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The Paths We Take	By : Luckycharms Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 18436 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That right goes to the AMAZING JK Rowling. No profit is made off this story. Shout out to Scorpia11 for being my awesome Beta!!

Chapter List
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Chapter 3- Forgiveness is Never Easy
Autumn of 102 BC
“War?” Blaise questioned in concern. “Did you say war? This was a battle over…what’d you call them, heavenly horses?”
“What’s a heavenly horse?” Ginny asked as she finally looked away from the carnage towards Hermione.
“They were horses known to have great power and endurance and rumored to sweat blood, giving them a heavenly look, making them ideal for war” Hermione began to explain as she read through the page explaining the war. “However, authorities believe that is was just blood-sucking parasites that caused the blood to mix with the sweat when the horses were worked.”
“That’s gross” Blaise cut in making Draco and Ginny give him a sour look. “What? It is!”
“Carry on, Granger…” Draco stated with a wave of his hand while removing Blaise’s arm from around his neck.
“Okay, uh…Um, so Emperor Wu of Han China” Hermione continued “one of the richest and most powerful empires of the world at the time, sent a diplomate Zhang Qian, to the west to gain allies, but he was captured by the Xiongnu clan just north of Han China. He spent ten years treated relatively well before escaping and when he made it to the city of Erqin, he witnessed the people using the great heavenly horses-”
“I meant ‘carry on’; meaning give us the short version of what happened here, not the entire book worth of information” Draco growled in irritation.
“Well you asked!” Hermione retorted.
“We don’t need a full backstory of the whole thing, Granger! Just tell us how it happened and why there are thousands of dead people down there!” he replied in frustration.
“Well the backstory is just as important!”
“Guys!” Ginny interrupted with annoyance filling her voice causing the bickering pair to glare at each other before Hermione went back to looking at the book in her hands.
“Anyway…” she continued with a sneer eerily similar to Malfoy’s “after the Emperor learned of the horses, he sent a diplomat out to make a trade deal. The people of Erqin told the diplomat no and then killed him. Once the news reached the empire, the Emperor sent out six thousand Calvary and twenty thousand infantries to take the horses by force.”
“That’s a lot of people just for horses” Blaise stated in awe.
“Yes, but most of the men died of starvation crossing the desert, so the Emperor then sent out sixty thousand recruits from the prison population, thirty thousand horses, one hundred thousand oxen and twenty thousand camels and donkeys to hold supplies. They crossed the desert and conquered neighboring cities with ease before they spent forty days trying to take the wall of the capital Dayuan.”
“So, this is Dayuan?” Ginny asked as she pointed to the broken city with her hand.
“Correct” the Gryffindor bookworm stated. “The nobles withdrew to the inner walls and decided to offer terms of surrender. They killed their king, Wugua, and sent his head to the Han General. Then they offered him all the horses he wanted as well as supplies in return for the army's withdrawal, however, they also threatened that if he did not accept the offer that they would kill all their horses. So, he took three thousand heavenly steeds and some provisions before leaving.”
“Three thousand?” Blaise asked in shock. “Three thousand horses for almost, what…forty thousand dead men? That has to be the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals ever!” he chuckled lightly making Ginny scoff in irritation.
“And they just left the dead here?” Ginny questioned sadly while ignoring the dark-haired Slytherin. “No burial, no mourning…no ‘Hey we’ll come back later and collect them to give them a proper funeral for fighting a war they most likely didn’t want any part of.’ They just left them here to rot like-like their sacrifice meant nothing! All for three thousand fucking horses!”
Blaise, Draco, and Hermione looked to the fiery redhead with sorrowful eyes, knowing she was thinking about the loss of her brother Fred during the Battle of Hogwarts. The battle where many people who didn’t want to fight, lost their lives protecting the one place they all used to call home.
“Gin, I-”
“It’s fine, Hermione!” she snapped as she handed her friend back her bag. “I know this isn’t Hogwarts, but that army could’ve at least had the decency to not leave their dead behind! Those soldiers fought for that stupid Emperor, who hid safely in his temple as they were slaughtered just to bring him something, he was too stubborn to get on his own!”
Ginny scoffed in anger as she tried not to cry, before storming down the hill away from the stunned group.
“Is-is she okay?” Blaise asked in a near whisper.
Hermione dropped her shoulders as she sighed softly and watched her best friend walk through the yellow sand towards the mass of twisted mangled bodies.
“No Zabini…” she replied as she released a sharp breath “she is far from okay.”
Hermione shut her book and safely tucked it into her bag before moving to take a step down the dune.
“Hey Granger,” the Italian began as he held out a hand and took a step forward to stop the Gryffindor “mind if I go talk to her? I mean, I know I’m not you or anything, but…I’d like to give it a try. If you don’t mind that is.” The curly-haired witch looked at Blaise in confusion before glancing to Draco who also seemed perplexed while standing between them. “Please?”
“I…uh…sure; I guess” she answered as she curiously set her gaze back to the dark-haired Slytherin. “Malfoy and I can set up camp while you’re gone.”
“Okay, good-uh, I’ll see if we can find anything we can use down there…Maybe some tents or something.”
“Alright…Just…” Hermione began, but cut herself off and bit her bottom lip nervously.
“What is it?” Blaise inquired with a raised brow while putting his hands in his pockets.
“Just…she lost more than her brother during that war, Zabini. She lost a part of herself too. Please…go slow with her, okay?”
“I will. Don’t worry, Granger, I won’t do anything to make things worse…I promise.”
“Okay” she gave in after releasing a deep breath. “We’ll uh…we’ll be just over there when you’re ready to find us” she claimed pointing behind her to the area they had just come from. “I don’t think we should be close to the city…just in case.”
“Okay” he smiled as he bowed his head and turned around to catch up to Ginny.
Hermione though, watched the wizard as he ran to catch up to her friend, worrying about both of them; Ginny with her loss and Blaise with his head injury. Not that he wasn’t fine now, the potion most definitely had worked, she was merely worried due to her state of mind when trying to fix him. Last thing she wanted was to cause the man who had braved a rock wall for her, long-term pain.
“Granger, they’ll be fine” Draco stated, cutting her thoughts off as quickly as they came. “We should set up wards before it gets dark. I saw a dead ox over there” he pointed to the left of them to indicate the stray carcass about thirty feet away “we can see if maybe it has some supplies or something to build a fire.”
She nodded her head as Draco nervously folded in his lips before heading off to check the animal. All the while, Blaise pushed through the pounding headache surfacing in his skull as he ran to catch up to Ginny. The Gryffindor redhead kicked at the sand in anger while thinking about how cruel the world could be. Silent tears began to form in her eyes as she looked around at the carnage before her and all she could think about was her lost brother.
A whole year without one of the twins was the worst year the Weasley’s ever had to endure. The pain that engulfed the family, George more than anyone, was heart wrenching and almost unbearable. But they at least were able to bury Fred…the families of the men lying deceased in front of her, unfortunately could not say the same.
“Hey Red…” Blaise called gently, pulling Ginny from her sorrow filled grim thoughts. “You okay?”
“Do I look okay, Zabini?” she snapped while throwing her head up in annoyance at the question that clearly didn’t need to be asked.
“Well no, not exactly. I figured I’d still ask though” he defended while putting his hands in his pockets and exhaling softly, hoping that his calm demeanor would be enough to soothe the building tension.
“What are you even doing down here? And where is Hermione?”
“She and Malfoy are setting up a camp for us. I volunteered to come down and scavenge for supplies…”
“You mean pilfer the dead? That’s…” she scoffed as she shook her head in disappointment. “Great. That’s really fucking great!”
“I also came down so I could talk to you-’
“Talk to me?” she bit out, making the Slytherin worry that he might say something wrong and make things worse. “What the bloody hell could you possibly say to me that I haven’t already heard from hundreds of people? How could you in any way understand what I’m going through when you weren’t even there?” she screamed while slicing a hand through the air like a knife. “You just crack jokes at the expense of the dead!”
“What?” Blaise asked slightly thrown off. “What are you talking about? None of us where here when this happened…” he claimed as he pointed to the mass grave with his hand.
“Wow…You really think I’m talking about the Heavenly Horse war?”
“Well you did just mention me cracking the joke about the perished soldiers…Look, I’m sorry, alright? I’m sorry for the joke and I’m sorry for apparently not being there…wherever there is” he replied, throwing Ginny off slightly. But the redhead refitted her small shocked expression and narrowed her brows in anger.
“You’re sorry? Do you know how many damn times I have heard someone say they are sorry? Like that word is going to bring back my brother! Like that word is going to bring back any one of these young men who died out here for-for horses?” she yelled in frustration. “You weren’t there!”
Blaise paused for a moment as his gaze flitted over the witch’s grief-stricken features and he suddenly realized what she meant. Exhaling a deep breath before raising a hand to run over the top of his dark course hair, Blaise clicked his tongue against his cheek and looked down at the ground briefly.
“Red…I-I wasn’t apologizing for the loss of your brother, though I am sorry about his death as well. I-I get that I wasn’t there,” Ginny crossed her arms and raised a brow as she looked confusedly at the wizard before her “and you’re not the only one upset at those who ran during the battle. Draco might not always show it, but he’s pissed at me for leaving too. I can’t say I understand or-or even comprehend what you all had to go through during the war, but no one has really stopped to see things the way I do…the way I did.”
“You expect me to empathize over your choices to abandon the people fighting to save our school?”
“No…I simply wish you would look at all sides before judging my decisions. I wasn’t for or against either side; therefore, I had no right to fight in a war that had nothing to do with me. At the time, yes, I hated muggles and muggle-born’s and I was incredibly vain…well I’m still vain-my point is, I didn’t agree with what Voldemort was trying to do. But I also didn’t disagree with him. I couldn’t fight because I didn’t exactly know what I was fighting for…Hell, I barely tolerated Draco and his gang for the longest time.”
“You’re best friends with Malfoy, Zabini…” Ginny claimed while narrowing her brows in confusion. “And not picking a side just sounds like coward-ness to me! You’re a freaking Slytherin for crying out loud!” she spat as she turned on her heel and began walking through the mass of dead bodies; looking for supplies while hoping the argument between her and Blaise didn’t intensify. She didn’t want to have to hex him because her anger grew out of control.
“I just recently became best friends with Draco after the war ended, when he finally learned to grow up and change” he retorted as he swiftly followed the redhead. “Before that, I was just a friend that observed everything, very carefully, around him. And as for being a coward as you so eloquently put it, you can call it whatever the hell you want, Red,” he continued as Ginny picked up broken and torn objects before tossing them back to the ground “but not everything is so black and white” Blaise stated as he grabbed Ginny’s arm so she would stop and listen to him. “I didn’t belong there and just because I wear Slytherin robes doesn’t automatically make me a supporter of that evil bastard!”
“NO!” she snapped, ripping her arm out of Blaise’s grasp while throwing a broken spear in her hand to the ground. “It’s doesn’t automatically make you a supporter of that damn tyrant, it makes you part of a house! A house that is your damn home away from home and connected to Hogwarts! The school that that HIS side invaded,” she continued, lowering her voice while trying to hide the sadness creeping up her throat “and-and destroyed. Where he murdered innocent people…classmates you knew, and you…you just ran…” she declared with tense shoulders that slumped in defeat; her eyes began to water as she looked up to the sky and crossed her arms, pressing them close to her body in an effort to keep from succumbing to the storm brewing within her heart.
“My brother died…” she carried on, in a low voice as she flickered her gaze back to the dark-skinned wizard “so you and everyone else in our world could live without fear.” She paused for a moment as Blaise stared at her, clearly lost; his mouth slowly opened and closed as he took in her tear-filled eyes brimming with a mixture of grief and rage. “And you couldn’t even stay long enough to help protect the one place we all get to call home for seven years.”
“Ginny…” the Slytherin began somberly, no longer caring in that moment to call the girl in front of him a silly nickname. “I…I understand your reasoning for being upset. I’m not trying to take that away from you. I regret not being there, not fighting, I really do, but…there isn’t anything I can do now to change it. I have to accept that I made the choice that I did, and I alone have to live with it. I am sorry about your brother, Ginny, I…am so sorry…but having me there, fighting for Merlin knows what, wouldn’t have changed anything. It wouldn’t have prevented Fred from dying and it wouldn’t have stopped Voldemort from destroying Hogwarts.”
“You don’t know that it wouldn’t have changed anything…”
“You don’t honestly believe that…do you?” he questioned while taking a few steps forward. “Because we both know that I am not as brave as I appear to be. I joke at inappropriate times, I laugh at the misfortunes of others, and I am definitely not a Gryffindor. I’m human, just like you, just like Granger. I make mistakes and I cower when it comes to something as monumental as a war. I’m working on it, but change isn’t as easy as people make it out to be. All I can say is I’m sorry. I’m sorry that Fred died and…I’m sorry for not being there.”
Blaise took a moment to study the redhead who appeared to have lost the urge to fight back as she looked off to the side and wiped her cheek, removing a single fallen tear. Taking another step closer, to close the gap between the pair, Blaise pulled Ginny into his arms and held her tight as she began to cry into his chest. In that brief period of time, they weren’t enemies, they weren’t classmates the system tried to pin against one another…They were simply a boy and a girl, supporting each other through the heartache and the pain the world had continued to serve them.
“Whadda say we hurry up and collect a few things so we can go check on Draco. I feel he might need a bit of saving from Granger handing him his arse on a platter” he chuckled slightly after several minutes before he pulled away from the witch and placed his hands in his pockets once more.
“With those two,” she sniffed as she used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face “we might need to save them both from each other” she snickered. “Plus, the sun is setting and it’s getting a bit chilly out. We should see if maybe we can find a tent or two and some blankets to help keep us warm. I’m sure someone in this… mess…has something we can use.”
The dark-haired wizard nodded his head and began to search the bodies of the deceased as Draco collected wood and some non-perishables from the dead ox. He had also taken a few moments to double check his money pouch and panicked slightly when he saw barely anything in it. Only the Galleons he had won off his friends in the museum, were in the bag. The pouch was charmed to connect to his family vault and he strongly wondered if maybe something had happened during the jumps across time to affect his fortune. Not that he needed the money just yet, but he was extremely concerned…for the future.
By the time Draco had placed his money back into his pocket and walked to where Hermione was setting up camp, fifteen minutes later, she had already placed multiple wards to keep out muggles and wild creatures.
“Getting started without me, I see” he chuckled anxiously while carrying two bundles of wood in his arms and a large dried rice pouch slung over his shoulder.
“Well, we needed to get the wards up as quickly as possible, so I took it upon myself to do it; seeing as you took your sweet time gathering wood” she replied apathetically, miffed that he was even speaking to her after the slight he’d given her earlier.
“Are you going to fight with me the entire time we are stuck here?” he asked in annoyance. “Cause if you are, I’m not interested. We aren’t exactly in the best predicament, I get that, but I’m trying here.”
“You’re trying?” she asked sharply. “Since when do you try to do anything that doesn’t akin to your own needs, Malfoy? When have you ever tried to not fight with me over trivial things?”
“I’m trying now! I’ve been trying all damn day!” he retorted as he dropped the wood in his arms to the ground.
“Oh, so in just one day I’m supposed to believe that you’ve changed?” she rebutted as she stomped over to the Slytherin and gathered up the few logs she could carry, before storming back to the center of the circle and began setting up a fire. “I told Zabini I would give you a chance to see if you really have grown up, but honestly, I don’t think I can keep my word. You’re only trying to change for yourself, Malfoy! You’re not doing it for me, or for Harry, or for anyone else on your damn list! You are only in it for you!...Incendio!” she finished while standing up and lighting the wood on fire as the sun began to set.
“What the bloody hell are you talking about? Where is this even coming from?” Draco questioned as he took a few steps closer, making Hermione look at him with furrowed brows. “I bicker with you one time today about the stupid history of this place and suddenly you want to bite my head off!”
“Because you always fight with me!” she yelled as the weighted stress of everything began to claw its way out. “I never see you fight with anyone else except me! Like you still think you’re better than me!”
“I don’t think I’m better than you! Salazar, I’ve been nothing but nice to you since we got off the damn train at the beginning of the school year, Granger!” he contented as lines formed between his brows. “Yeah, we argue, so what? It’s what we do! And for the bloody record, I am changing for me! Because I am tired of the life I hated, I am sick of looking down on people just because their blood is different than mine!
“Is it hard? Fuck yes, but if it means you don’t see me as the arrogant stuck-up rich kid, who made your life hell for no reason, then yeah, I will try and change…for me, for you, for Potter, for Red, and for my friends because you all deserve fucking better than that arse I used to be!” he stated vehemently through flared nostrils and narrowed eyes.
“You-”
“Oh, give it a rest already!” he scoffed as he turned away from her before quickly turning back and running his fingers through his blonde hair with a deep sigh. Draco would have given anything in that moment for the argument to stop. He didn’t want to fight with Hermione, but she was making it so damn difficult to not defend himself. “You don’t like me, I got that! But at least have the common courtesy that I have been giving to you all year, to get to know the real me before you judge me based off of the child I once was!” he snapped while lifting the rice pouch from his shoulder and tossing it to the side; completely overwhelmed by the fight he no longer had in him.
“You really don’t get it do you?” she stated calmly as she shook her head in disappointment, realizing yelling wasn’t going to solve any of her problems. “I never said I didn’t like you, but I can’t not judge you for who you once were, Malfoy. I can’t just forgive you.”
Hermione wished with everything she had, that she could, because she knew he was right. He wasn’t the prat she once knew him to be, but there was something preventing her from fulfilling the deed. She didn’t actually hate him anymore, but she couldn’t get past the aching torment he had inflicted on her over the years. Draco had not done enough changing to prove to her that this was the real him and not just some act to earn the respect of his fellow peers.
“And why the hell not?” he asked throwing his arms in the air in defeat. “I’ve done everything I was told to do and-and Potter forgave me…why can’t you?”
“Godric, Malfoy! That’s your problem! You did everything you were told to do. You’re still not thinking for yourself!” She raised her voice again without even thinking. “Do you even understand what you have done to me?” she asked as her eyes began to water. “You have made my life so unbearable that there were times I actually wished I was never born. I wished that my life was over so that I didn’t have to deal with all the hate you spewed because I was nothing but a ‘filthy little Mudblood’. That’s all I was to you…that’s all I will ever be. You did more to hurt me than Bellatrix did in your manor. The torture she caused me lasted a few hours…the pain you caused…it lasted for a lifetime.”
“Granger, I-”
“Just forget it, Malfoy” she waved a hand as she pressed her lips together before shaking her head and scoffed derisively. She turned slightly to look at the roaring fire before taking a seat and bringing her knees up to her chest. Draco watched her, speechless and frozen. He didn’t know that what he had done caused her so much misery…or he did know, and just ignored it. But the fact of the matter was, being thrown into the past, the war, and the bullying Draco placed on the brunette for years, sent Hermione’ emotions through an upheaval battle, causing her to take her anger out on the one person they both knew could take it.
The curly-haired brunette wiped a stray tear from her cheek as Draco moved to sit down next to her. She then turned her head away from him as he gazed at the mesmerizing flames, unable to think of anything to say…until a single thought came to mind.
“You’re not a Mudblood…” he stated softly while turning his gaze to her, but Hermione refused to look at him and he knew it was because she didn’t want him to see her as weak; which he couldn’t if he tried. Hermione Granger was the strongest person he knew. She handled torment after torment from everyone around her and she still held her head up high. He admired that about her, not that it would ever matter to the bookworm what he thought of her. However, he hoped one day, she would consider being his friend. “You never were and…Granger, I…I really am sorry. There is nothing in this world that I can do or-or say to make it up to you, but I want you to know that I do mean it. And I’m saying it, not because anyone else told me to, or because I am looking for your forgiveness…I’m saying it because…because I owe you at least that much.”
The Golden Girl slowly turned her eyes to Draco forcing a heavy sigh to escape his lips.
“You owe me a lot more than just an ‘I’m sorry’…” she whispered as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest but felt pleased that the boy next her was showing true kindness for once.
“Yeah…I do. I don’t want to make excuses for myself but so many people from my past, our past…all they know a version of me that-that doesn’t exist anymore, or at least I wish didn’t exist anymore. But there isn’t much else I can do about it except show that I’m trying. Though, if you knew my upbringing, and I mean really knew it, then you would understand that I took most, if not all, of my anger out on you. You’re different than most girls, Granger; you can take the heat when it comes at you. You’re smart, caring, brave…beautiful.”
“Beautiful?” she raised a brow in shock as she wondered if what Ginny had told her in the cave was actually true.
“I know” he chuckled gently as he picked up a slab of wood she had dropped and threw it into the fire as darkness began to develop around them “it’s not something I say to anyone, let alone you…but it’s true. Not even I can deny it. Doesn’t mean anything more than that though, so don’t let it go to your head!” he chortled.
Hermione tried to fight a smile creeping at the creases of her lips due to Draco’s attempt at cheering her up. His small laugh was additive however, and she decided fighting wasn’t going to help either of them. So, she gave in and broke her own mold just to feel something relatively happy since they had ended up in the mess they had found themselves in. And it’s not like it was necessarily his fault they were stuck in the past; it was a combination of them all.
“You…are terrible at complimenting people” she claimed as her lips turned up slowly into a soft smile. “But thank you…Ferret.”
“Hey!” he yelled in offense, hoping his tactic to cheer her up was working.
“I’m just messing with you” she laughed as she jokingly pushed his arm with her hand.
“That was a really traumatizing experience you know!” he retorted with a small chuckle.
“I bet. I know how you feel.”
“Thing is though…” Draco continued as he cleared his throat and stretched out his legs. He began playing with the sand in front of him as his lips fell to a frown and he stared at the ground with heartache “no one actually does. I am forever scarred from that day and no one really understood. They just made fun of me while I had horrible nightmares about it. I couldn’t tell anyone how dreadful it was because I was afraid of being looked at as weak. My father would have been the worst of them all if he knew how terrified I actually was.”
“Malfoy…I…I do know what it’s like to be turned into an animal.”
“What do you mean?” he questioned as he glanced up at Hermione.
“Second year, long story short, I made Polyjuice potion and accidentally put cat hair in instead of the hair of the person I was trying to turn into.”
“Wait…so you turned into a cat?”
“Not fully. More like a human with a cat face” she replied with a shrug.
“Did you have a tail” Draco snickered as he tried to hold back a laugh, causing Hermione to shove him again while chuckling. “Oh, come on; did you at least get a picture of it!”
“Shut-it, you git!” she laughed; finally lifting the weight off her shoulders.
“Oh-ho ho! Little spitfire Princess has been awoken!” he joked as he held his hands in the air in defense.
“I’m not a princess!”
“You’re Gryffindor’s Princess…And I need a new nickname for you so, I am calling you that from now on. Ah ah,” he cut her off as she went to open her mouth to retort “there is no point in fighting it. Just think of it as a term of endearment…”
“Endearment?” she questioned with a tilt of her head as she thought about if he fancied her.
“Not like that! Look, I like you, Granger, but I don’t fancy you in that way” he half-lied when he saw the cogs begin to turn in her eyes. It wasn’t like he had strong feelings for the bookworm or even wanted to masturbate to the thought of her like other girls he happened to like at the time. However, he did think she was cute, and he was enjoying the first semi-decent conversation they’d ever had; not counting their awkward encounter in the Dino exhibit.
“And just so you know…” he continued “we’re gonna fight, or bicker, or argue, or whatever you want to call it because it’s what we do. It’s practically inevitable because it helps us, or at least helps me” he shrugged. “It gives me a sense of normal, like I used to feel…before the war when you were just a thorn in my side and not someone I was supposed to want to kill. But I don’t want to always battle you, Granger…Also, we didn’t always bicker because we hated each other. Unless I was missing something?” he smirked. “Because I remember having some really good debates over the years with you. You’re the only one who can keep up with me.”
“Really?” she asked in disbelief. “There are hundreds of kids at Hogwarts, Malfoy; you mean to tell me that not even a Ravenclaw could outwit you?”
Draco scoffed lightly as he tucked his legs in to sit Indian style before throwing another plank of wood into the fire.
“Ravenclaws are intelligent, I’ll give them that…but none could really handle the actual fight, ya know? The intensity needed to give me that-that excitement that comes with a good verbal battle. No one has been able to measure up to you…Princess” he finished as he nudged her shoulder lightly with his.
“Stop calling me that!” she laughed lightly before licking her lips and smiling. “But, if it makes you feel any better, you’re the only one who can keep up with me too.”
“It does actually, in a way.”
“This doesn’t make us friends, you know…” she claimed, more as a statement however, than a question. “I still don’t trust you nor do I forgive you, but…I am willing to try and get to know you better. Under the circumstance we are in, I don’t think I really have much of a choice.”
“I can’t really ask for much more than that” Draco replied with a half-smile. “I don’t really deserve you even speaking to me right now, let alone joking with me. By the way and completely off topic, but…how did you know I had a list? Did Blaise say something to you?” he questioned slightly vexed.
“No” Hermione lied while trying to hide the surprise in her eyes. “No, I-I just assumed you had one.”
“Why would you just assume I had one?”
“Because I have a similar one” she admitted truthfully, making Draco raise a brow in confusion. “I know what you’re thinking and it’s not an ‘ask for forgiveness’ list…It’s a ‘forgive’ list” she stated while pinching her lips together “and you, Malfoy, are number two.”
“Number two?”
“And here I thought we would have to save one or both of you from killing each other” Blaise interrupted causing Hermione to quickly look away from Draco as the dark-skinned wizard and Ginny began walking up to the small fire.
The sun had finally set so it was understandable that the pair talking in front of the fire didn’t see their friends approaching. However, Hermione was only slightly grateful for the interruption, due to the bizarreness of how easy she found talking to Draco was, but she also half-wished she had a little more time to speak with the blonde Slytherin…alone.
Ginny set the blankets she was carrying on the ground and took a seat next to Hermione before laying her head on her friends’ shoulder. All the while, Draco stared at the brunette witch next to him with a mixture of shock and confusion before turning his soft gaze away and up to his friend.
“Oh no, it’s okay, Red. You rest, darling” Blaise sarcastically stated while dropping the portable shelters into the sand. “I’ll set up the tents all by myself. I don’t need your help or anything.”
“That’s good, Zabini” she replied with a snicker. “I’m sure if you ask nicely though, Malfoy would love to help you set up.”
“Not particularly” Draco muttered before looking around at the three pairs of eyes staring at him. “Okay fine. I’ll go help set up the tents” he huffed before standing up and dusting the sand off his trousers. “By the way, ladies, I found some rice and dried jerky meat on that ox, so if we are setting up shelter, the least you could do is cook some food.”
Hermione and Ginny’s eyes snapped to the blonde Slytherin with scowls stretched over their faces.
“Did you just tell us to cook because we’re women?” Ginny sharply questioned.
“What? No!” the blonde Slytherin replied with wide eyes.
“Because women fought for a very long time to not be told what to do by a man; and telling us to cook for you is just low and demeaning to the efforts put forth by our late and great ancestors that went through turmoil, belittled and degraded by everyone around them including their own governments, to fight for our rights all over the world” Ginny continued, making Draco’s stunned expression turn to one of fear as he shook his head and stumbled over his words, while Blaise pursed his lips together and looked away.
“I was just-that’s not-I meant-it’s not like that! I-”
“I’m joking with you, Malfoy” the redhead chuckled as she rolled her eyes and looked at Hermione trying not to laugh at Draco’s expense. “Well sort of…Anyway, we’ll cook while you guys set up…And just so you know, Blondie, you make it far too easy to mess with you” she finished while shaking her head and standing up to grab the grain pouch off the ground.
Draco clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth to stop himself from saying something he might later regret, before turning around to help Blaise, who clearly wanted nothing to do with that conversation.
After twenty minutes of cooking and charming the temporary shelters in case it rained or a sandstorm brewed out of nowhere, the four Hogwarts students gathered around the fire to eat from the bowls Hermione had transfigured from extra wood.
As the guys helped themselves to a second helping while they laughed and talked, Ginny read the bookworms’ history tome as Hermione studied the amulet Draco had to once again give back to her; still unaware that their journey…was far from over.
May 5^th, 1999
Hunched over in the center of the Wizarding Entrance Hall, Robert and Elizabeth Granger both released their stomach contents after Molly and Arthur Weasley apparated the pair to the museum. The muggle couple had never traveled in such a way before and was hesitant to begin with after their daughter had told them how nauseating a side-apparition could be. They now completely understood why.
Molly rubbed the back of Mrs. Granger as Arthur vanished away their mess when another sudden pop echoed in the room, forcing four pairs of eyes to turn and see who arrived. Standing poised and proper, Narcissa Malfoy tucked her wand back into her small purse and looked at the group of parents with a magisterial expression. Looking down on the muggles slowly standing up straight with stunned looks, the intimidating witch turned her nose up before scoffing slightly and making her way out the door.
“Who was that?” Mrs. Granger asked as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand “She seems very-”
“Mean, cross, frightening…corrupt?” Arthur cut in before conjuring a glass of water for the couple and handing it to them. “That…would be Narcissa…Draco Malfoy’s mother.”
Mr. Granger spat out the water in his mouth as he and his wife looked at the Weasley with wide eyes.
“You mean to tell me that arrogant boy, is in this mess as well?” he asked angrily. “The letter only stated that our daughters are missing, not that that boy is too! Did he kidnap them? Force them to-to disappear with magic?” he demanded in concern.
“That is highly unlikely, Robert” Mrs. Weasley answered sympathetically. “Draco is not his father and he is not the same boy he once was. At least according to Ginny he’s changed…Anyway dears, we should get moving, don’t want to delay. I would like to find out as much information as possible so we can find our children and bring them home quickly.”
“You act like this is normal? Why aren’t you angrier about this? Our children are-are lost!” Mr. Granger demanded, quite upset at the predicament they all faced.
“We are dealing with magic, dear” Molly replied while dropping her shoulders. “It’s something we are all accustom to. I’m not happy that our children are, Merlin knows where, but we’ll find them…It’s not like they are lost in time or anything” she smiled softly before ushering the couple out the door.
XX
“Molly, Arthur” Professor McGonagall exclaimed dolefully while walking up to the two sets of parents entering the Ancient Egypt exhibit. “It is so good to see you-and Robert, Elizabeth, it’s been too long. I do wish this meeting was on better circumstances but-”
“Mum!” Ron called out, interrupting the Headmistress as he ran full force into his mother open arms. Embracing her son in a tight hug, Molly held Ron as both of their eyes began to water. “She’s gone mum, Ginny’s gone…” the red-headed wizard sniffled into the crease of his mother’s neck, realizing he could only stay strong for so long while held in his mothers’ warm hug.
“There, there, Ronald. We’ll get to the bottom of this and find her” Molly replied with a nurturing tone. “Oh, Harry dear!” she exclaimed passing her son off to her husband as Harry walked up to the family with bloodshot eyes; evidence he had been crying for the past hour.
Narcissa Malfoy watched in annoyance as the Weasley family embraced the raven-haired boy and scoffed as she crossed her arms.
“Where is my son, Minerva?” she asked impatiently, interrupting the happy moment without a care in the world. “You said he was missing and failed to explain further, in your urgent letter, until we all arrived. Well, we are all here and I would like to know what happened…now.”
“I do apologize, Narcissa” McGonagall responded sympathetically, but with enough authority in her voice to show that the one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight could not intimidate her. “But it is imperative that I explain everything as soon as everyone has arrived.”
“Everyone?” Elizabeth questioned in confusion. “You mean to tell us that more than three children are missing?”
“Just one more, Elizabeth” McGonagall stated regretfully as the wrinkles in her skin creased with worry.
Narcissa looked around at all the students spread throughout the room and took notice of who apparently was missing from the groups talking among themselves.
“If you are waiting for Ms. Zabini,” she began firmly; bringing her attention back to the adults “she won’t come.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the former Slytherin queen in surprise, except one Theodore Nott who knew exactly what the elder Malfoy meant.
“What do you mean she won’t come?” the Headmistress asked with a tilt of her head. “I sent her an emergent Owl explaining that her presence was vital.”
“Blaise Zabini has been staying at Malfoy Manor since the war ended” Narcissa began to explain. “That sad excuse for a mother would rather spend her time seeking out where her next husband is going to come from, than paying attention her own son. She puts money in his vault, but that is about as much mothering as that woman does. I have taken it upon myself to care for the boy until he would like to leave.”
“Are you serious?” Molly inquired with fire in her voice while her cheeks turned crimson. “How could she do that? He is her child!”
“Trust me, my dear Mother Hen” Narcissa began while uncrossing her arms and entwining her fingers below her snake emblem belt on her evergreen colored dress. “I have asked myself the same question ever since Draco told me. Now” she turned her attention back to the headmistress “I may have only known Blaise as more of a passing acquaintance, but over the last year he has become like a son to me, so I will ask you one more time Minerva…where are my boys?”
“I think you might all want to sit down for this…” McGonagall urged with her hand as she pointed to a table off to her left, cluttered with historical books from around the museum. “This might take a while and the initial shock…might become too great to bear.”
As Minerva McGonagall ushered the parents of the missing to the table and began to explain clearly what had happened, Blaise shoved a spoonful of rice into his mouth as he thought about where they were while the crackling of the small fire lit up the groups faces.
“So,” he began while trying to keep the food where it belonged “why China?” he asked while waving the spoon in his hand.
“Whadda mean?” Draco questioned as he set his bowl down and dusted off his hands before resting his arm on his now propped up knee.
“Well” the boy swallowed before scrapping the bottom of the bowl with his wooden spoon “think about it. First, we were in the Jurassic era, and then we were teleported to a desert in the middle of China…Why? What is so significant about these two places, that the amulet brought us there…here…whatever?”
“I don’t think they are of any real significance” Hermione replied nonchalantly while closely analyzing the crack on amulet in her fingertips.
“I don’t understand…” Ginny pipped in as she looked up from the history book with a raised brow. “There has to be some meaning behind it?”
“And I’m sure there is” the brunette answered while staring harder into the crack “but I don’t think that this talisman meant to send us to those…these…places” she continued while lowering the necklace and looked up at the three sets of eyes staring at her. “We broke the amulet when we dropped it, which means that however this thing works, and I am only assuming since we’re trapped long before anyone we know was born, that it has a time travel spell placed on it. Since it’s cracked, it most likely is going to send us all over the place until we can fix it or-or someone back home-”
“Oh, my Gods!” the redhead yelled with her palm flat against her forehead. “Dad! He’s going to have a heart attack when he finds out! Oh, Merlin and Mum!”
“At least your parents will care…” Blaise murmured irritably with a shrug whilst thinking no one was listening to him.
“What?” Hermione asked in confusion as she turned her gaze to the wizard sitting opposite the fire.
“Nothing…” Blaise replied while biting his lower lip slightly when he realized everyone had heard him. “Anyway, what about trying a repairing charm?” he suggested as he set his empty bowl down and tried to move on from the topic of mothers while Draco’s softened gaze lingered on the Italian.
“I already tried” the bookworm stated as she let the subject go, fully aware Blaise wasn’t ready to talk, and looked back down at the pendant. “I tried every spell I know, and nothing works. Though, I swear the crack seems smaller than it did back in the cave and…” Hermione stopped talking for a brief second as she brought the beetle back to her face and peered inside.
“And…?” Draco asked while lifting his hand for Hermione to continue in impatience.
“There’s…there’s something inside here…a small piece of parchment, I think…” she explained while trying to think of a way to get the object out.
Picking up her wand resting to the right of her, Hermione tried to summon the parchment with little success before Ginny stood up, dusted the sand off her skirt, and walked over to her friend.
“Here, let me see.” Ginny reached out her hand for Hermione to pass the necklace to her before slowly examining what Mione was talking about. She’s right, there is something inside here…” she stated while trying to squeeze her nail into the thin crack.
However, whatever magic was protecting the amulet and its contents, clearly did not want the redhead to grab it. As soon as Ginny’s pinky nail touched the parchment situated inside the scarab, a bright green flash lit up the desert as the amulet literally shocked the Gryffindor’s finger, causing her to drop it into the sand in surprise.
She yelped in pain as the light vanished in a matter of seconds while Draco, Blaise, and Hermione stood up quickly and rushed over to her.
“Are you okay?” Hermione asked worriedly as Draco picked up the beetle and looked at it.
Blaise laid a hand on the redheads’ shoulder while Hermione examined Ginny’s finger for any harmful effects.
“I’m fine” Ginny claimed adamantly while brushing off the hands touching her. “It was just a minor shock, is all. Obviously, that…thing, doesn’t want to come out so, we’ll just have to find another way.”
“That undoubtedly doesn’t involve anyone’s limbs, maybe?” Draco added as he looked up from the relic. “I think we should just put this away for now and get some rest. It’s been a long day for all of us. We can start fresh in the morning and hope this thing doesn’t teleport us somewhere else anytime soon…or shock anyone else.”
“I think that’s a good idea” Hermione readily agreed, throwing the Slytherin Prince off slightly. “It’s getting late. It’s almost midnight.”
“How the hell do you know it’s almost midnight?” Blaise asked with narrowed brows.
“Well it’s been more than four hours since sundown-”
“Four hours?” the dark-haired Slytherin replied astonished. “What the hell have we been doing for four hours?”
“Cooking…setting up camp…” Ginny replied while raising a brow, confused that Blaise honestly didn’t know how much time had passed.
“Plus,” the petite witch continued “the moon is almost halfway across the sky. When it reaches halfway, it will be approximately six hours past sundown.”
“You can tell the time just by looking at the moon?” Ginny inquired while turning her focus to Hermione.
“They taught us to tell time by looking at the night sky in Astronomy class, Red…second year” Draco answered with a shrug of his shoulders, making Hermione casually look over to him and smile softly. “Anyway,” he continued while biting his lower lip nervously “we should head off; try and get as much rest as possible. I will see you ladies hopefully, in the morning” he finished while tossing the amulet in his hand before placing it in his pocket.
Draco nodded his head at girls before lightly smacking Blaise’s arm to have him follow him to their small tent. Blaise quickly looked back at Ginny in worry before trailing after his friend, making Hermione question what the two had spoken about when they were alone.
XX
Meanwhile, back in the present, Professor McGonagall was struggling to keep the peace as each of the parents yelled their questions and concerns over one another as her students sat quietly off to the side. She tried to explain the situation the best she could although, she knew this would happen. Not that she blamed anyone in the slightest; it was just hard to manage a screaming match…between adults.
“ENOUGH!” she shouted over the hollering of the room, forcing all eyes to focus on her. “Now,” she began as the silence encased the exhibit “I will explain again so that you all understand what has happened and what is going to happen. Your children are lost in time, there is nothing we can do that any of us are aware of, to bring them home, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still try. Before anything occurs, however, we must first figure out where the amulet has taken them before we can come up with a plan.”
“How are we going to find them in time?” Harry asked while sitting in a chair near the Weasley family with his arms resting upon his thighs. “There are literally hundreds of thousands of eras they could be in.”
“I think I might have an idea…” Narcissa pipped in while raising a finger in the air. “I have a map…”
“A map?” Luna questioned with a tilt of her head.
“Yes…It’s a very special map that I kept well-hidden during the Dark Lords reign so he could not use it or alter it” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she struggled to reveal her most secret possession. “I haven’t had time to look at it yet because I rushed over here as soon as I received Minerva’s Owl, but….”
“Wait,” Harry held up a hand to stop the elder Malfoy “are you trying to say you-you have a tracking map? Like the Marauder’s map?”
“Yes and no, Potter. However, think…bigger.”
“Bigger?” Ron asked with a raised brow as he stood next to his father with his hands in his pockets.
“Bigger than Hogwarts?” Neville chimed in as he too looked at the witch perplexed.
“The world…” Pansy answered nonchalantly with her head resting in her hand and her elbow on the table. “She has a world map that can track people…right Mrs. Malfoy?”
“That…is correct, Ms. Parkinson” Narcissa replied while biting her lip nervously. “However, it was given to me by my great-grandmother; an heirloom, that was charmed by a Black well before her time, and initially used to prove tracked bloodlines around the world in the fifteen and sixteen hundred’s. I think…I can alter it just enough that it can track our children in any given year.”
“So, what you’re telling us” Molly began with hope in her eyes “is that you can find my baby…wherever she may be?”
“Yes” Narcissa answered with a small smile. “But, the map is at the manor and once it’s modified, it will require a drop of blood from either the person being tracked or the closest living relative. A mother…would work the best.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Molly exclaimed while clapping her hands together and resting her lips against her fingers as she held back happy tears.
Narcissa, Harry, and Ron both looked anxiously at the elder Weasley before looking to the Granger’s with concern.
“Mrs. Weasley,” the Malfoy witch questioned sympathetically “would you mind if I speak to you and your husband alone for a moment?”
Both Molly and Arthur raised a brow in confusion but nodded their heads and started to follow the former Slytherin Queen out of the exhibit before Mrs. Granger stopped them.
“Wait…what’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked with worry in her voice while resting hand on the shirt of her husbands’ chest. “Why is everyone looking at us strangely?”
“If this is about the torture our daughter experienced in that house,” Robert added with sorrow filled eyes and gripping his wife closer to his body “Hermione already told us about it when she brought back our memories.”
“She-she told you…what happened?” Narcissa expressed with a hand clasped against her chest.
“Yes” Elizabeth answered softly. “But she told us that you and your son couldn’t do anything to help her or your family would be killed. It took us awhile to come to terms with it all, but we now understand why you did what you did. We don’t blame you for not helping her…and we are more than willing to do what we have to, to find our daughter.”
“And if that means entering that-that manor…” Robert continued “then we will…Whatever it takes.”
“Al-Alright then…” Narcissa stated while taking a deep breath. “To Malfoy Manor it is then.”
“Good” Bethany stated with her hands crossed in front of her, “because the museum is closing in thirty minutes and I have to figure out how to clean up the rest of this mess before it opens again in the morning. You all are more than welcome to come back tomorrow and search the basement for any books you might need. You may also borrow some of the books you have already searched through, but the museum will need them back by the end of the week. We have a fundraiser on Sunday and the tomes will need to be on display.”
“Oh, we won’t be needing your books…” Narcissa spoke up firmly, her air of aristocracy was potent with each word she spoke, but when everyone looked at her with sour expressions, she released a sigh and explained. “I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, it’s just that the Malfoy library holds tomes far older than the ones this place holds and far darker. Whatever spell or spells, placed on the amulet that threw my boys and your daughters” she pointed to the Weasleys and Grangers with her hand “through time, we are more likely to find the counter curse there rather than here.”
“Very well” Minerva stated with her head held high. “To Malfoy Manor…”
Morning- Autumn of 102 BC
Hermione’s eyes popped open as she jolted awake and beads of sweat peppered the soft skin of her forehead. Her breath was heavy, and momentarily, she forgot where she was as the nightmare of Hogwarts in ruins, plagued her mind. Quickly throwing off the heavy blanket resting on top of her, causing her to sweat even more in the desert heat, Hermione looked off to her left and noticed Ginny’s side was empty. The sound of indistinct chatter began to fill the tent as she tried her best to wash the nightmare from her mind.
Realizing the chatter was her friend talking and laughing with Blaise and Draco, she groaned in frustration when she concluded that she was the last one to awaken. Hermione was used to being the first one up throughout the years, always forcing Harry and Ron to wake on time for breakfast, but exhaustion had apparently hit her harder than she thought.
Laying back down with a sigh, she tried to think about when she fell asleep after she and Ginny had cuddled together with multiple shared blankets to keep warm rather than the memories of broken and mangled bodies that laid only a few hundred feet from their shelter. However, when the sun began to rise, the temperature of the small cloth tent became unbearable, making her believe she had only obtained a few minuscule hours of sleep.
Sitting up, she fixed her disheveled clothes before charming the mess on her head into a manageable braid. She was just about to exit the shelter when she finally focused on the conversation that was occurring.
“Is she still sleeping?” Blaise chuckled as he finished off his rice breakfast.
“Maybe I should wake her?” Ginny replied while looking towards the tent that was situated next to where the boys’ had been before they’d packed it away.
“Let her sleep” Draco cut in as he took another bit of his rice. “She had a worse day yesterday than all of us I think” he uttered but refused to admit how he had heard the small sobs of the brunette witch in the middle of night. He was still unsure how the redhead could sleep through the muffled cries of torment her friend had been experiencing.
“Says the guy who was also chased by a dinosaur and had a mental breakdown afterwards” Blaise chuckled again causing Ginny to smack him in the arm. “Ow! Don’t hit me! I was just being honest!”
“Do you ever know when to just shut-it, Zabini?” the redhead exclaimed with a shake of her head.
“It’s fine, Red” Draco claimed while finishing off his breakfast. “You get used to the annoying sound of his voice after a while” he smirked while biting back a small laugh.
“Piss off, git!” the dark-skinned wizard retorted with a scowl. “Not like yours is any better!”
“You lot are so loud” Hermione exclaimed in a teasing manner as she smiled while stepping out of the tent. Not that she’d admit it aloud, but she was happier to see the three of them in that moment than she ever thought possible. Their white button-up shirts were all half untucked while their ties hung loosely around their necks. Ginny’s long red hair was tied up in a neat ponytail while Draco’s was left messy, giving him a bad boy look that most girls would swoon over.
“Mione!” Ginny yelled in excitement as she stood up and grabbed her friend’s empty bowl. “You’re awake! Sleep alright, did you? We found some more grains while you were out and some really flat bread. Tastes alright, so…” she rattled on while filling the bowl with cooked rice from the transfigured pot resting over a newly lit fire, before handing it to Hermione with a large smile.
“Thank you” the brunette replied with a confused smile. “Why are you so cheerful this morning? We are still in a desert, if you haven’t noticed?”
“Oh, she noticed alright” Blaise laughed. “Had a right fit this morning about how hot it was.”
“So, did you…” Draco added with narrow brows.
“Ignore them” Ginny pipped up. “I am just happy we weren’t thrown through time in our sleep, is all.”
“Ah…” Hermione answered before beginning to eat the rice. “So, where’s your tent?” she asked after swallowing a large bite.
“We packed it up” Draco responded without looking at the bookworm and began to draw in the sand with his wand.
“Hope you don’t mind,” Blaise stated while kicking sand into the fire to put it out “but Red put it in your bag for us.”
“I don’t mind,” she answered while continuing to eat “but why pack it up at all?”
Ginny smiled widely while pulling out her wand and shrunk the tent before placing it into the handbag along with the rest of the items they had found.
“We want to try and get out of the desert” Blaise claimed while putting his hands in his pockets. “Hopefully find somewhere with less sand…” he shrugged.
Hermione was about to open her mouth to reply when she noticed Draco’s pocket begin to glow green. Setting her bowl down she walked up to the sitting Slytherin without warning or permission and began to dig in his pocket.
“Whoa! What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, Granger?” he shrieked in surprise while trying to remove the bookworms’ hands from his person.
“Stop!” Hermione yelled while pulling out the amulet burning a bright emerald green. “Oh no…”
“Oh shite!” Draco declared while looking wide eye at the beetle in Hermione’s hand.
“Ahhh, not again?” Blaise sulked as a loud piercing sound reverberated from the gold scarab, making everyone except the brunette cover their ears.
Hermione quickly tossed the amulet as far away from them as she could, but right before the necklace hit the soft ground, a bright light burst from the relic causing the group to once again be thrown backwards. No one could see a thing as a sandstorm caused by the massive blast covered their eyes, however, they could all feel the pull of the magic sucking them into another endless vortex.
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The Paths We Take