October 11th
Eventually, Draco stopped being in an unpleasant mood. He didn't appreciate Hermione sneaking out of the flat just to injure herself again. Despite repeating herself that it was never her intention to aggravate some of her severe wounds, he was still upset. After allowing him to clean and tend to the worst of the bleeding cuts on her side, she did her best to avoid him for the rest of the day. Even as they both climbed into the same bed to sleep later that night there was distance between them.
A restless night did nothing to improve Hermione's mood the next morning. She'd tossed and turned all night getting very little sleep. Her mind was fixated on her visit to the Lestranges' family home. While she was confident that she made the right decision in confronting Gemma and appealing to her as a mother, she did worry about the potential ramifications of the act. Though he certainly never claimed to love his wife and hardly even seemed to tolerate her usually, Rabastan was prickly about his family. If he believed that Hermione posed a threat to his children or even to the woman he never really wanted to marry, he could be unpredictable, even willing to go against his brother's orders to exact retribution. Rabastan adored his children. It was his one redeeming quality.
When she could stay in bed no longer, she quietly made her way into the bathroom, hoping Draco wouldn't wake up. She wasn't sure she had it in her to have another argument with the man. Whatever it was that was happening between them made less and less sense as their time together wore on. She knew she couldn't trust him. Not really. How could she expect anything to happen of any value between them if she couldn't trust him not to betray her again? If the world was different and she didn't have her husband and he wasn't actively working with the same man who fucked her mind up so thoroughly, maybe there could've been something real between them, but they were both just fooling themselves. Allowing his flat to be a refuge from the outside world only created a bubble of denial they could hide in. They weren't facing reality.
She allowed the hot water to cascade over her body in hopes it would drown out her thoughts. A change would have to happen very soon and she'd never been a big fan of those. Strong arms slid around her waist from behind, startling her out of her depressing thoughts. It was dangerous to be so distracted. Draco's lips pressed against her shoulders making her forget all of her concerns again. Was it a spell? Could he manipulate her like his uncle? Or was it something less insidious but no less powerful?
"I don't like waking up to find you gone."
"I couldn't sleep."
"There's too much going on in that great big brain of yours."
He didn't push for anything beyond languid kisses and soft touches. Her body was still recovering from her attempted murder. Neither of them rushed through the shower. They simply enjoyed each other's company. It was nice and it felt so normal that Hermione knew they were living in a fantasy. None of it could be sustained. She needed to end it before she got to the point where she couldn't. When she turned the taps off, Draco groaned.
"I'm not ready to leave this yet."
"Then stay."
She turned the water back on, but even as she did so, she knew that wasn't what he meant. Draco was speaking more about the fantasy world they'd created together. It was simply easier to pretend like she didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't move to stop her when she stepped out of the shower, simply stood there under the water watching as she dressed. Once she was ready to face the outside world, she rushed out of the room. Without even waiting for Draco to follow or long enough that she could tell him goodbye, she left the flat. If she was planning to return later that day when she was finished with her mission, she still wasn't sure. Maybe. Maybe not.
Her destination that morning was Hogsmeade again. All of her thinking she'd done when she couldn't sleep the night before highlighted a major flaw in her plans. Knocking on Ron's kitchen door once more, she hoped that they might be able to work it out. For the first time since she started dropping by his house unexpectedly, it was Romilda who opened the door and not Ron. Hermione had never liked the witch, especially not when they were in Hogwarts together. The feeling was mutual.
"What do you want?"
"I'm selling Witch Weekly subscriptions. What do you think I'm doing here? I need to see Ron."
Romilda glared at her unwanted visitor before stepping aside to allow her entrance. Hermione was led to the kitchen table and ordered to remain there while the lady of the house fetched her husband. Not that Hermione minded being left alone. In fact, when it came to being around Romilda, she preferred it. Just because the Weasleys were one of the rare love matches within the Inner Circle didn't mean Hermione cared much for the woman her former best friend married. There was always a fear that she would be betrayed by the odious woman.
"Hermione, is everything all right?"
Ron spoke through clenched teeth with bright red cheeks. Evidently, he'd not enjoyed a pleasant discussion with his wife. Gesturing to the kitchen table to invite his guest to sit, they each took a chair.
"Yes, it is. I wanted to tell you what I'm doing with the list that you looked over the other day."
It was a big step involving Ron in her plans. If he was still working for his old mentor Rabastan, she could be in a great deal of trouble. They might decide collectively that she was more trouble than she was worth, Rodolphus' orders be damned. She desperately wanted to believe that there was a part of the old Ron still tucked deep inside the Death Eater just as she hoped there was a part of the old Hermione somewhere inside her. Just having her sitting in his kitchen put Ron and his entire family at risk. She felt like she owed him something.
"I'm going to be taking out every single person on that list. Not sure how for everyone just yet, but I will."
He stared at her without speaking for a few beats before nodding his head and smiling.
"Excellent. I like that idea. Most of them are horrible, disgusting people and the world would be a better place without them in it."
She was glad that they could agree on something. It was still a work in progress, but she needed to anticipate future problems.
"You're on that list, Ron."
"And are you planning on taking me out too, Hermione? Because I verified that list for you in good faith."
"Of course I'm not going to hurt you. Don't be ridiculous. But, if I attacked everyone on that list but you, that would look rather suspicious, wouldn't it?"
Ron had always possessed a master strategical mind. Even when they were children he was an expert at wizarding chess, able to see ten steps ahead of everyone else. His talents were put to good use under Rabastan's tutelage. When Hermione made her statement, he nodded and smiled widely. He even seemed excited.
"We're going to have to make it look good. Maybe we should get my brother Percy to help us."
"If you'd like to. I haven't really thought out the logistics yet. Just that we have to do something."
He excused himself from the room long enough to send his brother an owl. Or whatever method of communication they used. Hermione wished she still had her enchanted galleon from her Dumbledore's Army days. That had been a sheer stroke of genius to invent those. It was a shame that none of her ideas in recent years came anywhere close to those. One of the side-effects of taking so many potions was loss of brain function. She hadn't lost her mind, but there were certainly days she didn't feel as sharp as she once did. Maybe some of that would come back eventually. She didn't hold out much hope.
"I sent Percy a message. If he's free, he'll pop in."
Once settled back at the kitchen table across from her, Ron appeared more relaxed around her than he had since they were both back in Hogwarts. It was almost possible to imagine that twenty years hadn't passed and that maybe Harry was just in the next room about to join them. Of course, thoughts like that did nothing but depress her. It was best that she try to forget all about the past. All it did was remind her of what she'd lost. That was no way to ensure she had a future worth living.
A quarter of an hour passed of them exchanging ideas on how Hermione could make it look like she was trying to kill Ron without actually doing him any harm when there was a light tapping at the kitchen door. Ron rushed to answer it to allow his older brother inside. Though he might have once been the sort of sickening bootlicker that longed for position and ingratiated himself wherever possible with those who held any sort of power, Percy was much more reserved than his younger self. Experience and hardship thanks to Lord Voldemort's regime taught him some valuable life lessons. He no longer vied for position and he wasn't a fan of meaningless chatter.
"I was under the impression that we would never hear from you again after our last meeting, Hermione."
"Yes, well, I'm still not entirely sure I should be here."
Recognizing the potential for awkwardness, Ron stepped between them to explain to Percy what they'd been trying to do. He gave a brief history of Hermione's list and what they were considering doing to make it look like she was targeting him as well. Interested, Percy took a seat across the table from Hermione and asked for an overview of their plans.
Despite it having a rather rocky beginning, Hermione found her conversation with the two Weasley wizards, Percy especially, to be rather enjoyable. It was almost like being back at the Burrow. With the three of them, it didn't take long before they had a solid plan. Another part of the strategy would be to ensure they didn't try it too soon. If all went as planned, a few weeks from then, they could draw the heat off of Ron.
"Romy won't mind doing her part to make it seem like she's angry enough with me to leave. Since the baby was born, she's been exhausted and irritable. She'll see running off to her mother's and taking the littlest ones with her as a holiday."
Hermione hoped he was right, but didn't press the issue further. Domestic disturbances would be a plausible reason to explain why Romilda and their children weren't inside the home when she attacked it. Sometimes pretending to be angry with a spouse led to actual hurt feelings. Ron assured them both that they would work it out. Wishing to change the subject, Hermione turned her attention to Percy.
"I've heard there are issues within the Resistance. Is that true?"
"I wish I could tell you that it wasn't, but it is. When you were in Devon, we could already feel the shifting in our group, but since You-Know-Who died, it's grown even worse. None of us know who we can trust. I'm almost certain that Rodolphus Lestrange has a spy in our midst, but we haven't discovered who."
When she was in the Resistance's village, she remembered having a conversation with Rodolphus the first night he appeared to her in his animagus form. He claimed that only Ginny and Aberforth Dumbledore knew who he actually was. She couldn't imagine that Aberforth would be the spy, not after he'd been so angry with her when she told him that she didn't want to spy for the Resistance. That only left Ginny. She hated to think that was true, but after learning what other secrets she was capable of keeping, Hermione couldn't discount the possibility.
"How is Ginny? I haven't seen her in a long time."
"Ginny's been acting strangely. Ever since she had to bring her daughter back. She seems nervous about having her in the country."
The look Percy gave Hermione after his last statement struck her as odd. He was an intelligent man. Likely he knew more about the true paternity of his niece than Ginny believed. Though she was dying to speak to someone about Ginny's secret love child with her husband, that wasn't the time or the place.
Ginny had proven that she wasn't above lying if it suited her purposes. When she was in Devon, Hermione thought it odd that Aberforth would allow Rodolphus to stay in the village. Maybe Dumbledore didn't really know. That would mean the only plausible spy for Rodolphus would be Ginny. It was enough to make her head pound. She wanted to go back to Draco's flat and crawl back under the covers in his bed to forget everything for just a little while.
After reviewing the plan for their subterfuge one final time, Hermione made her excuses to leave. She wasn't surprised to find Draco's flat empty. Either he was secretly tracking her or he had other business to attend to for his uncle. It didn't really matter. Her exhaustion hit her thanks to her poor sleep the night before. She was asleep the moment her head hit Draco's pillow.