A/N: Happy 2017! Here is chapter 20. I'm working on wrapping up the last few chapters of this story, so look forward to seeing more soon :)
Disclaimer: All rights to J.K. Rowling for material borrowed from Harry Potter.
Chapter 20 – Positive Signs
Hermione focused on her reflection, turning to get a clearer view of her rear. She cleared her mind and tried to focus on the appearance of a fox's tail. She gave her wand a fluid swish and spoke the incantation aloud. She felt a strange tingling sensation and watched with satisfaction as fluffy red tail flourished from beneath her skirt. The Ministry Examiner nodded her approval. Hermione waited a moment while she jotted down a note before vanishing the tail.
"Well done, Mrs. Malfoy," the Examiner said brusquely. "You've completed the examination and will receive your results by mail this summer." Hermione exited the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. Her last exam. A bucket full of emotions willed themselves to escape, but Hermione ignored them and made her way towards the lake.
The sky was a clear blue, as it refused to acknowledge the darkness that was taking place below it. The ground was littered with students huddled in small groups all in serious discussion, whether about their exams or the state of the Wizarding world, Hermione was unsure. She found a lone tree and settled down to review her exam.
Hermione glanced up at the sunlight reflecting off the lake, and it drew her attention to a discarded Daily Prophet nearby. She abandoned her exam and glanced at the cover, her frown deepening as the image of the Dark Mark once again covered the page. Looking down at the caption, Hermione saw that it was another Muggle town that had been attacked. Another training session, she concluded, relieved that she had no part in the raids. A smaller article near the bottom of the page caught her eye. It was a small Ministry Announcement stating that a witch and wizard from Wimbourne had died in a failed attempt at dissolving their matrimonial vows. Hermione read through the article twice, but no details were given, just a warning from the Ministry that any attempt to dissolve Matrimonial Vows was punishable by law.
The words began to blur in front of her, and Hermione closed her eyes, her chest aching with the weight of the grief she had felt for months. She held her head in her hands, recalling a happier time when she had sat at that very spot with Harry and Ron. Well, it hadn't been much happier, but at least they had been together. She squeezed her eyes even tighter, praying that they were okay.
Hermione groaned and threw her arm across her face to block the sunlight streaming through the dormitory window. She rolled onto her side and found that the other beds were already empty, and Lavender and Parvati's belongings were all neatly packed away. It was her last day at Hogwarts. At the thought, Hermione's stomach lurched, holding her hand over mouth she barely managed to make it to the bathroom before she retched into the sink. After rinsing out her mouth Hermione returned to her night table and retrieved her wedding ring. She twisted it around her finger in a gesture that was becoming common when she was sad or stressed. The feel of the cool metal usually reassured her, and reminded that even when she felt alone she wasn't.
Things had been bumpy with Draco, and Hermione still could not decide if going forward with the divorce was what she wanted. But just thinking of all the things he kept from her made her angry all over again. She peeked out the window and saw that the area for the graduation was already set up near the lake. She looked at the rows of chairs assembled she felt her eyes tear. Not one of those seats would be filled for her. No one would watch as she crossed that stage. She turned away from the window, wiping her eyes, and finished packing. With a heavy heart Hermione looked back into the empty dormitory for the last time and shut the door behind her.
The hot June sun beat down and Hermione itched to remove her school robes. But the ceremony dragged on. The same ministry official who had led Dumbeldore's funeral spoke again now, seemingly unaware of his inattentive audience, he droned on with his prepared speech. She took a peek back at the crowd and saw several empty chairs. Neville's grandmother was noticeably absent and Hermione recalled that she had been declared wanted by the Ministry earlier that week.
After what felt like hours, Hermione heard them call Draco's name. He rose from his place beside her and crossed the stage. Hermione could see his parents clapping politely with the rest of the crowd, looking so proud of their only son. Hermione felt a prickle of jealously run through her. Her parents would miss their only daughter's graduation, just like they had missed her wedding.
"Hermione Malfoy," a booming voice called. Hermione rose and masked the distress from her face as she walked past Draco and toward the stage. As their eyes met, Hermione's stomach flipped at the sight of his slightly upturned lips. She had missed his smiles, rare as they were. She crossed the stage, shaking hands with the official and Professor McGonagall.
"Congratulations, Miss Granger," she whispered. A real smile broke across Hermione's face for the first time in weeks. She stepped forward and felt her school robes transform into wizard robes. Her smile stayed in place as she returned to her seat. She had started Hogwarts as Hermione Granger, and even if her name had changed, she still accomplished the dream of a much younger Hermione Granger: to graduate from Hogwarts top of her class.
As she watched her fellow classmates cross the stage, Hermione's moment of happiness faded. Harry and Ron were missing from this moment too. Their names should have been called not long after hers. Tired of her turbulent emotions, Hermione let out a small sigh. She felt Draco's sidelong glance at her, but did not acknowledge it. She felt overwhelmed by her own emotions. The ceremony came to a close and Hermione found herself alone in the crowd as students celebrated with their parents.
"I'm so proud of the man you've become," his mother whispered into his ear as she hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, careful not to squeeze her too much.
"I love you, mum," he replied softly, "I don't know how to thank you for everything you have sacrificed for me." Draco was just beginning to see how much his mother had endured living through two Wizarding Wars. And though he had also suffered a great deal, she had always done her best to shelter him. She pulled away from him, her face lit with a smile.
His father moved forward, shaking his hand. "Not quite top of your class, Draco, but I'm proud of you nonetheless." It was the closest thing to a compliment Lucius had ever bestowed on Draco, so Draco took his comment in stride.
"Well, the top of our class was still a Malfoy," Draco replied as he watched Hermione approach them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," she greeted them. "Congratulations, you must be so proud of Draco." His mother returned her congratulations, and Draco pulled his hand back from his fathers. He wasn't sure why she had come over. They were barely speaking, and with so many people around she would have been able to sneak away without raising any eyebrows.
"Could you excuse us for just a moment?" Draco asked his parents. "I'll meet you inside." His parents moved away, and he noticed the worried look that crossed his mother's face.
"I didn't mean to pull you away from your family," Hermione said quickly.
"It's okay," Draco replied. He hesitantly placed his hand on her back and led her away from the crowd. Between the noise of the crowd and his pounding heart, Draco was having trouble hearing. They way she had looked at him during the ceremony had given him hope that she wanted to reconcile. Silently they walked amongst the greenhouses, each waiting for the other to begin. After what felt like eternity, Draco was compelled to break the silence.
"I'm sorry Hermione," he said. The guilt had been gnawing at his chest since he had lied to her about Harry, and the look on her face when she found out had broken a part of him that he wasn't aware of. Somehow he knew there was no way to rebuild the trust he had so carelessly broken, but he would be damned if that would stop him from trying. He ploughed on, giving voice to the thoughts that had been haunting him since he lost her. "I know I messed up. I should have told you they had been at the manor. The Dark Lord was there and I thought it was too risky."
"You had months, Draco!" She hissed at me, her tone acidic. "You kept it from me still, even when they were far out of my reach."
"I apologized," Draco said, and knowing that this conversation was going nowhere, he redirected. "I know you may never forgive me for what I did. But I am begging you not to continue with our divorce. Did you not see the article in the star, Hermione? Two people died attempting it. Is punishing me for my mistake worth that risk?"
"Stop acting like you made some tiny error in judgment, Malfoy," she snapped, making Draco cringe at the returned use of his…their surname. "You lied to me. Any trust or relationship we built has been damned because of it. These are dark times, and I want to stand with people I know I can trust, and you knowingly prevented that by keeping them away from me."
Her words hit him like a sucker punch, and he was forced to admit to himself that his actions had been selfish. His family's survival had been his priority for so long, that he lost sight of the fact that her wellbeing had become collateral damage. He hated to admit it, but each day without Potter and Weasley she suffered, and knowing that he still felt the urge to keep her with him. As if he could somehow fill that hole.
"It was selfish of me to keep you," Draco admitted to her after a long moment. "I needed… I couldn't lose you.
"You did that to yourself," Hermione said quietly, making Draco wished she had yelled. "I am alone. I have nothing and no one, and for a moment I made the mistake of thinking I had you, and you took that away from me just like the Dark Lord took everything else I loved."
"You're not the only one who is alone," Draco replied automatically, his mind reeling at her words. Had she loved him? Was he in love with? Was that why this seemed to hurt so much more than everything else he had been through?
"You have your family, and your father's personality defects aside, they do love you," she said. "I don't even know where my parents are anymore. I…It's stupid but I have gone through today and… and our wedding, and everything else without them. These moments have been stolen from me, and so many others," Hermione gasped, almost sobbing. Draco reached out to her, but she backed away, her hands shaking, and he froze.
"They can't have my future too," she said quietly.
Draco turned away from her then, knowing she was already lost to him. Any future she dreamed of did not include him. And she deserved to have the future she dreamed of, so Draco decided to give her the divorce she wanted – he owed her that much after keeping her from the people she really loved.
Hermione watched her compartment door from the corner of her eye, wondering if Draco would join her like he did at Christmas break. She twitched at every flash of blonde hair, but no one stopped by her cabin. Once the train started moving, Hermione slid the door closed in frustration. She had asked for a divorce. She wanted to separate, he was merely obliging her. But she couldn't ignore her hurt nonetheless.
She sat against the plush seats and focused on the view of the castle looming in the distance. She watched it as the train pulled further and further away, until it was nothing but a speck in the distance. Hermione had the ominous feeling that she would never see the castle again. It had been a home to her for seven years. And now…she was homeless, with nowhere to go except for Malfoy Manor.
Loneliness crept up on her as she sat there alone with her thoughts. Harry and Ron were gone. She had lost Draco. She hadn't even seen many of her classmates while boarding the train. She knew Neville had left immediately after the graduation ceremony. But she hadn't seen Ginny at all, or Luna or Dean. So many people disappearing from her life.
The compartment door slid open and, against her better judgment, Hermione looked up hopefully. Her face fell when her eyes fell on a Ministry security member. He made a show of peering around the compartment.
"Can I help you?" Hermione asked stiffly.
"Mrs. Malfoy," He acknowledged her presence at last, "have you seen this criminal?" He held up scroll emblazoned with 'Wanted by order of the Ministry of Magic' across the top. Below it showed a picture that was unmistakably Ginny.
"I was not aware that she was a criminal," Hermione replied tightly.
"She is wanted for suspected association with Harry Potter," the man replied, sneering at her all the while. Hermione pulled herself a little taller, and gave him a cool look.
"Are you implying that I associate with criminals?" Hermione asked, trying to sound menacing, but she didn't have her heart in the 'I am a Malfoy, and you are beneath me' act that she had been putting on.
"We are checking every compartment. Routine procedure," the man said.
"Well, she clearly isn't hiding in my russack," Hermione said waving an absent hand at her bag. "I suggest you look elsewhere."
The man gave her a suspicious glare, before exiting her cabin. Hermione pressed her fingers into her temple. Her stomach lurched unpleasantly, and Hermione endured the rest of the ride in silence, trying not to wonder what could have happened to Ginny.
Hermione walked the halls of Malfoy Manor in a trance. The sky was a brilliant blue that taunted her as she passed the windows overlooking the vast gardens. Except for the house elves, she was alone in the manor and alone with her thoughts. Narcissa had gone to Diagon Alley and the recruits were out on yet another raid. Draco had resume his negotiations in Bulgaria, leaving Hermione as the sole Malfoy at the Manor, at least until Narcissa returned that evening.
Unfortunately for Hermione, Narcissa returned with bad news. Draco would be detained in Bulgaria for longer than expected, and Hermione was expected to take his place amongst Voldemort's ranks.
"The Dark Lord was very impressed with your performance at the training sessions," Narcissa had explained as she handed Hermione her new assignment. Hermione recalled the encounter as she looked over the assignment in her and Draco's bed that night. It felt as if they were still testing her, still pushing to see how far they had to go for her to crack. She would be leading the raid on a muggle town, where suspected blood traitors had been hiding.
Hermione focused on the assignment again, and mapped out her plan on the map she had found of the village. She clenched the quill in her hands, trying to focus on the lives she would be saving rather than those that would be lost.
The next night Hermione still had reservations, but she pulled the hood of her robes over her wild hair, letting the shadow that fell across her face mask the bags under her eyes. She apparated from the manor, arriving in the village square where the recruits had already assembled.
"Crabbe and Goyle," Hermione addressed her former schoolmates. "Your team will cover the village perimeter. Once we have eliminated the blood traitors, you will be responsible for starting the Fiendfyre."
"Gibbon," she ordered, "Take down the community locations – town hall, the church, library, and any stores. Feel free to take anything of value."
"Mrs. Malfoy," he replied, "Are we not taking down the residential areas? It's almost midnight, no one is going to be at the library." He scoffed at her plan.
"We are here to take down blood traitors, Gibbon," Hermione snapped, tiring of this already. "If you'd like to find women to rape, or men," she added, smirking at the uncomfortable looks the Death Eaters around him, "it will not be on the Dark Lord's time. We have two more raids to complete tonight, we need to maximize impact in the least amount of time, which means leaving the residences." Hermione paused, staring at the group firmly to identify any other dissention. She turned to the large, blonde man in the group, "Rowle, you will assist me in taking the blood traitors. Everyone else to your stations." Hermione felt a sense of satisfaction as they followed her command, and turned with Rowle to her unpleasant task with a grim sense of determination.
A hot stench slammed into Hermione's senses as she left the small safe house. She gritted her teeth in frustration, Crabbe and Goyle had sent off the Fiendfyre early, the incompetent fools. Half the town was already awash in flame, and a heavy black fog covered the rest. Hermione choked back a cough and turned to Rowle.
"Fall out," she said, trying to keep her voice steady in the smoky atmosphere. She heard Rowle calling out the order to the remaining recruits. The smoke was getting into her lungs, and for the first time Hermione wished she could have donned a mask, if only to protect her from the smoke.
She heard several pops of Apparition, and was about to leave herself, when she realized they had forgotten once of the most crucial steps. She glanced about her, but was surrounded by chaos and not a single black cloak. Seeing no other option, she raised her wand.
"Morsmordre," she said. Hermione watched her handiwork as the Dark Mark bore down upon the village, before she vanished with a swish of her cloak.
Lucius' study was cozier than Hermione would have imagined, ornate yes, but also comfortable. She took in her surroundings in an attempt to ignore the pounding of her heart. She sat in a plush armchair before a large mahogany desk, and several gleaming bookshelves. Part of her wanted to see what titles filled the shelves, but she ignored the urge, knowing that Voldemort could arrive any minute. She took a moment closing her eyes and carefully emptying her mind. She counted backwards from a hundred, a trick Draco had taught her when practicing Occlumency. By the time she had finished her heartbeat had slowed to its normal pace.
Hermione heard the click of the door opening, and sat up straighter. It was her fist time being in suck close quarters with the Dark Lord. Draco was still in Bulgaria, and it made Hermione even more anxious. She knew this is why Voldemort had chosen to brand her now. Draco had been vocal with his request that she would not be marked. But Voldemort had made his decision.
"Hermione," he said, opening his arms in greeting. Hermione instantly kneeled before him. "Rise."
Hermione did as he bid her, taking in his long black robes, pale face, and vivid red eyes as she did so. She recalled a time when Voldemort had been nothing more than an abstract threat. Now he was standing before her as casually as if they were old friends. But Hermione knew better.
"You have served me well these past few months," he began. "You took on your role and wife and advocate more dutifully than could be expected. Many were uneasy about your…upbringing." Hermione tensed, wondering, not for the first time, if this was trap.
"You were Muggleborn, and a friend to my sssworn enemy," he continued, making Hermione even more alert. "I know your past," he paused here and Hermione made the mistake in making eye contact. "And you know mine."
"My Lord, I…" Hermione began.
"Sssilence, girl," he said. "You know the truth. That I am a…halfblood. But like you, I moved beyond my shortcomings. Shed them like a second skin. And now I stand before you as a new man, stronger and more impenetrable than any before me. I see that same spark in your eye. You are bright, the brightest witch of your age, I'm told. You will be my greatest asset. Imagine, the sharpest minds of two generations, writing our own history."
Hermione wondered if he made all of his followers believe that they were his greatest asset, but she quickly pushed away the though. She cleared her mind again, and took in her words, for her mind to process more carefully later.
"Will you join me in making history?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes, my Lord," Hermione murmured.
"Then kneel before me," Voldemort commanded. Hermione lowered to one knee on the hard stone floor. "Will you, Hermione Malfoy, promise to serve and be loyal to me, advocate my cause, and protect my allies? Will you dedicate you time and life in doing my bidding? Will you renounce those who stand against our cause and…" Voldemort continued the list of vows, all ones that Hermione intended to break.
"I will," Hermione said, at long last. She presented him with her arm, and he pushed the sleeve of her robe to her elbow. He touched his wand to her forearm, and Hermione grit her teeth as a hot pressure grew in her arm. Unable to stop herself, she choked out a gasp as pain seared across her arm. Her eyes watered, but she remained still until he withdrew his wand.
"Rise, Hermione Malfoy," he said. "You have now joined the ranks of the Death Eaters."
Beads of sweat rolled down Hermione's back as she walked through Diagon Alley. It was midday and the sun was beating down on her. She had worn her coat out today, despite the heat, to keep her newly branded arm hidden. She still cringed when she saw the inky skull staring back at her. It looked especially gruesome as it still had a faint red rim around the edges. Her arm hurt, even now days later, she could feel the burn in arm. She knew the pain would be even more acute if Voldemort were to summon her.
Hermione sighed when she stepped into the cool Apothecary. She had been relieved to have an excuse to leave the manor, now that Voldemort had put her back on Potions duty. She was still responsible for conducting the occasional raid, but it seemed that Voldemort's interests had already shifted. There had been whispers over the past view days that the Dark Lord had a new target, whoever it was it must be someone important since neither Hermione nor Narcissa had been privy to the information. She wondered for a moment if they had a lead on Harry, but pushed the thought aside. If the rumors she had heard were true, this was a new threat.
Ignoring the sense of foreboding, Hermione began collecting ingredients; some for Voldemort's potions and some for her own working on dissolving her Matrimonial Vow. The apothecary was dank and musty, and she headed to the back where the smell was more rancid. Hermione tried not to gag as the shopkeeper pulled out several frogs' brains and jarred them for her. She felt her lunch rising in her throat, and choked it back. This was the third time that week that she had experience such a strong wave of nausea.
Hermione quickly paid for her purchases, and was relieved to be back outside in the fresh, albeit hot, air. She took a couple deep breaths trying to sooth her stomach. A small seed of doubt had taken root in Hermione's mind and she could ignore it no longer. She exited Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron making sure no one was on her tail.
After walking through Muggle London for almost fifteen minutes Hermione finally found what she was looking for. She relished the air conditioning in the small pharmacy for a moment before finding the correct aisle. Hermione stared at the boxes of pregnancy tests and wondered if she was overreacting, she was only two weeks late after all, and she had been under so much pressure… And she and Draco had been careful. Any use of contraceptives was punishable by death if caught, but they both were taking a variety of natural tonics that would reduce fertility, and they never risked it when Hermione was ovulating.
Hands shaking she pulled a box from the shelf and paid at the counter. Ten minutes later her nausea had returned and her heart was pounding. The test had read positive.
Hermione was pregnant.
Coming up in Till Death Do Us Part
She felt the heavy weight of the magic, one vial in each hand. She had taken the potions from their hiding spot almost every day since she had completed them. Not once had she doubted that her potions would be successful in breaking their Matrimonial Vow.