Oh man. I'm so sorry! I did not mean to take a break right at the cliffhanger. Life got thrown a little out of whack (mostly good stuff) but I'm back and ready with the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter universe and am not making any money off this fic.
"Non. I believe she made you a horcrux."
Hermione felt her breath catch in her chest as a wave of despondency and despair immediately overwhelmed her. After years of obsessively dwelling on what she could've done differently, she had had to work diligently to put away the trauma of their horcrux hunt far away in the back of her mind. She had thought the horcrux hunt was something she could be proud to have overcome but grateful to never face again. It was absolutely impossible to fathom going through anything comparable again. "NoNoNoNoNo I can't, Fleur. I can't face this. I can't do it. This is just worse than my worst nightmares. After all these years, I can't have possibly imagined anything worse than this. Why does it never end? It just never stops!"
As Hermione's voice got more hysterical, Fleur became more worried as she had definitely underestimated how much Hermione was still affected by the past and how much she could handle after recent events. Fleur tugged her as close into herself as she could in their position as she listened to Hermione's ranting. For now, Fleur would be there to hold her and comfort her, but she could feel her determination rising to free the brunette in her arms, at any cost.
Hermione had, understandably, been quite unable to sleep that night. Her mind was racing with the possibilities and the signs she had missed. Her feet tried to meet the pace of her mind as she traced a pathway through her apartment. Fleur, feeling guilty for dropping such a bomb on Hermione, sat at the kitchen table trying to write out everything she knew about horcruxes as it pertained to this situation: methods of destruction, signs and symptoms, possible motivations for Bellatrix to try this, how many she may have made, and items she may have used if she made others. The thought of another fight against horcruxes was unthinkable and daunting.
Finally around 4 am, Fleur remembered something Hermione had this time around she had not had the first time: parents she could lean on. Grasping at something she could do to help, she ran into Hermione's room and grabbed her mobile, then brought it out and pressed it into Hermione's hand. "Please, darling. Call your parents. I think they would want to be here with you." Hermione tearfully thanked her for her thoughtfulness and opened her phone to make the call. As bad as she felt for waking them up so early, Fleur had a point - she was at her breaking point and desperately needed their comfort. And she did know her parents wanted to be there for her. After she gave them their memories back, they were most upset that had been that they hadn't been there for her and that their daughter had been in so much danger without any sense of safety or home to rely on. They made it abundantly clear that they wanted her to be able to tell them everything and let them be there for her, and that was a comfort she now relished after living in fear of never having that again.
Hermione dialed her mom's phone, knowing she was the lighter sleeper of the two and more likely to have her phone close, and anxiously waited for her mother to pick up. "Hmphf… Hermione? Is that you?" Feeling relief flood through her, she crumpled down onto the couch. "Mum! Hi. I'm really sorry for waking you up." "It's fine, dear. Now tell me what has you calling. Why are you awake?" Hermione could hear some rustling on the other end and then her dad's voice "Hermione? Are you okay? Do you need us to come pick you up somewhere? Oof!" Clearly her mum had elbowed her dad for assuming Hermione was drunk calling them, which made her laugh a little. Merlin she had missed them.
"Hi Daddy. Um no I don't need to get picked up. I was um… Fleur is here spending the night and we were talking and um… I got some news that I um… I don't know what to do."
Her dad piped up "Fleur's spending the night there, huh? Couldn't wait for the wedding then?"
"Colin! Hermione called us distraught! Now is not the time. Although we will be coming back to that, Hermione. Now what was this news? Are you pregnant?"
"Jean-" "Mum! No! Dad! No! That's-That's not what this is about. Er… I don't really know how to explain it." Taking her phone from her ear, she turned to Fleur. "Is there any way you could explain this to them?" Fleur reached for the phone, thankful Hermione had made her and Harry get phones so she knew how to use it without looking like an imbécile.
"Bonjour? Oui, this is Fleur, Hermione's friend. She asked me to explain… non, it is not pregnancy. Well, yes she is distraught but it's not… well, I guess it is life or death, but not immediate… Well, I wouldn't have put it as leisurely life or death, non. Hold on just a minute, please let me explain… I'm trying! Ok I will 'spit it out' then. Hermione is a horcrux."
Hermione could tell the conversation was quickly degrading as her parents went from worried to angry and demanding the longer they waited for answers, but you could hear a pin drop after Fleur "spat out" the problem. You could probably hear a feather drop. She knew it was unfair for her to make Fleur tell her parents and take the brunt of their anger, so she turned to her, mouthed "I'm sorry" and took the phone back. "Mum, Dad, are you still there?"
Snapped out of his shocked stupor, her dad started ranting… asking how this could happen, didn't they finish it off the first time around, what was happening. Cutting off his rant, Hermione's mother jumped in, "Sweetie, I feel like there's a lot more of this conversation that needs to be had. Can you give us 20 minutes to get ready and then come over? I'd really rather do this face-to-face." Relieved that her parents were going to be there for her, she agreed quickly and hung up the phone.
30 minutes later, five adults were cozied up together in the living room of her childhood home. Fleur had convinced Hermione to call Harry so she was surrounded by all of her close family. Hermione now sat cuddled into Fleur's side with Harry on the floor leaning against their loveseat, and her parents were huddled together on the couch across from them. They kept the lights dim because of the hour, but they were all cradling a hot cup of coffee or tea. Between the two of them, Fleur and Hermione managed to explain the whole situation and the five of them spent several hours poring over Fleur's notes and throwing ideas around. Harry had been devastated by the news but had an iron will to destroy the horcrux by any means necessary. At breakfast time, Harry ask Kreacher to join them, bringing fresh coffee and scones and his own knowledge of house elf magic he had never thought to ask about the first time around. Emotions were high because of the possible danger and chance of missing any horcruxes, but by mid-morning, the conversation was becoming circular and everyone involved needed a break, and in most cases, a nap. With Harry settled into the guest bedroom, Hermione took Fleur's hand and led her upstairs to her own room. She felt ready to collapse after the emotional rollercoaster the last 12 hours, and really, the last several months, had been. As they settled into bed, Fleur pulled Hermione close so she was resting her head on her shoulder and they quietly clung to each other waiting for sleep to come.
"Fleur?"
"Hmm?"
"I just wanted to say… I can't begin to thank you for being here for me. Things have been so hard and when I start wondering if they could possibly get harder, somehow they do. And sometimes I wonder if I'm strong enough or if I'll somehow physically collapse under the weight of the burdens I'm feeling but… you're there and it makes it… not okay, but you somehow make me feel stronger than I ever thought I could be. It's like knowing that no matter what happens, you're holding me up and I'm just so thankful for you."
Fleur felt her eyes fill with tears and her chin started trembling as she thought of how much Hermione had been through and held Hermione more tightly. "You don't ever have to thank me for being here for you. I want to be here."
Hermione heard a tremble in Fleur's voice and glanced up in time to see Fleur's emotional reaction. Having had a hard time controlling her own emotions, she felt the dam break and her own tears started building up. "There's nobody else in the world I want by my side. I can't imagine how my life would be without you. You mean so much to me, Fleur."
"Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi." Fleur whispered into Hermione's hair as she laid a light kiss to the crown of her head and they both finally fell into a peaceful deep sleep.
