days?”
“Well, I had taken the week off anyway, conveniently. I need to report the attack and then maybe I’ll stay. Someone did attack me. And there’s so much to learn here. I don’t know. I guess it’s up to how the bureaucracy works here.” Hermione said, looking off in the distance.
“You seem awful blasé about this. You sure you’re ok?” Primrose said, looking over her shoulder at the short witch.
Hermione smiled. “I’ve had enough life-and-death situations in my life. I don’t really see the reason to jump into this one.”
Primrose looked at her for another moment. “Well,” She said, “You’re welcome to stay I’m sure. The Mission doesn’t look too big, but there are many floors below the ground. It’s much cooler that way.” They were approaching the outer walls of the courtyard as Primrose told her this.
There were the sounds of children seemed to come from some distance, but at the same time floating over the walls, and Hermione felt comforted by the sounds. It was like being back at Hogwarts all over again.
They stepped under the archway covering the gate, and as they did so the children came into their vision. Hermione was impressed by the magic of it. Looking at the Mission from the outside, it seemed empty and abandoned. Once they crossed the threshold, the courtyard seemed to grow and become at least triple the size it appeared to be from the outside, and there were about fifty children talking and laughing in the morning sun.
“Mrs. Hernandez!” Called several of the children as they ran up to greet their teacher.
“Oh, kids, its Sunday for heaven’s sake. You know you’re allowed to call me Rose on the weekends.” Primrose said with a laugh, hugging several of the kids as they came up to greet her.
“Yes Mrs. Hernandez, we know that,” Said one brown-skinned boy, the same height as Luis already. His accent was thick, and Hermione had trouble understanding exactly what he was saying. “But we are also supposed to respect our elders,” He said with a grin.
“All right, alright,” Primrose said over the kids’ giggles, “Just don’t ever call me Dona Hernandez, or I’ll flunk you faster than you can say tiddlywinks,” Primrose said, accenting the pronunciation of the title strangely to Hermione’s ears.
“What does that mean?” Asked a skinny girl with jet black hair and pale skin like Primrose’s.
“It’s a term of respect for very old ladies. Like your grandmother,” Primrose answered with a smile. “Alright guys, I have to go see the Headmaster. Let us get by, let us go,” She stepped past them, and turned around with her eyebrow raised, “Did you guys already finish your reports due tomorrow?”
The whole group groaned together.
“Well, you know they are due. Go get to the library, everyone, go on.”
The kids raced into the arched doorway before them, and Hermione couldn’t help but smile. Luis offered to take the bags down to their rooms while Primrose took Hermione to the Headmaster.
A/N: Ok, I feel very apprehensive about how this story will be received. I saw a thing online which mentioned there wasn’t really a big Wizarding community in America. So, I thought, ‘Why the hell not?’ and started writing this. Is it weird that Draco is in Texas? Yes. But, he’ll tell us in the next chapter why he’s here. Hermione has to figure out how she ended up here, what Draco’s doing in Texas and who attacked her. Was it a random attack? A targeted one? Will the attacker follow her? Should she be suspicious of Draco?
I think this one will be about 10 chapters about the same length as this one... If I decide to continue. I'm a bit worried with the amount of original characters that are needed for the story might be too daunting, and probably uninteresting to the readers. I don't plan on going into too much detail of the OC's thoughts/actions. The story will be mostly from Hermione's POV.
Tell me what you think! Ratings and reviews are welcome!
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