Happy Saturday, darlings. I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you to everyone who has supported me by liking, reviewing, reading, and just being lovely people in general. I own nothing here. Enjoy.
Chapter 10
The next evening proved to be somewhat awkward, all of the Slytherins wanting to make a good impression, for Marcus's sake, and to please the Dark Lord. The conversation stalled several times. And remained stilted until Peregrine and Cassius began debating the feasibility of using a time turner to complete double the work in half the time. "It won't work. The entire premise is impractical." She interjected.
Cassius snorted, "How would you know?"
"I used one 3rd year to take all the classes. I physically aged myself almost an entire year, and never really could catch up on sleep. When you are awake for thirty-two hours eight hours is not enough sleep. I slept for four days at one point, and even then still had fatigue for weeks." They stared at her blankly. "And besides, most of the time turners were destroyed when we raided the Department of Mysteries 5th year."
Cassius blinked twice, "When you what?"
"Several of us went with Harry to rescue Sirius Black, whom Harry thought was being tortured. He was not, it was a trap. We fought Death Eaters there. I, uh, Dolohov cursed me there. I almost died."
"Oh, that's, um, yeah, I have no idea what to say to that." Cassius gave an uneasy chuckle.
"What can you say to that?" she laughed. "It is the in the past, I am working on leaving it there. I am not going to suddenly think Death Eaters are good people, most of them have done horrible things, but so has the light. Some many shades of gray in the world." She shrugged. That bit of conversation dropped the floodgates and the questions and answers flowed back and forth.
Narcissa informed Hermione that the Hogwarts aged children of Voldemort's followers knew she was his guest and they should behave accordingly. She also mentioned that with the Dark Lord in residence many would be in and out of the unofficial headquarters. Also, Draco's friends tended to flock there over the summer.
Draco either ignored her existence or sneered silently. Marcus's friends found her witty and delightful. Pucey and Warrington flirted with her shamelessly and generally enjoyed the sass they got back. Boles and Montague enjoyed picking her brain and riling her up with intellectual debates. When asked by schoolmates why she didn't try to boss them about she rolled her eyes. "I don't care enough. Why waste my breath?" She continued to impress the older generation and an unease truce seemed to have been reached, well, almost.
Pansy Parkinson frequently haunted the halls of the Manor. She took great delight in making snide comments about foul odors and the dirty state of certain rooms. She would wonder aloud how much better off Potter and Weasley were without Hermione. She would remind everyone how wonderful the last year of school had been. She constantly pretended to trip and knock into tables to spill liquids on Hermione. For Hermione's part, she found Parkinson's behavior to be predictable, juvenile, and not worth reacting to on the whole. The girl seemed to be begging Hermione to react, so she did nothing.
Marcus spent most of his time glaring at them from behind Hermione. He sent stinging hexes every time he noticed Draco's sneer. He would tell Parkinson if she thought there was a smell it was a sign to change her perfume. And that the last three years while she had still been in school had been so wonderful for them, "such a shame it's over. Have you considered traveling? My siblings have enjoyed stretching their wings over the last few years."
Adrian laughed, "That's the nice way of saying, GO AWAY."
Slowly it became apparent that Hermione wasn't going to respond to the taunts or looks, Marcus and his friends were going to rush forward to defend her, and that she was their parents' darling. Only the most stubborn continued with their school time behavior, much to Marcus's annoyance. It did seem to make Parkinson more determined to "put the mudblood in her place."
-oOoOo-
Harry grimaced when Ron slammed the cupboard door shut. He knew they were empty. Checking for the one-hundredth time wouldn't change anything. It brought home how much they had relied on Hermione. And how much stress she had been under. He watched Ron searching and for the one-thousandth time wondered if Hermione discovered their secret, and why Ron had been so determined he needed to woo her and pretend to be her boyfriend. His head began to pound. Regret didn't bring her back, nor did it fill their empty stomachs. "Look, Ron, we need to face facts, without Hermione we need help. We can't stop You-Know-Who," he rolled his eyes and said the name in a sarcastic tone, "if we starve to death. We have to go back."
"I don't want to have to pretend," Ron whined in protest.
"It's been months since we broke into the ministry. They have to assume we've moved. We'll stay at Grimmauld Place, but let the Order know what's going on."
Ron pouted briefly, "You're right, we can contact them from there."
The Order of Phoenix was overjoyed that the boys were safe, but dismayed Hermione wasn't with them. "No one mentioned her capture, and having Undesirable #2 in custody would be a major feather in their caps, for the Ministry and the Death Eaters," Tonks said softly, bouncing baby Teddy on her hip.
"Maybe something attacked that wasn't a dark wizard," suggested Lupin.
Ginny snorted, "Hermione the werewolf, they'd give her back just to shut her up."
"Or more likely, kill her when she wouldn't join them," Lupin replied sternly. Ginny gulped nervously.
"The more pressing issue here is to fatten the boys back up and started looking for these horcruxes." Molly bustled around the kitchen fixing piles of food. "Hermione will show back up, or she won't."
"I thought you liked Hermione," Tonks sounded surprised by Molly's flippant attitude.
"Of course, but we have no idea where to even begin looking, or if she wants to be found. Maybe she ran off," the older witch shrugged unconcerned, returning to fussing over his son and Harry.
-oOoOo-
Intrigued by the note, 'Stole your girl,' from Boles, Marcus flooed to his friend's home after practice. He found Hermione idly flipping through a book while Peregrine attempted to cancel her permanent glamour necklace effects. "I see you physically stole her, that's kidnapping," he said flopping down next to her.
Without looking up from the book, she informed him, "I came willingly." She side-eyed for his reactions, then broke out into a beaming smile for him.
"She stubbornly refuses to see how I am the superior scion. She actually told me we were interchangeable so she'd keep the one she had."
"Yeah, sounds like her." He pressed a kiss to her temple while she preened.
Warrington joined them a few minutes later, "Still blonde I see." Hermione wiggled her fingers in greeting. "Did you lot hear about the younger Wilkinson brother?" He waited for their responses before continuing, "Caught with his trousers down with his assistant," he paused for dramatic effect, "his much younger male half blood assistant." He grinned at their shocked expressions.
Except for Hermione, first, she looked bored, then thoughtful, "Is the issue the assistant's age, gender, or blood status?"
Peregrine raised a curious eyebrow, "Mostly age and gender, why?"
"I wasn't sure. Is homosexuality taboo? It is for the most part in the muggle world, but it is becoming more accepted by some groups."
"It is and it isn't. To be accepted you have to be discreet, and purebloods are still expected to get married and pop out at least one heir for appearance's sake." Both he and Marcus felt concern at Hermione's look of horror wondering what about that could affect her so.
On her end, Hermione hadn't thought her heart could break any further over Ronald Weasley, but realizing he had been stringing her alone to be his beard devastated her. She thought she might vomit. "Excuse me," she stood and strode from the room onto the balcony. The three looked at each other in confusion.
Peregrine's house elf, Lula, popped in, "Master, Missy Granger is beings sick on the balcony. Should Lula be helping?"
"I'll check on her, Lula. Thank you." Marcus stood and went to find her. Hermione knelt by a stone planter, dry heaving. Marcus crouched down next to her. "Hermione, love, what's wrong?"
"I am so humiliated," she cried.
"Little dove, we've been mates long enough that we have all vomited on one another plenty. This is nothing."
"Not the being sick part, the cause of my digestive pyrotechnics." She conjured a glass of water and rinsed her mouth. Marcus pulled her onto his lap. "Ugh, okay, no interruptions, let me get through this. You knew me when I was younger. I was never a girly girl, part of that was a block Dumbledore put on me, so I wouldn't make some discoveries. I'm not sure what all occurred. No one saw me as female until Viktor. Fifth and 6th year I had a massive crush on Ron, one I thought he finally returned." She dashed away the tears from her cheeks. "We, um, we were on a mission. I was standing guard. It started raining, so I went inside. They," she broke down in sobs. Marcus rubbed her back in small soothing circles, making shushing sounds. "They were FUCKING each other on my bed! They were supposed to be my best friends. They LIED to me, and carried on behind my back, on my sheets, where I slept. Two perfectly good cots not three feet away had to do it on mine. Now, I find out Ron would have married me and expected me to be a good little wife and looking the other fucking way!"
"I have no words," Marcus told her quietly. He held her tighter. She began to cry harder. "Let it all out." He saw Peregrine and Cassius's concerned looks through the window. "Later," he mouthed. They nodded and disappeared back into the room. "I cannot imagine how you feel, little dove, but Weasley is an arse and Potter is a fool to take an angel like you for granted. A mistake I intend to avoid."
"Ron never wanted to be intimate in any way in front of Harry. I used to think it was because he didn't want to make Harry uncomfortable or feel like a third wheel."
"I will tell you now, I won't be deeply demonstrative in front of people, but that is because I'm possessive, not of you, I don't own you. But every moan, gasp, breathy sigh, and adorable squirm belong to me. No one else gets to hear them. But I will never deny we are together to spare anyone's feelings."
"I can accept that."
"Good to know," he stood and took her hand, "Want to go back in, or should we abandon them and go work on those breathy sighs."
She chuckled weakly, "My book is still in there."
"Back in for the book then onto moans."
"No," she laughed.
"No?" he winked.
"No," she stated firmly.
"As you wish."
The others absorbed them into the current conversation as if Hermione hadn't had a small mental collapse moments before. Eventually, she returned to her book as Pucey and Montague joined them and the conversation turned to quidditch. Pucey also played for the Falcons, and Montague played for the Arrows. Shop talk was inevitable. She turned the page to begin reading about obedience charms, an antiquated form of discipline used to make daughters and wives easier to control back when they were considered property.
Two pages into the chapter she felt her blood turn to ice. She connected the dots in her head to create a picture. Why she would so foolishly overlook Ron and Harry's affair until she had her nose rubbed in it. Why they had treated her so poorly. The longer an obedience spell was in place, the more it encouraged the bondholder to dismiss the victim. The magic also made the victim easily dismissed, easily overlooked. That way no one except the victim had to deal with their servitude, or feel too guilty about it. Dumbledore would have been the original bondholder, then he added Ron and Harry, and given her behavior, Molly Weasley. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, paragon of the light, had enslaved her with dark magic at eleven years of age. Her perception of betrayal helped her to break the control eventually, but it had occurred in full view of others, and with their cooperation in some cases. The fiery rage rushed back to take her over. She would have married Ron because he told her to. She would have forgiven the betrayal and ignored the affair because Molly told her to. That harridan would have molded her into her image of a perfect wife for that callous wastrel. She would have pushed herself beyond the breaking point to help them, and they would grow to despise her and mistreat her, or at best care less and less what became of her. She stared at the words on the page, feeling the waves of anguish and anger washing over her.
"Are we boring you, little witch?" teased Pucey. She turned to look at him, her eyes blazing with hate and fury. "Hermione, are you okay? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" she spat. "What's wrong is that the wizarding world is full of hypocrites and disgusting abusive magic without consequences!" Her voice rose in volume with her anger, and twisted into a mocking bitter tone, "So that the paragons of the light can be hypocritical fucking bags of shite." She leapt to her feet. "They, he, they," she clenched and unclenched her fists, unable to further articulate her rage.
Marcus pulled her into his arms. "Deep breaths, deep breaths. What do you need, little dove?"
She cuddled into his embrace, inhaling his cologne, a woodsy scent that suited him. She let its positive associations with him help center her. Once she felt calmer, she raised her head from his chest, looking at each of them encircling her with concerned expressions. "I think I need to talk to Mr. Malfoy or Professor Snape."
Cassius perked up, "Both are at Malfoy Manor, another spoil the graduates and help them network events. My parents are there since Dad is a department head."
Adrian nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't go, mixed company, not everyone will know about you."
"We'll be in the front parlor," Marcus told them as they raced from the room.
Ten minutes later, from the safety of Marcus' arm across her shoulders, Hermione repeated her suspicions to Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Rodolphus Lestrange. Snape nodded, "Dumbledore only seemed to notice you when you objected to the boys mistreating you. Now, I realize that is because he would have needed to reinforce the charm." He stroked his beard, "My apologies, Miss Granger for never realizing that was what was going on."
"Could you have done anything if you had known?"
"I don't believe I could, or even would, have."
"Then don't let it bother you too much. You had no reason to put yourself at risk for me at that time." She scrubbed her face with her hands. "I need to figure why he felt this was necessary."
"We will assist you, of course," Lucius offered immediately. "We can start first thing tomorrow with the Malfoy library." Hermione looked up at him in shock. "Why the surprise?"
"No one's ever offered to help me before, let alone imply it was a priority."
"Well, I am, and it is. I cannot speak for Rod or Severus, but I am at your disposal, Miss Granger."
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," she smiled weakly.
"Are you alright, love?" Rodolphus asked.
"It has been an emotional last few hours, that's all. I'm sorry to have disturbed your evening."
"This certainly was not just foolish teenage hysterics. Learning someone you should have been able to trust implicitly has betrayed you in such a manner would be distressing to anyone." Snape sniffed.
"Why don't you come back to the Hall with me tonight? Bella and I want to discuss something with you, we can do it in the morning."
"I can do that," she bid the boys farewell, giving Marcus a kiss.
Rodolphus showed her to a room in the Hall. Mechanically, she showered and went through the motions to prepare for bed. She doused the lights and climbed into bed. Lying in the darkness, her emotions still jumping all over the place, Hermione forced herself to focus on Ron. Her eagerness and drive to prove herself made her seem bossy and a know-it-all. Mix with Ron's lack of formal education background and her insecurities, they were never going to get on. She annoyed him, he bullied her. They created a vicious circle going around and around. What had changed to make her think they were friends?
The week before Halloween Dumbledore found her examining Helga's crest. When he had put the first charms on her- learn everything, protect Harry, take care of Harry. So when the troll attacked, she hadn't been where she was supposed to be because of Ron, and she lied to protect them. And she did it, not because she felt she owed them because Dumbledore ordered her to.
She tolerated Ron in the beginning. Then, like Harry, her friendless history caused her to inflate the crumbs of friendship Ron showed her. Their friendship had never been one of equals, Hermione gave and Ron took. Ron could be quite the bully, perhaps worse than Malfoy because he thought he was a good guy.
Third year he raged at her about Crookshanks chasing Scabbers. Every time Crooks was exonerated, Ron huffed but never actually apologized. Not even when Scabber turned out to be Peter Pettigrew!
Fourth year he ignored her femininity, part of which was Dumbledore's fault. Then he got mad because she wasn't just sitting around waiting for him to need a date. His resentment boiled over that night, he insulted her date, her appearance, and ruined the end of the night for her, forever tainting those memories. And that was after he abandoned Harry! She knew the charms had fueled her emotions then, and the emotions related to them weren't quite her own. And even when he came back he never apologized. Third year after the broom incident he made her grovel. He treated her like the dirt beneath his shoes. And it wasn't even his broom.
She had no idea when the crush started, if any of it had been her. But she remembered the anguish his relationship with Lavender caused her. When she returned home her feelings for him seemed to dim. Spending time with Viktor always pushed thoughts of Ron into the back of her mind.
Then Dumbledore died and once she returned to the Burrow those feelings came racing back. She had been blissfully happy with Ron's attention. Pathetic crumbs of fluffy nothing meant to keep her on the line. Looking back she was annoyed with herself for not being able to see through his behavior. But with complete honesty she admitted, there had been times when they had fun together, where she felt like they were truly friends. The crush and dating might have been manipulation, but at some point, they had been friends. And while they fought, she always forgave him because it made Harry happy. Harry had a shite family life and having friends was important to him. Just seemed unfair Ron couldn't have been ordered not to be a git.
These thoughts lead her to examine her relationships with the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny seemed very fair weather. She could be a good friend when she bothered, but she didn't seem to bother often. Percy was a prat. She assumed she would soon come back into contact with him as he remained at the Ministry. She barely knew Bill or Charlie. That left the twins. They could be rambunctious and their pranks could be cruel. But they were also loyal, brave, and kind. She wondered if they could forgive neutrality or worse. She fell asleep mourning her friendship with Fred and George, but not regretting setting herself free.