April 18th

Draco's visit gave Hermione a great deal to ponder when he left. No longer anxious to leave the relative safety of Augustus' home for the unknown outside the front door, she allowed herself at least one more night. Just as she had many other times in the past while she was running, she hoped that the answer of her next move would come to her while she slept. There was a very valid reason why so many were quick to say that everything would look better in the morning. Because it was generally true.

Adding Theodore Nott to her list of enemies wasn't a big deal. She had more than enough already. Part of her fear of running into a Death Eater in her travels wasn't necessarily because she feared they would drag her back to face her husband and her master's justice. Many of them would take the opportunity to get rid of her. Far from being popular amongst the Inner Circle and the lower ranks, she had had to be on her guard even when she was living the lie that she was happily married and completely committed to her master. Some would never get past the accident of her birth. Others would use her death to strike out at Antonin. Still more would kill her just to be able to climb over her corpse and crawl closer to the top of the heap.

It bothered her more than she wanted to consider that Antonin's position was putting him in even more danger than he was ordinarily. What she felt for the man was far from conventional love. She certainly wasn't in love with the wizard nor had she ever been. The respect she had for him when he was nothing more than her teacher still existed. There was a time, even when she found it amusing to torment him with her many and varied sexual partners in the room next to his, that she considered him one of her closest friends. At the very least they were allies, partners. He confided in her and she him. Knowing that he was likely to come up against his biggest challenge and threat yet once the Dark Lord's demise was certain, made her feel worried. Too often she considered the wizard invincible. What if this was what finally did him in?

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when she woke up in Augustus' bed alone. Her sleep had been interrupted frequently with thoughts of not just her next move but the fate of her small family. Fucked up and violent though their marriage might be, she still felt a responsibility to the two wizards she left behind. She worried about them when it would have been much easier to just forget they existed. Returning to Hogsmeade was not a possibility. Much in her life would have to go terribly wrong for her to even consider such a drastic step. No matter how many times she heard the tale that Antonin was worried about her and wanted her to come home, she couldn't trust herself to believe it. Traps were easy enough to disguise if the one setting it knew the weakness of the target.

A sound outside the house put her on edge. She was familiar enough with the usual noises to know when something was out of the ordinary. In her past and in the previous weeks, she'd spent more than enough time there to know when to worry. Sitting up quickly to strain her ears for it again, she felt a sinking in her gut. Augustus wouldn't hesitate to enter his own home. Nor would Draco apparently. Someone was outside who didn't belong there. And in her experience, that usually meant they were there to do her harm.

The moment she felt the unmistakeable energy of someone checking the structure for human presence, she knew she had to act quickly if she wanted to survive another day. It could be any number of enemies just waiting for her the perfect moment to blast down the front door. For all she knew, it was the entire Resistance coming to seek their revenge for Aberforth Dumbledore. Her past with Augustus wasn't exactly a secret. And after her odd visit with Draco the day before, she also couldn't dismiss the possibility that in an act of bizarre loyalty to the group, he might have told them where she could be found.

It was fortunate for her that she had already packed up her bag in anticipation of moving on. All she had to do was dress in the clothes she'd laid out in case of this very likely scenario. To her benefit, whomever was just outside the house was moving as slowly and quietly as possible. Perhaps they thought she'd grown lazy and no longer was aware of her own surroundings. She was able to take advantage of their plans to get fully dressed and ready to fight before the front door even opened.

She hated herself for lingering as long as she did. Had experience taught her nothing? One of the only reasons she was able to stay on the run for so long was because she knew it was too dangerous to stay in one place. She had grown lazy in some aspects. Sleeping once more out in the elements would hopefully help her to unlearn bad habits.

Augustus' front door had a terribly loud squeak that grated on Hermione's nerves each time it opened. When she would complain about it, he would laugh and tell her that it was his way of always being alerted when the door was opened. Claimed it was a cheap security system. She would roll her eyes in response. Once the wizard set his mind to something, it didn't matter how ridiculous, he wasn't changing it.

With her ears focused on the front of the house, she could just barely make out the sound of the doorknob turning slowly. When the door was pushed open carefully and there was no hint of a squeak, she grew worried. Whoever the intruder was, it was someone who had been in the house enough times to know about Augustus' unconventional alarm. Members of the Resistance were ruled out. As much as he refused to go into specific details about his connection with the Resistance, she knew Augustus well enough to know he would never be foolish enough to entertain them in his home. Based on the footsteps she heard treading across the rug in the front room, she knew that, inside at least, she was only dealing with one intruder. One intruder who had been inside the house more than once.

"Hermione?"

She knew it was her husband even before he opened his mouth. Yet another reason why she should've never sought refuge with Augustus. Antonin might have been distracted by more pressing matters in the aftermath of the explosion and the worries about the succession if the Dark Lord were to fall, but eventually he would come back to Cornwall. His instincts were almost always spot on. It was how he managed to stay alive as long as he had in a world that was always trying to kill him.

"Hermione, I know you're in here."

There was no anger in his voice and if there was someone who knew every single one of the man's moods and tones, it was his wife. As the sound of the soft, slow footsteps crept closer to her door, Hermione felt frozen in place. How was she going to get out of this mess?

"Darling, please come out."

Once their son found an injured kitten in the village. Some larger predator must've gotten the poor creature and it managed to either fight it off or escape. Covered in its own blood and with a mangled limb, the soft tenderhearted six year old her son once was, scooped it up and gently carried it home. Yelling out for his papa, he begged Antonin to save the kitten with hot tears streaming down his face. The terrifying Death Eater rushed to the aid of the kitten. Utilizing his extensive knowledge about healing spells and potions, Antonin was able to save the kitten to their son's relief. For days as it recuperated, the small creature slept in a box Ollie filled with a soft blanket. More than a few times, Hermione walked in on her formidable, violent husband speaking to the kitten in hushed, tender tones. No one would've believed her if she told them.

It was the same tone he was using in that moment to coax her out of the bedroom. Hearing it again only served to increase her terror. Was this a new tactic her husband was trying? Violence hadn't worked in the past. Knowing she needed to get out of there as soon as possible, she turned in place to Disapparate anywhere else. But, nothing happened. Before he entered the house, he must have put up an anti-Disapparition ward. Perhaps that was the noise that was out of place that first got her attention. She faced the window. It was her only hope for escape. Allowing Antonin to catch her was not an option.

"Ollie misses his mum. Won't you please come out and talk to me?"

Using their son was a low move even for him. Not wasting another moment, Hermione opened the nearest window. She was halfway out of it when the bedroom door opened to admit Antonin. For a second time in recent memory, their eyes met again. She was startled to not see any of the familiar rage in his. If she didn't know him any better, she might have assumed they were filled with sadness and worry. Ridiculous notion. She really was going round the bend.

"Hermione, wait!"

He called after her to stop, but she was already out the window. It wasn't a far drop. The moment she hit the ground, she jumped back up and started running. Her husband was only a short distance behind her. As soon as she felt the tingle of the energy indicating she'd reached the edge of the anti-Disapparition ward, she escaped. His pleading voice had only been inches away. Next time, she likely wouldn't be so lucky.