LS&AB09
Title: Licorice Sticks and Aniseed Balls
Chapter Title: Changing Times
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Pairings: Hints at Draco/OMC
Chapter Summary: Back in the future, memories are resurfacing in Dumbledore’s ancient mind, Lily, Frank and Alice visit Hogwarts, alive and sane, and Ron and Hermione can’t recall that they ever had a friend called Harry.
Author's Notes: Just over half the usual chapter length, and very fragmented. This chapter's set back in the future, and I couldn't think of much to put in, really. It's more of a filler than an actual chapter, but some things needed to be cleared up.
Previous Chapter
Chapter 9: Changing Times
‘Mum!’ Neville Longbottom called out, running across the lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and hugging Alice tightly.
Laughing, she patted him on the back slightly. ‘Congratulations on your O, Neville,’ she said, beaming with pride, her sentiments echoed by both Lily and Frank.
Neville blushed, and then looked up at the trio curiously. ‘What are you doing here, anyway?’ he asked.
‘I’ve come to see Headmaster Dumbledore,’ Lily told him. ‘Apparently Flitwick’s retiring. Your Mum and Dad tagged along to visit you and Gareth.’
‘Speaking of Gareth, where is he?’ Frank asked his son, and Neville pointed in the direction of the lake.
‘He’s revising for the Defence Against the Dark Arts test tomorrow. With Draco and Hermione.’
Neville tugged on Frank and Alice’s hands, and dragged them away, and, smiling to herself, Lily continued towards the school.
-------
Pacing his office, Professor Dumbledore waited for Lily Evans to arrive. Professor Flitwick had been hoping to retire for a few years now, and Lily was the obvious choice for his replacement: Governor's Award for Charms in her time at Hogwarts, and she’d had the highest NEWT score that had been seen at Hogwarts in years.
He heard a knock on the door, and feeling the castle’s confirmation that she had arrived, he sat down behind his desk and said calmly, ‘Come in, Miss Evans.’ Lily smiled at him when she entered, and took a seat opposite him.
It was a while before Dumbledore spoke. He was examining her thoroughly, instead, and pausing when he noticed her bright green eyes, he remembered the only other person he’d seen with the same ones: Harry Potter-Blackmoon, Defeater of the Dark Lord.
He smiled fondly, and began to talk.
-------
Bursting in on their revision session, a mousy fifth year boy darted up to his foster brother and his friends, followed shortly by Ron Weasley. ‘Draco,’ he said, ‘Grandma Eir said to tell you that Potions started ten minutes ago.’
Hermione frowned. ‘What are you doing out of class, then, Damon?’
Damon grinned, hopping from foot to foot. ‘I’m on Study Leave, remember. For the OWLs.’
Draco scowled at his brother’s irrepressible cheer, and leaned over and whispered something in Hermione’s ear. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, dragging Draco with her, and the Longbottom brothers and Ron followed her back inside the castle, with Damon Potter still tagging along behind, saying, ‘Did you see the Prophet this morning? They’ve finally arrested Snape. Dad and Uncle Frank and Uncle Sirius are really relieved about it. Dad said he went to school with Snape, too. That must’ve been horrible, don’t you think, Draco? Draco? Are you listening to me?’
-------
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had never really got on well. That is, until fifth year, when Hermione’s best friend Draco had decided to set them up. They still bickered and argued, sometimes even worse than they had before, but at least now there were quiet, comfortable periods in between, when Draco could just relax and spend time with both of them without suffering through their cold, harsh silences or their deafening arguments.
It wasn’t something he’d expected, to be honest, - his matchmaking plan succeeding, that is - since he could truthfully say that he was one of the wizarding world’s worst ever romance experts (a habit he’d picked up from his Da, as both his Dad and Gareth Longbottom would grudgingly confirm).
If his Father could see him now, he knew, spending time with a blood traitor and a mudblood, he’d have a coronary. But Draco was happy this way, and, in the end, that was all that mattered.
Next Chapter
Chapter Title: Changing Times
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Pairings: Hints at Draco/OMC
Chapter Summary: Back in the future, memories are resurfacing in Dumbledore’s ancient mind, Lily, Frank and Alice visit Hogwarts, alive and sane, and Ron and Hermione can’t recall that they ever had a friend called Harry.
Author's Notes: Just over half the usual chapter length, and very fragmented. This chapter's set back in the future, and I couldn't think of much to put in, really. It's more of a filler than an actual chapter, but some things needed to be cleared up.
Previous Chapter
Chapter 9: Changing Times
‘Mum!’ Neville Longbottom called out, running across the lawn of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and hugging Alice tightly.
Laughing, she patted him on the back slightly. ‘Congratulations on your O, Neville,’ she said, beaming with pride, her sentiments echoed by both Lily and Frank.
Neville blushed, and then looked up at the trio curiously. ‘What are you doing here, anyway?’ he asked.
‘I’ve come to see Headmaster Dumbledore,’ Lily told him. ‘Apparently Flitwick’s retiring. Your Mum and Dad tagged along to visit you and Gareth.’
‘Speaking of Gareth, where is he?’ Frank asked his son, and Neville pointed in the direction of the lake.
‘He’s revising for the Defence Against the Dark Arts test tomorrow. With Draco and Hermione.’
Neville tugged on Frank and Alice’s hands, and dragged them away, and, smiling to herself, Lily continued towards the school.
-------
Pacing his office, Professor Dumbledore waited for Lily Evans to arrive. Professor Flitwick had been hoping to retire for a few years now, and Lily was the obvious choice for his replacement: Governor's Award for Charms in her time at Hogwarts, and she’d had the highest NEWT score that had been seen at Hogwarts in years.
He heard a knock on the door, and feeling the castle’s confirmation that she had arrived, he sat down behind his desk and said calmly, ‘Come in, Miss Evans.’ Lily smiled at him when she entered, and took a seat opposite him.
It was a while before Dumbledore spoke. He was examining her thoroughly, instead, and pausing when he noticed her bright green eyes, he remembered the only other person he’d seen with the same ones: Harry Potter-Blackmoon, Defeater of the Dark Lord.
He smiled fondly, and began to talk.
-------
Bursting in on their revision session, a mousy fifth year boy darted up to his foster brother and his friends, followed shortly by Ron Weasley. ‘Draco,’ he said, ‘Grandma Eir said to tell you that Potions started ten minutes ago.’
Hermione frowned. ‘What are you doing out of class, then, Damon?’
Damon grinned, hopping from foot to foot. ‘I’m on Study Leave, remember. For the OWLs.’
Draco scowled at his brother’s irrepressible cheer, and leaned over and whispered something in Hermione’s ear. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, dragging Draco with her, and the Longbottom brothers and Ron followed her back inside the castle, with Damon Potter still tagging along behind, saying, ‘Did you see the Prophet this morning? They’ve finally arrested Snape. Dad and Uncle Frank and Uncle Sirius are really relieved about it. Dad said he went to school with Snape, too. That must’ve been horrible, don’t you think, Draco? Draco? Are you listening to me?’
-------
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger had never really got on well. That is, until fifth year, when Hermione’s best friend Draco had decided to set them up. They still bickered and argued, sometimes even worse than they had before, but at least now there were quiet, comfortable periods in between, when Draco could just relax and spend time with both of them without suffering through their cold, harsh silences or their deafening arguments.
It wasn’t something he’d expected, to be honest, - his matchmaking plan succeeding, that is - since he could truthfully say that he was one of the wizarding world’s worst ever romance experts (a habit he’d picked up from his Da, as both his Dad and Gareth Longbottom would grudgingly confirm).
If his Father could see him now, he knew, spending time with a blood traitor and a mudblood, he’d have a coronary. But Draco was happy this way, and, in the end, that was all that mattered.
Next Chapter