Ok…wow, it's been a while since I posted, but I had a complete brain freeze and writer's block hurt me for a while. Then POOF all these ideas came to my head and I could write again! this has been by far, the hardest chapter yet, and I don't even know why, it just was. The next few chapters I've had thought of for a while, so it will be nice and easy to write down—promise. But a few reviews could help speed things up too. And it's always nice to know what everyone else thinks of the story, ya know? Thanks!!! Now, if you remember, the last thing that happened was the Deatheater had just been torturing Mr. Granger and Hermione, and said the deadly curse to kill Hermione's mother….
Chapter Eight :: Untitled
"NO!" Hermione screamed. "STUPEFY!"
The Deatheater was thrown backwards across the room, over the dinner table and into the wall with a very loud 'thud'. His wand fell on the floor in front of her, and the Deatheater lay against the wall, unconscious.
"Apparation incompleto!" Hermione yelled. She had never been filled with more anger and hatred. She stared at the Deatheater, and didn't know what to do. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But the last thing she wanted to do was see her dead mother.
"Dad, go. . . go and get someone." Hermione said quietly. She looked up into her father's eyes. They revealed all his feelings. She could see sadness, anger, but most of all, she saw fear: fear of the Deatheater, fear of herself.
Ministry Hit Wizards were appartating every few feet around Hermione and all over the room. Each of them had their wands out, as if there was any battle left to fight. Hermione's dad came back into the room with the innkeeper, Tom, followed closely by Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George. Hermione fell to her knees next to her mother. As she stared into her blank and dead eyes, Hermione began to cry. She didn't do anything wrong. She never wanted to hurt anyone.
Hermione could hear the ministry wizards talking to themselves over the cataleptic Deatheater.
". . .Completely without notice."
". . .no idea. . ."
". . . I wonder why he didn't just apparate away . . ."
"I used the Apparation disarming spell." Hermione replied quietly, almost in a whisper.
"Smart girl. Stopped him from apparating away."
"You really knocked him out too. He won't be waking for a few hours." Another witch said.
Ginny walked over to Hermione and sat down next to her. She put her arms around Hermione's shoulders and began to sob. Harry, Ron, Fred, and George just stood in the doorway, completely helpless on what they should do. More and more wizards and witches were appartating every few feet. No one had taken off the Deatheater's mask yet. They were just standing around, talking. Hermione didn't understand why they weren't doing anything. Some of the members weren't even talking about the situation.
"Well." Hermione said, in a low, menacing undertone, "Why aren't you finding out who he is?"
"Don't worry, dear." A wizard next to her replied, "He won't be going anywhere for a while. We will. We will."
Hermione felt the rage explode inside of her. "MY MOTHER IS DEAD BECAUSE OF THAT MAN! I WANT TO SEE WHO KILLED HER SO HE WILL GET WHAT HE DESERVES!" Hermione screamed. Ginny was still holding Hermione by the shoulders. Ron and Harry ran over to try and comfort her more while Fred and George stayed by her father.
Hermione looked into her father's eyes again. He was silently crying. Tears were steadily flowing down his face and Hermione could tell he felt the same way that she did. Angry at the wizards for doing nothing about the Deatheater. Horrified that this all wasn't a dream: that really was his wife, laying stone cold on the ground.
"Hermione, everything is going to be ok. Come with me."
Hermione looked up to see Professor Dumbledore starting intently into her eyes. His usual light blue sparkle was not there; instead a sorrowful gaze replaced it.
"Professor, may we come with?" Ron asked.
"Yes, but you must stay silent. I need to talk with Hermione and her father."
"Yes, Professor."
Ginny gently helped Hermione up. Hermione felt like her legs weren't working. They seemed to be made of lead rather than flesh and bone. She looked at her mother again. She didn't want to leave her mother, but she didn't want to stay there and look upon the lifeless face any longer. Dumbledore looked at Hermione and understood immediately.
"Don't worry, Hermione. I promise that the ministry wizards won't take her away just yet."
Dumbledore led the way to a small room that was complete with a table and eight chairs. He seated himself and gave everyone the cue to do so also. Hermione sat down next to her father and took his hand. It was cold and clammy. Her father hadn't spoken a word, and looked like he wasn't about to either. He had stopped crying, and didn't seem to be in his right mind. Harry sat down next to Hermione, trying to comfort her as Ginny had been doing so before. He took Hermione's other hand and held it in his firm grip. She squeezed it tight as she began to cry once more.
"Hermione, Mr. Granger. First of all, I want you to know how deeply sorry I am for you. I know that that my words will not do much to aid the pain, but it is something that you should know. Also, Mrs. Granger's death will not be taken lightly. It was a horrific murder than should have never happened and was only the product of a foolish hatred on non-magic people. The Deatheater who caused this will pay his dues. I will do what I can to make sure of that. Mr. Granger, I will be finding a good place for you to stay for a while, or someone who will stay with you after Hermione leaves for school. You should not be alone in your house. Hermione, as horrible as this was, I need you to promise me that you will stick with your school work and continue to be such an outstanding student. I know your mother was extremely proud of you and your exceptional achievements and she would not have wanted you to not continue with your studies. I would like you to know that you will be able to see your father as often as you would like on weekends while you are away at school. There should be no reason that you can't see him, and I already have in mind a good way for you to be transported back and forth from Hogwarts to your home. Your lives will not be the same, but Mrs. Granger would not have wanted for your lives to stop. She was a wonderful and loving woman, and she will be remembered."
Mr. Granger nodded. He looked incredibly pale to Hermione, more than he had before. And yet, there was a strange courage shining through in his eyes.
Dumbledore continued on. "I know that your friends will be more than supportive during this tragedy in your lives, and would be more than willing to listen to you when you are ready." He looked at everyone else, making eye contact with each of them. They all gazed back, knowing what they were needed to do."Now, I need to go and talk to the ministry officials. Hermione, the school will be buying you an owl for you to have along with Crookshanks. I don't want you to have to worry about using a school owl when you need to contact anyone. Feel free to pick one out at the Magical Menagerie. I will contact them before you go so that they know the circumstances. If either of you ever need anything, feel free to ask."
Dumbledore left the room quietly. As Hermione watched him leave, she got up herself.
"If they haven't pulled off the mask of the Deatheater by the time I get back into that room, I'm going to rip it off the evil bastard myself."
"Hermione!" Ginny yelled.
Hermione stormed out of the room. She heard a lot of sliding chairs and footsteps behind her and guessed that it was everyone else following her lead. However before she got to her destination, someone stopped her.
"Hermione, wait. I need to talk to you."
"Harry, this isn't the time. I need to see who that Deatheater is."
"Please, Herm. You really need to listen to what I have to say."
"Harry! You out of all people should understand how much this means to me!" Hermione shouted back into his face.
"And you, Hermione, should understand that I know what I'm talking about! Now please come with me before I have Fred and George drag you back!"
Hermione really thought that Harry would have understood. She walked past her father, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George in complete silence. She didn't even bother looking at any of them, for they would probably only try to look sorry for her. Hermione stormed into the room that she had seen Harry walk into before her. After she entered, he closed the door behind her.
"Well?" Hermione asked rudely, "What in the world could be so important that you pull me in here?"
"First of all," Harry started, "I don't care what you say, but you need this." After saying that, Harry walked over to Hermione pulled her into a tight hug. Her first reaction was just to back away. She didn't want any sympathy from anyone right now. But as he pulled her a little closer, she put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She couldn't cry because she felt like she didn't have any tears left. But it was good to be in someone's arms. Hermione felt as if a little bit of all her worries transferred onto Harry, and as he rubbed her back, she began to understand that that was what he meant to do.
"Hermione, I hate seeing you in so much pain. I know that there is nothing that I can do at this point, but I care about you so much and want to help you as much as I can. Everyone else feels the same way as I do.
"Th-thank you, Harry."
Harry squeezed Hermione a little tighter and then whispered, "I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry."
"I just don't understand it, Harry. Why do they hate me so much?"
"They don't hate you. It's just about impossible to hate you, Hermione." Harry said with a smile. "They just hate muggles…and magic people with muggle heritage. And sadly, there's nothing that we can do about it right now, but once Voldemort is defeated, it will get better. Come on, let's go."
Harry took Hermione's hand and led her out the door and down to the hall to the room where her mother still lay. When she walked in, she saw that her mother had been covered with a black cloth. Everyone in the room seemed to be waiting for something, and as Hermione entered the room, every witch and wizard in the room turned to look at her. They parted a small aisle through the middle of the room leading to where the Deatheater still lay. As Hermione went to take off the Deatheater's mask, someone stopped her.
"I'm sorry, but we can't allow you to take that mask off." A plump witch told her.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.
"We need clearance from the Minister of Magic. He should be here any moment."
"Why do we have to wait for him? I should already know who the Deatheater is! I don't want to wait any longer!"
"Miss Anitta," Professor Dumbledore spoke up, "I am also confused as to why we need to wait for the Minster. Surely there are enough witnesses in the room who would testify, myself included."
"I'm sorry, Professor. I was just in contact with the minister and he said to wait."
"Very well then."
Professor Dumbledore looked at Hermione to give her reassurance. After about a minute of an uncomfortable silence, the Minster of Magic popped into the center of the room.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
He walked over to the Deatheater and pulled off the mask. Everyone in the room gasped at the identity of the Deatheater. It was Lucius Malfoy.
"Wake him up! He has a lot of explaining to do!" Fudge yelled.
Dumbledore walked over and with a voice of disgust said, "Ennervate."
Malfoy blinked his eyes open and moaned in pain as he felt the bleeding wound on the back of his head. He looked up and jumped in shock as he saw all of the wizards and witches standing over him, staring at him in complete revulsion.
"Mr. Malfoy. Let it be known that there will be no excuse that can possibly save you from Azkaban this time." Professor Dumbledore said.
"No! What do you mean? You can't possibly put me away! I'm innocent!"
"We find that very hard to believe, Lucius. Mr. Granger and his daughter were both tortured by you and then witnessed you kill Mrs. Granger."
Lucius looked at Mr. Granger and acted as though he might say something to protest against a muggle standing with all the wizards in the room, but decided against it.
"You can't possibly believe that I would want to kill a muggle! He-who-must-not-be-named placed the Imperius Curse on me again! I had no control over my actions!"
"The Dark Lord?" An older wizard shouted, "I highly doubt that! He has been out of power for almost 14 years now!"
"You are very wrong! He has
returned and has gained back all of his strength! He is even more powerful that
before!" Malfoy replied, his voice growing very unsteady.
"How do you know this?" Another wizard asked.
"He kidnapped me from my home before placing the curse on me! I saw him with my very own eyes!"
Harry stepped forward with hatred burning through his eyes. "That's a damn lie! I saw you apparate to Voldemort's—" everyone, except Dumbledore, in the room flinched, "—side the night of the final in the Triwizard Tournament! You were in no way under any curse! You went back to him willingly!" Everyone in the room gasped once more.
"He already had me under the curse at that time!"
"That's not possible! He wasn't brought back until that night! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Well, you were a little delirious that night anyway weren't you?" Malfoy whispered viciously.
"What is your meaning by that Lucius?" Dumbledore said.
"The only reason I was delirious in anyway," Harry shouted, "was because I witnessed the death of Cedric Diggory and the rebirth of Voldemort! But I know what I saw!"
"Andrews, Pickler—take Mr. Malfoy to a secured room. Don't let him out of your sight." Fudge said to two large men across there room. "I have his wand, but guard yours carefully. I wouldn't put it past him to steal yours." Fudge continued on. "Lucius, you will remain in Azkaban until your trial. Take him away."
Hermione watched as the two men walked with Mr. Malfoy out of the room. Harry squeezed her hand and her father walked over next to where she was standing.
"Is that it?" he asked. "What are they going to do with that man?"
"I'm not sure, Dad." Hermione replied. She turned to Professor Dumbledore and asked, "Professor, what will happen now that they have caught Mr. Malfoy?"
"His trial will be set and his fate will be decided there. This will be a lot harder than it seems though."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. He and the other Weasleys had walked over with Hermione's father.
"Lucius is a very corrupt man and has escaped time in Azkaban before. No matter how much evidence we might have, I'm worried of how he will try to escape again."
"How could that be possible?" Mr. Granger asked, "Hermione and I saw him kill my wife!"
"I know," Dumbledore replied, "But the Ministry of Magic is losing its influence, and I have the feeling that Fudge still doesn't believe that Voldemort has returned." Dumbledore then turned to Hermione, "Now, you've spent enough time in this room. I suggest you go and pick out your owl, and go home. I'll see you all very soon." And with that, he apparated out of the room.
"Come on, Hermione. Let's go to the Magical Menagerie." Ron said.
Hermione looked at her mother one last time and walked out of the room. One of the witches told her that they would prepare the body for the funeral. Outside, it was already dark except for the torches that lit the alleyway. People were still walking from store to store, finishing up their shopping for the day.
After spending only about five minutes looking, Hermione found the perfect owl. It was a normal looking barn owl that was a little smaller than Hedwig. It was dark brown with a light tan face. When she first saw the owl, it hooted softly and stared back at her. It seemed like her perfect match—but looked like it could still fend for itself against Crookshanks. The lady at the counter gave Hermione and Mr. Granger her condolences and said that the owl Hermione chose was always very friendly with the other owls and animals. Hermione thanked the woman and left the store with the others. They walked back to the Leaky Cauldron one last time, and said their good-byes to Tom.
"Hold on, the ministry doesn't want you to travel back by floo powder." Tom said as they had started to approach the fire.
"How are we supposed to get home?" Hermione asked.
"There is a ministry car out front waiting for you. It will get you home safe and sound."
The car looked like a normal black four-door sedan from the outside. Hermione had no idea how they were all going to fit into it. But to her surprise, as she ducked into the car, she saw that even though it looked normal on the outside, it was the size of a limousine inside. Everyone fit comfortably with room to spare on the way home. Hermione took her owl out of its cage and let it sit on her shoulder. The owl gently nuzzled Hermione's cheek with its beak and gradually fell asleep. Hermione just looked out the window, watching the countryside go by. Her home was about three hours away from urban London, so she knew it would be a long ride home.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Herm, wake up. We're here." Mr. Granger said quietly.
Hermione opened her eyes and stretched. She could faintly make out her house in the distance. There was a streetlamp illuminating her front yard, and her front porch light was on. She thanked the driver as she exited the car and walked up to the house. After she stepped inside, Hermione noticed how quiet it was. There was no wind rattling the windows, no evening crickets chirping from outside the kitchen. It was so quiet that Hermione could hear her own heartbeat. Hermione went upstairs immediately. She saw her father coming behind her, and heard the others talking quietly around the fireplace in the living room. Hermione put her owl in its cage on her desk and climbed into bed. As she began to try to fall asleep, she heard Ginny climb into bed, and Harry and Ron talking quietly in the room next door. A few minutes later, the loud snores down the hall told her that George had already fallen asleep. What felt like hours went by and Hermione didn't even feel tired. She quietly got out of bed and walked downstairs into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. As she entered the kitchen, she saw Harry already boiling water in a teakettle.
"Can't sleep?" she asked.
"Nah. I heard you moving a lot in your bed, so I guess you couldn't either."
"I miss her, Harry. It hasn't even been a day and I miss her so much."
"Of course you do. I would be worried if you didn't."
"I just don't understand what Dumbledore said. Why will it be so difficult to put Malfoy into Azkaban? I saw him, my father saw him, everyone saw when Fudge took off his mask…it doesn't make sense!"
"I think it's because Malfoy is such an evil person, he will lie and lie until he gets his way. And he has been such a respected person in the Ministry that they will believe him. Remember how he donated all the money to St. Mungo's last year and got the tickets for the World Cup?"
"Yeah, Ron wasn't too happy about that one."
"But I'd be willing to bet that he'll pay a lot of money to keep himself out of Azkaban too. I know what Voldemort thinks of all this though…" Harry said, while rubbing his scar.
"Harry! Is your scar hurting again?" Hermione asked.
"Well, just a little. I had another dream. That's why I'm awake."
"What was it about? Did it have You-Know-Who in it? What happened?" Hermione was starting to panic.
"Calm down! Voldemort was talking to Wormtail, telling him about what happened tonight."
"What was You-Know-Who talking about?"
"Hermione, say Voldemort. Saying You-Know-Who only increases the fear we have of him." Harry said.
Hermione had always been impressed by Harry's bravery. And now he was asking this of her? Not going to happen, especially after the evening's events. Harry looked at Hermione and smiled.
"Herm, you are just as brave as I am. You have been so strong tonight after all that happened to you. Don't let him scare you as much as you are allowing him. I have been talking to Dumbledore, and he says the first step in defeating Voldemort is to stop saying You-Know-Who, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and all the other names we have to replace his name. "
Hermione still wasn't sure that she would be able to do this. It was asking a lot.
"Hermione, please. I know you can." he said as he looked at her. Hermione loved his eyes. They were so vibrant and they shined with bravery. She decided that she need to do this; for Harry, for her mother, for herself.
"Ok. So what did…Voldemort say to Wormtail?"
Harry smiled. "He said that Lucius failed him, and he would be punished severely. Voldemort then brought in Draco and his mother. Voldemort told Draco and Mrs. Malfoy that Lucius had failed him and he was going to punish them for that. He tortured them with the Cruciatus curse, and a few others that I have never heard of. The last thing I heard was their shrieking screams and that's when my scar woke me up."
For the first time in Hermione's life, she felt sorry for Draco. And of course, it was his father who killed her mother, but Draco hadn't done anything and neither had his mother.
"Harry, I actually feel sorry for Draco." Hermione said quietly.
"I know. I do too. It's a really strange feeling. Feeling sorry for someone you hate."
The teakettle started to whistle and Harry turned off the heat and pour the steaming hot water into two mugs on the counter. Hermione dropped in the teabags and they went to go sit on one of the couches in the family room. Hermione sat down on one end of the couch and Harry took his place on the other side. They talked for what seemed like hours. Conversations ranging from the upcoming school year, to what they might do after Hogwarts. One of the things that Hermione loved most about her friendship with Harry was that she could talk to him about anything, and he always did the same with her. But then Harry asked Hermione a question that she had been dreading since the moment it happened.
"Hermione, why did you kiss me on the cheek when we got off the Hogwarts Express?"
What do I say? I don't know why I kissed him! Her mind frantically searched for an answer. "I don't know. I just…did." She replied. Smooth move, Herm. She thought sarcastically.
"Oh." Harry said, looking slightly disappointed.
"I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable or anything…" Hermione said quietly.
"No! Not at all. I was just curious."
"Oh, ok."
"Well, it's getting really late." Harry said, "We better try and get some sleep."
"Hopefully we can." Hermione said, wishing she could just stay downstairs with Harry for the whole night talking.
They walked upstairs silently, not wishing to wake any of the others up.
"G'night, Harry." She whispered as she opened the door into her room. Then Harry did something that Hermione would have never expected. He kissed her on the cheek.
Hermione stood in the hallway in shock for a second or two, and then asked, "Why did you do that?"
Harry smiled, his eyes sparkling from the little nightlight in the hallway, and replied, "I don't know. I just…did."
~*~*~*~*~*~
OooOoOo!! Is something going to start with Harry and Hermione?? What will Ron think of this? And doesn't Harry still have a thing for Cho?? Hmm….I guess you will just have to wait until I post more…but you CAN review in the mean time! (pleeeeease???) merci beaucoup!