Chapter 20: On a Cold Morning
"How to Save a Life" by The Fray
Within twenty-four hours of Charlie Weasley's death, everyone in the wizarding world knew about it. Every known magic periodical paper and magazine was filled with pictures of the Dark Mark over Hogwarts, the other Weasleys, the pile of rubble that was once the Shrieking Shack, and even a couple low-quality shots of Harry and Ron, hiding from the cameras. Thankfully, those few pictures were the most informative parts of the articles. The articles said the Weasleys had been in hiding from the Death Eaters, but no one knew why.
Dumbledore told the Weasleys to stay inside Hogwarts. All of the Order members moved into the castle too, deciding they would all be the safest if they lived together. All the house elves Order members had adopted after Hogwarts was closed gladly returned to the castle and kitchen they were accustomed to working in. The Weasleys had lost everything when the Death Eaters destroyed the Shrieking Shack, so they all collected spare school robes out of the Room of Requirement to use, along with clothes some of the other Order members loaned them as their daily clothing.
Dumbledore and Snape had arrived at Hogwarts on the morning after the attack, to explain what they'd done after they'd been alerted to the raid. They had gone and destroyed the Death Eaters' underground hideout, the one outside Knockturn Alley, trying to distract as many Death Eaters as they could and divide their forces without actually showing themselves at Hogwarts. After all, they had to avoid exposing themselves for as long as possible. Dumbledore was devastated to hear that Charlie had died when he hadn't been there to help.
As it turned out, Charlie, Rabastan, and Macnair hadn't been the only casualties of the fight. Amycus and Alecto Carrow were killed when they accidentally crashed into the Whomping Willow during the largely airborne battle. The final casualty had been Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. When Greyback had cornered and disarmed Tonks on the ground near the Black Lake, Crookshanks had leapt onto Greyback's head and gouged one of Greyback's eyes with his claws, so Tonks could escape. Unfortunately, Greyback had grabbed the cat off his head and thrown him far out into the icy water of Black Lake, where Crookshanks had drowned.
While Snape had been forced to depart within hours of his arrival, Dumbledore, Harry, and Ron remained at Hogwarts for Charlie's funeral. Harry and Ron kept their two-way mirror with them constantly, waiting tensely for Hermione to contact them. They dreaded having to explain to her what had happened, but they also felt a stronger need than ever to see and speak to her. They remained at Hogwarts for two days after Charlie's funeral, even after Dumbledore had to leave, without hearing from her. The morning Harry and Ron returned to the Grangers' house, Hermione finally made contact. She blinked as soon as she saw their downcast faces.
"What happened?" She asked, wondering whether or not she really wanted to know. Harry and Ron exchanged somber glances.
Hermione tucked her tear-splashed two-way mirror back into her bottomless bag. She pushed the bag under her bed before falling across the bed and burying her face in her pillow. Not only had the second-oldest son of her current roommate, Molly Weasley, been murdered, but he was killed by Pettigrew, the traitorous Marauder currently sitting in the boys' dormitory, yards away, working on his Herbology essay. And her cat, Crookshanks, was dead too, having sacrificed himself to save Tonks from Greyback.
Hermione heard the voices of Lily, Molly, and Alice coming up to the dormitory door. She quickly blotted her tear-stained face with her robes and tried to collect herself before they entered. She stood up beside her bed as they came in.
"It'll be okay, Molly," Alice said, guiding Molly over to her own bed. "Madam Pomfrey gave you those potions to help with the sickness, and this time you'll be done with school before you really even start showing."
"Showing?" Hermione asked, her stomach plummeting sickeningly. Molly, Alice, and Lily looked over at her. Lily frowned at the sight of Hermione's puffy, red eyes, but the two other girls didn't seem to notice. Molly blushed.
"Remember what I told you about me and Arthur, on New Years?" Molly asked. Hermione nodded, truly becoming nauseous at the thought of what Molly was about to tell her. Though Molly still looked a little nervous, she smiled slightly. "Bill's going to get a baby brother," she said. "I'm pregnant." Hermione swayed on her feet. Lily leapt forward and helped Hermione sit down on her bed.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Molly gasped. Hermione forced a laugh, refusing to meet Lily's worried eyes.
"Yeah, sorry," Hermione said, "I missed breakfast. I should probably go try to at least get some toast." Hermione jumped back up to her feet and skirted around Lily, still avoiding eye contact, afraid that meeting Lily's eyes would make her own eyes erupt with tears before she could get out of sight. She sped out the door and down toward the common room. Before she could even reach the bottom of the staircase, tears were splashing down her front. Her feet were continually picking up speed and her mind was reeling so fast that she didn't even notice when she almost ran into Remus as she rushed out of the Gryffindor portal.
Hermione kept running down through the castle, not caring who saw her or what they called after her. She was almost down to the Entrance Hall when one of the observers got physical. Regulus grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her into a dark corner, behind a suit of armor.
"Which one of them hurt you?" He demanded. "Hermione, I swear, I told them to stay away from you after that night in the forest. I didn't mean to get you into trouble. I was stupid. I just wasn't thinking. I told them about what you did. I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry. Just tell me which of them did this to you, and I'll take care of them. I don't care what the Dark Lord will think." Regulus said all this very fast. Hermione blinked, making several lingering tears tumble out onto her cheeks.
"Regulus, what are you talking about?" She asked, confused and staggered. Regulus looked confused.
"When I told the others about what happened in the forest, and what we talked about—the Marauders' Map, the basilisk, the acromantula, the Legilimency, the things Kuja said about you, Hagrid—some of them got really suspicious and angry," Regulus said. "They told Wormtail to try and talk to you about it, but he told them you almost exposed his Mark to the other Gryffindors. Now most of them are thinking you're a really dodgy spy or something. I think you're a good sort, of course, and Snape hasn't said anything against you, but if one of them hurt you—"
"They didn't!" Hermione shouted, her head spinning as she tried to grasp everything she'd just heard from Harry, Ron, Molly, and Regulus, all at once. Regulus blinked.
"Then, why are you—"
"I can't tell you, Regulus," Hermione interrupted again.
"Hermione, why not?" Regulus asked exasperatedly. "I helped you at Christmas, I stood up for you against the others, I took you to see the fireworks on New Year's Eve—what happened to what you told me that night? You told me you knew I was different from the other Death Eaters. You understood me, and I think I understand you more than just about anyone else here."
"No, you don't!" Hermione snapped, not pausing for even a moment to think of the condition of her mission. She couldn't think of anything else at the moment. "You don't know the half of it, and you probably don't want to!"
"Yes, I do!" Regulus shouted, suddenly looking quite distraught himself. "Hermione, there is nothing I want more than to understand what's happening to you, and for that matter what the bloody hell is happening to me!" Hermione gaped at Regulus. He was staring at her as though he couldn't decide if he wanted to hug her or strangle her. "Before you came here, I may not have been a perfect fit with the Death Eaters, or with anyone else," Regulus continued, "but at least I had my sanity! Ever since you came here, I haven't been in my right mind!
"I never really had anything against those Gryffindors you're friends with, but now I find myself liking them and wanting to befriend them myself! I never got along perfectly with the other Death Eaters and Slytherins, but now when they even talk about hurting you or your friends, it's all I can do not to throttle them! I've certainly never been one of the Dark Lord's most devoted Death Eaters, but now I keep thinking of quitting, if only to be able to help you with whatever it is you're still refusing to tell me! I've never felt like this before, and it's bloody well driving me mad! With the Death Eaters, with the Dark Lord, in classes, in Hogsmeade, all I can think about is you! You, and how you make me want to change, and how you make anything seem possible, and how I feel happier and more myself when I'm with you than I ever have in my entire life! Do you have any idea what that feels like?!"
Hermione was crying again. She was backed up against the wall and Regulus' hands were on her shoulders. He was gripping her tightly, hard enough to bruise her, but she barely noticed the pain. Their faces were very close, but only for a moment.
BANG!
Regulus was blasted backward into the suit of armor he'd pulled Hermione behind. Hermione spun around just as Remus aimed his wand at Regulus again, as Regulus crawled out from under the heavy armor. "Remus, no!" Hermione shrieked, jumping in front of Remus' raised wand.
"What was he doing—" Remus began.
"Nothing!" Hermione shouted.
"You were crying—"
"Not because of him!"
"No, we're the ones making you cry, and he's the one you keep running to!" Remus snapped angrily. Hermione looked as though he'd struck her.
"Remus, I didn't run to him, I ran into him," Hermione tried to explain, but Remus just glared at her.
"Like you did on New Year's Eve?" He asked her, a pained expression breaking Hermione's heart. "Really, Hermione, if you're not interested in me, fine! A girl like you can do better than me anyway, but don't do worse!"
"Remus!" Hermione protested.
"He's a Death Eater!" Remus nearly howled in outrage, "He's Sirius' brother! He's—"
"He's not as bad as you think!" Hermione screamed through her tears. Remus looked stricken.
"Hermione," he spoke softly, looking crushed, "I don't pretend to know any more about him than I know about you, and right now I'm not sure I know you at all." Remus gave Hermione one more hurt look before stepping around her and half-running back upstairs.
"Remus!" Hermione called after him pleadingly, "Remus, please come back! Remus!" She started to go after him, but Regulus grabbed her hand. Hermione jumped, having forgotten he was there.
"Just let him go, Hermione," Regulus said. "Forget about it—"
"I can't!" Hermione cried, "You don't understand!" Regulus released her abruptly.
"That really is all I'm going to get from you anymore, isn't it?" He asked, pain and frustration more evident in his voice than in his face, "It's always going to be 'I don't understand'? Well, maybe you're right, Hermione. Maybe I don't want to." With that, Regulus turned and fled the same way as Remus.
"Regulus!" Hermione called after him. She started to follow him, but the left sleeve of her robes snagged on the edge of the spear that was sticking up from the pile of fallen armor and ripped, exposing Garus watch and lightly scratching her wrist. Hermione watched the few drops of blood drawn by the old weapon trickling down to stain the leather band of the watch, and she burst into tears once more. Instead of going upstairs, after Regulus and Remus, she resumed her original course, running through the Entrance Hall and out onto the grounds.
Though there was very little snow still on the ground, the cold, early February air bit at Hermione's face as she continued to run until she reached the front gates of the school. As tears continued to splash down her front, she crossed her arms in front of her. 'Say it,' she thought to herself. 'You just have to say the name once, and the watch will take you back. You failed anyway. You only have three weeks left, and you just ruined things with Regulus. It's over. You failed. Just say it…'
"Granger?" Hermione jumped at the sound of Snape's voice behind her. She wiped her tears with her robes again, and she took a deep breath before turning to face him. Snape blinked at the pitiful sight of her blotchy, tear-stained face, torn robes, bloody wrist, and messy hair. "What are you doing out here?" He asked, smirking mockingly at her distraught appearance. Hermione glared at him.
"Looking for more acromantula," she said icily. Snape gave her a strange look that she couldn't decipher. He glanced back toward the castle before turning his dark eyes back on hers.
"Need help looking?" He said pointedly. Hermione's mind immediately screamed its objections, but her mouth betrayed her again.
"I guess," she said. She drew her wand and muttered a couple spells to mend her robes and clean her tear-streaked face. She proceeded to follow him, not to the Dark Forest, but along the inside of the school gates, heading nowhere in particular. When Snape didn't speak for several minutes, Hermione's nerves finally got to her. She stopped and opened her mouth to speak at the same time he muttered, "You forgot your wrist." Hermione blinked at him, he mouth still slightly open. Snape smirked. "You're still bleeding. It's ruining your pretty watch." Hermione looked down and saw he was right. The spear wound was worse than she'd realized. She groaned and drew her wand.
"Episkey," she grumbled, sealing the wound but not bothering to wipe away the blood. She leveled a glare at Snape. "Look, I know the Death Eaters don't trust me after what happened in the forest, but you know that I saved your life—"
"Yes, I know!" Snape snapped irritably. "That's precisely why I wanted to speak with you alone. I..." Snape trailed off as though the words he was trying to say were as welcome in his mouth as a dungbomb. "Thank you."
"No problem," Hermione said. Snape laughed grimly.
"Yes, it was a problem," he said. "You came to warn me and I slapped you, I got that one you called 'Aragog' even angrier, I couldn't conjure my Patronus until you used Legilimency on me, and you were bitten after I was too slow to dodge that falling tree." Hermione bit back a laugh. When he put it that way, it did sound like a lot of trouble.
"I couldn't just leave you to die," she said.
"That's what I told you to do," Snape said. "I told everyone that they were responsible for getting themselves out on time and alive. You disobeyed orders."
"So did you," Hermione said. Neither she nor Snape were speaking in a challenging tone; they spoke matter-of-factly. Speaking with Snape was surprisingly comforting to Hermione. Since neither of them felt a particularly strong affinity to one another, they could speak frankly without worry; they didn't care if they upset each other.
"You had never used Legilimency before that night, had you?" Snape asked Hermione, after a while. Hermione gave him an inquiring look. "I started practicing both Legilimency and Occlumency in my fifth year," Snape explained. "I'm well practiced in discerning the strength of Legilimency used on me. That's how I can tell who my attacker is, without letting my guard down enough to allow deep penetration. You got lucky with the memory you found in that moment that I let my guard against such assaults slip entirely. I could sense your inexperience." Hermione nodded.
"That was my first time using Legilimency," she admitted. "I know some others who have practiced Occlumency and Legilimency, same year as you. I've studied it, but I'm unpracticed." Snape nodded his understanding.
"You have a raw talent for it," he said simply.
Hermione nodded in thanks. A long silence passed between Hermione and Snape. Hermione didn't need Legilimency to know what Snape was thinking about. "You told me you used Sectumsempra on another person once before," she said. "It was on your father, wasn't it? During a school term, so you couldn't be charged for underage magic use, you used it on him because no one would be able to identify the curse, didn't you?"
"Yes," Snape admitted. "It was shortly after the memory that you saw. My mother was supposed to come meet me for lunch in Hogsmeade, in my fourth year. She sent me a letter telling me my father had thrown her down the stairs and she had to go to St. Mungos. I stole a broom from the quidditch storage room and flew to my house. I knew my father would have left my mother to get to the hospital alone, staying home himself. He'd abused my mother for far too long, nearly killing her the few times she used magic around him, and all I could think was that I had a chance to stop it.
"It was my first kill. My father was passed out on the floor when I got there, probably drunk. I used the Sectumsempra Curse, blasted some furniture around, and called the muggle police. I told them I was walking through the neighborhood when I heard a man scream and saw someone run out of the house, covered in blood. I found a muggle walking nearby, modified their memory to fit the story, and left them to wait for the police while I flew back to Hogwarts. When my mother returned home from St. Mungos, the police told her someone had broken into the house and murdered my father. She never knew the truth."
"Never?" Hermione prodded.
"She died last term," Snape said.
"I'm sorry," Hermione said. Snape said nothing. At first, Hermione wondered if it was because he was really hurt by the memory. When Snape noticed her staring at him, he pointed in the direction of the Black Lake. Hermione turned and saw Remus standing several yards away, looking extremely uncomfortable. Hermione's stomach turned. First Remus had caught her alone with Regulus, and now Snape? He was still standing there, waiting. Whether that was a good or bad sign, it was hard to know. "I need to talk to him," she said to Snape.
"Try to stay out of biting range," Snape scoffed and walked off, keeping a wide berth between him and Lupin. Hermione walked down to Remus, stopping a few feet away from him. She stared down at her feet for a moment. With clear effort, she raised her eyes to meet his.
"Remus, about Snape—"
"I don't even wantto know what you were doing with Snape, Hermione," Remus said. Hermione was silent. "As soon as I got upstairs, I regretted my actions," Remus continued. "Actually, I remained within earshot until Regulus came upstairs too, and I had to get out of the way. As soon as he was gone, I came back downstairs, but you had run off already."
"Remus, there is nothing going on between me and Regulus," Hermione said softly. "We're just friends. We were just friends, I guess. I know that still makes me the friend of a Death Eater, but Regulus isn't who you think he is—"
"Hermione, please stop," Remus said. Hermione fell silent again. "Though I can't say I'm sorry for attacking Regulus, I am sorry for what I said to you," Remus continued. "I was out of line. I do know you better than that, and I do trust you. So, if you say Regulus is okay, I believe you, but... If that's true, why wouldn't you be with him? What I said about how you could do better than me was true. I mean, even if you have nothing against werewolves, what girl in her right mind would really want to be with one?"
"A wonderful girl," Hermione said, her eyes beginning to well up again. "Remus, there is someone out there for you, I promise you that." Remus opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione cut him off. "And if you trust me like you say you do, you'll believe me when I promise you that." Remus was silent. "Remus," Hermione continued, "I do really like you, but…" Hermione trailed off, choking on the words coming to her lips. They still didn't feel quite right. "I have a boyfriend," she said. Remus blinked at her.
"This whole time?" He asked. Hermione nodded.
"If I led you to believe otherwise, Remus, I'm so sorry," Hermione said. Remus actually smiled faintly.
"At least I know it wasn't something I was doing wrong," he said. Hermione laughed.
"No, Remus, you didn't do anything wrong," she said. "You've been wonderful to me. You really will meet someone, Remus. You'll love someone, and they'll love you as more than a friend. She'll really love you. You'll just have to remember my promise and remember to let her in. You'll have to remember that you deserve to be loved, in spite of your curse." Remus nodded, then he glanced back in the direction Snape had gone.
"Do I want to know what you were doing with Snape?" He asked. Hermione shook her head. "I didn't think so," Remus said. He stared into her slightly watery eyes and was reminded of why he'd seen her and Regulus behind the suit of armor to begin with. "Hermione, why were you crying back there?" He asked. "You ran out of your dorm like it was full of boggarts and dementors, but the other girls just said you missed breakfast." Hermione started to cry again as the emotional impediment that her conversation with Snape had created abruptly crumbled.
"I can't tell you, Remus," she said. "I wish I could, but…"
"I wouldn't understand?" Remus asked. Hermione blinked her teary eyes at him. "I heard that last bit of what you said to Regulus," Remus reminded her. Hermione nodded somberly. "Whatever it is you're going through, Hermione, it seems like I'm not the only one who doesn't want to leave you to face it alone," Remus continued. That didn't comfort Hermione at all. She was supposed to tell Regulus the truth, but she might have done irreparable damage to that relationship.
"I'm not going through it alone, Remus," she tried to explain without giving anything away, "but I am, in a way, because I have to." Remus just looked more confused.
"Hermione, that doesn't make any sense," he said.
"It does if you know more details," Hermione half-laughed.
"But you can't tell anyone any details?" Remus asked.
"Not really," Hermione said. Remus nodded, but he looked disappointed. "Lily knows," Hermione blurted out after a moment, trying to reassure him. Remus blinked.
"She does?" He asked. "She's never mentioned anything."
"She promised me she wouldn't tell anyone else unless I asked her to," Hermione explained. "Honestly, Lily wasn't supposed to know either. She found out accidentally. She's been helping me, but there isn't much she can do. Really, the only person here who can really help me is…" Hermione couldn't say his name. She couldn't handle it if she upset Remus again.
"Regulus?" Remus asked. Hermione nodded, unable to meet his eyes.
"I know that doesn't make sense to you, Remus," she sniffed, "but I really do have a very good reason for seeking his help, and no one else's." Hermione felt sick again, the reality of how badly she might've just ruined her only hope of destroying Slytherin's locket making her head spin. "He really is the only one who can help me," she said softly, "but he doesn't even know it, because I haven't been able to explain it to him yet, and now he's probably too angry with me to ever give me a chance to explain all of it. I was finally starting to believe I had things under control, that I would be able to tell him, and that he'd be able to help me, but now I'm just messing everything up!" Hermione sniffed, finally looking back up at Remus. "I really thought I could do it," she whispered as tears rolled down her face, "but I was just kidding myself."
"No, you weren't," Remus said firmly. "I may not know what you're trying to do, or why you need Regulus to help you do it, but I do know you can pull it off. You can do anything, Hermione. You're one of the brightest, bravest witches I've ever met. As for Regulus, even if there's no romance there, you can't deny that he is remarkably fond of you. It also seems like he really doeswant to help you. Maybe all you need to do is stop looking for the right time or way to tell him, and just tell him?" Hermione nodded.
"You're probably right," she said softly. "At this point, I've got nothing to lose by telling him. If he refuses to help me, I'm in no worse a position…" Hermione trailed off, deep in thought, until the she noticed school's Death Eaters and Narcissa coming down the hill, straight toward her and Remus. She grabbed Remus and pushed him ahead of her, into a thick mass of nearby bushes. She started to duck into them, herself, but she was spotted.
"Hermione, is that you?" Narcissa called out, walking arm-in-arm with Lucius.
"Oi! Wait up, Granger!" Nott shouted, "You should come with us!" Hermione could barely make out Remus' face in the bushes. His eyes widened.
"Remus, tell Lily that I said to tell you," Hermione whispered urgently, careful to move her lips as little as possible.
"What?!" Remus whispered back, startled.
"Tell her to tell you the truth about me," Hermione whispered even more urgently. "Tell her I said to tell only you. No one else, just you. Now get down, and whatever happens, stay quiet!" Remus ducked lower into the bushes, so Hermione couldn't see him anymore. Hermione pulled off her otter pin and rubbed it in the dirt, so it looked like it had fallen off, and she straightened up again. She faced the group approaching her, fastening the pin she'd 'dropped' back on her outer robes.
"Snape told us he'd seen you out here," Avery said as the group halted in a semi-circle in front of Hermione.
"How did you get rid of the moping werewolf?" Snape asked, making the other Death Eaters laugh lightly.
"I didn't, James did," Hermione said calmly. "He came out here and asked Remus to help him run some seeker drills."
"James doesn't need help with seeker drills," Pettigrew laughed. "He just needs someone to watch him show off. I guess the Mudblood girlfriend wasn't up to it." The Death Eaters laughed again. Hermione saw the bushes Remus was hidden in rustling slightly.
"Probably stuck with Weasley, the blood-traitor breeder," Lucius sneered and the Death Eaters howled with laughter. Luckily, that kept them from hearing the twigs snapping in the bushes.
"She's really pregnant again, Wormtail?" Bellatrix asked amid the laughter.
"Yeah, poor Arthur," Pettigrew said. "It's probably a good thing he tends to be such a pacifist. He can't get away with anything." The Death Eaters positively roared with laughter. Without realizing she was doing it, Hermione reached for her wand. Remus quickly poked a stick out of the brush and slapped her hand down. As little as he knew about what was going on between Hermione and the Death Eaters, he knew she wasn't supposed to do that. Only one person noticed his intervention.
"Is that where you get it from, Wormtail?" Regulus said, moving closer to Hermione, so his body blocked Remus from view. "How long did you have your Mark before you nearly blew your cover? Three days?" The Death Eaters laughed again, though more grimly.
"Yeah, thanks to her!" Pettigrew snapped, pointing the finger he would later cut off his own hand at Hermione's face. Hermione's heart skipped a beat, but Regulus remained calm. He moved still closer to Hermione and slung an arm around her shoulders.
"Do you really want to emphasize how she tops you, Wormtail?" Regulus asked. "If so, I can help: Shebeat a few of us at once in a duel before. You balk at the first sign of a real fight. She's used an Unforgivable before, she can cast a corpeal Patronus, and can she can use Legilimency. You can't cast an effective Confundus Charm. Shehas risked her life to save the life of one of our own. The only reason you joined up with us was to save your own skin—"
"SHUT UP!" Pettigrew shouted, drawing his wand. Regulus nudged Hermione pointedly and she had her wand drawn in a flash. There was a burst of yellow light, and a flurry of dirt and rock blew up off the ground. When the dust cleared, everyone looked at Hermione first, seeing she was unharmed, then they all looked around for Pettigrew, but they couldn't see him.
"Where is he?" Goyle asked. Hermione pointed at the ground where Pettigrew had been standing. Everyone looked down and saw a particularly fat snail leaving a trail of slime behind it as it moved slowly away from all the feet that were dangerously close to stepping on it. The Death Eaters guffawed, some of them doubling over and shaking with laughter.
"Now, that's the kind of transfiguration we should be learning more of in class!" Rabastan howled, "Nice one, Granger!"
"Very nice," Regulus agreed, "Unfortunately, we'll have to change him back. If his Mark burns again, all that slime might fry him."
"Fair point," Avery said, waving his wand at the snail. It transformed back into Pettigrew with an odd squelching noise.
"The Mark burned?" Hermione prodded. "You mean—"
"We can't Disapparate while we're still on the grounds," Regulus said.
"It's nothing really important this time," Nott said. "That's why we're bringing Narcissa with us. You should come too, Granger." Hermione's stomach lurched violently. She was about to attempt an excuse to get out of it when Narcissa chimed in.
"Yes, please come, Hermione!" She said, "I'll have someone to talk to if the Dark Lord wants to speak with them alone." Hermione was disarmed by Narcissa's happiness. She couldn't deny it. Hermione nodded. Narcissa leapt forward and hugged her. "Thanks, Hermione!" Narcissa squealed excitedly. "I know it's scary to meet the Dark Lord for your first time, but it'll be okay. You're with us!" Hermione just nodded again, too horrified by what was happening to speak.
"Then move along, ladies," Lucius said briskly, coming forward and prying Narcissa off of Hermione. "There will be trouble for all of us if we're late." Lucius stepped around Hermione and pulled Narcissa along with him, toward the front gates. Regulus grabbed Hermione's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, though his eyes didn't meet hers, and he pulled her forward too.
Hermione peered into the bushes and briefly met Remus' horrified gaze as she proceeded toward the gates with the Death Eaters and Narcissa. Hermione was being taken to Voldemort and Remus was ready to run straight to Lily for an explanation—a very long explanation.