XIV. THIS IS MISERY
"Draco will you stay with me tonight?" Harry asked, He'd come not long after Her and Ron had finished eating and they'd been talking for a bit, then just sitting in a comfortable silence. Ron had gone home when he was worried his mother might start to panic. Draco seemed relieved she'd asked.
"Want to come to my place?" Draco suggested, "it's not the manor, I had to find somewhere new."
Harry nodded.
"Do you know what happened to my trunk? And Hedwig?" Harry asked, "and my wand."
"Your wand? you have your-" Draco began.
"It's Roldolphus Lestrange's wand," Harry admitted looking at the unfamiliar wand she'd been using.
"We can go to Hogwarts, and see if they're there?" Draco suggested then he made his way to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder.
"Not tonight though, can I just go to sleep?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded straight away, then tossed the handful of Foo powder in the grate. With Harry still at his side he called "Wilton Cresent" and stepped into the flames.
They stepped into a terraced house that was all dark wood and silver and red on the inside. It was not what Harry had expected of Draco and at the same time it was exactly what she thought he would have. They were in a sitting room with a massive fireplace and sparse furniture.
"Come one, you can pick your room. Harry nodded and followed him into an open hallway. It looked like a kitchen and library were connected to it and the front door. A huge spiral staircase swept up the center of the hall.
Harry ended up in the room across from Draco and she tiredly crawled into bed, taking off Sirius' old jeans as she went. Draco graciously looked away and said goodnight before leaving.
He didn't stay away though. The first night Harry had the most violent nightmares she had ever had, and woke up screaming, Draco hovering over her looking like death. He hugged her and crawled into bed next to her.
The next day they went to see Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts who welcomed Harry back and even hugged her with tears in her eyes before she returned Harry's belongings.
Harry and Draco went back to his home where Harry unpacked her things. It was just after lunch that saw Draco leaning against the doorframe of her room.
"Harry?" He asked to get her attention, walking into the room and taking a seat on her bed. "We have to talk about the war."
"Why?" She asked, even though she could hazard a guess at exactly what he was getting at.
"The funerals will begin tomorrow, I assume you want to go?" He asked her, she nodded, despite still not wanting to hear the news. "I'd also assume you don't want to find out who you're saying goodbye to when you're standing next to their coffin?" She frowned at the blunt way he put it, but nodded anyway.
"There's not going to be any easy way of doing this," Harry asked, "Is there?"
"No." There was a long, heavy pause. "Harry, I have to tell you, and there really is no easy way to say this. Hermione was killed."
Harry stopped breathing. "No." She said, shaking her head, "Ron would've said-" She started, but when she'd seen Ron, and only Ron, he'd only asked about her, and she hadn't asked after anyone else.
"We wanted you to have some time, as much as possible before, I'm sorry Harry." Harry breathed out, then breathed in again, though it was laboured and caught.
"Hermione-" She began, but was cut off by a sob. It was hard to believe, but the fact that Hermione hadn't been there with Ron when she'd come out of arrest was confirmation enough.
"How?" Harry asked. Now Draco looked pained.
"After Bellatrix made me blow up the entrance hall." He said, and Harry got the impression there would be more stories just like it. Bellatrix and her closest knit fanatics were the last to attack then, and they aim to kill and were very good at it.
"Who else?"
"Fred and Bill Weasley" Draco said, and again Harry took a moment, but the list continued.
"Tonks," Draco said next, "Seamus and Dean... Lavender Brown... Professor Flitwick... Katie Bell... Susan Bones... Amos Diggory... Michael Connor... The Creevey Brothers... Lee Jordan and Blaise Zabini."
Harry walked into St. Mungos and went straight to the welcome witch.
"Welcome to St. Mungo's. please state the name of your injury."
"I'm here to see Ginny Weasley," Harry said, the witch looked up.
"Just let me get her healer for you." She said, a deep frown on her face. The welcome witch disappeared and came back a minute later with a healer.
"Harriet Potter?" The healer thanked the welcome witch and grabbed Harry by the elbow.
"I've been meaning to contact you about Miss Weasley, see if any of your experience can help her but I'm not sure visiting is a good idea."
Harriet asked why and the Healer just asked her to wait. She was lead to the fourth floor and through the Janus Thickey ward to a door at the very back.
"This is the part of the Janus Thickey ward for dangerous people," the healer explained. Instead of curtains separating the patients there were walls and bars. Ginny was wrapped up in a straight jacket facing the wall of her cell. Her hair was clean and cut short and brushed out.
"Potter must die," she whispered. "Harry Potter die." There was a pause. "Kill Harry die." Harry turned and looked at the healer in shock.
"That's all she says anymore." The healer confirmed.
"Ginny?" Harry called, the girl looked at her with such unyielding purpose Harry stepped back and then Ginny was launching herself face-first into the bars.
"Leggimines"
It was like falling down a short tunnel when you went into some one else's memories, and Harry was almost swimming through the memories of Ginny's torture. It was far more rushed and barbaric that her own had been, Bellatrix always preferring to use mind games than physical pain - though she would never back down to an opportunity to crucio someone.
Harry looked for some of Ginny's happy memories, but they were all tampered with, all tainted with someone screaming or tormenting or poking fun, someone pointing out her flaws and insecurities as the memories played out for her.
Harry withdrew from her mind and quickly cast a sleeping spell at Ginny.
"Come into my office, Miss Potter." The woman asked her.
The door to the office was about two feet away from the entrance to the ward, and had Miriam Stout in cursive on the front then below that - Head Healer, Long Term Residence.
"What they were trying to do to her was make her completely loyal through torture," Harry explained before she could be asked. "The way they do it is by going through every minute of your life and poisoning your happy memories, then when you believe you have nothing to live for they give you a purpose - obedience. I managed to seal away my memories, my happy ones and they were never poisoned, that's why I'm normal again, I kept a bit of myself safe and sacrificed the rest-"
"Miss Weasley didn't do this?" Healer Stout asked. Harry shook her head.
"No, so she's given herself completely to the idea. If you could find and save some of her good memories, or maybe make new ones or even find a way to make her life better-"
"You don't think she can be saved?" The healer asked Harry. Harry shook her head, the grief she had been holding back since seeing Ginny took over and she sobbed.
"I'm lucky to be back, I couldn't find anything in her mind that might save her too. I... I only looked for a second, and I'm not... mind art isn't my strong suit. Maybe..."
"I understand Miss Potter but you should know she is safe, and comfortable and the Healers of St. Mungo's are doing all they can to help her, I think you should go, her mother is scheduled to visit any minute now.
Harry nodded and left quickly, she had no desire to see Mrs Weasley here.
Harry had locked herself away after the funerals were all done. Hermione's was the hardest. She had Draco to get through it but Ron stood alone and just cried - it was one of the few times she'd seen Ron cry. Molly, as strong as she was had dealt with too much pain and only went to Fred's and Bill's Funerals, where Ron held his mother while she cried.
Harry had wanted to go to Ron. She really had, but she didn't because she was weak and she was still weak, Harry hadn't seen him since. Ron had come to see her and she kept making Draco turn him away.
"Harry?" Draco asked, Harry looked up from her book - she was still in bed reading.
"Yeah?" Harry asked him.
"You have a visitor." Draco said, Harry was about to tell him to send Ron away again when Remus appeared behind him in the doorway.
"Harry!" He cried, Draco moved aside and Harry was pulled out of bed and then picked up in a huge hug by the werewolf.
"Remus?" Harry fought to be put down and Remus smiled at her. Harry smiled back.
"Harry this is my son, Teddy," Remus said, then indicated the baby in Draco's arms - she'd missed the exchange - who's hair was wildly changing colours.
"Remus - wow he's gorgeous." Harry said, Draco handed her the baby.
"I was hoping you'd be his godmother?" Remus asked thickly, Harry looked up at him with shock.
"I don't know if she's ready to be apart of the real world again, Remus." Draco sad rather darkly.
"I..." Harry started but was at a loss for words. "I guess it's time to move on." She said, looking again at the baby in her arm's whose hair turned Weasley red. Remus chuckled.
"He's very fond of Ron, who has agreed to be his godfather." Remus said.
Harry smiled, her attention turned to the baby again.
"Is that a yes, Harry?" Remus asked, and Harry nodded.
Only the epilogue to go now, I hope you all enjoyed. Thanks for reading.