Plus, my roommate's boyfriend is here from Michigan for the weekend, so I'm voluntarily homeless, and that means I'm away from my computer till Tuesday. So this is an early present.
Thanks to those who reviewed… I can tell I'm going to have to build this story's following again. Grr… oh well, thanks to everyone, you guys keep this going.
And to hammiecat, who asked to have the end posted soon… oh, sheeyeah right! This story's not even a third finished. It's gonna be lo-o-ong. But I'll still post new chapters as quickly as possible. I hope that's enough to sustain you, and I apologize for the fact that I am, for once, writing out a story with a plot that requires developing. It's not my usual style, but I'm kinda feeling good about it. So hold out for, say, twenty more chapters, m'dear, and you shall have your ending ;)
Well, enjoy. It's not the longest of chapters, but it's an important one!
Cheers,
-Nymph
Chapter 4: ExpositionHermione was so immersed in her task that she didn't even notice that someone else was in the graveyard until he grabbed her arms on either side. Hermione let out a terrified scream and whirled around, hitting her attacker in the shins with her shovel. She realized who it was a fraction of a second later.
"Shit! Remus, what are you doing here?" Remus, bent over in pain, looked up at her as if she were crazy.
"What am I doing? I should ask you the same question!" He grabbed her shovel and gestured towards the sizable hole she'd made in Ron's grave. "What is this? You can't just dig up their bodies… it's… it's sick, it's insane!"
"Remus…" Hermione began calmly, only to be cut off by her lover.
"No, Hermione… don't try to rationalize this…"
"REMUS!" Hermione grabbed his arms rather forcefully. "It's okay… let me explain!"
"Explain?" Remus shook his head. "Hermione, you're digging up DEAD BODIES!"
"But that's just it," Hermione said, practically laughing now. "They're not dead. That's what I've been trying to tell you! This is the only way I could make all of you see…"
Remus broke away from her, taking several steps back. "Have you lost your mind? They were buried! You saw--"
"Mock corpses," Hermione said quickly. "I've done the research. Remus, I KNOW I'm right!"
"What is going on here?" Both Remus and Hermione turned towards the source of the voice. Dumbledore had arrived. "Miss Granger… what have you done?" Hermione glared. They still weren't listening! Dumbledore looked at the grave solemnly. "Hermione… what could have possibly made you resort to this?"
"If only you'd listened to me in the first place, I wouldn't have had to resort to this!"
Remus shook his head quietly while Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a strange, sad sort of disappointment. "Obviously, my child, you're suffering horribly due to the deaths of your friends." He took her gently by the shoulders. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to say what I'm about to say."
Hermione regarded Dumbledore with a measured amount of suspicion. "What are you--" Dumbledore raised a hand, cutting her off.
"Hermione, you are very upset right now. I understand what a trying time this has been for you, and the stress seems to have finally caught up with you." Hermione rolled her eyes. Remus stepped up behind her.
"No one is blaming you, love," He said as gently as he could. He was still rather shaken himself at this unexpected display, but he didn't want to upset Hermione any further. She was obviously in a very precarious mental state as it was. Remus cursed himself for not having seen the warning signs before this. Hermione turned to look at him.
"Of course they aren't," She said rather angrily, "What is there to blame me for? I haven't DONE anything wrong!"
"Hermione…" Remus tried to approach the subject as carefully as her could. "Darling, you were digging up graves…" Hermione shook her head.
"You're still not listening!"
Dumbledore gave both Hermione and Remus stern looks as if to remind them who was in charge. They both stopped talking rather quickly.
"As I was saying," The headmaster continued, "You are under an immense amount of pressure, and I think perhaps it would be best if you took some time for yourself, to rest up and get better." Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Are you…" She stopped mid-sentence, unable to continue for a few moments. "Are you firing me?" She whispered incredulously.
"No, no, my dear," Dumbledore said quickly (A little too quickly, thought Hermione) "Nobody is firing anyone. I am merely suggesting that you take a short break. We'll find a replacement for a while until you're feeling fit to teach again, but for now…"
Hermione stared at her former Headmaster with tears in her eyes. "You can't fire me," She whispered desperately, "I was just trying to--"
Dumbledore nodded understandingly. "I know. It's hard to understand how two people like Harry and Ron could possibly be gone forever… you were just trying to justify the things you couldn't understand. You've always been that way, always needing to know more. It's understandable that, in your heightened state of emotional anxiety--"
"I would go crazy and dig up a grave because that's what ANY logical person would do?" Hermione laughed sardonically. "Thanks, Albus, for taking my side. You've always had faith in me, haven't you?" The headmaster, slightly taken aback, was rendered speechless. "I mean, of COURSE I'm just anxious… that must be the reason for all this insanity. You have to be right." She paused, looking him straight in the eye. "Or maybe," She said thoughtfully, slowly, "Maybe YOU'RE the one trying to justify the things that you can't understand."
Albus looked at his former student-turned professor with a mix of shock and disappointment. "Hermione, if you need to discuss this with me when you're feeling less hostile, you are more than welcome. You know where I'll be." And with that, he turned and walked away from the graveyard towards the castle.
When the headmaster was out of earshot, Hermione turned to Remus.
"Well I suppose you have something to say about this too," She said, crossing her arms expectantly. Remus regarded her with a look that Hermione guessed was part worry and part sadness.
"Hermione, You could have come to me first. We could have talked about this…"
"Talked?" Hermione laughed, a short, bitter, humorless laugh. "We NEVER talk about anything regarding this… this…" She gestured wildly at the graves, "About them. I TRY to talk to you about it, but you never listen, and all that happens is you talk and I end up agreeing with everything you say because you won't even listen to my point of view!"
"Hermione, you're very emotional right now… I think maybe we should wait to discuss this until you're feeling--"
"No! You wanted me to talk to you about it, well fine Remus, I'm talking!"
Fear joined the range of emotions crossing Remus' face. "Hermione, you're in a very delicate state right now, and I think that--"
"I'm not crazy!" Hermione screamed suddenly, lunging at him. "Why won't you listen? I'm not crazy! I know what I'm talking about! Why won't you let me prove it?" Hermione pounded her fists against Remus' chest, hurling herself at him with all her might, but the werewolf was stronger than her, and barely moved beneath her fists despite her efforts. Hermione continued to scream and punch until she couldn't anymore. She was suddenly exhausted, her muscles aching from digging, hitting and overall fatigue. All the energy drained from her, Hermione fell against Remus' chest and sobbed dryly into his robes.
Remus looked down at the woman he loved, now leaning as if broken against his chest. When had things gone so horribly wrong? This was Hermione, his Hermione, whom he'd loved more than anything else in his life for what felt like almost forever now, Hermione, for whom he would take every unmentionable curse without a sound, and yet it wasn't Hermione. This wasn't the brilliant young woman he knew, this pathetic, broken, frail thing leaning against him. All the life had been sapped from her being, and Remus couldn't help but feel guilty for not seeing it before now. He brought his arms up and encircled her with them, holding her to him in a simple, protective embrace. How could I let this happen?
At the feeling of Remus' arms encircling her, Hermione began to sob even harder, this time letting the tears fall freely. She had gone too far. She could have tried to talk to him more… she could have made him understand. And now… now she'd gone and ruined everything. She'd been so sure… so very sure, but now… She just didn't know anything anymore. Maybe she WAS just crazy. Maybe she just missed Harry and Ron so much that she'd imagined them back to life. Maybe somewhere along the line, she'd lost her grip on reason, on logic. And she'd come close to losing everything else; her job, her friends, the only man she'd ever loved… she was so close to losing it all. But Remus was still here.
"Remus…" She whispered hoarsely. Remus tightened his grip on her, and she began to cry even harder. "I'm sorry," She said between sobs, "I'm so, so sorry…"
"Shh," He said, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's okay. We're okay… everything's going to be alright now…"
"I attacked you," She said, ashamed. "I hurt you."
Remus kissed the top of her head worriedly. "You didn't… I'm fine. Don't worry." Hermione sobbed into his robes, which were already starting to feel damp. "I love you… you don't ever have to go through anything like this alone. I'm here… I'll help you."
"I love you," Hermione repeated through her tears. "So much." Remus just stood there holding her until her sobs became no more than tiny shudders and her tears were all dried up.
"Let's go back inside," He said gently, guiding her carefully out of the graveyard. Beside him, Hermione nodded numbly and began walking back towards the castle.
"MALFOY!" All the Death eaters' heads turned at the same time towards the thundering voice of the Dark Lord. The voice, at times so eerily calm and enticing, was now at a furious pitch that they all knew quite well. The Dark Lord had many moods, and over the years, the senior Death eaters had learned to distinguish between these moods quite easily. Right now, their master was on the warpath.
Lucius Malfoy quickly hid the look of terror that momentarily crossed his face. So quick was the frighteningly handsome man at this that the only person in the room to notice his true reaction to the Dark Lord's voice was Severus Snape. "I'd better go," Lucius said importantly.
"Don't bother," said and angry voice from the doorway. There stood Voldemort, a furious expression on his now-handsome face. "Malfoy, outside, NOW."
Lucius stood and followed the Dark Lord, trying his best to hide his anxiety. Severus narrowed his eyes and slipped out of the room as inconspicuously as he could. He started off in the opposite direction from Lucius and Voldemort, heading quickly to another corridor, which he knew would take him to a room just around the corner from where The Dark Lord and his favorite Death eater were. He could listen to their conversation from there.
Severus leaned towards the half-open door. He could just barely make out the words Malfoy and the dark Lord were exchanging. Well, actually, Malfoy wasn't saying much. Voldemort was very angry with his servant, and he was making it known.
"I should have you killed, Malfoy. You were careless and idiotic. I SPECIFICALLY ordered you not to let anyone touch him except for me and me alone. He is MINE, Lucius. I don't want spoiled goods."
"With all due respect, My Lord, I don't really think you would have been the first to--"
"Silence, you fool!" Yelled Voldemort, silencing the other man immediately. "That," He continued more quietly, "Is not the point. The point is that he belongs to ME now, and no one else. I have waited years for this, Lucius, and it has finally come within my grasp. You will not make another mistake like this again. If you do, it will be the very last mistake you ever make."
"Yes, My Lord."
"And if you've damaged the boy in any way—any way at all-- I will cause you to suffer ten times as much as him. Is that clear?"
There was a short pause before Lucius replied, "Yes, Lord Voldemort."
"I'll be gone a rather long while, I should think," Voldemort said contemplatively. "To think… soon I will have conquered the very boy who once conquered me. I am the victor, Lucius. It is a great day for the Dark. Finally, the downfall of the great Harry Potter."
It was all Severus could do to stay on his feet. My God… it CAN'T be…