Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black Chapter 59 59

Drama, intrigue, investigation!

Well, no intrigue as yet, for which I was grateful. As for drama: after John had spent another week with us and could walk outside again, he and Jean got their hands on a phone and contacted so of his old colleagues. They confird that, yes, there were reports of attacks by strange creatures, but no details they could share. Even the frequency of the incidents remained unclear to them.

Jean was doing her best to persuade her husband to accept my offer. John, for his part, was being stubborn as a mule and insisting they would manage on their own. Jean was not the sort of woman to take that lying down, and so the house had begun to fill with argunts. At first they made an effort to keep things discreet, hushed voices and careful restraint, but by now they were simply shouting at each other, and I did not like it. I had no desire to see Hermione's family fall apart. Though to be fair, we were still very far from that. At least, that was what Narcissa and Bellatrix told , having spent ti with Jean and ford sothing that fell short of friendship but was more than re acquaintance.

I, anwhile, kept working, allowing myself only one day off a week, my focus shifting squarely to combat magic and, to so extent, dueling. This did not an the other material was reduced, only that the ti for practical work in other areas was cut back. We all agreed that the ability to defend myself was now more important than developing the particular gift I possessed. Especially since that gift was already well developed, to the point that I had lifted the curse from both of Daphne's parents.

From ti to ti Jean and John would watch my practice sessions. I noticed the puzzlent in John's expression, and one evening Jean took aside and ntioned that her husband had not expected soone of my background and ans to push himself quite so hard. I could only smile at that. Perhaps, had it been soone else in my position, he would have been right, but I genuinely could not imagine not pursuing magic with everything I had.

All in all, things were going reasonably well. My relationships with Penny and Fleur had settled into a comfortable rhythm. Nothing had happened between us, not in that sense, but we spent evenings by the fire, the girls' heads resting in my lap, or their hands moving through my hair. Sotis we danced, the two of them moving before in ways that made the curves of their bodies unmistakable despite perfectly decent clothing, requiring considerable effort on my part to conceal my physical reaction.

Ti passed. Everything was fine. And today was the day we were to wake Hermione, which was why we were all gathered in the corridor. Only her mother and Mother Narcissa were in the room.

"Papa!"

The panicked cry told us she had co around, and I cast Petrificus Totalus on her father before he could throw himself at the door.

"Don't. The last thing she rembers is most likely the attack. That's why she's crying out."

I lifted the jinx and watched him move very slowly to the wall and lean against it.

"I'll... wait."

"Good."

We waited. Five minutes later, the door opened, and Hermione ca flying out. The mont she saw her father, she threw herself at him.

"Papa!"

She wrapped her arms around him. He gave an exaggerated grunt and pulled her close with his one remaining arm.

"Everything's all right, sweetheart... because of you, everything's all right."

"I was so frightened... it was so terrible... they jumped... and then your arm... your face... I was so frightened... you would die... I couldn't... and then..."

She kept murmuring incoherently against his chest, clinging to him while he stroked her hair and her back. We all stood watching with quiet, slightly lancholy smiles, the kind that cos from understanding exactly what she had been through. But alongside the sadness was sothing warr: relief that Hermione had woken up, and that she was going to be all right.

"Co on, sweetheart, no standing in the corridor. Let's go back inside."

John and Hermione returned to the room. The rest of us did not intrude. It was enough to know she was back. We went our separate ways and did not et again until dinner.

"Draco."

Hermione was in no hurry to take her seat.

"I... want to thank you. You saved my father. You saved ."

"Hermione, we didn't save you. Broadly speaking, neither of you was in any real danger. You would simply have spent longer in the hospital."

"Even so. I know this was your idea, and Mum told that everything only happened because she wrote to you. So I'm genuinely grateful to you for helping us in this difficult mont. And I am ready to sign a life contract with you..."

"Hermione Jean Granger!"

John tried to stop her, but she had inherited his stubbornness.

"...if you give my father back his eye and his arm. I know you well enough to know you wouldn't make my life a misery. So..."

Hermione.

I looked at her steadily.

"Do you want sent to Azkaban?"

"No!"

She turned red and actually stepped back.

"There are contracts that minors may sign, of course, but they are generally limited to fairly innocuous matters, not sothing like this."

I shook my head.

"For a contract of this kind, your parents would have to sign on your behalf."

"I could swear an oath to sign it later."

"No."

I shook my head, and her father visibly relaxed, understanding that I was not about to exploit his daughter's state of mind. What he hadn't yet realized was that this very refusal had only deepened both Jean's and Hermione's conviction that the contract was worth signing.

"As I said, your parents, not sworn promises to sign later. So..."

I smiled at her.

"...sit down and let's eat."

"But..."

"Hermione. Believe , this is out of your hands right now. Except for one thing: you must follow every recomndation my mother gives you as your Healer. Even your father hasn't dared to disobey her instructions, despite having rather obvious reservations about our family."

"Hard to disobey when the won gang up on you and act like it was always going to go that way..."

John said it very quietly, but I heard it and gave him a sympathetic nod. The united front of Jean, my mothers, Nymphadora, Penny and Fleur was, indeed, a formidable thing.

Flitwick looked at John with a mildly pitying expression.

"Fine."

Hermione gave her father a aningful look, and I understood: from this mont on, both won in his family would be working on him simultaneously. Before all of this had happened, he might have imposed his will by sheer authority, but now, having faced the Creatures alongside them, his wife and daughter would almost certainly wear him down.

Another week went by... and then John simply left. He bought tickets and flew to Britain, ostensibly to et with old friends and gather more detailed information before making a decision. But I strongly suspected he had simply realized he was about to be worn down and had made a preemptive retreat.

"Draco."

Jean addressed at dinner, where we had all gathered as usual.

"Yes, Jean?"

"Could you advise on where to begin with potion-making?"

"Well..."

I shrugged conversationally.

"...everything up to fifth-year Potions you'll definitely be able to manage. Beyond that, it will depend on whether you're a Squib or completely ordinary. If you're a Squib, you'll have trace amounts of magic, and you could work through the entire school curriculum and reach Mastery with fifteen or twenty years of practice. Either way, once we're back in Britain, I would suggest buying ten tis the usual amount of first-year ingredients, along with everything else you need for brewing, and there's a very useful book called Potion-Making for Beginners, or sothing similar, about processing ingredients correctly."

"Thank you. And in the anti?"

"In the anti, rest and think. You'll need to prepare a proper brewing room, starting with good ventilation, and plenty else besides. Talk to Mother Narcissa. As a Healer, she knows more about this than I do. She's the most knowledgeable about potions in our family."

"I'll help."

Narcissa smiled.

"Dark tis are coming. A potion-brewer in the household will be more than welco."

"But John..."

"Jean, I genuinely believe that if this is what you need, you and your daughter will bring him around, especially once things really start falling apart and you need to decide where to turn. But the choice is yours. We're not pressuring you."

"No."

Hermione shook her head.

"Hermione..."

A note of reproach entered Jean's voice.

"Oh... I'm sorry..."

The girl had realized she'd interrupted my mother and now looked suitably contrite, but decided to continue anyway.

"I know I don't understand much about the magical world. But I do understand this: among ordinary people, I'll always owe soone sothing. If I stay in magical society, at least I'll have the appearance of being free."

I shrugged.

"Free? I doubt it very much, and please don't look at like that. I'm not proposing any crushing contracts that would take ten lifetis to repay. But if all this unpleasantness really does keep intensifying..."

"Draco. Language."

"My apologies."

I nodded to Bellatrix, acknowledging the correction.

"...as I was saying: if the Creatures keep multiplying, if they keep getting stronger, then society will have to change. You cannot go on living as people do now, everyone for themselves, with a small tax to the state. On my land, in all probability, mandatory military training will be introduced. There will likely be rotating duties, both on my territory and on Crown territory, since we are all subjects of Her Majesty. There will be state commissions for producing various things, and the paynt for those commissions will be at cost, no profit margin, simply covering expenses. That won't prevent people from doing their own work on the side, but..."

"I understand."

Jean gave a slow nod.

"...and you speak of very adult matters for your age. Though my daughter said much the sa. She thinks of you more as an older brother she can always go to for advice than as soone her own age."

"Oh dear."

Fleur shook her head. I rely smiled, though several others looked at her in puzzlent.

"Is sothing wrong?"

"I'm afraid your daughter is about to lose her spot as Draco's honorary little sister. By my sister, who has already taken to calling him her big brother and has no intention of sharing the title, not even with Nymphadora, who is actually related to him and could genuinely claim to be his sister."

"Ha! She may be the younger one, but I'm the older one!"

"By age perhaps, yes. But in terms of how you two act around each other, and everyone here knows this, you co across as the younger one."

Nymphadora puffed up slightly. I decided to bring the earlier conversation to a close.

"In any case, think it over, take whatever ti you need. You have roughly half a year of relative safety left, I would estimate. Possibly more, actually, though around the half-year mark is probably when we will start putting our plan into motion, and if you want to choose your apartnt..."

"Could we have a small house instead?"

Jean looked at hopefully.

"I'm afraid not. But the spatial expansion can always be made larger."

I shrugged.

"In the rough plan, one room is expanded to the size of a proper three-room flat with kitchen and bathroom. For a higher fee to the craftsn you could fit five rooms in instead. I calculated based on the room dinsions I know. Quadrupling the space should be simple and therefore not too costly. More rooms, or adding another floor..."

I smiled.

"...any indulgence, for the right price. You could also, in theory, have your house relocated to the site, though I suspect the cost would be beyond your ans."

"I see. So a flat, but a very large one."

Jean nodded.

"That's really quite good, especially with good neighbors."

"And that would be..."

I shrugged.

"I don't think you would have much trouble getting along with the Tonkses or the Clearwaters. All of them know the ordinary world, and all of them will receive the sa offer."

"I see."

Jean took another thoughtful forkful of pasta.

"...which ans I need to bring John around. I have no desire to live in barracks, and I certainly don't want that for my daughter. And knowing him, that is exactly what he'll be negotiating for. Lord, if he could at least negotiate separate private accommodation, I might think twice, but given everything I've learned in recent days about what is coming..."

Jean shook her head.

"...it simply won't be safe enough. Which ans shared barracks. No. Absolutely not."

She gave a small shudder.

"Hermione."

Jean looked at her daughter with a very deliberate expression.

"Ho to deal with Papa?"

"Exactly. This needs to be resolved in our favor before the end of sumr."

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1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 264

2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 183

3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 265

4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 111

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