Chapter Text
He was angry. His hair was a mess and he stopped for a second to fix it. Continuing his fast pace, he came into the corridor towards the great hall.
“That damned Potter” he whispered angrily to himself. He just lost his house elf and hasn’t been this angry for a very long time. He turned into a corner and he heard the bell ring. Classes were dismissed and the hallways filled up with students. Within a second, he gained control of himself. As one of the powerful pureblood families, he couldn’t let see that he, Lucius Malfoy, got mad over losing a house elf to a 12-year-old.
Some of the students looked at him.
‘Those damn mudbloods’
Others however greeted him and he nodded back kindly. Curving his lips to a small smile. He continued his pace and took out his watch. 4.30 pm, he missed tea at home. Looking at his watch, he noticed one of his rings glowing red. He put the watch away and looked at the ring.
‘Who is it?’ he thought to himself. Remembering the last time it glowed after he left Flourish and Botts in Diagon Alley. He was sure to find her now that he knew she is at Hogwarts.
His pace slowed down as he searched for his son. Slowly walking to the dungeons, he noticed the platinum blond hair in a small group
“Draco!” he shouted, looking at the back of the head of his son. Draco turned his head immediately, looking for his father. It took him a few seconds to spot him
“Father” Draco whispered and started to walk towards him.
“Hello, Mister Malfoy” Theo greeted, standing next to Draco.
“Good afternoon, Theo” Lucius replied softly “Do you mind if I take Draco for a while?”
Theo shook his head and made his way to the Slytherin common room.
“Father?” Draco asked, looking at his father’s eyes which were following Theo “Why are you here?”
Lucius’ eyes darkened as he remembered why he was here
“Why I am here is not important” he replied “We need to talk”
Lucius turned around and started walking. Draco followed him on his side
“What is it father?” he asked without waiting for a reply he asked his next question “Did something happen?”
Lucius kept on walking, not minding the questions of his son. Draco gave up asking questions, he knew better than to continue. Near the lake, Lucius stopped and turned to Draco.
“I need you to do something for me,” he said, staring deeply into Draco’s eyes
“Yes, father?”
“This ring” he took his ring off “It glows when a certain person comes nearby”
He breathed in deeply through his nose “I need you to find out whom it glows for. Today as I walked through the corridor, it glowed again. I need to know who it is”
Draco looked at him full of hope that his father would explain why he needs to find this person but after a second of silence, he realised he has to wait until the day comes.
“Of course, father” Draco replied, taking the ring and putting it on his finger. He took a closer look at it “Father? Why is there a “D” in the ring?” he asked curiously.
“I will tell you once you found this person” Lucius replied “I’ll be going now. Find her before summer ends” he said and turned on his heels and walked towards the forest.
Draco stood there and looked at his father walking away
‘Why does he never explain something completely?’ he wondered and looked down at the ring. The ring was gold with a big red stone. A “D” was engraved in it. Many questions went through Draco’s head but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer soon. He slowly walked back to the castle, deep in thought.
It was already time for dinner so Draco made his way to the great hall. The moment he came close to the open wooden doors, he noticed that the ring started glowing on his fingers.
‘This isn’t going to be easy’ he thought and sighed as he walked to his table. His friends were talking loudly but today he couldn’t focus on their conversations. His thoughts dwelled of on finding a quick way to find the unknown person. His father didn’t specify of which age this person could be or their gender. And since everybody was gathered in the great hall, there is no way of telling who was the person triggering the ring.
He shook his head and finally managed to talk to his friends, bragging about the perfect potion he made that day.
_
The next morning he got ready for charms class. He entered the class and sat down. His friends quickly opened their books to study last second for a small quiz. He joined his friends, looking up every time someone walked. Looking back at his ring to see if it started to glow. Once the doors of the class closed and Professor Flitwick came in, he knew it was definitely not his fellow Ravenclaw classmates he was looking for. Time flew by and he found himself again in the great hall, hungry for lunch.
“Draco?” Draco looked up and looked at Pansy
“Since when do you have that ring?” she asked, looking at the glow
“Father gave it to me last time. I don’t know why though” he answered quickly before she could ask more questions. Pansy seemed to accept his answer as she didn’t ask anything more about the ring and asked for help in potions instead.
After lunch, they had potions with the Gryffindors. Everybody was always too early. Nobody wanted to be late for Professor Snape’s classes. The Gryffindors almost came into the room altogether to avoid getting bullied by the Slytherins.
In the dark atmosphere, Draco noticed the glow of the ring way quicker and cursed under his breath. He took off the ring and put it in his pocket.
‘Why of all people, does it have to be a Gryffindor? What does father want from any of them? Wha-’
His thoughts got cut off by the slam of the door and the quick pace Snape walked in
“Silence” he whispered, even though everybody became silent once the door fell shut
“Last time” he said silently “most of you messed up your potions” his eyes resting on Ron “Therefore” he walked to his desk “We will repeat the Fire Breathing potion before we move on”
His eyes rested on some other Gryffindors “This potion requires the skills for the next one… Don’t mess this up again” his eyes resting on Harry “Begin” he said, letting the tone fall on the n.
All students quickly got to work.
Draco was panicking while making his potion, it was flawless last time but he didn’t want to mess up this time. If Snape told his father he was lacking, he would have a horrible summer spending time with Professor Snape in the manor.
He quickly glanced at the Gryffindors. Everyone there was panicking and double-checking too. Only Granger stood out. She was calm as ever and whispered instructions to her friends, who were mimicking her every exact motion.
‘That bloody mudblood’
How could she excel in everything he did? He looked down at his potion and almost missed a crucial step. He cursed under his breath but managed to save his potion on time. The summer was going to be terrible indeed.
The class was finally dismissed and Draco walked to the library. Taking some time sitting there and writing a letter to his father. He knew at least what house the person was in and maybe his father will give him some more information about the ring and what this all is about. He send off his letter and went back to the common room. Practising with his friends the spells for the next class review.
In the great hall, he looked at his fellow Gryffindor classmates. Wondering which one of them it could be. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice his owl returned with a letter. His letter came on his plate which was full of food.
‘For merlin’s sake!’
He was a bit angry that the owl dropped it off instead of offering it to him. He took the letter out of his food and cast a quick cleaning spell. He read the letter quickly. He looked with disgust at the letter. His father literally told him to continue searching and that he would come to Hogwarts soon. Why didn’t he provide him with more information?
He ate from his plate angrily. Ignoring the questions his friends asked him.
A few days passed, and Draco found a new strategy to figure out whom the ring was responding to: he would wake up and arrive at the great hall before everybody else. He could eat there and then study there in the company of his friends and every time someone would walk in, he could look at who it was and if the ring started to glow or not.
He woke up at 5am. Already standing at the doors of the great hall at 6.30am. The doors opened and he took a seat. Reading a book first. It took almost half an hour until the great hall slowly started to fill with people. Looking at the people who entered, he realised he didn’t know most of them by their names. Only those whom he knew from childhood or from gatherings.
He stared at Granger walking in. He looked back to his book and noticed his ring was glowing now.
“For merlin’s sake! Why does it have to be the filthy mudblood?” he hissed under his breath. He immediately wrote a letter to his father. He better has a very good explanation for this!
After classes, Draco was sitting in the library. The library was the only place where his friends didn’t come often and he could study in silence.
“Mr. Malfoy” a voice interrupted him in a whispering manner “You are asked to go to the Headmaster’s office”
Draco looked up, thanked Madam Prince and made his way to the headmaster’s office.
‘Why would the headmaster want to see him? Did his friends do something and they just assumed he was the one leading them even though he was in the library all this time?’
He climbed the stairs and knocked on the door
“Come in” he heard an old voice say
Draco opened the door. The warmth of the fireplace greeted him immediately and a bitter and sweet smell filled his nose.
“Professor, why did you ask me to come here?” he asked questioning
“Draco” his father called him and Draco walked to the seats at the fireplace. His father had disappeared into those old-fashioned seats
“Father! It is nice to see you” Draco said exited
“Please have a seat” Professor Dumbledore offered one of the three remaining seats “Would you like a cup of tea?”
Draco nodded and with a flick of Dumbledore’s wand, tea got served and floated toward Draco
“Milk or sugar?”
“Yes, please Professor”
Draco could feel his father’s eyes rest on him. He looked at Dumbledore and thanked him friendly, feeling his father’s stare leave him. It became really silent. Everyone was drinking their tea.
“Did you bring the ring?” Lucius asked
“Yes, father” he showed the ring
Lucius held out his hand and Draco placed the ring on his palm. Draco stared at the ring for a second and heard a knock on the door
“Come in” Dumbledore replied and the door went open slowly, a head peaking in first. Hermione looked at Draco and back to Dumbledore. She slowly entered, unsure of what was going on. The ring on Lucius’s hand started glowing and Lucius smirked. Draco looked questioning at Granger and his father.
“You know what this means, Albus” Lucius said in a sneery voice. Dumbledore nodded politely and took another sip of his tea.
“Miss Granger, would you like to join us for tea?” Dumbledore asked politely and gestured3 to the empty seat next to him. Hermione walked silently to the seat and sat down.
“Milk and sugar?”
“Yes, please”
She took the floating cup and took a quick nip, looking at Dumbledore, Draco and Lucius.
“Tell me something about yourself, Miss Granger” Lucius demanded in a soft voice. Draco and Hermione looked as if they were hit by a bus. Why would he be interested in her?
“Well…” she started “I grew up with my parents…” she looked at Lucius with a frown “They are both muggles and…” she became silent, not sure what to say but Lucius kept looking into her eyes, wanting her to continue “They are dentist”
“What’s that?”
“They work on people’s teeth”
Draco’s eyes flashed between his father to Hermione. He didn’t understand at all what was going on. And especially why this was happening. What does Hermione have in common with a ring?
“Draco” Lucius said “you should go back to studying”
Draco looked at his father as if he just gotten hit in the face “Pardon?!”
Lucius’s eyes went dark and he looked at his son saying in a demanding voice “You should go back to studying”
Draco looked at his father, he could feel his heartbeat getting quicker. He got up and thanked his professor for the tea and walked back to the library.
‘What was this all about?’ Hermione looked at the door closing and her eyes went back to Lucius who was looking at Dumbledore.
“You know” Dumbledore started in a vague way “sometimes things don’t turn out as one hoped they would be”
Hermione looked at her headmaster in confusion. At the same time, she could hear Lucius take a deep breath through his nose. She looked at him and saw how his eyes narrowed and looked with an angry expression at Professor Dumbledore. The silence fell and Hermione was still lost.
“What is this all about?” she asked and broke the silence. Lucius’s expression changed and Professor Dumbledore was still staring into nothingness.
“This ring” Lucius held it in his fingers “is a ring I received 12 years ago”
Hermione lifted her eyebrow ‘so what?’
“One of my best friends gave it to me as a promise that his child will marry mine” he continued while Professor Dumbledore was humming.
“It starts glowing in the presence of that child. Unfortunately, the dark Lord killed my best friend after he messed up a mission” Lucius breathed in strongly through his nostrils “his wife and his child disappeared before he got murdered”
Lucius held out the glowing ring to Hermione and she took it shakingly.
‘Does that mean this ring glows in my presence?’ she wondered and looked at the glow ‘it cannot be’
She looked at the red stone and the engraved D in it. “What does the ‘D’ stand for?” she asked, glueing her eyes on the ring
“Dumbledore” Professor Dumbledore said with a smile. Hermione couldn’t add two and two together in this conversation. Lucius looked at her with big eyes.
“You are the promised daughter of my son. And you are a descendant of the Dumbledore family” he replied, fixing his eyes on hers. Hermione’s eyes grew big and she stared into nothingness.
‘Me? But I was born to my parents. They even had pictures directly after my birth? What does he mean by being a descendant of the Dumbledore family? What is this all about?’
More and more questions entered her mind until a hand gently touched her knee. She looked at the owner of the hand who softly spoke.
“Basically you are the daughter of my niece” Dumbledore kindly said. Hermione looked at her professor. ‘How could this happen? Why did this have to happen?’
“This summer you are staying at the manor” Lucius announced “Albus agreed on escorting you to the manor. You get to say your goodbyes to your muggle parents first”
“Goodbye?” Hermione asked with a big gulp going down her throat “I won’t see them again?”
Lucius’s eyes narrowed but he changed his posture quickly “Probably you’ll see them each summer. I need you at the manor this summer first…”
She started to feel at ease again and watched how Lucius took out his watch
“I have to return to the ministry now” he announced “Albus, thank you for your time and for the tea. Miss Granger, we will see each other again at the manor”
Lucius got up and so did Dumbledore who nodded kindly. As Lucius stood at the door his eyes fixed again on Hermione “Don’t tell anybody what happened today” he said in a warning tone “Including your friends. The right time will come eventually to let your friends know”
Hermione stared back at him “And what if I do?”
“You don’t want to know” Lucius’s lips curved into a grin and closed the door behind him. Hermione turned to Dumbledore unsure if she should leave too.
“You are free to come back anytime you want” Dumbledore replied to her unasked question. Hermione smiled and left the headmaster’s office. It was time to go back to the library and look up information about the Dumbledore family.
Once she arrived at the library, she felt a hand around her wrist that pulled her away from the other people. She shot a look at the person who was attacking her, only to find the back of Draco’s head. Once he found a place where no one could hear them he let go of her and turned to face her, shaking the hand with which he held her.
“What did you talk about once I was gone?” he sneered immediately. Hermione shook her head
“What do the ring and you have for connection?” he hissed angrily. Again a shake of her head. Draco took a few steps closer to her and she finally opened her mouth “Your father told me to not speak about any of this”
Draco turned around and punched the table in front of the window.
“He never tells me anything” he whispered under his breath
“Malfoy, I am almost as confused as you are” Hermione whispered “Everything is quite a shock to me. And I cannot share it with anybody” she continued, her eyes slowly looking down to the ground.
This was just all too sudden for her. She wished it was already time to sleep and she could finally think her thoughts out. She quickly walked away and continued walking straight to the common room. She saw Harry and Ron sitting there, working on their potions paper.
“Hi Mione” Ron said happily and she sat down next to them
“Let me have a look” she said sternly. She read both papers and corrected some mistakes. A few hours had passed and she felt a lot better. Her friends were cheering her up and at the dinner table in the great hall, Fred and George improved her mood even more.
However, as soon as everyone was asleep, she went back to the fire in the common room. She sat in front of the fireplace, staring at the fire while being deep in thought. She felt very sad inside, knowing that her whole life was a lie. The fact that she might never see the parents who raised her. On top of that, her real father has been a Deadeater and she doesn’t even know what happened to her real mother. Maybe she will never really know either. The thought of having to live and even get married to the Malfoy brat wasn’t making the night easier either.
Her eyes fluttered open. She saw the fire right in front of her. It was still dark outside and she looked at the clock. It was 4.39am and she got up slowly. She realised now, that nothing that is going to happen can be changed.
Several days passed by. On some days she was cheerful, on others she remained silent. The last school week was especially hard. She had visited professor Dumbledore once to inform herself if there was a way that she didn’t have to go to Malfoy Manor but it seemed that there is no way out.
She was sitting in the library when one of her fellow classmates came to her and told her to go to the headmaster’s office. She went there slowly. Her motivation was gone. She just didn’t want her schooldays to end. She knocked on the door and entered once she heard an answer. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and Lucius stood there with Draco.
“Hermione” Dumbledore started “Lucius wanted to see you”
Lucius nodded his head to her as a greeting and Draco looked at her with disgust. He still didn’t know after all.
“Draco” Lucius started “I told you about a friend of mine right? To his daughter, you would be married?”
Draco nodded but only looked at Hermione with annoyance all over his face
“Hermione is that daughter. She is a pureblood witch” Lucius said and smiled “This summer she will start living at the manor. I don’t want you to speak a word about it until I tell you that you can do so”
“Yes, father” Draco whispered “Is this the reason why I had to search for her with the ring?”
“Yes”
Lucius’ eyes met Hermione’s “Did you tell anybody?”
“No”
“Good”
“The two of you should have some time together” Lucius said and looked from one to the other “Without trying to murder the other” he warned.
Hermione knew that Draco wouldn’t mind killing her at that very moment but she had to admit that she would like to do the same too. Dumbledore gestured to the stairs behind him and the two of them went up the stairs.
“Malfoy I’m sorry” Hermione said almost so silently that Draco barely heard her.
“It isn’t your fault” Draco said back “If I didn’t find whom the ring belonged to, I could have avoided this”
Hermione stood next to him but at a safe distance. They stood there in silence.
“I am sorry for calling you a mudblood the past years and making your life hell” Draco said and looked in her eyes “I hope you can forgive me for doing that”
“It’s okay” she replied “We made your life hell too. And I must say that I didn’t mind trying to touch you and how you tried to hex me away”
Draco laughed a little and Hermione did too.
“From now on we have to get along better” Draco said “But until it is announced, we can continue the last few days to hate each other”
“I guess so”
“I cannot promise you that I can stop my habits immediately once we arrive at the manor”
“That’s fine. Changes require time and I am not sure when I can call you by your first name either. I am so used to calling you Malfoy. See? Even the annoyed tone is still included”
‘Maybe living at the manor won’t be as bad as I thought it would be. Draco might be a spoiled brat, but he apologised and the way he is to me now isn’t unpleasant’
They both turned around as Lucius called Draco’s name and told them to go downstairs again. After saying their byes, they both went in different directions and somehow didn’t bully each other the last remaining days at Hogwarts. Hermione was partly looking forward to the manor now. She only wished that she finally could talk about this all with her friends.