Disclaimer: JKR owns the Harry Potter Universe- and thus, I do not!
“Hermione, what is going on here?” repeated Harry. He sat down next to her on the child’s bed, his arm pulling her close. Ron was kneeling in front her, both of his hands grasping hers. Hermione didn’t answer, she was still trying to calm her breathing.
“Okay,” said Ron soothingly. “Let’s start with the basics. Who tied you up?”
“Draco,” she whispered. Harry leaned in to hear.
“Malfoy?” he cried. “Malfoy left you bound and gagged? What the hell?” his voice was getting louder.
“Harry!” admonished Ron. “Quiet for a second! We have to get the whole story before we go hunt down that ferret! Now, Hermione, look at me, take a deep breath, tell us- where are we?”
“Louisa’s house,” she said, still whispering. “Louisa is Draco’s daughter,” she said, her voice sounding a little bit stronger.
“Malfoy has a daughter?” Harry responded in a confused tone. Hermione nodded her head.
“This is where she lives, though. I found it for her a long time ago,” she breathed. Both of her friends were now gaping at her.
“It’s Malfoy. You’ve been helping him- it’s his kid- the refugee- the man you- er- I can’t believe that it’s Malfoy!” Ron was muttering. Harry just continued to gawk at Hermione with his mouth hanging open.
“Now they’re gone. They’re both gone from me,” she pronounced wretchedly. “He’s taken her away from me- he’s gone! They’re gone!” she was starting to breathe too quickly again. Harry noticed the wild gleam in her eye and realized that she was hyperventilating.
“Shhh…” he whispered to her, gently pushing her head down between her legs.
“Try and take deep breaths, Hermione. You have to calm down now. You can’t help her- and we can’t help you until you pull yourself together.” He felt her breaths begin to even out. Slowly, she pulled her head up. She looked from Harry to Ron.
“Thank you for coming,” she said in a small but firm voice.
“Er- Hermione,” Ron began. “About that? Uh- well, I don’t know about you, mate,” he said, looking quickly at Harry, “but I didn’t really mean to come here.”
“Yeah, Hermione. I think you made us come here- you know, with wandless magic or something,” Harry offered. Hermione took another deep breath.
“Well, I don’t know how it happened but I’m glad that you’re both here. I needed you so badly,” she sniffed, pulling both of her friends in for a hug.
“What’s the next step, Hermione?” Ron asked, pulling himself out of her hug, though still holding one of her hands.
“Well, I still need to talk to Dumbledore. I think he might have some things to say about Draco’s daughter and why the Death Eaters kidnapped her,” she explained.
“She was kidnapped?” Harry exclaimed.
“Yes, we came directly here right after Ron flooed us to say that an orphanage had been hit. I thought she’d be safe but Draco was out of control. He seemed to really believe that the Death Eaters- and Voldemort himself- were after her. I saw this crazed maniacal look on his face and- I don’t know- I was afraid- I came with him. But Dumbledore told me not to say anything- and I think he meant for me not to tell Draco that I knew his secret. But of course, I insisted on coming over here- and then Louisa recognized me” she was saying in rushed tones.
“-Wait, I thought you said she was kidnapped.” Ron interrupted.
“Yes, but she came back- she was probably gone for four hours. She came back- she was a mess, dirty and scratched up- and then she recognized me. Draco just lost it. He scooped her up and accused me of spying- and then he tied me up- he was shouting- he said that Louisa wouldn’t be a pawn in the war against Voldemort. And then he left!” she wailed.
Harry stood up, pulling Hermione up with him.
“Right. We need to get out of here, now. I still don’t really understand all of this. I think we should go to the Order Headquarters and talk to Dumbledore. This is all too weird for one day- waking up with a burning scar, children being kidnapped, and now Malfoy has a daughter that Voldemort is after- let’s get out of here.” Harry urged.
“Listen, take her, Harry. I’ve actually got to get back to Ginny. She’s probably freaked out because I disappeared- who knows if the Death Eaters have made any other hits. I’ll try to find out what I can- and then Ginny and I will drop by later this evening, okay?” Ron said, putting his arm around Hermione’s shoulders.
The three walked downstairs. After a few quick words, charmed to be persuasive, to Ms Dorothy, Hermione and Harry walked to the large tree to Disapparate. Just a few seconds later, they appeared in Hermione’s usual Apparation spot in the park across the street from 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry took Hermione’s hand and the two walked towards the house that was rapidly materializing before them.
Once again, Mad-Eye Moody opened the door. He grunted to them and ushered them inside.
“Dumbledore’s waiting for ya down in the kitchen,” he barked at the two.
They walked towards the staircase and headed down into the sunken kitchen. Indeed, the old wizard was sitting by himself at the large wooden table. He smiled as Harry and Hermione came into the kitchen, gesturing for them to join him at the table. They sat down together, across from Dumbledore.
“Ah, good, I was just going to have some hot chocolate.” Instantly three steaming mugs of chocolate appeared on the table. Hermione gave her former Headmaster a small smile, pulling the warm mug towards her.
“It would seem that my warnings to both you and Draco went unheeded,” he began, very gently. “Now he has done something rash, I’m afraid,” he continued. “Please tell me about Louisa’s disappearance.” He took a sip of his chocolate.
“She was gone when we got there. Professor Dumbledore, all of the other children who were kidnapped were back almost instantaneously. But Louisa was gone for hours. When she returned, she looked like she’d been roughed up,” Hermione said, looking directly at the old wizard.
“Roughed up? Hermione, was she bleeding?” he asked, his bright blue eyes searching her face. Hermione nodded her head.
“Yes, she was dirty and scratched up- but she did have one fairly serious gash on her arm. Draco wrapped it up as soon as she came back. There’s something else, too- I don’t really know how she came back “ I don’t remember seeing anything that could have been a portkey,” she said slowly, thinking over her own words.
“Very interesting.” Dumbledore murmured, now peering into the depths of his chocolate.
Harry was feeling a bit lost in this conversation between his best friend and his mentor.
“I don’t understand what Malfoy’s child has to do with anything- for that matter, I still don’t know why Voldemort is after Muggle-borns,” Harry said, confusion showing plainly in his words.
“I think that the Death Eaters were looking for someone in particular. Ron said that the kids remembered hearing voices say ‘not him’ and ‘not her’ before they were returned. Draco seemed convinced that they were looking for Louisa, though. She was gone for so long that I think he’s right- but then again, why was she returned?” Hermione asked, thoughtfully.
“Well,” Dumbledore began. “It does seem that Voldemort wanted the child- or perhaps more specifically, the child’s blood. Hermione, did Draco ever tell you about his daughter’s birth?” She shook her head, her eyes now wide in anticipation.
“In the middle of the night, not too long after the start of your last year of school, Draco came to my quarters with Louisa. She was just an infant- she’d just been born. He was rather desperate- ranting on about Voldemort, a birth ritual, and how he was expected to kill her.” He paused to take a drink of his chocolate. Harry and Hermione had long since forgotten their own drinks.
“But Draco could not kill the baby- I didn’t press him for too many details. He was so upset- so frightened of being caught- and of losing the child. I took them both to Madame Pomfrey. She agreed to keep the infant in a little-used nursery of sorts- of course, it had been a long time since Hogwarts had housed a baby,” he paused again, chuckling to himself. “Well, I encouraged Draco to seek help for his situation- though I did not name you, Hermione, I was certain that he would reach out to you,” he said, smiling proudly at her.
“What was this birth ritual, though? And how was Voldemort involved?” Harry asked.
“That is a very good question, Harry,” Dumbledore answered. The old wizard sighed before continuing.
“Voldemort is an ingenious and powerful wizard. Though I don’t know how, I believe that he created Louisa- from Draco- for his own purposes. Louisa may have been made to be some kind of heir or perhaps a weapon- Voldemort had a body at the time, as I’m sure you both remember. She may have been some kind of solution if Voldemort were to lose his body again,” Dumbledore intoned.
“When Draco first wrote me, he said that his father ordered him to kill the ‘Mudblood bastard’ and that the child’s mother didn’t know the child was her own,” Hermione remembered. “Why would Voldemort want the child killed if he went through the trouble to make her? Plus, Voldemort did lose his body again- so why is he coming after Louisa now- two years later?”
“More good questions, Hermione. I can only offer you my thoughts. I don’t know whether Voldemort ordered the child to be killed because he wanted it to be killed or because he predicted that Draco would protect the child with his life. After what has transpired today, I am leaning towards the latter explanation. As for the child’s mother- well, I really don’t know what to think about that. Madame Pomfrey tended to the child, as I have already told you. She made a remark that I’ve always remembered to be very curious. She said that the child was pristine- unmarked in any way by the process of birth. So, you see, Hermione, I wonder if the child has a mother at all.”
The three were quiet then, all lost in their thoughts. Hermione returned to her chocolate, which was surprisingly still warm.
“What happens now to Draco and Louisa?” she finally asked, softly.
“We wait,” Dumbledore replied. “Don’t forget who Draco is, my dear. He has had plenty of experience disappearing. I trust him to keep Louisa safe. We can only hope that he’ll realize that we are his friends and that he can trust us,” he said, now standing. “If you’ll excuse me, Harry, Hermione, I must be returning to Hogwarts now and I have many errands along the way. Always so much going on at the start of the term.” He smiled at them both and then headed upstairs. After they both heard him leave through the front door, Harry turned to Hermione.
“Are you okay, Hermione?” he asked.
“Oh, Harry. I’m so worried. I’ve never said anything because I thought that Draco would cut me off from himself and Louisa- and now, that’s happened. But with all of this other stuff about Voldemort and birth rituals- now, I’m afraid that he’s really going to disappear for good. He said that he didn’t want her to be a pawn in this war. I think he knows- or at least suspects- why Voldemort wants Louisa,” she said, breathlessly. She paused, her head now leaning into her hands.
“I’ve got to find a way to help them,” she moaned into her hands. Harry put his arm around his best friend.
“You know I’ll help you, Hermione. Ron and Ginny, too, I’m sure. I don’t know about Malfoy. I don’t trust him. What he did to you was wrong. But I guess he was just trying to protect his own daughter- and it’s still hard to picture him with a kid, you know.” Harry said. Hermione sat up a bit straighter and turned to look into the bright green eyes of her friend.
“I think he’s a wonderful father,” she hissed defensively. Harry balked just a bit at her tone.
“Oh, Harry, I don’t know why I’m defending him. I’m exhausted. I’m worried about them both. I don’t even want to think about what might happen if Voldemort finds them. I’m just not even thinking straight right now.” She groaned, realizing that she hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.
“I’m going to grab something to eat and then head back to my office,” she declared, standing up from the table. “Want to come?”
“Yeah- let’s go. I could use some food, too. And then I’ll take you back to your office- though I think you need to go home to rest, personally,” Harry scoffed.
About two hours later, Hermione walked into her to office. She and Harry had gone to a nearby restaurant where Ron and Ginny had eventually joined them. After sharing everything that Dumbledore had said, the four had come to the decision to keep Draco’s secret. Hermione’s three friends had also pledged to help her uncover why Voldemort was after Louisa. Ron had been the most difficult to convince as he was clearly more in favor of hunting down the ‘evil ferret boy.’
Hermione sighed aloud as she sat down at her desk. She leaned in to smell the flowers that Draco had sent only days before. She fought a giddy hysterical laughter in the back of her throat at the way her day had turned out.
Was it only this morning that I was worried about what to wear to meet Louisa? she thought. Now I am worried to death that I'll never see the two of them again. She sighed again, trying to push the useless thoughts out of her mind.
She took out some fresh parchment and a quill. Then she pulled out a large battered old book. She opened the front page.
“Pervoluto Ancient Birth Magicks,” she whispered, tapping the page with her wand. She watched the old brown book slowly transform into a much larger black covered volume. Inky text emerged on the open page before her. Taking a deep breath, she scanned through the table of contents. Summoning a cup of tea from the kitchen, she settled back into her chair. She had a long night of research ahead of her.
A/N: “Pervoluto” Latin for “to unroll or read a book,” from University of Notre Dame’s Latin/English Guide (http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm)
A/N: Disclaimer: The idea to speak into a book and have transform into another book is very similar to something I saw on Joss Whedon’s television show “Angel.”