March 12th

The entire adventure outside of the village's wards lasted only a few minutes, but news of her attempt to flee spread quickly. Hermione assumed that her constant shadow was responsible. No doubt Wood believed he would be given permission to kill her because she stepped outside the wards. He wasn't one easily dissuaded. She reminded herself again to be more careful in the future. When she was at the height of her strength and power as a Death Eater, there was no question who would prevail in a duel. Almost a year of virtually no magic and being surrounded by enemies, she didn't have any doubt that she would lose if it came down to a fight. As hard as she might fight and as determined as she might be, she wasn't the witch she once was.

Though they might not have come right out and admitted so, each member of the Jordan family was pleased that she had returned. The day after, she emerged from her bedroom to be social enough to share the midday meal with the others who occupied the house. A steady stream of conversation had been running until she stepped into the bright, cheery kitchen. It wasn't difficult to ascertain that she had been the topic of discussion. Realizing that she was likely uncomfortable with the abrupt cessation of speech, Lee smiled brightly and welcomed her home.

The manner in which the wizard seemed to make light of her escape broke much of the tension that still hung in the air. Hermione appreciated his efforts and summoned up all of her reserves to smile in return. In truth, she was glad to be back. Nothing about her life was normal or ordinary, but she liked the small family who had been so gracious to open their home to a dangerous criminal usually on the wrong side of the fight.

Little Posy leapt up from her chair at the table to rush across the room. Her tiny arms wrapped around a startled Hermione's waist. She practically sobbed into her stomach that she was glad she was back. She had been afraid that she would never see her again. It was sweet, if a bit dramatic. Heightened emotions were common in girls her age. There was no reason for her to worry. She hadn't been gone long at all. The problem with a small village with a mostly idle population was that rumors could spread fast and furiously. There was no way to tell how skewed the version of events really got before they reached Posy's sensitive little ears.

"Daddy said that we had to be ready because some day you wouldn't be back."

His grin slipped while Lee cleared his throat. One other charming trait of trusting children like his youngest daughter was their seeming inability to understand what is and what is not something that should be repeated. Hermione granted her host a small, knowing smile before turning her full attention on the little girl still clinging to the front of her clothes. Tears filled Posy's dark eyes, threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

"Your daddy is right. I probably won't be able to live here forever. I will likely have to go at some point. Hopefully, that day won't be for a long time yet."

Posy seemed satisfied with the response. Children were often young enough and naïve enough to put their full trust in those adults who didn't deserve it. Hermione was well aware of the fact that a day would come when the poor girl would discover how ugly life could really get. She didn't want to take away the tiniest bit of her innocence. Once it was gone, there was no getting it back. She envied the girl for her ignorance. With one more squeeze around her middle, Posy released her hold to return to her neglected lunch.

The rest of the meal passed in inconsequential, inane conversation. Part of Hermione longed to return to her room to hide. It was easier that way and she got the impression that at least the adults wanted to continue what they had been talking about before she interrupted. It was an unnerving feeling to know that she wasn't always welcome in the house she was living. When the last of the food was tucked away in the respective bellies of those gathered at the table, Lee and Sarah made excuses to step out of the room, likely to pick up where they left off the earlier conversation. Posy slipped out of the kitchen undetected.

It was only as Hermione gathered up the abandoned dishes did she realize she was alone with the elder of the two Jordan girls. Lizzie continued to sit in her usual chair, staring up at the older witch with that same expression of interest that bothered her so. She didn't even grasp that Hermione wished for nothing more than to not be in the same room. Or if she did, she didn't care. Neither of them said anything at first and she foolishly hoped that she might be able to make it through the washing up of the dishes without being bombarded with questions she couldn't or wouldn't answer. Of course, her luck had never really been all that good.

"Did you leave to go talk to the Death Eaters?"

No bowls smashed to the bottom of the sink. Hermione was prepared for the girl. Instead of answering immediately in the negative, she stacked all of the dirty dishes into one side of the sink before turning around. Perhaps it would be best all around for them to get the discussion Lizzie was desperate to have out in the open. She would only grow more curious and forceful in her inquiries as time went on and she didn't have a satisfactory answer. Hermione knew all too well. They were just alike.

"Why do you ask that, Lizzie?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders as if what they were talking about was not a big deal. To her, it probably wasn't. Like her younger sister, she was too young and inexperienced to understand what she was saying or asking. There was a giant world out there that she knew nothing about yet.

"Why else would you leave?"

Wiping her hands on a dry dishtowel, Hermione crossed the small room to sit at the table across from the too-inquisitive girl. An excitement fell over Lizzie. Clearly, she understood that she might finally get some answers from their mysterious guest who fascinated her so. Unsure where to even begin, Hermione considered what she was going to say before she said it. Neither of her parents would likely approve of such a frank chinwag, but it didn't matter. She could imagine the girl getting herself in serious trouble seeking out more information. It was exactly what she would have done, what she had done.

"It's not easy for me to live here amongst everyone, but no, I didn't leave to speak to any other…" She couldn't say the word. Giving a name to the kind of person she once was would make it all very real. "… any others like I used to be."

"Why is it hard to live here? Because they're all part of the Resistance and you used to kill people like them?"

The girl was too intelligent and perceptive for her own good. She hadn't been wasting the time they'd been hiding in Devon. It was the folly of adults to discount the very real possibility that the children in their homes and villages were picking up a great deal more information than they realized. Unfortunately, she'd learned that lesson the hard way when it came to her son. She and Antonin both believed that they'd been so careful to keep the worst aspects of their life away from Oliver. More than a few times he'd made it clear that he'd been paying attention. Lizzie's parents would need to be informed that she knew more than she should.

"Partly. Several people in the village would kill me if given a chance."

"Like William Wood?"

Hermione sighed. How did the girl know so much? It was disturbing. Unwilling to answer that particular question for fear that Lizzie would want to know more details, or because she was afraid that the girl already knew many of the facts of that incident, she tried to steer the conversation into a different direction. Evading a question wasn't lying.

"Why are you so fascinated with… with Death Eaters, Lizzie?"

Again, she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. Just interested, I guess."

Anything else that might have been said on the subject was cut short by the return of her parents. There was a solemnity to their features that hadn't been there when they first left the room. As much as they might have tried to hide it, Hermione could tell. Whatever they'd been talking about hadn't been good.

She felt an obligation to bring her fears about Lizzie to her parents. They needed to understand that what might seem like an innocent fascination as a child could easily turn into something much worse and much more dangerous as she grew older. If given the proper amount of attention and concern, there was hope that the girl could outgrow her macabre interests to become a productive member of society without possessing a Dark Mark on her left arm. If ignored, however, she might be the kind of person to seek out knowledge at her expense.

But, Hermione kept her mouth shut. There was a very real anxiety that twisted in the pit of her stomach. The second that the Jordans suspected that she was being a poor influence on their daughters, she would be thrown out of their home. Who else within the village filled with Resistance members would take her in? She might be forced to go back out into the rest of the world to fend her herself again. As much as she knew that that was likely the right choice for her anyway, she wasn't ready to give up the small bit of sanctuary she'd been able to find.

Hopefully, Lizzie would outgrow it all. Something new would strike her fancy and she would forget all of the questions she had. It might have been a futile hope, but Hermione was just getting used to staying in the same place for longer than a day. Soon enough she would have to leave the village. She would be a fool to hasten that day before she had to.