By the time The Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross Station, Harry, Ron and Ginny had given the performance of a lifetime and were pretty relieved when Molly whisked them away rather quickly. It had been tiring acting concerned for Hermione for so long, and they were all looking forward to being able to relax and not have to pretend any more.
When Molly whisked them away from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the trio all expected to arrive at The Burrow. However, the house they landed outside of was a small cottage in unfamiliar country surroundings.
"Where the hell are we?" Ron demanded as Molly led the way into the cosy house.
"Somewhere safe," Molly replied. "It's only temporary while the wards around The Burrow are strengthened. But for now it was decided it was safer for the family to move."
"I guess that makes sense," Ron reluctantly agreed. While he'd wanted to ensure his family was safe, he hadn't really thought it would mean leaving home, even if it was just temporary.
"Am I also staying here?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore was usually insistent that Harry went back to his muggle relatives for at least part of the summer, which was something to do with protective charms he had on him, but given what was going on he'd agreed for Harry to come straight to the Order this summer. After all, new measures were in place to protect their whereabouts from Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and Harry would be seventeen in a few weeks anyway, which would have meant the end of the protection staying with the Dursleys would give him.
"That's entirely up to you, Harry," Molly replied. "You can easily share Ron's room, or the Order have new headquarters, and I know Sirius has a room ready for you there. But I must warn you, that's where Hermione is."
"She's been taken to the new headquarters?" Ron spluttered. "Whose idiotic idea was that?"
"That would be Dumbledore," Molly replied, her expression showing that she shared Ron's reservations about Hermione's whereabouts. "He didn't want her kept prisoner. He believes that she can be rehabilitated."
"From what? Being a lying, deceptive cow?" Ron snorted. "She'd lied to us and betrayed us for six years. How can anyone believe she can be trusted again?"
"It's not just Dumbledore," Molly admitted. "Both Sirius and Remus believe we should give her another chance. They both believe she was manipulated by her family, and that if she knows there is another option for her, she will take it."
"She's a Malfoy, therefore she can't be trusted," Ron stated. "It's just crazy to think otherwise. Isn't it, Harry?"
"I don't know, Ron," Harry admitted with a thoughtful sigh. "I know she's been lying to us for years, but I have to wonder if everything was a lie. Could she really fake being such a good friend? Maybe there is part of her that doesn't want to be involved in scheming and lying. Maybe there's a part of her that does really want to be with us."
"Don't hold your breath, Harry," Ron advised with a sigh. "If you give her a chance, she'll just break your heart all over again."
Harry sighed, wondering if Ron was right. Very quickly, Ron had taken the stance that Hermione was the enemy and no longer their friend, but he knew it was partly to hide how deeply hurt he was by her betrayal, and by not giving her another chance, he was protecting himself from further pain. However, Harry wasn't sure if he could be as firm as Ron. He knew it would be easier if he could take the same stance as Ron had done, but there was so much he needed to know before he reached a final conclusion about Hermione. Maybe talking to her would help clear up his messed-up head.
"I think I should go to headquarters," Harry decided. "Sirius will be expecting me."
"Just as long as you know that you're always welcome here," Molly said as she walked over to the fire and activated the floo network.
"Be careful, Harry," Ron warned as his best friend gathered his things. "No matter what she says, remember she's lied to us for six years, and she's a Malfoy. Even if you do decide to give her another chance, don't let your guard down."
Promising to be careful, Harry grabbed the floo powder from Molly, who had told him that the floo was only connected to Order headquarters, so all he to do was throw the powder as no address was required. Doing as Molly said, Harry threw the floo powder into the fire and green flames sprung up in the grate. Saying goodbye to Ron and Ginny, he then stepped into the floo and headed off to the new Order headquarters.
Sirius was there to greet him at the other end of the floo, and Harry was pleasantly surprised to discover the new headquarters were light and airy, as opposed to the oppressing Grimmauld Place. Even Sirius himself seemed more at ease, despite the events with Hermione.
"So what do you think?" Sirius asked once he'd shown Harry around the ground floor of the house, and the rather large garden they had access to.
"I like it," Harry replied. "We look pretty secluded."
"We are," Sirius confirmed. "We're also safe here."
"So she doesn't know where we are?" Harry checked.
"If you mean Hermione, then no," Sirius replied. "But please don't refer to her as she, Harry. It's just rude. I'm not saying you have to forgive her for what she's done, but at least give her a chance to explain."
"Do you really think there's an explanation for her deceit?" Harry asked, eager to hear Sirius's thoughts on the matter.
"I don't know," Sirius confessed. "But I do know how much pressure families can put you under. We have no idea what her life has been like, so for all we know, she was forced into doing what she did."
"Maybe as a child, but not now," Harry pointed out. "She could have told the truth at any time."
"And risked losing her family?" Sirius countered, raising a sceptical eyebrow at Harry. "It's not easy to make the decision to leave your family behind, even when you know it's the right thing to do. When I walked away from my family, I almost came back several times. And not because I was happy with them, but because despite it all, I loved them. And I think, no matter what he made her do, Hermione loves Lucius. If you want my advice, just let her know that you're there for her. Don't pressure her, and don't turn your back on her. Just wait and see if she comes to you."
"Does she have free reign of the house?" Harry asked.
"Yes, she isn't a prisoner in the traditional sense," Sirius answered. "But she can't leave the premises. The furthest she can go is into the garden."
"Have you seen much of her since she arrived?"
"She ventured down once," Sirius replied. "We didn't talk a lot, but it's clear that right now, she believes she will be rescued sooner rather than later."
"How can she honestly believe that?" Harry questioned with a frown. "No matter what else she is, she isn't stupid. She must know the house is impenetrable, especially as she doesn't know where we are. Her family will not be able to locate her, let alone come for her."
"Maybe she's just been stubborn, and not wanting to admit the truth," Sirius suggested with a shrug. "Right now, let her cling to the hope that her family are coming for her. When they don't, it might make her more open to listening to us. Maybe once she realises that she's lost her family, she'll be able to see that the people who truly care about her are all right here."
Moving on with the tour, Sirius led Harry upstairs, and after pointing out the bedrooms he, Remus and Hermione were using, he left Harry to have his pick of the rest. Settling for the room next door to Sirius's, Harry lugged his trunk inside and started to unpack, while Sirius went back downstairs to see about sorting dinner.
Harry was nearly at the bottom of his trunk when he felt a presence behind him. Even without looking around, he knew it was Hermione. Taking a deep breath, he turned to face her fury, only to be shocked by how calm and collected Hermione looked. She was merely leaning against the door-frame, watching him as though nothing had changed and her big secret hadn't been exposed.
"Don't look so wary, Harry," she chuckled. "I don't have my wand and my magic has been dampened. I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to."
"Do you?" Harry asked, taking no chances and not getting to close to the witch he knew could be rather formidable.
"Not at the moment," Hermione answered with a shrug. "When I first realised what had happened, I did want to hurt you and Ron. But then I figured, it wouldn't change anything. I would still be trapped. So I might as well accept it and not bother wasting my energy being mad."
"That's very reasonable," Harry muttered, not sure if he believed her or not. The problem was, he'd seen how well she could lie and he wasn't sure if he was able to distinguish the truth from a lie when they came from her lips.
"I'm not a monster, Harry," Hermione laughed. "We might be on opposite sides, and I might be perfectly fine with the thought that one day I will witness your death, but that doesn't mean I have any desire to cause it. Believe it or not, Harry, I actually like you. If things had been different, we really could have been friends."
"You mean if you weren't such a liar," Harry spat, rather shocked by the casual way Hermione had referred to him dying.
"I meant if my lies were the truth," Hermione replied. "If I really was a muggleborn, we could have been friends. But we were never going to be friends given who I am. Or rather, given who my father is."
"Yeah, your brother is proof of that," Harry sneered. "So if we're not friends, why are you here, Hermione? What do you want?"
"To make things clear," Hermione said softly. "I know what sort of theories Sirius and Remus are peddling. I know they believe I've spent my life doing what I can to gain my father's love. I know they think I'm part of this plan simply to keep in with my family."
"Are you?"
"No, I'm part of this plan because I want to be," Hermione answered. "I was ten when I was first asked about playing the role of a muggleborn at Hogwarts. I wasn't forced into it; it was my choice. I knew that if I wasn't happy with it, I could have gone to school as a half-blood, or even a pure-blood. An entire backstory was always going to be fabricated for me, but I had a choice in what it was. I could have taken the easy way, Harry. I could have gone with the half-blood or pure-blood history. I could have been sorted into Slytherin with Draco. I could have spent the last six years pretty much being myself."
"Why didn't you?" Harry asked, transfixed by the glimpse into Hermione's past.
"I couldn't resist the chance to play my part," Hermione replied with a smile. "I couldn't believe that I was being asked to do something so important at such a young age. I wanted to prove myself."
"To Lucius?" Harry scoffed. "To make him love you."
"I didn't have to do this to make him love me, he's always loved me," Hermione replied honestly. "If you did overhear the conversation I had with Draco, you would know that in his eyes, I can do no wrong. I didn't need to do anything to prove myself to him, he's always known what I was capable of."
"What about your mother?" Harry asked. "Where is she in all this?"
"She's dead," Hermione replied quietly.
"Oh," Harry whispered, unable to stop the sting of sympathy for Hermione as he knew what it was like to have a dead mother. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it was a long time ago," Hermione said with a dismissive shrug, although Harry was convinced he could still see the hurt swimming in her deep brown eyes. "And it's not like I don't have a family. As you know, my home is the manor."
"How long have you lived there?"
"All my life."
"How is that possible?" Harry questioned. "How can you have lived there all these years and no-one knew about it?"
"You've heard Draco bragging about the size of the manor," Hermione chuckled. "It's almost as big as Hogwarts, and the grounds stretch for miles. You can stand on the border of the property, and if you're lucky, you might just be able to make out the manor in the distance. So it's not like anyone would have seen me from afar and wondered who I was."
"But what about visitors?" Harry asked. "Or did they hide you away when anyone visited?"
"People don't just drop by the manor on impulse, they make appointments to visit or come when asked," Hermione informed him. "And even then, they don't tour the house. So who was to know I had my own set of rooms? Who was ever to know how many people there were in the house? I admit, certain times I had to stay out of the way, but I was never locked up or hidden away. I merely avoided areas that I knew was in use."
"Sound lonely to me," Harry muttered.
"I wasn't lonely, I had Draco," Hermione laughed.
"Yeah, the child Lucius acknowledged," Harry sneered. "Aren't you mad that he's never stood up and claimed you as his? You are one of the brightest witches in our world, yet your father is too ashamed of you to admit that you're his."
"You know nothing about my father," Hermione said stiffly. "You have no idea why we've done the things we have."
"Then tell me," Harry urged. "Make me understand. Because even if you are illegitimate, Lucius should be proud of you."
"I'm sure he's very proud of me," Hermione replied with a shrug. "Maybe you can ask him yourself when he comes for me."
"Hermione, he's not coming for you," Harry said softly, wondering for the first time if Hermione was delusional. Maybe that was why she didn't have an issue with Lucius's not acknowledging her and hiding her away at the manor when they had guests. "No-one is coming. No-one will be able to find you."
"Do you really think my family would abandon me as easily?" Hermione asked. "Do you really think my father would let me go without a fight?"
"You can't fight when you don't know who your enemy is," Harry pointed out. "As far as the world is concerned, you were snatched by Death Eaters from The Hogwarts Express. Even if Lucius thinks differently, he can't prove it. Besides, as I said, no-one can find you here. Even if Lucius blames the Order for you going missing, he won't know where to look for you. You're not going anywhere."
"I guess we'll see," Hermione replied with an unconcerned shrug. "But I'm telling you now, Harry, it doesn't matter how long I'm here, my loyalty is unwavering. I like you, really I do, but I love my family. Nothing you or anyone else can say, will change that. The Order need to remember that as long as I'm here, you've got a viper in your midst. You know how dangerous a snake bite can be, Harry, and believe me, this snake has fangs."
Flashing Harry a grin that was pure wicked, Hermione sauntered off to her own room, leaving his confused thoughts in no better state. There were times when Harry was convinced he could see real pain and suffering in her eyes, but others where they seemed cold and detached. He also had no idea how much of what she'd told him had been the truth, or how much of it had been lies made up on the spur of the moment. And where exactly did her loyalty lie? Was it truly to the dark, or could they reach the parts of her that must surely feel some sort of rejection at the way Lucius refused to claim her as his child? In time, could she learn to embrace the kind-hearted girl she'd pretend to be for all these years, or was she destined to remain the manipulative liar, whose strings were being pulled by Lucius Malfoy?