Message in a Bottle
Chapter 14
Hermione and her mother walked down Diagon Alley in silence neither one wanting to say anything that would upset the other. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Helen decided to break the ice. "I'm sorry you had such a terrible summer. I really never thought Riley would react like that."
In silent anger, Hermione just snuffed and ignored the woman beside her. She walked into the pet store and began looking around. "Sweetheart," Helen said. "You don't have a pet. What are we doing in here?"
"I may not have a pet, mother, but Draco does and when he owls me, I need to have some food to feed Damion. That's his owls name. He's really gorgeous, even prettier than Hedwig. And he's really sweet as well. Draco and I write letters back and forth all the time and Damion always shows up hooting and cheerful."
"Sounds like you really like that boy," Helen pointed out with a wry smile.
"I hardly even know him, mum. How can I like someone that I practically just met?"
"But you've known him for years, haven't you? Isn't he in your year at Hogwarts? Didn't you used to come home from school during the summers and incessantly whine about him? That at least implies that you knew him."
"Well you caught me there on a technicality. I did KNOW him but not in the sense that I knew anything about his family life and what he did outside of school. All I knew was that he didn't like Harry and Ron and of course myself. He was a true Slytherin. But I learned a lot more about him this summer through our letters. We talked about everything and I just love the way he can make me feel like there's something good in my life that I can really look forward to. I know that there's someone in this world that actually wants me around." Hermione paid for some yummy owl snacks and exited the store with Helen hot on her heals.
"Sweetheart, you know I want you around too. He's not the only one who wants you here."
Hermione stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk and faced her mum. "If what you just said was true then why did you leave? Why did you go? Why did you leave ME?"
"That's not how it went, Hermione. Gods do I wish that was how it went!"
"Then why don't you explain it to me?"
"Because...because...because you wouldn't understand!"
"What wouldn't I understand?"
"It's too complicated, sweetheart. We don't have time. Come. Let's go back to the Hog's Head and meet your father and Draco."
"NO! I'm not going back until you explain why you left me the bloody hell alone with that man!"
Reluctantly, Helen gave in to her daughters commands. "Fine. But let's go somewhere else to talk. I don't want anyone overhearing us."
They walked for a few minutes and finally reached a cute little café with seats on the sidewalk and so they sat down. No one was around really but they still spoke in hushed voices.
"I didn't want to leave," Helen finally admitted. "I loved Riley, maybe not in the way that a wife should love her husband but I DID love him. He and I were the best of friends."
"So what happened?"
"Well last autumn, right after you left for your sixth year at Hogwarts, he came for me. He found me at the house while Riley was out at work."
FLASHBACK
Helen sat in the bath tub, bubbles swarming around her. She had music playing in the other room, classical music. It was calming and she loved to have that mood while in the bath. As she reached her leg up to begin washing off her body, she heard a creak in the floor.
Worriedly, she stood up and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, not wanting to walk around naked. "Riley?" she called. "Is that you? What are you doing home from work so early? It's only four o'clock! I didn't expect you home for another hour or so."
She walked into the bedroom and searched around only to find there was no one there. With a sigh of relief, she headed back to finish her bath only to find it not possible. Someone was blocking the doorway.
"I've been waiting for almost sixteen years for this!" he snarled, grabbing her by the arms and flinging her to the wall.
"TOM!" she shouted in fright. "What on Earth are you doing here? I thought you were gone. The ministry said you were gone, that that boy had defeated you. I was under the impression that I would never hear from you again."
"I've never been one to give up easily! You should know that!"
"Why are you here, Tom?"
"I've finally come for you. You had to have known that I would some day. I've come to take you back with me. Pack your bag and let's go!"
She wretched her arms away from his clutches and walked to the closet, picking out an outfit for the day. "I don't want to go, Tom. I'm happy here with Riley. We're a family and I don't want you anymore. Please just leave now before he gets home."
"I can't believe you married him! How could you be in love with me one day and then suddenly, the next day, you love him! How?"
"You and I are too different, Tom. We always were! You hated muggles, I wanted us to live in a muggle community. You became the Dark Lord! What did you expect? That I would still love you even when you were killing innocent people? Even after you became something beyond human?"
"Love is blind to everything!"
"How could I love a murderer?"
She began changing in front of him, feeling rather uncomfortable but knowing that he would never leave her alone long enough for her to do it with privacy.
"I gave you the chance, Tom. I told you that I was pregnant! You turned me away! We could have started our own family but no! You asked me to get an abortion! You started killing people! I couldn't stick around and watch that!"
"But you will now! You have no choice."
"I won't go! You can't make me!"
"Oh but I can! IMPERIO!" After a few moments of watching the curse take its effect on Helen, Tom began to give her instructions. "Now you're going to pack your bags and you're going to come with me. You'll divorce Riley and become mine. You will never run away from me and you will stay at my side until the day I TRULY die! Is that understood?"
Though she didn't want to agree, she couldn't stop the word from coming out of her mouth, "Yes."
END FLASHBACK
"And I've been under the curse ever since. He refreshes it from time to time but not today. Today I'm under my own free will. He thought it was necessary when seeing my daughter again. I don't comprehend the workings of his mind but that's far beyond the point. Darling, there's something you need to understand about all that I just told you. You see, once upon a time, I did truly love your father. And there's no chance in hell I would have ever left him in the first place regardless of what he did if it wasn't for the fact that he sent me away. That man's greatest flaw, despite everything else, is his jealousy."
Helen took a sip of her cappuccino and looked at her daughters face. Horror was the first expression she saw but that soon changed to understanding. "But you would have let me grow up with him, let him raise me? You would have subjected me to a life of knowing that my father was a murderer? What if he had decided to kill people right in front of my very eyes? You would have let me live that kind of life?"
"It wasn't like that when I was with Tom. When I first met him, he was sweet. The only thing I ever saw wrong with him at first was the enormous age difference. But we never do choose the ones we love. I'm sure you've figured that out by now. Anyway, I told you what happened because I needed you to know that I didn't abandon you. I never would have left you. But after Tom put the Imperio on me, I waited at the house until Riley got home from work. I knew the only way he would let me leave is if I was cruel and I guess I was a little TOO cruel considering how he took it out on you. I told him that I never wanted him. He was just a security blanket that I had felt safe with. I said that he was never good enough for me and I didn't know why I had wasted my time on him for so many years. I told him that the only way he'd ever have been able to have me was if I was unconscious and he forced himself unto me."
"So that's it? That's why he became so..."
"Hermione, I need to know right now. Did Riley rape you?"
She dropped her ice latte at the mere question. "W...w...what? W...w...why...why would you ask that?" she asked as she began to clean up the mess that she had just made.
"Did he rape you, Hermione?"
"NO! He...he never...he never raped me! That's an...an absurd idea! Why would you ever think that he raped me?"
"Because your friend Draco said it was worse than just beatings and the only thing worse than having a person you considered a father beating you senseless and telling you that you're the scum of the Earth is having the same man rape you."
"Well I don't know why you would ever come to a silly conclusion like that but the answer is no. He never raped me!" In Hermione's mind, she was falling apart. She knew she was lying and she also knew that she probably should have told her mother the truth but it scared her too much to ever confess it out loud.
"Thank goodness! I was so worried, dear. You know, you hear in the news or read in the papers about all these young girls that get violated in such a horrid manner and it scares the living daylights out of me, thinking that you could be one of them. The worst part is, a lot of young girls like yourself feel too humiliated to ever tell anyone so we have all the sexual predators out there on the loose all because the girls are embarrassed. And then, the girls just keep it all inside, all their emotions of fear and sadness and distress and no one can ever help them. I'm so glad that's not you."
"Can we please get back to the subject?"
"Sorry. What were we talking about again?"
"You being in love with the Dark Lord! I just don't get it. When he became Voldemort originally, why did you stay with him?"
"Isn't it obvious? Like he said to me when we first saw each other again, love truly is blind to everything, Hermione."
"Don't give me that! Even if you still loved him, you should've known to get out of there!"
"But if I had gotten out of there, Hermione, you would have never been conceived! If I had never loved the most evil man in the world, I would have never wound up giving birth to the greatest witch Hogwarts has ever seen."
"I don't care. I still can't believe it."
"What can't you believe?"
"Everything! I can't believe my dad is the Dark Lord! I can't believe you're actually a witch and not a muggle! I can't believe Riley's not my father but I'm thankful for it! And I can't believe that I just had the best and the worst summer of my life and..."
"Why was it the best AND the worst? I thought you had an awful summer."
"Well I did...except for the part where I got to get to know Draco. He's really sweet actually. And kind. And considerate. And handsome. And..."
"And..." Helen said with a little smile. "And you're in love with him."
"AM NOT!"
"Yes you are, sweetheart! It's written all over your face. Don't worry, it's only obvious to me. You're in love."
"No. I can't be. We're not even dating. We only just became friends. I can't love him. That's insane. That's blasphemy! Me? In love with Malfoy? I think living with the Dark Lord for so long now has really messed with your sense of humor because telling me that I'm in love with Malfoy is NOT funny!"
"I wasn't trying to be funny. You are in love with the boy! And I think your father approves of him so isn't that just great!"
"Why would I care if my "father" approves? He hasn't been there for me for the last seventeen years. His opinion is irrelevant."
"Maybe to you it is but to him, well...let's just say this. If he didn't approve and you went ahead and dated the bloke anyway...you had better be prepared to start writing a eulogy for the poor guy."
"Well it really doesn't matter 'cause Draco and I are never going to go out. We're just friends and it's a wonder that we're even that."
"Is that how he feels? Is that all he feels towards you...friendship? That's not the impression I got."
"What? You think he likes me?" Inside Hermione's head, the wheels were turning faster and faster, processing every word her mother said. Was it true? Did she really love the man that tortured her for so many years? And did he feel the same?
"I think that if he didn't, he wouldn't be back there sucking up to your father right now. I think that if he wasn't head over heals for you, then he would've run back to Hogwarts at first glance of the Dark Lord. I think that if he wasn't in love with you, he would never have tried to protect you from a wizard with quadruple the amount of power as him! You may have always thought him to be a stupid git but trust me...he's smart enough to know a great catch when he's sees one and you, my dear, are a fabulous catch. You're beautiful and intelligent...a little emotional but you make up for it with your kindness and caring."
Hermione's face was blushing a bright red color and she began walking back towards Knocturn Alley. "Mum," she said as the rounded the corner. "Don't speak to Draco about me. I don't want you to go there and hint that he should be with me like you did the first day you met Harry and Ron. I'll find a boyfriend for myself. Don't get involved."
Helen grasped Hermione's hand tightly in hers. "Whatever you wish, my darling. I just want you to be happy."
A/N...Writers block lifted...for now! Today is August 12, 2004 and it is 2:42 PM. I just finished writing this. I hope you enjoyed. I also hope you're happy with the length. It's just a little over 6 pages on Microsoft.
Just so we're clear...Helen really is the sweet and loving mom and she never would have left Hermione had she not been forced. It wasn't of her own free will. Also, she still calls Lord Voldemort - Tom - b/c that's the man she fell in love with and she doesn't know him as anything else.
And by the way, love really is blind to everything in my opinion. You don't chose who you fall for, it just happens. I mean, I know a lot of people don't like to date outside of their religion or culture but you see mixed couples all the time and I think that's the way love works. It's all a part of life's plan so I suggest you just go with it. Let life take you wherever it takes you and stop asking questions. That's my own philosophy. You don't have to follow it but it's what I try to live by and I figured I'd just fill you in on it.
Thanks for all the great reviews and I hope you all do the same for this one. I love hearing what you guys think!
Chapter 14
Hermione and her mother walked down Diagon Alley in silence neither one wanting to say anything that would upset the other. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Helen decided to break the ice. "I'm sorry you had such a terrible summer. I really never thought Riley would react like that."
In silent anger, Hermione just snuffed and ignored the woman beside her. She walked into the pet store and began looking around. "Sweetheart," Helen said. "You don't have a pet. What are we doing in here?"
"I may not have a pet, mother, but Draco does and when he owls me, I need to have some food to feed Damion. That's his owls name. He's really gorgeous, even prettier than Hedwig. And he's really sweet as well. Draco and I write letters back and forth all the time and Damion always shows up hooting and cheerful."
"Sounds like you really like that boy," Helen pointed out with a wry smile.
"I hardly even know him, mum. How can I like someone that I practically just met?"
"But you've known him for years, haven't you? Isn't he in your year at Hogwarts? Didn't you used to come home from school during the summers and incessantly whine about him? That at least implies that you knew him."
"Well you caught me there on a technicality. I did KNOW him but not in the sense that I knew anything about his family life and what he did outside of school. All I knew was that he didn't like Harry and Ron and of course myself. He was a true Slytherin. But I learned a lot more about him this summer through our letters. We talked about everything and I just love the way he can make me feel like there's something good in my life that I can really look forward to. I know that there's someone in this world that actually wants me around." Hermione paid for some yummy owl snacks and exited the store with Helen hot on her heals.
"Sweetheart, you know I want you around too. He's not the only one who wants you here."
Hermione stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk and faced her mum. "If what you just said was true then why did you leave? Why did you go? Why did you leave ME?"
"That's not how it went, Hermione. Gods do I wish that was how it went!"
"Then why don't you explain it to me?"
"Because...because...because you wouldn't understand!"
"What wouldn't I understand?"
"It's too complicated, sweetheart. We don't have time. Come. Let's go back to the Hog's Head and meet your father and Draco."
"NO! I'm not going back until you explain why you left me the bloody hell alone with that man!"
Reluctantly, Helen gave in to her daughters commands. "Fine. But let's go somewhere else to talk. I don't want anyone overhearing us."
They walked for a few minutes and finally reached a cute little café with seats on the sidewalk and so they sat down. No one was around really but they still spoke in hushed voices.
"I didn't want to leave," Helen finally admitted. "I loved Riley, maybe not in the way that a wife should love her husband but I DID love him. He and I were the best of friends."
"So what happened?"
"Well last autumn, right after you left for your sixth year at Hogwarts, he came for me. He found me at the house while Riley was out at work."
FLASHBACK
Helen sat in the bath tub, bubbles swarming around her. She had music playing in the other room, classical music. It was calming and she loved to have that mood while in the bath. As she reached her leg up to begin washing off her body, she heard a creak in the floor.
Worriedly, she stood up and wrapped herself in a bathrobe, not wanting to walk around naked. "Riley?" she called. "Is that you? What are you doing home from work so early? It's only four o'clock! I didn't expect you home for another hour or so."
She walked into the bedroom and searched around only to find there was no one there. With a sigh of relief, she headed back to finish her bath only to find it not possible. Someone was blocking the doorway.
"I've been waiting for almost sixteen years for this!" he snarled, grabbing her by the arms and flinging her to the wall.
"TOM!" she shouted in fright. "What on Earth are you doing here? I thought you were gone. The ministry said you were gone, that that boy had defeated you. I was under the impression that I would never hear from you again."
"I've never been one to give up easily! You should know that!"
"Why are you here, Tom?"
"I've finally come for you. You had to have known that I would some day. I've come to take you back with me. Pack your bag and let's go!"
She wretched her arms away from his clutches and walked to the closet, picking out an outfit for the day. "I don't want to go, Tom. I'm happy here with Riley. We're a family and I don't want you anymore. Please just leave now before he gets home."
"I can't believe you married him! How could you be in love with me one day and then suddenly, the next day, you love him! How?"
"You and I are too different, Tom. We always were! You hated muggles, I wanted us to live in a muggle community. You became the Dark Lord! What did you expect? That I would still love you even when you were killing innocent people? Even after you became something beyond human?"
"Love is blind to everything!"
"How could I love a murderer?"
She began changing in front of him, feeling rather uncomfortable but knowing that he would never leave her alone long enough for her to do it with privacy.
"I gave you the chance, Tom. I told you that I was pregnant! You turned me away! We could have started our own family but no! You asked me to get an abortion! You started killing people! I couldn't stick around and watch that!"
"But you will now! You have no choice."
"I won't go! You can't make me!"
"Oh but I can! IMPERIO!" After a few moments of watching the curse take its effect on Helen, Tom began to give her instructions. "Now you're going to pack your bags and you're going to come with me. You'll divorce Riley and become mine. You will never run away from me and you will stay at my side until the day I TRULY die! Is that understood?"
Though she didn't want to agree, she couldn't stop the word from coming out of her mouth, "Yes."
END FLASHBACK
"And I've been under the curse ever since. He refreshes it from time to time but not today. Today I'm under my own free will. He thought it was necessary when seeing my daughter again. I don't comprehend the workings of his mind but that's far beyond the point. Darling, there's something you need to understand about all that I just told you. You see, once upon a time, I did truly love your father. And there's no chance in hell I would have ever left him in the first place regardless of what he did if it wasn't for the fact that he sent me away. That man's greatest flaw, despite everything else, is his jealousy."
Helen took a sip of her cappuccino and looked at her daughters face. Horror was the first expression she saw but that soon changed to understanding. "But you would have let me grow up with him, let him raise me? You would have subjected me to a life of knowing that my father was a murderer? What if he had decided to kill people right in front of my very eyes? You would have let me live that kind of life?"
"It wasn't like that when I was with Tom. When I first met him, he was sweet. The only thing I ever saw wrong with him at first was the enormous age difference. But we never do choose the ones we love. I'm sure you've figured that out by now. Anyway, I told you what happened because I needed you to know that I didn't abandon you. I never would have left you. But after Tom put the Imperio on me, I waited at the house until Riley got home from work. I knew the only way he would let me leave is if I was cruel and I guess I was a little TOO cruel considering how he took it out on you. I told him that I never wanted him. He was just a security blanket that I had felt safe with. I said that he was never good enough for me and I didn't know why I had wasted my time on him for so many years. I told him that the only way he'd ever have been able to have me was if I was unconscious and he forced himself unto me."
"So that's it? That's why he became so..."
"Hermione, I need to know right now. Did Riley rape you?"
She dropped her ice latte at the mere question. "W...w...what? W...w...why...why would you ask that?" she asked as she began to clean up the mess that she had just made.
"Did he rape you, Hermione?"
"NO! He...he never...he never raped me! That's an...an absurd idea! Why would you ever think that he raped me?"
"Because your friend Draco said it was worse than just beatings and the only thing worse than having a person you considered a father beating you senseless and telling you that you're the scum of the Earth is having the same man rape you."
"Well I don't know why you would ever come to a silly conclusion like that but the answer is no. He never raped me!" In Hermione's mind, she was falling apart. She knew she was lying and she also knew that she probably should have told her mother the truth but it scared her too much to ever confess it out loud.
"Thank goodness! I was so worried, dear. You know, you hear in the news or read in the papers about all these young girls that get violated in such a horrid manner and it scares the living daylights out of me, thinking that you could be one of them. The worst part is, a lot of young girls like yourself feel too humiliated to ever tell anyone so we have all the sexual predators out there on the loose all because the girls are embarrassed. And then, the girls just keep it all inside, all their emotions of fear and sadness and distress and no one can ever help them. I'm so glad that's not you."
"Can we please get back to the subject?"
"Sorry. What were we talking about again?"
"You being in love with the Dark Lord! I just don't get it. When he became Voldemort originally, why did you stay with him?"
"Isn't it obvious? Like he said to me when we first saw each other again, love truly is blind to everything, Hermione."
"Don't give me that! Even if you still loved him, you should've known to get out of there!"
"But if I had gotten out of there, Hermione, you would have never been conceived! If I had never loved the most evil man in the world, I would have never wound up giving birth to the greatest witch Hogwarts has ever seen."
"I don't care. I still can't believe it."
"What can't you believe?"
"Everything! I can't believe my dad is the Dark Lord! I can't believe you're actually a witch and not a muggle! I can't believe Riley's not my father but I'm thankful for it! And I can't believe that I just had the best and the worst summer of my life and..."
"Why was it the best AND the worst? I thought you had an awful summer."
"Well I did...except for the part where I got to get to know Draco. He's really sweet actually. And kind. And considerate. And handsome. And..."
"And..." Helen said with a little smile. "And you're in love with him."
"AM NOT!"
"Yes you are, sweetheart! It's written all over your face. Don't worry, it's only obvious to me. You're in love."
"No. I can't be. We're not even dating. We only just became friends. I can't love him. That's insane. That's blasphemy! Me? In love with Malfoy? I think living with the Dark Lord for so long now has really messed with your sense of humor because telling me that I'm in love with Malfoy is NOT funny!"
"I wasn't trying to be funny. You are in love with the boy! And I think your father approves of him so isn't that just great!"
"Why would I care if my "father" approves? He hasn't been there for me for the last seventeen years. His opinion is irrelevant."
"Maybe to you it is but to him, well...let's just say this. If he didn't approve and you went ahead and dated the bloke anyway...you had better be prepared to start writing a eulogy for the poor guy."
"Well it really doesn't matter 'cause Draco and I are never going to go out. We're just friends and it's a wonder that we're even that."
"Is that how he feels? Is that all he feels towards you...friendship? That's not the impression I got."
"What? You think he likes me?" Inside Hermione's head, the wheels were turning faster and faster, processing every word her mother said. Was it true? Did she really love the man that tortured her for so many years? And did he feel the same?
"I think that if he didn't, he wouldn't be back there sucking up to your father right now. I think that if he wasn't head over heals for you, then he would've run back to Hogwarts at first glance of the Dark Lord. I think that if he wasn't in love with you, he would never have tried to protect you from a wizard with quadruple the amount of power as him! You may have always thought him to be a stupid git but trust me...he's smart enough to know a great catch when he's sees one and you, my dear, are a fabulous catch. You're beautiful and intelligent...a little emotional but you make up for it with your kindness and caring."
Hermione's face was blushing a bright red color and she began walking back towards Knocturn Alley. "Mum," she said as the rounded the corner. "Don't speak to Draco about me. I don't want you to go there and hint that he should be with me like you did the first day you met Harry and Ron. I'll find a boyfriend for myself. Don't get involved."
Helen grasped Hermione's hand tightly in hers. "Whatever you wish, my darling. I just want you to be happy."
A/N...Writers block lifted...for now! Today is August 12, 2004 and it is 2:42 PM. I just finished writing this. I hope you enjoyed. I also hope you're happy with the length. It's just a little over 6 pages on Microsoft.
Just so we're clear...Helen really is the sweet and loving mom and she never would have left Hermione had she not been forced. It wasn't of her own free will. Also, she still calls Lord Voldemort - Tom - b/c that's the man she fell in love with and she doesn't know him as anything else.
And by the way, love really is blind to everything in my opinion. You don't chose who you fall for, it just happens. I mean, I know a lot of people don't like to date outside of their religion or culture but you see mixed couples all the time and I think that's the way love works. It's all a part of life's plan so I suggest you just go with it. Let life take you wherever it takes you and stop asking questions. That's my own philosophy. You don't have to follow it but it's what I try to live by and I figured I'd just fill you in on it.
Thanks for all the great reviews and I hope you all do the same for this one. I love hearing what you guys think!
