Harry Potter and Changing Destinies

Chapter 20

“Hey, Hermione…come on its ok…no need to get upset…” Draco said slowly trying to calm the distraught girl he had come to care quite a lot about as he led her into a room down the hallway far enough away from their spouses that if she yelled or something it wouldn’t be heard. That way she could get out her frustrations and not be disturbed while doing it.

“How can you say that!?! After I’ve hurt him…after I’ve made her so mad that she almost…she almost kill…you, her husband. The one person she’s supposed to love more than any other! How can you be so understanding? Doesn’t it hurt you to know they’d choose each other over us, that they have a connection we can’t even touch with them with each other!” Hermione yelled at him.

Draco let her rant, let her get out her frustrations that were also his.

“Yes he hated that Harry was the one that could always reach Ali when she got lost in herself, in her power. Yes he hated that her connection with Harry seemed to matter more than her connection to him. He had always hated to come second to Harry at school that was one of the things that made him hate Harry so, but it never hurt him…his pride yes, him no. But this hurt, more than he would admit. His wife, his love needed her brother than her husband.”

Finally, after watching her pace and rant all the things eating away at him for he didn’t know how long he couldn’t take it and screamed. Actually screamed for her to shut up.

“You don’t think I’m feeling the same damn way woman! I am! That’s my damn wife out there holding on to her brother for fuck’s sake for comfort, as a lifeline! Don’t you think it hurts me that I can’t protect her from…her! I’m her damn husband! She should look to me for help not her brother! But,…”

“But what!?!” Hermione snarked trying to hurt Draco to help herself.

“Ali, wasn’t trying to hurt me. She never meant to freeze me and I think she might have frozen Harry if he didn’t have his power, if he tried to hold her. I don’t think they mean to hurt us, I just think they have a connection we can’t get near, no one can get near…like…” Draco trailed off lost in thought.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, I can’t remember…I read somewhere about people with connections like theirs, but I don’t remember.”

“Oh?”

“Hermione, I think you should go to you and Harry’s room and wait there for him. Talk this out like you’ve needed to for a while and I think I need to do the same with my wife…”

“You know Draco your more caring and human than I ever thought you could be?” Hermione said surprised with herself and him, “Maybe I should stop calling you Malfoy?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I called you Malfoy and I think that’s what started Ali’s spin out of control…Sorry?” Hermione said hesitantly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it made her madder than…”

Oh, I didn’t mean that…I meant you still call me Malfoy?”

“Yeah again sorry.”

“No, that’s alright I sometimes still refer to you as Granger in my head…and I guess we could use our maiden names as a tease among friends in certain situations, right?” Draco said trying to the lighten the mood with a to charm the heart of every woman smirk.

Hermione stood staring at Draco for a moment than she burst out with a laugh and smiled replying, “Yeah, I guess we could,” and with this the two smiled at one another.

Laughing a bit as they opened the door to the room they were in they walked out heading their own separate ways. To wait in their own rooms for their spouses so they could finally talk it out with them.

Draco walked into the master suite lost in what he and Hermione had talked about. He knew that Ali loved him and that she truly didn’t mean to hurt him but she did. He needed to understand why she seemed to need Harry so much. He was so lost in his thoughts that he never heard her come in.

Ali softly walked over to their large bed and climbed the steps leading up to it. Walking over to the side of the bed that Draco sat on she dropped to her knees in front of him and placed her hands on his knees then rested her chin on her hands.

“Draco?” She asked when it became clear that he wasn’t going to even acknowledge her.

“What Alexis?”

Ali drew back shocked Draco hadn’t called her Alexis since they had gotten together. He must really be hurt to call her that now. “Oh god Drac. I am so very sorry.”

Draco stood and walked away from her. “Didn’t you just tell me that sorry is bullshit?” At her nod he continued “Then why are you saying sorry? Sorry for what? Losing control? Almost killing me? Or maybe you are sorry for the fact that when push comes to shove you need your damn brother more then you need me, Your own fucking husband!”

Ali couldn’t speak. The anguish in Draco’s voice was so obvious. He was speaking very softly but she heard every word as though he had screamed them in her ear. She never thought that Draco was still so upset over her relationship with Harry.

“Drac, Draco I thought that we had worked this out. Yes I need Harry but I need you too. YOU are the man that I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with not….”

Draco cut her off. “If you say that you haven’t chosen Harry so help me Alexis I will scream. You and I both know that if Harry wasn’t your brother you would be married to him and not me. I’ve played second fiddle to him my entire life and I’m certainly not going to play second fiddle to him in my marriage. I get that you two are close but you have got to decide who you really need.”

Draco watched as Ali literally crumbled. He knew he was being unfair to her but damnit Ali was his wife not Harry’s. He turned and faced his wife one more time. “I didn’t mean that Ali I know you need both of us and I can’t make you choose because you can’t. However I can’t be with you right now. I need to figure out what this bond between you two is and when I get cooled down I’ll come back to you.”

As he walked out the door Ali spoke very softly “Drac?”

He stopped “Yeah?”

“I do love you and I do need you.”

“I know and I do love you too. I’ll be back soon. Later”

“Later”

With that Draco rushed out of the room.
 
As Hermione waited in her and Harry’s room, all she seemed able to focus on was what she had seen between Ali and Harry over the time she had known them both and what Draco had said when he pulled her away from yet another Ali/Harry connection moment.

“She could have sworn she read something about a connection like this somewhere, about members of Harry’s family even, but where?”

As she began to get frustrated more and more with herself she sat at the desk in the room that she placed all the books she thought might help them with their search for the Horcruxes and Deathly Hallows and began reading.

“Researching, focusing on any problem but her own personal ones always seemed to help her figure things out. And if she came up with a solutions while doing it then so be it.”

Hermione was moving yet another book into her gonna look at later even though it doesn’t hold what I’m looking for right now pile when a small book caught her eye. It was James’ journal. She was reaching to move it to another spot when something whispered to her to read the journal.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and said to herself, “No, you can’t its Harry’s father’s personal journal. You can’t read someone’s personal thoughts, Hermione. Its wrong! I don’t even know why I picked it up anyways. If anyone reads it, it should be Harry…but, maybe…NO you can’t! But maybe one look wouldn’t hurt…” and with this she opened the journal and began to read.

She skimmed through his younger years, read his feelings on the Sorting and learned right from the start, from first sight James had fallen for Lily. She read about classes, teachers, girls, Quidditch, James’ many many pranks with the Marauders and his many attempts to impress the muggle-born witch Lily Evans who seemed to be friendly to the wormy, slimy, to smart at potions Slytherin. She read of James, Sirius, and Peter learning and struggling to become animagus. She tried to stop reading after every entry, but just couldn’t. She blamed it on the fact that every entry whether it was a full page or a simple line had mention of his twin, Ali’s mom. Hermione knew this mentioning shouldn’t intrigue her so, but something about James’ constant mention of her caught Hermione’s attention so she continued to read.

As she was getting to the point where James had finally won over Lily for a date and he was fretting what to wear the door to the room opened and in came Harry. Which Hermione didn’t notice seeing as the desk was against one wall facing away from the door.

“What the bloody Hell did you say or do to Ali to make her so pissed, Mione?” Harry questioned as he entered the room and shut the door.

“Oh, yes it couldn’t be her fault at all now could it? Always going to take her side in an argument, are you? Is that how our lives are going to be from now on? If I ever get into a fight or something with your sister and even if she’s in the wrong you’ll take her side, over your wife’s?” Hermione said getting defensive as she turned away from the desk to face her husband.

“What? What are you talking about? I wouldn’t…I just wanted to know what you two were talking about to get Ali so upset?” Harry said trying to calm himself and Hermione down.

“Before I answer any questions for you, my dear hubby, your going to answer some for me.”

“Oh? And?”

“What’s this connection you have with Ali? What is it? Why is it her husband can’t reach her, comfort her? That she needs her brother so? I know siblings are close even if they fight, but not that close Harry? What is it!?! I really need to know!” Hermione said starting to cry once again.

“Huh? What are you talking about? We have a connection because I love her, she’s my sister,” Harry replied.

“Yes, I know that…but why are you so close? Why does it seem you need her more than you will ever need me?”

“What! Hermione you know I need you, I love you more than anything. You’re my wife, my lover, my friend.”

“Oh, stop it will you! You’re just repeating what you’ve said over and over again and not really answering me! I’m going for a walk! Stay here, go I don’t care at the moment,” and with that she left the room.

As she walked and walked, just wandering the house she lost herself in thoughts. She tried and tried as hard as she could to keep her mind off Harry and Ali’s connection, but every time she would begin to start thinking of something else her mind would wander to James and Ali’s mom and how James always seemed to mention her. Which led her to think of Harry and Ali once again.

Just as she was about to hit herself over the head with something heavy to stop the thoughts another came to mind, “Fred and George – they were twins. Harry’s dad and Ali’s mom were twins. Harry and Ali…maybe they could be?…No, they were made brother and sister by that ritual not twins, but maybe…maybe Fred and George could explain some of this connection thing or whatever it was to her. Wait not just her Draco too. Draco was just as confused and hurt, he deserved to know too.”

With her mind made up she searched for a room with a desk and once found wrote a note to Fred and George that she and Draco wanted to talk to them privately. She told them a café and time to meet and sent it off.

She knew most letters sent from Ali’s were quickly replied to so she waited and in moments it felt like her reply came back as a quickly written:

“Alright we’ll be there, Herm. No worries we won’t try any pranks.

Sincerely your pranksters,

Fred and George”

With this and a smile on her face she went in search of Ali and Draco’s room. When she was about half way down the hallway to their room she saw Draco storm out of the room and heading her way. Before he plowed past her she called out, “Draco!”

“What! Oh, its you Hermione, what is it?”

“I contacted Fred and George…I think they can help us understand this connection Ali and Harry have or at least begin to start to understand. I set up a meeting would you be willing to come with me?”

“Yes! Hell yes! When? Where?”

And with that Hermione told Draco when and where they were meeting the boys in a few minutes actually. They grabbed coats by the door on their way out, told the maids and everyone where they were going and to tell Ali and Harry they’d be back soon. With this done they left the house, apparated away and went to meet the boys.