New chapter - much longer to make up for the really short one last time! Also please go check out my new story (Healing the Grangers)!
Princess Leasha - here you go!
Red Garden Gnome - haha whoops!
xXMizz Alec VolturiXx - oh dear, sorry obviously didn't really think
cares 1970 - thanks so much!
- HermionesPolyjuice xoxo
Chapter 10
Hermione was glad to hear her alarm clock finally go off at 8 o'clock the next morning – she hadn't slept very well at all, mulling over the conversation from the night before. It wasn't exactly the way she had planned on telling Harry and Ron where she had been. But at the same time she felt a huge weight lift off her chest and relief flooded through her when she first told them. She rolled over and hit her alarm clock, switching it off. She heard Ginny groan as she woke up. Hermione got out of bed and headed for the communal bathroom.
Once she had brushed her teeth, showered and got changed into a navy skirt and blue strappy top she headed downstairs to the kitchen. The sun was streaming through all of the windows; she knew it was going to be a hot summer's day. Charlie was sitting at the table, by himself reading the Daily Prophet.
"Morning, Charlie," Hermione greeted the second eldest Weasley as she entered the kitchen and summoned a bowl and some cereal.
"Hi, Hermione. Sleep well?" he smiled up at her.
"Dreadful. I don't think I slept for a minute," she replied pouring milk over here Cornflakes.
"Me neither. I ended up spending most of the night on a walk." They sat there in silence for a while, Charlie reading the newspaper and Hermione attempting to read it upside down.
"Can I ask you something Hermione?" Charlie asked as he finished the last article on the back page. Hermione nodded casting a look over at Charlie. He was wearing a pale blue polo shirt that fitted him tightly. Hermione could see his strong muscles bulging through the fabric.
"What books were you needing from Hogwarts? Why did you need to go there, when the best bookshop in the country is in Diagon Alley?" he questioned folding up the newspaper and looking at her inquisitively.
"I…I…Flourish and Blotts didn't have the books I needed."
"What books?"
"I didn't know. I needed some books, not sure which books and figured Hogwarts was the only place that would have what I needed."
"Can I ask what sort of books you were looking for?" Hermione hesitated before answering.
"In my fifth year, when I was in the Department of Mysteries with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna Lovegood, I was hit. I was hit by a curse that Madame Pompfrey said I was lucky to have survived. I didn't know what the curse was and I don't think anyone did. I experienced a lot of pain in my side, where it struck me, for a while afterwards but by the beginning of my sixth year it had stopped and I forgot about it." She looked up at Charlie, who was looking back at her with worry but didn't interrupt.
"I haven't told anyone about this, but when we were finding Horcruxes last year we were caught my snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse-"
"She did not," Charlie grumbled. Hermione nodded and promptly pointed to a thin scar on her neck, where Bellatrix had held the dagger to her. She then showed Charlie the words 'MUDBLOOD' etched into her right forearm. Charlie went white with shock.
"As I was tortured, the worst pain was in my side. It was the same pain as two years previously and took about a month to completely subside. I thought they were connected. And then recently, ever since the accident, I have been getting extreme pain in my side. Worse than before, and sometimes even worse than when I was tortured by Bellatrix. I realized the other day that they must be linked. The spell must have been some sort of Dark Magic, a spell that doesn't leave your body. So I thought that I would find some books at Hogwarts that would help me identify the spell and find a cure," Hermione finished. Charlie just stared at her, the colour slowly returning to his face.
"I would have come with you; you should have told me," Charlie finally managed to say.
"I…I guess I didn't know how. I just wanted to sort this all out myself without having to worry anyone," Hermione shrugged.
"Well, now you've told me it only seems right that I help. Write down your symptoms and give me the books and I'll look through them for you. You need to focus on your NEWTs." Hermione stood up without saying anything, rushed to the other side of the table and flung her arms around Charlie's neck.
"Thank you," she whispered into his neck. His answer was to hug her tightly.
They heard a cough at the door and broke apart immediately, both blushing.
"Well, well, well," Fred started.
"What do we have here?" George continued.
"You know what, Georgie?"
"What Freddie?"
"I reckon we've just interrupted something."
"I think we have."
"Shall we leave?"
"After you my good brother." George bowed letting Fred leave the kitchen.
"You don't need to leave," Hermione called after the retreating backs.
"Thank Merlin. I feel like my stomach was about to implode," Fred said thankfully re-entering the kitchen grinning at Hermione.
"Sit, I'll make you a fry up," Hermione commanded. Fred and George obediently sat down opposite Charlie, both giving him an inquisitive look.
"So what was that about ickle Charlie?" Fred questioned is elder brother.
"Firstly, you don't get to call me ickle. Secondly, it was nothing I just offered to help Mione with something," Charlie retorted.
"Ooooh, did you hear that Georgie?"
"I did, Freddie."
"Ickle Charlie just called her Mione."
"I'm sensing something."
"Me too. Ready to cause some mischief." Hermione looked over from the stove to catch Fred and George exchange smirks. Charlie had blushed a deep scarlet; Hermione giggled to herself before turning back to the spitting bacon.
"Why aren't you at work, Charlie-kin?"
"It's Charlie," Charlie said through gritted teeth, "nothing more, and nothing less. Just Charlie."
"Alright, 'Just Charlie'. Why aren't you at the Ministry with Dad and Percy?" George asked again. Hermione could hear Fred snigger as his twin emphasised the 'Just'.
"Well, my department appointed me a new job yesterday," Charlie replied, ignoring his brothers' snicker.
"Oh really?"
"What to?"
"I have been appointed in charge of the dragon reserve in the Yorkshire Moors."
"There's a dragon reserve in Yorkshire?" Hermione asked ladling scrambled eggs onto the twins' plates.
"Yeah there is, it's meant to be on the down-low but it can't hurt for you lot to know. They want to expand it to relieve the pressure from the ones in Spain and Romania. The moors are huge, there's so much more space there than anywhere else – it makes a lot of sense to expand it. So I'm in charge of the expansion, movement of the dragon's when the time comes and then the general running of it."
"Wow, congratulations Charlie!" Hermione exclaimed beaming at Charlie, the smile that neither Fred nor George missed, "Does that mean you're going to be living up there then?"
"Yes, I'm heading over to Romania this afternoon until Friday and then I'll be back for good, only going to Europe about twice a year."
"Your mother will be so glad," Hermione said sitting back down at the table with a mug of tea.
"Glad about what?" Mrs Weasley asked bustling into the kitchen.
"'Just Charlie's' moving back to the UK," Fred and George said together.
"Oh, really? That is fantastic news," Mrs Weasley said beaming at her second son.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it. I'm just off to Romania after lunch until Friday and then I'm done there." Mrs Weasley pulled Charlie into a rib breaking, suffocating hug. Charlie grimaced at Fred, George and Hermione, who all snorted with laughter.
{-/-} [-\-] {-/-}
"Here you go," Hermione said handing one of the books she took from Hogwarts to Charlie and a piece of parchment. Charlie cast a look at the parchment and saw a list of symptoms written down in perfect handwriting. Charlie smiled at Hermione before putting the large, heavy book and parchment into the red backpack.
"Enjoy Romania and I'll see you on Friday," Hermione said, a sparkle disappearing in her eye as quickly as it appeared.
"Take care of your-" but Charlie wasn't able to finish as Hermione screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor. Charlie caught her before she hit her head on the kitchen table. He lowered the writhing Hermione to the floor and sat down next to here holding her tightly until she lay still. Charlie kept Hermione close to him and stroked her hair until she got her breathing to a steady state. He could feel her shaking with sobs and held her tighter than before.
"Shh, it's OK. Everything's OK. We're going to make this better, I promise," Charlie comforted her. He glanced at his watched and saw he only had three minutes until his portkey would take him to Romania. But he couldn't just leave Hermione here, everyone was busy and no one was around. To his relief, Ginny walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"Ginny. Come over here. My portkey leaves in a minute," Charlie beckoned his sister to take his place comforting the still trembling Hermione. He stood up and pulled his backpack over his shoulder and touched a glowing toothbrush. A few moments later he felt the usual jerk behind his navel and the last thing he saw was Hermione crying into Ginny's shoulder.
{-/-} [-\-] {-/-}
Under Mrs Weasley's orders Hermione spent the rest of the day in bed, secretly to Hermione's delight. Each 'attack' was getting worse and draining her of more energy. Each time it took longer for her to recover. After sleeping for several hours she got up and read some more of Magical Incantations: Signs and Symptoms – What to Do but to no success. She was still unable to pinpoint the curse; she really hoped Charlie would have more success. Thinking of Charlie, Hermione felt a pang of guilt. He was always there for her and was helping her with so much and yet she wasn't repaying it at all. She hadn't asked if there was any way she could have helped him. All of a sudden she felt very selfish.
She finished the book still with no success, lay back down and rolled over onto her side to face the wall. She heard the door open behind her but pretended to be asleep; she really wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone. She knew that they all wanted her to go to St Mungo's but she knew there was nothing they could do. The Healers' wouldn't know what had happened and they wouldn't be able to cure it. She had to work it out by herself, well with Charlie's help of course. She felt a fluttering in her stomach when thinking about Charlie. A feeling she had never experienced before, but she knew it had nothing to do with the curse. She had feelings for the second eldest Weasley brother. The feelings were recent, and they were slight. But they were there. She always felt so comfortable and safe around him, even in the presence of others. He was the first one she saw when she woke up. He was always the one to look after her after the 'attacks'. Hermione lay there, drifting in and out of sleep, experiencing the warm and fluttering feeling associated with Charlie.
{-/-} [-\-] {-/-}
"He did not!" Hermione squealed with glee as Ginny sat down on the end of her bed later that afternoon, "Let me see, let me see!" Ginny stuck out her left hand and Hermione examined the elegant ring with a singular diamond.
"Merlin! That is beautiful, Gin. I'm so happy for you," Hermione exclaimed throwing herself at Ginny.
"How did your mum take it?"
"She cried, what else would you have expected?" Ginny replied with a giggle pushing Hermione off her. Hermione laughed.
"And everyone else?"
"They all took it really well. I guess they knew it was going to happen after the new law so I don't think they were that surprised," Ginny said looking down at her new engagement ring.
"Mum's already got the diary out and is planning the wedding already." Hermione rolled her eyes, classic Mrs Weasley.
"We're going to have to make a trip to Diagon Alley soon to get your dress aren't we?" Hermione asked and Ginny nodded with agreement.
"Look, Hermione. Can you…would you…be my maid of honour?" Ginny asked blushing a dark red.
"Ginny, I would absolutely love to. Really I would," Hermione exclaimed leaning in to give Ginny another bone-crushing hug.
"Isn't it really odd that you'll be going into you last year at Hogwarts and you'll be married. That must never have happened before," Hermione said thoughtfully.
"I'm…I'm not going back to Hogwarts any more," Ginny said sheepishly.
"What? You're not? But why?"
"Holyhead Harpies have already offered me a position as Chaser, I can't really turn it down. And Luna's dad isn't letting her go back for some reason and I won't really know anyone. It just won't be the same without you, Harry and even Ron. Everything will be so different, I'm not sure I could go back Also I wasn't really there much last year so I would have to learn two years in one." Hermione looked over at the youngest Weasley, trying to read her expression.
"What have your parents said?"
"They didn't take it too well, as it would mean their youngest four children never finished their education. But then again they understood why and I guess they'll be OK with it. It's not as if I'm going to be slumping around here all day. I'll be training, competing and travelling as of the 12th August. And you never know, I may get the England call up one day," she finished her eyes gleaming with delight. Quidditch was where Ginny belonged, almost more so than Harry. She had such a natural talent, that's what growing up with six elder brothers does to you Hermione assumed. The two girls sat there in silence admiring Ginny's ring until they heard Mrs Weasley calling for Ginny. They both stood up.
"What are you doing Mione?" Ginny interrogated.
"I'm not going to miss out on some potential wedding planning," Hermione smiled and they both headed to the kitchen to find Mrs Weasley sitting at the table surrounded by pieces of parchments. Hermione saw tears of glee fill Mrs Weasley's eyes as Ginny walked in.
"So I was thinking of having the wedding here in the garden, just like Bill and Fleur's last year. And how does Saturday 22nd July sound. I know it's early but then it gives you a week until Harry starts his Auror training. Or we can wait until October."
"No I prefer the sound of a July wedding," Ginny said sitting down on her mother's left side.
"Good, because I do too," Mrs Weasley said scratching out the second date.
"Right so a marquee out the back should work. How big do you think it will need to be?" Mrs Weasley asked looking at the next thing on her ever-growing list.
"Depends on who I invite, I guess," Ginny shrugged.
"Well it will be all of us, Muriel, any Hogwarts friends and Order Members. I don't think it will be huge."
"I don't want it to be big, just the family and closest friends," Ginny said looking over at Hermione, who nodded in agreement.
"What time of the day?"
"I reckon late afternoon, so about 4 o'clock maybe?" Ginny suggested.
"That works, although maybe 5 would be better to be at a more suitable time for dinner." Ginny nodded her head.
"That leads nicely onto food – any requests?"
"I'm thinking an option and on their RSVP they can choose what they want. Harry's favourite is lamb so that should be an possibility and than a fish." The conversation went on for hours, going through tiny details such as when to put up the marquee to what coloured napkins to the timings of dessert.
Hermione was exhausted by the time Mrs Weasley finally folded up the multiple pieces of parchment and put them away a few hours later. Looking over at Ginny she saw her expression mirrored on her face. They both slumped against the back of their chairs and looked up towards the ceiling. Hermione could sense Ginny trying to contain herself from hexing her mother at that moment. She smiled to herself before closing her eyes and slipping into her thoughts.
She was walking down a darkened corridor, lit only by the occasional candle. It was narrow and long – she couldn't see the end and knew she had been walking for hours. She looked down at her feet and saw what distinctly looked like blood seep from the soles of her feet. She lifted her eyes, away from the floor and continued to trudge down the corridor, her whole body aching. She placed one foot in front of the other, pain rushing through her body with every step. It was then that she realised the floor was covered in intermittent pins. Every time her feet made contact with the floor a pin would pierce the skin of her feet causing more blood to spread across the floor. She rummaged around for her wand, but rather than feeling cotton robes she felt silk. She looked down and saw a short, red silk dress with thin spaghetti straps slipping off her shoulders. With a dread of horror she realised she was wandless. Feeling around again confirmed her fear that she had no weapon. Sticking her hands out she felt that the walls were lined with pins and reaching up she felt the low ceiling also covered in spikes. Peering at her hands in the semi-darkness she saw blood dripping from her palms onto the floor. Hermione moaned and could feel tears stinging her cheeks as they fell from her eyes but she continued to walk towards the end of the corridor. Not even ten paces later, Hermione felt a rumble behind her. She whipped around and could just about see a stampede making their way towards her. Without even thinking she started to run. She ran faster than she had ever run before. She kept on placing one foot in front of the other and pumping her arms. Judging by the sounds, the stampede was gaining ground on her. Yet she didn't dare turn around. He breathing became rapid and she could feel her heart hammering inside her chest. He legs began to fill with lactic acid and they began to burn. The pain in her chest was blocking out the stinging of the pins piercing her feet. The stampede was getting closer and closer, she was running out of time and she knew that she was never going to make it, unless a door would appear within a few seconds. But a door never did. She carried on sprinting over the pins until the stampede caught up with her. Yet it wasn't a stampede. As it reached her she realised it was a huge wave of more pins. They flattened her and began to suffocate her. She let out a scream.
"Hermione! Hermione! Wake up!" someone was shaking her practically shouting at her. Hermione opened her eyes and was met with bright white light. It pierced her eyes and she squeezed them shut. She wasn't in a never-ending corridor being chased by pins. She was at The Burrow and she must have fallen asleep at the table. She felt tears sting her eyes and letting them fall she opened her eyes to see Fred peering down at her with concern. She flung herself at him and buried her face into his chest letting the tears fall.
(A/N: hope you enjoyed this, please do leave a review with your thoughts! And please do go check out Healing the Grangers, I prefer it to this one!)