July 25th

The voices were faint, but growing louder. Every cell in Hermione's body felt too heavy. Despite the potions that she knew she'd been forced to consume and the ones she enjoyed consuming, every single part of her ached with pain. Almost as bad as the first few seconds after a Cruciatus Curse was removed, the residual pain lasted much longer. She tried to focus on the voices, anything to move her attention away from how much she hurt.

"Antonin claims it was an accident. That Hermione tripped over her own feet. Is that true?"

Alecto sounded almost bored, like she would've rather been anywhere else but where she was. There were times that Hermione noticed the friendly mask she wore in her presence slip ever so slightly. She'd been wondering for a while if the older witch wasn't simply pretending to be her friend to achieve her own gains. Carrow certainly wouldn't be the first nor would she be the last. Part of the problem with being so close to power were all of the leeches who wanted some for themselves.

"It wasn't an accident." Rodolphus was amused, trying and almost failing at keeping his laughter out of his voice. "I was there."

"You're always there when the interesting things happen. I'm beginning to be suspicious that maybe you've had something to do with all of this."

Rodolphus snorted, an indelicate sound that he would normally try to prevent. For all of the times he seemed to have no problem 'mucking about with Mudbloods' as she once heard his younger brother accuse him of, he could easily turn into the proper Pureblood when he wished to seem as important as he believed himself to be. Hermione disliked when he was pompous, but it was easy to ignore him when he was obnoxious.

"My father used to always say that Carrows were only one tiny step up from filth and that they didn't have three brain cells to share amongst the entire family. It appears that, at least on one account, he was wrong."

Instead of being offended by his insults, Alecto only laughed. She was too used to having the frequent barbs and abuse hurled at her family to really give it much heed. Even she knew that there were aspects of the Carrows that were less than desirable.

"You've always known how to sweet-talk your way straight into a witch's knickers, haven't you, Roddy?"

"Oh, is that what you thought I was trying to do? Very interesting. You don't have much experience with wizards of any class, do you, my dear?"

"Apparently not. I fucked her husband after all."

The longer she was conscious, the easier it was to hear what was being said. Hermione wasn't able to open her eyes yet or move, however. That didn't bother her. She wanted to keep listening to what they were talking about. What did Rodolphus mean when he said her fall wasn't an accident? She was there. It was that damned top step. Over the years since she moved into the house, she'd lost count the number of times that she'd almost tripped over it. Maybe if she hadn't been taunting Antonin about Andromeda again, she wouldn't have fallen.

"You said it wasn't an accident. Did Antonin push her?"

"No, but that does sound like an interesting idea. Maybe we should make her think he did. Can't imagine that would help improve their marriage any. But, no, I was just downstairs waiting on her to finish yelling at Antonin. Not even sure that he knew I was there. When she started to go down the stairs, I cast a spell at her feet to make her trip."

"You're terrible, Roddy!" Alecto's giggles seemed to indicate otherwise. "Did you know she was pregnant when you did it?"

"Of course. She told me that she actually wanted to keep it this time. Can you even imagine? I was generous enough to allow her to keep her son, but her becoming nothing more than a brood mare interferes with my plans for her. Not to worry. She won't mourn the loss. It's not as if she ever wanted to be a mother to begin with."

Hermione shifted on the bed, accidentally drawing attention to herself. Was this all true? How could Rodolphus be so callous about what happened? She'd told him about her pregnancy in confidence just a few days earlier. She wanted to try again with Antonin, to see if they could salvage something meaningful out of their forced marriage. Maybe if she gave him the daughter he always wanted, it would be easier. Rodolphus hadn't been happy. He reminded her that her body belonged to him, not to her husband. The slap across her face had only pain in it, no pleasure at all.

"Hermione, darling, are you awake?"

She didn't want to see anymore. Putting up the strongest Occlumency shield she was certain she'd ever produced, Hermione was able to push Mr. Akingbade out of her mind. She'd seen enough. More questions presented themselves than were answered. Even trying to imagine what Rodolphus could've possibly hoped to accomplish by making her take that horrific tumble down the stairs and to have her blame her husband for it made her head swim. Could one person really be that evil?

"I think that we've made enough progress on the charms for tonight."

Mr. Akingbade must have known that she was upset by the memory. Never since they began their session had she forced him out of her mind so forcefully. Maybe she should offer him an explanation, she thought, but she just couldn't form the words. It was too painful. Learning that everything she thought was true was a lie and learning that someone she thought she could trust was manipulating her memories was too much. It was all too much. She wasn't sure how much more of it she could handle.

As if he could sense what she was feeling, and perhaps he could because of his decades of experience, the soft-spoken wizard placed a gentle hand on her knee. Without saying a word to draw even more attention to what she knew he'd just seen, he simply patted her knee. Tears bubbled up out of her, gushing out of her at an intensity that threatened to take her breath away. Mr. Akingbade patted her knee one final time and withdrew his touch. Hermione covered her face with her hands, ashamed that she'd been unable to keep her emotions under control.

It was only when she felt the strength of her husband's arms wrap around her shaking body that she realized the elderly wizard left the room to get her the physical support she needed. One tender kiss to her temple and her husband's soft, soothing voice brought choking sobs out of her throat. Hermione threw her arms around Antonin's neck, burying her face in his shoulder. With his arms wrapped tightly around her body, he held her close while she released all of the tears she'd been holding on to for years. Once they started, she was afraid they would never stop. Antonin simply rubbed her back and continued to whisper soothing assurances that he had her and she was going to be all right.

She wasn't exactly sure what she cried for. Maybe it was for the loss of the child that she didn't realize she'd actually wanted. Or it was because she discovered two friends that she thought she could trust were working together to bring even more misery into her life. Lost potential, maybe. She'd wanted to try to make her marriage work, to make it so she and Antonin weren't miserable. Was she crying because she didn't get the chance? Was it more than that? Maybe she was crying for the loss of the future she should've had until the damned Dark Lord ruined her life. It was all that and more.

Her eyes were burning and her throat raw when she finally was able to stop. Sniffling, she tried to catch her breath. Antonin never once released his grip on her until she was ready to sit back up on her own. She felt embarrassed by her loss of control. Not just because she did it in front of an almost stranger, but because she'd never been so vulnerable in front of her own husband. At least not that she could remember. After all, it wasn't as if she could trust her own memories. Rodolphus made certain of that.

"I think it is time, Hermione, that we share with your husband what we have uncovered in our sessions."

A big part of her wanted to keep it all a secret from Antonin. She didn't want him to know everything that happened. It was too embarrassing. He would get angry when he found out the extent of her friendship with Rodolphus. She also knew that he deserved to know what was wrong with his wife. He'd been the second most affected person in all of it. It might have been Hermione's mind that was messed with, but he was right there with her for all of it.

She didn't want Mr. Akingbade to tell her story on her behalf. Even when he offered, she knew that she had to do it. She only hoped that when it became obvious that she wasn't going to share all of the salacious details that he wouldn't contradict her. It was her right to tell Antonin what she wanted, wasn't it? She would argue that point with him if he insisted that she should tell him everything.

"Mr. Akingbade told me the first night that he looked into my mind that he's never seen a more intricate network of memory charms and spells."

Antonin looked over at the other wizard for confirmation. When Mr. Akingbade nodded, he clenched his jaw and returned his attention to his wife.

"He's been carefully unraveling the charms. If he goes in there and does it too quickly or too harshly, he can actually permanently damage my brain. That's why we've been taking this slowly."

Her husband didn't say a single word as she described the process and what she'd found out. When she mentioned Rodolphus' name, she could see his neck tighten. His skin flushed red and he seemed on the verge of exploding. She explained that the process wasn't over yet. There were still charms on her mind that he hadn't broken yet. He was patient, never asking a question until she hesitated at the beginning of explaining why she'd had such a large breakdown that night.

"What memory did he help you uncover tonight that made you so upset?"

"Antonin, maybe it's best…"

"No, Hermione. Tell me. I've never see you like this before. Tell me."

She stared down at her hands in her lap. Before she spoke, she wanted to make sure that she didn't say something wrong. Something that would send him flying out of the house in a rage towards his potential death.

"The day I fell down the stairs, I didn't trip. It wasn't an accident."

"I already told you, Hermione, that I did not push you."

"No, you didn't push me… Rodolphus was in the house that day. Did you realize?"

"Not until you fell. He was the one who opened the floo connection to St. Mungo's for the emergency Healers. Everything happened so fast and I was so worried about you that I didn't even have time to question why he was there."

Realization struck him in that instant. His dark brown eyes were watery with unshed tears. He clenched his jaw again, rage and fury evident over all of his features.

"He jinxed my feet to make me trip."

"If the bastard wasn't likely already dead, I'd fucking kill him."

She started to correct him, to tell him that Rodolphus wasn't dead at all, but stopped herself. Mr. Akingbade ended their session only moments later. As he began to walk out of the room, he suggested that Hermione take one of Antonin's potions that night to calm her down. He would give her a day or two to rest and recover before they tried again.

"Come on, my love. Let's get you to bed."

The urge to tell him about Rodolphus being alive was strong, but she was able to resist it long enough to fall into a deep sleep.