A/N: Hello my dear readers, sorry for the late update. I've been busy with my university before with my final exam and all that. Anyway just finished my university and thank you so much for the support. And thank you as well for my beta Just2Pretend for beta'ing this story, you've done an amazing job XD
Disclaimers: Did not own HP or the Covenant =(
Chapter 12: The Story of the Past Continued
"Yule Ball was held before the second task and was great. I went with Fred and we had a great time, despite what Skeeter had writen about me," Hermione told them.
"Who's Skeeter and why would this person want to write about you?" Caleb asked as he eyed the girl in front of him.
"Rita Skeeter is a reporter for the Daily Prophet. She loves writing lies and gossip, I was one of the victims of her many stories. During the TriWizard tournament, she was there to write about the event, interviewing anyone in school regarding the game and the champions, and me. She had written a story saying I was some sort of scarlet woman, playing with the hearts of three innocent boys – Harry, Fred, and that obnoxious Krum. Harry's my best friend and I was there to support him, knowing that he was having a hard time. I've already told you about Fred, and Krum, well, I don't know what his bloody problem was. He enjoyed pestering me but no one believed that, especially since he's a Quidditch star. Mrs. Weasley hated me for that, she called me a scarlet woman, but thankfully, Fred and George, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were there for me and even argued with her, saying all the stories about me were based on lies. It took her quite some time to believe them but she did, and later apologised for being stupid enough to believe what Skeeter wrote."
"The third task was the highlight of the tournament since it was the last task to be completed, but it also marked the most terrible and saddest moment for all of us there. The last task is where the champions needed to go inside a maze and find a trophy. It was supposed to challenge you physically and mentally. On that day... Cedric Diggory was killed, marking the return of Voldemort."
Hermione heards a gasp coming from Tyler but ignored it. She discreetly wiped her tears and continued.
"Harry was devastasted. From what he told us, Cedric died in front him – I believed him, I knew Harry would never lie to us. This tragedy shocked the Wizarding World and people started to question Harry and Dumbledore, accusing them of lying, especially regarding the return of Voldemort. Most thought Dumbledore was trying to take over the Ministry. Harry had it the worst, though, when he used magic in front of his muggle cousin to save their lives from the dementors, creatures who suck the soul from the victim. Unfortunately, Harry was underage, and before a witch or wizard turns seventeen, they are not allowed to use magic outside of school and definitely not in front of non-magical people, unless it's a life or death situation."
"Damn, so what happen next?" Pogue asked.
"Well, because of that, Harry was brought to the Ministry for a full council hearing but was luckily found innocent. When we returned to school for our fifth year, the ministry had decided to interfere. They sent that Undersecretary bitch Umbridge to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the same one who happened to be at Harry's hearing. Anyway, that toad of a woman was biased. She favoured Slytherin and made the rest of our lives hell. She wanted to control Hogwarts, have everything under her reign. At some point, she started questioning the professors about their ways of teaching. She refused to give us practical lessons in DADA, and whenever we questioned her about it, she turned us down and punished us. She didn't believe Voldemort had returned, and Harry, being the stubborn boy he is, stood his ground, earning him more punishment from the toad. The way she punished us was cruel." Hermione lost what little control she had over her tears and they fell rapidly down her face.
"What did she do to punish you?" Tyler asked and Reid grit his teeth trying to control his anger after hearing about the bitch Umbridge. He swore that should he have the chance to meet this bitch, he would kill her for what she did to Hermione.
"She made us do lines, but much worse than the ordinary punishment. During detentions with her we were forced to use a blood quill. That particular quill uses the blood from whoever is using it, every word written is carved into the user's skin. It was painful and sickening. Mine was, 'I must know my place' because I'm not a pureblood and apparently, had no right to be there."
There was silence amonst them, apart from Teddy who was too busy playing with his unicorn toy. Reid had moved next to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively as she cried into his embrace. He didn't care what the rest of the Sons would say about this, deep down he knew he wanted this young woman badly. He was still disturbed about the past relationship between Hermione and this Fred Weasley guy who had died along with the rest of his family during the second war, but he had to push those feelings away for now.
After a while, Hermione managed to calm down enough to continue her story.
"During fifth year we had also formed a... defence group of sorts, called Dumbledore's Army. The group consisted of students from three of the four houses, Slytherin being the one missing. The DA was formed to fight against Umbridge, to learn how to defend ourselves with practical application. That same year Harry started having visions. He saw Arthur Weasley being attacked by Nagini, Voldemort's snake, and fortunately, he was able to further the information in time to save him. Anyway, later on Fred and George left Hogwarts, making sure they left a huge impression involving fireworks and portable swamps. They were fed up with Umbridge, they couldn't stand her. I think the last straw was when she banned them and Harry from Quidditch for life over a fight that none of them had started. Towards the end of the year we broke into the Department of Mysteries – Harry had another vision, this one of his godfather being tortured by Voldemort, only this time, Harry saw what Voldemort wanted him to see. It turns out it was all a trap to lure Harry in order to retrieve a prophecy regarding him and the Dark Lord (they can only be retrieved by those about whom they are made). We ended up battling Death Eaters and were losing by the time the Order came to the rescue. Unfortunately, Sirius died that night at the hand of his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange."
Caleb, Tyler and Pogue were shocked after hearing this, they couldn't believe someone could kill their own family. Though they were angry and sad, none of them could match Reid's anger towards that Bellatrix bitch who had carved such a filthy word in Hermione's arm, branding her just because of her blood, and putting her under such a dangerous and unforgivable curse. It was a wonder she was still alive, and for that, he was glad. He held Hermione tightly in his embrace, never wanting to let go, and felt her relax in his arms.
"Who was the 'we' you mentioned, the ones who went to the Department of Mysteries?" Tyler questioned, though he guessed that Harry and Ron were included.
"It was Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, Luna and I. Luna was in Ravenclaw, the only non-Gryffindor in the group that went. She was a bizarre person, always believing in the unseen and non-existant creatures, but she was such a sweetheart, always there when we needed her. Neville was a timid person, but he was willing to stand up for his friends no matter what. All of those who died in the war died as heroes. Neville's parents were in St. Mungo's, the wizarding hospital, having been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix. They lost their memories and sense – had they been in the muggle world, they most likely would have been put into a mental asylum. The Cruciatus is one of the three unforgivable curses, causing unimaginable pain to whoever it's placed on, the torture curse. The other two are The Killing Curse and The Imperius, the latter allowing the user to control the victim, robbing them of their free will. These three curses are forbidden and those who use it earn a life sentence in Azkaban. According to Harry, Voldemort killed Cedric Diggory with the killing curse."
"Did Neville's parents know he was killed?" Pogue asked.
"Frank and Alice Longbottom never knew about Neville's death. In fact, Neville once told me they might not even remember him. They were crucio'ed when Neville was just an infant, not long after Voldemort killed Harry's parents. All of this because of a prophecy stating that a boy born at a certain time would be destined to kill the Dark Lord and both Harry and Neville's birthdays landed in the time frame, Neville having been born a day before Harry. Neville grew under the care of his grandmother and Harry was sent to live with his aunt and her family," Hermione responded with sadness in her voice. She had managed to keep herself from crying, but her heart still felt the pain.
"I'm sorry to hear about your friends. You were all brave people to face against evil," Caleb said softly to Hermione. She nodded in response.
"It was a really difficult time. I never thought myself special though, just because I had magical blood. My parents were proud of me, despite our differences, and supported me." Apart from losing Harry and Ron, losing her parents was the hardest thing she had ever faced in life and she missed them terribly.
"What about your parents, where are they now?" Tyler asked and flinched when Reid glared at him.
Hermione took a deep breath and tried to control her emotions. Reid kissed her temple and drew circles on her back to calm her down.
"My parents were killed by the same person who killed Harry's godfather, Bellatrix Lestrange. I never thought that this would happen, I thought I could save them, but I didn't. I failed them." The tears leaked from her eyes again and the handsome blonde hugged her tightly. Caleb couldn't stop his own tears from falling and both Tyler and Pogue were stunned at hearing such a tragedy.
"I'm sorry," Tyler apologised. He felt a someone tugging his pants and looked down to see Teddy staring at him with sad eyes, as if the little boy understood what was happening. Tyler smiled a little helplessly and picked him up, holding him tight in his embrace. None of them spoke while Reid was calming Hermione.
When Hermione managed to regain herself, she continued with her story.
"It's all right, Tyler. The twins opened a joke shop after they left Hogwarts and called it Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It was a great success for them, contrary to what their mother had claimed – she had been against it since the beginning. By then, everyone believed in Voldemort's return, thanks to the battle in the DoM, and we were on the verge of war. Every day there was news of someone's death or disappearance. Towards the end of sixth year, our Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, was murdered. He was killed by one of the professors with the killing curse. This marked the darkest hour in our lives. Without Dumbledore, both Harry and Hogwarts were in even more danger. It's said that the Headmaster was the only one Voldemort ever feared, and with him gone, there was nothing stopping him."
The three men new to the story were stunned, but grateful they had never encountered such trouble when they were still in school, despite having faced Chance. They were lucky their own war hadn't taken such a toll on their school or friends, though Chance had hurt both Sarah and Kate, and had killed a student. Tyler held Teddy tightly while Caleb took a deep breath. Pogue waited patiently for the rest of the story.
"There's a reason it happened. Dumbledore wanted to save Draco Malfoy – he had already become a Death Eater, but he hadn't yet killed anyone. He wanted to save Draco from tearing his soul, which is what would happen should he murder another. Professor Snape was the one who killed Dumbledore, under orders. He was a Death Eater, yes, but he was also the Order's spy. Draco was ordered, by Voldemort, to kill the Headmaster – it was a punishment of sorts for his father, who had failed to deliver the Prophecy and forced Voldemort out in the open. He was young, confused, and just wanted to protect his family, who would die should he fail. I couldn't imagine being in his place. In the end, he couldn't go through with it, and Professor Snape took the choice from him by doing the deed, having been ordered by Dumbledore that, should the time come, he would kill him. It was a mercy killing, of sorts, letting Dumbledore die swiftly and with honour. He had already been dying, thanks to a curse, and hadn't much time left. None of us knew about this, that Snape's true allegiance was to the Headmaster, that this was all planned, though I suppose that's how they wanted it. Harry, Ron, and I didn't return for our seventh and final year. We had a mission, to collect and destroy items called Horcruxes. There were seven of them, though at the time we only knew of six, and each contained a part of the Dark Lord's soul. He's unable to die while these things were still around. The task was give to us by Dumbledore before his death."
"How can they possibly do that? I mean, to create something that can contain souls?" Caleb asked. Of the four men, he was the most mature and knew what magic could do to others, but his magic and Hermione's magic were different, making him curious.
"It's dark magic, requiring the person to murder another in cold blood to tear the soul, among other things. During the summer, before the start of what was supposed to be seventh year and before we retrieved Harry from Privet Drive, I had removed my parents' memories of me, changing their names and making them move to Australia, out of harm's way. I thought that would save them, but somehow, Bellatrix was still able to find and kill them."
"My God, Hermione…I'm so sorry, but how…?" Caleb was unable to continue.
"I don't know. I thought that with changing their names and making them move far away from England they'd be safe from the war. Somehow, though, the Death Eaters still managed to track them down. Mrs. Weasley told me that a couple Aurors had tracked down some Death Eaters who were overseas – a few were seen in Australia, and one of them was Bellatrix. When they were caught, some of them managed to escape back to England, including that bitch, but not before the Aurors found out that they had tracked down my parents and... well, you know what happened next. Mrs. Weasley told me they had a tragic death. My mother was killed with the Killing Curse and they used a slicing curse on my father." Hermione's voice was hollow and she felt a little lost. She didn't know whether to cry or scream in agony. It had been more than a year since she was informed of the murder but it felt like yesterday.
No one spoke while Reid held Hermione tightly in his arms, letting the witch cry in silence. Caleb and Pogue sat on the couch, speechless, and Tyler simply held Teddy on his hip while the little boy leaned on his shoulder with a firm grip on his unicorn toy. The only noise came from outside, the sound of insects making a night symphony of music.
"We were on the run for months during our seventh year. We left without informing anyone, making our departure as silent and smooth as possible. Voldemort had taken over the ministry by then, and we couldn't risk anyone knowing our plans or whereabouts. There were six Horcruxes we knew about, two having already been destroyed: The diary by Harry in second year and the Gaunt ring by Dumbledore at the beginning of sixth. For a while we only had the locket, the only Horcrux we could find, but we had problems destroying it, so we took turns wearing the locket. You see, it tried to control whoever wore it. Ron had it the worst and one night, he got into a fight with Harry and left for a few months. He came back though, and saved Harry from drowning in an icy lake where he had found the Sword of Gryffindor. Unfortunately, Harry had tried retrieving the sword while still wearing the locket, and it had almost cost him his life when the thing started to fight back. I knew nothing of it at the time, because Harry had gone alone when he was on watch – I was so mad when they returned, especially at Ron for having abandoned us. Harry told me Ron destroyed the locket with the sword, which had basilisk venom in it, one of the few things that could destroy Horcruxes. We continued our journey from there, eventually ending up at Luna's house, but she wasn't there, and a trap had been set for us. Luckily, we were able to escape, but not too long afterwards we were caught and brought to Malfoy Manor where I was tortured by Bellatrix. Draco was there, I remember, but he looked terrified." Hermione was trembling by the end. She was slightly pale as she clenched her carved arm and she could feel the phantom pain and hear the echoes of Bellatrix's voice. It still haunted her. Reid gripped her hand softly and whispered in her ear, calming her, as the rest of the Sons looked on in shock, wondering why. Reid shook his head at them, a silent signal not to question her about it.
"Hermione, it's okay. It's all over now. That woman is dead and you are saved. Please, look at me," whispered Reid as he hugged the trembling girl. He could hear the faint sounds of Hermione sniffling and her quick heartbeat. He wondered if she was still haunted by that memory.
"Hermione, please look at me," Reid pleaded softly as Hermione turned to him. Her eyes were filled with fear and pain.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Hermione started. Reid gently wiped her tears away and shushed her.
"Shhh…there's no need to apologise. It's okay, I'm here for you."
The three remaining Sons took the scene in, each trying to picture what Hermione had told them so far. Although they wanted to know what happened next, they were respectful enough to hold their tongue, understanding that the witch was suffering. None of them had the heart to pester her into continuing. Maybe they could ask Reid? He seemed to already know the story.
"Can you please stay with me?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling.
"I will, don't worry. I will stay with you," Reid whispered softly to her as he rubbed her back.
Hermione took a deep breath and turned to the rest of the group.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't-" Caleb cut her off before she could continue.
"It's okay Hermione, don't worry about it. We can continue this later, besides, it's getting late and you need a good rest. I'm sorry for what happened to you, never thought you had such a miserable life back there."
"Not all the moments were miserable. We had some good times as well." Hermione smiled softly as Caleb nodded his head and apologised.
"Yeah, sorry…well you need a good rest. I know it must be hard for you to remember your past and tell us about it. I'm sorry about your parents and your best friends, really I am. I can't imagine what I would do if I lost these guys, or even Sarah. I don't know if I am as strong as you to face that,"
"Yeah, Hermione, we're really sorry to hear about this. Don't force yourself to tell us, we understand that some things cannot be shared with others. It's okay if you're reluctant to tell us about it, I'd be too if that happened to me," Pogue informed her. Tyler agreed.
"Thank you," Hermione said after a short pause. She walked towards Tyler to take Teddy from him, who seemed to be dozing off. Well, she couldn't blame him, it was nearly midnight and he was supposed to be in bed a few hours ago.
As Hermione put Teddy to bed, Reid walked the boys to the main hall. He knew they might tease him about this, but he didn't care. Hermione was the only one he was concerned about and there was no way he'd leave his woman alone after something like this. He knew how hard it was for her to relive the painful memories, especially the deaths of her parents and best friends, having witnessed the latter.
"Well boys, sorry, but I promised Hermione that I would stay with her. I just want to make sure she's all right. Tonight has been really hard for her.," Reid said.
Caleb patted his shoulder. "Don't worry about it man, she really needs someone right now, especially after everything she told us. Though I believe there's more to it, but don't worry about it. Just make sure she's all right, okay?"
"Yeah, please take care of her. If you need anything or if something happens, just give us a call, okay?" Pogue spoke. Reid could only nod as his friends left Hermione's apartment.
Reid walked quietly to Hermione's bedroom, only to find the witch already dressed for bed and looking quite miserable. Her face was red and her eyes were glassy.
"Is Teddy asleep already?" He asked softly. The young woman looked at him and nodded. She tried to smile a little, though it came out more of a grimace. It pained Reid to see her like this, to know how much she had suffered from everything. He stripped down to his boxers and gathered Hermione in his arms. He felt her return the embrace tightly, afraid of letting go.
Reid kissed her forehead as he heard a muffled "Thank you."
"No problem."
So my dear readers, the new chapter for this story, your reviews and comments will make my day XD