A/N: Okays. I don't know what's wrong with me…all my chapters for this website's all too short for my taste… lol. Anyway… chapter 11 up!
Disclaimer: I do not own any J. K. Rowling or any other author's characters.
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Molly tucked the corners of the blanket around Hermione. "She looks so frail." Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at his best friend's pale face. "She'll be alright, Mrs. Weasley. What exactly happened?"
Molly sighed and sat heavily on the chair she had brought next to the bed. "I'm not sure. I was talking to her, pulling her across the street while trying to convince her that she needed sleep when she suddenly stopped. She looked so pale, almost transparent. She moaned, and then the ring around her neck shattered, and the chain snapped. She passed out then."
"The ring shattered?" Draco asked, his pale silver eyes suddenly alert. "And she passed out immediately after that?"
"Yes. Yes. You don't think the ring and the necklace has something to do with it, do you? But…" Molly trailed off.
Draco tossed the idea around. "Where did Hermione get the ring and the chain from?" Harry asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.
Charlie plucked it off. "I'm not sure. She got it last week I think. Before she persuaded us to go on the trip. You don't need that to see." He informed Harry as he snapped the glasses into half. Harry gaped at the remains of his glasses then at Charlie and back at the glasses again.
Hermione moaned, bringing all attention to her.
"Hermione! Hermione, can you hear me? Talk to me and open your eyes!" Harry snatched her lifeless hand from Molly. She moaned again and her eyes flickered open.
"What happened? Where's Tom? He's in trouble. I-my head…" she groaned and closed her eyes.
Harry tapped her cheeks. "Oh no, you don't. No more sliding back from you. Wake up." He squeezed her hand lightly until she opened her eyes reluctantly.
"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" Draco asked, shoving Harry out of his way. "I- The bookshop. Tom. My ring." Her hands began to flutter at her throat. Desperation shone in her voice. "Where's my ring?"
"It shattered, Hermione." Draco spoke quietly and firmly. "Hermione. Listen to me." he snapped out when she shook her head, tears sliding down her translucent cheeks. "I need to know what happened."
She took a deep breath. Did she have the courage to face what had happened? She closed her eyes and began.
"I went inside the bookshop. It wasn't really crowded, and I was happy. I just had my spa, and my haircut." Her lips curved as she felt a trickle of the delight she had felt earlier on. "Tom talked to me. Telepathically. I answered him and we talked. He kissed me, and I imagined him standing before me, with his arms banding around me. I wanted that moment, and he was there. Just there. We made love." She smiled fully now, oblivious to the fury in Harry, Charlie and Arthur's eyes.
"We loved, and was loved. It was beautiful, that moment. I never wanted to let go, no matter what. We mated, bonded and it was the pure. But I felt a desperation in him, and when I prodded at it, he closed me out. But we still bonded. It was as if he was desperate to love me, to savor me. We loved. I didn't know such a thing existed, and this lovemaking opened my eyes to it.
When we finished, we held each other, basking in the moment. And the darkness crept back. The desperation. He kept telling me he loved me, that I was his A ghra, and we would never fail to love each other. The desperation disappeared when we made love, but it was back." Remembering was hard. Why was she blind? So blind to what had happened? Why didn't she further probe at his feelings? Why didn't she make an effort to find out? Would she ever feel the love, the pure love? Without him, she couldn't. Can anyone feel so hollow? So empty?
When the words continued to spill out, she marveled at how the words seem to belong to another person, as if she wasn't the one who was telling the tale. "When I wanted to ask him what happened to make him so desperate for us, he bailed out on me. He disappeared, and I couldn't find him. I even used the astral plane. I called for him, but he didn't answer. I could feel him, and yet not touch him. He had closed his mind to me, so all I felt was nothing. I tried so hard to reach him. And when I couldn't, I thought he was in a meeting with the Death Eaters, and did not want to be disturbed. So I didn't bother him. I returned, and I found myself still in the bookshop, with a book held in my hand. Everybody was doing what they were doing before I went with Tom. It was as if I'd never stepped out of the bookshop.
"I went to Starbucks, where Molly was waiting for me. I thought about Tom. The possibility of Lucius having him in his grasp flashed in my mind and I was sick with fear. Tom wouldn't be able to survive his attack. I thought about it and dismissed it. Why didn't I explore that possibility? Why was I so reluctant to find out the truth. I should have. I should have." She began to sob. Draco squeezed her hand. They needed to know the whole truth. They should. She was silent for a while, trying to find the courage to face the mistakes she had made, and the possibilities. "I snapped out of it when Molly roused me. I made an attempt to assure I was okay with the fear churning in my stomach. Apparently it didn't work, because she started to drag me back to the hotel. And then there was the pain. It was like fire engulfing my entire body. It was so painful. Fire was everywhere on my skin. The pain slid into my bones and into my head. I wanted it to stop. It had to stop."
Her mind told her to stop the pain, she remembered. And the awful thought that Tom was the one who suffered the pain and in a moment of weakness, opened his mind to her, and shared the pain. "He shared it with me. Tom shared the pain with me in a moment of weakness. He probably couldn't endure it, and the pain of keeping his mind closed to me. And he opened it. The pain I felt wasn't the complete pain he had to endure. It wasn't even 2 percent of his pain. And it was so painful. He suffered through it and didn't want to share it with me. He severed the link between the both of us, and I slid into darkness." Her breath began to hitch and she bore down. "The next thing I knew, I was here in this bed, and you guys were bickering. Sort of, anyway." Emotionally drained, she closed her eyes and pushed the nagging thought that Tom was in trouble into a dusty corner of her mind.
She could sense everyone's eyes on her and she could only imagine the horror they probably felt and the anger. Of course, there will be disgust.
Draco studied her pale face and held out his hand. He closed them around the remains of the ring. He looked at it, and cursed it for the pain they will bring to Hermione. But it had to be done. And questions will soon be answered.
"Hermione." he waited for her to look at him and held out his clenched fist. She looked confused and his heart squeezed. She will be broken, and hopefully will heal. He opened his hand and the image of her face would forever be etched on his mind. Her spine stiffened and her eyes seemed to sink deeper into her face, making her delicate cheekbones stand out more prominently. Shock glazed her eyes and her entire body trembled.
"Here. We'll leave you." He poured the remains into her icy hands and fought the urge to cry. He turned, and signaled the rest to follow him into the living room. The door clicked shut behind him and silence filled the hallway.
She stared at the remains. The ring was in pieces. She picked up one of the pieces and ignored the subtle prick as the sharp end of it cut into her thumb. She ignored the well of blood too. She tilted it towards the light. I. She stared at it, momentarily confused. Realization of what it meant hit her, leaving her breathless and she picked up the other pieces. With trembling hands, she placed them together like a jigsaw puzzle and tilted the ring towards the light.
I love you.
It was engraved into the ring, and it was broken. She stared at it, unconsciously rocking herself in a bid to soothe. Tears welled up in her eyes and slid silently down her cheeks. She tried to open the link, and couldn't find it. Suddenly desperate to find the link, she clenched her fist and ignored the fresh wounds and blood. She closed her eyes and searched deep within herself. All she found was hollowness and severed pieces of the link that had been the bridge of love between her and Tom.
Low, keening wails rose in her throat and she pressed the ring to her heart, trying to piece back the broken pieces of the link. Alone, she grieved for the only man she truly loved.
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Harry started to move towards the staircase when he heard the wails. Charlie grabbed his arm and shook his head. "She needs time to let it out. She needs to be alone." Harry stared at Charlie, barely suppressed fury plain on his face.
He turned to Draco. "You'd better explain all this, Malfoy."
Draco's hand snaked out and fisted itself around Harry's shirt. "Don't call me 'Malfoy.' I am nothing like my father. I won't use his name."
Both of them stared at each other. Harry nodded and Draco released him.
"Start explaining. Draco."
