Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Let There Be No More Curse	By : lexiatel Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 61015 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Jk Rowling, I do not make any profit in writing this story what so ever, I am just having some fun.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
AN: I meant to post a while ago, but it all got messed up and I got very annoyed by it! I will be posting two chapters this time. This is 2 of 2.

"Master...?"
Draco looked away from the window he had been staring out of. That morning he had flooed straight to Malfoy Manor and spent the past hour in his bedroom there. Just staring and thinking.
For nearly two days now, he and Hermione hadn't been talking much to each other. She had been upset with him because he wouldn't sign those bloody papers, and he had been annoyed at her for not supporting his reasoning for not doing it.
She didn't understand his position on this. Zabini loved his daughters, and Draco could somewhat relate to what Zabini was going to go through if his children got taken away.
"What is it, Toogs?"
"Mr. Potter says to tell yous that your friend, Zabini, has been arrested. Mr. Potter feels you should hurry and help him. He knows not anyone else to help him, sir."
Draco's stomach began churning. What in Merlin's name had Blaise done?
"Thanks, Toogy," Draco muttered. He stood up from his chair and hurried to the floo.
At the Department of Ministries, Draco went straight to the Holding Station (a place where wizards were held as they awaited a trial)."No wands past this point," a man said. "You have to check it in right here."
"I just want to see—"
"No wands past this point," the man repeated persistently.
Draco sighed and set his wand on the counter. He signed his name on a piece of parchment and watched the man place his precious belonging into a white box and store it into a file cabinet with a large black "M" drawn on it.
"Zabini. I'm here to see Blaise Zabini," he said to the man.
"Malfoy," Potter's voice came up from down a hall. "I'll take you to him. He's a bit upset."
"As he should be," Draco told him with a cold tone, joining Potter. "If you hadn't had stuck your bloody nose—"
"I didn't ask you to come here to start a fight with me," Potter harshly interrupted, leading the way, passing several white doors. "I called you here, wondering of you could calm him down."
"When's his trial?"
"He's not here for a trial."
"Then why is he here at all?" Draco asked, becoming confused.
Potter stopped at a door and turned to face Draco while he explained what happened, "He wasn't home when we arrived to relocate the girls. Marietta called him as soon as we told her why we were there. So, we waited for him to apparate in, thinking it was only fair that he knew what was going on. Marietta started screeching at him the instant she saw him, and then he told us that we had no right to take his kids away. We tried telling him why, and what they would need to do for the girls to come back, but at that point, neither Zabini or his wife wanted to let up. The two began fighting. The kids started crying—" Potter stopped here, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. "Zabini got violent then, threatening us. We had to stupefy him. We then took him here. All we want to do is talk to him, but he won't listen to us. We've even tried a calming draught, but that didn't work."
"Well, that's strange… Why wouldn't the potion work?"
"I don't know. I'm only hoping you can get him to reason. Otherwise, he'll need to spend a few days in here until he cools down."
Draco grimly nodded. "I'll see what I can do." He clenched his jaw after Potter opened the door to a tiny room with two wooden benches. Blaise was sitting on a bench with a chain connected to each of his feet and hands.
"Get me out of here!" Blaise bellowed out in a worn out, hoarse voice. "I've done nothing wrong! Nothing!"
"You don't really need to chain him down, do you?!" Draco demanded.
Potter's eyebrows lifted up. "Until he settles down, yes."
"Draco! You've got to get me out of here!"
"Leave us be then," Draco told Potter, looking at his desperate friend. "We'll be fine," he added when Potter appeared hesitant over the request.
"I'll stand right outside this door. Yell if you need me."
When Potter left, Draco sat at the bench across from Blaise. "I'd say you need to stop the drinking, Blaise, it's obviously doing you no good," Draco told him sternly.
Blaise tugged at his chains. "They are treating me like a criminal! Can't you see?!"
"You're not acting sane, that's why. You're a danger to everyone at the moment."
"They've taken my girls away!" Blaise whispered in terror. "I can't believe—" He hung his head. "How can they do this to me?! To them?! I've d-done nothing wr-wrong," he said shakily.
Draco stared at the man before him. He had not seen Blaise so scared in his life. "They are doing it to help you and the girls."
"Where will they g-go?" Blaise lifted his head to look Draco in the eye. "Their godfather's dead. Cho is their godmother, but she's not going to stop her Quidditch career for them." He shook his head and dropped it into his hands. A sob escaped his throat. "It's my fault, isn't it?"
"Well, not exact—"
"Etty's right. This is all my bloody fault!" He then gasped out. "Cara!" Blaise whispered and made to stand up, but he was unable to, being confined to the bench. He yanked at the chains, growling at them in anger. "Get me out of here!" He tried yelling, but his throat was too hoarse. He pounded the stone wall next to him with a fist.
Something was wrong with him. He was not acting normal. Usually, Blaise was a fairly quiet man, and he didn't tend to make himself noticeable. He wasn't an attention whore.
"Merlin, Blaise! Calm down!"
"I've got to get her," Blaise said. "They won't be able to take care of her!"
"I'm sure someone good will look after Elenore, Cara, and Cinzia for the time being. You just need to concentrate on calming down."
"No!" Blaise said. "They can't take care of her! You don't understand!" His eyes were wide with fear.
"Alright, Blaise, then make me understand. What is going on with you?"
"I want to see them. I want to see Cara." Blaise didn't seem to hear Draco. He tugged at the chains again, not registering that he couldn't break free. "Please don't do this to her! Please!"
This behavior was starting to really freak Draco out. "Who are you talking about, Blaise?"
"Cara!" Blaise answered in frustration, as if Draco should already know the answer. "You can't do this to her!"
"I've done nothing to no one," Draco told him. "But Cara's safe, mate. So is Cinzia and Elenore."
Blaise shook his head wildly. "No! She's not! She's not!"
Draco stood up and walked the couple steps to stand before his friend. "Are you currently seeing an Analyst, Blaise?" he asked. "If not, I think it'll be good for you to talk with one."
Blaise shook his head. "No, I don't want that," he said distractedly.
"He'll only talk with you. Nothing more."
"I won't see anyone besides Healer Scatto."
Draco never heard of that name before. He asked Blaise how Healer Scatto could be contacted and made a mental note of the information Blaise gave him. "We'll get this all sorted out, alright? You just need to relax." Draco made to walk to the door so he could go notify Healer Scatto immediately about what was going on.
"Draco?" the voice was quiet, almost hesitant.
"Yes?"
Blaise was looking at the wall ahead of him, not even at Draco. "Can you make sure Cara is alright?"
"I'm sure she is, Blaise," he assured the concerned man.
"Healer Satto will need to see Cara too..." Blaise informed very slowly, regrettably. His fingernails dug into his thighs, and Draco heard him hiss out in pain. "It's all my bloody fault!" he muttered. He leaned down onto his side to lay on the bench, wrapping his arms around his stomach.
"Don't entirely blame yourself, Blaise," Draco said. "It's not all your fault."
"Please check on her for me, Draco. It is all I ask..." Blaise's voice croaked. "They won't let me do it myself. They think I'll hurt her..."
"Fine, I'll do it," Draco promised, wondering why Blaise wasn't worried about the other girls. "And what about Elenore and Cinzia?"
Blaise tilted his head up to look at the dim light that lit the dank room, giving it a thought over. He nodded after a few moments. "I'm sure they are fine," he said. "They are not like Cara."
"But you don't think they will be scared right now?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Blaise's arms wrapped tighter to his body. A tiny smile formed at his lips. "Because they are not like me," he said and closed his eyes. "I want to see my Healer before seeing anyone else— unless they allow me to visit with my girls, but I'm not counting on that."
Draco gave a nod and left the room. He heard the man burst into sobs right before he shut the door behind him.
"Well?" Potter practically pounced on him as soon as he exited.
"He wants to see his Healer. Scatto— ever heard of him?" Potter answered with a simple shake of his head. "I suggested to him that he see an Analyst," Draco continued. "He's completely out of his mind right now. He said he would see only Healer Scatto. He's not going to talk to anyone until he gets the help he needs."
"It sounds like he's calmed down," Potter said, listening for any sign of an outcry on the other side of the door.
Draco pursed his lips out. "If you call crying 'settling down'."
Potter's eyes flashed with surprise.
"Nice going, hero," Draco muttered and turned on his heel to leave so he could send the needed message to Healer Scatto.
"I had no choice, Malfoy," Potter called out. "You know it! Even you agreed with it!"
Draco frustratingly gritted his teeth at Potter's words. He knew they were true, but there must have been a better way to handle Blaise's situation. He would have gone about it a different way personally, if he had had time to think more about it. He would have instead chosen mandatory family counseling, or something along those lines.
Surprisingly, Draco had no issues with being granted permission to see little Cara. Maybe the Aurors figured it was because Draco was friends with Blaise. Draco wasn't sure why, but he didn't care either, so long as he got to fulfill the promise he made to his friend.
As soon as the guard led Draco to the children's holding area and to Cara's room, he had found out that Cara had been separated from her sisters. Cara was sitting alone in a cheery painted room with plenty of toys that would interest most children in any other situation besides one where they had just been yanked from their entire family.
The toys were trashed around though. Most were even broken in several pieces. Paper was shredded. Crayons were snapped in half or quarters. Chairs were also upturned, having been carelessly placed (or tossed).
The only chair that wasn't tipped over was the one tucked up against the table that Cara was sitting at. Her head was bent down.
She was crying.
Shit... Draco didn't know how to comfort a small girl.
"Hello..." he announced his presence uneasily.
Cara's head snapped up to look at him. "Dracko!" she literally cheered and uprooted from the chair, running to him. He was surprised the girl even remembered him. It had been a while since he had last seen her. She stopped in front of him. "Can I see my papa now?" Her innocent brown eyes filled with hope.
"He has to see a Healer first," Draco said, shifting his eyes around at the mess surrounding them. "Did you do all this?" he asked in disbelief.
Cara shifted her feet in sudden nervousness. "I think so..." she said, seemingly unsure if she actually did it or not.
"Why?"
"I was sad... and mad..." She bent down and picked up a torn off head to a stuffed crow. "I'll make it better though!" She then started filling her arms with the items that were littered around the room.
"Do you often see a Healer, Cara?" Draco decided to see if he could fish some information from the girl. He joined her in cleaning up the mess, finding a tipped over rubbish can to use for most of it.
"I and Papa floo to Healer lots of times," the girl said, distracting herself with sorting the pieces that belonged to each other into piles. "You cast spell now, Dracko? To fix the breaks?" She was speaking about the toys she broke.
"I can't," he told her. "They took my wand from me."
Cara's eyes widened in shock. "You do something bad then, Dracko?!"
"No," Draco chuckled, slightly amused by her facial expression. "They do that to most of the people who come here. I'll get it back when I go home."
"Will you take me back home?"
"Not right now, no."
Cara was still sorting things together. She took her time, careful to make sure that she didn't foul up her work. "Nora and Cinny gots to go home... but nots me."
"No. Elenore and Cinzia are in their own playroom, Cara."
"The lady says to me I can't play with them until I be nice again," Cara said sadly. "Papa has my pozione. I want to see Papa..." Her eyes swelled with tears. "I want my pozione. It makes me feel good." She then sat down on the floor between two piles of rubbish and crossed her legs. "I don't like it here," she said tearfully.
"I know." Draco wasn't sure what he could tell her to make her feel better.
"Why can't I go home?" she asked quietly, sniffing.
"Your parents need some time alone. So they can talk about things."
Cara wiped her dripping nose on the sleeve of the yellow dress she was wearing. "Talk?" she asked warily.
"Yes."
Cara began shaking her head. "No, that's no good. No..."
"It is good to talk to the people you love, Cara," Draco assured her.
"IT IS NOT GOOD!" she screamed out, making Draco jump at the sudden rise of her voice.
He stepped back to allow her to know that he was not intending to harm her. "You don't think your mother and father should talk?"
Cara's lips pursed out uglily. She leaned over to her right, grabbing a broken piece of a toy. "No!" she screamed at him, throwing it at him. "I want to see Papa!" she demanded as it clunked Draco in the arm.
Draco gaped at her, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. "No throwing," he said sternly. "That's not nice!"
"PAPA!" she screeched, painfully piercing Draco's eardrums. She went to pick up another piece of rubbish.
"No," Draco said, pointing his finger at her. "No throwing toys."
She didn't listen and conked him in the head this time. Draco made a beeline for the exit, pressing a hand to his head.
What is that girl's problem?!
Maybe it was just better for her to have some time to herself.
To be thorough, Draco went to the next room over to see how the youngest and eldest Zabini girls were doing. At that given time, Elenore (who was barely even three, if Draco remembered correctly) was sitting next to Cinzia at a child-sized table. They were both heavily engrossed in colouring, working on the same book and even on the same page.
"What colour should her vestito be, Nora?" the elder sister asked, pausing to look at their work.
Elenore stopped her colouring and eyed over a pile of crayons that was sprawled up above the colouring book. "Not dink!" She scrunched up her face when Cincia picked up a pink crayon.
Cinzia laughed and replaced the pink crayon. "But I like pink!"
"All dwincesses vestito are dink!"
"Yellow then?" Cinzia reasoned, holding up the crayon that matched her suggested colour.
"No! Nero!"
"Black?! But all the bad princesses wear black! It's bad!"
Elenore tilted her head and began scribbling with the black crayon. "Our dwincess is diff'went, Cinny. See wears a nero vestito and see's a good wady!"
"Can her shoes be pink then?" Cinzia requested patiently.
Elenore heaved out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, Cinny!"
The whole time, the girls hadn't noticed Draco watching them. Blaise seemed to be right about these two; they were oddly content for the time being. He found it strange after what they had been through.
Draco popped his head back in on Cara a bit later. She had been waiting by the door, her face streaming with tears.
"Don't leave me again!" she cried. "Please, Dracko! Stay with me! I'm sorry I hurt you! Just don't leave me alone!"
He no more than stepped inside before she crashed into him, wiping her blubbering face on one of his pant legs.
"Don't cry, Cara," Draco said, the only thing he could think of it. He gathered her up into his arms. Draco wanted to help her feel better, and he soon learned that he couldn't do much for that. He carried her to the sofa and sat down, where she lay in his arms and cried herself to sleep.
For a while, he didn't move, fearing he would wake her, but when he heard a soft snoring sound come from her throat, he figured she was sleeping heavily enough at that point, and gently set her onto the cushion next to him.
But he didn't get up.
For some reason, he didn't want her to wake up and feel alone all over again. He knew what that felt like, and he certainly didn't think it was right for a child to feel that way. At the same time, he felt she should be with her sisters— or with someone she at least knew of— and he wanted to talk with someone who could permit that.
Thankfully, he didn't have to make that ultimatum. Potter entered the room, followed by Blaise, who was no longer shackled like a prisoner. Blaise smiled wide at the sight of his daughter and picked her up into his arms as soon as he approached her. He hugged her tight to him, whispering something in Italian.
"Bambina," Blaise whispered softly into Cara's ear to wake her.
She soon awoke, shrieking out in happiness, "Papa!" And hugged him. "The lady said I couldn't play with Cinny and Nora," Cara whimpered. "I had no one here and I was so scared!"
"I know, Cara, but it's okay now, I've your pozione."
"Oh, good!" Cara squirmed in Blaise's arms until he set her on solid ground and fished out a potion from a pocket of his shirt.
Draco watched in heavy interest and wonder while Cara made no hesitation in drinking the potion. When she was done, she proudly smiled. "Now, we all go home, Papa?! Can we?!"
"First, your Mama and I have some things to do."
"Oh, no, Papa!" Cara gasped out in horror. "No, please!"
"It'll be alright, Bambina."
Cara shook her head in denial. She grabbed her father's hand and pulled at it. "Let's just go home, si, Papa?" She gave him a heart warming smile in which he returned and bent down to kiss the top of her head.
"Not just yet, Cara," he murmured against the strands of her brunette hair.
Cara wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't make me stay here!"
"You're not going to stay here," Blaise said softly. "You, Cinny, and Nora are going to spend a few nights at some nice peoples' home."
"Like a sleepover party?" Cara innocently asked.
"Exactly, my little gumdrop."
Cara giggled happily. "Will I gets to play with Nora and Cinny there?"
"Of course."
"What about my pozione?" she asked worriedly. "How will I get it if I'm there?"
"I'll pack you enough to last. Don't you worry about that."
Cara nodded, seemingly content with his answer.
"You'll say goodbye to your mama now. She's in with your sisters."
Cara glanced at the door before turning back to her father. "Okay," she whispered hollowly.
"I'll take her," Potter offered, holding out his hand for her to take.
Cara silently confirmed this with Blaise. He nodded in approval with a small smile. The girl hugged her father one last time before Potter took her to see her mother. "Ciao, Papa! Ti amo!"
"Ti amo, Cara," Blaise returned, giving her a tiny wave. "We need to talk," he then announced to Draco tiredly, pulling Draco's eyes from the shutting door.
* / *
Pacing.
That's what Hermione had been doing for the past hour, waiting for Draco to return home. She had gone to Malfoy Manor to talk to him, but Mr. Malfoy had informed her that he wasn't there. He had surprised her by asking if everything was alright, but Hermione knew he was only asking for Draco's sake, in which she nodded a simple answer.
"Would you mind if I left Scorpius here for the afternoon?" she had asked the older man slowly, not quite comfortable asking a favour of him, but she had an idea that she and Draco might end up in some cruel shouting match and didn't want Scorpius to be around it.
He inclined his head forward, accepting the request. "I'm sure my wife would love to look after Scorpius," he said while Hermione handed over Scorpius.
"Dankee!" Scorpius cheered, engrossed in some object across the room that had caught his eye. "Balookah!"
"Just keep an eye on him, he's been very adventurous lately," Hermione warned Mr. Malfoy.
"He'll be fine," he told her, patting the baby's back.
"Thanks, Mr. Malfoy. If Draco arrives here, would you please tell him to come home?"
He gave a single nod. "I will."
"Thanks," she repeated.
"Not at all."
Their exchanges were getting a little better, Hermione noted. A bit less... rigid. If that was at all possible to do when speaking with Draco's father.
She needed to relax, but her heavy pulse made that near impossible. She tried many things to soothe her nerves, like reading, drinking tea, and even watching the Muggle telly, but none of that had calmed her down. She had a valid reason to be this way, though, with what she had just discovered today. Someway or another, she'd have to settle things with Draco. She didn't need the extra stress, and believed Draco would agree with her thoughts on this.
The only thing that concerned Hermione was if Draco would still feel bitter with their earlier argument. If he would, then it may take him longer to come to her level of an understanding in letting things go as they were; agreeing to disagree. Not every couple was able to agree on everything.
She'd have to tell him that.
Hermione hung around in the flooing room, so she'd be able to immediately pounce on Draco at the first glimpse of him. That plan failed though, because he had brought others with him.
"Wipe your feet," he said as soon as he and the three smaller bodies landed on the threshold of the fireplace. Hermione wrinkled her forehead in confusion, wondering why the Zabini girls were with him.
Gosh, she and Draco really needed to talk. In private. "Draco?" she questioned for an explanation.
"Just give me a minute," he responded with suppressed annoyance. "Hang your robes up here," he instructed softly, leading the girls to a polished, black coat rack.
Hermione stood patiently and silently watching him help each of the girls hang up their outer wear. He avoided contact with her eyes, ignoring her presence altogether.
Irritated by his lack of explanation of what was going on inside her home, she followed the group to the kitchen where Draco summoned up Toogy, ordering her to make the girls a meal. She wondered when Draco was actually going to explain what was happening, but refrained from demanding it, given their sudden guests. Hermione stood by the door, tapping her foot, knowing he'd have to acknowledge her eventually.
"Stay here, alright?" Draco spoke to the girls. "Toogy will make you whatever you want."
"Even cake and ice cream?" Cara asked, slightly excited by the thought.
"No, Cara!" Cinzia scolded with a roll of her eyes. "You can't have cake and ice cream for dinner!"
"He said we can have anything!" Cara retorted.
"Yes, you can have cake of ice cream," Draco confirmed quickly. "But only if you stay here. And if you be nice to each other," Draco added the last bit firmly when the middle girl spat her tongue out at her elder sister.
"We'll stay. We pwomise!" Elenore said, squirming in her seat.
"And I'll be nice," Cara quickly straightened up in her chair, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to have cake and ice cream.
"We need to talk," Hermione muttered to Draco when he stepped up to her and finally looked her in the eye.
"The bloody quote of my day," he grumbled under his breath and gestured for her to lead the way, casting a noiseblocker charm on the kitchen so the girls could eat in peace.
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Let There Be No More Curse