A/N: Hello, my wonderful audience! It seems I've broken quite a few hearts with just the first chapter, and I'm back to do it again! Just kidding. Sort of. It certainly breaks my heart to write this, but I promise it won't always be this way. Trust me. Feel free to curse me out for writing such heartbreaking stuff (I deserve it), but I'm just happy my writing is doing its intended purpose. I don't want to break your hearts, but it's necessary for the story, which I've been slightly obsessing over since the idea struck me. My point is, the goal of writing is to make you feel, so if my writing isn't doing that, then I'm failing. So, I hope you're all ready to feel again, and I hope you're all doing well.
Thanks for your early support, it means more than I can describe and keeps me motivated to continue.
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make her the cutest that I've ever seen
Giver her two lips like roses and clover
And tell her hat her lonely nights are over
-Mr. Sandman, SYML
Everything felt so far away, like she was experiencing the world wrapped in plastic and also underwater, like when a gloved hand is submerged. She felt like she should've been able to move her body, but her limbs felt like they weren't hers. She was a spectator in her body, unable to do anything to act on the world outside of her subconscious. Bellatrix wasn't stupid, she knew she had received the Dementor's Kiss, faintly remembered it, even. She shivered, well, she would have, if she had any bodily control. It had been to protect her family, she had condemned herself to this long ago. She always knew if Voldemort lost, she would be punished, even if she helped the Order win. No one would believe her, not that she was surprised.
The insanity had helped, when those foul Dementors descended upon her, extracting the already shredded pieces of her soul. They tore those layers away, until there was nothing left. But that wasn't quite true. Bellatrix was still here, hiding within the depths of her mind, under all the insanity she had built up as protection. She always knew the day would come where she would be kissed. It didn't hurt to be prepared, even if she had no way out of her mind and back to her body. At least she was herself again. At least her sisters were safe.
Hermione spent most of her time at Malfoy Manor in the library, pouring over tomes she had never heard of before. Even as busy as she was, she still made time every day to read, something that baffled Draco. The few books he had tried to read over the years had been dreadfully dry and archaic, and he had not taken to them at all. If they hadn't been so rare, he might've just gotten rid of them. As it was, the collection was a symbol of prestige, one that seemed worthless now. Still, he understood Hermione's quest for knowledge of any kind. He had never seen knowledge wielded with as much grace and dexterity as Hermione did. It was a finely honed weapon, sometimes more powerful than her wand, which was nothing to trifle with, either.
Draco enjoyed being at the Ministry with Hermione. She explained to him what she was currently working on, as much as she could, since some of it was classified. The people were nice enough to him, though he suspected it was more due to the fact that Hermione could be rather terrifying.
At this particular moment, the entire department was silent, almost holding their breath and looking at Hermione expectantly. The witch in front of her was oblivious to the imminent danger as she prattled on about how upset she was that someone of Hermione's standing would sponsor someone like Draco. Hermione remained silent through her tirade, her eye twitching as the woman gestured in Draco's direction angrily. Draco felt his ears redden in shame and regret, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"So, what you're telling me is that you disapprove of my decision to assist in the rehabilitation of a young man who was misguided by the people he believed he could trust? Do you not think he deserves a chance? Do you think he is evil because the people in his life were evil? Do you think he's incapable of being good? Do you see me as an incapable witch? Should someone of my standing not help other people? Witches and wizards who refuse to adapt and give people a chance are the reason there was a war, to begin with," Hermione said, stepping closer to the witch, even as she stepped back.
She didn't speak loudly, but her voice carried through the department easily. The witch opened and closed her mouth several times, seeming like she was about to say something and thought better of it every time.
"If there's anything else?" Hermione said, barely masking the annoyance in her voice.
The woman shook her head timidly, turning to leave the department and the Ministry altogether. Embarrassment painted her face red and she kept her gaze on the floor the whole time. As soon as Hermione turned to her staff, they immediately resumed working, the regular noise occupying the space once more. Hermione beckoned Ginny over, the redheaded witch taking long strides to her friend and boss.
"What's up, boss?" Ginny asked casually as soon as Hermione was in earshot.
"Can you schedule the training field for tomorrow afternoon. I don't care if the Aurors have it booked, special training takes priority. I'll deal with the Auror department if they cry about it. Make sure all the field agents get the memo. And I have a meeting with Kingsley, could you supervise Draco? He won't be a bother just give him a book or find some low-security cases he can accompany you on. And for the love of Merlin, please send the interdepartmental memo on my desk before I have a chance to forget again," Hermione said, holding out her hand to catch her blazer as it flew toward her.
"Sure thing, 'Mione," Ginny said making to leave.
"Oh! One more thing. If you see Harry and Ron in here at all I want to be notified immediately so I can take the issue up with their supervisor, even if I'm in the middle of the meeting."
Ginny chuckled, giving her a mock salute as she made her way toward Draco, grabbing the young wizard by the arm and leading him to her office. Hermione pulled on her jacket as she strode to the elevator. She ran the department well enough alone, but she was so glad Ginny was there to help. As the elevator lurched in almost every direction imaginable, and a couple of directions that weren't, Hermione thought about the moments that had led to her being where she was. Being a war hero, of course, had done wonders for her career, just as it had for Harry and Ron. Unlike her two best friends, she had decided to finish Hogwarts and managed to complete her Auror training at the same time, too. It hadn't been easy, but she had certainly accomplished harder things. She rose through the Auror ranks faster than Harry and Ron, causing some animosity, before transferring directly to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as a field agent. Once again, she had soared through the ranks, and Kingsley had offered her the position as its Head when the previous one had decided to retire. She had accepted on the condition that she choose her deputy, to which he had agreed. She had been keeping a close eye on Ginny since she heard about her possible promotion- from the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement himself- and knew she would be the perfect fit. That had caused the animosity between her and her friends to flare up again and caused animosity between Ginny and Ron and Harry. They had worked past it for the most part, until Hermione decided to sponsor Draco. She wondered, as the elevator came to a stop, how many more times Harry and Ron would find a stupid reason to be mad at her. Hermione straightened her clothes before walking into Kingsley's office, composed as she always tried to be.
"Ah! Hermione! As punctual as ever!" Kingsley greeted as she walked into his office.
"Minister," she greeted with a nod, taking a seat across from him when he gestured to her to do so.
"How are things going?" he asked, pouring himself a cup of tea and offering some to her.
"No, thank you. Things are well enough, though the number of people I've had to tell off is starting to irritate me. Draco is an exceptional young man and has shown true remorse for his actions during the war. And my room in the Manor is very comfortable," Hermione said.
"That's good to hear. There is another reason I asked for a meeting, though. There's been an incident with some of the inmates at Azkaban. Before you get angry, this information is brand new, it just came in this morning. The details aren't there, the testimony was unreliable, but I need you to pick a small squad to investigate and deal with the issue, whatever it may be. I hate to send a team in blind, but there's no telling what they'll face, if its an inmate, or dementors, or guards, so they need to be discrete, effective, and impartial," he conveyed.
"I'll see to it immediately," Hermione assured him.
"Thank you, Hermione. That was all," he said, dismissing her.
The wheels in Hermione's head turned as she pondered who to send. She had already decided she would go, she would never send anyone in blind if she wasn't there, which meant Ginny would stay behind and take care of the department and Draco. Luna was always a reliable field agent, even if she was still as quirky as always, which often helped in these situations. Hermione entered the elevator, numb to the rapid speed and direction changes it took as she thought. She could pull Neville from his department for the day since this was the highest priority assignment and she had the authority to. His skill had improved remarkably over the years, and he was stalwart even in the face of danger, something he had grown into in the years they had all attended Hogwarts. Normally, she would've also sent Harry and Ron, but she wasn't sure they could be impartial enough, and she was pretty sure they would still be mad at her. Hawkins was still technically a rookie, but she had been watching him closely and thought he had a lot of potential. His work was solid and he had proved to have good judgment and the kind of impartialness she often looked for in her field agents.
As she exited the elevator, she sent a Patronus to each of them, summoning them for immediate briefing in her office and giving them temporary permission to apparate directly to her. As she took long strides toward her door, she transfigured her outfit into something suitable for field-work, smirking at the whispers she left in her wake. Hermione loved being in the field and took every opportunity she could to accompany teams. This garnered the respect and trust of her field agents because they knew she would never send them on a mission she herself wouldn't go on.
"Ginny, level four incident, I need you to take care of things until I get back or until your shift is over. Do not wait for me here, please take Draco home and supervise him there. Sorry about leaving you, Draco, but I won't send a squad in blind unless I'm with them. Ginny is the only one I trust to watch you and she's the only other person who can run the department in my stead," Hermione said as she adjusted her collar and bracers.
"That's okay, I know it's your job. Good luck," he said.
"I need the room, please, and I'll send a message as soon as I'm back," Hermione said, as Neville, Luna, and Hawkins appeared in the room with a pop.
"Don't forget this time," Ginny said as she guided Draco to her desk.
"I PROMISE," she shouted, turning to her gathered squad, "We have to conduct an investigation in Azkaban. Something happened, I don't know what, so basically we're going in blind."
"Splendid," Neville said sarcastically but with a grin on his face.
"Wait, we don't know anything?" Hawkins asked, his face paling slightly.
"Don't worry, Agent Hawkins, Hermione always takes care of her team," Luna said, smiling at them dreamily.
"We apparate in pairs, we search as a team, no splitting up, wands out, Patronus at your side at all times. You answer to me, not the Warden, and his office will be our point of entrance and exit. We search floor by floor and the second something seems wrong, say it. Clear?" Hermione informed them.
"Clear," they chorused.
Hawkins grabbed Hermione's outstretched forearm, and Hermione apparated them away when Neville nodded that they were ready. They appeared in the Warden's office, followed a second later by Neville and Luna.
"Warden," Hermione greeted, "We are here to conduct an investigation, if you intervene, you will be arrested for obstruction of justice. Do not inform the Aurors on duty and hold the shift change until we clear the building."
"Yes, of course, Miss Granger," he said, drawn out of his paperwork-induced haze when they arrived.
They moved through the prison slowly and methodically, Hawkins and Hermione in the front and Neville and Luna walking backward behind them. For hours they worked in silence, only broken when they questioned the Aurors on duty. Despite there being no indication that anything happened, they continued to tirelessly search the prison, staying alert for anything out of the ordinary. They had no concept of the time, or how long they had been there, but they cleared each floor without complaint, searching thoroughly for anything amiss. It wasn't until they reached one of the lower floors- nearly the bottom- that they heard something suspicious. Indecipherable sounds echoed through the halls and they all exchanged a look. Hermione inclined her head in the direction she thought it was coming from, waiting for her team's nod of agreeance before heading in that direction.
The sounds grew louder as they approached, the echo still distorting the nature of it. They moved slowly, with caution, as quietly as possible. The sounds of laughter and sobs grew clearer, and Hermione was struck by the vague familiarity of both sources of sound. She peered into the cell to her right, seeing nothing and moving to the next. Hawkins peered into the cell next to him, startling as the prisoner inside suddenly let out a loud scream. The rookie jumped, an audible gasp escaping his throat against his will.
"Who's there?" a voice Hermione was now able to place asked.
"Hermione Granger, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, accompanied by Agents Longbottom, Lovegood, and Hawkins. Exit the cell with your hands in the air, Cormac," she answered, her voice echoing strangely off the walls.
"Well, well. Been a while, Hermione," he said, slowly approaching the bars of the cell to exit.
"Auror McLaggen, you're under arrest for abuse of an authoritative position resulting in harm of another person," Hermione said, her wand leveled at the wizard.
"You're joking," he said with a laugh of disbelief, "After everything he's done you're going to detain me for giving him what he deserves?"
"You are an Auror, it is not your job to enact what you see as justice," she reminded him.
" He deserves it," he hissed, "They all do."
"That is not for you to decide. Are you going to cooperate?"
He glanced at the three Agents by her side, seeming to weigh his options. With a sigh, he exited the cell, keeping his hands in clear view as he did. Just before they detained him, he reached for his wand and threw a blind stunner in their direction, sprinting down the hall. Hermione easily deflected the stunner, immediately taking off after him, her squad close behind. She cast a protego, his poorly aimed stunners bouncing harmlessly off it. He ducked under one that reflected at his head, stumbling enough for Neville and Luna to both cast an incarcerous and hit him. He fell face-first, ropes around his knees and arms. His wand clattered to the floor, and he squirmed in an attempt to free himself. The ropes just tightened against his struggling.
"Hawkins, go with Luna and check on the prisoner. We'll request a few healers from St. Mungo's in the morning if it's nothing serious and they'll check everyone out," Hermione directed, leaning down to scoop up Cormac's wand.
The two agents nodded, hastily moving back to the cell Cormac had been in when they found him. They returned in a few minutes, jogging back to Hermione and Neville.
"Nothing we could find," Luna reported when Hermione was in earshot.
"Lucky for you, Cormac, but I'll see to it that you never work in the Ministry again, and that's if you don't end up in here," Hermione said, "Levicorpus."
They made their way back to the Warden's office, Luna and Neville leading the way and Hermione and Hawkins bringing up the rear. Their progress was much faster this time, luckily for them, because their Patronuses had dimmed considerably. Hermione's flickered in and out of existence, the drain on her magic making her exhausted. At last, they reached the Warden's office and Hermione let Cormac's body hit the ground with a thump.
"Auror McLaggen is suspended indefinitely, pending the formal report and the decision of the Minister. You are responsible for informing the Auror department of the shortage. You can now conduct a shift change," Hermione told the Warden wearily.
He nodded, and she gestured to Neville and Luna to take Cormac to the holding cells, handing his wand to Luna. Hawkins offered his forearm and she gratefully took it, the pair stumbling slightly when they appeared in the Ministry.
"Sorry, I usually don't do side-alongs," Hawkins apologized after getting his bearings.
"I'm sure it would've ended much worse if I had apparated us," Hermione chuckled, "Report by the end of the day tomorrow, include your memory of the events and a record of the spells you cast. It's a little different from your usual reports, so if you have any questions, just ask me, and do try to be here before lunch."
"Why did you ask me to come? I don't feel like I helped much," Hawkins asked, shifting on his feet awkwardly.
"You did help. You had our backs, you weren't jumpy, you responded appropriately to each situation we encountered. It was a test. Congratulations, you're no longer a rookie," Hermione said with a sly smile, offering him a wave of farewell as she made her way to the floo.
She grabbed a handful of the green powder, ducking her head as she entered and announcing her destination before letting it fall from her grasp. She tripped as she emerged in the Malfoy foyer, catching herself just in time. Strong slim arms engulfed her, and she chuckled into red hair.
"It's all good," Hermione said, "I just finished up."
"I was getting worried, I thought you'd've been done hours ago," Ginny said, pulling away from Hermione, "I can't wait to read the report."
Hermione laughed, catching sight of Draco and Narcissa. "I'll tell you about it in the morning. Go get some sleep, you'll be going to Azkaban tomorrow."
"Hermione, would you like some dinner?" Narcissa asked, her motherly instincts kicking in as she surveyed her for injuries, "Miss Weasley is welcome to stay, she's been great with Draco."
"Yeah, she's really cool, you should dump me with her more often," Draco smirked, "She knows so much more about Quidditch than you do."
"You guys didn't already eat?" Hermione asked, glancing between the three of them.
"We were too worried," Ginny whispered to her.
"Then, sure, let's eat," Hermione laughed.
Narcissa gestured for them to go through the doors in front of her, the quartet seating themselves at the too-large table. As soon as they were settled in their chairs, food appeared on the table and Hermione felt her mouth water at the sight and smell of it. No matter how many times it happened, it always made her feel like she was back in the Great Hall.
Hermione stood outside one of the doors in the Guest Wing of Malfoy Manor. She couldn't explain why she felt drawn to it, but she was. She had no business snooping around a house that wasn't hers, and she had no reason to think there was any danger, but she couldn't help her curiosity. It had drawn her to it every night, and she always resisted the urge to open the door and look inside. So, she stood there, a faint glow illuminating the wood of the door. Hermione chewed her lip. She wanted to know, but she could never betray another person's privacy by entering. She got the feeling if she knocked, she would never receive an answer, and it wasn't her place to ask Narcissa or Draco, no matter how much she wanted to know.
"Hermione?" a soft voice asked, muffled footsteps drawing closer.
"Narcissa! I- I'm sorry, I wasn't going to go in, I just- I don't know," Hermione stuttered, her cheeks reddening at the fact that she had been caught.
"You've come here every night since you started staying here," Narcissa said, a playful smile on her face.
"I don't know why," Hermione mumbled, looking from the door to the blonde witch.
"My sister is in that room," she said, as if that answered all of Hermione's questions.
Hermione's mind spun for a second. Andromeda and Narcissa weren't on speaking terms, which left...
"Bellatrix." The word was barely more than a breath, and Hermione felt the fingers of her left hand twitch as she said it.
"Yes. After she was given the kiss, she needed somewhere to be so she would be cared for. Andromeda would never have done it, even though Bellatrix protected her until the end, and I could not bear to leave her in the hands of St. Mungo's. I've lost everyone but Draco, I couldn't completely lose my sister, too," Narcissa explained, her throat tightening against her will as she spoke.
"She gave me clues. About how to win. Without her help, I think we would've lost," Hermione said, her eyes locked on Narcissa's.
"You can go in, Hermione. I know you won't hurt her. You're probably the only one who sees her for who she is," Narcissa mumbled, turning and walking away from Hermione.
Hermione watched the receding figure of Narcissa Malfoy until she was engulfed by the darkness of the hallway, a small frown on her face. After several moments, she placed her hand on the knob of the door, a strange tingle working its way down her spine. She hesitated, finally giving in to her curiosity and opening the door. With a deep breath, she stepped into the dark room, a faint light spelling itself into existence when she crossed the threshold. Her eyes fell on the supine figure of Bellatrix, beautiful even in her death-like state.
Bellatrix's limited awareness felt the prickle of a presence in her room, different from that of her sister or nephew. It confused her, because so far, they had been the only ones to spend any time wherever she was. Malfoy Manor, she assumed, since no one else had ever entered. But now, now she wasn't too sure. The presence was vaguely familiar, but she was unable to conjure up the name. All she knew was she had encountered it a few times before.
"I'm sorry this happened to you," she heard, the words distorted as if she was underwater, listening to someone speak to her. The voice was definitively feminine, but she couldn't quite place it. She recognized it, though. Narcissa and Draco never talked to her when they were here, and it was a struggle for her to push through the depths of her mind enough to listen, but she wanted to, even though she hadn't wanted anything to do with the outside world since the dementor's kiss. She existed in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness, unable to move her body and only perceiving things that weren't prolonged.
"I tried to stop them because you helped us," the voice continued.
"They needed to condemn someone, it may as well have been me," Bellatrix thought in response.
"You deserved a chance, but you never got one. It could've been any of the other Death Eaters, it could have been all of them, but they wanted it to be you. You were his second, but you never wanted to be, did you?" it asked rhetorically.
"No. I didn't. I wanted a normal life. I had to so I could protect them. My sisters. My family." Bellatrix didn't know why she wanted to respond to the voice. She didn't know why she felt the urge to answer. She had already decided to be content with her fate.
"I don't think I ever got a chance to thank you for your help. I wish I had, I wish I could've saved you, like you saved me." The voice was louder, as if it had moved closer.
"There was never any hope for me," Bellatrix thought sadly.
"Thank you, Bellatrix, for telling me how to win," it whispered.
Bellatrix was suddenly struck with why the voice was so familiar. "Hermione. I knew you could do it. I always knew you could win."
She wished she could speak. She wished she could push her way out of her mind and say those words. She wished she could, but she couldn't. Hermione's presence grew distant, until Bellatrix couldn't sense it anymore.
"Please don't go," she thought desperately, a single tear escaping her eye and running down her cheek, "Please come back."