Chapter 3: Sacrifices
Hermione’s heart seemed to stop. There he was, Draco Malfoy, her late husband standing there in front of her. She reached out to him, but he put his hand up to stop her. He let out a cold laugh “ Hermione knew this wasn’t her husband; her heart sank low. She became angry, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Harry clasped his wand tightly, but kept it hidden.
The person standing in front of them let out another chilling laugh, then spoke, “I am the Mr. Lucius Malfoy. I have come to warn you of your time lapse, Ms. Granger. You have only four hours to complete the deal, or you will never see your son again.” And with that, he apparated; leaving Harry and Hermione by themselves. Hermione tried to keep her tears in, but there were just too many. They burst from her swollen eyes. Harry quickly put his arms around her- being the best friend that he is- and began consoling her. Once she had calmed down a bit, she began telling Harry about her son’s predicament, and that she had by midnight tonight to figure something out for a sacrifice.
Boldly, Harry offered many things to her, but she declined saying, “No, Harry, they have to be my possessions. But I have to think of something quickly. Please help, Harry.”
Harry told her, “Hermione, you’re one of my best friends, of course I’d help you out.” He gave her a weak smile, and she hugged him tightly. He really was her best friend- as was Ron, of course. Harry suggested, “Hermione, why don’t we get out of here, and figure something out to get your son back.” Hermione agreed and the two were on their way. Once they got back to Harry and Ginny’s house, they went straight to their small library. There, they searched for the book, Charms: One for Every Occasion. They found it almost instantly, and Hermione poured over it in attempt to find something before they wasted too much time.
Hermione found what she was looking for, and read it aloud to Harry. “It says, ‘In the case of sacrifice to release a hostage or victim, the sacrifice must be living and must be of great value to the witch/wizard sacrificing the item. In order to perform the sacrificial charm, one must place the sacrifice under an immobile charm, then repeat the following incantation: Animus, animus, capio is ea id piaculum ego defero libinter three times successfully, with no interruptions. Once completed, the sacrifice will die within a matter of seconds; thus, the sacrifice complete’ ”. Hermione looked to Harry for an answer, but his green eyes held nothing in them; he was as confused as she was- they had no idea what to sacrifice.
“Well, lets think of something- nothing’s more important than my son.” She told Harry. He nodded. Jr. wandered into the library, his bell jingling. Hermione picked him up and caressed his soft fir. With a painful look in her eye, she caught Harry’s eye. He knew what she was thinking, and nodded in agreement. Hermione took her cat, and put it on one of the chairs in the library and put an immobile charm on it. Then she quickly repeated the incantation the correct amount of times, and watched the small orange cat fall limp.
Hermione fell to her knees and began to cry, but Ginny shouted to them, “Hermione, someone’s at the door, and they asked for you. Hurry!” she sounded excited. Hermione jumped up and ran to the door; she knew what was awaiting her. She was right. Once she had opened the door, she saw her son. He looked as if he had been taken very good care of, but was overjoyed to see his mother. He ran straight to her, and she snatched him up, vowing to herself that she would never let him out of her sight again. That night, Hermione had one of the strangest dreams…
Draco and Hermione walked together to their Double Potions class. Although they had been going to school with each other for six years now, they had just started getting those feelings for each other. Draco’s feelings had been rather sudden, but no matter to Hermione, she’d liked Draco ever since the end of their sixth year, but was always afraid to tell anyone- even her diary. She and Draco talked as they strolled down the hallway. They were the school’s newest couple (not that anyone kept track…). Harry and Ron, who were quite angry with Hermione for her treachery, walked a few feet behind the novel couple. As the two reached the classroom, they had to break off into their houses, and Hermione went to Harry and Ron. Draco, as expected, went straight for Crabbe and Goyle. He leaned in close and whispered, “Well, boys, she’s falling for it; the plan is working!”
“She’s falling for it?” Crabbe asked stupidly.
“Yep, she’s falling and hard too. Just a little bit more information on her, and father will be pleased. I can’t believe it’s this easy!” Draco sneered.
“How’d you get the goods so fast?” Goyle asked dumbfounded.
Draco chuckled “It’s rather easy “ that girl talks forever, even if you ask her just one question, she talks for ages.” Little did Draco realize that he would later come to love that about Hermione. “She’s falling for me, and all I have to do is ask her questions.” The three boys let out a loud laugh, which caught Professor Snape’s attention.
“Could you gentlemen please keep it down, I’m trying to teach a class.” Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle nodded, but knew that Snape wouldn’t do anything to them “ they were his favorite students. Professor Snape taught the class which was, as usual, very boring. Once the class finished, Hermione found Draco and the two walked to the Great Hall together for lunch. Although they couldn’t sit at the same table as each other, they definitely made up for it in the amount of times they glanced at each other. Ron asked Hermione a question about hers and Draco’s new relationship. Hermione began to answer his question, but was interrupted by Draco's haunting laugh, which sounded terribly familiar…
Hermione woke with a start; cold sweat beaded on her forehead. What a nightmare she thought. Draco’s chilling laugh was still ringing in Hermione’s ear. That laugh sounds so familiar, but why? She kept thinking about it until it suddenly came to her Lucius. This morning “ his laugh was the exact same. Hermione quickly pushed the thought out of her mind and crossed over to her baby’s crib. Whew. He’s still here. She felt his forehead to see if it really was her son. Once she confirmed his being in his crib, Hermione climbed back into bed and surprisingly fell asleep almost instantly “ the nightmare out of her mind.
The next morning, Hermione awoke, and, taking her son with her, followed her nose once again; this time to the lovely smell of homemade waffles, fresh fruit and coffee. After the wonderful breakfast, Hermione dressed and did the same for her son. Harry and Ginny were taking them on a Muggle-London sight-seeing trip. They all piled into Harry’s station wagon and headed on their way.
Muggle London is beautiful, thought Hermione. She was familiar with only a small section of it. Their first stop was the Wishing Fountain. It was a beautiful fountain of stone; the carvings in the stone made it look as if it was from ancient Greece. The Fountain’s water flowed so freely and gracefully. Hermione took a small coin, made a wish, and tossed it into the Wishing Fountain. When she opened her eyes to see where it would go, someone standing across the Fountain caught her attention. She blinked to see more clearly, but when she opened her eyes, the figure was gone. His features were very blurry in her head, but she remembered gray eyes. Hermione kept picturing what she remembered of the figure to try to identify him, but she just didn’t see any distinguishing features that could help her. Her son’s laughter interrupted Hermione from her thoughts. He was laughing at the faces Harry was making at him. Hermione giggled - Those are the same faces he used to make at me she thought.
Harry looked up, “What?” he asked innocently,
Hermione smiled then said, “You used to make those faces at me, and now, your making them at my son.” She smiled as Harry chuckled.
“I guess I did use to make those faces.” He stood and put his arm around his wife. “I used to make them at her too.” Ginny playfully pinched his stomach in agreement. “Well, since we’ve all made our wishes, I guess it’s on to the next place. Which is…?” he looked to Ginny for the answer.
“It looks like it’s Maria’s Crossing. It should only take a few minutes to get there by the el-train. Everyone ready? Let’s go!” Ginny finished Harry’s sentence. “Oh, and I hear that a lovely pottery store is there. It’s called the Pottery Shack.” The tourists quickly boarded the el-train and were on their way to Maria’s Crossing.
Maria’s Crossing truly was a wonderful place. Quilting posts, clothing booths and small grocery carts lined the streets of the small town. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione did a bit of looking around before they went to the famous potter store. By far, the largest store there, the Pottery Shack was huge. As the young witch stepped in, a strong smell hit Hermione's nose; it was a sweet smell. Hermione quickly ignored it as she examined the store. Shelves upon shelves of pottery lined the walls and aisles of the large store. In one corner, there was a section in which tourists and visitors could make and paint their own pottery. Hermione, Ginny and the two toddlers in strollers were taken by a tour guide to the “Wall of Fame”. On this wall, there were dozens of pieces of pottery made by the most famous pottery makers of the century. Behind them were life-sized models of the real pieces made by tourists and visitors “ some of them actually looked a lot like the real thing. Hermione and Ginny were admiring a very detailed piece when someone bumped into Hermione, knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see who the careless person was, and her heart raced. It was the same person she had seen at the Wishing Fountain, on the el-train and now he was here. He had looked so familiar to Hermione, and now she knew why. He was none other than Lucius Malfoy.
“Watch it, mudblood,” he mumbled as he stalked off.
Ginny, who had missed most of the incident, helped Hermione to her feet. “What a prat. He didn’t even apologize, or say excuse me.” She brushed Hermione’s coat off. “I’ll bet Harry can find him did you get a good look at him?”
“No, uh, no. I didn’t get a good look, I just glanced at him. It’s no big deal,” she lied. Hermione didn’t want Harry getting involved with anymore of her affairs if he didn’t have to. “Thanks anyway,” Hermione told Ginny as she gave her a hug.
“Gin, come over here and look at this one,” Harry beckoned his wife. She told Hermione that she had better go look now before Harry got anxious. Hermione giggled and let go of Ginny. Once she had left, Hermione turned to look at the pottery on the wall. Suddenly, she felt something hard make contact with her head. The force was so strong, it blurred her eyesight. She managed to call out Harry’s name before she fell unconscious to the ground.