Let me help you
"This is stupid."
"Yes, now take some rest"
"No. I still don't understand how I am emotionally unfit"
"Mione, honey, I am getting late. We will meet up for dinner and talk about this." And with that Ron placed a kiss on my forehead and got up to leave.
"It was really kind of you to accompany me from hospital to home. Thank you Ron"
"wow, the hospital really changed you! Now get some sleep and we will all meet you for dinner, okay?"
I simply nodded. It was unfair. What was I supposed to do with all this free time in my hand? I had already ruled out going for a vacation so that left me with absolutely nothing to do. I got up from my bed and walked into the living room hoping to find some kind of work – nada.
I swept through The Daily Prophet to find out about any developments about Malfoys case. And obviously Kingsley had stopped any news from reaching the press. This case was too guarded to be allowed in the media.
"Fine, if they won't tell me I will find about this on my own." And finally I had something to do. With that I got up and rushed to get ready. With all this excitement my head felt heavier than it should have but I chose to ignore it. Keeping my perfectly fine head away from excitement would just make me go crazy.
It was around 11 that I was completely ready. As a cover up I had owled Harry and Ron that I was out for house hunting. And with everything taken care of, I disapparated to my dreaded destination – Malfoy Manor.
...
I didn't land on my feet, but at least I landed with my head still in place. And when I got up, I was greeted to a different sight. Instead of the deserted Manor, I was now looking at a sealed Manor with a lot of people coming in and out of it. I walked towards their direction until I was stopped by one of the guards.
"Lady, show me your badge"
"What?" I was confused. What was happening over here? Why had they sealed the Manor?
And from a distance I heard a different voice shout at me.
"Hermione Granger. You know I had expected to see you!"
I had to strain my eyes to see the figure walking towards me.
"Who are you?"
"I am Vince Strule. I am in charge of the case now. I thought you must have been informed by now" He said. He was well built with dark eyes and I am 100% sure that I have never seen this guy on my floor.
"I was not informed about you. But what are you doing over here? Why are you sealing the Manor?"
"Because you made the mistake of not doing so. It was a rookie mistake I must say." He said with smugness engulfed in his voice.
"That is because it was not needed. You will not find anything over here."
"Ouch. That one hurts." He said with goofiness which clearly didn't impress me. This guy didn't care one bit about looking for Malfoy, he was just killing time.
"You know you could have consulted me before doing starting. After all, I was in charge of the case before you"
"Yes, you were in charge of the case for 2 days. Now what could you have possibly found out that I wouldn't find out?" he snapped at me.
"Look-"
"No, you look. Stay out of this case, this case is mine. And if I find you causing trouble, like you are creating one right now, Kingsley will see to it that the Ministry doesn't hire you back." He said sternly and walked away. "Now I think you can very well get yourself out of here. Thank you Ms. Granger"
This guy didn't mean business. He was just wasting time. Oh, god! What must the Malfoys be going through right now? I had to go see them. And so I started walking on the grounds of the Manor towards their house.
They were not sitting in their garden and the window was shut. Were they even home? I walked up to the door of the house and knocked. I was about to leave when I heard shuffling inside the house and then finally the door was opened. I was greeted by a tired Lucius Malfoy.
"Ms. Granger! Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am fine. Thank you. Do you mind if I come inside?"
I can tell that Lucius was taken aback from my question. He thought for a few seconds until he nodded and fully opened the door for me. The living room was sparkling clean and so was the kitchen.
"Cissy is upstairs. I will go get her." he said and left to get his wife.
I couldn't digest that I had voluntarily entered the Malfoy household. Were the medications really that strong?
"Hermione! It's so nice to see you!" and that was Narcissa
I couldn't say that back to her so I smile while all the three of us seated ourselves.
"Are they giving you back the case?" Lucius blurted out.
I couldn't look at him or answer him. I kept silent to which he responded with a nod.
"But I hope that they find your son."
"To be honest, I think we have lost our son forever now." Lucius spoke. And I knew he was right. "Give me your honest opinion Ms. Granger. We don't want to hear the sugar coated version of it."
Narcissa looked at her husband with horror. Every word coming out of his mouth cut her into pieces and I was worried that mine would do the same.
"One year from now your son will be categorised into loss. His name would appear under my parents' names. And for the next 10 years or so, no one will be allowed to look for these names. So, yeah.." I took a deep breath to continue " Your son is never going to find home."
This was it. A broken Hermione had broken two souls in front of her. time had frozen for them. The look of horror didn't seem to leave their faces. And I wanted to comfort them and tell them that it was going to be ok but I couldn't do it. I just could not lie to them. I could not give them hope that will ultimately crush them.
I realised I wasn't invited here anymore so I got up to leave.
"Stay." Narcissa whispered. It wasn't an order nor was it a request, it was a plea, a plea from a mourning mother and I just could not defy her. I sat down on the couch again.
And waited.
...
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