Day Two
Hermione is formally introduced to Yaxley and Dolohov. She comes up with a reasonable plot to keep Rowle, Yaxley and Dolohov out of trouble. They plan to visit her parents, for real. Thorfinn gives Hermione the ring.
Hermione is formally introduced to Yaxley and Dolohov. She comes up with a reasonable plot to keep Rowle, Yaxley and Dolohov out of trouble. They plan to visit her parents, for real. Thorfinn gives Hermione the ring.
Hermione opened her eyes. Thorfinn was still asleep. He had forgotten to put the restraints back on her. Even though she was free now, she had no urge to run away from him. She might not be chained anymore but she had no doubt he probably still had wards up to prevent her from leaving the Shack. She eased out from under his arm and went to the loo. After brushing her teeth, she came back and picked through the rest of the bags he had brought in. By the time Thorfinn opened his eyes, she had a reasonable breakfast laid out for both of them. He used the loo quickly and came back. They sat down to eat. He waved his wand at the piano again for some soothing background music.
He put his silverware down as he finished eating. "I have an idea. You might not like it, though." he looked at her nervously.
"Let's hear it then. I can't say no if I don't know what the idea is." she finished her meal quickly. He took a deep breath, mentally crossing his fingers.
"I want to introduce you to Yaxley and Dolohov. Formally introduce you. I know you've had run-ins with them over the past couple of years. It's not the same thing as actually meeting them, face-to-face. I told you, didn't I, that they would be our official chaperones, right?" he reminded her.
"Yes. You also told me they're charged with keeping you out of trouble. How did that come about anyway?" she asked curiously, ducking the question momentarily.
"That was my father's doing. After the war was over, he barely kept my arse out of Azkaban. If it hadn't been for the Bats' owner and my coach coming to my trial, I'd be sitting in a cell right now. Yaxley and Dolohov had already been sentenced when they tried me. My father managed to get their sentences reduced to probation instead of prison. The Bats' owner hired them as my personal handlers/bodyguards. They get to stay out of Azkaban as long as they keep me in line. If I get into any trouble, I go to Azkaban and they're automatically remanded back as well." he told her, stroking her fingers.
"Ah. That's why you weren't happy every time I threatened you yesterday. If I were to report this, it wouldn't go well." she realized. He shrugged casually at her.
"No, it wouldn't be good. I don't care, though. I wanted to get to know you. I couldn't see you willingly sitting down with me, so,," he held up his hands.
"So you decided to kidnap me and hold me for the weekend. Thorfinn." she smiled as she shook her head. He did have the grace to look sheepishly at her.
"If it means that much to you, I'll meet Yaxley and Dolohov. How do you know they'll want to meet ME, though?" she wondered.
"They know how much you mean to me. All they want is for me to be happy. If I'm happy with you, they're happy with you." he assured her.
They got dressed and he pulled her close. He Disapparated them out of the Shack. Then he Apparated them to Yaxley's townhouse. Staring at the slightly imposing house in front f her, Hermione took a deep breath and prayed for strength. Yaxley had never tried to kill her, only capture her. Dolohov, on the other hand, HAD tried to kill her before. He was the one she was more scared of meeting.
Thorfinn could feel her trembling in his arms. He just hoped like hell that Yaxley and Dolohov had really meant the good wishes they'd given him yesterday. He really wanted the three of them to not only meet but hit it off, too. He thought of the two men as uncles and hoped she wouldn't object to them being a part of their lives. He led her to the front door. Right before they went in, he leaned down and kissed her. All the tension immediately drained out of her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He pulled back and smiled at her.
Taking her hand, he led her into Yaxley's study. Yaxley was there, reading the Daily Prophet as Dolohov lounged on the couch. They both looked up as the young couple came in. She smiled and waved nervously. Thorfinn brought her over to the center of the room.
"Mates, I'd like you to meet someone. Corban Yaxley, Antonin Dolohov, this is Hermione Granger." he introduced them. Then he held his breath.
Yaxley was the first one to respond. He rose, walked over and held out his hand. Hermione took it. Instead of shaking hands as she'd expected, he lifted it and kissed her knuckles lightly. "I'm pleased to finally meet you, Miss Granger. Thorfinn has been talking about you for years."
She looked at Thorfinn. "I'm not sure if that's good or bad." Yaxley laughed.
"I assure you. It's all been good." he told her.
While she was talking to Yaxley, Dolohov had risen from the couch. When Yaxley stepped back, he stepped forward. They stared at each other warily. Then he put out his hand. She took it and again had her knuckles kissed lightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I owe you an apology. Several, in fact. I'm sorry for every time I directed a curse at you, before and during the war."
She smiled gently. "Your apology is accepted. And it's a pleasure to meet you." Dolohov smiled at her then. Thorfinn let out the breath he'd been holding. That had gone better than he'd hoped.
"Does this mean I can let Minerva know her favorite student is all right?" Yaxley asked. Thorfinn narrowed his eyes as he considered his options. He looked at Hermione. She tapped a fingertip on her lip.
"Only if you can tell her in such a way that he's not implicated for kidnapping me." she said, surprising the three of them. "I don't want him in Azkaban and I don't want him to lose the two of you, either. By the way," she looked at Thorfinn, "You wouldn't happen to know where my wand is, would you?"
Thorfinn's eyes widened and he sucked in a deep breath. 'Bloody fucking hell! He'd forgotten to get her wand off the street!' He opened his mouth to speak when Yaxley walked to his desk. He opened the top drawer and withdrew a wand. "This wand?" he held it up. "I found it the other day. Antonin and I retraced Thorfinn's path and found it. It must have been where he grabbed you. The alley, just past the bookstore?"
Thorfinn let out a relieved breath. Yaxley looked at him, the wand and then Hermione. Thorfinn nodded. Yaxley handed it over to Hermione. She tucked it back into its holster on the leg of her pants.
"You know, I could tell Professor McGonagall that I wanted to go visit my parents. We're not allowed to go out of Hogsmeade anymore. There have been a good many werewolf and vampire attacks lately. They don't want us in any danger." she chuckled as she looked at Thorfinn.
He laughed. "I guess they never thought about the dangers INSIDE of Hogsmeade, aye?"
"Obviously not. Frankly, I think they almost consider the Death Eaters as a protective ring against the werewolves and vampires." she told them. She tapped her lip again as she started pacing.
"Let's see. I slipped out of Hogsmeade to go visit my parents. On the way there, I was almost attacked by a vampire and three wizards came to my rescue. One in particular risked getting bitten while the other two hauled me safely out of the area. In gratitude for their help, I asked them to stay with me until I came back to school. That would explain my absence until Sunday." she said.
"One problem with that, baby girl." Thorfinn told her. "Potter and Weasley saw me yesterday."
"And McGonagall fire called me directly after she spoke to Potter and Weasley. Antonin pretended to be Thorfinn passed on the couch while we spoke. Right after that, we tracked Thorfinn down at the Shack." Yaxley told her.
"What time was it? If it was just shortly after I vanished, the timing could be adjusted. We could say that the three of you set out to track ME down after you were alerted to me missing. It could work out, you know." she reminded them. "All we have to do is tweak the timing. Did Harry and Ron say how long I'd been missing when they spoke to her? How long, after they saw Thorfinn, was it when they spoke to McGonagall? And how long did she wait before she fire called you? See? It's all a matter of timing."
Yaxley laughed. "It's easy to see why your nickname is 'the brightest witch of your age', sweetie. Do you always think this fast on your feet?"
Hermione smiled as she spread her hands. "Sometimes, my quick thinking was the only thing standing between us and being captured during the war. It didn't always work, though. There are several times I can remember that it actually made things worse." she shivered as she recalled being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange.
"If I'm recalling my timing right, I was fire called shortly after lunch. Antonin had just walked in the door. Which means they would have to have seen Thorfinn before lunch. Of course, he was on his feet when they saw him and 'passed out' by the time she saw him." Yaxley mused.
"Hmm, how long does it take him to drink enough to pass out that fast?" Hermione asked him.
"It depends on how many bottles he drinks. One has him staggering, two can have him passed out in minutes." Yaxley stopped to consider that. "Which actually could fit. The marsh he led them to is fairly close to Hogwarts but not that close. Between him leaving there and them speaking to her, that would leave just enough time for him to kill two bottles of whiskey and pass out on my couch. Especially if I was in the middle of something, like reading the paper. He and Antonin both know better than to interrupt my reading time." he leaned on his desk. Antonin sniggered, remembering Thorfinn bound and gagged on the floor the last time he'd disrupted Yaxley's reading time. Thorfinn grinned mischievously and rolled his eyes, knowing why Antonin had laughed.
"Ok." Hermione thought it out. "Lets see. Our group walked down from the castle about nine, nine-thirty yesterday morning. I left Harry and Ron at Quality Quidditch Supplies. We were going to meet at the Three Broomsticks for lunch. Then wander around some more of the shops. If it was almost lunch before they saw you and spoke to McGonagall," she looked at Thorfinn as she quickly added something up on her fingers. "That would leave more than enough time for me to have slipped away. So they would talk to her roughly around lunchtime or right after. Then she fire calls you to check on Thorfinn and alerts you to a missing student, me," she looked at Yaxley. "Then you, Rowle and Dolohov go to round me up and find a vampire attacking me. After fighting him off, I ask the three of you to stay with me while I visit my parents. See how that could work? If she asks why none of you alerted her that I was found, safe and sound, I'll just tell her that was my fault. I swore the three of you to secrecy. I wanted to see my parents and I knew she'd make the lot of you bring me back right away.
Yaxley crossed his arms and thought over her story. 'On the one hand, it wasn't the strongest explanation of the situation. On the other hand, it did cover MOST of the relevant gaps it needed to fill. Yeah, it could work.' He looked at the young woman before him. "And you're going to take full responsibility for us NOT telling her you're alright?"
Hermione nodded. "I just have one condition." The older wizard cocked a brow at her quizzically. "I really do need to see my parents." she looked over her shoulder at Thorfinn. "He's wanting to be married to me by June. My parents will need to know about this. They've always told me they wanted me to graduate and maybe take some higher learning before I got married. This little getaway weekend has derailed that plan somewhat. Especially as you," she wagged a finger a Thorfinn, "have not once used a Contraceptive Charm and I don't know enough wandless magic to cast one myself."
Thorfinn smirked at her. 'That was the whole point of him taking her this weekend! He'd fully planned on sleeping with her every chance he got to make she went back to school pregnant with his child!' He didn't say that out loud, of course, as she'd probably Avada him if he did. He didn't really have to say anything. His expression said it all. She snorted, covered her eyes and chuckled at him. "So does this mean you're agreeing to our engagement, baby girl?"
She leaned back on him and caught his left hand with hers. "Yes. I still don't understand why you chose me. But for better or worse, we're engaged as of now."
Yaxley was shaking his head at the two of them. "We'll take you to see your parents as long as you don't try to use them as a reason for not returning with Thorfinn. And as long as they don't try to law him for sleeping with you to start with." he told her.
"Don't worry about my parents. Once I sit them down and talk to them, they'll be thrilled about a new son in law. I'm more than old enough to sleep with anyone I want to, so they know better than to try that! My biggest obstacle is you, Thorfinn. They've never heard me talk about you, no rants, raves or even a brief mention. They'll want to know how we even connected. At all. The only one they've ever heard me talk about, besides Harry, is Ron. It'll be very confusing for them to go from thinking 'oh, she likes Ron, they'll probably end up together' to 'Oh, she's marrying Thorfinn at the end of the school year!' You see where they might need to at least meet you?"
"I'll be more than happy to meet them. As long as they don't try to separate us." he shrugged at her. Yaxley and Dolohov watched as she assured Thorfinn her parents would love him.
"As long as you promise them you'll never hurt me or abandon me, they'll have no reason at all to not like you. They only want me to be happy." she told him. Thorfinn pulled her close.
"Then they have no worries. I'll make sure you never have reason to doubt me. Ever." Thorfinn closed his eyes. 'She was going to give him a chance to prove himself!' he smiled happily. He brought out the rung he'd been carrying in his pocket. She allowed him to slip it onto her finger, admiring the phoenix on the side of it.