Chapter Twenty Five.
While Draco was off in China, Hermione was adjusting to her new found sense of freedom. Not that it was total freedom by any stretch of the imagination, but it was more than she'd had for several months at the manor. In fact, Hermione was seriously thinking about settling down in the small village in Scotland she was currently living in once the baby was born. Even though her initial plan had been to flee the second she was able, she'd accepted that it really wasn't an option. Since she was having Draco's child it would be easy for the dark to find her via her baby, but more importantly it wasn't fair on Draco to run off with his son.
Over the course of her time with the dark, Hermione's feelings for Draco had changed a great deal. Initially she'd hated him and had been repulsed by the idea of being involved with him. But then as the truth started to dawn on her she'd seen a different side to Draco and decided that he wasn't all bad. Slowly her old feelings had been trying to emerge, but Hermione had pushed them back down because she knew they had no future together the way she was now. It didn't matter that she was attracted to him, she couldn't condone his allegiance to Voldemort, and there was no way she could give her heart to a wizard who was fighting for the dark.
Although that wasn't to say Hermione had dealt with her feelings for him, because she hadn't. If anything they were growing stronger since leaving the manor and she often found herself wondering what Draco was doing. The day he'd visited to let her know he was going away for a while, Hermione had been thrilled to see him, and although she'd hidden it and acted nonplussed, she hadn't been happy with the idea of him going away. In fact, every day she missed him and wondered how he was getting on or if he would be back soon.
Of course since Daphne was living with her, she could always ask if the other witch had heard anything. Daphne still spoke to Theo regularly and they exchanged plenty of letters, so there was a chance she might know something about Draco. However, Hermione hadn't confided in Daphne about her feelings for Draco and she knew it was something she wouldn't be doing. She would keep her feelings to herself and refuse to let them blossom into anything more powerful.
Refusing to spend all her time thinking about Draco, Hermione had been exploring the nearby village. Most people were friendly and the few odd looks she received told her that people knew exactly who she was, but no-one was openly hostile towards her so she was happy. She'd also been spending a lot of time in the garden, even though it was still early in the year and quite chilly. And finally she'd been preparing the nursery for when she gave birth.
A week after Draco had visited her, Hermione spent her morning in the library and when she headed downstairs for some lunch she found Daphne working at the kitchen table. In the couple of weeks they'd been living together, Hermione had come to really like Daphne and the pair got along splendidly. Daphne never pushed her about her true identity or giving Draco another chance, she seemed to accept that this was who Hermione was now.
"I can take my work somewhere else if you want the table," Daphne offered as Hermione entered the room.
"No, you stay where you are, I'm just grabbing a sandwich," Hermione replied. "Can I get you anything?"
"How about I make some sandwiches and you sit down and rest," Daphne suggested as she got to her feet and expertly guided Hermione into a chair at the table.
Hermione wanted to argue, but the truth was she was starting to tire easily and it felt good to settle down and let Daphne wait on her. While Daphne made the sandwiches, Hermione picked up a couple of the papers Daphne was working on and found some incredible sketches of jewellery. One page showed a glittering apple shaped necklace, while the other showed a detailed peacock brooch.
"Daphne these are stunning," Hermione remarked as Daphne sat back down and placed a plate of sandwiches on the table along with two glasses of juice.
"Thank you," Daphne replied with a smile. "Both of them will hopefully one day form part of a collection. Fruit necklaces and bird brooches."
"How many of these designs have you actually made?" Hermione asked, looking at some of the other sketches.
"Not many," Daphne said with a sigh. "This portfolio is mainly my designs for the future. I'm trying to build it up so I can get some financing to start my own business. I've got my inheritance, but that's not quite enough to get me set up."
"Anyone with money should jump at the chance to back you," Hermione said. "These designs are gorgeous. I love how everything is unique."
"That's the idea, every piece is bespoke and there's not another one exactly like it," Daphne said enthusiastically. "Take the apple necklace for example, I could make half a dozen in different colours and they would all be unique."
"I'd buy one," Hermione said as she continued to look through Daphne's designs. "Wow, I like this necklace," she said, pointing to a design of a unicorn with the most dazzling multi-coloured horn, made of tiny little coloured stones.
"I think I want to make that one for Astoria," Daphne said. "It's her seventeenth birthday soon and she's always loved unicorns. I've got most of the materials, now I just have to make it."
"Is it hard?" Hermione asked. She wasn't really a creative person herself, and she envied Daphne for being able to make something so beautiful out of stones and metal.
"It can be quite tricky, but then I am a perfectionist," Daphne said with a laugh. "I would never dream of giving anyone a piece of jewellery that wasn't perfect."
"What about designs? Are they hard to think up?"
"No, they're really easy. I have more ideas in my head then I can sketch. I could come up with an endless supply of designs."
"I suppose that will come in handy if you're wanting to go into business," Hermione remarked. "You don't want to run out of designs."
"I don't think there's much chance of that happening," Daphne said with a laugh. "How about you, Hermione? Are you planning on doing something once you've had the baby?"
"I've never really thought about it," Hermione admitted with a frown. She knew she'd been doing a law course at the Ministry before she'd been kidnapped and brought back to the dark, but she wasn't sure if it had been what she genuinely wanted to do with her life or if it had been a ploy to remain close to the Order.
"Maybe you should be my backer," Daphne joked. "I can be the creative designer and you can handle the business."
Hermione laughed lightly and smiled at Daphne's joke, but her mind began to think about the future. She'd been so focused on leaving the manor and gaining her freedom that she hadn't thought about what she was going do with her life. She knew Daphne wasn't serious, but maybe she'd found the perfect solution. What was to stop her going into business with Daphne? It was certainly something she could fit around being a mother, and it would give her an income for her and her baby. Right now Voldemort and the Malfoys were supporting her, but she didn't want it to be that way forever. Sooner or later she was going to have to stand on her own two feet, and partnering up with Daphne might be just the way to do that.
With Draco off in China, helping him out, Voldemort was determined to do the same for the young wizard he still hoped would become his son-in-law one day. He knew what Draco really wanted was Ron Weasley, and by chance he happened to mention it to Lucius and Severus when he was checking on how they were coming on with their antidote for Hermione's memories. However, what he didn't expect was for Severus to give him some useful information that could possibly give them a chance to lure the Weasley boy into a trap.
Severus told Voldemort that during a recent visit to Order Headquarters, he'd overheard Harry and Ron talking about Ginny and the fact she wasn't replying to their letters. Ginny had been as shocked as anyone over Christmas when the truth came out about Hermione, and she hadn't hidden her disgust with Ron and what he'd done to Hermione. Looking at the bigger picture she'd tried to accept what had happened and focus on fighting the dark, but things had still been frosty when she'd returned to school.
"Is it possible to use the Weasley girl to our advantage?" Lucius asked.
"That was just what I was thinking," Voldemort mused. "Severus, how hard would you find it to fake a letter from her and send it to her brother?"
"I've got enough samples of her work to make forging a letter very easy," Severus said. "But the letter would have to be for Potter as well. She wouldn't just write to her brother and miss him out. Especially not the way things stand. If anything, I'd say she was more likely to write to Potter and ignore her brother. I know she was pretty disgusted with everything that had happened, and her brother is the focus of her disgust."
"Even so, we have to try. All that really matters is that we get a letter to Ron Weasley luring him to a place of our choosing," Voldemort said.
"If the letter is supposed to be from his sister, it'll have to be Hogsmeade," Severus said. "It's the only place she has access to."
"Hogsmeade will work just fine," Voldemort replied. "Is there an upcoming weekend at the village?"
"This weekend actually," Severus said. "It's been organised quickly to try and empty the castle so the staff can have a meeting. It's been decided that until his formal hearing is completed, Dumbledore is stepping down as head."
"And he'll never get a chance to take the position back up, because he's going to be dead," Voldemort hissed vehemently. "But back to the Weasleys. Severus, get a letter to the boy asking him to meet his sister behind The Hog's Head on Saturday afternoon. If you have to, make it sound as if she's ready to forgive him for violating my daughter. Lucius, you can be waiting with Bellatrix. I want the boy brought back to the manor as a gift for Draco when he returns."
"And Potter?" Severus asked.
"I can keep Potter away," Voldemort said with a smirk. "Come Saturday, Harry Potter is going to be stuck in bed with a terrible headache. It's about time I used this pesky connection of ours to cause him some pain."
"And what if the Weasley boy doesn't show?" Lucius asked.
"It's a chance we're going to have to take," Voldemort replied with a shrug. "Hopefully he'll turn up if Severus words the letter just right. We don't want a response, or else the girl might get suspicious, but we want enough lure so that he chooses to attend the meeting without Potter."
"I can do that," Severus said, already mentally running over what he would write to lure Ron into a trap. After that all they could do was wait and see if he walked into it.
"You need to go Ron," Harry urged Ron as he lay in a dark room, his head feeling as though it was about to explode.
After weeks of writing to Ginny, they'd finally gotten a response from Ron's little sister, and she'd asked to meet them in Hogsmeade. Ginny had apologised for her attitude and she promised to really try and understand why they took such drastic action with Hermione. She'd even apologised for calling Ron a rapist and promised to listen to his side of things for the first time. She'd requested the meeting so that they could talk and get everything back on track before she finished school and she was back with the Order for good.
Harry, and especially Ron, who had been struggling with his little sister thinking the worst of him, had been delighted by the invitation and they were determined to get Ginny firmly on their side. Since Christmas the Order had been in a bit of a state and as such the dark had managed to kill a few of them. Harry and Ron knew that if they really wanted to defeat Voldemort and the dark they needed to stand together, and they needed Ginny to be completely and utterly on their side.
However, now the day of the meeting had arrived and Harry was suffering from the worst headache of his life. His scar was also burning, so they were fairly sure the headache was a result of something Voldemort was doing. They were just hoping that wherever he was, The Dark Lord was in as much pain as Harry was.
"I feel bad leaving you," Ron said. "What if your scar is hurting because You-Know-Who is nearby waiting to strike?"
"Even if he is nearby, he can't get into Grimmauld Place," Harry pointed out. "I'll be fine, you go and talk to Ginny. We need her on our side. The way the Order is falling and tearing itself apart, it might just come down to us youngsters and we can't afford to lose Ginny. Besides, I know how much it means to you to have her forgive you. It's killing you, having her think of you in such a terrible way."
"I'll be as quick as I can," Ron promised in a distracted whisper, his mind temporarily elsewhere.
Ron didn't like to dwell on the accusations Ginny, the twins and several other members of the Order had made against him. Rape was a thoroughly despicable, unforgivable thing, and until the accusation had been hurled at him, he honestly hadn't thought he was doing anything wrong. However, he could now see why people thought the worst of him and he felt sick whenever he thought of the times he'd been with Hermione, all the time knowing that if it hadn't been for the potion, she wouldn't have let him near her.
"Don't rush, take as long as you need," Harry said, jarring Ron back to the present as he burrowed deeper into the blankets. "I'll be right here when you get back."
Making sure there was nothing else Harry needed, Ron left the bedroom and departing Grimmauld Place he headed for Hogsmeade. Just being in the streets brought back happy memories of his time at Hogwarts, but then a certain memory would feature Hermione and he would be hit with her betrayal yet again. Even though there was a slim chance she was carrying his baby, Ron secretly hoped he never saw her again. Now the truth was out, he wanted nothing to do with her and his fervent hope was that everything the dark had claimed in the papers was true and that she was carrying Malfoy's son. Besides, it was easier to deal with what he'd done by reminding himself that Hermione was the enemy and if he was lucky he would never have to face her again.
With dark thoughts starting to enter his head, Ron made his way towards The Hog's Head. He would have rather met with Ginny in The Three Broomsticks so they could have a drink, but he could understand his sister wanting to talk somewhere more private. After all, they didn't want people listening to the conversation as Ron didn't know who could be trusted, and who would run off to Voldemort if they head something of interest. And of course until he met up with Ginny, he didn't quite know how accommodating she was going to be, and the last thing he wanted was for her to cause a scene and call him a rapist in public.
"Ginny," Ron called quietly as he entered the dark alleyway behind the rundown pub at the far side of the village.
Not seeing anyone, he ventured further into the darkness. Hearing a noise behind him, he pulled out his wand and whirled back to face the way he came. When he saw a feminine figure in the shadows, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Damn it Gin, you gave me a right fright," he muttered, tucking his wand away again.
"I do like to scare nasty little Weasels," the figure called in a sing-song voice as she stepped closer to Ron so he could see that she wasn't his little sister.
Instead of standing in front of Ginny, Ron found himself facing Bellatrix Lestrange. Pulling his wand from his pocket, he raised it in front of him as he took a few steps backwards. However, his progress was soon cut short as he bumped into someone and backing himself against the alley wall, he found Lucius Malfoy was blocking the other side of the alleyway.
"Look here Bella, we've trapped ourselves a Weasel," Lucius chuckled darkly.
"How perfect," Bellatrix purred, reaching out and running a finger down Ron's face. "Can I play with him, Lucius?"
"Get off me you mad bint," Ron snarled, pushing Bellatrix's hand away from his face.
"Temper, temper, Weasel," Lucius tutted. "And I'm sorry Bella, but you'll have to wait your turn with this one. Draco has first dibs on him."
"As it should be given what this monster did to Hermione," Bellatrix snarled. "If it was up to me, I'd castrate him."
Ron shivered nervously at the pair's words and he knew that he couldn't possibly allow them to take him. The second he was captured, he was a dead man walking. If he allowed himself to be taken by the two Death Eaters he would be in for a whole world of pain, and he knew that when it came, death would be a release. However, he didn't know how he was going to escape since Bellatrix and Lucius had remained on either side of him and to get away he needed to pass one of them. Unless of course he could apparate from the spot without either of them grabbing him and travelling with him.
"Don't even think about it," Lucius snarled, yanking Ron's wand from his fingers when he spotted the redhead trying to subtly pull it out of his pocket. "If you want to escape you're going to have to run for it."
"Okay then," Ron said, pushing himself away from the wall and barrelling past an unprepared Bellatrix.
Sprinting up the alley, Ron could see people passing by and just as he opened his mouth to call for help, he was hit in the square of his back with a spell and went tumbling to the ground. Before he could even register that he'd been stunned, Lucius was hauling him to his feet and the last thing he remembered was the blond wizard smirking wickedly at him before he hit him with a spell to knock him out completely. An unconscious Ron was then whisked away from Hogsmeade to the dungeons of Malfoy Manor, which would be his home until his very painful death.