Helping Hermione understand
Thorfinn and Anthony make Hermione understand the seriousness of their new situation. She discovers how he found them. Thorfinn neglects to tell her they have protection from afar. Yaxley and Dolohov decide on a timeframe for Thorfinn's plan to work.
Thorfinn looked at the young man in front of him. One more blow would almost knock him out. This then, would be the perfect time to Stun him. He took a deep breath, readied himself and cast a nonverbal Stunner at the same time as he hit him in the head with the rope. The guy's head snapped back as he abruptly dropped. Thorfinn turned towards the brothers and father Grundy.
He looked at Big Whoop, offering him the rope. "Would you like to finish him off?"
After gaining the permission of his father, Big Whoop and the others cackled happily as he snatched the rope away from Thorfinn. Old man Grundy smiled approvingly. 'The boy was coming along nicely. Now if the girl would cooperate! Maybe, just maybe, she needed a little more motivation!'
"Come on, boy! Reward time!" he walked toward the door. Just after he passed Hermione, he stopped, held out his hand and yelled abruptly, "Missy, come here! Now!" Hermione jumped and squeaked in fright. She ran over and took the old man's hand between her own hands. She stared fearfully at Thorfinn as he approached them. The old man led them out of the barn. As they reached the house, he abruptly shoved Hermione into the porch swing.
"Ye git some courtin' time wit' Missy! Ye comin' along good, boy, maybe ye can make 'er be more obedient. I'd hate fer her to end up in the barn. We'd have to look fer another lil pretty fer ye!" he stared at Hermione, looked at the barn, then back at her. Hermione's face went stark white. His implication was clear: Thorfinn was fitting in better. The old man might kill HER in favor of finding another girl for HIM. Thorfinn's jaw was clenched as he stared at him. "Ma! Bring that boy out here!" the old lady brought Radnor and handed him to Thorfinn.
He took the baby and sat down beside Hermione. She was huddled in the corner of the swing, staring desperately at Radnor. She knew better than to reach for him. The old man wouldn't hesitate to backhand her for that infraction! He walked into the house after removing the shackle from Thorfinn's wrist only to snap it around the arm of the swing. He'd had one hand free in the barn. Now both hands were free but he was still chained to the swing by his ankles.
No sooner had he disappeared than Hermione found herself cuddling Radnor and sitting in Thorfinn's lap. She tried to slide away from him but he pulled her closer. "Don't! That's what he's talking about! You can't keep resisting, Hermione! He's going to kill you if you keep it up! I cannot," he exhaled sharply, "I REFUSE to leave here without you!"
He tipped her chin toward him. "I know you don't understand but I had to beat that boy in the barn! If I hadn't, it would have been ME. That wouldn't have done me or you any good! If I died, you and Radnor would still be trapped! Is that what you wanted? I'm going to have to learn how to hunt human prey! You realize this, right? If I don't, I'll never get out of these shackles! If I don't get out of them, there is no escape for any of us! You have got to do your part! Please! Whatever you do, DON'T give him any reason to kill you!"
"He's right, Hermione!" Anthony popped up beside them. "He had no choice! It was beat one of them or be strung up alongside them! You know they wouldn't hesitate to put him up there, either. He's going to have to prove himself to these people. He'll have to hunt people down. The only thing he can control is handing the killing of them off to one of the brothers! For that, he can at least knock them out so they don't feel themselves dying! It's the only mercy he can grant them."
Anthony laid a hand on her shoulder. "And you have to become the perfect daughter. Finn will go insane if you get yourself killed! You think he'll accept another woman in your place? After he went the length of insisting he had to marry you before he could make babies with you? You honestly think he'd want another woman helping to raise Radnor? No, Hermione. He wants YOU. You cannot get yourself killed!"
Hermione stared at the two of them, her deceased husband and her new husband. She closed her eyes and nodded. She cradled her baby tightly as she kissed the top of his head. It was time to get serious. Before she had been dragging her feet, knowing as long as the old man didn't have his 'pretty male' to go with her, he wouldn't do anything to her! Now, though, she was under the risk of death herself. From now on, she would need to become the perfect mountain daughter. That included no balking when they took Radnor away from her and sleeping with Thorfinn anytime the old man ordered it!
"Ok. What's the plan? There is a plan, right?" she asked, staring at him hopefully.
"The plan is to let them teach me all of their secrets. As long as I go along with most of it, I think he'll let me keep passing the actual killing off to them. We'll have to stay maybe a day or so longer after the shackles come off, long enough for their guard to drop. Then we run. I'll get you to safety. Then they will rue the day they ever touched you!" Thorfinn told her in a very low whisper.
To anyone watching, it would look like he was whispering sweet nothings into her ear as he soothingly rubbed circles on her back and stroked her leg. They would certainly never suspect the boy was planning to kill every last member of the clan holding them captive.
Thorfinn shifted the baby to lay on his chest as he sat back, pulling Hermione with him. She quickly found out it was so he could hold the baby as he kissed HER! With Radnor securely nestled between them, he wasted no time rediscovering how much he loved kissing her.
Anthony was again spying on the clan, trying to spot any weaknesses that he could pass on to Finn in aiding their escape. He noted the old lady had to keep slapping her daughters away from the open stove. They seemed to be fascinated by the fire. Knowing Thor's special skill with fire, that might be the way to go with the daughters. The old man and woman were pretty rickety. They shouldn't be too hard to wipe out.
The brothers, though, there lay the problem: the five remaining brothers. Thorfinn had killed five of them on his way to Hermione. He would need to find a way to kill the remaining five brothers either before he tried to escape with Hermione and Radnor or after he got them to safety. From the sounds of the plan he'd just outlined to Hermione, he was going to go along with their 'teachings' long enough to get out of the shackles and catch them off guard. Then, after his little family was safe, he would turn his attention to getting rid of them!
"Thorfinn? How did you find us? Did Anthony-?" Hermione pulled away long enough to ask. He had her on his lap, her legs on either side of him. There had been more material between them while she had the long dress on. Now, though, she was in his T-shirt, easily pulled up. He had his hand under the shirt, cradling her hips against his.
"Yes. He sent a slip of paper with the name of the town and state. From there, all I did was talk to the bank teller. She directed me to your home. But the old man's brother was the one who actually brought me to the exact location I needed to find you." He saw the look of anger on her face. "Hermione, don't be mad at him! Just think, what would be happening now if he HADNT sent that paper? You would, more than likely, be getting raped by some random stranger trying to save his own skin!"
Her eyes widened. Clearly she hadn't thought about that! She certainly wouldn't now have a small hope of getting rescued. 'Why had Anthony done that? Did he know something was wrong? That something like this might happen?' She started to turn to ask him but Thorfinn pulled her back to him before she could.
Up on the bluff, Yaxley and Dolohov were eating as they gave them time to get reacquainted. They were trying to figure out how long of a timeframe they should give Thorfinn to try it his way. Dolohov was all for busting in immediately and killing them all. The Dark Lord wouldn't wait for them forever! Yaxley shook his head. He decided they would give him a week but take it day by day. If it looked like he was in immediate danger, they would intervene. If not, they would continue to give him his space.
It went unspoken that Thorfinn would also be using this time to get to know his new bride and their son. He had married the witch as a way of avoiding having to hand her over to Potter and company once they were back in Britain. After all, even the Boy Who Lived wouldn't want to bust up a happy little family, right? Yaxley had to hand it to him: He was a very clever boy, in spite of the fact that he DID have his blonde moments!