VI
Present
Lucius stood in the doorway with a briefcase in his hand. Hermione lifted her head and looked at him.
"Hayden got a letter." This short sentence made Hermione paler. "I'm going to get him from your parents." She nodded, and he added, "I'll try to… pass on only what's most important for him to know. No unnecessary details yet. " His voice was soft, clearly tired. He rubbed his forehead with his hand.
They spent the last days trying to find out who had been sniffing. So far - without any success. Because of them not being active in the wizarding world, it was like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what stuck.
"We will have to go to Diagon Alley," she said with a sigh because she knew they would cause a sensation.
"Hayden will be delighted," Lucius snorted and his wife smiled sadly. "Probably just him," he clarified and looked at his watch. "We'll be back in a few hours. You know what you should do. "
He walked over to her and kissed the top of her head.
"I know," she confirmed. "Drive safely. Be careful."
And he left and she was left alone in the room. She pulled out a bundle of pages and untied the ribbon.
Hermione didn't know where she was supposed to start. Which letter should be her first choice.
She took the oldest and held her breath. She felt her hands tremble.
Dear Hermione,
She would have recognized Ginny's handwriting anywhere and anytime.
It's been a week since you are gone. I can't get myself together. I have all these events in front of my eyes all the time. I feel bitterness and irritability because I know how unfairly you have been treated. You don't deserve it. But I can't help you. Everything that happens around you is crazy. This is fucking crazy.
Hermione tightened her hand on the letter and set it down abruptly. She was unable to finish it, the emotions it evoked were too strong. She took another random letter.
My dear Hermione,
I met Draco recently and he told me you had a son. Congratulations! I will keep it a secret because I know it is your wish. I also gave birth recently, so our sons are the same age. We named him James Sirius. I am very happy, Hermione.
Harry has recently been promoted …
She put down the parchment and went through the envelopes one by one. In some of them, in addition to letters, there were newspaper clippings or photos. A few caught her attention. Ginny had added the newspaper snippets to the first letter as well, and Hermione summoned the courage to take a look at them. Her hand was trembling and her mouth was pressed tightly into a line.
The headline pointed to 2002. In the photo, she saw the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt. He wore a clearly worried face.
The Ministry of Magic clearly denies rumors that the Former Death Eaters' Resocialization Program is a failure. The Minister of Magic assures that the ex-Death Eater's decision was voluntary.
Hermione groaned and crushed the paper into a ball, feeling the tears roll down her cheek. The second reference showed a photo of an event that no one had to remind her of. She immediately threw the clipping away without even reading it.
The next snippet was more about Draco than about themselves - the Daily Prophet mentioned the company he had founded, Malfoy Innovative Technology Center. No mention of Lucius as Hermione and he had wished.
Hermione sighed, her eyes were drawn to two other photos. One of them was Ginny and Harry; it was apparently their wedding photo. Ginny looked gorgeous and Hermione felt a twinge in her heart. She wished she could have been with her that day. Her best friend looked radiant. Harry, standing next to her, was smiling broadly; he looked so mature. She ran her fingers over it, and the photo moved. Ginny was laughing at something and a second later she grabbed Harry's hand and they posed. A beautiful souvenir.
The second photo showed a clearly pregnant Ginny holding a little boy in her arms. The writing on the other side was saying: 2005, James awaiting his brother. A little boy waved his hand at the photographer. Hermione felt out of sorts - she didn't even know that Ginny and Harry had another child besides James.
She put the two photos down tenderly and continued sorting through the newspaper snippets. One of them made her feel helplessly angry. As always, the Daily Prophet was able to manipulate the readers' emotions.
Harry Potter is appointed Head Auror by the Minister for Magic.
The title itself did not cause her outrage, only the description for the photo. Harry, Ron, and Kingsley stood smiling broadly, grinning a bit silly. The newspaper decided to announce it in a rather telling way.
No longer the Golden Trio, but the Duo - Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are promoted by the Minister of Magic.
She stared for several seconds at the words printed by the Daily Prophet.
It hurt.
Hermione crushed the newspaper so hard her knuckles turned white from clenching. She tossed it on the floor. She felt weak and decided a break was required. Being overly anxious wouldn't do her any good.
She scooped the letters and clippings together and was about to leave the office when out of the corner of her eye she caught the enormous headline of an article written by Rita Skeeter.
It felt as if someone had hit her head with a hard punch. Why the hell did Ginny send her this particular clipping when she knew about what had happened during the battle?
Before reading the article, Hermione turned over the page and saw Percy's photo. He got a promotion, and that's what Ginny wanted to pass on to her. Apparently, she hadn't realized there was something entirely more striking on the other side.
Hermione picked up the article and went to the living room. She collapsed onto the sofa, discovering how weak she felt. She never felt great while pregnant and always suffered terribly during this period.
From the photo in Rita's article, Antonin Dolohov was looking at her. She could see his cold eyes and calculating gaze. He was standing next to the Minister of Magic, they were shaking hands. She saw him smiling slyly. Pansy Parkinson was standing next to them.
Pansy and Antonin: The Success of the Shadow Initiative.
The initiative of the Minister of Magic was considered a failure for many years after Lucius Malfoy's pilot program failed. Two years of efforts of the Ministry were destroyed after an event that shocked the public. People had lost faith that it could work. And yet...
Hermione didn't believe what she was reading. The pilot program was a failure, two years of efforts of the Ministry? She felt sick and it wasn't because of the pregnancy.
What gall do you have to have to write such articles? The answer was obvious - Rita Skeeter had the audacity and no shame. It hadn't changed a bit over the years.
But it wasn't Rita's article that was the worst for Hermione. The second, smaller photo was of Dolohov and Shacklebolt. And information that the two were working on changing laws that favored pureblood wizards.
If Hermione thought she was the most humiliated years ago, today the level of insult had gone above and beyond. And crossed all boundaries.
The woman felt her anger rise and a thin line separated her from an attack. And Lucius was gone. She got up, but staggered on her feet. The darkness in front of her eyes grew stronger. With the last of her strength, she sent her Patronus to Draco and fainted.
They had met for the first time at the Department of Mysteries, and all she remembered was the green light and his ugly, twisted face. She woke up in the Hospital Wing. Until today, she did not know what kind of curse he put on her, but she had her suspicions.
The second time they met during the Battle of Hogwarts. She split up from Ron and found him just when he was killing Remus.
Imperio.
She knew she was losing control of her body. She tried to overcome the Imperio but he was just getting started.
Crucio.
She lost track very quickly, feeling only the burning pain in every fiber of her body. In her mind she saw images of defeat, screams, groans, blood. She didn't know if it was a truth or a lie. Under the influence of Cruciatus, humans become disoriented.
After a time that seemed to last forever, Dolohov was hit by another spell from someone. It upset him and he lost his hold over Hermione. She, bewildered and confused, only heard, "Run". Without thinking, on shaky legs, she began to run away.
Dolohov realized she was escaping and sent another curse at her. She ducked so that it missed her head, but it hit the center of her back instead.
The pain she felt was comparable to Cruciatus, but condensed. She felt as if her muscles were engulfed in living fire, as if the spell was burning her tissues. There was no trace of it outside - she touched her back immediately.
She turned and saw that Dolohov was bending over Flitwick - maybe trying to see if he was alive - she had no idea. It didn't interest her.
Half-conscious, she saw Yaxley and Malfoy, Sr. flee from view, frightened by the presence of the Dueling Champion. Hermione gritted her teeth.
You will pay for it.
Hermione woke up to find herself lying in the bedroom with Lucius sitting next to her. He was holding her hand, and he must have dozed off himself. She squeezed his fingers, which caused him to open his eyes. She could see he was worried.
"I am so sorry," she whispered, and he nodded.
"I shouldn't have forced you." He replied, and she shook her head. She sat up in bed and asked, "Where's Hayden?"
"At Malfoy Manor." It made sense, he was safe there.
She wanted to get up, but he gently held her down. "Rest, I'll get you some tea."
He got up and looked at her. He wanted to say something, to put his thoughts into words. Finally, in a harsh voice, he said, "I should have killed him when I had the opportunity."
And he left the bedroom, Hermione stared at the wall. Flitwick should have killed him then, as well. But he didn't. Dolohov survived and was doing great.
Her hands tightened on the covers. Every dark thing that had happened in her life, had begun with him.
And many years later, she wouldn't let him destroy her life again, their lives - Lucius, Hayden and their unborn child.