Masquerade Act Three: The Veneer of Thalia and Melpomene
The Twenty Seventh Dance: Hog's Head on Your Head
A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Charles Spurgeon
Hermione pulled down the wide brimmed witch's hat over her head, feeling a bit self conscious that people could sense who she was even under her magicked disguise. She held one hand over the pocket of her borrowed black robes where Ginny's wand was stashed. She promised she would give it back once she was done with this. And that she would apologize to her friend too. It was quite rude what she had done...but it needed to be done. Or otherwise Dorian would have never shut up.
"Ah, am I really that annoying?" Dorian said with a fake pout.
"Yes," Hermione hissed out under her breath as she made her way quickly down Diagon Alley. Right now she was magicked to look like an older more stout witch with a scar running down her nose. Hopefully the disguise would hold until she could apprehend Bellatrix. "And I still can't believe I actually listened to you and left the hospital. For all I know you're making up this nonsense about her even being at the Hog's Head."
A passing by witch gave Hermione an old look when she saw the girl was talking to herself. This made Hermione clamp her lips shut and walk a bit faster.
"It could be all a lie, you never know. Or it could not. You won't know for certain until you see for yourself."
The voice's words weren't very reassuring. So Hermione resigned herself to completing this harebrained scheme and hoping she wouldn't get in trouble after she came back. No doubt the hospital was fed up with her escaping. She'd already done it once before, although technically it wasn't her.
The Hog's Head came up on her left. It was a dingy little bar/inn, the sign above it so faded it was hard to tell it was a picture of a decapitated hog's head. It looked much like a stain now.
She pushed the door open, and it creaked loudly in the quiet of the bar/inn. It was mainly empty with scattered patrons sitting at dirty tables, nursing some coffee and cold breakfast as they read the news. No one was really talking.
Hermione casually walked in, sitting down at the bar where a bar tender was wiping down some plates with a dirty rag. He saw her come in and went up to her reluctantly, as if he'd rather clean plates than talk to her.
"What'll it be?" he asked not at all kindly.
Hermione was about to order a coffee when she realized she didn't exactly have any money on her since she'd just left the hospital. And there was no way she was going to steal some from someone. "Uh, I'll just read the paper," she hastily scrambled to answer. She knew all bars and inns provided free papers to read. He snorted at her, clearly displeased she had wasted his time if she wasn't going to buy anything, and reached under the counter before tossing her a paper. She took it and spread it open. As she 'read it' she kept shifting her gaze to take in the customers sitting here. None of them clearly looked to be like the older woman that Hermione was hunting down. So that meant either she was upstairs, using a disguise like Hermione, or simply not here in the first place and Hermione had trekked out of the hospital for no reason.
"The second one. The second one is correct," Dorian said with excitement.
How can you be so sure? I'm just making you up, aren't I?
"Trust me on this. She's here. In fact, she's sitting at that table in the back. The one next to the bathroom."
At his words Hermione shifted her eyes to that spot. There sat an elderly woman with a coffee in one hand and a paper in the other. She was sitting calmly. Too calmly for someone on the run. Are you sure that's her?
"Go up and check for yourself, if you don't trust me," was the taunt.
I will not go terrorizing an elderly woman on random. I have to make sure it's her. Besides, I cannot just stride over there if it's really her. She'll run. I don't want to start a scene because then I'll get in trouble too.
"A risk you'll have to take. Are you a Gryffindor or not?" He egged her on which made her irritated. Why did no one think she was a true Gryffindor? Was it because she was a bookworm?
Hermione let out a huff. It looked like she would have to do this. Or else Dorian would start ranting over and over in her head and not give her any rest.
Setting her newspaper down she made way over to the women's restroom, making sure to avoid eye contact with the woman but noting her position. Her front was facing the wall where the bathroom was. Formulating a plan in her mind already, Hermione walked into the dingy and smelly bathroom and quickly locked the door behind her. It could very easily be unlocked with anyone with a wand but she didn't dare waste time on casting a longer and more complicated spell. By the time she finished then Bellatrix could be moving on, if it was even her in the first place.
Calculating where the other was sitting, Hermione cast a silencing spell on the wall of the bathroom before she cast a breaking charm that began to peel away the tiles on the wall as it made a hole to the other side. She only hoped the other wouldn't notice before she could get the hole wide enough to fire a stupefy spell through it.
She could make out an end now and twirling her wand tip around she managed to make it a bit bigger. Putting her eye up to it, she saw that the older woman wasn't there. Had she moved? Gotten up for something? Left? But her coffee and paper were still there. And then an eye met her's, scaring her so badly that she jerked up and gasped loudly as she took a step back.
The woman had noticed! Would she run away now? But before Hermione could so much as lift her wand to cast a spell the other had pulled her eye away and now her wand tip was in it's place. The knockout spell hit Hermione hard and she ended up on the floor of the bathroom.
When Hermione came to ten minutes later, she found her disguise spell had ended. Thankfully, no one had come into the bathroom during the time she was out, meaning no one had discovered her yet.
"Ugh, how did she know?" Hermione grumbled out after reinstating her disguise and leaving the bathroom. The table the older woman had sat at was deserted. "No doubt she's gone now, running off somewhere else and I don't know where."
"She hasn't gone far. She's actually just in a bookstore down the corner. She thought you'd expect that she would be off far away, but she's waiting for you to scan the area, so she can then leave and go back to her room in the Hog's Head."
"I suppose I can wait for her in her room then, after I make a big show of walking around the area and looking for her," Hermione brainstormed. "But no doubt she put up wards on it. And I don't even know which room she's in..." Hermione bit the skin on her thumb.
"I think a little distraction spell could help you..." Dorian suggested as Hermione's eyes fell on a little book by the register. It contained all the rooms that had been rented out.
I don't know what name she's registered under.
"She didn't come here a long time ago. Look for names that are very recent and then check out all those rooms."
"Good idea." Hermione couldn't believe she was complementing a voice in her head but she felt more incentivized than before to get Bellatrix. The woman had given her the slip! But how? There was no way the other could have known what Hermione was up to.
Does she know it's me looking for her?
"No. Not yet. She probably thinks you're an auror or something."
That wasn't a very reassuring thought but it made Hermione feel a bit better that Bellatrix wasn't using lethal spells to combat her foes.
Hermione then left the inn and made sure to take her time passing by the bookstore Bellatrix was supposedly hidden in. She couldn't see the witch through any of the store front windows as she passed but figured the witch was in some way tracking her progress as she walked past. Hermione made her way up and down the street twice before she returned to the Hog's Head, where the bar tender made a face at her as if to say, again? Clearly he was not happy with her being here.
Hermione casually approached the bar stool, plopping down by where the book was. The bar tender gave her an odd look and she nonchalantly tried to wipe away any remaining traces of dirt that she may have occurred from lying on the floor of the bathroom. She pulled the paper she had been reading before over to her side and spread it open once more, trying to be engrossed in it, but in actuality trying to spot a good time to make a distraction. As the man was wiping down some more plates, Hermione sneaked out her wand and cast a clumsiness jinx on the man. She didn't have to wait long for it become effective-the plate slipped from the man's hands and he cursed as it shattered on the floor. He bent down to clean it up and in this time, Hermione snatched the book up and casually walked up the stairs to the second floor as his back was turned to her.
The inn only had two floors of rooms, and it helped that not many people stayed here. The book had only a couple names in it for the past two days. The girl began walking down the corridors, stopping by the first door on her list. Since Bellatrix wasn't there, Hermione would walk in. But she had to be careful. She could have put wards up.
Unlocking the door to the first room, she cracked it open carefully, only to quickly shut it as the woman inside screamed in surprise at seeing her.
"Sorry!" Hermione apologized as the woman continued to rant angrily through the door at Hermione for disturbing her while she was undressing.
That certainly wasn't the right room. Maybe there would be an easier way to do this rather than walk into each room and risk upsetting people.
"Deprehensio," Hermione whispered, waving her wand in order to cast the detection spell. It should help her determine which room had the most ward's on it and thus that one would more than likely be Bellatrix's room. A small string of yellow light trailed out of Hermione's wand. The girl followed it down the hall and to the right where it tapered off at one of the doors. Double checking with the book to see if this room was on the list there, Hermione was glad to see it was, rented out to a woman by the name of Laina White. Hermione then canceled the spell and began to wave her wand in the air, determining which types of wards were in place and how to crack them so she could get in. It wasn't easy work, some of the wards proving to be complex and time consuming to figure out. Part of it might have to do with Hermione using Ginny's wand instead of her own. Putting them back up again later was going to be much easier.
She was worried that at any moment the other witch might stride in or someone else would notice her. But once the final ward fell, Hermione was able to enter the room. She found it was empty with little to no personal belongings. There was no way to identify if this room was indeed Bellatrix's for certain but Hermione guessed she would have to wait and see.
Hermione angrily pulled some stray twigs from her hair as she left the forest in a huff. A week had passed since she had first set out to hunt down Bellatrix before her friends could get to her, but she hadn't had any luck in finding her, only the worst luck. Every time she was close to capturing her she would always give Hermione the slip. It was like she knew what Hermione was going to do at the last minute and then get away. Back at the Hog's Head, Bellatrix had gone back up to her room, standing right outside the door, but seemed to sense something was off because she swiftly departed after that and when Hermione had run out to stop her she was already gone.
Hermione wasn't one to give up and Dorian kept giving her clues as to where to find the woman. Hermione didn't know how he always knew where she was, but he did. However, before Hermione had left to go track her down into another wizarding town, she had taken out some money. She figured she would need it. And she was right. The hunt for Bellatrix had taken a long time, and sent Hermione through two towns and three forests. Right now she had almost caught up with the woman. Bellatrix had been camping out at a log cabin protected by a strong protective charm which meant it was impossible for Hermione to get into, even after she had discovered it. But what if Hermione smoked her out? The house was protected against entry from her but not inanimate objects.
And she had proceeded to throw timed magical smoke bombs in through the window that would explode. But Bellatrix had fled through the back door. Hermione figured this would happen and had laid some well placed tripping jinxes around the house perimeters.
Bellatrix had gotten caught in a particularly nasty one and went down hard, splitting her chin on it.
"Will you stop hounding me?" she had roared out angrily as she had risen to her feet and aimed a spell at Hermione's head, the brunette having drawn nearer to her so as to apprehend her.
"I told you, I won't! We need to resolve this issue that has befallen us!" Hermione shouted back, hiding behind a tree as jinxes and hexes were thrown right at her. They singed the bark as they flew by.
"We? There is no such thing as that! We got our bodies, we did what we had to do, and that is all. Stop following me around. I'm not your friend!" Bellatrix's words were sharp and they hurt Hermione. Why was the witch opposed to trying to work with Hermione in making her a better person?
Hermione threw a stunner at Bellatrix, the spell missing the other's head by an inch. "Running away like a child from your problems will do no good. If you don't prove to the public you've given up your evil ways then you will continue to be hunted down for the rest of your life! And that's not a proper future for anyone!"
"You don't get to tell me how to live my life, you snot nosed brat! I've lived ten of the lifetimes you have!"
"Yea, well, you're a stubborn bitch that doesn't know when to give up!" Hermione shot back. She could say mean things if she wanted to as well. Although, if she had to admit to herself, she wasn't too good at flinging out hurtful phrases. There was a huge explosion as the older witch threw an exploding spell that threw Hermione to her knees as the tree protecting her shuddered violently. Leaves and twigs cascaded down on her as her ears rang from the loud noise. She stumbled deaf to her feet, and cursed her ringing ears. She couldn't hear what the other was saying, or hear where she was moving to.
Cautiously Hermione peaked her head out and saw that the patch of tall grass where Bellatrix had been crouched down as she shot off hex after hex was empty. Hermione slowly reeled back into her hiding place, and felt the slender tip of a wand pointed at between her shoulder blades. She didn't have a chance to ask Bellatrix to talk before the stupefy spell hit her and she collapsed on the ground.
So now, after waking up, forest litter sticking to her clothes and back sore where she had been hit, Hermione made her way out of the forest. She knew she couldn't keep this up. She needed to contact her friends. Only then would she be able to apprehend the witch.
They of course had been angry but relieved to receive her owl and agreed to meet her at a small muggle cafe, this way they would be free from wizards and witches prying ears and eyes.
"Hermione, what in the bloody hell where you thinking?" Ron bellowed angrily as he sat down in front of her, casting a quick privacy spell to ensure their conversation would not be overheard.
Hermione winced at his tone of voice but couldn't find a way to get a word in edgewise as he ranted on. "We were worried for you! You knock out Ginny, steal her wand, and then disappear to do who knows what. And then we get your letter that you're going after Bellatrix. Bellatrix by yourself! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!"
"Yes, Ron I-"
"What had even gotten into you? Did you not think me and Harry capable enough to handle her by ourselves?"
"No, Ron, I-"
"You were never like this! You were always the smart one. You never would have gone after her by yourself. And especially since you just recovered from a spell she put on you. After she hurt you once more."
His face was beginning to match his hair but Hermione knew she deserved this chewing out so she sat there and took it, her hands clutching the cup of warm tea in her hands.
"Ron, I think that's enough," Ginny said sternly, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder as she noted the defeated look on the brunette's face. The female red head was sitting to Hermione's right, Harry on Hermione's left. "She gets the message."
Ron looked like he wanted to yell at her some more but worked his jaw. "I was worried, is all," he said finally, giving it a rest.
"I know. And I shouldn't have done it," Hermione said as she looked down into her cup in shame. But the voice in my head told me to, went unspoken by her. She didn't want to tell them that right now.
"It's alright. We're just happy you aren't hurt," Ginny smiled at Hermione who felt that of all people she should be the one most upset and least forgiving.
"I'm sorry for stealing your wand. And for knocking you out," she told Ginny who shook her head at this apology.
"Honestly Hermione, why did you do that? I'm not mad or anything, if you can tell me why."
"I wanted to catch her. We're bound by the soul spell, so if someone casts a killing curse on her then I'll die too. And I want to prevent that. She's a wanted Death Eater. People have it out for her."
"We know Hermione. That is why we were out there trying to find her," Harry said.
"Yes, but you want to throw her into Azkaban. What then? What if she dies there?" Hermione pointed out.
"Natural causes of death won't have an impact. Only murder with intent," Harry hurried to reassure her.
"As far as we know. Which isn't much. Bellatrix knows the secrets to the spell. More than any of us or the healers do."
"Narcissa also knows, and she's less dangerous," Ginny pointed out, her hand still on Ron's shoulder, squeezing it to help him calm down. The boy was still angry and had his hand in his chin, eyes diverted to look out the cafe window.
His dismissal hurt Hermione, but not as much as she thought it would, or as much as it would have in the past.
"But she won't tell us. Molly has already tried with no results," Hermione pointed out. "So I'm not going to wait around. And since I can't do this by myself, I would like to ask your help. Please."
"You know you can count on me. I won't let you do this by yourself," Harry said without hesitation.
"And me too."
"No, Ginny, you're not a trained auror. You can't go after her. What would Molly say if I let you go willingly after Bellatrix?" Harry countered.
"I'm not some little girl Harry. I can handle myself. And I already became a part of this when Hermione stole my wand from me."
"Here it is, by the way," Hermione remembered to hand the wand over. Ginny took it, smiling at the girl before her stern expression came back as she stared Harry down.
The man let out a resigned sigh. He was weak to Ginny's demands. "Fine. You can come along. But not a word of where you will be to your mum. Or else I'm sending you back."
"What am I? A little girl? Mum won't know and I won't be going back to her anytime soon until this is finished," Ginny insisted, a touch disgruntled at Harry's babying of her.
"Ron's coming too," Harry spoke for the ginger who still wasn't talking. "You know he is." The brown haired boy shot Hermione a reassuring look. "I also brought your wand with me." He reached into his pockets and pulled out the vine wood wand. Hermione gratefully took it and pocketed it. "We can't let you go unarmed and this wand should work better than Ginny's."
"Are we all agreed to go then?" Hermione asked, a touch impatient. She wanted to recover Bellatrix as quickly as possible. Every moment wasted was another moment Hermione's life was on the line unnecessarily.
"And do you even know where she is?" Harry asked.
"Yes. I do. How do you think I've been tracking her down all this time?"
"How exactly?" Ginny asked with genuine curiosity.
Hermione couldn't say the truth out loud or risk looking crazy in front of the others and so she gave a half truth. "I'm sort of...connected to her I guess because of the soul spell. Thus I know the locations she's at. I have a general feel for them."
Ron snorted skeptically at this but she ignored it.
"Is it accurate?"
"As accurate as it can get Ginny. And way better than randomly moving around the countryside trying to guess where she is," Hermione kept her voice even, irritated that her friends couldn't even trust her with this one thing. Was it because she had run away from them? "Right now she's on the move between cities." This wasn't necessarily the most up to date information but all she had heard from Dorian since his voice went vacant from her inner mind about two hours ago. It felt weird not having him there. For the past week she had been used to hearing it in her head. A constant companion that criticized her mistakes, gave her suggestions, and that laughed at her failures, and told her fairly amusing stories of things he had done.
"Then let's map out the location for sure and go there," Harry suggested as he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.
It was tricky, but after planning and waiting, the quartet managed to capture Bellatrix that same day. There had been a fight of course. The witch gave it her all when they surrounded her. It caused quite a scene but nothing a couple of memory charms couldn't fix on those who had witnessed it. Now she was magically bound, unconscious, and propped up in a chair in the dining room of the hotel they had retired to. They would be apparating out of here as soon as Harry managed to unhex all the hexes that Bellatrix had thrown at Ginny, making her hair blue, turning her freckles into moles and causing her face to become slightly furry and weasel like. The two were in the bathroom while Hermione and Ron were sitting in the dining room, slightly awkwardly due to the sore feelings between the two of them before.
"Uh, sorry about...being so mean..." Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably as he apologized after what seemed like an eternity of them sitting in silence and avoiding each others eyes. "I was just really worried about you."
"No, it's fine," Hermione said quietly. She was happy that they had finally managed to catch the older witch and right now her thoughts were occupied with trying to formulate a way to explain to her friends that her and Bellatrix's memories had some merit, that there had to be some explanation to them. For some small part in her held hope that she hadn't actually imagined all this.
"Still trying to prove that?" Dorian tsked, as he made a reappearance. He had been strangely quiet during the battle.
Of course I am. I have to try. And if it turns out that that hope is unfounded then I shall have to find out a way to cope with...this, whatever this is. Hermione's hands curled in on themselves and she looked down on them.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked with concern and she almost didn't hear him but gave him an answering smile in return. Then she turned her gaze over to Bellatrix. The witch looked peaceful in slumber. After all the time they had spent together, Hermione had never seen the woman sleep. She was always awake or off doing something else, all energy and no rest.
Ron followed her line of sight and thought she was worried. "She won't wake up for a bit. We sent a somnum spell at her. It'll hold her for longer than a stupefy."
"Right." Ron had mistaken her absent staring for worry. She wasn't worried. She knew the witch wouldn't wake up until they were back. Right now she was trying to figure out how the witch had been able to evade her. Hermione had always been in disguise except for this last battle. Somewhere along the way Bellatrix had figured out that it was Hermione after her and not some auror. It was like as if Bellatrix could read Hermione's mind...wait, could she technically? What if the half truth that Hermione had given her friends before was in fact a real truth? That in a sense the both of them could detect one another without the other knowing?
"A good guess but no. What makes you think you were the only one I was communicating to?" Dorian poised smugly. This stumped Hermione for a couple of seconds as the cogs in her brain came to an unsavory conclusion, one that she couldn't help but announce out loud.
"You were the one who told her all my plans?!" Hermione cried out, jumping out of her chair and startling Ron by her sudden movements and the volume of her voice.
"Technically, I am also a voice in her head, so why shouldn't I speak to her..." Dorian trailed off and the implication was clear. Hermione couldn't believe she hadn't realized that if Dorian was talking to her, then he could on some level talk to Bellatrix too. What a traitor!
"I can't believe you. All this time you sent me on a wild goose chase, having all my plans fail because you bloody told her everything in the end! Why would you do that?"
"Uh, Hermione?" Ron questioned uncertainly as he watched the girl seemingly rant to herself, waving her arms around and eyes trained on the middle of the room.
She went on, not waiting for Dorian to answer. "All this time I thought you were helping me!"
Was Hermione angry at him? Ron couldn't tell. He was confused.
Dorian only answered her anger with hearty laughter. "My dear, I do what I please. You should never think of me as your friend." And with that he was gone.
"I can't believe him. That pompous jerk!" Hermione let out a calming breath to try to remove the tension from her body and then with cold dread she realized that Ron was in the room with her. She met his wide eyed gaze, her mouth dry. Right, he had just seen her talking to herself. How was she going to get out of this?
"Uh, that was just-" as her brain fumbled to come up with some sort of explanation to give him, Ginny and Harry left the bathroom.
"We're done. We can take her back," Ginny said. She looked noticeably more like herself.
"Yes, let's hurry," Hermione was glad for the chance to escape. She sidled over to where Harry and Ginny had picked up Bellatrix by the arm each, her head lolling comically. Ron also joined them but he seemed to be a tad wary of Hermione and didn't stand too close to her.
"And Kingsley and McGonagall will be there too?" Hermione wanted to make sure. She had told her friends that she had something she needed to prove to them about the spell and she needed the headmistress and Kingsley to be present. Thus, they were taking Bellatrix to Hogwarts with them to meet them.
"Yes. They received the owl we sent them and are on their way there," Harry affirmed. Then they all apparated.
Their arrival surprised the headmistress who had just sat down with a cup of hot tea. Half of the liquid spilled onto her mahogany desk and pulling out her wand she siphoned the liquid away as she greeted them. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasely and Miss Granger. I see you've brought Bellatrix with you. I'm glad to see she has finally been apprehended. But I don't see why you wanted her to be here."
"It's because I figured this soul spell bond would be interesting to investigate further," Hermione stated as Harry and Ginny plopped Bellatrix down in a chair, taking up guard by her, one at each arm.
"Did she impart some truths on the spell to you?" the headmistress asked, lifting up the rest of her tea and taking a sip of it. A crack announced the arrival of a house elf carrying a tray with enough tea cups for all of them. Ron and Hermione took them gratefully but Harry and Ginny declined as they needed their hands to be free so as in case the witch woke up. They had taken her wand away as a a safety precaution but given how she had managed to sneak out from a warded room complete with guards while wandless, they had to be alert at all times.
"No, but I think that if we could use the pensieve then everything will become apparent."
"The pensieve?" McGonagall echoed.
"Yes," Hermione nodded her head curtly. "Of course, I'll explain everything after the minister arrives. And we will need Bellatrix awake for this so she can take part in it as well."
"What do we need her for?" Ginny asked, a touch surprised by what Hermione had said. The brunette hadn't mentioned this before.
"We need her memories for this too."
"Do you think she'll just give us her memories willing?" Kingsely asked as he apparated into the room. This startled all of the guests in the room and this time it was Ron who spilled his tea all over his shirt front. Hermione took out her wand and deftly cleaned it up for him while she talked to the minister.
"She won't. Which will be problematic. But I think even my own memories should be fine to show you what it is that happened to me two weeks ago." Hermione realized the complications of getting memories from Bellatrix and opted for dropping that idea quickly.
"What happened to you two weeks ago?" Harry queried. "Is it something we don't know about?"
Hermione ignored his question, moving on to the topic at hand. "Headmistress and Minister of Magic, let me ask you, what occurred during the past two weeks? Give me a recollection of the events that took place."
The two of them seemed a bit taken back by this but after exchanging looks with one another they answered. McGonagall had spent her two weeks giving detention to misbehaving students and on attending teacher meetings. Kingsley likewise had spent a lot of time in meetings with officials and correcting mistakes his subordinates made. "Surely you did not make me cancel a meeting with the French official just to ask me what I did during my past two weeks," Kingsley said with a touch of irritation.
Hermione shook her head. "No, I was merely letting you two recount your week. Because Ginny, Ron, and Harry had the same calm period of two weeks. However, I experienced something else. And now, headmistress if you would let me have the pensieve." Hermione indicated for the older woman to fetch it for her and she did, opening up a cabinet and putting the bowl of gray liquid out on her desk.
"Allow me to show you," Hermione said to the room. Everyone was quiet, waiting with baited breath as to what she was going to show them. Sticking her wand to her temple, she concentrated on some choice memories before dropping them into the bowl. Where the liquid had been solid gray before, now it sparkled.
"Who would like to go first?" She asked as she moved away. Everyone looked uncertainly at one another before the minister of magic stepped closer to the bowl. "I shall go. I have meetings after this, and I need to attend them so I hope you will not mind if I try to speed things up a bit."
Then he stuck his face in.
He seemed to be there for a while and Hermione could feel her palms sweating. She was worried. What would he say upon seeing these memories? Would he laugh at her? Discredit her? The waiting was killing her nerves, the silence in the room stretching out. Finally he took his face out. It looked pale, like he had just seen a ghost.
"Hermione, those-those images-"
"I will explain everything just let everyone have a chance to see for themselves first," Hermione stated.
The man nodded his head. "Of course, that makes sense."
"I wanna go next," Ginny shouldered her way over to the bowl. She looked intrigued while her brother looked super pale, a sheen of sweat on his face. Ron was worried what was in the bowl. Would he see something terrible that he didn't want to?
Ginny stuck her head in the bowl, resurfacing with a gasp when she finished. "Hermione, what the bloody hell was all that-?"
"I promise everyone will get an explanation once everyone sees what's inside," Hermione promised.
Harry's turn was next, followed by McGonagall and lastly Ron who looked like he really didn't want to go in. Everyone had had shocked expressions upon coming out and he wondered what it could be that was freaking them out so much.
When he went in he found his answer. In it were Hermione's compiled memories of what she had experienced during her two weeks. There was planning, spying, and most importantly, battling against Voldemort. And also the body switch. He came out of the memories feeling ill. He found her eyes, trying to find comfort in them but they were hard, offering no condolences. "Everything you have seen in those memories are what I experienced during those two weeks. Bellatrix had the same experience and if she were to give up some of her memories you would see that."
"I don't understand. How is it that you saw all that and we didn't?" Ron stammered out, placing his shaking hand to his chest.
"It doesn't make any sense. Could it be a result of the spell? That would explain why the two of you experienced this and not the rest of us." Kingsley suggested. His composure had returned. "Why would anyone purposefully go out of their way to erase all of our memories?"
"I wish it could all be fake, but there would no reason for Hermione to lie. She gains nothing from doing so. If she says this is how it is, then that is the case. And that means someone didn't want us remembering this, but who and why I do not have any clue," Harry rose to the defense of his friend and Hermione blinked appreciatively at him.
"I agree with Mr. Potter. As pensieve cannot contain falsified thoughts or hallucinations. Only things that really happened. Therefore these memories have in no way been falsified. They must be real. That is alarming, as our memories are the ones that have become shams." McGonagall also stood up for Hermione.
"Additionally I have brought this with me," Hermione dug into her pocket, pulling out a small square of paper. Waving her wand she returned it to regular size to show it was a newspaper with her picture on it, posing with Harry, Ron and the minister of magic. She handed it over to the minister who frowned as he looked it over. It was dated a week back. "That was the paper that announced my return to this world. It detailed an interview that was held at the ministry headquarters which you and the two boys took part in."
"I don't remember this," the minister breathed out, becoming increasingly worried by his lack of memory.
"But it happened. The papers recorded this event happening."
"So then who erased our memories?" Ginny asked. "Why would they do that?"
"You think maybe we don't remember cause...never mind," Ron shook his head, losing his train of thought. "It was a dumb thought."
"Can we get these memories back?" Harry asked.
"Who even did this to us? Why us and not you or Bellatrix? Are they planning on trying to take down the ministry?" Kingsley voiced out and his words made everyone start thinking that their lives could be in danger.
"No, no. Calm down everyone. I have a clue as to why your memories are missing." Hermione had a feeling the judges were involved. Recently they had been involved in too much of her life. "It has to deal with the afterlife." They had an idea of her story involving that since they had seen her recount it in the pensieve. "The forces at large there must not want anyone to know about them thus they erased your memories after you finished aiding me."
All her friends looked disgruntled at hearing this news. "I cannot believe this all occurred. It is such an odd circumstance," McGonagall sighed. "I am becoming too old to be able to handle all this fast paced trouble thrown at me."
"We must talk more about this," Kingsley said as he glanced at his pocket watch. "There is more to discuss and I unfortunately must leave now."
"Yes, I'd be glad to talk to you about this, and about another matter," Hermione said as her eyes shifted over to the still sleeping form of Bellatrix. "And before you leave, I'd like to hear if you believe me or not."
She held her breath as she awaited his answer, his lips thinning as he thought of what to say. "I do...believe you to a certain extent. I am simply disgruntled and unnerved by what I have seen. So please, allow me some time to digest all this before I can say for certain that I know what you speak is the truth."
Hermione nodded her head, relieved air whooshing from between her lips. Kingsley gave her a small smile before bidding everyone goodbye and disappearing.
"I must admit I feel that same," McGonagall admitted when Hermione turned her eyes over to her. "It is a lot to take in. It makes me feel as if I've missed something, as if I am not of sound mind because I do not recall these memories-"
"Do not think that you are crazy!" Hermione rushed to reassure her favorite teacher. "I did not mean to make you think this. I simply wanted to prove to you all that there was a reason for my strange words and actions."
"Is that why you were talking to yourself?" Of course Ron had to go and blurt all of that out, and in the wrong moment.
Hermione felt her spine stiffen and she tried hard not to resent Ron for saying this now of all times. She had been so close to clearing her name. To getting her life back on track.
"Yea, I noticed it too. At the hospital..." Ginny added.
E tu, Ginny?
"That was something else. It was the last vestiges of the spell wearing off," Hermione said, hoping that would convince them.
"What last traces?" Harry asked suspiciously. Hermione had kept out the parts of her memories where she was talking to the judges because she didn't want her friends to know she could connect with them even now; didn't want to know how they still bothered her when they shouldn't be able to.
"It's complicated and I need more time before I can come to a conclusion on it," Hermione was almost pleading at this. Just please drop it, she begged internally. She didn't want them to know about how she heard the judges voices in her head. That would only lead to more problems.
Her friends looked reluctant to let the issue go, but they dropped it for now. "If you need help with it..." Ginny tapered off and Hermione smiled something she hoped didn't look too false, because there was no way in hell she was going to tell them about it.
"Did someone say hell?" Dorian chimed in and Hermione had to bit her tongue to stop her annoyed groan from coming out.
What do you want now?
"I came to warn you that you pissed Ibraham off. It seems he didn't think you could outsmart his little gift. He thought he could turn all your friends against you but he wasn't aggressive enough in the way he did it."
What are you talking about?
"Do I really have to spell it all out for you?" Dorian huffed in annoyance. But he continued on. It seemed the man loved hearing the sound of his own voice. "His gift not only prevents you from talking openly about the hotel, but at the end of it all, when Voldemort was defeated, it erased the memories of all your friends. I told him he should have given you a different gift as you were pesky and nosy and sure to find a way around it. And I was right." He sounded satisfied.
So, now what? Am I going to be punished for breaking his gift? A huge part of Hermione was relieved at this. So she wasn't crazy! It had all been a part of the judges gifts! She felt the need to sit down in a chair because her limbs were so weak with happiness that she felt she would fall down. Instead she griped the desk edge.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked as he ran up to catch her swaying figure. He needn't have worried. She recovered quickly.
"You're zoning out on us again!" Ginny announced, also rushing up to her friend's side.
"I'm fine. Just tired," Hermione insisted, waving away their helping hands.
"Unfortunately you won't be punished." At this Dorian sounded really forlorn. "But watching you fruitlessly struggle to catch Bellatrix even as I divulged your plans to her was funny!" And with a cackle he was gone.
She hoped this was the final time she would hear his infuriating voice.
"Do you want to rest? Or visit madam Pomfrey's?" McGonagall asked Hermione gently, rising up from her seat, ready to escort her there. An elf appeared to take all the empty tea cups away.
"I'm not ill. I just need a good night's rest. This affair has stressed me out greatly."
"Then let's take you back to the hospital," Harry offered. "We can let the healers check you up once more and then get you discharged," he added when he saw her open her mouth to argue against him, as she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself now.
"And what do we do with her?" Ron asked, eyeing Bellatrix's sleeping form with disgust.
"Take her back to the hospital too. I will be talking to Kingsley about the matter of her freedom."
"Her freedom?" Ron's voice and eyebrows went up. "Are you mental?"
"Did you, or did you not see her kill Voldemort with me?" Hermione couldn't help but hiss at him as she let go of the desk and strode two angry steps towards him.
"...I did," he admitted reluctantly.
"Then I don't see why you cannot give her another chance. If we reform her we can get her to help our side. She's a damn good fighter and she has a wealth of knowledge on spells we don't."
"And what makes you so certain that she can do good?" McGonagall cut in. "I trust you Hermione, and I know you are very smart for your age. But I have seen her growing up as a child. I have seen her nature. She has been vile, childish and cruel from the start. How can her simply killing Voldemort make you so sure that she is now repenting for her sins?"
This made Hermione think a little. Everyone watched her as she entered a contemplative state. When the silence stretched on, Ron said, "Well I guess that settles it. Off to Azkaban with her."
"No." Hermione's refusal was soft. "I know she...she wouldn't have been like this if not for how she was raised by her family. Back in the afterlife we didn't have our memories. And she was nice, and caring, and intelligent. Sure, she was still prickly and ornery, but she didn't carry any bigotry with herself and she didn't hesitate to jump to my defense."
Ron made a face of disgust at this, as if disbelief that Hermione could ever say such things about Bellatrix. "Did you forget that she tortured you?"
"So what!?" Hermione snapped out all of a sudden, jolting them with the sudden rise in the volume of her voice. "I tortured her too. Does that make me filth like her? Does it Ronald?"
"You didn't torture her-" Ron started weakly.
"But I did. I cast the cruciatas on her. And I cast another unforgivable, the killing curse! So what does that make me?"
"It makes you full of yourself it seems," a languid voice announced and all heads swiveled to see Bellatrix was awake, stretching her arms above her head and letting the sockets crack pleasantly. She looked much like a cat after a nap. "You've got nothing on the worst people who walk this world, girlie." Immediately everyone's hands were on their wands yet Harry was the one who cast the first spell. "Stupefy!"
Knocked out once more, the quartet of friends could relax. "We need to take her back," Harry announced. "This spell won't hold for long."
"I'm not done with this issue, you hear me?" Hermione wagged her finger at Harry's face. The brown haired boy frowned at her waving digit. He pushed it down with his hand. "Okay. Later. Not now."
"Because I know if it weren't for her pure blood status upbringing she wouldn't be like this," Hermione couldn't help from adding that in, hoping that she had managed to convince her friends and former teacher with it if even just a little bit.
"Later," Harry repeated, his tone brokering no more discussion.
"I still can't believe we're just going to take her back to the hospital," Ron grumbled under his breath.
He caught Hermione's heated glare at him and shut up before he could say anything else. Then the brunette sent a soft smile at the headmistress of Hogwarts. "It was nice to see you again professor."
"Same here," the Scottish professor affirmed as she watched her former student's leave with one of her more older former students. Her smile faded after their disappearance and she let out a heavy sigh.
What had Hermione gotten wrapped up in?