Meet the Kids

Chapter 6

An End to Denial

Hermione was practically trembling with shock. In front of her was, unmistakably, her 42 year-old self. She had the same brown curls and eyes. Their faces were identical except that the older version had a few more lines and looked, to say the least, much more composed. The older Hermione was wearing form-fitting jeans and a periwinkle blue blouse. She beamed at Hermione and let her head tilt sideways, almost unconsciously, so that her hair fell onto the shoulder of the man standing beside her.

Hermione's eyes flew to him. Sure enough, it was an older version of Draco Malfoy. His white blonde hair and gray eyes were instantly recognizable, but what threw her off the most, other than the fact that he was standing beside her older self, with his arm wrapped around her, was that he was smiling at her. Draco Malfoy did not smile at Hermione Granger. Draco Malfoy smirked, sneered, and laughed at Hermione Granger. He did not smile.

But, incredible as it was to believe, the older Malfoy's arm was draped casually around the older Hermione's waist and he was smiling warmly at her. Though he still wore black, he too was dressed casually, but, she couldn't help noticing, not in muggle clothes.

This couldn't be happening, Hermione thought wildly. Draco Malfoy did not hug her, whether or not she was 42; Hermione Granger did not rub Draco Malfoy's hand and snuggle close to his shoulder, which she was doing right now.

This was impossible, Hermione thought, suddenly dizzy. This wasn't right, and it shouldn't be happening. She was dimly aware of her older self's face changing from calm to worried and Lizzie's voice echoing distantly.

"Mum? Mum, are you all right?"

Abruptly, Hermione came back to her senses. Lizzie was shaking her arm insistently.

"I'm fine," she choked out, her voice hoarse and sounding as if she hadn't slept all night.

"Hello," said the older Hermione breathlessly. "We didn't mean to shock you! Professor Dumbledore sent us an Owl yesterday evening and suggested we come by." She still looked worried, and Hermione could tell there was some sort of maternal air in her that wanted to offer physical comfort, such as a hug, but she was holding herself back.

"Is this bothering you?" the older Malfoy asked, sounding eerily polite. He withdrew his hand from the older Hermione's waist and held it up. "Dumbledore said you were in- denial," he added apologetically. His eyes were twinkling as if he were secretly amused, not unlike the way Dumbledore's did.

"We thought you might want an explanation," the older Hermione added. "He said he couldn't explain anything nearly as well as we could."

There was a sound of the Formerly-Fat Lady's portrait behind them swinging open and then shut. There was a short, stunned silence, and from the nervous, smiling expressions on the adults' faces, not to mention pure instinct, Hermione knew who was behind her.

"What the hell is going on?" Malfoy demanded abruptly, confirming her suspicions.

"Mum! Dad!" exclaimed Dave in surprise before falling silent after a glance from Lizzie.

"We came to explain things," the older Hermione said quickly. "In case you had questions." Hermione scowled slightly as her older self reached for the older Malfoy's hand and began rubbing circles on it again. She glanced at the Malfoy beside her and saw he, too, was disgusted.

"Do you need to do that?" he demanded angrily, glaring at them.

"What?" the older Hermione asked, clearly confused.

Malfoy's glare intensified, as if he thought she were purposely playing dumb. "Stop touching him," he said harshly. "It's not- right."

"Oh!" the older Hermione exclaimed, and Hermione was glad to see she had let go of the older Malfoy's hand. "What's wrong with it?" she asked with mild indignance.

"Draco," said the older Malfoy, speaking for the first time since his double's arrival and cutting off any reply. His voice hadn't changed much, and Hermione was shocked at how nice he sounded.

"What?" Malfoy snapped.

"I know you're very confused and probably . . . angry," he conceded, smiling slightly as Malfoy nodded in agreement and crossed his arms. "But please hear us out," he said firmly. "I know you think this is impossible-"

"I will never, ever, marry Granger!" Malfoy said vehemently.

There was an uncomfortable pause. The adults exchanged glances.

"How could you?" Malfoy asked in a small, resentful voice, glaring at himself. "How could you marry her?"

He's acting like I'm not even here, Hermione thought angrily, glancing at herself, who looked just as strained.

"Because I fell in love," said the older Malfoy simply. And then, purposely making it plain for all present to see, he gave the older Hermione a kiss on the forehead.

"This is what we meant by emotionally scarring," Lizzie said in a whisper, half covering her eyes.

Hermione barely heard her; she was in too much shock. Stop it, she thought fervently. Stop kissing me- her- just stop!

"Stop it!" Malfoy said suddenly, his voice unnaturally high. For once Hermione was glad to hear him speak. "Stop kissing her."

The older Malfoy gazed at him intently. "Why?" he asked challengingly, looking the slightest bit annoyed.

"Beca-"

"Draco," said the older Hermione softly, although she was smiling slightly. "We should answer any questions they have, first. This can't be easy."

The older Malfoy looked for a moment as if he wanted protest, but then shrugged. He smiled easily at all of them, including Malfoy. "Right. Questions, answers, then we can kiss?" It appeared as if Malfoy had gained a sense of humor since seventh year.

"Dad!" Lizzie groaned. "Don't say stuff like that! It's disgusting for people your age to be doing that in front of their kids!"

"Not to mention themselves," Malfoy muttered, but only Hermione heard him.

The older Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Are you calling me old?" he demanded, stepping forward and giving his daughter a mock glare.

Lizzie returned his steely look. "Maybe!" Both were silent for a moment, and then the older Malfoy gave her an unexpected hug. Lizzie shrieked and, laughing, tried to wriggle away.

"Dad, stop! It's embarrassing!"

"Draco," laughed the older Hermione. "Lizzie can't be seen giving her father a hug. Just think what it would do to her reputation!" The older Malfoy, grinning, released his disheveled, glaring daughter and allowed the older Hermione to give Lizzie a hug.

"Mum, make him stop doing that!" Lizzie complained. "He doesn't quite understand that at a certain point, teenagers and parents stop all physical contact. Which goes for the two of you as well," she added, her voice muffled slightly through her mother's shoulder.

"Oh, be quiet," the older Hermione laughed again. "After what we've seen you do with James, I hardly think you should be complaining about an occasional kiss. Your father nearly had to got to St. Mungo's the last time James visited."

Hermione was very disturbed when Lizzie couldn't think of a comeback.

* * *

The group was gathered in Gryffindor common room. The adults were sitting on a loveseat a few inches apart, seemingly doing their best not to touch each other in any way, which Hermione was very thankful for. Lizzie and Dave each had their own armchair, and James was lounging at a table nearby. Hermione was sprawled on a scarlet beanbag on the floor emblazoned with the Gryffindor symbol (she had found the beanbags, which were a new acquisition according to the twins, much to her liking). Meanwhile, Malfoy was taking up a whole couch, looking as if he owned the place. It was distinctly annoying to Hermione considering it wasn't even his House.

The older Hermione was looking around fondly at Gryffindor and the older Malfoy was talking quietly to James.

"Your father told us to say hello and tell you he and your mother still expect you to write to them even though you're seventeen now."

"I thought you and Dad don't talk," said James, sounding amused.

"We don't."

"Oh."

Hermione stifled a grin; it sounded exactly like Malfoy and Harry, though without the added malice.

The adults had come into the common room in order to answer questions and speak privately; while most students were at breakfast, there were still a few Gryffindors milling around, though.

"So," said Hermione, once the older Malfoy had finished asking James if he would mind calling Harry a few choice insults in his next letter, all in good humor, of course.

"So," said the older Hermione, smiling.

"What should we call you?" Hermione asked, not knowing what else to say.

The adults exchanged a thoughtful glance.

"That's a good question," the older Hermione mused. "What should you call us?" She grinned slyly at her (Hermione winced) husband. "I suppose you don't want it to be anything to do with fe-"

"All right, that's enough," said the older Malfoy loudly, turning pink. The older Hermione laughed and, forgetting their unspoken "no physical contact" rule, touched his hand. Hermione, remembering their argument from the previous night, glanced at Malfoy out of the corner of her eye; he was positively radiating anger and had turned crimson.

"Well, you could call Mum "Beauty"," Lizzie suggested brightly. "That's Dad's pet name for her, revolting as it is . . ."

Both Hermione's reddened, and the older Malfoy winced.

"If you ever call me that," Hermione said through gritted teeth to Malfoy. "I will slap you. Again."

"If I ever call you that, please kill me," Malfoy said fervently, looking quite as if he meant it.

The older Hermione looked as if she wanted to laugh. "Professor Dumbledore said that you two were going under the aliases of Mia Johnson and Drake Cobris?" she asked lightly. "What if you call us by those names?"

Hermione nodded in agreement, very glad when no one brought up the name "Beauty" again. Forget simple Memory Charms, she was going to need massive therapy after this.

"Now," began Drake, leaning forward and looking at them intently. "I suppo-"

"Mrs Granger! Mr Malfoy!"

The group turned to see a smiling, waving Megan emerge from the stairwell.

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously, still beaming.

"Hello, Megan," said Mia, also smiling. "We were in Hogsmeade, and we decided to pay the twins a visit, seeing as how it's the weekend."

"So you'll be here for the dance at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow?" asked Megan, surprised.

Mia glanced at Drake and then nodded. "I guess so."

"Cool!" Megan exclaimed. "I'm sure Lizzie will love having a Father-Daughter dance! Maybe Dave will want a Mother-Son one, too!" There were a few scatter chuckles, mostly from the adults. Lizzie scowled furiously at her friend, who smiled good-naturedly back before exiting the common room.

"Are you sure this is private enough?" Mia asked, staring around the tower again. A few of the remaining students had begun sending them curious glances. "No one can find out about the Time-Turner." She gave her daughter, who was blushing, a reproachful glance, and Hermione got the sense that she had scolded Lizzie beforehand.

"I know a place we can use," James said thoughtfully. He stood up and glanced, eyes twinkling, at Hermione. "I think you'll know what place I'm talking about."

Hermione stared at him, confused. A private place . . . she gasped and then grinned. "He's right! I know exactly where we can go."

"Oy," Dave said, grinning. "And Jamie can come, too . . ."

* * *

Five minutes later they were all seated around a table laden with breakfast foods in the Room of Requirement. Malfoy had been astonished upon seeing the room and had only understood the full extent of its magical abilities once several members of the party (namely Mia, Lizzie, Dave, and even Drake) had explained it several times over. Hermione had reminded him of when he'd caught Harry the day the D. A. was discovered, and he had sneered at her.

Along the way they had picked up Jamie at breakfast, and the adults had said hello to a few other of the twins' friends; clearly, the Granger-Malfoys were a popular couple at Hogwarts. One boy from Hufflepuff had even gotten up and asked Drake for an autograph, which he had graciously given. Hermione, remembering that Malfoy supposedly grew up to be England's Seeker, understood why. Mia had insisted on scouting out the Ravenclaw Table in search of her youngest daughter, but Cissa appeared to have either eaten early or was still sleeping in.

"So," said Hermione, picking up a blueberry muffin and using the same line she had the first time. "Would someone please explain how we got . . ."

"Married?" Jamie supplied, grinning slyly, and Hermione blushed.

Mia smiled, and her eyes glazed over slightly as she reminisced. Drake, too, was smiling.

"Professor Dumbledore said something about November," Hermione prompted.

"And a Love Potion?" Malfoy said, sounding all too casual.

"Stop it!" Hermione hissed in his general direction, ignoring the adults' identical smiles. "When will you realize I didn't use a Love Potion on you?"

"When someone tells me that I used one on you, which I obviously didn't," Malfoy snapped.

Mia grinned slyly. "Sure about that?"

Malfoy paled.

Mia laughed. "I'm kidding! Like you would be smart enough to trick me?" She glanced playfully at Drake, and he made a face in return.

Malfoy gave a very audible sigh of relief.

"The end of the month I started receiving mysterious notes."

"From a Secret Admirer," Drake added.

"Well, no, not exactly; not at first, anyway. They were more like 'I can't stop thinking about you, and I don't know why, because I can't stand you.'" Mia grinned at Drake's abashed look. "Not that it wasn't sweet anyway."

"Sweet?" Drake demanded. "It wasn't sweet! I couldn't stop thinking about you, and it was the most annoying thing ever! I never fixated on the annoying things Potter and Weasley did, and believe me, there were a lot of them-"

"Draco, it wouldn't kill you to call them 'Harry' and 'Ron.'"

"Actually, it would. Anyway-"

"As we were saying-"

"I'm a Weasley twin!" Hermione blurted out, not caring that she was interrupting. Mortified, she buried her face in her hands. "You're finishing each other's sentences! We've become the Weasley twins!"

Mia laughed again. "I must say, no one's ever called me that before."

Drake was looking just as horrified as Hermione was. "You're right!" he exclaimed. "I've been spending way too much time at the joke shop. Fred and George are a bad influence!" he said, outraged, evoking laughs from all around.

"I don't understand!" Mia said indignantly. "You can call them by their real names, but you can't call Harry and Ron 'Harry' and 'Ron'?"

"No, it's a physical impossibility. Look, I'll try. Hagly. Won. See? The 'r's are unpronounceable." He grinned, warding off more playful blows.

"Funny, that's what Dad and Ron say about you," James mused aloud. "Except for them it's the 'd's that are unpronounceable."

"Can we continue, please?" Malfoy demanded impatiently, scowling.

Drake cleared his throat and continued. "As I was saying, she was crowding out all my other thoughts for no foreseeable reason. And they were not complementary at all!"

There was a very long pause. For some un-discernable reason Malfoy had a strange look on his face, and he was paler than normal. Was it her imagination, or was Mia staring at him rather more intently than usual?

Drake had turned a deep red. "In the sense that I was mentally insulting her, that is."

"And you think you'll have to go to St. Mungo's," said Lizzie indignantly. "What about your poor, darling children?"

Mia raised an eyebrow, her eyes flickering away from Malfoy, who didn't appear to have noticed. "Darling?"

"But of course," said Lizzie, batting her eyelashes at no one in particular.

Jamie shifted her position on a nearby armchair. "I can vouch for Dave."

"I think we should move on like Draco suggested," Mia said hastily, looking warmly at Malfoy, who continued to glare at her.

"For example," continued Drake. "If we had Potions and she had her hand up before I'd even finished thinking about whatever question was being asked, I would be annoyed the entire day, and it would be all I could think about."

"The first note Draco sent me was very insulting," Mia said, and Hermione could tell this time they would receive a long explanation, instead of one interrupted by playful teasing and banter.

"He didn't sign his name, of course. He wrote 'Secret,' and then put a postsript at the end saying that he wasn't an 'Admirer,' so make sure I didn't get the wrong idea. It would have been hard to considering he'd called me a 'know-it-all,' a 'frizzhead,' and a 'teacher's favourite.' Needless to say I was quite annoyed, but since his eagle owl had already flown away and I didn't know who it was I couldn't respond. I thought that there would be nothing more to it.

A few days later, though, while I was in the girls' dormitory, I received a second letter. This time I recognized the owl as being the same one from the previous time, so I shut the window before it could fly out again. When I had read the second letter, which was a bit more whiny rather than uncomplimentary, I wrote back telling him to stop writing me and it was his problem and not mine he couldn't get his mind off me." Mia smiled widely. "I told him it probably meant he either liked me and was in denial or else he liked me and was using some sort of reverse psychology to show it.

"He wrote back telling me that was utter nonsense and he could never like a girl who acted like his Transfiguration teacher, and that time the owl waited for a letter, so I wrote one back. I told him he was to stop bothering me with his letters or I would show them to said Transfiguration teacher. He didn't take me seriously, and the letters kept coming.

"The last week of November I caught sight of the owl at breakfast with the other post owls. It had already delivered its letter, but I realized that I could figure out my secret correspondent by watching for it the next morning." She glanced at Drake. "Do you want to take over?"

Drake willingly agreed. "I saw her looking at our table the next day after the morning's post, and I realized how foolish it had been to use my own owl. After that I used school ones." He gave Mia a sideways glance. "Somehow or other, though, Hermione still managed to figure out it was a Slytherin sending her the letters."

"I saw the Draco's owl flying over the Slytherin Table, and the majority of the letters had been written in green ink. There were also a lot of derogatory comments about muggleborns, Albus Dumbledore, Harry and Ron in the letters- it was eventually obvious that it was a Slytherin writing me, although I couldn't imagine who it could be, especially since the letters weren't very insulting anymore. They were friendly- more like pen pal letters. I assumed that the Slytherin was one of the quieter boys whose name I didn't know; I never imagined the person writing me was Draco Malfoy." Mia's head was again on Drake's shoulder, and she looked extremely content.

"I asked her in my next letter if she wanted to meet," Drake said, suddenly sounding self-conscious."

"He was very shy about it," Mia recalled, smiling. "Even though I had the impression that he was highly experienced when it came to dating."

"I thought you hated me," Drake said quietly, more to her than to the group. He gave her a kiss on the hair.

"She does," Malfoy murmured.

"Well, I thought you hated me," Mia responded, just as serene.

"I do," Malfoy muttered; he was ignored.

"I agreed to it," Mia continued at last. "Although I wasn't sure at first. I thought about telling Harry and Ron all about it- I hadn't mentioned it since I thought I would only get the one letter. Ron would have been furious if he'd known. I suggested we meet on December 3^rd after the Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch game." She paused, and Hermione knew she was finding it hard to continue.

"Gryffindor won, and I told Harry and Ron I would be along in a few minutes to joint them for a party," Mia said, still struggling for words. "I waited in the stands and when he came-" She shivered slightly, and moved closer to Drake. "I had no idea it would be him."

"She ran away," Drake said, with uncharacteristic solemnity. "She didn't believe me at first that I was the one she had been writing to, and then she left, insisting I had played a horrible trick on her."

There was a short silence. Lizzie had her head on her knees and was watching her parents, wide-eyed. It was clear she had never heard the story in so much detail before. There was an odd feeling in Hermione's stomach. So she and Malfoy had been friends before they'd- well, before they'd started a serious relationship. Funny, how she had somehow become friends with Malfoy without knowing it. If she had known it was him, would she still have written him? Somehow Hermione doubted it.

"I ignored him the next few days, even though I knew he was watching me in class," Mia said in a soft voice. "When he wrote me a few days later, I almost threw it straight into the fire. I was curious, though, about what he had to say." She smiled suddenly. "I'm glad I was."

"What happened?" Jamie asked curiously; even the Slytherin no longer looked more sophisticated and knowledgeable than anyone else. "What did the letter say?"

"He apologized for surprising me, and insisted he hadn't tried to trick me. Weren't his first few letters proof enough he hadn't been pretending to like me?" Her smile widened. "Harry and Ron had to stay behind after Potions the next day to clean up their Personality Potions, which had spilled all over the floor, and Draco caught me after class when I was alone in the hall. If I hadn't read his last letter I probably would've hexed him. We also have Ginny to thank. She found me in the dormitory after I met Draco in the Quidditch stands. I broke down and told her everything. When I got the letter I showed to her immediately, and she said he sounded awfully sincere and maybe he was telling the truth." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, after Potions, we-" Suddenly her voice caught, and she couldn't finish. Hermione knew, by pure instinct, that whatever had been said or done was personal. Perhaps the adults would tell them more later, when their children weren't around.

"What?" Lizzie asked breathlessly. "You only told us you fell in love through letters! You didn't mention anything about running away or Potions!"

"Dad, what happened?" Dave asked curiously. The adults were silent, glancing at each other questioningly.

Lizzie looked highly affronted, as did Dave. "Are you going to tell us what happened, or not?" she said in a huff.

"After that we met secretly just to talk," Drake said smoothly, skipping the topic completely; Lizzie was outraged. "Once we bought Butterbear at the Three Broomsticks and then had a picnic by a little cave near Hogsmeade Hermione knew about. When we had to patrol the halls together at night we would talk, and sometimes we did homework together. The other Slytherins didn't know, and Hermione never told Potter and Weasley."

"Dad said he and Ron thought Hermione was seeing someone in secret, because she kept on disappearing to the library more and more often," James put in.

Jamie raised her eyebrows suggestively at them, grinning slyly. "The library?"

Mia turned bright red. "We were studying!" she protested vigorously. "We didn't go in there to snog! That wasn't until-"

Once again she fell silent.

"Oh c'mon," Lizzie said impatiently. "We all know your first kiss was on New Year's."

Hermione choked, and Malfoy made a loud gagging noise.

"All right, well almost all us," Lizzie said airily. "You had to find out sometime," she told Malfoy, rolling her eyes.

"During the holidays, like Dad," James said, smirking.

"Potter?" exclaimed Malfoy in horror. "Some poor girl's had to kiss him?"

"Cho didn't seem to think he was too terrible at it," Hermione said mildly. "Whatever happened to her, anyway?"

"She married Roger Davies," Mia said vaguely. "But I don't think they're very much in love," she added, looking a little sad. "I don't think Cho ever quite got over Cedric."

Hermione was quiet; for once after Marietta Edgecombe had told on the D. A., she felt slightly sorry for Cho.

"We were in the Prefect study room talking about mistletoe for some reason," Mia said, smiling, and Hermione knew they were back to the New Year's kiss.

"It had been hung in both Slytherin and Gryffindor for Christmas because it was red and green, and it had made a few members of each of our Houses less than . . . satisfactory," Drake added.

"It was spontaneous," Mia said, struggling for words. "We were looking in each other's eyes and it just . . . happened." She blushed, but no one laughed.

Jamie sighed, uncrossing her legs. "That's really romantic," she said dreamily.

"Yeah," Lizzie said, looking disgruntled at the idea that her parents could have such a touching story.

Even Hermione had to admit that the idea of looking into her boyfriend's eyes and then kissing him for the first time on New Year's eve was appealing. But with Malfoy? She knew that a lot of girls in their year thought his bright blond hair was attractive, but romantic? Malfoys were supposed to be rude, conceited, and annoying- not romantic.

"Dumbledore said something about Valentine's," Malfoy said in a strangled voice, and everyone turned to look at him. He was an unnatural shade of white, even for him. There was no anger or disgust on his face, only a blank, controlled calmness that he was struggling to maintain.

Drake turned a light shade of red. "On Valentine's morning," he muttered, looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Hermione, as Head Girl, was supposed to check a few last minute decorations with Professor Flitwick, and I offered to come as well. Flitwick left the room and- we hadn't intended to kiss," he said hastily. "We hadn't told anyone about our relationship yet, but there were a lot of pink hearts floating around and-"

"Half the school, including Harry, Ron, and a bunch of the Slytherins, all walked in on us," Mia rushed on, also blushing. "All the Professors were there, and when Snape told Blaise Zabini to go get a Love Potion antidote, I nearly fainted. It was so embarrassing."

"But on the other hand, it was an easy way to let everyone know at once," Drake admitted, and Mia nodded.

"Harry and Ron wouldn't speak to me for two weeks, though," she said miserably. "Parvati and Lavender thought it was like something out of a romance novel and couldn't stop asking questions, while the other boys thought I had done it on a dare and teased me about it."

"You think that was terrible?" Drake asked indignantly. "None of the Slytherins would spoke to me for a month except for Blaise- he was just happy that I wasn't dating Pansy." He paused. "Actually, at first all of them thought I had done it to rile up Potter and Weasley, and it was all a set-up."

There was a short silence, and then Jamie spoke. "When it comes to annoying people you Slytherins had a one-track mind, didn't you?"

Drake threw her a dark, but sly look. "Well, you would know all the stories, wouldn't you, Jasmine?"

"Dad!" said Lizzie suddenly, and made a 'stop' motion with her hand.

Hermione was starting to get annoyed that they were so indiscreetly keeping something from them.

Drake looked curiously at Mia, who shrugged, but didn't say anything more.

"Once everyone accepted it and we had ceased being the school's main gossip, we were free to talk in the open, instead of meeting secretly," Mia said.

"We didn't spend all our time together, though," Drake said, giving her a reproachful glance. "You insisted on hanging out with Potter and Weasley half the time."

"You could have come with us," Mia said indignantly. "I asked you to come plenty of times!"

"And have them try to kill me?" Drake demanded. "It wasn't high on my list of priorities."

"What did Harry and Ron do?" Hermione asked, interested.

"When they saw us on Valentine's Day and we had explained we weren't joking, Ron spent all their classes together purposely trying to pick fights. Harry wasn't much better."

"Weasley gave me a black eye," Drake added, sniffing indignantly.

"Because you jinxed Harry!" Mia retorted.

"He tried to hex me first!"

"But he missed!"

"And then they had to call Longbottom in!"

"Funny, I never knew you thought of Neville as a threat."

"I didn't! Not until he sat on me, which wasn't pleasant at all!"

"Aw, did the mean little Gryffindors gang up on you, Daddy?" asked Lizzie sympathetically, not bothering to hide her smile. Drake glared at her, his arms crossed, sulking.

Hermione laughed at the similar expression on Malfoy's face.

"Longbottom sat on me?" he demanded, outraged. "Where were Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Tutoring," said Drake dismally. "With Hermione actually."

Mia groaned. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I only agreed to do it because they kept on getting in fights with Harry and Ron, and I figured it would be a decent way to keep them away from each other."

"Plus McGonagall had hinted at a student teacher job," Drake added, chuckling as Mia smacked him on the arm.

"Tutoring?" Malfoy said furiously. "Never! I will not be sat on by a chubby, inept Gryffindor so they can go off to study! With you of all people," he added sourly to Hermione.

Hermione, ignoring him, turned to Mia. "Did I- I mean, you, help them at all?" she asked, thinking it was probably impossible, even for her.

"In Charms," Mia said, smiling. "And Herbology. We also helped them get a passing grade on their Human Transfiguration test. Using each other as tests subjects, of course," she hastily added.

Hermione grinned shyly at her double, who smiled back. It was nice of Mia to say 'we' instead of 'I' and accept whole-heartedly that they were the same person and shared the same accomplishments, even though Hermione hadn't done them yet.

"Now you know how it all happened," Drake said, smiling slightly at his double's scowl. "Any questions?"

There were a few moments of silence while all in the room considered what had transpired. Hermione glanced at Malfoy, though she was pretty sure his expression would be the same as before; she was right.

"Yes," began Malfoy, breaking the silence. "What possibly possessed you to-"

"Shut up!" Lizzie ordered at the same time that Dave said "Dad, be quiet!" Hermione didn't know exactly what he was going to say but she got the gist and was thankful that the twins (who both looked furious) had stopped him.

Malfoy glared at both of them. "Has it not occurred to you that I don't like Granger?"

Hermione felt her cheeks turn red at the insult. Mia had her arms folded and was staring at him through narrowed eyes, and Drake, looking nervous, had slid his arm around her as if he thought Malfoy's rude words might hold repercussions for him. As if reading his mind, Mia gave the arm around her shoulders an affectionate, comforting rub. Hermione wondered if they were trying to make Malfoy mad on purpose. If so, they were doing an excellent job.

"Malfoy, can I speak to you outside?" Hermione asked suddenly, just as he and the twins began simultaneous angry outbursts at each other.

Malfoy looked at her, and his glare intensified. "No."

Hermione was more than a little annoyed. He had no right to treat her the way he was; she was not a servant nor one of his house-elves! She stood up, walked over to him, and yanked on his sleeve. Malfoy jerked out of her grasp.

"Go away," he said roughly.

"Malfoy," Hermione hissed. "I want to talk to you!" She yanked on his sleeve again, and he swatted at her.

"Don't make me hex you," she threatened. Mia smothered a laugh, something her daughter didn't even attempt at.

Malfoy glared at her furiously. "I'd like to see you try, Granger."

"Right," said Hermione primly. She took out her wand and displayed it for all to see. "Do you have a preference as to which jinx I use?" She tapped her wand against her other hand and then pointed it straight at him.

Malfoy looked ready to inflict physical damage. Shaking from anger, he stood, batted away her wand and, holding her arm none to gently, pulled her from the room.

"Let go," Hermione ordered once they were outside and the door was closed. She jerked away, his grip too tight for her taste.

"What?" Malfoy seethed. "What did you want to talk about, mudblood?"

Hermione let out a small gasp and then, without thinking, stomped on his foot as hard as she could. Malfoy yelped and hopped away.

"Don't call me that," Hermione said furiously. "Just because I'm not a pureblood doesn't give you the right to treat me as if I'm a lower being."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow mockingly, but the effect was diminished somewhat by his grimace of pain. "I wasn't aware you cared that much, Granger.

"I don't," she said through gritted teeth. "If you choose to be a prejudiced, closed-minded prat, that's your business and not mine. Everyone that matters knows I'm just as smart as you. Besides," she said coolly, "if you didn't think I cared, why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Because," he said sourly with just a trace of bitterness, "you call me a ferret. And it really riles up Weasley, which is always a treat."

Hermione, remembering the previous night, did not say the insult that was on the tip of her tongue, though she was sorely tempted to at the comment about Ron. She opened her mouth and different words than what she'd expected came out. "Er . . . about that. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Malfoy demanded. "Breaking my foot? You should be."

"You deserved it," Hermione said shortly. "For embarrassing me back there. No, I'm sorry for calling you a ferret all the time. Which I tried to say last night," she added irritably. "But you wouldn't listen."

Malfoy was quiet. His eyes were narrowed, and he was staring at her so intently Hermione wondered if he thought she was joking.

"Oh," he said at last. "That's unexpected."

"Well, you were right," Hermione conceded. "I haven't ever been turned into a helpless animal against my will, so I shouldn't tease you with it every single time you annoy me." Her eyes sparkled playfully without her realizing it. "I'll have to think of a new insult."

"Good," Malfoy said savagely. "Because calling me a ferret really is getting old. It was years ago."

"So I won't call you a ferret," Hermione concluded, not bothering to point out it had only been three years. "If you don't call me a mudblood."

Malfoy looked skeptical. "But you said it doesn't bother you."

Hermione scowled. "But it's still derogatory and rude. Don't say it, and I won't mention the ferret incident. Agreed?"

Malfoy, scowling, nodded his head slowly after considering it for a few seconds. "Deal."

Hermione beamed; though she was still annoyed at his previous attitude, she was glad they'd reached a compromise. She cleared her throat, realized suddenly that they were completely alone in the hall and neither one was glaring at the other. "Shall we go in?"

Malfoy nodded again.

Hermione paused, about to open the door. "Was it really as embarrassing as you say?" she asked, unable to resist one last question. She bit her lip as he stared at her incredulously.

"Sorry," she said hastily. "I know I said I wouldn't mention it and I won't. I was just curious."

"How do you think you'd feel if half the students in the school, including your enemies, saw you transfigured and bounced around?" Malfoy asked suddenly. "It'd be like- like me seeing you turned into a mouse and chased by a cat."

Hermione stopped, surprised, and blushed at the comparison. She hadn't expected an answer. "I think I'd be humiliated," she admitted.

"Plus it hurt," Malfoy added, frowning and absent-mindedly touching his head.

"What was it-" Hermione stopped. She didn't quite know what she was asking; she had more questions but wasn't sure how to phrase them. After all, it was a touchy subject and it was clear Malfoy wasn't keen on talking about it.

"Like?" Malfoy substituted. Hermione blushed, nodded. He gave her a sideways glance, as if evaluating her.

"It was not fun," he said finally. "One minute I was standing up, and the next moment I was on the ground, and I didn't know what had happened. All I could see were feet, and I was terrified. All I wanted to do was run away." He paused. "I thought I would pass out when he started . . . you know. It was like one of those muggle things. What do you call them?"

"Roller coasters?" Hermione supplied, and he nodded.

"It was like I was flying except I kept on hitting the ground, and it hurt." He winced, no longer looking at her. Instead, he was staring at the wall, his eyes vague as he recalled the memory. Hermione inexplicably knew that he had never shared this experience with anyone else, and she felt a peculiar sensation as he began speaking again. Had she just asked the question at a vulnerable time? Or did he . . . trust her?

"It was horrible when McGonagall transfigured me back. Obviously I was glad to be myself," he said quickly. "But everyone was laughing and instead of being able to go back to the Slytherin common room I had to be dragged down to Snape's office by Moody." He fell silent.

Hermione hugged herself and shivered. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if it had happened to her. All at once she felt a huge rush of sympathy toward Malfoy and realized with a start that she actually did mean it when she said she was sorry. It had been a horrible punishment. He had said terrible things, but had he really deserved to be humiliated like that? Wouldn't a detention have been better?

"Well?" Malfoy asked, smiling bitterly. "I don't know why I told you all that. You can laugh if you'd like. I'm sure you did then."

"No," exclaimed Hermione immediately. "It is horrible. I'm not going to laugh!" she added indignantly. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

Malfoy shrugged. "A confusing one."

Hermione couldn't help but grin. "And you're wrong," she said. "I didn't laugh then. Not much anyway. Ron was annoyed with me because I said it was a good thing McGonagall changed you back." She blushed as Malfoy started and looked at her. Hermione glanced at the ground.

"Thanks," she said almost inaudibly.

"For what?"

It was Hermione's turn to shrug. "For telling me?" It was more a question than an answer. There was a mutual understanding between them that he had just shared something with her he hadn't shared with anyone else.

"Thanks for not laughing," Malfoy said in an oddly constrained voice.

Hermione took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob. "We should go back in," she said uncomfortably aware she was no longer mad at him in the least, and then, as an afterthought, added, "Draco."

Malfoy silently followed her back into the room. Hermione, feeling his hand brush her shoulder as they walked to their seats, shivered again. They had passed some kind of barrier; she just didn't know what.

Mia looked up as they entered the room. "Is everything all right?" she asked casually, as if she knew something unusual had happened. Hermione looked at Malfoy as he looked at her. Both of them glanced away at once, and Hermione, blushing, nodded.

"Everything's fine."

Mia smiled, not fooled at all by Hermione's reply. "Good." She glanced at the other teenagers, who were all scowling. "We had a little chat with our kids, and they're going to leave us alone for a little while so we can talk in private."

Hermione got the impression from the furious teenagers that none of them had willingly agreed to this. Lizzie, looking downright mutinous, stood up and stalked out of the room, her nose high in the air. Dave and Jamie, who was still smirking slightly, followed. James looked the least perturbed and was the only one to smile at the adults and Hermione and Malfoy before leaving.

Drake sighed as the door shut. Instantly he had an arm around Mia again.

"You didn't stop doing that for their benefit," Malfoy said indignantly. "It was for ours."

Hermione laughed as Drake, looking reproachful, removed his arm. She moved to the vacated couch and curled up by an armrest.

"I thought you might have some more private questions for us," Mia began.

"And even if you don't, we have some more private matters for you," Drake added.

Mia cleared her throat, looking nervous. "About when we met outside

Potions . . ."

"You didn't kiss, right?" said Malfoy suspiciously. "Lizzie said that nonsense didn't start until New Year's."

Mia conceded he was right by smiling and nodding. "No, we didn't kiss. It was just-" She struggled for words. "Special."

"What happened?" Hermione asked, curious as to what could touch her so.

"He had all my letters with him," Mia blurted out quickly. "He had saved every one I'd written him."

"So had you," Drake added, more to her than to them.

"Yes, but that was so I could carry out my threat about telling McGonagall if I wanted. At first anyway. I started saving them once we got past insulting each other."

"How did you insult him?" Malfoy asked, looking amused for the first time that day. "You didn't know who you were writing to."

There was a mischievous look in Mia's eyes. "I called him an ugly prat with the most garish hairstyle I'd ever seen." She shrugged. "I realized how self-conscience he was about his looks when he wrote back and informed me he was none of those things, forgetting I didn't know who he was so the insults were baseless."

"I am not ugly," Malfoy said indignantly.

"Well, I've never called you 'Beauty'," Hermione muttered. He frowned at her, visibly affronted.

"But he's not," said Mia, smiling fondly at her husband. "I quite like his hair. Not garish at all," she added with a teasing grin.

Drake grinned and reached out to curl one her locks around his finger. "I still say yours is beautifully bushy." He kissed her again, this time on the cheek, and Hermione, blushing, was wondering if she and Malfoy would have to leave the room again in a few minutes so the adults could have a proper kiss.

"About Potions?" Malfoy coughed, brilliantly pink.

"Right," said Mia, patting her hair and taking a deep breath. "He showed me all his letters and then said he knew I didn't trust him, but that didn't stop the fact that he had really liked getting to know me."

"I asked her that if we couldn't be friends, could we still write occasional letters." Drake's voice trailed off, and neither adult spoke.

"And I said yes?" Hermione guessed.

Mia nodded, looking anxious. "This would be so much easier if we could show- oh!" Her eyes lit up and she stood up quickly. "Draco, where's our Pensieve? I forgot we brought it!"

"In your suitcase in our room," Drake replied, his features brightening as well. "That'd be perfect!"

"I'll go get it," said Mia eagerly. Before anyone could say another word she had disappeared through the door. An uncomfortable silence followed. Hermione and Malfoy stared at Drake, and he stared right back, none of them knowing what to say.

Surprisingly, it was Malfoy who broke the silence first. "So you're a Seeker?"

Drake nodded, looking relieved. "Yeah. We won the Quidditch Cup last year against France," he added proudly. "370-90. The match lasted four hours."

"Wow," said Hermione impressed. She didn't know a lot about Quidditch but she could tell that was an excellent score. "You must have a great team."

Drake nodded. "The Chasers and Beaters are great. And our Keeper-" There was a wry smile on his face. "We don't always get along, but he's a better Keeper than he used to be at school."

"Who?" Hermione asked just to be sure it was who she thought it was.

"Weasley," Drake admitted, smiling at her. Malfoy gave a loud sigh.

Hermione beamed happily. Ron would love to be on a professional Quidditch team- well, perhaps not one with Malfoy, but he would still like it all the same.

"You might also know one of our reserve Chasers," said Drake confidently. His eyes twinkled. "Ginevra?"

Hermione beamed wider. Malfoy was beginning to look downright depressed.

"We would've gotten to the Cup 12 years ago if she hadn't decided to become a stay at home mum the year before." Drake scowled. "I swear Potter convinced her to do that just to annoy me."

Hermione laughed. She was finding it hard not to like Drake. True, he was an older version of Malfoy, but he was also different. He was friendlier, kinder, funnier- she could tell why Mia loved him. It was hard to believe the Malfoy sitting a few feet away from her would ever be like that.

"Got it!" they heard a breathless voice exclaim from the doorway. Mia crossed to the center of the room where the table was. The plates of half-eaten breakfast shimmered for a moment and then disappeared. Mia carefully placed a wide, stone bowl on the table. Hermione slipped onto the floor to get a better look at the markings on the side. Engraved on the side were the words "To Draco and Hermione, who proved the thin line between love and hate is not so unwavering after all." The date June 21^st, followed by a year not long after she would graduate, came after it. It was a strange engraving, but Hermione found it oddly touching.

"Who gave it to you?" she asked, recognizing that it had been a wedding present. She had always wanted a Pensieve. The idea of having a place to put all her thoughts, so she could organize and study them, was simply delightful.

"Harry and Ginny," said Mia, smiling. "Ron gave us a jeweled picture frame with unicorn ivory in it. It's enchanted to never need dusting, and if you put several pictures in it they change every few minutes. We keep our family photos in it."

"It's beautiful," Hermione breathed, not sure whether she was speaking about the Pensieve or the photo frame Mia had described. Both sounded lovely.

Malfoy, too, had gotten out of his seat. He sat across the table from her, also looking at the Pensieve.

"What's with the love or hate?" he demanded, his forehead creased as he stared at the engraving. "That's an odd thing to say about a marriage."

Mia chuckled, and Drake smiled wryly. "That was Potter's way of reminding us, me in particular, that we hadn't always been friends."

"Harry and Ron only ended their denial once the twins were born," Mia added. "According to them they hoped we would come to our senses and end the marriage."

"It's still incredibly sweet, though," Hermione said almost dreamily. "I suppose that was Ginny's doing."

Mia nodded. "Yes, otherwise Harry would have let Draco's name off it completely."

A prickling in the back of her mind told her she was being watched, and Hermione looked swiftly up. Malfoy was staring at her considering, his eyes slightly out of focus. Hermione, suddenly nervous, spoke.

"Are you going to show us the memory of outside Potions?"

Malfoy, startled out of his musings, blinked and glanced at her. He, too, looked a bit nervous.

"If you want to," said Mia, smiling.

Hermione gulped, took one last look at Malfoy, and then nodded. "I want to see it," she said firmly. I want to see for myself that Malfoy and I were friends. Malfoy appeared to be thinking the same thing.

"I want to see it, too."

Mia grinned, as if that was what she had expected, and indicated for them to lean closer. Hermione, feeling suddenly self-conscience as Malfoy's face came within a few inches of her. She turned her head slightly so her hair hid her face. He didn't seem to notice, preoccupied with the Pensieve.

"Just dip your nose in a bit," Mia said. Hermione took a deep breath; obviously they would be able to breathe but the swirling white mist made her feel as if she were about to dive underwater. She leaned closer, until her nose was almost touching liquid like substance. Suddenly she was falling, tumbling through a vortex of space that was filled with shadows. With a soft thud, she landed on the ground; though she had fallen on stone, she didn't ache the least bit. Malfoy had managed to remain standing and had steadied himself against a wall.

"Here," he muttered, holding out his hand. Hermione took it grudgingly and he pulled her to her feet. They stared around the dungeons. Once more they were cold and uninviting. There were no soft carpets or tapestries. They were standing outside the door to Potions just as they had been when they're first been tossed into the future, when it opened. Their classmates, not looking any different than they'd last seen them, streamed out.

Hermione's jaw dropped as an exact replica of herself walked out, her face pale and set. She hurried along the corridor and then paused in the shadows of a corner, obviously waiting for Harry and Ron, who hadn't emerged yet from the classroom. Hermione took a few steps to the side so she could see in the doorway. Harry and Ron were scrubbing the floor vigorously, muttering what she assumed were their normal platitudes about Snape.

A figure came through the door suddenly, and Hermione let out a small noise of surprise as she had to step back to avoid being walked through. It was Malfoy. Hermione reeled around and turned to look at the real Malfoy; there was a grim, obstinate look on his face.

The Pensieve Malfoy scanned the hall intently, straining to see into the nooks and crannies, as if he knew Mia would be hidden there. His eyes lit up ever so slightly as he caught sight of her, but Hermione was the only one close enough to see. Drake sauntered over to her, not quite humbled enough by her rejection to have lost his Slytherin strut.

"Hermione?" he asked timidly, sounding so shy and tentative Hermione almost laughed. Malfoy had a revolted look on his face.

"Go away, Malfoy," said Mia angrily, stepping out of the shadows. Hermione beckoned Malfoy and hurried forward to get a closer look. Mia looked as if she hadn't slept in days. There were dark circles under her eyes, that were all the more visible against her pale skin. She clutched her book bag tightly, as if it were the only thing keeping her from breaking down. Strangely enough, Drake looked concerned.

"Hermione?" Drake said again.

"Please, go back to using Granger," Mia spat. "I'd even rather hear those prejudiced derisive insults of yours."

There was a pained expression on Drake's face. "You don't mean that, Hermione."

"Stop it," said Mia furiously. "I don't want to speak to you, Malfoy! Would you please leave? Harry and Ron will be coming out any moment."

"No they won't," Drake said firmly. "I put a dissolving Sticking Solution tablet in their potion. It'll make scrubbing it up awfully hard."

Mia stared at him a moment and then said, rather coolly. "That's a Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes product."

Drake looked slightly abashed. "Yes, I know. Ironic, don't you think?"

"Tricking my friends is not making me trust you any more."

Drake winced. "Right. I-" He paused, unsure of how to continue. "I know I . . . surprised you the other day."

Mia raised an eyebrow, glaring. "That's an understatement."

"But you have to admit we had fun writing to each other for a while," Drake said quickly. He hesitated. "You seemed really eager to meet me, at least."

"That was before I knew it was you," Mia said shortly.

Hermione turned to Malfoy. "Is that a paradox?" she questioned. "Or is that just a really confusing exchange?"

Malfoy shrugged. "How should I know?"

"Malfoy, I thought I made it clear that I never want to speak or write to you again," Mia was saying angrily. "If you don't stop it, I will go to McGonagall."

"All right," said Drake hurriedly. "Just let me finish, and if you still want nothing to do with me at the end I'll stop bothering you."

"Harassing me is more like it," Mia muttered.

"I didn't harass you," Drake snapped, sounding annoyed for the first time. "You took the initiative to write back, I didn't ask you to. It's not my fault I wasn't whom you expected!"

"That's for sure."

Drake took a deep breath, and Hermione could tell he was struggling to remain calm. Malfoys sure did have quick tempers, she mused.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a bundle of parchments tied loosely together. He held it out.

"What is it?" Mia asked, trying not to appear overly curious. Hermione knew she was itching to examine it; after all, they were the same person.

"Your letters." Drake paused. "They're all here. I really did like hearing from you," he added in a strangled voice as Mia's curiosity overcame her and she cautiously took them. "I didn't realize it would be so fun to get to know you."

Mia glanced at the letters, her eyes widening. It was clear she had never expected Drake to be so sentimental. At last she handed them back to him. She was no longer glaring, but had an odd expression on her face, almost as if she were pleased but trying to hide it.

"And I'm sorry," Drake whispered, turning pink as he gazed at her; it seemed apologizing was a hard thing for Malfoys.

Mia waited, not saying a word. From the determined expression on her face, Hermione knew she wanted Drake, whatever it was he wanted to say, to say it all on his own, with no help from her.

Drake took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for calling you names and making fun of your heritage. And for making your teeth so big in fourth year," he added. Hermione was astonished at the sincere, rueful look on his face; he actually meant what he was saying.

"I wasn't aiming for you," Drake said, sounding slightly ashamed. "I try not to hex girls."

Mia was silent for a few seconds, as if struggling to make sense of it all. "Well, you could've apologized then," she finally choked out, not looking as if it made that much of a difference.

"I also have this," Drake said suddenly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass vial filled with a clear liquid. The bottle gleamed, and the liquid shimmered as he held it closer to the dim light. "It's Veritaserum. You know what it is, right?"

"Of course," said Mia with faint indignance.

"I'll take a drop if you don't believe me," he said with nervous determination.

Hermione and Mia's jaws dropped. So did Malfoy's.

"Am I crazy?" he hissed.

Hermione's eyes were wide. "Apparently."

"Did you steal that?" Mia asked faintly.

Drake looked confused. It was obviously not the reply he'd been expecting. "Er . . . no. It's my family's."

"Ah yes," said Mia grimly. "Malfoy Manor: home to materials of the Dark Arts and other questionable items."

"Perhaps," he said, embarrassed.

"You don't need to do that," Mia said after a moment. "Take the Veritaserum, I mean."

Drake looked defeated, but struggled not to let it show. It was becoming obvious to Hermione that Malfoys were quite good at hiding their emotions when they had the inclination.

His hand dropped, and he stuffed the bottle in his pocket. "Then I'll leave you alone," he said finally. "Like I promised." Stiffly he turned to leave. Hermione was finding it so heart-wrenching she almost yelled for him to stop, despite the fact that he couldn't hear her and it was Malfoy.

"Wait," said Mia softly, in a strangled voice. "That's not what I meant."

Drake slowly turned. His face blank, he watched as she struggled for words, blushing.

"That's really sweet," she said, also looking embarrassed. "That you'd take Veritaserum for me."

"It is Veritaserum," Drake said hastily, taking the bottle out again and looking worried she didn't believe him.

"I don't doubt it," Mia said quickly. "I'm just . . . surprised." She was smiling shyly.

"Hermione," said Drake. "I wasn't lying when I said I liked corresponding with you. Could we still do that, maybe? Even if you don't want to talk to me?"

"Maybe," Mia said, still blushing. "But wouldn't it be easier to talk?"

Drake's expression changed from surprise to growing hope as he processed her words. "Are you sure?"

Mia paused, considering, and then nodded slowly. "I had fun reading your letters, too," she admitted. "I did really want to meet you. It just never occurred to me that it was you. I really did think you were trying to make fun of me," she added, blushing, and then paused. "Sorry for running away."

Mia and Drake both looked uncomfortable, although Hermione couldn't tell why. If this hadn't been herself and Malfoy she would have considered it the most romantic thing ever. Lavender and Parvati would have a field day if she ever told them.

Which of course she never would, because she would never have such a romantic, embarrassing exchange with Malfoy.

Malfoy cursed. "This is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen."

"I think it's sweet," Hermione whispered back, still feeling as if she would disturb Mia and Drake if she spoke louder. She gave him a disdainful look. "If it wasn't you, that is."

"I'll have you know I can be perfectly sweet and charming when I want to be," Malfoy informed her snottily.

Hermione made a small sound of disbelief. "You? Doubtful."

"Does this mean we're friends now?" Drake said, looking suddenly nervous again.

Mia nodded slowly. "I suppose so." She glanced up, also nervous. "What will Harry and Ron say?" she asked anxiously.

"You don't need to tell them yet, if you don't want to. They'd form an attack squad specifically for the purpose of offing me."

Mia couldn't help but smile. "Yes, they'd certainly try to do damage."

"But if you want to tell them, it's up to you," Drake added hastily. "I don't want it to seem like I'm forcing you into keeping secrets from them." He looked very much as if that was exactly what he wanted but wasn't keen on saying it.

"Yes, well, I won't tell them immediately," Mia decided. "And I suppose you're not up to telling the Slytherins?"

Drake looked abashed. "No. Not yet."

There came the sound of a door opening a little way down the corridor, and Harry and Ron's voices filled the hall.

"-can't believe he wouldn't let us use magic."

"Someone fixed our potion. They don't just stick to the floor like that."

"Bye," Drake murmured, before slipping into the shadows further down the passageway.

"Bye," Mia said softly, turning to meet Harry and Ron. She was much less paler than she had been before, and her cheeks held a rosy glow. A small smile played on her lips, a peculiar expression on her face, as if she couldn't quite believe had just happened.

"What is it?" Harry asked, smiling perplexedly at her changed attitude.

"Nothing," Mia said with only a small tremor. "I'm fine."

Ron started to say something, but Hermione didn't hear him. The edges of her vision were starting to blur, and the peculiar sensation of floating overcame her once more; she knew the memory was ending.

With a small jolt, she and Malfoy were standing in the Room of Requirement. The Pensieve lay peacefully on the table, showing no sign of the extraordinary events it had just showed them.

Hermione took several deep breaths to calm herself. She could not longer deny what she'd just seen; it was true, then, that Malfoy had offered his friendship and she in turn had willingly accepted. She found herself studying him shrewdly, trying to see if there was any visible sign on his face that within a few weeks he would be as sensitive and caring as he'd been in the Pensieve. From his half-grimace, she didn't think so.

"What do you think?" Mia asked, smiling broadly.

"It was . . . interesting," Hermione managed, no longer able to call it romantic now that she was looking at the adult versions of the people she'd been watching a few minutes ago.

"She called it 'sweet'," Malfoy said grumpily.

Mia laughed. "I don't recall often using that description."

Hermione blushed. "It was, sort of. Especially when Drake offered to take the Veritaserum." From behind her Malfoy groaned.

"It was," Mia agreed and then added dryly, "But not as sacrificing as it might have appeared."

"Hey," Drake protested from where he was now lounging on the couch. "It was a tremendous sacrifice."

"It was Veritaserum, wasn't it?" Hermione asked, wondering if he'd been lying after all.

"Yes," Mia admitted, smiling at her husband. "But it turns out he'd taken it before."

To Hermione's surprise, it was Malfoy, not Drake, who turned a light red.
"For what?" she asked, amused, turning to him instead of Drake.

"Truordar," he muttered quickly.

"Sorry, didn't catch that."

"Truth or Dare," Malfoy said with some difficultly. "We play it in Slytherin sometimes, but in our version we make sure no one can lie."

Hermione couldn't resist from laughing. "How do you know you won't be asked your darkest secret?"

"You don't," Malfoy said, wincing. "However, clapping your hand over your mouth is one way to keep quiet."

Hermione didn't bother asking what kind of questions he'd been asked that he didn't want to answer; she wasn't particularly keen on knowing.

"Blaise found out, actually," Drake said from the couch. "That I was friends with Hermione. He knew when I sent her my first letter. I had griped plenty to him about the fact that I was having an unusual obsession. He was quite unhelpful, actually. Whenever I thought about writing to her at first, he encouraged me to do so, and when I had doubts, he agreed with me, too. We played Truth or Dare one night in January, and he managed to catch me on my way up to bed right before the Veritaserum wore off." It was Drake's turn to wince. "He didn't stop laughing for ages, and the next week he kept on "accidentally" bumping into Hermione and saying, "Hey, Granger, I heard you're into mistletoe." He only stopped when she hexed him."

"I did not hex him," Mia protested vigorously, bright red.

"How did he end up in the hospital wing for two days then because all his hair mysteriously fell out?"

Mia sniffed. "How should I know?" Hermione laughed, and even Malfoy chuckled.

"Bet Blaise loved that," he sniggered.

"Yes, he's just as self-conscience about his image as you are," Mia said pointedly, shutting him up.

There was a silence.

"Do you believe us now?" Drake asked finally, leaning forward to take Mia's hand.

Hermione gulped. She glanced at Malfoy who had the same skeptical expression on his face. "I guess so."

"Yeah," Malfoy said dispiritedly. "Dunno why it had to happen, but I guess it did."

"Not that it will once we're back in the present, though," Hermione said quickly, and Malfoy nodded emphatically. "Everything will go back to being like it was."

"Of course," said Mia, smiling. Both adults looked amused, sharing a knowing glance. Hermione was starting to feel cross that no one seemed to understand that she and Malfoy actually disliked each other.

There was a loud knock on the door.

"Can we please come in now?" Lizzie's voice was easily heard through the door, in what could only be described as a whine. "We have more visitors."

"Yes," Mia called, her smile widening. She quickly got up and crossed to the door; Drake looked miffed for some reason.

Lizzie immediately opened the door and the teens trooped back in, followed by one very familiar, black haired man with glasses.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise, darting forward. Harry grinned at her as he pulled away from a hug with Mia.

"Hermione," he said in astonished delight. "I can't believe you're really here! I thought for sure it was a joke."

"No," Hermione said, still grinning foolishly. She was so incredibly happy to see him. "Is Ron here?"

"He's coming," Harry said, smiling slightly. "He's just using the loo after chatting with his daughter."

"Ron has a daughter?" Hermione said, relieved. "Fabulous! Who is she?"

There was a confused look on Harry's face. "I thought you'd have been introduced already."

Just then Ron walked through the doorway, grinning as well. He gave Mia a hug and then turned to Hermione. "Have you been testing Fred and George's products again?" he teased. "I thought you swore off that when the Creative Color Spray didn't wash off." Mia went bright red, and Drake quickly turned a chuckle into a cough.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, just as happy to see her other best friend. "Who's your daughter?"

"Er . . ." Ron raised an eyebrow, looking at her quizzically. There was a small pause while Hermione looked at him curiously.

"While the adults regain their speech functions," Lizzie interrupted, taking advantage at the lull in conversation and pulling away from where she stood between James and Jamie. "We have something we want to say." She glanced at Malfoy, who was sulking on an armchair, glaring at Harry and Ron. "You'll want to hear this, too."

Jamie also stepped forward, smiling slightly at Ron, who was staring at her sternly. "Let me introduce you to my dad."