I've been on such a writing kick lately that I've been able to get out some of these chapters in the time that I have instead of leaving you guys hanging. It's nice to get feedback on how this is going, so keep it up.
Day by day, Hermione found herself growing more attached to Anonymous. It was strange how she was able to become so attached to someone that she didn't even know. Hermione was slowly becoming more dependent on her conversations with Anonymous, so much so that they were the one thing she would always look forward to whenever she woke up. Though it wasn't like they spoke at every waking moment, since Anonymous tended to reply at irregular intervals. It was a shame that there was no alert on the books whenever there was a message, since Hermione just relied on her good timing to see a response form Anonymous.
Their conversations were slowly becoming more meaningful as Anonymous began to open up more, but Hermione wasn't quite ready to take the plunge and try asking what was troubling them again. This was something that she had to take caution with, since Hermione didn't want to push them away after the progress that they had made. But that progress would soon take a halt anyways when Hermione lost herself in Ron again. Her best friend had been poisoned, so Hermione had stayed vigilantly at his bedside despite the fact that he had been such a prick to her all year. It helped that Ron had broken up with Lavender, so he no longer had her influence and their friendship was back on track again.
Although their friendship had changed in a way, since Hermione was no longer pining over Ron while his feelings had clearly changed towards her. It just annoyed Hermione how right when she decided not to waste her time on Ron, he decides to reciprocate her feelings when they were now gone. Nothing could ever be easy when it came to Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, just like how nothing was easy between her and Anonymous. So after realising that four days had passed without corresponding together, Hermione decided to initiate another conversation with them.
Hello, sorry I haven't talked much in the past few days. Things have been a bit hectic for me at the moment.
It is quite alright; I haven't had the time to sit and wallow in our own shame. And you mean write, by the way. Since we're not actually talking.
Oh, whatever. It's the same difference.
Not really, since talking is talking while writing is writing and we are writing, not talking.
Way to be specific.
I'm just saying.
So, uh… How have you been since we last 'wrote' to each other.
Pretty crap. Life couldn't get any more complicated.
There were certain times during their conversations when Hermione didn't know if she should take Anonymous seriously or if they were just being dramatic. They definitely had their dramatic moments, but considering how little Hermione knew about their life, she had to take this one seriously.
Drama?
You could say that. What about yours? You must regale me in all of your thrilling teenage angst.
Well, my teenage angst has simmered down recently. There was an… event that prompted Fabian to break up with Joy, so he and Nina are friends again. But it seems now that Fabian is beginning to share the feelings that Nina once had, but she has moved on. I must say that boys are truly quite infuriating with their indecisiveness when it comes to girls.
Girls are just as infuriating when their desperate clingers. Some guys just need space, you know? But some girls just can't seem to get that message through their thick heads.
Lovely alliteration there.
What?
Through their thick heads. That's alliteration.
Are you a grammar snob or something?
I would say so, but there are certain things that I can't help but notice in writing and when people talk. It's funny how people use certain forms of writing and expression without even realising it. Did you know that the muggles use the term grammar Nazi?
What the hell is a Nazi?
Now that was a big clue. For Anonymous to not know what a Nazi was, they had to be some kind of pureblood or completely ignorant on muggle history. In Hermione's experience, most wizards and witches were somewhat acquainted with the history on the muggle wars, meaning that they at least knew some of the details. So Hermione was going to keep going with this, and hopefully Anonymous would let something slip that would provide Hermione with an even greater insight into who they were.
The Nazi's were a group of extremists that heavily supported Adolf Hitler's regime during the muggle Second World War.
Oh. He's that German guy with the weird looking moustache, right?
Yes, that's him. Conveniently, that muggle war took place during the same time that Grindelwald rose to power. It's ironic, considering they both had extremist groups supporting their equally extreme beliefs.
Well I wouldn't know that part of muggle history since I haven't been able to learn much about it. What did these… Nazi people do?
Under Adolf Hitler's regime, they terrorised Jewish people and committed acts of genocide that killed millions of people, with their main targets being Jews. It was a dark time for the muggles, with six years of war being the result of it. They called the genocide 'The Holocaust' and it's one of muggle history's most darkest times.
Why did the guy hate the Jews so much?
Nobody really knows. Hitler was just extremely prejudiced towards them, much like how You-Know-Who is prejudiced against muggleborns.
So, what you're saying is that these… Nazi's, are the muggle equivalent of the Death Eaters?
Well, yes. That would definitely be a fair comparison, just like it would be fair to compare Adolf Hitler to You-Know-Who.
I'm sure that the Dark Lord is shuddering as he is compared to a muggle.
When it came to Voldemort's many alias's, Hermione knew that the Dark Lord was generally what his supporters called him, so that gave her a rather unsettling realisation as the possibility of conversing with a Voldemort supporter dawned on her. But Hermione chose to remain ignorant, deciding to believe that it was what they chose to call Voldemort instead of using his name.
More like recoiling.
I'd like to see that snake-faced madman do more than recoil.
I'm sure that there are more than enough people who would share that same desire.
Well, I'd get first dibs.
So… you are not a supporter?
You could say that.
Since I certainly don't want to spend the rest of this conversation wishing death on anyone, I would like to change the topic.
Fair enough. I guess I could use some distraction as well from the looming death. You know, when you first told me about your problems, I hardly had the time and patience to deal with teenage angst when I have far greater concerns on my mind. Now, I only wish that my biggest concerns were schoolwork and teenage angst.
We could trade if you want. I could deal with whatever you have to deal with and then you could put up with my idiot friends.
I certainly lack the patience to deal with idiots, but I'd rather deal with your idiots than my dilemma. I wouldn't have to put up with this nonsense if I just went to Durmstrang. Maybe then my biggest challenge would've just been dealing with the freezing cold mountains.
Well, if I had to choose any other school I would've preferred to go to Beauxbatons. I'd probably hardly be able to understand anything at Durmstrang, but I can at least speak French.
You speak French? So do I.
Another wave of excitement went through Hermione. This was another clue that she could use to her advantage. There were plenty of times when Anonymous let slip small clues that helped narrow down the possibilities of their identity, but this was a big one. Hermione was still relieved that Anonymous wasn't a Voldemort supporter, but Hermione knew that just because they didn't support them meant nothing. Anonymous could be the kind of person that kept their true political beliefs to themselves which certainly didn't narrow down her options, but it made Hermione more comfortable talking to them. She decided to take a different approach to their conversation now to see if Anonymous would follow it as well.
J'ai appris le français envisitant la France. Comment tu le sais?
C'est dans la famille.
As-tu déjàvu visite la France?
Quand j'etais jeune. Les accents français sur les femmes sont chauds ;).
Charmante.
Toujours suis.
Tu aimerais le penser
Ouch, insulted in French. That's new for me.
So you are privy to insults in English?
Only from those who wish they were me.
There's that arrogance again. But I'm sure that in your eyes, being you is the least desirable idea on the plant.
Don't get me wrong, I am irresistible, but my life certainly isn't. It's just one complication after another, especially in recent moments.
This was Hermione's chance. If she approached this next part of their conversation as cautiously as possible, she might be able to get Anonymous to let something more slip. Hermione had already learned more about them than she hoped she would, so maybe now they would trust her enough to open up even more.
You know that I am here for you, right? We might not know who we are, but we know more about each other than most of our friends probably do. I trust you, if that helps. I've trusted you enough to tell you things that most people don't even know.
I'm not sure if I'm crazy for actually considering your offer.
You're not crazy, you're trusting. It's okay to trust people, even complete strangers. I might not know about your past interactions with people, but I can assure you that not all strangers are bad.
I know that. Do you think I would've kept talking to you if that's how I thought about everyone I didn't know? The rational side of my brain is telling me to forget about you, to forget about this. But then there's the other side that's almost desperate for someone to confide in. I've even resorted to talking to a damn ghost for comfort because I have nobody else. It's pathetic, really.
It's not pathetic, and you have me as well. I know that you don't appreciate being psycho-analysed, but it really isn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside. If you can't tell anyone you know, you can at least tell me. I won't judge you.
Sure, that's what you say now. But when you find out who I am and what I've done and what I'm going to do, you'll wish that you'd never had anything to do with me.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm in no position to judge anyone for what they've done. I'd like to think that I have a strong moral compass, but I know that it's flawed. Like you, I have done things that I'm not proud of.
Have you ever tried to kill someone?
Now that was certainly not a direction that Hermione could foresee this conversation going in. Then again, she really shouldn't be surprised at this revelation considering what she knew about Anonymous so far. Here was where she'd really have to tread carefully.
It depends, really. I have certainly used my fair share of dangerous spells and weapons against people that could have very likely resulted in death. I will admit that I have wanted to kill certain people, but I have never actually acted upon that since those feelings were a result of negativity that I felt towards certain people. I might feel strong resentment towards people, but not enough to actually try to kill them.
People talk about murder like it's nothing sometimes. You'll hear those bloody Aurors talking about how many people they've offed just because it's part of their job. I never even thought of murder as something serious before. The way I viewed it was if someone was in your way, murder was one way to get rid of them. Then there's 'self-defence' which is something else entirely. I'm not gonna lie, I've even wished death upon people but I could never and have never been able to comprehend actually wanting someone dead.
That's… an interesting way of explaining things. I don't understand how you could wish death upon someone without wanting them dead though.
Words are complicated sometimes. You say things without realising the gravity of your words until you're faced with that reality.
So, what you're saying is that you have wanted people dead in the past but now that you're faced with the reality of actually having to kill someone, you don't want to do it?
We're going into a war. At some point or another, we're going to have to kill someone. But as they say about the Unforgivable Curses, to actually perform them well you have to actually want to perform them.
As the conversation went on, Hermione was slowly beginning to paint a picture in her head and she wasn't liking it one bit. Based on what she could figure out, Anonymous was facing the reality of having to kill someone. Anonymous had tried arguing it as a result of war, but Hermione suspected that the truth ran far deeper than that. Hermione could understand having to face the reality of killing someone, since that was something that Harry struggled with every day. After all, he was the saviour of the world and was expected to kill Voldemort.
But who was Anonymous expected to kill then? Hermione couldn't say who, since she didn't know anything about where their allegiances stood in the war. They clearly didn't support Voldemort, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be on his side. This was beginning to take a very unexpected turn now and Hermione truthfully didn't know how she was supposed to respond to this.
Perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew.
So Anonymous (Draco) finally let something more slip to Hermione, only it's left her a bit unsettled now as she contemplates the possibility of what could be going on with them. Their conversation on Voldemort and Hitler are my thoughts exactly, since Voldemort basically is the Wizarding Worlds equivalent of Hitler since Hitler prosecuted Jews like Voldemort prosecuted muggleborns. In my headcannon, Hermione knows French from muggle school and because she visited France after second year, and since the Malfoy side of Draco's family is French, I would imagine that he would know the language too. Sorry if I butchered the translations, I used good old google translate for that. My school didn't offer French, so I only ever learnt Japanese and Spanish. Anyways, next chapter sees Hermione discover the identity of Anonymous so that's something to look forward to ;).
