Fate's Request: A Harry Potter FanFiction

"We'll work something out mate," Ronald Weasley said while patting Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah! I can forge your uncle's signature for you, Harry. I'm pretty good at it," Dean Thomas said in agreement, offering a way to get Harry to join them.

Crestfallen, Harry replied, "No… that won't work, I've already spoken to Professor McGonagall and she refused to sign my form, she'll know it's forged guys."

"Blimey Harry, that sucks… Everyone's going to be there. I mean, its Hogsmeade weekend!" Ronald exclaimed with no amount of finesse.

Following Ronald making Harry even more depressed about his situation, Hermione stomped on his foot.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" he asked, nursing his sore foot.

"Well, see you around guys," Dean and Seamus said in chorus, hoping to avoid listening to the tongue-lashing Ronald was about to get.

"See ya," Harry replied, still a little sullen.

"Honestly Ronald, way to make Harry feel better about not being allowed to go!" Hermione scolded him as their fellow year-mates left the Golden Trio to themselves.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, jeez. I was just trying to say how it's a shame Harry can't join me and you at Hogsmeade," Ronald said with a roll of his eyes.

"It's fine, I'm over it," Harry mumbled, as he pretended to read from a book.

Letting out a sigh at Harry's obvious 'not over it', Hermione turned to Ronald and informed him that he was wrong in his assumption she was going to Hogsmeade with him.

"And what makes you think I'm going to Hogsmeade with you, Ron?" Hermione asked with growing irritation.

"Well, who else would go with you?" Ronald scoffed, not realising what he'd just said.

"Say that again?" she asked quietly, placing her history book on her l.a.p and staring at Ronald with a smile.

Before he could really put his foot in his mouth, Harry nudged him with his elbow, which warned the inept red-head that he'd probably just said something wrong.

"Uhh, I was just saying, uhh, that you uhh, only really hang out with us. So, like… who else would you go with? I guess there's that Cross bloke, but I mean, who would really want to hang out with him, over me and Harry," Ronald answered, showing his growing distaste for David Cross.

Clenching he fists and calming herself, Hermione slapped her book shut and abruptly stood up, "You can enjoy finishing Professor Snape's and Binn's essays on your own.

Grabbing the rest of her study material, Hermione looked to Harry and asked, "I'm sitting over there," she indicated with her head, "Coming?"

"Huh? What?" Harry asked, confused as to why Hermione was now leaving their corner of the Gryffindor common room.

Snorting, she angrily stomped off towards the empty tables to get her growing pile of homework done. Alone.

"What was that about?" Ronald asked Harry loudly, hoping to get a further rise out of Hermione who was nearly out of ear-shot.

"No idea Ron," Harry replied with a shake of her head.

"You really are daft, aren't you Ronald?" Ginny suddenly said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Get lost," he grumbled, his lack of intelligence being a recent sore spot due to having the worst grades out of any of the Weasley children. Even Ginny performed better than him in her first-year, and she was possessed by Voldemort for half of it.

"Hi, Harry!" Ginny said following her insult, growing a little red at the cheeks for managing to greet her crush.

"Oh, hey Ginny," he replied unenthusiastically.

A little disheartened at Harry's reply, Ginny turned to her brother and explained, "She's going to Hogsmeade with her boyfriend."

"What? Boyfriend? Hermione doesn't have a boyfriend!" Ronald exclaimed, raising his voice.

Looking at her brother curiously, she explained, "Yes, she does. She's tried to tell you two a couple of times now. The whole of Hogwarts knows they're dating. Lavender Brown saw them snogging in the Library a couple of weeks ago."

"Wait. Hermione's got a boyfriend? Who?" Harry asked, shocked one of his best friends was dating.

Rolling her eyes, for even Harry was a little daft, she answered, "David Cross, you know, the boy my darling brother here off-handily insulted."

"David? But… why didn't she tell us?" Harry questioned, growing confused.

Sighing, Ginny repeated herself, "Honestly Harry, she's tried to tell the both of you twice now. I was even there the second time."

Harry sat there stumped and feeling guilty that he didn't listen to Hermione enough, while his other best friend sat there silently fuming.

Shaking her head, Ginny said out loud our to herself, "Boys…" and left Harry and Ronald alone to process the new information.

---

"Excellent David! And you too Miss Granger, you've both done tremendously!" the tiny Charms Professor shouted in excitement after their duel.

Following the duel which Hermione lost, but performed above and beyond the Professors expectations, Hermione was sitting in a chair, trying to hide how heavily she was breathing. She had really given that duel her all and while she lost, was feeling quite proud of herself.

David, not tired, but surprised at how much Hermione had grown in her duelling ability, was the one to reply first, "Thanks, Professor. We couldn't do it without you."

Chuckling, Professor Flitwick replied, "Oh, I really shouldn't do this, but twenty points apiece! For showcasing a most excellent duel!"

Hermione brightened at the house points, and replied, "Thank you, Professor. It's like David said, we couldn't do it without you."

"Hush, hush dear. Now, I really need to get back to these essays you two, my NEWT students, so…" Professor Flitwick trailed off, not really wanting to go back to grading essays.

"See you at Charms, Professor!" Hermione replied as Professor Flitwick sulked back to his office.

"You were amazing Hermione!" David expressed as the Professor closed the door behind him, leaving the couple alone.

Smiling at his praise, she asked, "You really think so? I tried really hard, and I haven't had much time to train recently…"

"You were excellent, really. Surprised me when you got that spell chain off, I'm totally stealing it by the way," David said with a grin.

Now blushing profusely, Hermione went to grab her book-bag that was at her feet but was suddenly grabbed by David and pulled up against his c.h.e.s.t, with his hands soon resting on her backside. This resulted in Hermione going an even darker shade of red.

"I've finally got you alone, you're not getting back to your studying that easily Hermione," David said with a wolfish grin, having really missed her since coming back to Hogwarts.

While the two went to the same school, they didn't spend much time together this year, as Hermione's use of the time-turner had resulted in her workload becoming immense, right off the bat.

"I guess I could spare a little time…" Hermione replied a little shyly, before taking the initiative, wrapping her arms around his hair and neck, snogging him senselessly.

She'd been missing him too.

---

Cyrus Greengrass sat in his office, with a glass of his finest fire-whiskey in his hand as he re-read his oldest daughters letter for the fifth time.

Cross.

When he'd first heard the name all those years ago from his father, it meant nothing to him. Just the name of a dead pure-blood line, one of many.

That all changed when his youngest, Astoria was born and diagnosed with Malediction at St. Mungo's.

At first, he'd tried to suppress the information that one of his children had the resurfaced Greengrass curse, but his old 'friend', Lucius Malfoy had already donated quite heavily to the hospital, to ease his way back into civilized society following the Dark Lords fall.

As such, out pouring's of grief arrived from the majority of the remaining Pure-bloods arrived and soon enough, Cyrus was forced to grease the hands of many, to get them to remain silent. Including bribes and threats to the editor and owners of the Daily Prophet.

It was following his daughter's illness that he dived back into his families records of the Malediction, and it was then that the name Cross finally meant something to him.

He'd discovered an unsightly truth written in one of the journals of his ancestors, a truth that caused him, for the first time in his life to curse those that came before him and the disaster they had brought onto their family, and his sweet innocent Astoria.

"Cyrus, you've been locked up in here for hours… What's on your mind?" his wife, Penelope Greengrass asked from the entrance to his office.

Penelope patiently waited for her husband to speak, judging by the amount of fire whiskey left in that bottle next to him, something was wrong.

Eventually, he spoke, "A letter, from Daphne," he explained.

Immediately Penelope went into mother mode and dashed for the letter her husband had outstretched, worried something had happened to their youngest.

She read the letter rapidly, letting out a sigh in relief that their daughter was in fact fairing much better, but began to frown when she read her daughter reveal in her letter that she'd discovered another student with Malediction, one David Cross.

"Is it this Cross that is bothering you? I know it's horrible… but what can we do?" she asked confused as to why her husband was taking the news of the boy so hard.

~An affair? No… no Cyrus would never, how could I think that?!~

"I never told you the details of how our family was afflicted with Malediction, did I?" he asked, finishing his glass of fire whiskey.

"No dear, you haven't" she replied, realising this Cross was related somehow.

"Take a seat, I might as well you…" he asked, removing his spectacles and giving them a needless wipe down.

"It started with the gathering of the eight families."

---

"Daphne! How could you?!" Astoria roared at her sister, in the privacy of an un-used classroom near the infirmary.

"Asty, you don't understand! You don't know our families history!" Daphne shouted back, defending her decision to tell their father about David Cross.

"What do you mean our 'history'?! You mean how some ancestor of ours got afflicted with Malediction?!" Astoria demanded angrily.

"Yes! That exactly! David Cross isn't David Cross the muggle-born Ravenclaw, he's of House Cross! No one made the connection because none of the pureblood families involved know of his Malediction!" Daphne replied rapidly, hoping to get her sister to listen.

A little calmer, Astoria replied testily, "It still doesn't explain why you broke my trust and told father. David has his right to privacy you know!"

"I know, I know. But this is important," Daphne responded, a little guilty for exposing the lowkey Ravenclaw to her father.

"What? Why? You're not saying anything important! Tell me why you told father! What's so important?!" Astoria demanded, her temper rising again.

"It's important to father… and to me. I'm going to lead House Greengrass one day and this involves our history and honour. I can't tell it all to you, father made me promise before we came to Hogwarts… You'll have to hear it from him when we return home for Christmas," Daphne answered quietly.

Attempting to control her breathing, Astoria eventually asked, "What do you mean, families 'involved'?"

Slightly paling that she let a little too much slip to her sister, she shook her head and refused to answer, "You need to speak to father, please Astoria. This is important, please be patient, I beg you."

Thinking to herself for a good minute, she nodded and ordered her sister, "You're going to come with me to David and explain," noticing her sisters look of refusal, glared and continued, "You're going to explain to the best of your ability why you told father. And that's final."

"I… let me wait, for fathers reply…" Daphne pleaded sullenly.

"Fine. We'll wait for his f.u.c.k.i.n.g letter," Astoria responded, she'd recently become quite fond of the word 'f.u.c.k', much to the chagrin on her elder sister.

---

As the conversation between the Greengrass sister's was occurring, David was in his dorm room preparing to head down for breakfast when Mel made an unannounced visit

"Master, I have news from Dawlish!" she said happily, for she enjoyed the little games she played with the Auror.

"Oh. Finally, well… I guess information on Sirius Black… and a copy of the court files regarding his imprisonment in Azkaban," David asked, not really needing any of that and knowing the court files didn't exist, but it was best to maintain appearances.

"Is that all?" Mel asked a little sadly, she wanted more…

"Oh! I almost forgot, lists of contacts regarding all foreign ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures… no that might be a bit much, just get him to do the best he can regarding that, and also a list of members of the International Confederation of Wizards based here," David asked.

Happy she had more requests to give the crooked Auror, Mel nodded, thanked David and popped away to set another meeting.