A/N: Here it is. my dear readers! The next chapter and the events I'm sure a lot of you are ready to be over with. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll keep it short. I love you all, thank you so much for staying with me and I'll try to have the next chapter posted in about a week.
Enjoy!
Ginny and Tonks sat at a table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, keeping a discrete eye on Hermione as she chatted with Harry. She had insisted she would be fine, but Ginny was more concerned about what her idiot brother might try. She had managed to convince Tonks to come with her, the young Auror disguising them with a simple notice-me-not. She knew that Ginny was just as stubborn as Hermione, and would rather accompany the redhead in case something happened. They didn't make an attempt to listen to the conversation between Harry and Hermione, so long as they had a clear line of sight to the two. They simply enjoyed each other's company while protecting their friend.
"So, Harry, I don't really understand what you wanted to talk about," Hermione finally said, bringing them to the point of their meeting.
"I wanted to apologize. Properly, I mean. When you left the Order I was struggling to understand everything. And then the things you did, they didn't really make sense to me. And I've been thinking about it a lot and I realized I was seeing the sides as black and white because, well, because that's what Dumbledore had made them out to be. When I was able to get past that the things you were doing made a lot more sense, it just took a long time. And so I want to say I'm sorry for pushing you away when you needed me and for not hearing you out. I'm sorry for not seeing the truth," Harry explained, wiping his hands on his pants nervously.
Hermione sighed heavily, "I don't think I can really blame you, Harry. Dumbledore manipulated all of us, I mean he never really gave us the full story. And at least you started thinking for yourself when I left and questioned what you had been told."
"Yeah, I just, I was never like you in that sense. Like, to really question things and when I started to I was so confused I wasn't really sure which way was up. You're definitely braver than I am. When you started doubting you looked for answers and I was too afraid to," Harry admitted.
Ron heard snippets of Harry and Hermione's conversation, his disgust growing tenfold. He sat at a table behind them, disguised as an older gentleman nursing a mug of butterbeer. He wasn't sure where Sirius and Moody were, but he hoped they were here. Even if they weren't, he would still carry out his plan. He would be at a disadvantage, sure, but he was still convinced Harry would help once he saw. Really, he had the most chance of earning Harry's help if Hermione attacked first. If he stayed disguised he looked like a poor old man, so surely Harry would feel sympathy for him and come to his senses that Hermione was evil. It had to be now, he wasn't sure if he would have another chance. Ron stood up, casting a quick glance around to look for Sirius or Moody. He frowned, not seeing them before he supposed they might be in disguise as well.
Clumsily, Ron wobbled to the bar, doing his best to act a drunk old man. As he reached Harry and Hermione, he pretended to stumble, knocking Hermione's mug of butterbeer and causing it to spill on her.
"Oh, dear. I'm so sorry. Please, let me help you," Ron said, stumbling over the forced niceness.
"It's quite alright, Ron. No harm done. You can drop the disguise, by the way," Hermione said cooly, flicking her wand over her clothes to clean them.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. Who's this Ron chap?" He blubbered.
Hermione fixed him with a stern look, "Please, Ron, I'm not in the mood for this. You can join us or you can leave. I'm trying to enjoy myself."
Ron's face contorted with anger as he spat, "I'm not about to socialize with you."
"Then leave," was Hermione's reply.
"Ron, mate, just take it easy. Why can't you just give her a chance?" Harry mediated, watching his two friends carefully.
"Don't you see, Harry? She must've cast Imperio on you or something," he desperately whined, letting his disguise fall away.
"She's done no such thing. What's the matter with you, Ron?" Harry asked, his voice rising.
"She's done something to you, Harry! Or Bellatrix has! She's barking mad! Don't you remember?!" Ron insisted, grabbing Harry's sleeve.
Hermione stiffened, her anger flaring at the sound of her soulmate's name falling off Ron's lips. She didn't react, stomping it down and ignoring his ravings while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Something about the two men on either side of her and Harry made her uneasy. She was glad Ginny and Tonks were watching from the corner, even though she told them she could handle things. Their notice-me-not was good, but Hermione could feel the tell-tale presence of their magic.
"Harry, I think it best I take my leave. We can talk another time?" Hermione interrupted, her sense of discomfort growing.
"You're not going anywhere you evil witch!" Ron shouted, "Stupefy!"
Hermione side-stepped as soon as he started forming the word, feeling the buildup of his magic in advance. At that moment, the two wizards on either side of Harry sprang into action, their disguises falling as they started casting. Hermione had, thankfully, thought to have a Protego in place. Seeing the faces of Sirius and Moody made her grateful she had. She thought they were familiar but she couldn't place why. Harry was standing in front of Ron, trying to snatch his wand away. The redhead, growing irritated with Harry's attempts to stop him from doing what was right, raised his free arm and smacked Harry with enough force to send him to the ground, his head hitting the ground audibly. Hermione kept her Protego in place, spells from the three wizards bouncing off and crashing into the room.
Harry lay on the ground, cradling his face. He watched as Hermione held her shield spell against the three, sweat glistening on her forehead from the effort of defending against three people. Harry tried to help, even going so far as drawing his wand when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Easy, Harry, she's got this under control," Tonks said, quickly looking over his face to determine the extent of the damage.
"If anything, Bellatrix will come but we're here, too," Ginny added.
Harry just nodded, his vision growing unsteady at the motion and he groaned. Hermione cast a glance towards Harry, seeing Ginny and Tonks next to him. Hermione gritted her teeth, pushing her shield out until the magic hit her assailants, dazing them and she took that opportunity to disarm them. Tonks moved to stand in front of Moody, her wand leveled at his chest as Ginny did the same with Ron. Hermione's arms hung at her sides, but she was ready to defend herself again if necessary.
"Tonks, will you call some Aurors?" she asked, doing her best to fix the damage caused to the establishment. Tonks complied, calling for three Aurors to transport the three wizards to holding cells in the Ministry to await trial. As they were taken into custody, Hermione handed their wands to Tonks, moving to check on Harry.
"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, kneeling in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy," he said, taking Hermione's hand to help him up. She placed an arm on his shoulders to steady him as he swayed.
"It looks like he hit you pretty hard, Harry. I should take you to Narcissa," Hermione said. There wasn't any room for argument, so Harry didn't bother trying. He just nodded slowly, feeling the sensation of Side-Along Apparition twisting his stomach.
As the world righted itself, Harry fell to his knees, promptly vomiting. His head swam and his vision was blurry, even after the contents of his stomach were emptied.
"I thought that might happen because of your head. Good thing we aren't inside. Come on, I'll help you," Hermione said, dragging the wizard to his feet and throwing his arm over her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his waist, mostly dragging him inside. As she crossed the threshold, Bellatrix came running up to her, worry in her eyes as she quickly checked her over.
"Bella, I'm fine but Harry got hit in the head pretty hard. Cissa needs to take a look," Hermione gently urged, drawing the dark witch's attention to the wizard she was struggling under. Harry was heavy.
"Let me help you," Bellatrix said, moving to Harry's other side and supporting half of his weight. She had felt a tug on her magic while Hermione was away and knew something was happening but not bad enough that she needed to get involved.
They made their way down to the room Narcissa used as her potion lab, quickly placing him on the empty work table. Hermione noticed his eyes had closed at some point and she gently tapped his face, calling his name in an attempt to wake him up. She didn't know a lot about medicine but she was pretty sure Harry had a concussion and that she needed to keep him awake. His green eyes opened, a groan escaping him as he tried to sit up. He looked down at his chest, feeling a hand there keeping him from moving.
"I'll keep him awake, 'Mione. Go and get Cissy, she's in the library," Bellatrix said softly.
Hermione nodded, taking off to go find the blonde matron. She was exactly where Bellatrix said she was, and without explaining, Hermione grabbed her arm and pulled her up and to the potion room.
"Hermione, what is wrong?" Narcissa demanded, surprise making her eyes widen as she was pulled off the couch.
"Harry got hit in the head, I'm pretty sure he has a concussion and Bella is trying to keep him awake," Hermione said quickly.
"And based on the urgency of your movements, you feel responsible," Narcissa said.
"A little," Hermione admitted, ceasing her tugging as Narcissa finally caught up to her.
"I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure whatever it was isn't your fault," Narcissa soothed, looping her arm through Hermione's.
"I didn't tell Bella, yet," Hermione said as they entered the potion room.
"Didn't tell me what, love?" Bellatrix asked, her attention turning from Harry to her soulmate and her sister.
"The reason Harry has a concussion. We were at The Leaky Cauldron and Ron came up to us and started attacking. Sirius and Moody were there too, and Harry was trying to get Ron's wand out of his hand and Ron smacked him and he hit his head on the ground pretty hard," Hermione explained.
Bellatrix bristled, a low growl rumbling in her chest.
"I'm fine, they didn't manage to hit me. They're already in custody," Hermione said, her eyes level with Bellatrix's.
"I'll just make sure you're okay, anyway. But first, I'll tend to Harry," Narcissa said, reassuring her oldest sister as she moved over to the worktable. She cast a few healing spells to reverse the bruising and swelling, and finished by giving him a calming drought to help him sleep. She turned her attention to Hermione, quickly looking her over and finding no injuries.
"I can't believe they had the audacity to attack you. In public, no less," Bellatrix seethed once they were relaxing in the garden under their tree.
"I was kind of expecting something like this. Ginny warned me about her brother last time we did a Quidditch session. I figured if he knew Harry and I were meeting he might try something. I just didn't think they were so desperate that they would ruin their chances of a quiet takeover," Hermione said, leaning her head into Bellatrix's shoulder.
"Well, I guess you scared them when you announced your support of Lupin. Maybe they figured they may as well have already lost," Bellatrix mused, her arms tightening around her lover's waist.
Hermione hummed, scooting closer to her dark witch. "It finally feels like things are over."
"Well, not quite," Bellatrix said.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to look up at Bellatrix.
"We still have to get married."
"Of course, Bella. But I meant the war. It finally feels like we can start moving on."