A Good Time For Change

Chapter 8

On the Quidditch Pitch...

As if on cue, Kelli walked onto the Pitch, holding a bunch of brooms under her left arm, and one in her right hand. There was something attached to it. Using a magnifying charm, she made her voice sound out around the pitch. "Since there isn't any surf here in Scotland," Ron snorted, "I've come up with my own method."

Kelli snapped her shoes into a harness on the broom, picked up the others, and then lifted off. It was like surfing, but better. "I made some extra harnesses," she said, wind whistling past her ears, while she did a loop-de-loop. "If you guys want to try!" She soared around the pitch at nearly the speed of sound, and stopped quickly by the girls' seats. After tossing them each a broom, she zoomed to the boys.

"Care to give it a go?" she asked. Eyebrows raised ever so slightly, she tossed each of them a broom. "It's even better then normal flying. This way, you don't get slivers stuck up your arse! Come to think of it, it's even better than surfing! And that's saying a lot, coming from somebody who's spent every summer since she was five surfing California!" Then, she was off.

Harry looked at Ron, Ron looked at Matt, and Matt looked at Harry. "Think it's safe?" Matt asked.

They looked at Kelli, who was showing the girls how to do loop-de-loops. "Probably not," Harry said, "but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun!" Snapping himself into the harness, he zoomed over the edge of the stands, and joined the others in no time flat.

"Well, it's like they always say..."

"What's that?"

"You can sink or swim, but with a bloody broomstick the only thing you can do is fall several hundred feet out of the air. Have fun!" and Matt was gone.

After taking a deep breath, Ron hooked on his harness. Just as he was about to take off, a certain, ginger-haired cat decided it was the perfect moment to use his leg as a scratching pole.

"YOUCH!"

"Ron!" Kelli shouted, pointing at the red-haired figure that was tumbling out of the stands. He appeared to be attached to some sort of ginger-colored fur ball. His cursing was extremely loud, and exceptionally creative.

"Oh, no!" Ginny cried, as Kelli went into a dive. The others looked on in horror as she sped towards the falling black blob that was Ron. Just as they both looked about ready to hit the ground, Kelli flicked her wand, and shouted a spell.

Everyone let out a sight of relief as they watched the witch, the wizard, and the cat float safely the last ten feet to the ground, their broom harnesses unbuckling themselves. Then, they watched in amusement as the witch proceeded to give the wizard the telling-off of his life. He practically quailed in fear. The witch scooped up the cat, and after one last glare at Ron, started to stalk towards the castle. Ron tore after her.

Meanwhile, the friends in the air were barely staying that way, as they were laughing so hard. Then, they watched amused as Ron caught Kelli on the arm. She whirled around, and glared down at him. How someone who was five foot four could look down on someone who's six foot two is beyond me; Kelli seemed to manage it quite well, and Ron faltered for a second. He whispered something into her ear that caused her to go red as her scarf, and she dragged him inside without a word. Ron waved cheerfully at the others before the doors to the front hall slammed shut with a resounding 'BANG!' and Crookshanks barely made it through to the great outdoors alive, and complete with tail.

Gwen, Matt, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were slowly floating to the ground, clutching their sides and gasping for air. After they'd been laughing on the ground for several minutes, Ginny looked at her watch, and jumped up.

"Oh, dear!" she cried. Hopping up, she quickly unbuckled her harness.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, shoving a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"I--er--wanted to get ready for tomorrow, you know, train ride back here and what-not." Her eyes darted from Hermione to the others, and she hoped dreadfully they couldn't tell she was lying.

"All right, Gin'," Hermione said, slowly. "We'll catch up with you at dinner. 'Kay?"

Ginny nodded, and made a mad dash for the school.

"Hey," Matt said, looking around. "Where's the little tike? You know, Kelli's mini-me?"

"Oh, please!" Gwen rolled her eyes. "Shawn doesn't even look a shred like Kelli! At least, not most of her. The eyes look a bit alike in shape...."

"That's obviously not my point," Matt replied with a groan. "You do realize that I was asking where she was. Don't you?"

Gwen scoffed. "Of course!"

"Well, then," Harry said, "where is she?"

"How should I know?" Gwen asked, innocently.

Groan.

"What?"

"Just shut it, Gwen," Matt said, helping his sister up.

"Oh, alright, but not for long, mind you."

The four of them trudged, slowly, mind you, back to the castle.

~*~~*~~*~

"Ron," Kelli said, pulling away for a second. He feverishly attacked her lips. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him forward, holding him there. "Ron. Listen to me. Just for a second, okay?" The hormonal, teenage boy groaned, but nodded. "Now, look, I really like you, and you obviously like me," he grinned, "but we haven't really talked about us yet."

Ron looked surprised. "What's to talk about? I like you. You like me. We both like to snog each other silly. What else do you want?"

It was Kelli's turn to look stunned. "What else do I want?" she repeated, dully. Then, she said it again, and sounding furious, "What else do I want Ron? There's more to a relationship than snogging and liking one another!"

Ron rolled his eyes. "I know that," he said, pressing her back against the wall. "But can't that wait 'til later?" he teased.

Kelli sighed. She put her right hand on his left shoulder, and pulled him forward. But, before letting him kiss her, she whispered, "Promise we'll talk about it at some point?"

"Promise," he said, his words muffled by Kelli's lips.

After several minutes of feverish kissing, Kelli pulled back and glanced at her watch. Her eyes grew wide. "Shit!" she cried, pulling away. "I've got to go! We'll continue this later!" Then, she dashed out of the empty Charms classroom.

Ron sighed, and sat down in a desk. He ran his hands through his already-disheveled, red hair. Risking a glance in the mirror, he noted that his hair looked slightly like Harry's, but red. That caused smile, indefinitely. His freckled face was flushed, and a goofy grin replaced his usual, nonchalant, often-faked smile. He also noted that there were several, small lip prints down the side of his throat and across his cheeks and nose. Fingering them happily, he exited the classroom.

~*~~*~~*~

As Ginny stepped onto the top of the Astronomy Tower, she was grabbed, and slammed roughly up against the stone. "I'm glad to see you, too," she said, with a smirk. A sigh of relief came from the other figure as he released her.

"Heavens. It's just you, darling. I was afraid it was--" the man started, but Ginny placed a finger on his lips.

"Shhh... It's okay. I love you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He let out a real smile and put his hands around her waist. Pulling her closer to him, until they were so close there was no part of them not touching, he kissed her nose. This caused her to giggle.

"Are you laughing at me?" he asked with a mocking tone of frustration and indignant pleasure.

"Maybe..." she replied with a coy smile.

"Well, we'll have to put a stop to that, now, won't we?"

"Only one way to do that."

He smiled. "I sure know what that is, don't I?"

She would've replied, but he enveloped her in a kiss that seemed to destroy all boundaries. They were not two people, but one. Not from two worlds, but in a world they created all on their own.

[A/N: Okay, very cheesy, I know, but what do you expect from two young lovebirds?]

When Ginny pulled away, he smiled. "I love you, Virginia," he said, admitting love for the first time in his life, fingering her silky, strawberry curls.

Ginny gently pushed a strand of his silvery-blonde hair away from his face. Her brown eyes were shining. "I love you, too, Draco."

***

[A/N: This section of the chapter gets rather angsty. *evil smile* Anyway, just a heads up. Oh, by the way, the next chapter is going to be extremely long. Just a warning! On with the show! *smiles*]

Kelli arrived breathless in the study. Lucius was sitting behind his desk, and smiled widely.

"Hello, darling," Lucius said, standing up from the desk and walking towards her.

Kelli1 cringed and tried to run away, but Kelli2 merely smiled and said, "Hello to you, too, handsome." Kelli1 just about threw up.

"How are things going?" Lucius asked. Kelli1 tried to yell, 'Bloody awful, thank you very much, and it's all your fault!' but Kelli2 took charge and shrugged. Lucius led her out of the study and into the hall. Kelli2 smiled at their new direction, but Kelli1 feebly attempted opening her mouth and screaming in horror.

When they arrived in the master bedchamber, Lucius told Kelli to sit on the bed. She did so. Kelli2 basked in the glory of what was about to happen, and Kelli1 shivered and shook in fear, like a leaf.

"It's time for us to take our relationship to the next level," Lucius said.

"Oh, and how do you want to do that?" Kelli2 asked seductively. She slinked over to Lucius and put her arms around his neck. Kelli1 screamed in horror as Lucius mouth came down on her own.

When Lucius finally pulled away, hungrily, he asked, "Anxious are we?" with a smile. Kelli2 thought his smile made him look dashing; Kelli1 thought it made him look like a stark-raving banshee. Of course, Kelli2 took over and pulled his mouth back on hers.

Two Hours Later...

Kelli2 had receded back into the dark crevices of Kelli's mind after Lucius fell asleep. Kelli gathered up her clothing, crying bitter, silent tears. After getting dressed, she Apparated back to Gryffindor Tower. (Well, technically, we know that she didn't apparate she made a time wrinkle, or perhaps a teleportation, but for the purpose of this story, we'll just call it Apparating.)

Luckily, nobody was there. She rushed to the girl's bathroom, and got in the shower, weeping softly. After nearly half an hour, she got out, dried off, and got dressed. Then, she became violently sick in the toilet. At that point, Hermione came in.

Hermione heard Kelli's retching sounds and hurried to the stall. Banging on the door, she asked, "Kelli? Is that you? Are you okay? We've been looking all over for you."

She was answered by the flushing sound of the toilet. Kelli came out, even paler than usual--if that was actually possible--with purple bags under her eyes, and the eyes themselves red from all the crying. Hermione immediately enveloped her in a hug.

"Oh, dear, what happened? Was it Ron? Was it Malfoy? I heard Ginny mention he was still around..."

"Yes..." Kelli whispered, her face in Hermione's shoulder.

"What'd Malfoy do to you? I'm going to go find him right now and," she used her hands to show what she'd do to Malfoy.

"No, no, he's not here. I'm just...overreacting. I just...am not feeling good."

Hermione pulled away and looked long and hard in Kelli's face. Is she lying? She looks really upset. She was definitely crying, too... "What'd Malfoy do?"

"Draco didn't do anything, honest!" Kelli said.

Hermione looked shocked. "Did you just call Malfoy...Draco?"

Kelli nodded. "What, doesn't he deserve a name, too? I mean, it's a wretched name, really. Draco. But...it's not like Ginny and Ron like it when he calls them Weasley. Maybe he just does it 'cause they call him Malfoy." She shrugged.

"You still didn't tell me what's going on." Hermione seemed determined.

Kelli had to think of a lie, and quick. She gave up, telling her the truth, but withholding any real, important information. "I want to tell you so badly, 'Mione... I just can't. I'm sorry..." She hung her head, trailing off.

Hermione sighed, and put an arm around her friends shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything. Don't you?"

"Not this. I can't tell anyone this. Please don't say anything about this conversation." Then, she rushed out of the bathroom. Inside her, a tense and foreboding feeling was beginning to grow. And she didn't like it. Not one bit.

An hour later...In the Gryffindor Common Room...

"Harry?" Hermione whispered, snuggling up against him in a large armchair. She was sitting in his lap in front of the fire, and she looked up in his face. He looked down at her and smiled.

"Yes?"

"I'm really worried about Kelli."

That startled him into alertness. "What? Why?"

"Well, earlier I found her in the bathroom, throwing up. When she came out of the stall, her eyes were all read like she'd been crying. I asked her if Ron had done something, and she said no. Then I asked her if Malfoy did something, and her eyes went wide. She started crying again. Oh, it was awful. She got the point across very clear that Ron didn't do anything. Then, when I asked her again if Malfoy did something, she said that Draco didn't do anything. She was very insistent on that point. Absolutely refused to call him Malfoy, and everything! It's so weird...Somehow; I get the strange feeling that maybe it has something to do with Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father. Don't know why, of course, but I do. Women's intuition, perhaps?"

Harry seemed to meditate on this for a moment. "Well, I'm stumped. You're sure she won't tell you?" Hermione nodded, fervently. "I don't really know what we can do. Keep trying to get her to talk, if you can. Then...we'll just keep an eye on her."

"I just wish I could figure out what's bothering her...it has something to do with one Malfoy or another." Harry came so close to telling her about their Malfoy family relation. Oh well, he thought, she'll find out soon enough. He left it at that.

***

Gwen was sitting next to her brother Matt on a couch in the Ravenclaw common room. Matt had conveniently read Professor Flitwick's mind and found out the location and password. It was by chance, of course. They were having a discussion about their friends.

"There's something odd about that little Potter girl," Matt said, decidedly. "She seems so nice, and a lot like Kelli. But..."

"There's a sense of darkness in her," Gwen finished for him.

Matt nodded, though he still looked rather puzzled at the thought. "I don't know why I'm saying this, but for some weird reason, she seems like Slytherin material." To his shock, Gwen nodded, albeit slowly.

"I think you're right. Also agreeing, of course," she added, quickly, "that I don't know why. As you said, she seems so nice. I really want to like her, I do. Even if it's just because she seems so likable. I'm utterly confused." Gwen shook her head at her lack of eloquence.

"I know what you mean, sis," Matt said, patting his sisters arm. "So..." he said, getting an idea, "do you have any idea what Kelli's planning for the Slytherin's welcome?"

Gwen smiled an evil, little grin. "Yup." She didn't say anything else. Just grinned.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me?"

Gwen looked shocked. "And spoil the surprise? Of course not!"

Matt sighed. "Women. I'll never understand 'em."

"As well you shouldn't."

"Whatever," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"So, what do you think is up with Kelli? I know we haven't been best friends for forever, or anything, but I can't tell what's wrong. Plus, and it's the weirdest thing, her mind's blocked off. I couldn't get at it with a pick-ax and a shovel."

"Me either. But did you see her, earlier? She looked like a train wreck!"

Gwen nodded. "It's weird. I always thought of humans as so simple before. Now..." She shook her head. "They're just one, big puzzle."

"The kind with about fifty missing pieces?"

"Yup."

"Thought so."

"They're such queer things," Gwen continued, as Matt nodded, grudgingly. "I haven't a clue why Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy. He was much better off with a wooden head."

On the Hogwarts Express...

"Oy, Fred!" George called, waving at his twin as he entered the compartment. "I found the whole lot of 'em! Plus an extra!"

"I see that," Fred panted, lugging two trunks behind him. He looked at Shawn. "And I suppose you're somehow related to somebody in the compartment?" he asked her.

Shawn nodded. "I'm Kelli's little sister."

"Ah," Fred said with a smile. "Another Roberts."

"Actually," Kelli said, glancing at her friends, "it's Potter."

The Weasley twins stopped dead in their tracks, and the trunks flopped down with a loud 'thud'. "Er, mind running that past us again?" George asked. Fred's mouth was hanging open.

Kelli and Shawn launched into their long, involved story, with interjections from Ginny, Hermione, Matt, Harry, Ron, and Gwen, all throughout. By the end, the train had been going strong for half an hour. Fred and George were staring at the younger students in awe.

George glanced at his watch, and jumped up, dragging his twin. "Er...we have to go find a friend." He elbowed his twin. "Right, Fred?"

"What?" Fred asked. George shot him a meaningful glance. "Oh--oh yeah! That friend. Sorry," he said, turning to the others. "We'll catch you at the sorting!"

Kelli smiled, and settled back into her seat next to Ron. He smiled, and put an arm around her shoulders. She sighed happily, and nuzzled up next to him.

"Ah..." Gwen and Matt said in unison. "Look at the lovebirds."

"There happen to be a bit more in this compartment than the usual dose, too." Ginny smiled. She had a little secret of her own, and wasn't about to divulge it. "I promised some friends I'd sit with them. See you later!" With a wave, she exited the compartment.

Just as she'd left, the door slid open again. Standing there was none other than Draco Malfoy, with his thugs, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. He sneered. "Well, lookie here. If Weasel hasn't snagged himself a girlfriend."

"No, duh, Malfoy," Ron said, pulling Kelli closer to him. He sneered right back at the silver-haired boy. "In case you didn't notice, some of us are straight, and prefer girlfriends to...well...you know." Ron smiled maliciously, as Kelli snuggled up closer to him, eyes closed, tucking her legs underneath her, trying desperately to ignore the grating voice of her cousin.

Normally, this would've risen at least a "How dare you!" out of Malfoy, but not today. He'd spotted the other five passengers in the compartment. "Another Roberts?" he inquired, nodding at Shawn. The small girl nodded. Then, he turned his gaze on the twins. "And who have we here?"

"Gwen and Matt Malfoy."

Draco froze. "Excuse me. I must've heard you wrong. What'd you say your surname was?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and leaned forward in her seat. "Mal-foy. Not that hard, dumbass."

Draco's eyes grew ever wider. "What?" he screeched. It was a manly screech, of course. Crabbe and Goyle looked stunned. "Who do you think you are?"

It was Matt's turn to roll his eyes. He stood up, and walked toward Draco. "I thought we already covered this. Matt," he pointed at himself, "and Gwen," he pointed at his sister, "Malfoy." Matt smiled. "Ta-ta!" he said, shoving the boy out of the compartment and closing the door.

"Bravo!" Hermione said.

"You know, usually I'm the one who's got him at my throat. But, hey, it's your lucky day! He picked his distant cousins to fight with instead of his first!" Harry smiled, triumphantly.

Kelli chuckled, eyes still closed. She opened them, and planted a kiss on Ron's cheek. "I have to go find someone. I'll be back in a bit. Buy something from the cart witch for me?" she asked, dumping a handful of galleons in his lap. She rushed out before he could say anything.

Kelli tore after Malfoy, a package grasped in her hand. "Draco!" For the second time that day, Draco was stunned. He turned around slowly.

"Yes?" he asked. "Something I can do for you?"

"Er..." Kelli blushed, and wrung her hands around the package. She thrust it into his hands. "This is yours, I believe." Then, she ran in the opposite direction.

Crabbe and Goyle's eyebrows were at their hairline, and Draco's were well on the way. "This is turning out to be a very weird day," he said, dismissing them and entering his compartment.

Crabbe and Goyle went off to find the snack cart witch, and Draco settled down to open the package from the Roberts girl. The first thing he saw when he opened it was a letter in neat, slanted script. It read:

-Draco

I cannot stand formalities. To my friends, you may be Malfoy, but to me, you're only Draco, or perhaps Cousin.

His eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch, higher, but he continued to read.

Yes, that's right, Cousin. I know, I know, impossible, right? Wrong! My father is/was (I'm not sure) Landon Potter. His adopted, little sister was...Narcissa Potter, now Narcissa Malfoy. That means we're cousins. I think. That also means that your arch nemesis--if you prefer the theatrical term--is, in fact, your cousin. I think. Don't scream in horror, Draco. Just because Harry's your cousin doesn't mean you have to be nice to him or anything. I have some extremely horrid cousins who treat me like crap, and you're free to do so, as well.

Potter was his...his cousin?

Anyway... Oh, the present. Right. It's...er...a photo album. Of you, me, and Harry, and our families. Sort of weird, I know. Especially since there aren't any pictures. However, I sort of labeled them how I'd like the pictures to be. It's written as if you were the one writing the labels.

Enjoy.

Your ever-loving cousin,

Kelli Michelle Potter

P.S. I know about you and V.W.

Draco's mouth was hanging open, but he quickly snapped it closed. Malfoy's don't let their mouths hang open. They also aren't surprised. It's very undignified to look surprised and have your mouth hanging open. He slowly opened the leather album to the first page. The first label was in the same script as the letter.

Me, Harry, and Kelli in the sandbox. Yes, Kelli is dumping sand in my hair, and I'm not noticing. And yes, Harry really is trying to dig the sand out of his diaper. Oh, and yes, that is a green crayon up my nose. I happen to like green. In the background are: Mum, Dad, Aunt Leeann, Uncle Landon, Uncle James, Aunt Lily, and Teddi. Cousin Hubert took this picture--I think he's one of Aunt Leeann's cousins (wait, I think she's a muggle). Or maybe it was one of Mum's...

Draco smiled involuntarily. Smiling involuntarily is not something Malfoy's do. He stopped. Then, he flipped through some pages, not reading them, and stopped, reading a label about fifteen pages in.

Me and Harry tossing popcorn at each other at a Muggle cinema. Kelli's the one reading Hogwarts: A History for the millionth time during the daylight scenes. I always knew she was an odd one. Shawn's sitting in between Harry and I, you know, the one with all the popcorn in her hair? Aunt Lily took this picture.

This time, Draco laughed out loud. He truly could imagine himself and Harry as children, viciously chucking popcorn at each other. However, it wasn't that vicious in his imagination. It was...friendly? Several pages later, he read:

Cousin Aurora's wedding. I'm the one picking my nose, Harry's the one waving and grinning like a maniac, and Kelli's the one glaring at us from down in the aisle, right in front of Aurora. She looks furious, doesn't she? I think that Great-Uncle Alvie took this picture.

It just went on and on like that. All those empty pages made Draco feel something very odd. Could it be...sadness? And...and regret? No, it couldn't be. Malfoy's don't feel that sort of thing. But...he'd already broken a lot of rules about being a Malfoy, hadn't he?

On the last twenty pages were spots for events at Hogwarts. A couple of them were:

Harry, Kelli, and me: all are looking nervous about the sorting. Harry and Kelli went into Gryffindor, obviously, and I went into Slytherin. That's okay. I'll still see them around. Charlotte Zabini took this picture. She said it was for posterity, but I stole it from her, because she was being stupid. As usual...

Harry, Kelli, and me are out by the lake on the last day of first year. Yup, that's the giant squid in the background. Oh, and the red-haired blur going by is Ron Weasley. Pansy Parkinson is chasing him, but you can't see her. Percy Weasley took this, because I paid him a galleon, and he said he wanted to buy some new quills.

Harry and I dueling at the first--and only--meeting of the dueling club. Kelli took this picture after she put Pansy into a headlock and got her sent to the infirmary.

Kelli watching in confusion as Harry and I compete to catch the snitch. Hermione took this one, I think. I'm pretty sure she used her reposable--or something like that--camera for this one. Notice that it doesn't move. Odd...

Kelli, Harry, and me on the first Hogsmeade weekend of our Hogwarts lives. Colin Creevy--or Creepy, as I call him--took this picture. Weird little fellow...

Kelli and I cheering on Harry at the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. We were both so jealous of him! Jack Conner--a Ravenclaw 6^th year--took this picture for some sort of yearbook, or some such thing.

There were only three more labels in the book.

Harry, Kelli, and me on the Hogwarts Express, headed for our fifth year! Gwen took this one for us. I think she borrowed Creepy's camera. Damn thing smoked up the compartment, too.

Then, there were about ten empty pages. There was a label on the second to last page. There was space for three separate pictures.

Harry, Kelli, and I accepting our diplomas at our graduation. Mum took the first one, Aunt Lily took the second, and Cousin Hubie took this last one.

Then, on the very last page, was a final label.

Harry, Kelli, and I taking one last look at Hogwarts before entering the world as adults. We're standing by the lake, where we took that picture in first year. It's interesting to see how much we've changed. After we leave Hogwarts, nothing is ever going to be the same again. But I know this: Harry, Kelli, and I, will always be friends. Always.

He could almost remember the times when the pictures were taken. The sad thing was, they never had been. Draco almost wept for his lost years of happiness. However, he did not. Weeping is simply not something that Malfoy's do. However, he did come dangerously close.

A knock came from the door. Pansy Parkinson slinked in, what she thought was a seductive smile plastered on her pug-like face. "Hi, Draco," she said with a giggle, and a snort erupted from her short nose. She covered her face with her hands, blushing. Then, she sat down, practically in Draco's lap. With a sigh, Draco settled back for another boring, uneventful trip to Hogwarts.