Lost and Found

Chapter 10 - Impossibilities

It was impossible. No, it wasn't, Sirius was impossible, Malfoy was just... highly improbable.

"What- where-" She found she wasn't quite able to get the words out.

The pale man seemed to regain his swagger, then. A sneer crossed his face. "So, the great war hero's finally reappeared. Have a good seventeen year cry, mudblood?"

It was her turn to go white, this time, and a tiny, pained gasp escaped her. Something hot and painful pricked behind her eyelids, but she held the tears in check by sheer force of will. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction-

Sirius stood up abruptly, and she turned to look at him in surprise - she'd almost forgotten he was there. He'd never been there before when they'd confronted Malfoy... a tear escaped her, just then, at the thought of the way they'd always defended her, but she held in the rest and hoped no one had caught it.

The dark haired wizard had his fists clenched tightly at his sides, and he looked up at Malfoy with a look of such intense hatred on his face that Hermione froze in her seat.

"Don't - you - ever - call her that."

Malfoy snorted. "What's this, a boyfriend, Granger? I wouldn't have thought you'd have it in you, since your old ones died-"

Sirius lunged for him, but Hermione, used to being the only calm one in these types of situations, grabbed him beneath the arms to keep him back.

Draco raised an eyebrow, very much unimpressed, and Hermione found herself tempted to let Sirius do what he wanted.

"Yes, well, you're looking like you've done well for yourself," Hermione bit back, trying to keep the bitter sarcasm from her words. Draco, in fact, looked reminiscent of a certain werewolf that had once been this age - right down to the patched robes.

He snorted. "What would you know about it? What I hear, you've been living like a common muggle."

"You find something wrong with that?" she asked sourly, as Sirius relaxed slightly. She didn't let him go, though. He was tricky like that, and she didn't want to be responsible for Malfoy being beaten to within an inch of his life. Police inquiries almost always followed that kind of thing.

"Find something wrong with it?" Draco asked incredulously. "You spent seven years learning magic, you nearly got yourself killed every single one of them - and now you completely ignore everything you learned. You should at least pretend to be a wizard, even if you're not worthy of it."

Hermione's brow knit in confusion, then - there was something wrong with the way he was baiting her. It wasn't quite the same, in just the places that counted...

"I'm sure you'd know all about being a wizard," Sirius said in a tight voice. "Despite the fact that your family's the most reviled pack of dogs that ever tried to learn magic. Insulting someone you hated when you were a schoolboy - I'm sure your father's proud-"

Draco's mouth fell open in rage, and his face turned pink with anger. Hermione realized, then, that she hadn't mentioned to Sirius that Lucius was dead-

"Stupef-"

"Protego!" She pulled her wand quickly, making the spell disappear harmlessly. But she'd had to let go of Sirius, and now he was moving toward Malfoy.

"Sirius!" she yelled. "No!"

A group of people had surrounded them, some curious, some wearing disapproving expressions. Surprisingly, a lot of them were young - very young - and those disapproving looks were directed toward her and Sirius.

Malfoy seemed to be trying to fire off another spell, but Sirius would easily beat him to the punch - probably literally, at that. Hermione moaned, and realized she would have to do something drastic.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Everything froze, for just a second.

Draco gaped at her.

"Granger - you - why?" he managed, flabbergasted.

She fell back into her chair heavily, putting a hand to her head and sighing.

"Can we please stop acting like the children we all used to be and sort this out like mature adults?" she asked in a muffled voice.

Sirius, being frozen, could do nothing but scowl.

"Fuck," he muttered instantly, and he sat down too, ignoring the man beside him. "Dumbledore's going to be pissed, isn't he?"

Hermione found herself caught between unfreezing Sirius, telling Malfoy off for his language, and just banging her head against the table. She decided to do the first two, in order.

"Finite Incantatum."

The unhappy statue reverted to normal, and she turned a disapproving look on Malfoy. "Can't you swear at me when there's not a bunch of thirteen year olds staring at us?"

The platinum-haired man snorted. "They hear me say worse stuff on a day to day basis. Bet you never knew our family teaches hexing and cursing."

She rolled her eyes as Sirius sat down next to her, silent. Only then did she realize he might be angry with her.

Well shit. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. She winced as she realized she'd just told Malfoy not to curse, but it really didn't count since it was in her head.

"Well," the man she remembered as a boy drawled. "Perhaps we should wait until I finish my Hogsmeade duty to go up and get my dueling second. Not that I really do that great a job, anyway - s'posed to keep the little brats from acting up, but they do it anyway."

A few of the children elbowed each other at this and smirked. The crowd began to disperse.

She scowled. "I meant talking it out, not dueling. Honestly..." Then, a realization sunk in. "Malfoy..." Hermione said cautiously. "You mean to tell me... you work for Hogwarts?"

His face twisted awfully and she knew he was biting back a nasty retort forcefully. "Yes, Granger, I work at Hogwarts. For Dumbledore. As a teacher." He glared at Sirius, as though to dare him to say something.

Sirius, however, was not saying much of anything. To either of them.

"Well," Malfoy said after a moment. "What are talking out, anyway?"

Hermione's lips thinned to a line. "You mean you don't even remember what we were fighting about?"

He shrugged. "Instinct, woman. You always did get on my nerves."

She repressed the instinct to turn him into a ferret. "This is what we were arguing about. The part where you immediately attack me because of my blood ties and affiliations with d-dead friends-" she stumbled over the word and felt her heart give a lurch. Sirius appeared to forget his anger with her for a moment, because his hand moved to grab hers reassuringly beneath the table. She grasped it desperately.

Malfoy watched her with a foreign expression, and she suddenly wished she hadn't tried to talk to him. She wished she'd just left, walked or apparated home (despite the fact it would probably have made her throw up yet again).

He spoke, then, quietly. "Habit dies hard, Granger. Truth be told, I meant what I said - Dumbledore would give me more than the usual guilt trip for this little episode. The man's been hoping you'd come out of your shell for years, and if I'd screwed it up..."

She realized what it was on his face, then. And she decided quite suddenly that she didn't like it at all. No, not at all.

Pity.

From a Malfoy.

How low had she sunk?

"I don't need anything from Dumbledore," she told him, but her voice shook slightly. "Him and his manipulations cost me everything-"

"You think he doesn't know that?" Malfoy said in a troubled voice, and she found herself in a most unlikely situation. He was defending Dumbledore. "He's not happy with the outcome, I assure you. Especially after that episode with Black, when you started pining-"

Hermione's glare made him chuckle. "What? Still sensitive about that? Lord, it's been seventeen years, like you said-"

"Nineteen."

He blinked. "What?" he asked her.

"Nineteen," Hermione gritted out. "It's been nineteen years since Sirius disappeared."

Draco snorted. "Ah well. Does it really matter, in the long run?"

She tightened her hand almost imperceptibly, but was almost certain that Sirius had caught it. "No," she whispered with a swallow. "I guess it doesn't, to you."

Those two years had made all the difference. Every single bit. To Harry and Ron, they would've meant the world.

"Fuck, Granger, don't cry- what'd I say this time-"

Sirius slid his hand up her arm to clasp it helpfully, and she bit her lip. The tears stopped again.

Malfoy's face was priceless, though, she had to admit that. He was really beginning to worry about something - probably his own hide, once Dumbledore found out about whatever it was - and it wasn't an expression she was used to seeing on a Malfoy.

"What- what is it you teach, exactly?" she asked him, trying to compose herself.

Draco eyed her a moment before continuing. "Potions, of course."

She laughed once. "You terrorize the students like Snape used to?" she asked. "Favor the Slytherins much?"

Malfoy waved his hand. "Of course not, imbecile. The students love me. I'm the only one that'll tell them to their faces that they're yappy little bastards. Well... and mean it, anyway." He leaned back lazily, as though consciously ignoring the way he'd been taught to sit straight. "Snape still holds the position of most-hated teacher. I wouldn't want to deprive him."

"Of course not," Sirius spoke ironically. "We couldn't have poor Snivellus losing his fan crowd."

Draco scowled at him. "Just who are you, anyway? I know I never went to school with you. Beauxbatons, then? Or, no, you look more like Durmstrang..."

Hermione choked and spoke before Sirius could respond. "Don't you have to get your students together about now?" she asked. "I seem to remember the ending time being three, and it's already four fifteen-"

Malfoy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as though caught in some despicable act. "Yeah, well. They're a pain to round up. I figure if I let them run around screaming a bit longer, they'll lose some excess energy and let me herd them together more easily..."

Hermione, surprisingly, was beginning to get an idea of why Malfoy was loved by his students.

But as he turned his attention back to Sirius, she grasped at another subject. "What kind of stuff are you teaching the seventh years?" she asked quickly. "Doesn't it change every year?"

Malfoy blinked. "Granger... are you actually trying to make small talk with me?"

She frowned. "What? Is that wrong, or just beneath your dignity?"

He shrugged. "Well then. Right now, I'm having them study some of the more complicated theory behind Polyjuice potion-"

Both Hermione and Sirius choked back laughter and he frowned.

"Look, if you were just going to belittle it - although I really thought better of you, Granger, being a goody two shoes-"

"No!" she gasped. "No, it's not that- it's just- just- oh my, I don't know how to tell you. Well, you remember second year, when the Chamber got opened-"

His frown deepened, but he nodded anyway. "Long time ago, but yes."

She swallowed the laughter that threatened to consume her. "Well, Harry and Ron and me, we thought you- well, so we brewed some Polyjuice potion and they impersonated Crabbe and Goyle to try and get some information..."

Draco gaped and she did burst out laughing this time. "That was you?" he said, and for a moment, she feared he might tell Dumbledore on her as though she were still a second year. But she knew better. The only reason she'd even thought to tell him was the fact that she was beyond expulsion or any such punishment now.

"Well actually," she managed a moment later. "I was stuck in a bathroom stall looking like a cat. But that's a completely different story."

Sirius chuckled. "I remember hearing about that one- damn, you don't know what we would've done with a Polyjuice potion. Would've made your little expedition seem tame by comparison."

Malfoy turned to him yet again, and Hermione gave up.

What am I afraid of, anyway?

Sirius would have to let people know at some point. It wasn't as though it would do any real harm, either...

But...

A disturbing thought crossed her mind.

Maybe, just maybe, she was... holding on to him. Keeping him from leaving, because she was afraid to be alone again.

"I..." she looked at them uncertainly, then got up from her seat. "I think I'm going to go check out that store. Go ahead and meet me in there if you want, I shouldn't be long," she said to Sirius. And then, with a quick look at Malfoy, "Nice seeing you again." What a strange twist of fate that she would say that to him, of all people. It was almost true, too...

She bolted for the triple "W" and hoped none of Malfoy's students took it into their heads to prank her while she was in there, for trespassing against their beloved Potions teacher.

.

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.

.

.

"Well that was interesting behavior, even for her," Malfoy commented as he watched Hermione run for the shop.

Sirius tried to find a way to take that sentence in the wrong way, but couldn't. The glare that had appeared on his face left again. "Yes, well, she's been very jumpy lately. Strange things have been going on." He wondered idly if Draco had figured out that he was speaking to a family member, albeit a far removed and intentionally forgotten family member.

Draco turned to look at him appraisingly, taking in his muggle clothing and lack of wand. Sirius did glare at him this time. "Have a problem?" he asked coolly.

"Why yes," Malfoy responded, in just such an icy tone. "I would like to know why you tried to attack me."

Sirius tensed. "Well, you might not remember - you were too busy trying to rip open a couple of my friend's emotional scars. You tried to curse me."

Malfoy seemed unplussed. "So I did. And I seem to remember some comment about my father."

"I said he must be proud," Sirius muttered. "Believe me, it was intended to insult you."

Draco scowled. "Who are you?"

His first cousin, once removed, looked into his eyes, and said, "Sirius Black."

Malfoy froze.

And then, his eyes flashed angrily. "You know, I should probably jinx you for that one. Granger herself would probably do it for me. She's got a temper where he's concerned, after all..."

Sirius' interest perked, despite the fact that he wanted to prove his identity with a certain very frightening wanted poster he had kept in his pocket... "How so?"

Malfoy's face was quite serious, and just a little bit vindictive. "Probably shouldn't tell you. I'm not supposed to know, after all."

Ah. He was baiting him. He'd seen the instant of notice in Sirius' expression.

"I assure you, I can keep a secret." How ironic, and how wrong that was.

Draco leaned in, then, and Sirius knew he was taking a tangible and vicious pleasure in this. "Everyone knows Bellatrix Lestrange killed Sirius Black, even if they don't all know how." His tone indicated that he was one of the select few privy to this information. Sirius tried not to snort. "The short of it - Granger used an Unforgivable on her."

Sirius stared at him.

"The Cruciatus?" he asked nervously. He couldn't see her doing that, not Hermione-

"Avada Kedavra," Drace said maliciously, as though waiting for the moment when Sirius would turn tail and run, screaming.

Fuck.

Not to quote Draco, or anything.

"She wasn't... put into Azkaban?" Sirius asked, something in his stomach sinking horribly. He'd told her she was silly not to think he or Lupin would avenge her so viciously... and now, he realized, he was on the receiving end of a guilty gift.

Malfoy seemed slightly put out that he wasn't more impressed. "No, of course not," he snapped. "You really think Dumbledore would let it get out that one of his precious three had been using Unforgivables? That's why I said I shouldn't tell you, you dolt."

"Professor Malfoy!" a young voice called from behind them. The two turned to look at the boy that had called for Draco. A young Hufflepuff in full prefect regalia (that was to say the badge), his eyes were glazed, as though he'd eaten just a little too much candy and just lost his sugar high. "I think we're all ready to go now. Except Darla, but you know she's-"

"Always dawdling, yes," Draco muttered. "Alright then, why don't you have someone go get her? I want everyone back here in five minutes, or we leave without them. And-" his voice lowered ominously, "I will know if someone has been... forcibly detained."

The boy grinned. "Yessir," he said.

And, as he ran off, apparently to fetch a certain girl...

Malfoy pulled out a bit of parchment.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he murmured, tapping his wand to the paper.

Sirius stared at him.

And Draco's eyes widened as he watched the lines that spread out from the parchment... and a single, very important name that stood out next to him.

"You-"

Bam.

There was an explosion from the building with the triple "W"s, and a very high, very distinctive scream was heard.