Disclaimer: I think that even if I asked very nicely, JK Rowling would refuse to give me the rights to Harry Potter. So, I shall continue to do this for fun and feedback.
The Bond Servant
Chapter Eleven
It was early February, and Hermione sat on her usual side of the headmaster's desk, accompanied by Roland Shacklebolt and Edgar Bones. Edgar had been brought in as Adeline's replacement in handling Hermione. He seemed pleased with the job, if shocked to hear just how deep Hermione was in. Albus sat in front of them, waiting for their report.
Hermione went first. "Outside of various instances of muggle baiting, all is pretty quiet. The Dark Lord is still holding me at a bit of a distance. He says he want to wait until I finish up my training at St. Mungo's before he starts… teaching me. I think he might be looking for proof that I am invested and not going to use the knowledge he gives me against him."
Albus frowned, "Can you think of a way to get him to trust you more?"
Hermione shrugged. "I spoke to Abraxas about it. Short of provoking someone into challenging me and… disciplining them, we can think of nothing. It is just a waiting game. I think he is trying to see if I will break when he does or orders things I disagree with. We are at a bit of a standstill because none of his orders right now are particularly daunting compared to what he knows I know has already happened. Muggle baiting, but nothing in front of me."
Roland sighed, "While I don't look forward to things escalating, I almost wish they would so that we wouldn't be just sitting here. I feel like we should be pushing his buttons. The sooner he shows himself to the public, the sooner we can publicly fight back."
Edgar cleared his throat. "That might actually not be an issue for much longer," he said, slowly.
The other three looked at him, waiting for more.
"Anna is about to be published for the first time. She was very excited and came home to show me an advanced copy of the article. It releases in the morning. There is no talking her out of it." Edgar had proposed to Anna on New Year's Day, and the two were sharing an apartment off of Diagon Alley until they could get married In July.
"Well?" Roland asked, impatiently.
"She has been looking into the disappearances. I might be a bit responsible for that as I had mentioned how many there had been to her. It apparently made her curious. Her father has been approached by the Death Eaters to join. Nathaniel has expressed his desire to stay neutral, and it has seemingly been accepted. Regardless, Anna connected the dots. Her article doesn't give out any names, to prevent libel suits, but it is pointed. Something along the lines of…"
A Dark Uprising
It is no secret that something strange is happening in our society. Aside from the assassination of Jarvin Jenkins by wizards unknown, several disappearances have happened within our small magical society. Juliette Henners, Baldric Gaines, Marvin Hopkirk, Eustacia Alleria, and Reginald Demont are the five most notable of 27 disappearances that have happened in the past 3 years. In our small community, this trend is staggering.
Mr. Hopkirk's widow, along with the widower of Mrs. Henners, insist that foul play was involved and said to this reporter that the ministry isn't doing much about it.
Lord Orion Black, a respect Wizengamot member refused to comment other than to state that "the Wizengamot cannot waste its valuable time attempting to investing crimes that may or may not have happened" and referred me to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
There, Lord Sterling Parkinson, the Junior Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement said that "no suspicious activity has been found strong enough to warrant further investigation" into this startling number of disappearances. He also voiced his opinion that "the idea that these unfortunate disappearances are linked is ridiculous conjecture."
Considering our government is not interested in investigating these matters further, this reporter felt it necessary to research. Sadly, a link between 13 of the missing persons has been uncovered quite easily. Marvin Hopkirk intended to introduce legislation that would insist upon equal hiring opportunities to muggleborn citizens. When he disappeared, Mr. Demont intended to continue Mr. Hopkirk's work before disappearing himself. Mr. Gaines was a renowned barrister hired to help draft the same piece of legislation. Juliette Henners was a muggleborn set to testify that hiring standards were unfair to give credence to the need for such laws to be passed.
Eustacia Allen was responsible for leading a small group of muggleborn witches in shopkeep jobs to perform a walk out from their positions in protest once the legislation did not pass.
Another eight connected (whose names can be found on page 16) were all known to be either muggleborns, married to muggleborns, or otherwise vocal in their beliefs of blood equality.
Unfortunately, such a connection leads us back to the assassination of Jarvin Jenkins. After being mutilated, he was hung with a sign around his neck proclaiming him to be a "blood traitor". His wife, Minister of Magic Eugenia Jenkins, was planning to publicly support pro-muggleborn legislation the day after he was found. She has since rescinded her efforts.
If blood supremacists were guilty of the murder of Mr. Jenkins, is it implausible to consider that the same people might be responsible for the disappearances or possible murders of the other members of our community that have disappeared? This reporter thinks it probable.
Most startling, and not yet reported on, is the uprising of a group of people within our society made up of very powerful and high ranking purebloods. This group has been pushing legislation that would slowly turn our society back toward its more traditional roots. They are lawyers. They are businessmen. They are members of our Wizengamot. They hold positions in our ministry, even the Department of Magical Law Enforcement itself, possibly.
It can be debated if their goals, presumably to restore traditionalism to Magical Britain, are good. However, if this powerful group is responsible for the disappearances or even murders of our citizens for their cause, they need to be ousted. Violence should never be the way to achieve our desires. I implore you to rise up and tell these people that we've had enough.
Anna Greengrass, Journalist
Hermione put the paper down on her table before laying her forehead on top of it. Anna was in trouble. She knew it was only a matter of time before Voldemort called them in and arranged for her death.
She had not spent a lot of time with Anna. While Anna had been her only female dormmate at Hogwarts, the two still never quite hit it off. Anna had already made friends with girls in other houses by the time Hera had arrived on the scene, and Hermione had quickly become close friends with Lucius, Antonin, and Kingsley.
Still, they did consider each other to be friends, and she had been asked by Anna to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Edgar. It was her first time in this timeline that she felt imminent fear for a friend's life, and it caused bad memories to surface.
Of course, upon hearing that the article had come out, Dumbledore had mobilized Order members to watch over Anna. Roland had even petitioned with the DMLE to put a protective unit on her and ward her home. Unsurprisingly, considering that a Death Eater was the second in command there, the request had been turned down.
Herimone was just finishing a cup of coffee when she felt the mark on her arm burn.
She picked her wand off of the table and walked into the large bit of floorspace in her kitchen, preparing to apparate to the Dark Lord. It was funny to her how many times she had thought that "it" was finally beginning. The war, the destruction… little steps had taken place that had brought her to this point in time, and so many had seemed significant. She had to acknowledge, though, that the steps for it to happen had taken place long before she got here.
She also found herself to be growing a bit spiteful to the elder Lucius Malfoy. He had been so concerned about his personal salvation that he had wanted her to come back to this specific point in time. If he had been willing to send her further back, trusting that he wouldn't be corrupted by some other dark figure, she could have went back to Voldemort's time at Hogwarts and killed him before he even had the chance to make any horcruxes. She would have taken the risk of going back that much farther.
Unfortunately, the Lucius Malfoy she had known in the past/future was a very self-absorbed man, and she was sure that he could have generally cares less who died outside of his personal friends and family.
Her Lucius was nothing like that.
She shook off the thought. Lucius wasn't hers anymore, and she was Roderick Nott's if anything. Their relationship had slowly progressed throughout the past month. She hadn't initiated anything since her drunken night, but she accepted his hand when he reached for hers. She allowed him to kiss her goodnight, and she even found herself enjoying it a bit. Maybe, with time, she could find a modicum of happiness with him. For now, she relied on the fact that the relationship could wield a wealth of information.
Antonin and Rodolphus did not seem very supportive, Antonin in particular, but she didn't have to worry about that too much. They were still avoiding her for the most part. Apparently, watching her happily torture a schoolmate had been a bit much for them. She thought it was a bit hypocritical of Antonin, who had personally tortured and slit a man's throat the very same night. A simple killing curse would have done the job much quicker if he truly felt it necessary to kill him. He had taken joy from his efforts that night, too.
She apparated to the Dark Lord's townhouse, looking around the foyer before walking into the dining room. She nodded at the people there, noting that the Dark Lord hadn't made an appearance yet.
Her thoughts regarding hurting people were changing a bit, and the fact scared her. During Harry's War (as she had come to call it in her mind), she had not taken any joy from hurting people. It had been necessary and justified.
Now, it still was justified, she thought, and perhaps even necessary considering the Dark Lord's orders. She had to admit that hurting Bellatrix had seemed like vindication. Having the dark witch succumb to her had been immensely gratifying. Was it wrong to feel that way? She couldn't be sure.
She certainly wasn't going to tell Dumbledore of her less than negative feelings about what she'd done. No, those feelings were known by Abraxas alone, and she was quite sure he might be the only person that could truly understand what she was feeling to any large degree. Speaking of Abraxas, she nodded at him as he took a seat a little more down the table on the opposite side.
Within the Death Eater ranks, Abraxas had spouted how his son was idiotic to break things off with Hera as an excuse to maintain a somewhat personal relationship with her. He was visibly miffed by Roderick, though.
Ricky slid into the seat on her right hand side, putting an arm possessively over the back of her chair. She saw Rodolphus sneer at him, but Roderick seemed to pay no mind.
Hermione then caught Bellatrix looking at her with the same expression she'd had on her face the past few times she had seen her. Rage and fear seemed to be in constant flux, as well as a slight look of begrudging respect that looked particularly strange on her. She would usually glance away when Hermione looked back at her, but this time she did not.
Hermione smirked, inclining her head mockingly at the witch. The rage returned, and Bellatrix looked away. Hermione's smirk turned into a smile before turning into a frown. Should she enjoy this? Was she being corrupted or had this been within her all along?
Vaughn Dolohov cleared his throat, and everyone looked toward the entrance of the room to see Voldemort walk in. Heads inclined respectfully, various people speaking greetings to their "Lord".
Voldemort took his seat and glanced around the table.
"I am sure many of you have seen this morning's Daily Prophet. Is there anyone here unaware of why you were called here?"
No one spoke up, and Voldemort nodded before speaking again. "Several months ago, a few of our more senior Death Eaters approached Nathaniel Greengrass with an offer to join our cause. He expressed his desire to stay neutral for the moment, and we were accepting of that for the time being. Unfortunately, his eldest child, Anna, has published a most displeasing article that speaks out against us as a group. While no names were mentioned, several were inferred."
Sterling Parkinson inclined his head, as did Cygnus.
"My brother, while not officially one of us, is most displeased by this article as well, my Lord," Cygnus said from his seat across from Roderick.
Voldemort looked at him. "I did not require your input Cygnus."
Cygnus cleared his throat and looked down, "My apologies, my Lord."
The Dark Lord continued. "This article might not be taken seriously by everyone, but many will take notice and seek to disband us. We have lost the anonymity of our group, if not the anonymity of most of its members. I had hoped to get much more done before we were forced to take more drastic measures, but that choice has been taken from me."
"How may we serve you, my Lord?" Niall Nott said, quietly.
"Do not respond to the article. If asked about any of us, give no comment. We will hold on to what anonymity we have, as it would not do well to see any of you in Azkaban. And, we are going to be doing a lot more things that can have us sent there. From now on, we do not need to worry about disappearing our victims. Let them be known for having defied us! And the first shall be Anna Greengrass along with her family."
Victor Crabbe spoke up from the end of the table, "The entire family? Nathaniel Nott is well respected amongst the community. It would…"
The look on Voldemort's face silenced Crabbe, "Forgive my insolence, my Lord."
Voldemort looked at Hermione and raised an eyebrow. Forcing herself calm, she leaned forward, aiming her wand at Crabbe. She sent a quick curse, watching as a long gash slashed vertically underneath Crabbe's right eye, four inches or so in length. It would have to heal with time, and Hermione knew it would leave a deep scar there. Still, much better than torturing the guy, even if she knew that it hurt like crazy, having the feel of having salt water poured on it for hours after application.
Crabbe cried out, taking the arm of his robe and pressing it against the wound to staunch the blood flow.
Voldemort nodded. "You are being let off easy as you are a member of this body. Further questioning of my orders will not find your treatment to be so lenient. Go."
Crabbe pushed back his chair and stood, bowing lowly before rushing from the room even as he whimpered in pain.
"The Greengrass family is a noble, pureblood family. We will not kill them all. I believe they have a son at Hogwarts, do they not?"
Hermione nodded her head, seeing a few of the other members her age doing the same. "Very well. He shall live to carry on the family name, and his neutrality shall protect him if he retains it. The rest of the immediate family is to be disposed of. We will send a message that speaking out against us will be met with lethal force not only to those who directly defy us but also to those who harbor them. Nathaniel has raised his daughter to speak out against a group that wants the best for pureblood society, and it cannot be excused."
"Who would you like to carry out this task, my Lord?" Parkinson asked, somewhat eagerly.
Voldemort inclined his head in approval. "While I appreciate your eagerness to take care of the woman that has tried to sully your family name, it is best to do this where you will not be questioned for being a part of it. I think a few of our younger members… Mr. Nott and Mr. Lestrange, you do not have jobs that require a set schedule. You will have the honors."
"Might I accompany them, my Lord?" Bellatrix asked, eagerly.
Voldemort raised an eyebrow, "No, Bellatrix. You are obviously eager to serve at my pleasure; I believe your husband and his friend need to prove the same."
Hermione felt Roderick's arm, stiff around her. Rodolphus was looking at the table, trying to contain his emotions. Anna was a friend, of varying degrees, to both. "Yes, my Lord," Roderick finally said, a sentiment which was quickly repeated by Rodolphus.
"Very well. Let me know when it is done. You are all dismissed."
Hermione could tell that Roderick wanted her to hang around, but she was not in the mood. She also needed to be at St. Mungo's very soon. She was finishing her last three weeks before her final testing would take place in early March. She caught Abraxas's eye, and he nodded at her, letting her know that he would make sure the information was relayed to the headmaster.
It was good to have at least one person fully on her side.
When she arrived at St. Mungo's, she was unsurprised to see a very on-edge Edgar. She walked into the empty staff room he was waiting in and put a hand on his arm.
"As expected?" he asked, nervously.
Hermione nodded, sadly. "Yes. The plans are already in place to protect her though, right?"
Edgar nodded. "I spoke to the Prewett twins personally. They will be with her and have an emergency portkey to get her behind the wards at home if needed. You said that…originally…"
"I can't be sure. I just know the only Greengrass I knew of was her brother, but then I never heard of any deaths in their family."
Edgar nodded again, "Well, the Prewetts will do their best."
Hermione smiled encouragingly. "The order has actually been for her family, sparing her brother. The news is being relayed to Albus. Considering we already have eyes on the Greengrass home and offices, we are about as prepared as we can be. Come on, I'll buy you a horribly bad cafeteria coffee to get your mind off of it."
Edgar straightened up and took a deep breath before walking out of the staff room and toward the cafeteria. Hermione smiled sadly at his back. If he was willing to drink that sludge, he really had to be scared.
Hermione was seated in her office at Hogwarts when someone knocked on her door. For the past week, every unexpected presence made her tense. She was terrified that someone would be coming to tell her that Anna and/or her family had been killed. "Come in," she called, and breathed a sigh of relief to see Narcissa Black standing there. Narcissa was not a likely candidate of delivering the news she dreaded.
The fifth year girl nodded at her before coming and taking the seat across from her.
"Miss Black, not that you aren't welcome, but what can I do for you, exactly?" Considering Dumbledore taught the fifth years, Hermione had no clue why Narcissa was there to see her.
"It isn't school related," Narcissa said, frowning.
Hermione returned the expression before nodding.
"First, I wanted to ask your opinion on something. My father and Vaughn Dolohov are considering an arrangement to marry me to Antonin. Obviously, the marriage wouldn't happen until after I graduated. I wanted to ask you, though, as a good friend of Antonin and, from what I hear, someone that works closely with him."
Hermione fought back the wince at the idea of any of her students knowing she was a Death Eater, though she knew it was an unavoidable occurrence. "Ask me what, exactly? You seem to like Antonin."
Narcissa nodded. "I do. Much better than I liked Lucius. I think we both would have similar expectations for each other as well. I am more concerned about his work, though. Is he… like my sister? Does he like it like that?"
Hermione looked at her, thinking quickly of what she wanted to say. Antonin was certainly not like Bellatrix, and even the older Antonin she would not have put in that category. He wasn't the sort to play with his food. He was an active, willing participant, though. As to liking it… the image of Antonin slowly dragging the knife across the neck of the man who killed his mother, emotionless save a slight amount of vindication… she just couldn't be sure.
"Antonin is one of my best friends. I do not think he would ever mistreat his wife, though I don't think he is quite ready to settle down."
Narcissa sighed, "Please don't speak around the issue."
Hermione found herself wondering just how smart Narcissa was once again. Did she know that Hermione's heart was not in what she was doing, to say the least? She had considered Narcissa someone that was redeemable since the first time she met her here, if not even before she came to the past.
"Antonin is still deeply scarred by what happened to his mother. While he is, I believe, starting to make peace with it, I cannot speak to his state of mind. I've never considered him a violent person, but he is capable of it. I would not consider him to be like your sister though, no."
Narcissa nodded, "So I shouldn't protest the arrangement."
Hermione shrugged. "That depends. A wife typically is at least somewhat involved with whatever her husband is involved in. That would be the deciding factor for me."
"You don't think I could stay neutral to it all?"
Hermione smiled, consolingly. "I think the fact that you are the sister of a vociferous, eager participant sets you up more than whomever you choose to marry. I thought you had considered leaving the country after graduation."
"I'm not sure. My father is very adamant against my going. Can I ask you a personal question?"
"As long as you don't expect me to necessarily answer it."
Narcissa smirked at the response before posing her question. "Your involvement… is that what caused things to end with Lucius?"
Hermione felt her heart stop for a moment in pain, composing herself before answering. "To an extent, I am sure. There were other factors, too."
Narcissa nodded. "That's a shame. You seemed good for each other. I hope he is able to see the truth soon."
Hermione raised an eyebrow. Narcissa was definitely clever. She watched as the blonde girl stood from her seat and walked to the door. She turned as she opened it. "Do not worry, professor, my thoughts will stay to myself in this case. Also, I want you to know… Bellatrix is still planning something concerning you. She has to be, considering how angry she is. She wants to take your position. My warning from third year remains… watch your back."
Hermione nodded. She didn't really expect different. Bellatrix was not one to let go of grudges, and she was sure that the dark witch wouldn't stop trying to harm her in some way or another (preferably kill, of course) until one of them was dead.
"Thank you, Narcissa."
Hermione spent most of February continuing her growing tradition of nearly overwhelming stress and fear. She was pleased, though not in front of the Dark Lord, that Anna and her family had taken steps to prepare themselves against attacks. Voldemort was growing very frustrated by the fact that Rodolphus and Roderick had, thus far, been unsuccessful in their efforts to fulfill his orders.
She had continued to see Roderick, as required, and had found that she was starting to truly enjoy his company. He did not discuss his mission with her, apparently knowing she wouldn't like to hear how he was planning to kill her classmate. Although, she kind of needed to know.
She had tried to get information out of him in order to correct any weaknesses in the Greengrass defenses, but she had been unsuccessful.
He had kissed her on Valentine's Day, while they were both completely sober. She also had discovered that, if she tried hard enough, she could almost think that maybe she felt a bit excited and happy when he did it. A few butterflies had been present, and it gave her hope. Perhaps if she did eventually marry Roderick it wouldn't be so bad? She had resigned herself to the fact that it wouldn't be anything like Lucius, but… perhaps she could be somewhat happy. And perhaps she could save him.
"What are the three steps to stabilizing exsanguination via curse?" Edgar quizzed, looking at the answer in his book to make sure she could answer it verbatim.
"Uhm, Tourniqo to isolate the wound..." she looked up from her own book as she answered before an alarm sounded, causing the room to flash with a red light. She and Edgar slammed their books closed and stood, rushing to the door to answer the call. Injured aurors, high priority.
They ran into the trauma bay and skidded to a halt as they watched a number of healers crowded around two beds. Hermione grabbed on to her friend to support him as she was the first to glimpse the twin red hair on each victim's head. Edgar saw it a moment later and stiffened before crying out. "Fabian! Gideon!"
Healer Forsythe turned from his position at Gideon's side to look at them. "Elias, get Bones out of here. Calming potion for him, and then I want you to come back! Quick!"
She pulled Edgar from the room and pushed him into an on-call room. Grabbing a vial of calming draught from the cabinet, she put it to his lips. "Drink!"
He obeyed, coughing as he audibly howled his anger and fear. "You stay here, Eddie! Stay here! I will go help the twins, and I will come to you the moment I can bring news. I swear it! Stay!"
He nodded, numbly, and she walked out of the door, shutting it behind her and warding it to alert her if he tried to leave.
Running quickly back toward the twins, she was not surprised when Forsythe called her to him and immediately began directing her to help with Fabian's wounds.
Both of them were terribly injured, though Gideon took the brunt of it. He had lost all but his thumb and index finger on his left hand, and his head was bleeding profusely.
Eventually, though, both boys were stable. Forsythe tried to usher her out, but she stopped him. "Sir, they are my friends. Just let me wish them well."
Forsythe sighed but nodded. "When the family arrives, you leave. Immediately."
She smiled at him in gratitude before walking to Fabian's bed. He was barely conscious, but she needed him.
She leaned down to his ear. "Anna?"
Fabian choked back a sob before shaking his head, his brown eyes pained. She took a deep breath. "Can I see? Can you let me in?"
He nodded, knowing that she would be getting the information to Edgar and Dumbledore. She wasn't very skilled in legilimency, but she could get in if the person allowed it. Making eye contact, she said the word softly, trying to be gentle.
Fabian was at his post just inside the wards of the Greengrass estate when someone apparated to the boundary. He kept his hand on his wand but smiled at the woman. "What can I do for you today, Miss Veneres?"
The woman smiled back, batting her eyelashes at the man. "I think I am expected. I have Miss Greengrass's wedding dress here for an initial fitting." She gestured to the large garment bag hung over her arm.
"Yes, indeed! Come on in." Fabian raised his wand and moved it several times, allowing the wards to come down for the seamstress. After she came through, he raised them again. Thanks to an anonymous source, some of the warding would prevent the breaking of the wards for someone with bad intentions to come through. "Anna is very excited to see you."
The lady smiled back before walking up the short drive and into the home.
Gideon walked to him from the tree line and sighed. "Gods this is boring. Why did we decided to become Aurors again?"
Fabian shrugged. "Fighting the good fight and all that, I believe. I hope Anna can convince Eddie to just leave the country… there is no way she will not be in danger anytime soon. I tried to tell her how nice Bora Bora is, but she didn't seem interested."
"Perhaps she can just –" Gideon's response was cut out by a blood curdling scream, and the twins looked at each other before making a mad dash for the house. They were met at the bottom of the steps by Nathaniel Greengrass. He was running with his daughter's naked body, a body whose skin was rapidly turning black and cracking open as blood poured from the fissures.
Nathaniel screamed as he ran toward the ward line. "Drop the wards! Her dress! Poison! We have to get her to Mungos!"
Virginia Greengrass was right on his heels, barefoot as she chased after her husband and daughter. Gideon ran to drop the wards, casting as quickly as he could, while Fabian, being in much better state to apparate than the distraught father, took Anna into his arms. He looked in horror at how quickly the blood was soaking his own white shirt.
"Done!" Gideon yelled, giving them the clear to apparate out.
It was at that moment that three figures apparated in, each hooded with a white, skeletal mask covering their faces. One quickly threw up an anti-apparition charm. It wouldn't last long, but long enough to keep them there with no help for five minutes. He then stalked toward an already cowering Nathaniel.
Another made quick work of Virginia Greengrass, a killing curse flying effortlessly from his tongue and striking the older woman.
The third started a duel with Gideon, and Fabian was shocked to see how well matched it was from the get-go.
The first laughed as he aimed his wand at Fabian, and he quickly cast a blood boiling curse that Fabian barely managed to dodge in time. He put Anna on the ground and stood protectively in front of her body, returning fire.
Moments later, he was distracted from his duel by the scream of pain from his brother. He glanced to Gideon to see him looking at the remains of his hand. From what Fabian could see, a dark slicing hex had cut off the left side of his hand, fingers all the way to wrist bone. Gideon's pain caused him to easily be hit with a Petrificus Totalus.
Fabian roared at the injury and defeat of his brother, taking on both the one who had injured him and the one he had already been fighting in earnest. The last one seemed to be towering over Nathaniel, and Fabian watched as he aimed his wand and cast a Crucio on the man, hearing Nathaniel's screams.
The two that Fabian was dueling soon got tired of playing with him, and one yelled to the other. "Get this over with! Kill the girl!"
Thinking first of his mission, Fabian dove in front of the Bombarda, taking the curse that would have finished off Anna if she was still somehow alive. He was blasted into a pillar, and the last thing he saw was the one that had cursed him kicking Gideon repeatedly in the head as the third aimed his wand at Anna.
Hermione pulled out, releasing her tears as she leaned forward, hugging Fabian gently. "I am so sorry…"
Fabian only nodded, his own tears free flowing. "Please… tell Edgar I am sorry. I… I tried."
Hermione nodded, feeling the dread hit her stomach at having to tell Edgar that his soon-to-be bride had just been killed in her wedding dress. "You did your best, Fabian. Rest."
Author's Note: Anonymity gone for the Death Eaters. Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and find it worth your time to respond to as well. FYI, I would respond to more of your reviews but my Internet is down. You should be thrilled I already uploaded this and edited it. ..on my phone. Sorry for any mistakes.
Next up is Edgar, a Death Eater meeting, and catching up with a friend.
