End of Happiness and Starting Anew

Diagon Alley

    "Draco!"

    Draco groaned, something only he knew he did. He was fearful of what others might think if they heard him making such noises. He slipped out of bed and dressed himself. He glanced in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect, his mother would have no less. He did not really have any wish to go, but then again, he never had much of a choice around what his parents wanted. The only thing that he and his parents did not fight over was his tormenting of Harry Potter. He relished in the fact that they had no problems with his tendency to annoy all the teachers except Professor Snape as well. His parents, however, felt that this upcoming "Blind Date" as they called it would be something good for him. Even as Lucius said that, though, Draco could see the hatred in his eyes. Draco couldn't place from where the hatred would have come, but it must have been well placed. It was his father, after all.

    "Draco!" his mother almost shrieked. "Down here now! There is NO time to waste!"

    Draco smiled with a sigh. Whoever this date might be with, Draco was sure he would make the best of it. Unless, of course, the girl happened to be some non-pureblood wizard, then and only then he might make a stink. Or, maybe if it was with that Weasley freak. That might make him flip a little.

    Draco walked through the twisting passages to the front door, where his parents were. Both of them were dressed nicely, but Lucius had an unhappy glare on his face.

    "You know it will be good for him, Lucius," Narcissa purred softly. "Plus, you don't have much of a choice about it. Our Dark Lord demanded it." Her voice trailed off as she finished and saw Draco. Lucius spoke before Narcissa could comment.

    "Let's go. We don't want to keep her waiting."

---

    The walk to the fireplace was almost as long to Draco as his family tree. Too long, according to Draco. He was surprised though, to remember that no Malfoy had a firstborn girl, and that firstborn never had any brothers. That firstborn was the most important of them all, he held the passage of tradition. The passage of the Malfoy name, of Malfoy blood.

    "Draco," his father said tonelessly. "Just remember. Our Dark Lord has requested that this happens. Do it correctly."

    Draco smiled amicably and nodded with his assessment. Draco never did anything incorrectly, except where it pertained to that Mudblood, or that Potter fool.

---

    "But, Mum!" Ginny pleaded. "Why do I have to do this? I don't even know this person! How am I supposed to like him after meeting him once?"

    Mrs. Weasley turned a hard stare over her youngest child. "Ginny, you know Dumbledore says that you have to. It was a prophecy made before you were born!"

    Ginny muttered some un-lady-like words, and unhappily allowed her mother to make sure she was perfect. Mrs. Weasley silently led her daughter to the fireplace. Ginny walked in, after throwing some Floo powder in the flames, and yelled, "Diagon Alley!"

    Her mother waved goodbye before Ginny disappeared. She sighed. Mrs. Weasley sincerely hoped that this person would be someone that Ginny liked.

---

    Ginny landed in the Leaky Cauldron and walked sullenly to the private booth to which she was assigned. She was fifteen minutes early. Fifteen minutes to contemplate who it could possibly be that Dumbledore would want her to meet. Then, after that fifteen minutes, she had the entire day with this person.

    "No, Mother," she heard a distinct voice say. "Don't come, I'll tell you all about it afterward." That's when she recognized the voice. It was Draco Malfoy.

    Draco Malfoy was the person Dumbledore wanted her to meet. She silently cursed her luck. Draco wouldn't take this lightly. She stuttered over her thoughts. She didn't think of him as Malfoy. She'd used Draco. Draco. It was like she was friends with him or something. She shuddered, and regained her posture just as Draco walked into the booth. He was looking back, making sure his parents had left. He turned around with a half sneer, half true smile on, but then he saw who was in the booth.

    "Weasley?" he asked incredulously. It was impossible. It couldn't be right. Maybe his parents had read the letter incorrectly. But then he remembered his father's unhappy, dark face. Damn, he thought.

    Ginny stared at Draco, a little shocked, but mostly in curiosity. She'd never realized how different he was when he wasn't around his classmates. It was almost as if he was human. She shook her head and smiled at him. It was almost an apologetic smile.

    Draco sat down at the table across from her. "So, uh, did you know that it would be, uh, me that you would have to meet tonight?" Draco asked, certainly not comfortable talking to her. Not that Draco was never comfortable talking to a girl, but this was a Weasley.

    "Not until I heard you talking to your parents. I could tell. I had to keep my mom from coming as well," she replied. Never before had she ever felt so insecure, so... it was disturbing. She tried to console herself, telling herself that she was just nervous. They started talking, to the surprise of them both, and after a couple of minutes, were complete and total friends. At one point, Ginny put her hand on the table and sighed.

    "Draco, I don't think that we're here just to meet." He looked at her shocked. "I... I," she stammered. "I think... I think I'm falling for you."

    Draco looked at her, surprised. "How... how did you... I think... uh, yeah. Me too," he rasped. She smiled at him, then gasped softly as he placed his hand delicately on hers. Before she knew it, they had both risen and she was all of a sudden, standing mere inches from Draco. He slipped an arm around her waist and his head slowly lowered to her lips. She was pretty short, and she stood on her toes so she could reach him. It wasn't a long kiss, but it surely gave her cause to think. He backed away after a few short seconds, and Ginny sat there in his arms.

    She had never really been kissed by a boy before. Sure, she'd had other boyfriends, and they'd kissed, but this was different. She couldn't place her finger on it. She looked up at Draco, and saw he was similarly affected. He returned the stare, and this time she kissed him. More passionately, if that were possible. It seemed like hours, but after only a minute, they broke apart.

    "I... I think we should... eat dinner now," Ginny said, thoroughly embarrassed. What will Ron say? she thought to herself, but after a few seconds, she didn't really care. They ate in silence, both of them too surprised to talk.

    "What do you think our parents would say?" Draco asked slowly, as if afraid to end the silence. Ginny thought for a second, then burst out in laughter.

    "I don't know about your parents, but I have a feeling all of my brothers wouldn't be too happy with this," she smiled.

    Draco looked at her, lovingly, but with a subtle undercurrent. "Are you... happy with this?"

    Ginny smiled at him. "Why would I have no reason to be?" She was still shocked that Draco was being humane to her. She always looked at him twice, afraid that it wasn't really Draco that was sitting before her. She'd never known Draco to care for someone like her.

    Draco smiled with relief. "Well... I am a Malfoy," he said, a little more unconvincingly than he had wanted.

    Ginny smiled back at him. "So?"

    "Good, as long as that's settled," Draco said with a laugh. He leaned over the table and Ginny did the same. He brushed his lips across hers, and before she knew differently, there was nothing.

[[A/N: Heh... heh. Leave you on a cliffhanger.]]

---

    Ron walked around Romania with Charlie, quite depressed. Harry and Hermione, he knew, were in Diagon Alley, buying school supplies without him. He had tried to stop his mother from making him come, but neither she nor Charlie would hear of it. Charlie was having a grand time, showing Ron all the dragons. At one point, Charlie looked at Ron.

    "Hey, Ron, anything wrong?" he asked.

    "Not really," Ron answered. "Just that I'm here in Romania while my friends are getting school supplies, and Ginny's probably with them taking my place."

    Charlie looked sympathetically at Ron. "Well... if you have to get out of here, I guess I could arrange something for tonight."

    Ron brightened visibly at this and paid rapt attention to Charlie after that.

---

    Harry and Hermione walked all over Diagon Alley. They had finished with their school shopping, and had put it in Harry's room. They continued walking around Diagon Alley, often walking in stores just too look at some random object. They often had snacks. Sometimes they got ice cream, one of the few things that the wizards had adopted from Muggles.

    They got back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Both had had a wondrous day. Harry looked over at Hermione and smiled.

    "Ready for dinner?"

    "Sure," she replied, returning the smile. She and Harry walked over to an empty booth, and heard voices from the one behind Harry. Harry jumped slightly in shock as he recognized Ginny and Draco talking. He spit out his food in surprise. Hermione looked at him, shocked.

    "Its... Draco and Ginny... in the booth behind me."

    Hermione forgot all about the food after that. "Ginny and... Draco?" she asked timidly. Harry nodded.

    After a slight pause, Harry continued. "I think they're more than friends now... and... they've stopped breathing."

    Hermione looked at him in shock, then realized that she wasn't hearing the breathing either. She dropped her utensils and stood up. She slid out of her booth and stuck her head slightly in Ginny and Draco's booth, and pulled Harry over to look. Harry gasped and Hermione fell into his arms, tears streaming down her face.

---

    Adriana jumped behind the dumpster, her breath coming in gasps. Something was trying to kill her. It had already taken her wand. Why did she have to come to Hogsmeade? Her father had told her that something was up. She sucked in her breath and tried not to shake as she heard the thing's breathing come closer.

    "Where are you?" An snake-like hiss found its way to her ears. "Girl. Where are you? You've wandered onto my territory. You are now my prey." She heard its sharp intake of breath as it was trying to find her scent. She willed the creature to leave.

    "Tricking me are you?" it hissed questioningly. "I know where you are girl. Don't trick me again."

    She sat behind the dumpster, shaking uncontrollably. The creature's hissing breath had receded, but she did not believe that it was gone. After thirty minutes of sitting, she cautiously snuck out of the alleyway. She had no idea where she was. Just by stepping on Hogsmeade grounds had caused so many people to appear around her and one of them cast a spell. Teleportus Marseilles.

    She had no idea what this had done, but she figured that since she appeared in a random cemetery, it must have been a teleportation spell of some sort. She sped silently over to her wand. When it was in her hand, she breathed easier. Somehow, the creature had gotten out of the cemetery. She suspected that it was all her fault that it was out. She fished a small ring out of her pocket and whispered, "Demonic fishes, diabolic princes, diamond wishes."

    Suddenly the creature was standing in front of her. She could see its humanoid features. The only differences were its black eyes, humanoid, but the pupil and iris were indistinct, and its pale skin. She screamed, then felt the magic pull her. The creature lunged at her, but it missed as she seemingly apparated.

    She forgot to land properly, and she was a heap on the floor. She looked around. Ollivanders? she wondered. But... why would it be set to send me here?

    "Hello?" she heard. Ollivander himself walked out into the store. "Oh, I've been expecting you. Please come with me, Adriana."

    Adriana jumped in shock, but followed Ollivander swiftly. He proceeded to grab his tape measure and brought her into the back room.

    "Wand arm?" he asked softly and politely. Adriana submitted swiftly, raising her right arm, wand in hand. Ollivander looked at the wand.

    "Ten inches, clover and unicorn horn, flexible, but breakable," he said at her movement. She nodded. "This wand is not yours is it." Not a question, just a statement, Adriana realized.

    "No, its my fathers," she responded softly.

    "Yes... I remember selling it to him. This won't do for you. Here, try this. Eleven inch, quickling blood and hellfire wyrm scale. Extremely bendy, virtually indestructible."

    She picked up the wand gingerly and watched as the tip of the wand exploded with multicolored sparks. She felt an inner warmth as she felt it and tactfully placed the wand on the counter.

    "How... how much do I owe you?"

    "You have no money, I can tell," Ollivander replied, smiling. "Take it, its only one wand."

    Adriana smiled warmly at him, thanked him, then walked out of Ollivanders. She slipped over to the Leaky Cauldron, noting that something was going on. She slid through the crowd and saw that they were all crowding around a private booth. She looked inside and saw two people sprawled on the ground. She looked up and saw someone who looked distinctly familiar, holding a weeping girl with bushy brown hair. Adriana locked stares with the boy, then walked into the booth.

    She could tell there was an air in the booth, but she couldn't describe it. She walked over to the flaming red haired girl and carefully inspected her. It was like she was Petrified, except she was fully flexible. She inspected the blond boy as well, and he was in the same condition. She screwed up her face looking at the boy's face, then gasped as she realized who it was. Oh, Draco'll like this story, she grinned despite herself. She wondered if her cousin would even remember her. She'd been allowed to go to Durmstrang, while he was forced to go to Hogwarts. Not that Adriana liked Durmstrang. She was glad that she was "forced" to transfer to Hogwarts.

    She looked from the girl to Draco, then picked up the girl. She walked out of the booth.

    "Well? Is someone going to help them, or are we gonna stare at them like they're freaks?"

    The black haired boy looked at her. "So... I have to help Malfoy?" Adriana smiled.

    "Oh, you know these two?"

    "Yeah... I'm in Malfoy's year. That's my best friend's sister," he said, motioning to the girl in her arms.

    "So... you would be?" she inquired.

    "I'm Harry Potter. You?"

    "Adriana. Adriana..." Her voice cut short in surprise. "Potter? You've got to be kidding.

    Harry looked at her quizzically. That was a new response, he thought. "No... I'm not. Really. I can show you my scar if you need proof," he said distastefully.

    "No... that's not why. Not because you're the Harry Potter. I couldn't give a damn. Potter... that's my last name."

    Harry looked at her. "You better not be kidding me."

    The brown haired girl turned around, still in Harry's arms. "Who are you?"

    "Adriana Potter. And you are...?"

    "Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you. Relative of Harry?" Hermione asked innocently, as if she hadn't heard the rest of the conversation.

    "I... I don't think I am," she responded hesitantly. "But, we do have the same last name. Harry," she asked, "What was you're mother's name?"

    "L-Lily Evans."

    "Father's?"

    "James Potter."

    "They were married, right?"

    "Um... yeah, I'd think they would have been."

    "What do you mean, would have been?"

    "They died," Harry whispered. "If you want to ask more, then come to my room, I really don't need a crowd right now." He made sure Hermione was all right, then grabbed Malfoy. He walked briskly to his room, and opened the door, allowing Hermione and Adriana in. Then he closed and locked the door. He put Malfoy down on the ground most ungracefully, then pulled out his wand and pointed at the door. "Negatorus Alohomora."

    "He killed them," Harry intoned, specifying Voldemort. Adriana nodded grimly.

    "When? How o- old were you?"

    "Just about one year old." Adriana gasped at that.

    "But... That's how old I was... When's your birthday?"

    "July 31^st."

    "Do you know what time you were born?"

    "No," Harry whispered. "No, I really don't."

    "Because," she hissed importantly, "I was born on August 1^st, early in the morning. I'm told I was born at about 12:02^AM."

    "Oh," Harry said silently, piecing it together. "So... that means we're related doesn't it."

    "Harry," Hermione whispered. "You're twins."

    "Yeah," Adriana replied, equally softly. "We must be. James Potter was an only child. He might have had cousins, but how is it possible that we were born just minutes away from each other?"

    "What year?" Harry asked suddenly.

    "You're in Draco's year?" Adriana asked, getting an affirmative nod from Harry. "Then we were both born in 1980."

    Harry just nodded in agreement. He looked up at her. "Durmstrang?" Hermione looked at Harry in shock. Adriana just nodded, not getting offensive as Hermione expected. Why wouldn't she be annoyed with Harry if he had just, basically, verbally denounced her? she wondered. Adriana looked up.

    "Because, Hermione," she responded to Hermione's thought. "I didn't want to go... my 'father' forced me to."

    Both Harry and Hermione looked at Adriana in shock. Harry recovered faster, though, and asked another question.

    "Who was your 'father'?"

    "Carson Sheba. He married Narcissa Malfoy's sister. I've always thought I was related to... him," she said, pointing at Draco.

    "So... why are you here?"

    "Carson died just a week ago. His wife's been dead for almost ten years now... I really didn't know her. He used to say she died of some Muggle disease called cancer. They had a son, but he's been gone from them for twenty years. Don't know where he went, probably left for America to get away from his parents. He was a Squib." Harry just nodded sagely. Hermione gave Adriana a look of pity.

    "Adriana," Harry said. "Do you need a place to sleep?"

    She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah... kinda."

    "D'you want a room to yourself, or do you not care if you take the extra bed?" Harry asked, motioning to the bed that Adriana was sitting on. Adriana smiled.

    "I'm good..." her voice trailed off, looking distinctly at Hermione, then at the two unconscious people strewn about on the floor.

    "I don't see why I would have a problem with you in the room, Adriana," Hermione said. "You two do seem to be twins. I mean, you both have the same eyes... not hair though." Adriana blushed. She unconsciously touched her reddish hair. Harry looked at her under a new light.

    "Damn... you look just like my... no our mother." Hermione twitched at the curse and looked at Harry in surprise.

    Adriana smiled wanly. "I wouldn't know, I've never seen a picture." Harry turned to Hermione.

    "How are you getting home?"

    "I... well, I didn't think that I'd be here until 11 at night. The incident kinda elongated my visit, didn't it," she said, smiling. Harry smiled in return.

    "Do you want to go home, or do you want to stay here?"

    "I... I think I want to go home."

    "Alright... you can buy Floo powder at the front if you want."

    She smiled again. "I'm out of money." Harry grinned.

    "Well... then I do have a broomstick..." Hermione turned pale at that thought. "Or, you could stay here."

    "I..." she glanced at Harry. He was smiling, probably at her uneasiness at flying home. "I guess we could... fly to my house." Harry's grin grew larger. "But I don't really know where it is from here." Harry's smile became even broader, if that were possible.

    "Hop on then, I know the way. Adriana, I'll be back in about an hour, maybe two, alright?" Adriana nodded her head, and started getting herself comfy in the room. Hermione cautiously sat behind Harry on the broomstick, putting her arms around his waist and holding tight. He jumped up slowly, and Hermione gripped him tighter. They soared out the window.

    Adriana looked around her new settings. She liked it here. She hoped that she'd never have to return to that cemetery. Not everyone gets their wishes though.