Chapter 26
Hermione was exhausted; she had six essays that she had just been assigned, homework, and her additional readings that she did each night to stay ahead on her plate. And if that wasn't bad enough then she still had to look over essays for a few others in her class who had begged her to proof read theirs to ensure that they would not lose any points over anything that was deemed incorrect by their professors. She was also tutoring a few of the younger years who needed help in various subjects and had professors who recommended her to them.
To say she needed a break would be an understatement. She was so tired that it seemed that she barely had a moment to herself any longer. She didn't have any time to do anything other than study, despite what she preferred. If it were up to her, she gladly would spend all her free time with Draco, just relaxing in his arms as the two talked about anything other than what else should be included in their essays.
It seemed as if their Professors seemed to have the same ideas about her that NEWTs were coming up next year, and their year was nowhere near as prepared as they needed to be in order to do well in the subject. So each of them were piling on homework and readings onto their increasingly growing pile of work to do. And even for her, who tried to stay at least months ahead in any given subject was having issues with it all.
So she sacrificed her sleep, trying to ensure that everything she had to do was done properly, and well enough to get her O's. Because anything less was unacceptable to her, and because of her reputation, to her Professors as well.
She was wearing herself out thin, and she knew it. She needed a break, or she would snap, and the last thing she wanted to be doing was helping anyone else with their homework. Reading over sure, but she was far too exhausted to be doing homework for anyone other than herself. Not when she already had far too much to do that she thought she might collapse from stress.
Thankfully for her, Harry seemed to understand, and would only ask her about whether he was on the right track while writing his essays, or would ask her to look them over when he was done for spelling errors. And for that, she was grateful to him, for seemingly understanding that she was too thinly spread to be offering any more help than that at the moment.
Ron, however, seemed to have his head so far up his arse as usual, and seemed annoyed at her when she suggested that she was far too busy to give him all the answers to the homework and then show him her essays as a starting point so that he could use it as a template. They were in sixth year, for Merlin's sake! Home much longer did he expect her to do his homework for her.
"I'm sorry, Ron," she said again firmly, "I really don't have the time to be helping you out right now. I'm far too busy."
"You've always had time to do so in the past," he argued back, as he towered over her. They were currently in the common room, and she had been on her way to the library to pick up some books for her Herbology essay before Ron had all but cornered her, insisting that she assist him with his, as he hadn't started the Transfiguration essay of three feet that was due tomorrow. "What changed, Hermione? Why are you acting like this! I thought I was your friend!"
"You are!" she said exasperatedly, as she looked over at Harry, "I just don't really have time right now; I have three tutoring sessions today, have to look over Ernie and Hannah's paper, and do the homework that Professor Flitwick assigned today. I really don't have time right now, I'm sorry."
"So all those people are far more important than me?" Ron said, looking hurt.
"Ron you know it's not like that," Harry reasoned with him, "Mate, look, I'm nearly done mine, but I can bounce ideas off you for yours. Hermione has so much that she needs to do right now, it's not really fair of us to ask her to all but do our essays for us."
She smiled gratefully at her friend.
"But it's not about that!" Ron insisted, "Do you think that I haven't noticed that she's been avoiding me more than usual? When was the last time she spent more than a few hours with us? Ever since I got together with Lavender, Hermione can't stand to be around me. Clearly she's jealous of the fact that I finally have someone while she doesn't."
She felt anger begin to surge through her, "I haven't been avoiding you, Ronald, but you're making me want to. I don't give a rat's arse about your relationship. I'm happy for you, but I honestly haven't even thought about it. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't slept properly in the last month because of all the work we have to do. I've been staying up late each night, studying, practicing, writing essays, and doing all I used to do during the day, because it seems that during the days my time has been completely taken up by others who need something. So no, I am not avoiding you. I don't even have time to think about your relationship."
"You're just jealous that I'm not with you," Ron seethed, ignoring her speech.
She rolled her eyes, and an incredulous laugh escaped from her. "I don't want anything to do with you," she said firmly, "You're my friend, Ronald, and nothing more. And honestly, at this moment, I'm starting to doubt even that. A true friend would not be asking me to stretch myself out thinner at this moment. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to the library. Good luck on your essay."
And with that she turned, leaving the room and a stunned common room behind.
When she awoke, she was back in the cottage, and Hermione immediately felt a sense of dread fill her thoroughly. How could she be back here? She had escaped, she remembered it! She had been safe, with Draco and her daughter. She couldn't be back here, it wasn't possible.
But the walls of the room stood firmly around her, insistent that she was indeed back, held hostage.
"Good, you're awake," she heard a cold voice and looked up to see Lucius standing above her. "I was nearly worried for a moment that we had pushed you too far. It seems that mudbloods are far more resilient than I believed. Which means you can handle far more than that."
She felt the cold ground under her, as she braced herself, knowing fully well what was coming.
"Crucio!" Lucius said with a twisted grin, "Did you really think that you could be good enough for my son, mudblood? That blood status didn't matter after the war, and that you could live some sort of happy ever after now that you found each other? After you've sullied yourself with that blood traitor Weasley? You are not good enough for my family; not then, and certainly not now. Nothing has changed since the war. And it's only really a matter of time before my son wakes up and sees you for who you really are. A filthy mudblood with no place in our society."
She heard a woman's cold laugh fill the room and looked up in horror as she saw Bellatrix standing in front of me.
Bellatrix frowned, "Why aren't you pleased to see me, Mudblood? It was you who brought me back from the dead after all. I suppose I ought to thank you for that, for without your filthy blood being sacrificed, I still would be gone from this world. You did save me after all."
Her face twisted into a sick grin, and Hermione felt her heart clench in fear, "And I have just the way to thank you for your sacrifice."
She pulled her knife out of her robe and dangled it in front of Hermione. "Do you remember this blade? How beautifully it carved you up last time, and marred your skin? How beautifully it branded you?"
She whimpered as Bellatrix held the knife down, and it moved, beginning to cut her skin. She screamed out loud, as the pain filled her body, and she began to bleed.
"No!" she screamed out loud, "Please no!"
The words began to fill her skin: filth, dirty, whore.
She cried out, tears blurring her vision as she could no longer see clearly. "Please stop! Please, I'm sorry. Please."
Bellatrix's laughs filled the room. "I think you've been marred enough," she laughed, "Oh how I cannot wait for my dear nephew to see your body like this." The knife moved to her throat, and began to cut.
Hermione awoke with a scream, tears filling her face as she grabbed at her neck, trying to feel the place where she had been cut by Bellatrix.
"Hermione?" she heard Draco ask, sounding worried as he sat up on the chair beside her, "What happened are you okay?"
Her heart was still racing slightly as she tried to place her surroundings, breathing in deeply. She was in the hospital room still. She could see the look of worry on Draco's face as he moved to sit on the bed beside her, placing a comforting arm around her.
"I had a nightmare," she said, trembling slightly, as she leaned into Draco's arms, "I was back at the cottage with Lucius," she said, and Draco tensed at the mention of his father's name, "Bellatrix was there as well, and the two of them were hurting me. She used that blade again, and cut other words onto my skin."
"I'm sorry," he murmured, rubbing her back. "You're safe now, Hermione. Bellatrix is still dead, and Lucius is going to be locked up for a long time, if not the rest of his life for what he's done to you and the rest of the world. Neither of them will be able to hurt you anymore. My family won't be able to hurt you anymore."
She looked up and saw the look of shame on his face as he looked down.
"Hey," she said softly, "You know I don't blame you, right? Even if it weren't for my relationship with you, I'm sure Lucius and Rodolphus would have found some other sick reason or the other to use me as the sacrifice. It wasn't your fault, Draco. You being with me wasn't the sole reason they did what they did."
"I should have been able to protect you from my family," he said looking frustrated, "I failed you then, and I failed you now."
"You saved me," she said softly, "Back then if you tried anything when Bellatrix was torturing me, you would have died. But you saved me the only way you could; by calling Dobby. And now, the only thing that gave me hope was knowing that you were looking for me. You and Rose gave me the strength to survive, and come home, because without you, I wouldn't be able to live. I love you, Draco Malfoy."
"I love you too, Hermione Granger," he murmured softly, as he pulled her tightly against his body. "I'll stay with you every night, if I have to. I don't want you to be alone if you have nightmares."
"Are you asking me to move in with you?" she teased, "Or are you going to stay at Harry's place with Rose and I?"
He laughed, "While I'm sure Harry would love that, I'd rather you stay at my flat with me; you and Rose are family to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But if you think it's too soon, you don't need to yet. We can work our way to that."
She shook her head, "No," she said softly, "I loved you back in school, and I love you now. You're it for me, Draco, and you're all I want for the rest of my life. And I know Rose loves you too, and would love to move in with you as well. You did say we're family after all."
He pressed his lips against her, pulling her into his arms further, and she melted into him. It would probably take a while for her scars after the war to fully heal, but she had Draco by her side, and she knew that it would eventually be okay.
Hermione sat up in her hospital bed; Rose had been staying with Ginny and Harry while she recuperated. She knew she would be released in a few days, and while she wanted to argue with the Healers, she knew she needed to stay. Her body was still weak from the torture, and if she left now, she probably would end up spending most of her time in her bed anyways.
Draco had gotten a leave from work, and stayed with her. She loved him for it, the way he was so attentive to her needs, and made sure she was doing okay. He loved her, and she knew that while she had assured him that she didn't blame him for any part of it, he still felt upset that his father had done what he had to her. And from what he told her, Lucius hadn't been too kind to him when Draco had gone to bring him in. It broke her heart that Lucius couldn't see his son for the magnificent man he had come to bed a
She heard a knock at the hospital door and frowned; the healers usually bustled in and out, Harry was occupied with work, and Ginny was taking Rose and James to visit with Molly, so Hermione wasn't really expecting anyone to drop by.
A frown filled her face, as she saw Ron enter the room, and Draco immediately tensed up at his presence. He had a bunch of flowers in his hand, nicer than anything he had ever given her while they were married.
"I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now," he started, "But I was hoping to talk to you for a moment."
"I'm not leaving, Weasley," Draco sneered, "She's gone through a lot and she doesn't need you making her life uncomfortable right now."
"You don't need to," Ron said, and Hermione blinked in confusion. "I owe you an apology, Malfoy, for what I said."
"What did you want to talk about?" Hermione asked, pausing momentarily, deciding to give her ex-husband the benefit of doubt.
"I'm sorry," he said, looking down, "For everything, Hermione. For how I treated you during our marriage, for being an alcoholic, for the cheating, for endangering Rose, for all of it. I didn't know how to move on from the war; the losses left me numb, and I didn't know how to move on and live a normal life. It's not an excuse for what I did. I could have gone to mind healing, or tried to talk to you, or do so many other things differently. But instead I turned to firewhisky to solve my problems. You and Harry made it look so easy, moving on and living your lives, but I felt trapped. I was controlling and abusive to you, and honestly I'm so thankful you haven't hexed me yet, because I certainly would deserve it if you did."
"It doesn't change things, Ron," she said softly, "You still did those things to me, and to Rose."
"I know," he nodded, "When you were kidnapped, I was so worried, Hermione. Because if something happened to you, I would be the only biological parent left that she had, and Merlin knows I was never the good parent. I was terrible to you, but the truth was that you were a much better parent than I ever could hope to be. I just wanted to let you know that I won't cause any more trouble for you. I'm happy that you're with Malfoy, because you seem happier than you've been in a long time, and you deserve that much. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to start attending mind healing sessions, and give up drinking. I want to be better. And maybe if I do, you'll allow me to be a part of Rose's life. I don't intend on challenging the custody agreement, but I want her to at least know who I am. But if you decide not to let me, I will not blame you for that."
"I'll need to think about it," she said softly, looking at the man in front of her. He had hurt her so many times before, controlled her, and demeaned her. But he appeared to be sincere in wanting to change. And Rose was still his daughter, despite everything.
She supposed only time would tell.
Astoria adjusted the robes that she had stolen from one of the mediwitch's station, before swallowing the vial of polyjuice potion. It would do her no good to get recognized now, not when she was so close to fulfilling her mission.
She grinned at her reflection, not recognizing the woman in the mirror in front of her.
She reached into her robes and pulled out the vial of the potion she had picked up from Knockturn Alley. All she needed to do now was get Hermione Granger to drink it, and Draco would finally be hers.
She put the vial back into her robes before leaving the room and walking down of St Mungos, swaying her hips as she walked.
It was only a matter of time now before everything she wanted was finally hers.