Blue ━ Hermione Granger

| EIGHT: OLD TIMES

"We still have enemies," Lucius growled, "People still want us dead – they wanted the Ftizgeralds dead and now they are. What will the people who took my cousin away from me think when Amandla's still alive? They'll come back for her to finish the job – we can't have that."

Novak caved, looking at the young girl. He had known the King family for years. Seen them pass through the shop many times throughout the year, sometimes with their two children; Gwendolyn and Aiden. She looked so much like Gwendolyn. The curly hair, the gentle features, that little spark of innocence in her eyes. He remembered the times when Gwen's eyes held that too – but that was years ago, when she was only a child.

Now, the Fitzgeralds Novak didn't know. They stayed away from his shop the best they could, not needing dark items to commit dark deeds. Only a wand was needed for them.

He sighed, "The Statures."

"What?" Lucius questioned. He expected more information, not just a name. He needed to make sure they would thoroughly take care of his precious Amandla – the daughter of his favorite cousin.

"The Statures. A single mother, Anastasia, raising twins. She was a Ravenclaw, pureblood, works a muggle job as a lawyer – very good job for their kind. She's kind, helps out with summer camps for children. She'll take care of Amandla."

"Thank you," Lucius was so sincere in that moment. He looked at Amandla, who was innocently staring at all of the strange objects on display, and he suddenly began to grow sad. He wouldn't be as relevant in her life anymore. No one could know of their connection to each other, and that meant he would have to let her go a little – more than he could ever want.

€

With parted lips, Amandla stared at the different objects on display in the Room of Requirement. It reminded her of her childhood, one moment that seemed so confusing at the time, but so clear at that moment. This time, though, there was no one part of the Malfoy family there, it was her classmates from different houses ready to learn from the great Harry Potter himself.

The strange objects, this time, she knew their names. She knew what they were, she wasn't confused. No, she was mostly sad that she had been drawn back into that horrible memory that wasn't even too bad. No, it was that feeling of confusion of where her parents were, what was happening, and where she would go next.

"Glad to see all you of could find this place all right," Harry announced, looking at them.

"Hey, Harry, what is all of this stuff?" Neville asked on behalf of most everyone in the room.

"Loads of Defense Against the Dark Arts equipment. Hopefully we'll be able to get to all of it before the end of the term," Harry said, and Amandla frowned.

She knew the last part of that. Even if he hadn't meant it, there was that nagging feeling of if they finished this term. No, that was for the majority of people there. For her, it was before she was turned into the one of the people they were fighting.

"You need to understand something before we start, though. Defending yourself from the Dark Arts had less to do with magical ability and more to do with thinking fast and a lot of luck," Harry paused, "We'll be doing Expelliarmus tonight, though hopefully we can move on to other things if we have time."

"Oh please," some rolled their eyes. Zacharias, Amandla mentally scoffed. "Professor Lockhart taught us that in second year."

"Lockhart didn't teach as much as prune himself," Ron defended his friend, and Amandla couldn't help but agree. He did spend a lot of time talking more than doing anything, acting as if he could do so much but never actually doing any of it.