Altera Aretla
Chapter Eighteen
They hurried out of the common room on a rescue mission, Hermione still clinging onto her invisibility cloak from before. "Fill me in on what happened," she said urgently, their steps swift and uneasy.
"I saw the tail end of the exchange. McGonagall and Flitwick caught her and both of them, are the only professors to know of Pansy's activity, as far as I know."
"And they suspect her of involvement in dark arts?"
"And of being up to no good. I know Potter has a spell that binds anyone from snitching on him or the cause. It causes them to lose their mind, driven to madness so to speak."
That sounded horrible! Who would willingly allow such a curse to befall them? Hermione wondered if her evil alter had accepted such a pact too or if her close relationship with Potter allowed her to avoid it.
"So Pansy won't speak. Why are we worried about it?" Hermione said, slowing her step.
"Because the professor could induce a truth serum in her if she's not honest. And then it would cause her to lose her mind. I thought you cared for her." Luna tipped her head at Hermione, assessing her with that unnerving blue gaze.
Hermione shot Luna a dark glare. "I care for the cause."
Luna smiled happily at that. She lead them to an unmanned room, both of them quieting down and focusing on the task at hand. "She must be in here," Luna whispered and put an ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything inside but this is where she saw Pansy last put. "Do you think they're inside?"
Hermione shrugged, mind whirling with plans already. "We can use the next door room to use the windows and crawl on the ledge and see." Hermione was not a fan of heights. But they didn't exactly have such a thing as an x-ray spell. Though it would be mighty handy right now. And, they couldn't just barge into the room without knowing what was going on.
The thought of heights did not excite Hermione but she knew that saving Pansy was more important right now. They walked into the next door room, and towards the window, pocketing their wands so their hands would be free. Hermione had to take a steadying breath to bolster herself but she was surprised by Luna's insistence to go first. She opened up the creaky window, a cool breeze stealing in and ruffling their hair.
She got up onto the ledge, a thing that was thankfully wide enough that only the very edge of their shoes hung off as long as they clung to the wall. The wind whipped something ferocious out here, and Hermione who had followed after Luna, had to spit out some of her stray hairs. She wished she had thought to tie her hair up, but on the other hand, with her hair blocking her vision, she couldn't see how high up they were.
They paused as Luna peered around the small curvature of the wall to where Pansy was held.
"The coast is clear. Pansy is there, the professors are not. We should hurry inside," Luna reported and fishing out her wand, opened the window from the other side. Then she slid in, and Hermione went after, letting out a relieved sigh when she felt the safety of the floor.
Pansy visible cheered up when she saw them here, not so much at Luna of course.
"You came to find me!" she cried out. "I was so worried. They took my wand and told me they would deliberate my fate. I didn't cooperate. I didn't tell them anything!" She turned to Hermione, tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry I failed you. I never meant to get caught-"
"Save it for another time," Hermione dismissed. They needed to leave. Could they go out the door? Hermione approached it and sensed several strong locking spells on it. No, she didn't have time to uncrack all of them. It would have to be the window again. And then she heard footsteps from the other side and she had a feeling she knew who it was.
"You need to get Pansy out of here," Hermione hissed as the sound of two professors approaching. She threw her cloak hastily over her shoulders, disappearing. She would stay behind and oblivate her professors. She felt sorry to have to do such a thing, but she would have needed to do it sooner or later because she couldn't have Pansy be exposed.
Luna nodded her head and moved a frightened Pansy to the window as Hermione braced herself. The spells on the door would buy some time because the teachers had to unlock it, enough time that Luna and Pansy could make it to the ledge, sliding the window shut behind them. Just as they edged from sight, the door swung open and the two professors walked in. They closed the doors behind themselves, stunned by the empty room.
"Where did Pansy go-"
Flitwick didn't get a chance to finish. Hermione hit him with a silent stupefy. He fell with a small cry. McGonagall swung around, raising her wand and glancing wildly at the empty room. "Who's there! Reveal yourself!" But Hermione had silently circle around her and stupefied her from behind. The woman fell on top of Flitwick. Hermione then set to work on editing their memories.
It was no easy task, and silently apologizing to her favorite professor for having to this, she then left the room, task complete. She left through the unlocked door and found no one was in the hallway. Were the two girls in the room right over? Or were they in the dungeons? Hermione decided to check, slipping off her cloak and going into the next door room.
She found Luna there, peering out through the open window. Pansy was nowhere to be found.
"Luna, where is Pansy," Hermione said, swallowing a lump down her throat.
"Dumb bitch slipped and fell," Luna said unapologetically as she turned Hermione, with a one shoulder shrug.
Hermione's face drained of all blood. "What-what-?" she raced over to the window and saw Pansy's body laying on the ground ten stories below, a pool of red liquid around her. Hermione jerked back, hand over her mouth. She felt like she was going to be sick.
Luna's hand fell on Hermione's shoulder, and it felt much like a vulture sinking it's claws into it's prey. "Let's go. We can't be found next to her body."
Hermione swallowed harshly and left, body numb and cold. She couldn't help but feel like she had failed Pansy. Like this was all her fault.
She barely registered going back to her room, but she did. Luna didn't even bother her after this, just skipping off to wherever it was she went when she was done ruining lives. But Hermione couldn't stay in her room. She needed to talk to someone. She couldn't go to Harry and Ron for reassurance. She couldn't. Nor could she go to Snape. What if he blamed her for all this? What if she got in trouble?
Deep in her misery, her feet carried her to Bellatrix's room and she knocked on the door, hoping that Bellatrix would be there.
Bellatrix opened it up and saw no one on the other end, but she felt a whoosh of cold air as Hermione let herself in, and knew that it was the brunette under her cloak. She tossed it off as Bellatrix closed the door. Bellatrix took one look at Hermione's face and knew something was wrong.
"What happened?"
Hermione shook her head, not sure if she could speak without crying. Her throat was so tight, and she felt terrible. She sat down on Bellatrix's bed, the dark haired witch coming to sit by her. She rubbed her hand on Hermione's back. "It's okay. Take your time."
Hermione opened up her mouth and sobs came from it, as the short story spilled free. Bellatrix listened with a pinched expression, waiting until Hermione was done to comment.
"You warned her of the dangers. You tried to stop her," Bellatrix hushed, hugging Hermione tightly to her. "It's not your fault. You tried your best."
"I swore to stop the cult. And I couldn't...I couldn't save her. She's my first victim," Hermione sobbed, clinging onto Bellatrix's shirt like she was an anchor in a storm. She sank into her warm hold, inhaling her comforting scent.
"But she can be the last," Bellatrix said softly, stroking a hand through Hermione's curls to soothe her. She even dropped a kiss on top of Hermione's head. "All we have to do is stay strong and keep looking for the horcruxes and stop Harry before he gets to be too powerful."
Hermione nodded her head, Bellatrix was right. They had to be strong. Had to. They couldn't stop just because of one setback, even if had been someone's life.
Stopping her sniffles she pulled away, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. "Thank you," she whispered hoarsely.
"You can stay here overnight, if you'd like," Bellatrix said, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear and averting her eyes.
"That would...that would be amazing, actually," Hermione said, because she really didn't want to be alone right now. Seeing as it was already pretty late, Hermione went back to her room to get her things and came back to Bellatrix's room. They stayed up to do homework together, Hermione finding the work and Bellatrix's presence took her mind to a less troubled place. Eventually when 11 pm hit, Hermione found herself exhausted by everything. She decided it was time to turn in for the night. She took the right side of the bed, Bellatrix took the left.
"Good night," Bellatrix whispered, turning off the lights with a wave of her wand.
"Night," Hermione responded with, staying on her side of the bed, hugging the sheets pillow there, and with her back to Bellatrix. It soon becomes clear that both of them can't sleep when Bellatrix sighs and tosses before moving to fluff up her pillow.
Hermione considers making conversation but she doesn't. For some reason she feels whatever conversation she has with Bellatrix now will be too intimate and she doesn't want to risk it. So, she shuts her eyes tight and tries to focus all her energy on falling asleep.
In the morning when she wakes up, she finds that she has drifted closer to Bellatrix and so has the darker haired witch to her. They're curled up, facing each other. Bellatrix has got one arm under her pillow and the other arm- oh! Hermione's face goes very warm when she realizes where it is. It's slung around her waist, as if holding her, preventing her from going anywhere. And with the way Hermione's night shirt has ridden up, it's touching her bare skin directly.
The heat of Bellatrix's hand feels nice on her and she allows herself to settle back down into the covers. Judging by the early light streaming in through the window, it's still early and so Hermione closes her eyes and allows herself to fall asleep once more.
The whole next day Hermione has a dreadful headache that not even Bellatrix's spell helps with. She keeps hearing snatches of voices, but she can't make out what they're saying. Images flash before her eyes but she can't make them out either. What is happening? Is it because the portal in her mind has been opened? Can she reach in and communicate with the other Hermione?
She'll need to go see Snape about it, but she's swamped with exams now and so she can't. She barely even has time to eat with the boys and Ginny, before she's swept up in work. In a way, it's a blessing because she doesn't have to think about Pansy and what happened with her. The school had held a remembrance for her and Hermione had fought back her tears.
She could not break character during this time. She could not.
She caught Luna's smug expression out of the corner of her eye and Hermione shivered, recalling how many times she'd been warned that Luna wasn't exactly stable in this world. What would be the odds that she had done something to Pansy on that ledge? It wouldn't be too hard to stupefy Pansy, and she would silently fall to her doom. And no one would be the wiser.
Hermione swallowed thickly. She wouldn't put it past her.
Merlin, she wishes she could already be home. Her temples throb. Home, they seem to scream at her and she suffers in silence. Hopefully Clarence can fix this and soon she can just go back to her normal life. The passing of Pansy weighs terribly on her and Harry and Ron notice.
"What has got you so down?" Ron asks, crunching loudly on his toast. The dining hall seems to loudly lately and it's not just because of her headaches.
"It's...my head is killing me again. The pain went away for a while and now it's back," she decides to be honest.
"That explains why you've been so snappish recently," Harry deduced, spreading jam on his bread. "I admit, we've gotten so used to you with those headaches and being so cranky and nasty almost all the time that when you started acting more even tempered and subdued we weren't sure what was up. But I guess we just forgot how you used to be before all the pain."
Oh, that wasn't good. So they had noticed. But of course how could they not? She had no idea how to act like her evil self in the early days. She'd like to think she was better now. But what they said gave her an excuse. They reasoned she was off because she hadn't had her usual headaches and now, she could be snipey with them because of the return of those headaches. Perfect cover.
"And if you ever need our help...if there is anything we could do to help with the pain..." Harry trailed off, putting his hand over hers.
Don't say things like that, she thought, because it makes it harder more me to see how evil you are. How evil you will become.
"I appreciate it, but I'm not a little bitch," Hermione grunted out, pulling away from him. A sharp pain spiked behind her eye. She ignored it. "I can handle this. I can handle anything."
"Atta girl, that's the Granger we know and love," Ron said cheerfully, elbowing her non too softly.
She snapped her teeth at him, only making him laugh harder. Oh how she longed for her actual friends. She can't wait to be back. Hiding her sullenness she focuses on the eggs before her.