Hi there,
I'm posting this for the author because she's feeling a little under the weather. I have no idea what one is supposed to write here but I figure you do. So please just make something up and pretend I wrote it. Thanks. :)
Chapter Twenty
The first day back was exhausting for both Fleur and Hermione. Everyone was trying to find out what had really happened. Nobody believed that THE Hermione Granger had landed in the infirmary because of something as mundane as an accident in the library. Ginny was doing her best to keep the rumour mill at bay and most of all away from Hermione. Fleur had the power over detention and house points to protect her from curious questions.
In their afternoon free period, Ginny and Hermione sought refuge in the library. They hid out at the very last table before the restricted section. Chatting merrily, they heard a set of footsteps drawing near.
They both turned towards the noise and saw none other than Narcissa Malfoy walk past them.
Ginny hissed and drew her wand, stopping the Slytherin in her tracks.
'Ginny! Don't,' Hermione whispered.
Narcissa remained still as a statue. She had seen Ginny's reducto curses first hand, she didn't want to give her any reason to cast a spell.
'Ginny, please. Lower your wand,' Hermione tried again to no avail.
She could see Ginny's arm shaking, she was displaying a feat of great self-control. Before her stood the woman that had watched and done nothing as her best friend had gone to pieces on her parlour floor. There were no words to accurately express Ginny's contempt for this woman.
Narcissa slowly put the books on the table beside her. She hoped Ginny would realise that she was no threat. She lifted her arms to her sides to signal her wandlessness.
'I'm not here to harm anyone, Miss Weasley. Please listen to your friend,' she tried in the calmest voice she had.
'What are you doing in the castle?' Ginny hissed, still shaking all over from holding back her urge to cast.
'I was asked to come here to get Slytherin house back on track. I have heard that your attention has been elsewhere the last few days. It is no wonder you haven't been informed of my arrival,' Narcissa explained.
'Ginny, remember when we sat in the Great Hall and I told you that something was going on but I couldn't tell you then what it was,' Hermione joined Narcissa's effort of calming down the hot-headed Weasley.
'This!? You knew this wife of a Death Eater would come to Hogwarts and you kept it from me?' Ginny asked, disappointment written all across her face.
'Ginny please, let's talk about this. Trust me,' Hermione pleaded.
'Miss Granger, would you come here please and...' Narcissa asked but was interrupted before she could explain.
'We will not fall for your tricks,' Ginny said.
'I simply want her to take my wand to prove that I'm no threat,' Narcissa said. It was unnerving to say the least. She had never much liked the Weasley's for obvious reasons but Ginny wasn't exactly endearing herself to her now.
'I'll do that. Hermione stays where she is,' Ginny ordered and took a step closer. Narcissa held out her left arm for Ginny to reach into her sleeve and take her wand. A most uncomfortable feeling but probably less so than being hexed.
Ginny motioned for Narcissa to sit down at the nearest table and Hermione and herself sat down on the opposite side with Ginny finally lowering her wand but keeping it readily in her hand.
'Ginny, Ms Malfoy is here because there have been gross violations of school rules and human rights in Slytherin house. Conditions down there are dangerous and something had to be done. Miner... Headmistress McGonagall has employed her to clean up her old house. I didn't know she was here already or I would have told you. I was asked not to say anything until everything was final and it seems I missed the deadline while being in the hospital wing. I'm sorry I haven't told you earlier,' Hermione apologised.
'It's alright. I understand,' Ginny said, addressing her friend before turning to the other woman at the table.
'And I want you to understand that if you ever come near Hermione, I will end you.'
'That seems overly dramatic. I swear, I mean Miss Granger no harm but I cannot promise to stay away from her. I conclude from your reaction that you were informed of the consequences of...erm, that day?,' Narcissa said, giving Hermione a questioning look. The young woman just nodded.
'I'm not just here to take care of the Slytherin students. I was also asked to look into a cure for your friend's wound. And for this reason alone, I will have to be able to study its progress or rather, deterioration.'
'Wha..? Did you know about this?' Ginny asked turning towards Hermione again.
Hermione nodded, 'Yes, Fleur asked her to help. Draco knows too. I know this is a lot to take in and I do appreciate your concern for my well-being. I don't feel comfortable with the idea of having Narcissa here, in fact I get queasy at the thought of it but do you think that the headmistress would have invited her if she actually posed a threat to me?'
That did the trick. Ginny finally relaxed and put away her wand.
'You're right. Of course, you're right,' Ginny said before turning to Narcissa once more. 'But don't think that I won't be watching you. We have to get to class now, which means we'll get up and leave. I will place your wand on the table closest to the doors. You can retrieve it from there when we're gone. Understood?'
Narcissa nodded. She had to give it to the girl, she had a good head on her shoulders and she could appreciate the wish to protect her own at all cost.
A fire was crackling in the fireplace. Fleur sat on the couch with Hermione's head in her lap. Hermione was perusing a book on arithmancy while enjoying Fleur's fingers softly trailing through her hair.
The peaceful atmosphere was rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.
'That's probably Ginny. She said she's struggling with her arithmancy homework,' Hermione said, temporarily putting her book down on her stomach.
'It's open! Come in!' Fleur called.
The door swung open and none other than Narcissa Malfoy entered their quarters. It was clear she was very uncomfortable.
Immediately, Hermione sat up and Fleur got up from the couch.
'Narcissa. We didn't expect to see you. What is it?' Fleur asked. She was finding hard to keep a neutral tone but she tried her best and Narcissa didn't comment on it.
'I'm here to ask if I may examine the wound. I have brought my sisters books with me but those are too many to aimlessly search through. I feel, if I had any sort of indicator of what is going on, I could probably be more efficient in my search for a cure.'
Hermione felt uneasy and it didn't take long for Fleur to pick up on it. She put her arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her close.
'You don't need to see it. We can tell you exactly which symptoms 'ermione is presenting with. Or better yet, ask Poppy,' Fleur said.
'As I understand it, matron doesn't know the details of where the cursed wound came from. I presumed you wouldn't want me to raise questions with her. Or what should I tell her when she asks me why I am inquiring on matters altogether unrelated to myself?' Narcissa asked.
'Alright. Let's just get it over with, instead of arguing about the pro's and con's of it,' Hermione relented, before flopping back down on the couch and pushing up the sleeve of her jumper to expose the bandage.
While Fleur gently removed the bandage, Hermione motioned for Narcissa to sit down in one of the armchairs next to them.
Narcissa wasn't squeamish but she couldn't say the wound left her unaffected. Angry, red and badly infected, but still clearly legible.
'Mudblood,' Narcissa breathed. She had not seen what Bellatrix had done exactly, only that there had been a dagger and lots of blood involved. From that she had drawn her conclusions. To see what her sister had done in such clarity made Narcissa feel remorse. True and honest, for a change.
It took her a moment to gather herself and she carefully pulled Hermione's arm closer to take a good look. She tried to examine each cut to see in which direction the cuts had been made. Every little piece of information would help to distinguish between curses she would find in the books.
'Do you have a magnifying glass?' Narcissa asked as she looked up. Hermione only gave a questioning look, while Fleur went to the study to retrieve it.
Under the lens, Narcissa noticed that the edges of the cuts were sort of serrated, not clean cut at all. But she couldn't be sure that it had always been that way. She knew Bellatrix would keep her knife sharpened. Narcissa furrowed her brow in concentration. Hermione and Fleur glanced at each other. None of them knew what the blond witch was looking for or what she was seeing that needed to be scrutinised so hard.
'Do you see anything?' Fleur asked while Hermione felt like a petri dish.
'I'm not sure yet. Do you think you would be able to recall details on what my sister exactly did here? Or what she said while doing it?' Narcissa asked.
Hermione shook her head.
'I've already tried that. It's all a big blur and all I can remember is pain.'
Narcissa nodded and went back to examining the wound. After a while, she lifted her head back up and handed back the magnifying glass.
'Could I take a look at the dagger, please?' she asked. She knew that it was much easier to trace curses from weapons than from their wounds.
'Non, it vanished. I 'ad time to take a look and notice it was laced in so many dark curses that I would never be able to pick them all apart. And then it vanished. I assume this was one of the curses' doing.' Fleur explained while Hermione rebandaged her arm.
'There goes my plan to trace the curses on your wound from there,' Narcissa said.
'What's your plan now?' Hermione asked. It was hard for her to keep the two Narcissas apart. Especially, when they were talking about her sister. She saw the new Narcissa but her mind kept flashing back to the one she had met in Malfoy Manor.
'I will have to ask Draco if he remembers any details, if he saw anything specific. I'll go over my sister's books and maybe I'll figure out which curses she may have put on the dagger. If we're lucky we can work from there,' Narcissa disclosed her thoughts. It wasn't necessary to add how slim the chances were that it would pan out. There were simply too many similar curses and even more combinations.
Before they could ponder their misfortune, someone knocked on the door.
'I'm sorry, I didn't know you were expecting visitors. I will be on my way,' Narcissa immediately got up from her seat.
'We aren't expecting anyone,' Hermione said as she went to answer the door.
'Professor Granger! I need to speak with Madam Malfoy, please. It is urgent,' a very agitated Elvira Munn panted. She had been running in a hurry.
'Come in. What happened?' Hermione asked as she stepped aside.
But the first year ignored her and went straight to Narcissa.
'Madam Malfoy, there is a fight in the dungeons. They are casting in earnest. I didn't know if I should get you or the headmistress,' Elvira said, still catching her breath.
'It's alright to come to me. Don't worry,' Narcissa said and Hermione saw yet another side of the Slytherin. Warm and motherly. She didn't know Narcissa could do that.
'How did you even know to come here?' Narcissa asked as she realised that she had told nobody of her visit.
'I ran to your quarters but nobody answered, so I ran to the kitchens and asked an elf where he would apparate to if he were to get you,' Elvira explained as if it was obvious.
'Excuse me, I have to sort out my house,' Narcissa said as she made her way to the door.
'Do you want 'elp?' Fleur asked.
'I'll be alright. Thank you. Miss Munn, please stay here until it is safe. I will come fetch you.'
And with that Narcissa was gone.
'Would you like some Tea?' Hermione asked and Elvira shyly nodded.
Hermione handed both Fleur and Elvira a mug of steaming hot tea and then sat back down with her own.
'You 'ave done well, Miss Munn. I know it probably wasn't easy to tell on your 'ouse mates but we don't want anything bad to 'appen,' Fleur encouraged the girl.
'Professor Granger, may I ask you something?'
'Of course, what is it?' Hermione asked and wondered why the girl was suddenly so nervous.
'There are rumours about why you were in the infirmary. They say it has to do with the war and that there was something between you and Draco Malfoy. I've heard that he hexed you in the library while you were studying.'
'I see. I was already wondering what the current theory on the issue was. Do you believe this?' Hermione asked.
Elvira shook her head vehemently.
'No, I don't believe Draco Malfoy would manage to hex you. Especially, when Ginny Weasley is with you. I have seen how fast she draws. There is reason to believe you draw even faster,' Elvira said, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.
Fleur smirked into her mug. She liked the girl. She always had her homework ready and she was prepared for classes and paid attention. Very un-slytherin but highly appreciated.
'I'll take that as a compliment. Miss Munn, if you want to talk about what is going on in the dungeons, please know that you can always come to us. I know that it is not particularly pleasant there at the moment. Mrs. Malfoy is not the only person you can talk to, even if she was hired specifically for it,' Hermione offered.
'Thank you, but I don't really need to talk. I have never had any problems with muggles. My parents are muggles, you see? University professors,' Elvira stated. Fleur looked up from her mug. A muggle-born Slytherin?
Hermione seemed to be thinking the same thing.
'That is very impressive. What do they teach?' Fleur asked.
'My Dad teaches history and my mother teaches english literature. They were both very excited to hear that I'm a witch,' Elvira beamed.
''ermione's parents are dentists,' Fleur said and watched Elvira go pale.
Hermione instantly picked up on the girl's fear and said, 'Don't worry, the magical world has other ways to deal with bad teeth. Ron told me that it doesn't hurt at all. You are safe from dentistry forever.'
Visibly relaxed, Elvira finished her tea.
After Elvira had gone and the dungeons were sorted out for the night, Hermione lay in bed, thinking about the little girl.
'Why are you not asleep?' Fleur asked sleepily.
'Have you noticed anything weird with the students this year?' Hermione wondered.
'What do you mean? The hormones or the consequences of the war? Come, chérie, sleep now,' Fleur said before pulling the young woman closer.
'That's not what I mean, Fleur. I'm wondering about the sorting. Take Elvira Munn for instance, please tell me what is Slytherin in that girl? She is as studious as any Ravenclaw and brave enough to rat out her house mates, but not for personal gain. I have a couple of other students that seem to be in the wrong house too. Have you noticed nothing?' Hermione asked again.
'I've noticed thatyouarestillawake,' Fleur mumbled and fell asleep again.
Hermione smiled at her and decided that she could look into this another day. There were more pressing issues at the moment. She snuggled closer and listened to Fleur's steady breath before falling asleep too.