Hermione woke, dazed and aching, in a small sunny room. She was in a tiny single bed, no bigger than a military cot. There was a small table beside her with an oil lamp and vials of potions beside her. Her stomach tightened as she saw rags and bandages, dyed red with blood, on the table amongst the potions.
Her hands slowly reached for her arm and ribs. The sharp jolt in pain confirmed that her nightmares of Bellatrix Lestrange in Malfoy Manor had been real life after all. She faded back out of consciousness.
When Hermione woke again there were two figures standing in the doorway at the end of the room. Her eyes were blurry with sleepiness but she could make out a long mane of silver-blonde hair and scruffy spikes of black hair.
"We can't stay long…" Scruffy Spikes was insisting.
"She has to recover!" Blonde Mane was arguing, "She is in no state to return to the road yet."
Hermione tried desperately to stay awake but felt herself losing consciousness again.
Hermione next awoke to see the familiar sight of an icy and arrogant looking Fleur Delacour sitting in a chair in front of the bed, staring unhappily at the floor. Bill was standing behind her, his hand on her shoulder. Too tightly, Hermione observed, his knuckles were white with how tight a grip he had on Fleur.
Hermione's eyes shut again.
Hermione woke again, feeling strength for the first time, and opened her eyes. She smelt the pleasant aroma of vanilla and flowers and turned her head to see Fleur's head leant carefully over her arm. She was bandaging Hermione's arm with extreme concentration.
"Fl-Fleur?" Hermione said, her voice raspy. Fleur's head snapped up, a smile appearing on her face. She appeared to have lost weight since Hermione had seen her at her wedding. She looked like she hadn't had much sleep in a while. She quickly finished bandaging Hermione's arm and reached for a glass of water on the table beside the bed, handing it to her to drink.
"'Mione?" a voice called out cautiously from the doorway. It was Harry. He padded into the room carefully, as if afraid sudden movements would break Hermione. He stood behind Fleur, looking at Hermione with a wide smile. Hermione was beginning to become a bit unsettled by everyone smiling so widely at her.
There was a loud ringing of a bell and Fleur frowned suddenly. She reluctantly stood and glided out of the room without saying anything.
"Tonks has been visting Bill a lot," Harry explained, sitting in the chair where Fleur had just been, "They seem to have a lot of private discussions these days." Harry took Hermione's hand gently.
"We were really worried about you, y'know," he said, trying to sound casual. Hermione wriggled to sit up in bed, wincing a little at the pangs of pain that rang out as she shuffled.
"Sorry for slowing us down, Harry," Hermione said apologetically, knowing very well the urgency for tracking down the horcruxes.
"Nah, its okay," Harry said, "We shouldn't be getting on the road until you're up for it… Fleur reckons you're still another day or two off being recovered enough."
Hermione touched her bandaged arm cautiously, it still hurt to touch it, but nothing like the searing aches of when she had woken previously.
"Yeah, Fleur's pretty good at healing magic," Harry said, nodding at her arm, "Reckon she'd give you a run for your money."
Hermione yawned widely and Harry stood up from the chair awkwardly. "Well, I'd better tell the others the good news," he said, and shuffled out of the room again.
Hermione had been staring at the ceiling for about twenty minutes, weighing up whether or not to sleep again, when Fleur returned to the room. She was muttering in French unhappily. She sat down next to the bed, placing a plate of food on Hermione's lap and turning to fiddle with the vials of potions on the table beside the bed.
"So, how was the rest of your wedding?" Hermione asked, her voice still a little hoarse, "It's a shame it was ruined by Death Eaters."
"Mm, it was ruined by a lot of things," Fleur said distractedly, "I am just thankful Gabrielle managed to apparate safely back to France."
"Did you at least get a honeymoon?" Hermione said, trying to keep the conversation pleasant.
"Ah, non." Fleur said, clattering with the vials, "I'm not sure a honeymoon would have made much of a difference though…"
She turned to Hermione, cringing at the pity on Hermione's face, before abruptly changing the subject.
"I have a number of books in English upstairs if you are interested," Fleur said, "Harry told me about how you love to read…"
Hermione nodded, and Fleur breezed out of the room again. Hermione couldn't help but notice the swaying of Fleur's hips as she left, and she felt an immediate flashback to how transfixed she had been by the attractive witch as she had watched her competing in the Triwizard Tournament.
The next day, Hermione managed to get up and walk around the house a little. She rose early and left her little room, eagerly walking outside to gulp in some fresh air. The cottage was right on the edge of the sea, and Hermione could feel the brisk breeze of salty air hit her face as soon as she got outside. She walked through the long grass, kicking at the odd pebble she found.
Hermione hadn't got far from the cottage when she saw two figures embracing down near the beach. She recognised the tall red-headed figure as Bill. The figures turned and Hermione saw the bright bubblegum pink of Tonks' hair. 'She must be leaving,' Hermione thought to herself, kicking at the sandy ground beneath her. As Bill drew away from Tonks, he leaned in. Hermione felt her stomach wrench uncomfortably as she witnessed Bill kiss Tonks. She turned on heel and stumbled back along the uneven ground towards the door of the cottage. She jumped as she saw Fleur leaning against the outside of the cottage, nursing a steaming cup of tea, looking mournful.
The next day, Hermione felt even more strengthened. She awoke and began gathering her things before walking upstairs to Harry and Ron's room. She knocked gently before entering. The two boys were already up and changed, packing their belongings carefully into their backpacks. Ron was rubbing sleep from his puffy eyes, obviously still exhausted.
"So we're just about ready to go?" Hermione asked Harry. Harry turned and gave a grim nod, before returning to his backpack.
"I'm coming with you."
The trio all turned with surprise to see Fleur standing in the doorway.
"Uh, what about Bill?" Ron asked, confused.
"What about him?" Fleur said coldly, the familiar look of icy arrogance across her face, "Besides, you need me, Hermione is not yet fully healed and I know Gringotts."
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances, unsure. But Harry was determined in his pursuit of the horcruxes and had by now accepted others sacrificing themselves for the cause too.
"Fine, but we're leaving soon." Harry said. Fleur nodded and left the room silently.
"Bloody hell, Harry, we've been planning this for almost a month now!" Ron stage whispered at Harry, "Its risky enough, you know what Lupin and Bill said about trusting Griphook…"
"Remus was here?" Hermione asked, her stomach lurching at what she had seen the previous day.
"Yeah, he came past to visit and check in on us," Harry said distractedly, "You were still out to it then."
"God knows he should know everything going on here already with the amount Tonks comes to visit," Ron retorted. He finished packing his backpack and zipped it shut, before sitting on the edge of his bed, "It would be nice not to have to rely so much on that git Griphook, though," he added, turning his mind back to the additional member to their group.
Harry finished packing his backpack and zipped it shut before swinging it onto his shoulders. The other two grabbed their bags and followed him out of the room and down the stairs. Griphook and Fleur were sitting on a couch downstairs, looking like the most mismatched members of a waiting room.
As the trio reached them, Griphook and Fleur rose from the couch silently and followed them out the door. They walked several metres away from the cottage before Harry put a hand on Hermione's shoulder from behind. Ron grabbed her forearm. Griphook and Fleur exchanged glances before Griphook awkwardly grabbed Hermione's other arm. Fleur moved forward, facing Hermione, and looped an arm around her waist. Their faces were so close Hermione could see her long lashes again. But she looked so different to her wedding day. Her hopeful, happy face was icy and sad. Hermione pushed the memory of the wedding from her mind and focussed on their location before apparating them all with a loud pop.
