13

Hermione looked up at Draco. "What did you say?"

"I said that the children in that photo belong to us." He held out his hand to offer her help getting up.

She glanced down at the tea-sipping, happy girls, and everything hit her at once. "But... that means... he said that these were his daughters..." She clamored to her feet, ignoring Draco's outstretched hand. "This isn't happening!" Her eyes darted from the smirking old man in the bed to the cool and aloof young one who was leaning on the wall.

"Oh, I assure you, my dear wife, that it is," the old man said.

"This is my future, our future," Draco tried to explain. "What I mean is, that dying person in the bed is me. That woman, Amethyst, is our granddaughter, and those precious girls in that picture are our daughters. This is our home, the place where we lived together and raised our children together..."

Hermione's eyes were so huge that they threatened to pop right out of their sockets. "No..." she said in a shaky voice. "Amee said her grandmother was dead. If that was... is me... then I'm..." She clutched her head and screamed in anguish. "No!" She swayed on her feet, and Draco rushed forward to catch her just as she fainted dead away.

"I was hoping that this time around, you wouldn't be so damn forward with her about the truth! Why did you have to tell her like that?"

Draco frowned at his old self. "Well, you could have warned me that she wouldn't take the news very well! After all, I'm not the one who knows what happens before it happens... yet." He lifted her into his arms and left the room.

"My goodness! What's wrong?" Amee asked, helping Draco set Hermione's limp body on the leather sofa in the Library.

"She fainted when I told her that we ended up married and having children."

Amethyst sighed. "Well, what did you expect? For her to scream for joy and jump into your arms?"

"I don't know what I expected." He knelt down next to her and smoothed the curls from her forehead. "I think the realization that she is dead is what put her over the edge."

"Well, duh!"

"How old are you? Five?" He smiled at her. "Duh?"

He looked down at Hermione, who was still out. "What about her? What happened?"

"It happened about fifteen years ago. It was so sudden, and my grand... you, tried to get here on time, but..."

Hermione moaned and slowly opened her eyes. "I was dreaming," she said, sitting up. "There was this man. He had very dark hair and piercing, grey eyes. He offered me a glass of my favorite red wine..."

Amethyst stood up very suddenly. "I think I should show you to your room."

Draco raised his eyebrow curiously at Amee. She just shook her head slightly and mouthed the words 'not now' to him. "I think she's right. We should get you to bed."

Hermione felt so weak, so drained that she just let Draco carry her up the stairs like a sleeping infant. "He was acting very strangely, but I trusted him," Hermione whispered.

Draco saw Amethyst cringe as she walked in front of him with her wand lit. Clearly something was wrong. "This is my old room!" he said, walking through the door.

"I was told to bring both of you here for the night."

Draco looked at her with his eyebrow arched wickedly. "I really am a dirty old man, aren't I?" He put Hermione down on his bed and covered her up. "What time is it, anyway?"

"It's only nine o'clock."

"We've only been here for three hours?" he said incredulously. "It seems like an eternity!" He kissed Hermione on the cheek, and then he and Amethyst left the room quietly. "Now, will you tell me about how she died and if those dreams are somehow connected?"

"I think grandfather should be the one to explain everything to you." She led him once more into the old man's room where he was wide awake, as if expecting him.

"Knew I was coming?" Draco said with a slight smile. The old man chuckled as Draco pulled up a chair next to the bed.

"You bet your ass I did." His laughter turned into a deep cough, and the old man turned a bright shade of red as he tried to catch his breath.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked, pouring a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table and offering it to him.

"What do you think?" He took a small sip and then lay back on his pillows. "I'm dying, and it's about bloody time too!"

"You want to die?" Draco could never imagine himself not wanting to live... but here he was...

"I have wished for death every day for some fifteen years. Ever since my wife was taken from me." Tears trickled from the corners of his eyes. "It was my fault! All my damn fault! I thought I had time to get here!"

Draco expected a crying jag like earlier, but was surprised when no such thing happened. The old man looked him dead in the face and said harshly, "Listen and listen well. You have one chance to save her, and you better not screw it up this time. Her life depends on it!"

***

Amethyst sat in a comfy chair next to Hermione's bed; a photo album and a file containing the family history were sitting in her lap. She really didn't want to discuss the past, but she was certain that her grandmother was going to ask.

"Draco?" Hermione asked, sitting up slowly, her eyes adjusting to the light. She noticed Amethyst sitting next to her and smiled. "I see it wasn't a dream. You're really here. It's so strange to be sitting in a room with my own granddaughter."

"Imagine how I feel! I've seen portraits and photos of you just as you are now, and to see you with my own eyes... it's unbelievable!" She looked Hermione over. "The photos don't do you justice; you are much more beautiful in real life!"

"What's that you have there?" Hermione asked, red-faced from such a wonderful compliment.

Amethyst handed her the file. "This is our history. The family tree and other important documents."

Hermione opened the black leather cover with the name Malfoy printed on the front in huge gold lettering and took out a yellowed piece of parchment. "This is the family tree?"

It started with Draco and herself and progressed from there. "Your mother, Jade, married a man named Raiden Potter?" Hermione asked in shock. "Is he the son of..."

"Your good friend Harry?" Amethyst said, nodding her head. "And that's not all. Harry was married to another good friend of yours, Ginny Weasley."

"Does Draco know this?" Hermione said with a light laugh. "Because I'm sure he would throw a fit if he knew a daughter of his married a Potter!"

"Actually, Grandfather Malfoy and Grandfather Potter were the best of friends. He was very sad when he passed away last year."

"Harry is dead?" Hermione asked, startled. "What about Ron and Ginny?"

"This might come as a shock to you, but Ron married the little sister of his sister-in-law, Fleur."

"Ron married Gabrielle?" Hermione almost fainted again. "But she's so much younger than he is!"

"I guess age doesn't matter because they've been married for something like 60 years and have had three children and twelve grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren."

Hermione's eyes boggled. "I never would have thought... but you say they are still alive?"

"He's barely alive, and she still runs around like she's twenty-years old or something. He tries to keep up with her, chasing after her in his wheelchair, trying to pinch her rear end and such! They are so much fun to be around! Grandfather still has them over for tea every Sunday afternoon. Of course, they share relatives, so they sometimes stop over as well..."

"What relatives?"

"Your youngest daughter, my Aunt Emerald, married their son, Jack." She took the paper from Hermione's hand. "See here? They had two daughters, Juliette and Angelica, who married and had children of their own."

"So," Hermione said, trying to figure this all out. It was all very confusing. "Their children are my grandchildren and THEIR children are my great-grandchildren?" She took the family tree back and looked at it once more. "Ruby married a Longbottom?" She cried in astonishment. "I KNOW Draco wasn't happy about that!"

Amethyst chuckled. "You could say he wasn't very pleased with her choice. He was a lot like his father... forgetful and nervous, but also a lot like his mother, Luna.

"Neville and Luna?" Hermione thought about this for a second. "Well, I hope that their son...what is his name? Ah, yes, Sebastian. I hope he had all of their good traits as well? Loyalty and courage?"

"He was a very kind man, and their children, my cousins, are some of the most wonderful people you could ever meet!"

"So, Ruby and Sebastian had three daughters? Katey, Melanie and Tessa?"

"Katey is married and has a baby on the way. She has asked Grandfather if she could name her baby Hermione, after you."

"That is so... I'm going to cry!" Hermione said, choking back her tears.

"I wish that they all could be here right now to meet you. None of the great-grandchildren have ever met you. And Angelica and Tessa were just little when you...when you passed away."

Reality came rushing back to Hermione. "That's right. I'm dead! It's so weird!" She looked down at the parchment again. "Wait. There is another name here. It looks as though someone tried to erase it or something." Hermione stood up and held the paper close to the lamp. "It's connected to your mother's name, but not to her husband's." She looked up at Amethyst, who was wringing her hands in her lap. "Are you going to tell me who this is?"

***

"So, you see, young Draco, you have to remember! Do not let anger stand in your way! Get here before it's too late!"

Draco got out of his chair and went to the window. Pulling back the heavy, dust-filled curtain, he looked out at the moon-drenched grounds. "Why? Why would he do something like that?" He turned and questioned the old man. "And what if I can't get here in time? What if I'm not supposed to stop it?"

"I know that right now you believe in fate and destiny. You believe that the future cannot be changed because everything happens for a reason. I'm telling you that you might be wrong."

"Might be?" Draco said. "Nothing is for sure, is that what you're saying?" He walked to the door, having heard enough from his delusional dying self. "You know what I think? I believe that even if I do manage to get here in time and stop it from happening, she is going to die some other way! She is supposed to die, and nothing I do will prevent it!"

"But don't you want to try? Aren't you curious as to whether you can change the future and have her by your side for a few more years or even days?" He pounded the mattress in frustration. "You have to save her!" he screamed. "Or you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Draco turned to leave when he noticed that the old man's face was turning purple and he was clutching his chest. "Oh my God!" He rushed across the room and threw himself on the man.

"Something," he said in Draco's ear.

"What? What did you say?" He leaned in further.

"Something will happen tonight that will change your life forever." His breath hitched, and he grabbed hold of the front of Draco's robes. "Something both wonderful and awful." He pulled Draco closer and whispered in his ear.

As Draco concentrated on what he was being told, a look of total surprise spread across his face. "What are you not telling me?" When he received no answer, he lifted his head and noticed that the man's body was becoming riged. He jumped back when the old man started to convulse and foam at the mouth. "No!"

His eyes rolled back in his head, he hitched his last breath and fell back on the pillow, dead. Draco stared at his peaceful face for a second and then threw himself on top of him, pounding on his chest and screaming.

***

Amethyst stood and paced the floor, wondering how to begin. "When I was about five, my mother had an affair with this man, who we later learned was deeply immersed in the Dark Arts. She began to stay away from home weeks at a time, and needless to say, she wanted nothing to do with me or my father. One night, after she had been gone for about two weeks, she came back and announced to us that she was pregnant."

Hermione listened with growing horror. She was shocked that any child of hers would do something like that! "How dreadful! What did your father do?"

Amethyst stopped pacing and said, "He killed himself."

"What!" Hermione shouted. "Oh my God!"

"I came to stay with you and grandfather, and I've been here ever since." She started pacing again. "One night, during a fierce thunderstorm, my mother showed up here. She was in labor and crying in fear, babbling about some ceremony and that her baby was in danger."

"I was told to go to my room, and there I listened to her screaming in pain as she gave birth to my brother." She walked over and pulled a heavily creased paper from the file and handed it to Hermione.

It was his birth certificate. "She named him Jasper?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, she named him, and then she died."

"She died?" Images of the smiling girl with the blond hair and grey eyes sipping tea and wearing a giant hat and white gloves flashed through her mind. How could a darling little girl that belonged to her end up immersed in the Dark Arts and die so tragically?

"What happened to the baby?" Hermione asked, pulling out a picture from the file. "Did he stay here with you?" She looked carefully at the photo. "Is this him?"

Amethyst glanced over. There was a hard look on her face, almost resembling hatred. "Yes. Hard to believe that a tiny baby like that caused the death of three people that I loved the most in this world." She glared at the back of the photo. "He was a murdering freak, and I'm glad he's dead."

Hermione studied the picture of the newborn. He was wailing in her arms, his fists clenched, his black fine hair sticking up. "A murderer?" Hermione said. "Who did he..."

They both jumped as Draco's screams echoed through the house. Hermione threw the file on the bed, and they both rushed out of the bedroom and ran down the stairs.

She flew into the room and stopped in her tracks. Draco was on top of the old man, beating on his chest, crying and screaming. He was begging the man not to die; he was saying it over and over. "Draco..." she said softly.

He stopped, his hand balled into a fist, ready to strike the man's chest again, and looked at her.

Hermione had never seen anyone so pitiful in her life. The look of pure and utter anguish on his face broke her heart into a million tiny pieces. "Draco, stop. He's gone," she said tenderly.

Amethyst was standing in the doorway, silently crying.

Hermione stepped towards him and reached out her hand. Draco angrily knocked it away and started to hit the old man again. "You can't die, you bastard! You have to tell me what you meant!"

Hermione and Amethyst looked at each other. Neither one knew what to do. Clearly Draco had flipped his lid, and trying to help him was going to be dangerous. Hermione tried once again, more forcefully this time, to pull him off. To her surprise, Draco stopped, pushed her out of the way and fled from the room.

"Should I go after him?" Hermione asked.

"I know for a fact that you are supposed to." Amethyst ran to her grandfather's bed and fell on top of him, crying. After a few seconds, she noticed that Hermione hadn't moved. "Why are you still standing there?" she asked her. "Grandfather told me that you run after him! Now go!"

Hermione shut the bedroom door quietly and went in search of Draco, wondering what she could possibly say to him that would make him feel better.

***

He tore through the house, knocking things over, punching the walls and smashing mirrors. The house-elves ran in every direction, trying to repair the damage. Finally, he entered his old bedroom, slamming the door so hard that the windows shook. He sat down on the edge of the bed with his head cradled in his hands and sobbed.

Hermione stopped outside the door and pressed her ear to the wood, listening. She thought she could hear him and wasn't sure if she should intrude. After all, Draco didn't seem like the type to want to be consoled. Then again, did she really know what he would want? He was almost a stranger to her. Sure, she had known him for years, but she really didn't know him at all. It was strange that she was in love with this man and knew next to nothing about him...something simple, such as his favorite color.

She raised her hand and paused, ready to knock. What if he told her to go away or worse...what if he asked her to come in? What do you say to someone who just saw himself die? "Stop being a bloody coward and just knock!" she said to herself.

"Come in, Granger," he said, hearing her tap lightly on the door.

She opened it slowly and cautiously stepped in. "Do you want to talk?" she asked, closing the door quietly. "I'll understand if you want to be alone. Just tell me if you want me to leave..."

He said nothing, just kept his head in his hands and stared at the floor.

She took a few steps, and when he didn't tell her to go away, she took a few more until she was standing in front of him. "I..."

Draco reached up and gently pulled her down next to him. He sighed and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Why, Granger? Why did we have to come here?" he asked, still looking at the floor. "How could Dumbledore do this to me? To us? How could he think I'd want to see myself... see myself die like that?"

Hermione took him into her arms as he began to cry. "Shh... it's going to be all right." It was so painful to see him like this, and she found herself crying as well.

He put his face into her neck, his tears falling onto her hair. "Oh God! It was so horrible!"

Hermione embraced him harder. He lifted his face, and she kissed him tenderly on the lips. It was slow at first, but soon it became more frantic and passionate. She felt herself falling back onto the mattress, and she knew this time she wouldn't stop him. She loved him, wanted him inside of her.

Draco slowly took off her clothes, his hands gently rubbing and caressing her hot, smooth skin. "I love you," he whispered into her ear as his fingers slid into her, making her shiver. He kissed her lightly on the mouth, the neck, and when he dipped his tongue in her bellybutton, she grabbed his hair and moaned, grinding herself into his plunging fingers.

"Mmm... I love you too." Her breath hitched, and she arched her back as he licked his way down her stomach. He removed his dripping fingers and sat up slightly to remove his own clothing. She watched him, loving the sight of his lean, muscular, naked body above her.

He felt her hand close over his cock and pull him towards her. She slowly and seductively slid it into her hot, wet mouth, her teeth scraping it just enough to cause pleasure that bordered on pain.

Hermione swirled her tongue around the tip and then kissed it before releasing it. "I want you, Draco," she breathed and pulled him down until they were lying skin to skin, staring into each other's eyes. "Make love to me."

Draco reached down and spread her legs apart. He ran one long finger over her clit, causing her to gasp and dig her fingernails painfully into his back. "Are you sure this is what you want, Hermione?" he asked, kissing her again.

Hermione could barely breathe, let alone speak, so she lifted her hips invitingly instead. As he slid into her, she closed her eyes and said to him, "This is what it feels like to love, Draco."

***

Amethyst came to the bedroom door and paused. She knew the time had come for them to leave, and although she wanted desperately to hold onto to them, she knew it had to be this way. "Draco? Hermione?" she said, knocking quietly. When there was no answer, she turned the handle and peaked inside. It was dark, except for the shaft of moonlight that fell across the bed, illuminating the couple who were lying in each other arms.

She crossed the room and shook Hermione awake. "Shh," she said, putting a finger to her mouth.

"What time is it?" Hermione asked sleepily. She tried to get out from under Draco's arm, but had no luck.

"It's almost 5:30 in the morning."

Draco opened his bloodshot eyes and yawned. "Did you say 5:30?"

"Yes. The clock will be here in half an hour. I have notified the family of Grandfather's passing, and they will be arriving any time. I don't think you should be here when they arrive." She turned around, embarrassed as the naked couple got out of the bed and began to get dressed. "The house-elves have prepared breakfast for you in the dinning room. I'll go with you, but I have something to give you."

Draco and Hermione followed her to the dining room and sat down. Neither one was very hungry. He had buttered a piece of toast, and she ate a rasher of bacon. Both sipped a hot cup of tea, loaded with sugar.

"You said you had something to give us?" Draco asked curiously.

Amethyst went to the china cabinet, pulled open a drawer and took out a package. It was wrapped in wrinkled, brown paper and had twine tied around it. "Grandfather said for me to give this to you."

Draco took it and unwrapped it. Under the paper was a box, and when he removed the lid, Hermione looked confused.

"I don't get it," she said, lifting a strange looking garment from the box. It was a long coat that was half yellow and half red.

"If you think that's weird..." Draco said. "Look at this." He handed her a small wooden instrument that resembled a fife or a flute.

Hermione turned it over in her hand and set it down on the table. "Look, there's a letter and...is that a pocket watch?" She took the heavy gold watch from the tissue paper it was wrapped in and examined it. "It's engraved." She showed it to him.

"A man with one watch knows what timE it is. A man with two is never sure." Draco read this, mentally adding the capital letter 'E' to the previous clues. "I still don't know what it spells!" he said, holding the pocket watch up to his ear. "It works."

"It belonged to great-grandfather Malfoy, your father. You had it engraved with this message a few years ago," Amethyst said.

"How nice of me," Draco said sarcastically. "I couldn't have told myself what the bloody message was?"

"Maybe the letter tells us something," Hermione said, unfolding it. "All it says is that he left you this watch as a clue and he's sorry he couldn't tell you the whole message." Hermione smirked at him and he frowned, not finding it funny. "He says that you are to take the coat and the instrument with you into the clock because you are going to need them. He also says that you must not eat the sauerkraut." Hermione looked at Draco, who wore a perplexed expression, identical to her own.

"Excuse me, Miss Potter, but you asked me to inform you when the guests were arriving," a small house-elf said from the door.

"Shit!" Amethyst said. "You must hurry! No one is to see you!"

Draco packed up the gifts, and the three of them hurried through the house and out the front door. Hermione hugged and kissed Amethyst, who was crying.

"Don't worry! I'll see you very soon!" Hermione said, trying not to break down.

Draco kissed the woman on the cheek. "My favorite grandchild, huh? We'll just see about that!" Once they arrived in the graveyard, they heard the unmistakable sound of a clock chime.

They waved tearful goodbyes, and Hermione and Draco made their way silently through the Malfoy family cemetery, neither one wishing to speak. In the distance, they heard children laughing and grown-ups calling hellos to one another.

"That's our family back there, Draco," Hermione said, turning and walking backwards, trying to catch a glimpse.

He smiled at her and took her hand. Together they entered the giant clock, thinking that the next place they visit wouldn't be so bad, now that they knew what the future held for them.