Taking advantage of the fact Harry had gone out with Ron, Lily invited Molly over for morning tea and a chat. Molly arrived with a home-made fruit cake and the two witches settled in the garden as they compared their woes. Neither witch was having an easy time of things, and they were both filled with guilt over their past behaviour.
As they talked, they both agreed that all their problems stemmed from their actions in the past. At the time they'd both been convinced that Dumbledore had done the right thing by kidnapping Athena, and they'd been happy to keep the truth from Hermione, but now they could see that they never should have been a part of the plan. They should have refused to get involved, and maybe then their lives wouldn't have turned to ashes within the last year.
Despite what Harry and Ron had been insisting, neither witch believed Hermione was responsible for events of the previous year, but they could both accept that everything that had happened came as a direct result of what had happened all those years earlier. Hermione might not have known the truth about who she was, but she was the reason their lives had been ruined. Someone knew the entire story, and they'd taken revenge on those they held responsible for what had happened to Athena. Not that they blamed Hermione, if anything they both felt incredibly guilty over the suffering she must be going through.
Although to be honest, Hermione's suffering wasn't the most important thing on either witches mind. They were both having problems with their families and were both doing everything they could to hold their fracturing families together. Molly had several of her sons distancing themselves from her and Arthur because of their part in Athena's kidnapping, and of course Arthur was still waiting to see what charges, if any, the Ministry would bring against him and what his punishment would be. Lily was still having issues with Harry, who was blaming her for letting him get friendly with Hermione, on top of still grieving for James and coming to terms with the fact Dumbledore allowed her husband to become a killer.
"I curse the day we ever heard of that godforsaken prophecy," Lily said. "That's where all the problems began."
"Do you think Remus could be onto something?" Molly asked. "Could Albus have made it up?"
"I hope not, because that would make everything ten times worse and it's already a mess as it is," Lily replied. "Although if the prophecy is real, I fear we're the ones who have pushed it to come true."
"You believe Hermione could turn on us?" Molly asked in surprise. Like her, Lily had been so adamant that Hermione was innocent in everything that had happened.
"I think we've betrayed her in the most terrible way, and she's with people who will use her heartbreak to their advantage," Lily answered with a sigh. "Like it or not, we've pushed her into Draco's arms."
"You mean our sons have," Molly snorted. "I still can't get over how they reacted at graduation. I know I tried to defend Ron, and I know he hit Hermione by accident, but I've never been as ashamed of him as I was at that moment. What sort of boys did we raise to be so full of hatred?"
"I know what you mean, some of the things Harry said made me sick," Lily admitted. "I hate to say this, but I think we let our fear and hatred of Voldemort cloud what we said around the boys. We allowed that hate to fester in them, and they took it out on an innocent girl."
"Do you think she'll ever forgive us?" Molly questioned with a long sigh.
"If you were in her place, would you?"
"No. Would you?"
"No. I think we've lost Hermione for good. All we can do is hope that she doesn't let the Malfoys lead her into the darkness."
"And her father," Molly whispered. "We can't forget him. If he is back, he could be a major influence on her. We haven't seen the dark side of Hermione yet, but we might still get to face her wrath."
"Dear god, I hope not," Lily whispered, paling at the thought of facing a vengeful daughter of The Dark Lord.
As the mood began to darken, both witches were relieved to hear sound inside the house as their sons appeared. However their relief quickly turned to worry as it was obvious that something was bothering Harry and Ron. The pair looked as though they'd received a major shock and they were positively white as they sat down at the garden table with their mothers.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, reaching out to give Harry's hand a squeeze and breathing a sigh of relief when her son didn't pull away from her.
"We saw Hermione," Harry answered.
"What? By accident?" Molly asked.
"We arranged to meet her," Ron replied.
"Why?" Lily asked, eying the boys suspiciously. Even though they'd seemingly let the matter of Hermione drop, she didn't for one minute believe that they'd changed their minds about everything they'd been accusing her of.
"We were trying to lure her into a trap," Harry admitted. "We were going to pretend to be her friend again, and get close to her to find a way to take her down."
"Not this again," Molly hissed. "How many times do you have to be told that Hermione is innocent? That poor girl had her life torn to shreds in front of everyone, and instead of supporting her, you two cast her aside. She's innocent."
"We know," Ron whispered, shocking both Molly and Lily.
"You know," Lily repeated. "I don't understand. What exactly happened?"
"Hermione hates us," Harry said, only now just beginning to feel the pain of having one of his closest friends look at him as though he was dirt on the bottom of her shoe. "We've hurt her so much, and she can't forgive us."
"I can't say I blame her there," Molly replied primly. "But what happened to being convinced she was behind everything?"
"We found out the truth," Ron answered. "We met with Hermione, and she was genuinely heartbroken over how we've treated her. Not that we realised it was genuine until after she'd stormed out and we found out the truth."
"What truth?" Lily demanded, growing sick of the boys beating around the bush.
"It was Malfoy," Harry replied. "All along it was Draco sodding Malfoy. You were right, Hermione knew nothing. She was innocent. Malfoy and his father were behind everything."
"How do you know this?" Molly asked with a confused frown. She hardly thought any of the Malfoys would confess to being behind recent events when they'd done so much in the public eye to portray themselves as upstanding members of the wizarding community.
"Malfoy was with Hermione, and he all but confessed after she'd left," Ron explained.
"But he didn't actually confess?" Lily checked.
"Not in as many words, but he's too clever for that," Harry said. "But he said enough to let us know how wrong we've been. It wasn't Hermione behind all those Death Eater attacks and everything else that happened, it was the Malfoys. They've known who Hermione was, and they set it up so we would push her away. Damn Malfoy read us perfectly. He knew how we would react when the truth about Hermione was revealed. All he had to do was wait for us to deliver her to him on a plate."
"What do you mean deliver him to her?" Molly questioned. "What else aren't you saying?"
"And how could they have known who Hermione was?" Lily added.
"They're bonded," Ron spat. "Hermione and Malfoy were bonded as children. You should have heard him Mum, crowing about how we'd driven her into his arms. She's with him because of us."
"They're together?" Molly checked.
"Not really, but since they're bonded it'll happen eventually," Harry replied with a slight shrug. "Only now she won't be reluctant to accept the bond because we shunned her and the Malfoys swept in and played her knights in shining armour. We've been totally and utterly outplayed. Malfoy and his damn father must have been laughing at us this entire time."
"A bond would explain them knowing who Hermione was," Lily muttered thoughtfully. "Lucius Malfoy is not a stupid man, and he must have known that she wasn't dead. At graduation, he said that they thought she was dead, but that isn't true. They've always known Athena was alive."
"But how long have they known she was Hermione?" Molly mused.
"Probably since Malfoy started school," Harry said.
"If that was the case, they would have done something long before now," Molly pointed out. "It must be a recent development. Maybe something happened with the bond and it alerted Lucius who Hermione was."
"Does it really matter what alerted him?" Ron demanded. "Surely what matters is that the Malfoys knew who Hermione was. All year they've known who she was, and they've manipulated things to turn us against her. They wanted to get their hands on her, and now they've managed it."
"And now they also have Voldemort in their corner," Harry added. "Hermione denied he was back, but it might have been because she no longer trusts us, or she might not yet know about his return."
"If she doesn't know, his return could push her back towards us," Molly suggested hopefully. "It would prove she's been lied to by the Malfoys, as they must know he's back by now."
"It won't make a difference," Harry said with a sad shake of his head. "Even though the Malfoys are lying to her and using her, the Order did the same thing. She won't trust us again. If anything, she's more likely to let the Malfoys and the dark sway her to their way of thinking. She wasn't responsible for events of last year, but she is now a danger. The Hermione we knew and loved has gone. We helped destroy her, and I have an awful feeling that Athena Riddle is growing inside of her. Like it or not, Hermione is now the enemy, and the Malfoys and Voldemort will make sure she stays on their side."
"I hate to admit it, but he's making sense," Molly said to Lily, who didn't look convinced by her son's reasoning.
"I know," Lily confessed. "I just hate to think of Hermione as the enemy."
"So do we," Harry replied, regretting all the previous times he'd called Hermione the enemy as he'd been wrong and it was only now that she was a danger to them all.
"So what happens now?" Molly asked. "It's not like people are believing us that You-Know-Who is back. Have you seen the morning's papers, they're full of articles discrediting his return. No-one wants to believe he's back."
"They'll soon see for themselves," Harry said. "He won't stay quiet for long. And as for Hermione, we need to tread carefully. I think that for the time being, we back off and wait and see what happens. Maybe if we don't antagonise her, she won't give into the Malfoys manipulations and she won't give into the darkness inside her."
Molly and Lily both nodded in agreement, relief written all over their faces. They were both hoping that if Harry and Ron backed down it would prove an end to the fighting and peace could be resorted. It would be nice to go back to living in a world where they weren't constantly wondering what was going happen next and what new tragedy would befall the family.
"We're going to go upstairs for a bit," Harry said as he and Ron got to their feet and left their mothers to make some fresh tea as they discussed the latest turn of events.
"Were you serious?" Ron asked the second they were in Harry's bedroom with the door closed behind them.
"About what?" Harry questioned.
"Backing off," Ron answered. "I know we were wrong about Hermione being involved in what's happened, but we both know Malfoy won't just give in and let her live a peaceful life as his wife. He'll want power, and he'll think he can get it with You-Know-Who's daughter at his side. Backing off, won't achieve anything."
"I know, and you've struck the problem on the head," Harry said. "Left alone, Hermione is harmless. I can see that now. She's an innocent and even though we've broken her heart, she won't do anything to us. However, it's a different story if she's got Malfoy whispering in her ear. You saw the way he was with her, he's already playing the part of the perfect partner. Before you know it, he'll have Hermione wrapped around his little finger."
"So Malfoy's the problem?" Ron checked.
"He is," Harry answered with a nod. "He's the one we need to take out. If we're careful, we can save Hermione from the darkness without ever having to touch her. All we need to do is take out the Malfoys and her father."
"You make is sound so easy," Ron muttered.
"War isn't easy, Ron," Harry chuckled darkly. "But we can do it. Let's focus on Malfoy first. You and I are going to take him out and no-one, not even our parents, are going to know we've done it."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Not yet," Harry confessed. "But together, I'm sure we'll come up with something."
As the two wizards settled down to plot, Hermione was several miles away not realising that her attempt to get Harry and Ron to believe in her innocence had put the life of the wizard she loved in danger. She had no idea of the dangerous path she'd set Harry and Ron on, and if she had known, she never would have gotten Draco to pretend that he was the brains behind recent events. Not when it could very well end up getting him killed.