Tragedy Brings old Friends Closer
Hermione awoke with a start and sat up trying to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered she had been lying under a gold comforter, Godric's hand wrapped around her. She took a few deep breaths and looked around, suddenly Hedwig was on her shoulder. She smiled slightly, the sight of an old friend comforting. "Hello Hedwig…Have you got a letter from Harry for me?" Hedwig clicked and looked toward the table, where a letter addressed in emerald ink lay in the piled of assorted letters. "Thanks girl…Bring this back for me," she handed Hedwig the letter and carried her to the window, letting her loose.
"Do you always talk to her like that, or only when you're bored?" Draco asked appearing in the doorway. Hermione jumped, still a little upset by her dream before shrugging lightly.
"Hedwig's been delivering letters between us for a lot of summers. I've had a lot of lonely days…"
"Oh…" he said, looking like he knew the truth of this, he didn't pursue the subject however and she let it lay. "Well breakfast's ready."
"What time is it?"
"Eleven o'clock…Michelle Roberts called, she told me to tell you that she'd be here at one…And then Mona," "Mona Fredricks?!" Hermione demanded, a light shining for a moment in the back of her eyes.
"Yeah, she called. She said she would have called sooner but she's out of town. And she left a cell number for you to call her back on…Mione, we need to start arrangements. You know that right?"
"Yeah…I know," she said softly. The glitter in her eye disappeared as did the small appetite she had had when she woke up. Draco guided her to the kitchen and handed her a plate of waffles, and eggs and ate what little was left of his, watching her like a hawk. When she'd finally eaten enough to satisfy him, he handed her a slip of paper with Mona's number on it. She thanked him quietly and made her way up to her room. Curling up on the daybed she picked up her phone and dialed the number. After two rings a farmilar voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Mona? It's Hermione…"
"MIONE! Oh, it's been way to long since I've heard your voice. I got the news. I'm so sorry!" Hermione suddenly wondered why she hadn't called her best friend. But things had become strained when she didn't write, and barely visited the stable. It had ended in a blowout two summers ago…And neither had really tried to fix it.
"I'm sorry about the way I left things…"
"Let's put it behind us, sisters 'till the end. Remember?" Mona replied, and Hermione smiled remembering their vow never to let competition get between them.
"Right. The funeral will be in like…Two days. You'll…be home right?"
"Of course I'll be home…I'm getting out of here tomorrow. I'll have to stay with you though," she said softly. Again old memories came back. The strained relationship that Mona had with her mother, born in her mother's teens she was often shunned to the side and blamed for all of things that went wrong. Her horse had been a present from both Hermione and her parents. Hermione had worked for an entire summer saving every penny while home from Hogwarts and had earned enough to pay for ¾ of the horse, her parents paid the rest. Mona worked off board by the many hours she put in cleaning stalls and teaching students.
"Where are you?"
"Riding camp. Teaching stuck up rich brats who don't know a horses ass from it's head…It's awful. But it pays good. Family emergency and all, have to leave blah-blah-blah. They'll let me go."
"Thanks for doing this for me Mona," she replied quietly. Attempting to keep her voice from cracking.
"Like I said Mione, sisters…I'm here for you," someone called her name from the background and she muffled the speaker before yelling back. "I have to go teach my last lesson and get Mad Hatter ready for shipping. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks again." "Bye Mione." "Bye Mona." She placed the phone back in the cradle and paused to wonder how Mona could always make it seem like just yesterday they'd been throwing popcorn at each other and skipping class again. When really, it had been 5 years since that, and two since they'd sat down to talk. She sighed and stretched, the anticipation she had to see her best friend again growing by the minute. She changed quickly into a pair of worn jeans and a black tee-shirt. She reached for the phone again, and dialed for operator, thinking that she might call Harry, and then thought better of it. She placed the phone back down and pulled a pen and some parchment from her desk. She was about to write a reply to Dumbledore when Draco walked in.
"Hermione there's somewhere here to see you. Bob Dewart from the ministry."
"Okay…" she replied confused and wondering why he was back so soon. She followed him downstairs to the Living room.
"Hermione…I came to tell you that I've been assigned to your case for the time being. I was sent to inform you that your parents bodies were recovered. They're being sent to the funeral home here in town."
"Okay…" she said stunned.
"Tom owled me, said you'd cleaned out the room in the Leaky Cauldron. And Dumblerdore owled me saying you were supposed to go see him tomorrow."
"Yes…" she said slowly, trying to figure out why he knew so much about her life.
"Okay, I know a lot of new is-"
"Overwhelming, confusing, annoying," Draco said helpfully from behind her. Bob threw an annoyed look at him but nodded.
"Yes. And I realize this is a hard time for you. But I'm the only person who'll be working on your case. I can get basically anything you want done. And I have all the paperwork."
"So you'll be the one helping me reclaim the Ravenclaw estate?"
"You don't have to reclaim it. It's been yours since you were born."
"Obviously there's a lot I need to know. Can we go to the kitchen to talk?"
"Sure," he replied and Hermione led the way. Draco was a bit lost, as he didn't know whether he was invited or not.
"Draco, you come too," she called back over her shoulder. He acted like he'd known that the whole time and fell into step behind them. Hermione took a seat at the center island and Bob sat down next to her. Draco grabbed three sodas from the refrigerator and remained standing.
"I found a record of the people working for the estate…I figured it was inaccurate now though."
"Yes, the house has been closed to everyone, except the house elves. They keep everything in order in there. Of course…There are still some animals there, your parents were horse people and when they passed away there were five horses. And instructions for ones to look for over the years. But there's only a groundskeeper and his son for them…Two died. Two are-" he paused and snapped his fingers, a folder appeared in front of him and Hermione thought she heard 'Showoff' muttered under Draco's breath. "-two are sixteen, and one is twenty-five. Then the others were purchased through your parents instructions. Two are eight, one is ten, and one is a twelve."
"Male, Female, Breed?" Hermione asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought of owning her own breeding stock. A dream she'd held since the first time she'd sat upon a horse. In response he pulled out seven sheets and handed them to her. She flipped through them and took a deep breath. The pictures moved, as most wizarding pictures did. But the horses depicted were impeccable. The breeding…The conformation, she could tell they weren't cheap horses. They were all beautiful, one stallion, six mares.
Cloud Runner - 25 - White - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Jem - 16 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Valentina - 16 - Liver Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare Adele - 12 - Palomino - Registered Thoroughbred Mare (In foal) Jewel - 10 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Sky - 8 - Palomino - Registered Thoroughbred Mare (In foal)
Against Odds - 8 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Stallion (At stud)
She looked over the information with a dedicated interest. Noting the (in foal) next to two of the mares and making a mental note to talk to the groundskeeper about it.
"Dan, the groundskeeper is waiting for the date you wish to set for your return to the estate."
"Return?"
"You are planning to move there aren't you?"
"Yes…Of course," she said softly, looking over the pictures.
"So that's what has been eating away at your funds, beautiful creatures though. A lot of the breeding stock was sold after Lucia and Michael were killed. It was dealt with per the directions they left with us," Hermione nodded slightly.
"What were they?"
"Your father was an aurora. Your mother was a housewife, in a sense. She ran the entire estate and house ministry officials during the fight against Voldermort. She was an empath, and a seer…And it was rumored she could speak to animals. It was also said she was part elf…More than half."
"Said?"
"She never knew her parents. But she never seemed to age. And her powers were typical of the elven race."
"Okay. So I've seen my Gringotts account. And I've seen the estate on a map…But I'm still technically a Granger."
"Until you're ready to give it up." He said.
"Ready?"
"There's been a spell, a charm, set up to 'erase' Hermione Granger from the muggle world. They'll get as far as remembering you name before they remember something else, or are distracted. All paperwork you ever signed, any conversations you ever had. Everything will be erased."
"I don't want my best friend to forget."
"Your best friend? Hermione, she doesn't know about us. She doesn't know about our world. She has to be included."
"She'd the only family I have left! I'll tell her. There are muggles who know and accept. She'll accept it."
"You go ahead and try. If she doesn't accept she's included in the charm.
"FINE!" There was a knock on the door just then and she stood flustered.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Look through that file for me."
"Whatever," she snapped in reply as he disapparated. She made her way to the door while Draco silently picked up the file and took a seat on top of the counter. He slowly began to thumb through the documents.
Hermione opened the door and stood facing a woman who she had never met before.
"It's good to finally meet you Hermione, I'm Michelle."
"It's good to meet you too…Thanks for coming all the way out here. I can't drive."
"Oh? School didn't teach you?"
"You could say that," Michelle raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She followed Hermione into the kitchen and smiled at Draco.
"You must be the young man I spoke to on the phone," she said.
"That's me. Draco Malfoy," he shook her hand and smiled lightly.
"Michelle," she restated before turning to Hermione, "So Hermione, I have all the paperwork. With your signature it will all be settled," she pulled a single sheet of paper from her small briefcase and handed it to Hermione. Her parents will. She read through it quickly and then finally handed it to Draco. He read through it, much faster then her and looked at Michelle.
"What about your fee?"
"Her parents have paid already. When she called my firm withdrew our cut from a joint account. They then transferred the rest to her account and closed it. Instructions of her parents," she pointed to a paragraph, "and I have the records right here." She pulled out two more sheets, both signed off by the president of the bank. Draco read the paragraph over and inspected the sheets before nodding to Hermione.
"Do you have a pen?" She asked softly, and Michelle pulled yet another thing from the briefcase. Hermione carefully scrawled her signature across the line and handed everything back to Michelle. "You'll go to the funeral right? On Monday…"
"Of course. The whole town will be there Hermione. Your parents were well known. This town loved them."
"I know…" Hermione said softly. "Thanks for everything," she said, standing to show Michelle to the door.
"Good to meet you Draco," she said as she followed Hermione to the door. Smiling faint she gave her a hug. "You found a nice guy. Don't let him go…I'll see you on Monday."
"Thanks again," Michelle merely nodded and walked quickly to her car. Hermione waved as she drove off and then closed the door. She leaned back against it and began to cry, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor.
---
Draco her faintly and realized what had been taking her so long to make her way to the kitchen. He tossed the file down and hurried to her.
"Hermione…ssshhh, it's okay."
"It's all so final Draco…They're really gone. All of them."
"Hermione…It's okay. It'll get better. I promise." He wrapped his arms around her and softly rubbed her back. Unlike the other times she didn't quiet down immediately, but eventually the sobbing slowed and finally she didn't have any more tears to cry. When she didn't pull back, he thought perhaps she had fallen asleep. After a few minutes she lifted her head and looked away, her eyes swollen and red.
"I'm sorry, about all of this. It's just happening so fast. I feel like I have no control anymore."
"It's understandable. I'm here to help Mione…" He wanted add 'I love you', as he looked at her tearstained and trying not to dissolve again he felt his heart pull towards her. He really had fallen head over heels for her. Ever since that first day on the train. Something about her, the way she reflected light and everyone seemed drawn to her. Even though they eventually left, anyone who was near her seemed to brighten. To become happier.
"Thanks…" She said softly as she stood and made her way upstairs. She curled up on her daybed and wrapped a blanket around herself looking out the window. His eyes followed her upstairs, and with a sigh he went back into the kitchen to read the file that she was supposed to read by the next day.
Hermione awoke with a start and sat up trying to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered she had been lying under a gold comforter, Godric's hand wrapped around her. She took a few deep breaths and looked around, suddenly Hedwig was on her shoulder. She smiled slightly, the sight of an old friend comforting. "Hello Hedwig…Have you got a letter from Harry for me?" Hedwig clicked and looked toward the table, where a letter addressed in emerald ink lay in the piled of assorted letters. "Thanks girl…Bring this back for me," she handed Hedwig the letter and carried her to the window, letting her loose.
"Do you always talk to her like that, or only when you're bored?" Draco asked appearing in the doorway. Hermione jumped, still a little upset by her dream before shrugging lightly.
"Hedwig's been delivering letters between us for a lot of summers. I've had a lot of lonely days…"
"Oh…" he said, looking like he knew the truth of this, he didn't pursue the subject however and she let it lay. "Well breakfast's ready."
"What time is it?"
"Eleven o'clock…Michelle Roberts called, she told me to tell you that she'd be here at one…And then Mona," "Mona Fredricks?!" Hermione demanded, a light shining for a moment in the back of her eyes.
"Yeah, she called. She said she would have called sooner but she's out of town. And she left a cell number for you to call her back on…Mione, we need to start arrangements. You know that right?"
"Yeah…I know," she said softly. The glitter in her eye disappeared as did the small appetite she had had when she woke up. Draco guided her to the kitchen and handed her a plate of waffles, and eggs and ate what little was left of his, watching her like a hawk. When she'd finally eaten enough to satisfy him, he handed her a slip of paper with Mona's number on it. She thanked him quietly and made her way up to her room. Curling up on the daybed she picked up her phone and dialed the number. After two rings a farmilar voice picked up.
"Hello?"
"Mona? It's Hermione…"
"MIONE! Oh, it's been way to long since I've heard your voice. I got the news. I'm so sorry!" Hermione suddenly wondered why she hadn't called her best friend. But things had become strained when she didn't write, and barely visited the stable. It had ended in a blowout two summers ago…And neither had really tried to fix it.
"I'm sorry about the way I left things…"
"Let's put it behind us, sisters 'till the end. Remember?" Mona replied, and Hermione smiled remembering their vow never to let competition get between them.
"Right. The funeral will be in like…Two days. You'll…be home right?"
"Of course I'll be home…I'm getting out of here tomorrow. I'll have to stay with you though," she said softly. Again old memories came back. The strained relationship that Mona had with her mother, born in her mother's teens she was often shunned to the side and blamed for all of things that went wrong. Her horse had been a present from both Hermione and her parents. Hermione had worked for an entire summer saving every penny while home from Hogwarts and had earned enough to pay for ¾ of the horse, her parents paid the rest. Mona worked off board by the many hours she put in cleaning stalls and teaching students.
"Where are you?"
"Riding camp. Teaching stuck up rich brats who don't know a horses ass from it's head…It's awful. But it pays good. Family emergency and all, have to leave blah-blah-blah. They'll let me go."
"Thanks for doing this for me Mona," she replied quietly. Attempting to keep her voice from cracking.
"Like I said Mione, sisters…I'm here for you," someone called her name from the background and she muffled the speaker before yelling back. "I have to go teach my last lesson and get Mad Hatter ready for shipping. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thanks again." "Bye Mione." "Bye Mona." She placed the phone back in the cradle and paused to wonder how Mona could always make it seem like just yesterday they'd been throwing popcorn at each other and skipping class again. When really, it had been 5 years since that, and two since they'd sat down to talk. She sighed and stretched, the anticipation she had to see her best friend again growing by the minute. She changed quickly into a pair of worn jeans and a black tee-shirt. She reached for the phone again, and dialed for operator, thinking that she might call Harry, and then thought better of it. She placed the phone back down and pulled a pen and some parchment from her desk. She was about to write a reply to Dumbledore when Draco walked in.
"Hermione there's somewhere here to see you. Bob Dewart from the ministry."
"Okay…" she replied confused and wondering why he was back so soon. She followed him downstairs to the Living room.
"Hermione…I came to tell you that I've been assigned to your case for the time being. I was sent to inform you that your parents bodies were recovered. They're being sent to the funeral home here in town."
"Okay…" she said stunned.
"Tom owled me, said you'd cleaned out the room in the Leaky Cauldron. And Dumblerdore owled me saying you were supposed to go see him tomorrow."
"Yes…" she said slowly, trying to figure out why he knew so much about her life.
"Okay, I know a lot of new is-"
"Overwhelming, confusing, annoying," Draco said helpfully from behind her. Bob threw an annoyed look at him but nodded.
"Yes. And I realize this is a hard time for you. But I'm the only person who'll be working on your case. I can get basically anything you want done. And I have all the paperwork."
"So you'll be the one helping me reclaim the Ravenclaw estate?"
"You don't have to reclaim it. It's been yours since you were born."
"Obviously there's a lot I need to know. Can we go to the kitchen to talk?"
"Sure," he replied and Hermione led the way. Draco was a bit lost, as he didn't know whether he was invited or not.
"Draco, you come too," she called back over her shoulder. He acted like he'd known that the whole time and fell into step behind them. Hermione took a seat at the center island and Bob sat down next to her. Draco grabbed three sodas from the refrigerator and remained standing.
"I found a record of the people working for the estate…I figured it was inaccurate now though."
"Yes, the house has been closed to everyone, except the house elves. They keep everything in order in there. Of course…There are still some animals there, your parents were horse people and when they passed away there were five horses. And instructions for ones to look for over the years. But there's only a groundskeeper and his son for them…Two died. Two are-" he paused and snapped his fingers, a folder appeared in front of him and Hermione thought she heard 'Showoff' muttered under Draco's breath. "-two are sixteen, and one is twenty-five. Then the others were purchased through your parents instructions. Two are eight, one is ten, and one is a twelve."
"Male, Female, Breed?" Hermione asked, her eyes lighting up at the thought of owning her own breeding stock. A dream she'd held since the first time she'd sat upon a horse. In response he pulled out seven sheets and handed them to her. She flipped through them and took a deep breath. The pictures moved, as most wizarding pictures did. But the horses depicted were impeccable. The breeding…The conformation, she could tell they weren't cheap horses. They were all beautiful, one stallion, six mares.
Cloud Runner - 25 - White - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Jem - 16 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Valentina - 16 - Liver Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare Adele - 12 - Palomino - Registered Thoroughbred Mare (In foal) Jewel - 10 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Mare
Sky - 8 - Palomino - Registered Thoroughbred Mare (In foal)
Against Odds - 8 - Chestnut - Registered Thoroughbred Stallion (At stud)
She looked over the information with a dedicated interest. Noting the (in foal) next to two of the mares and making a mental note to talk to the groundskeeper about it.
"Dan, the groundskeeper is waiting for the date you wish to set for your return to the estate."
"Return?"
"You are planning to move there aren't you?"
"Yes…Of course," she said softly, looking over the pictures.
"So that's what has been eating away at your funds, beautiful creatures though. A lot of the breeding stock was sold after Lucia and Michael were killed. It was dealt with per the directions they left with us," Hermione nodded slightly.
"What were they?"
"Your father was an aurora. Your mother was a housewife, in a sense. She ran the entire estate and house ministry officials during the fight against Voldermort. She was an empath, and a seer…And it was rumored she could speak to animals. It was also said she was part elf…More than half."
"Said?"
"She never knew her parents. But she never seemed to age. And her powers were typical of the elven race."
"Okay. So I've seen my Gringotts account. And I've seen the estate on a map…But I'm still technically a Granger."
"Until you're ready to give it up." He said.
"Ready?"
"There's been a spell, a charm, set up to 'erase' Hermione Granger from the muggle world. They'll get as far as remembering you name before they remember something else, or are distracted. All paperwork you ever signed, any conversations you ever had. Everything will be erased."
"I don't want my best friend to forget."
"Your best friend? Hermione, she doesn't know about us. She doesn't know about our world. She has to be included."
"She'd the only family I have left! I'll tell her. There are muggles who know and accept. She'll accept it."
"You go ahead and try. If she doesn't accept she's included in the charm.
"FINE!" There was a knock on the door just then and she stood flustered.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Look through that file for me."
"Whatever," she snapped in reply as he disapparated. She made her way to the door while Draco silently picked up the file and took a seat on top of the counter. He slowly began to thumb through the documents.
Hermione opened the door and stood facing a woman who she had never met before.
"It's good to finally meet you Hermione, I'm Michelle."
"It's good to meet you too…Thanks for coming all the way out here. I can't drive."
"Oh? School didn't teach you?"
"You could say that," Michelle raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She followed Hermione into the kitchen and smiled at Draco.
"You must be the young man I spoke to on the phone," she said.
"That's me. Draco Malfoy," he shook her hand and smiled lightly.
"Michelle," she restated before turning to Hermione, "So Hermione, I have all the paperwork. With your signature it will all be settled," she pulled a single sheet of paper from her small briefcase and handed it to Hermione. Her parents will. She read through it quickly and then finally handed it to Draco. He read through it, much faster then her and looked at Michelle.
"What about your fee?"
"Her parents have paid already. When she called my firm withdrew our cut from a joint account. They then transferred the rest to her account and closed it. Instructions of her parents," she pointed to a paragraph, "and I have the records right here." She pulled out two more sheets, both signed off by the president of the bank. Draco read the paragraph over and inspected the sheets before nodding to Hermione.
"Do you have a pen?" She asked softly, and Michelle pulled yet another thing from the briefcase. Hermione carefully scrawled her signature across the line and handed everything back to Michelle. "You'll go to the funeral right? On Monday…"
"Of course. The whole town will be there Hermione. Your parents were well known. This town loved them."
"I know…" Hermione said softly. "Thanks for everything," she said, standing to show Michelle to the door.
"Good to meet you Draco," she said as she followed Hermione to the door. Smiling faint she gave her a hug. "You found a nice guy. Don't let him go…I'll see you on Monday."
"Thanks again," Michelle merely nodded and walked quickly to her car. Hermione waved as she drove off and then closed the door. She leaned back against it and began to cry, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor.
---
Draco her faintly and realized what had been taking her so long to make her way to the kitchen. He tossed the file down and hurried to her.
"Hermione…ssshhh, it's okay."
"It's all so final Draco…They're really gone. All of them."
"Hermione…It's okay. It'll get better. I promise." He wrapped his arms around her and softly rubbed her back. Unlike the other times she didn't quiet down immediately, but eventually the sobbing slowed and finally she didn't have any more tears to cry. When she didn't pull back, he thought perhaps she had fallen asleep. After a few minutes she lifted her head and looked away, her eyes swollen and red.
"I'm sorry, about all of this. It's just happening so fast. I feel like I have no control anymore."
"It's understandable. I'm here to help Mione…" He wanted add 'I love you', as he looked at her tearstained and trying not to dissolve again he felt his heart pull towards her. He really had fallen head over heels for her. Ever since that first day on the train. Something about her, the way she reflected light and everyone seemed drawn to her. Even though they eventually left, anyone who was near her seemed to brighten. To become happier.
"Thanks…" She said softly as she stood and made her way upstairs. She curled up on her daybed and wrapped a blanket around herself looking out the window. His eyes followed her upstairs, and with a sigh he went back into the kitchen to read the file that she was supposed to read by the next day.