Tangled
by Rsuth
DISCLAIMER: As the author of this fanfiction story I do not, in any way, profit from this story or claim any rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe. All creative rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe belong to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for letting me play in this amazing world.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but I don't post until I am happy with what I've written, and sometimes creativity doesn't always come to me immediately. As a gift to you all for the wait, this is my longest chapter yet. If you haven't read the story for a while, or this is your first time to this story, I would suggest going back and reading the previous chapters or it won't make sense. All of the italicized dialogue near the end of the chapter is straight from the book, "Deathly Hallows".
CHAPTER TEN
Hermione was running along a soft beach, the bright sand reflecting the sparkling sun around her. Her dream self was laughing as she ran, slowing down and legs wobbling as her laughter made her gasp for breath. Looking behind her, she saw a younger version of her father chasing closely behind her, the warm wind ruffling his curly hair, snapping against his long swim trunks. He was laughing with outstretched arms, trying to catch her.
As she kept running, the sky suddenly went dark, the sand cold and colourless, the wind sharp and gusting. She looked behind her but her father was no longer there. Just a menacing, swirling black mass was following her now. She panicked and ran faster, the pain in her lungs sharp with the cold air, but could feel her predator getting closer to her heels.
"Mudblood…" it chanted, its voice deep and indefinable, "you can't outrun us mudblood, we'll find you again. You're not smart enough, strong enough, fast enough…your filthy blood is no match for us…mudblood…mudblood…mudblood…MUDBLOOD!"
Hermione let out a yell as her foot caught on something and fell hard, her bare arms and legs scraping against the rough, wet sand. She quickly rolled herself over to meet her attacker, but nothing was there. Letting out a deep, shaky breath Hermione let herself lay back, looking up at the clouds in the grey sky above her.
"Hermione…" a familiar voice whispered to her, " Hermione…you're safe now…"
"Ron?"
She saw a flicker of red out of the corner of her eye, but couldn't seem to move her head to look at him. "RON? HELP ME!" she called louder, needing him to come closer, help her get away from this beach.
"Miss? Are you okay?" A deeper voice called out worriedly, and suddenly the beach was sunny and warm again, the sky above her clear and blue. Someone knelt down on the sand beside her, and she looked up to see the worried face of her father hovering over her.
"Dad?"
Her father looked at her in blank confusion, shaking his head at her. "I'm sorry miss, you must be mistaking me for someone else. Is your family around? Are you hurt?"
Hermione stared back at him for a long moment before shaking her head and letting her father pull her to her feet. "No…I—I'm fine…sorry…" she said awkwardly.
"Alright, well if you're sure." Her Dad smiled at her, and turned and walked down the beach, making his way to a young girl sitting underneath a bright umbrella. It was her. She watched as the younger version of herself ran up to her Dad, book hanging from her hand, excitedly showing him something in the palm of her hand.
A chill fell over Hermione once again, as the sky turned dark above her, and she tried to move forward to warn her Dad and the younger Hermione to get off the beach, that it wasn't safe for them, they needed to hide. Her feet were rooted to the ground, and she fell back down as she struggled to move. Helplessly laying on her stomache, Hermione watched as the swirling mass appeared behind her Dad and slowly moved towards them. "Watch out!" She screamed, but the two didn't seem to hear her, or realize the danger they were in. "Behind you! RUN!"
Hermione heard herself gasp as her body jerked awake. She needed to get back to them, needed to get back to the beach. Without opening her heavy eyes, Hermione felt something covering her, and fought away the material that was tangled and twisted around her arms and legs. Her flailing arms hit something solid, but she was too frantic to register what it was.
Forcing her eyes open to bright sunlight, Hermione pulled herself to the edge of the bed and rolled out, falling heavily to the ground when she tried to support her weight on weak legs. She heard herself cry out, but pushed herself up and nearly dragged herself the short distance to the open window, arms shaking as she pulled her body up far enough on the windowsill to look out at the beach.
Nothing was there. Not even a footstep in the wet sand.
It must have been a dream. It didn't actually happen. Hermione lay her head down on her arms, closing her eyes and breathing the salty air in heavily. Her ears were buzzing loudly, black spots floating behind her eyelids. It had seemed so real. But she was safe, she was at Bill's cottage with Harry and Ron, where they had gone after they had saved her from…She could feel her body trembling, and she tried to swallow and push down the hot tears that were welling behind her eyelids. Calm down, Hermione, she chanted in her head, now is not the time for this.
Something pressing on her back startled her head up, and she turned to see Ron crouched beside her, his mouth moving, eyes wide and scared. She brought a hand up to rub her ear, the angry buzzing preventing her from hearing what he was saying. She sank slowly all the way to the floor, her body's strength giving out on her, and watched as Ron stood up and ran to the door, opening it and pausing, then running back to crouch beside her.
His warm hands were running up and down her shoulders and she turned her head to watch him, hypnotized by the movement of his hand.
When she looked up again, there were more people surrounding her. Harry standing behind Ron, Bill crouched beside him, his mouth moving as well. Was he talking to her? Didn't they understand that she couldn't hear them?
Suddenly she was being picked up off the ground by strong arms, and her head swam at the movement. She closed her eyes and let herself lay limply, not having the strength or resolve to do anything else. She was safe, her boys would protect her.
A soft surface under her back, and she let herself sink into it. She felt her breathing start to slow, the thumping beat of her heart calm down, and the trembling stop, but as it did a wave of aches and pains suddenly crashed down on her, seemingly having waited until she was more lucid to make themselves known. She inhaled sharply, and a familiar smell flooded her senses. Ron.
She reached a hand out blindly, needing to find him, touch him. A warm hand grasped her and she clung to it, letting the pain wash over her.
A hand lifted her head, a cold bottle was pressed to her lips, and she choked down the bitter liquid, letting its coolness wash down her body, soothe her aches. The mattress dipped around her, a warmth spread over her body and she leaned into it, inhaling his familiar scent and letting it carry her back into sleep.
oooooooooooooooooooooooo
Something warm was tucked around her middle, wrapped around her legs, and she opened her tender, heavy eyes to bright orange.
Hermione stared blankly for a moment, letting her blurry vision clear, before realizing she was looking closely at Ron, her cheek leaning against his favourite worn Cannon's shirt. He was deep asleep, laying on his side, his arm around her body. She shivered as she felt his soft leg hair crinkling against her bare legs, the gentle weight of his arm holding her tight, his breath ruffling her hair. She let her eyes close, not ready to let him know she was awake, not wanting to break the closeness.
"Hermione?" his sleepy voice whispered above her, startling her from her thoughts.
She slowly turned her head up to look at Ron, finding his worried eyes staring down at her, half-open with sleep.
"Are…are you alright?" he whispered to her, his eyes searching her face. "Can you hear me?"
Automatically she shook her head 'yes', wincing slightly as the movement pulled at a tight spot on her neck.
She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes. Ron was waiting tensely beside her, looking as though he was ready to jump out of bed and call for help.
"I'm okay, Ron…really, just a bit sore." she lied to him, even knowing he would see through her false confidence and breathless voice. She vaguely remembered waking up earlier, getting out of bed, but the memory seemed distant and faded.
Ron frowned at her, raising his arm from around her to cup her face gently. "You and I both know you're not fine…Hermione," he faltered, "…you almost…I almost lost…" Ron gulped audibly and swallowed hard, ""I almost lost you, Hermione…and I almost didn't get a chance to tell you that…that I…I love you, Hermione, I have for a while."
Hermione felt her heart speed up again. Something told her she knew this, that she had heard this from him before, but it was a memory that she couldn't quite recall. She felt her eyes well up, having waited for him to tell her this since before that fiasco last year with Lavender Brown, almost having given up hope of this ever happening. A few tears slid down her face and Ron stared at her crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I shouldn't have said it. You just woke up, and I sprang this on you, and you don't have to say it back. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"Ron," Hermione interrupted his rambling, "Ron, I love you too…I have for a while."
She smiled as Ron's whole face lit up as he smiled back at her, dipping his head to press a long kiss into her hair. She pulled herself closer to him and simply let herself enjoy the closeness, the warmth of his body, the rapid beat of his heart beside her cheek.
After a while Ron pulled back and tipped her chin up to look at her face. "I'm going to go get Bill, he wanted me to come get him when you woke up. I imagine it's time for your next potions."
She shook her head vaguely, letting him help her roll onto her back and tucking her back in before he crept out the door. Not wanting to fall back asleep, she busied herself looking around the bedroom for the first time. The walls were built from pale stones and mortar, flecked with colourful stones and shells. Two large windows, with a small fireplace between them, covered the far wall, pale blue curtains fluttering against a small draft. A number of chairs were scattered around the room, a white armchair beside the bed had a rumpled blanket thrown on it. A small white table beside the bed had some empty mugs and plates stacked on it. Someone's discarded running shoes and pack, likely Harry's, had been tossed into the one corner. It looked as though they had been using this room for a while. How long had they been here?
A quiet knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, and she turned her head to see Bill Weasley backing into the room, closing the door softly behind him. Looking at the stack of dishes on the table, he bent down and placed the tray from his hands onto the floor. He straightened up to his full height and beamed down at her. "Do you feel up to sitting?" He asked her, carefully pulling her to sitting and placing pillows behind her back after she nodded her consent. Without speaking he uncorked a few small bottles and held them up to her mouth and she drank them down, feeling a soothing warmth wash over her body.
Bill pulled one of the room's chairs close to her and sat down, and she watched as he held his wand over her and quietly muttered spells. Eventually he leaned back in his chair and relaxed, and she waited silently for him to talk to her.
"I'm glad to see you awake again, Hermione, you've been out of it for the better part of five days. Ron and Harry have been worried out of their mind."
"Five days?" She squeaked out, taken completely by surprise.
Bill smiled at her sadly and shook his head. "It was five days this morning since you three dropped onto the beach. You're at our home, Shell Cottage. It's been in our family for quite a long time. We've been using it as a type of hideout since the War started, just after our wedding, really."
Hermione could only stare at him, not able to process that they had been there a week.
Bill must have seen her confusion, because he continued. "Hermione, five days ago I heard someone apparate loudly out on the beach, so I ran to check that it wasn't the enemy, that we hadn't been found. I saw Ron down the beach; he was on the ground, I thought he was hurt. When I reached him I realized that you were with him, unconscious, covered in cuts and blood. You both looked like hell. Harry arrived just moments after with the elf and the goblin." Bill paused and looked at her and she nodded at him to continue, his story prodding at her faint memories. "You had been…tortured…quite extensively…by Bellatrix LeStrange... When I went to heal you, my wand turned red-hot, useless against the strength of the Unforgiveable. Every time I tried, I…I couldn't heal you. I'd never seen anything like it. Fleur and I took care of you the best we could, I had been trained in a bit of muggle healing and that seemed to work. For days you were feverish, stuck in your dreams. Ron and Harry wouldn't leave your side, barely. And then, it seemed like you were fighting back, struggling to wake up."
Hermione could remember pieces of her dreams, "I remember that, Bill…I was stuck in the darkness, something was trying to drag me down, tempt me into giving up on waking up, making me forget who I was….for a while, I let it happen, but then I fought back…I heard…Ron's voice…I used it to pull myself away from it, to escape."
Bill just watched her for a moment before leaning forward and regarding her with a smile. "I had a theory…about what was happening to you, but I didn't think….Do you realize what you've done, Hermione? What this means?"
Hermione just shook her head, feeling too tired to rise to the challenge of figuring out what he was referring to.
"The curse…no one has ever been quite sure about what happens to the mind after someone has endured extensive Cruciatus. There's a gap in research because no one has ever come back from that…they end up like…like that Longbottom's parents. The ones at St. Mungo's. They lost themselves, and their sense of the world around them. I believe…that's what was happening to you. Almost did happen to you. But you came back Hermione, you fought back against the curse, and you won." Bill sat shaking his head in disbelief as he watched her, but Hermione didn't know how to respond. She had been that close to being gone forever; turned into a mindless child, like Neville's parents. Having to be institutionalized. Her parents would never know what happened to her, they would be Wendell and Monica Wilkins for the rest of their lives.
Bill must have seen that she was getting upset because he reached over and took her closest hand between both of his. "Hermione, the important part is that you are alive, and that you are with us still. Ron never lost hope that you would come back to us…to him…and he was right. And just think of the good your experience will do in the healing world, what can be learned by this."
Hermione couldn't help but smile, knowing Bill was reaching out to her love of knowledge to console her. She nodded at him, to let him know she was alright, and she let herself relax back into the pillows, her hand still held comfortingly in Bill's.
She was feeling stronger, now that she had been awake for a while, and taken her potions. Her mind felt clear and sharp again.
"Where are Ron and Harry?"
Bill looked up at her, "They're…" his face fell, "your little elf friend, Dobby…didn't make it, Hermione. They've gone outside to find a spot to bury him…we were waiting until you woke up, Ron figured you'd want to be there. From what it sounds like, he's the reason you were all able to escape…From Harry's stories, it sounds like he was quite the elf."
Hermione could feel tears welling in her eyes. She hadn't expected that. "He was quite the elf. A free elf. He loved socks…" she laughed through a sob. She looked towards the window, where she knew Harry and Ron were out digging a small grave. "Take me outside, Bill, I want to go help them…I need to be there."
Bill shook his head, "Hermione, you've barely just woken up, you're in no shape to-"
"Bill, please, it sounds like he saved my life. I owe it to him. Please…"
Bill considered her words for a long moment before nodding his consent. "Let me help you sit up on the edge of the bed. If you can sit on your own for a few minutes without feeling too terrible, you can go out. I'll go get Fleur to help, though. And I think you'll need something a bit…warmer…before you go outside, it's a bit chilly by the water." Hermione looked down to see just a white nightgown and blushed slightly.
With a bit of careful maneuvering, Bill soon had her sitting up with her bare feet on the floor. Her body felt heavy and weak at the same time, her hands and feet slightly tight and swollen from disuse.
Before she knew it, Fleur was breezing into the room, chatting happily about how she was pleased to see Hermione awake, and other trivial things, and helped her change into a soft set of pants, a sweater, and her running shoes. Fleur ran a soft brush through her hair and pulled it back into a loose ponytail. She lastly wrapped her marred arm up in some antiseptic and gauze, mentioning something about the sand. Hermione looked away while she did this.
After she had assured Fleur that she felt well enough to go outside (though she truthfully didn't), the French woman called her husband back in, and between the two of them they supported Hermione for the achingly slow walk out of the bedroom. She refused to be carried, since she had somehow made it down the stairs and out to the beach once before by herself, from what she faintly remembered. Each step was heavy and painful, and made her want to do nothing more than go back to bed, but soon enough they had reached the bottom of the stairs, and stepped out the kitchen door.
It was beautiful.
The afternoon sun was bright and warm, despite it being spring, and the wind was pushing the loose sand over the grassy dunes. In this distance, Hermione could see a small group of people standing on a taller dune, their backs facing them.
With Fleur and Bill grasping her tightly, Hermione slowly made her way across the soft sand, which she was silently cursing because of its precarious footing, and started the uphill climb. By the top, Bill was nearly carrying her, as she was winded from the short walk, and had lost the little energy she possessed. They stopped at the top to give her a moment to catch her breath. The small preoccupied group had not seen them approaching yet, and Hermione was surprised by who was standing with Ron and Harry.
"Luna….Dean?" she thought to herself, and started to move forward again. When they had almost reached the group, Harry turned around to see them, and a large smile grew on his face. "Hermione!" he called, and walked the remaining steps between them. When he reached them, Hermione moved away from Bill and flung her good arm around Harry, pressing her cheek into his chest, as his arms came around her to support her.
"You shouldn't be out here, you should be in bed." Harry admonished her lightly, knowing from experience that she wasn't one to be told what to do.
Hermione pulled her head from his chest and looked up to him. "Bill's just told me everything that's happened…about Dobby too. I couldn't just stay inside, not after what he did for us." Harry's eyes shone brightly as he nodded his head.
Holding onto her, Harry turned himself around and grasped her around the waist, and then Ron was on her other side holding her tight, smiling down at her, pressing a kiss to her temple. She let herself lean against him as they started moving towards the rest of the group, feeling slightly awkward remembering their exchanged words from earlier.
Luna and Dean were waiting for them, the former standing with some wild yellow flowers tucked in her braid and in a small bouquet. Hermione almost stopped walking when she got a good look at Luna. The girl's hollow eyes and cheeks smiled at her, through faded bruises and scrapes. She looked like she had been through hell. Dean didn't look as emaciated, but his face was worried and older than she remembered.
"Luna…Dean…why are you both here? Luna, what happened to you?"
Harry gave her a squeeze. "They were being held in the dungeon of Malfoy Manor, along with Mister Ollivander. Dobby took them here, he saved them too."
"Dobby was such a nice elf," Luna's airy voice sang to her, "I owe him my life. I imagine Daddy must have been worried about me…I wasn't sure we were ever going to get out of there."
Hermione just gave her a sad smile and nodded. She had thought the same thing.
Everyone stood in silence until Ron suddenly let go of her and quickly shrugged out of his sweater, laying it down in the sand, reaching toward her to help her sit down. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at sitting down, slightly regretting that she had walked this far when she glanced back at the cottage in the distance. Fleur sat down beside her, wrapped a heavy blanket and an arm around her, and encouraged her to lean against her. Luna knelt down on her other side and squeezed Hermione's hand, placing a clump of the wild flowers in her lap.
Ron was speaking quietly with Bill, who nodded his head and turned to walk back to the house. Hermione tried watching as Harry, Ron, and Dean solemnly finished digging a small grave, but let her eyes close while she waited; the bright sunlight was making them ache.
Soon enough, everyone started talking quietly and she opened her eyes to see that Bill had returned with the limp Dobby in his arms. Wordlessly, Harry shrugged out of his jacket and placed it around Dobby, and Bill lowered the small creature into his grave.
"Hold on," Ron muttered, and he sat down to pull his shoes and socks off, placing them gently on the elves feet. "Not quite the colour you would have chosen, Dobby. Sorry about that, mate."
Dean knelt down beside Ron to pull a knit hat off his head, placing it on Dobby's head, around his long ears.
As Hermione regarded the small, mischievous elf for the last time with tears swimming in her eyes, Luna stood up beside her to place her small bouquet in Dobby's hands, before addressing the small group.
"I think we ought to say something. I'll go first, shall I? Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now."
Luna looked down at Ron, beside her. He cleared his throat and spoke with a teary voice. "Yeah…thanks Dobby."
"Thanks." muttered Dean.
Harry opened his mouth a few times, trying to speak, but eventually just sighed and said, "Goodbye, Dobby."
Bill used his wand to cover the grave with fresh dirt, and Hermione pushed herself to sit upright. She moved herself carefully off Ron's sweater on her knees, until she could reach the grave. She carefully pressed some of the flowers into the dirt so their colourful petals were facing the sky, and laid her palm onto the grave.
"Thank you, Dobby, for being a happy, free, elf, and for wearing all of my knitted hats…" she heard Ron snort softly behind her, and she smiled at the memory through her tears. "I'm sorry you had to clean the Gryffindor common room all by yourself, too. I promise that there will be other free elves like you, someday…Thank you for helping us. Thank you for saving our lives." She sat still beside the grave for a long moment, until someone's hands were touching her hunched shoulders. She looked up to see Ron above her.
"We should get you back inside. The sun's going down, and you're white as a ghost. I would tell Bill off for letting you out of bed, but I know you would have come out here whether they'd helped you or not, stubborn woman." Ron's smile took the edge off his words, and she reached out her arms to be pulled off the ground.
"Oh, no, you don't." Ron muttered softly to her. He tucked the blanket back around her shoulders, from where it had fallen behind her, and hooked his arms underneath her to lift her into his arms.
Hermione squeaked at his sudden move, but didn't protest. She was too tired out to protest.
"Harry?" Ron questioned his friend, and Hermione looked around to realize everyone else was already walking back, except the three of them.
"D'you mind if I stay here a moment?" Harry asked, as he took Hermione's place kneeling beside the grave.
"Alright, mate." Ron answered softly, and carefully started to pick his way down the dune, towards the cottage. Hermione grasped onto the front of his shirt, and let her head lean against his chest.
"Are you alright, Ron?" she questioned him softly. They hadn't had much of a chance to talk since she had woken up.
Ron stopped walking and looked down at her. "Now that you're awake and on the mend, I'm fine." He gave her a gentle smile and closed the distance to the house, walking through the kitchen door sideways without bumping her. Bill and Fleur were in the kitchen, making cups of tea, and smiled when they saw them come in.
"If you're feeling up to it, Hermione, we were going to have a bit of a party for Dobby." Bill told her as he showed her a cake he was cutting on the counter. Hermione looked up at Ron and nodded her head, not ready to go back to bed yet. Ron rolled his eyes good-naturedly and carried her into a small living room, setting her down carefully on the empty couch.
Hermione smiled to herself as Ron fussed over her, taking her shoes off, and tucking more blankets around her.
"I'll be right back," he told her, and brought them both a steaming cup of tea and piece of cake. He grabbed a few pillows from the room and sat down next to her, piling them on his lap and encouraging her to lay back against them, handing her the tea when she got settled. Hermione relaxed against Ron, closing her eyes as she sipped her tea, letting the warmth of the blanket soothe her aching and tired body.
She felt her legs being lifted and cracked her eyes open to see Harry sitting down, placing her covered feet in his lap. His eyes were rimmed with red, but he looked at her with a small smile on his face, and grasped her ankle in a sign of comfort that was familiar to them both.
Soon everyone, except for the bed-bound Mister Ollivander and Griphook, had gathered in the living room, and Bill was pouring out small glasses of Firewhisky for everyone. He winked at her as he gave her one as well, topped up a little higher than the others, mumbling that it couldn't hurt for her to sleep well.
Leaning against Ron, who had an arm wrapped around her middle, and with Harry at her feet, Hermione couldn't have felt any more at home as they toasted Dobby's life, and told stories of the funny little elf's exceptional life. She felt her eyes tear up on many occasions, not just because they had lost Dobby, but because she realized how close she came to joining him in a grave. She would have missed out on so much…the good and the bad. It had been close, but without Dobby she wouldn't have even stood that small chance at recovering.
"Here, here!" She called out to the last toast made by Harry ("To Dobby, whom I owe all of my socks!"), and drank her glass down.
Though the party continued to happen around her throughout the evening, Hermione let the Firewhisky work its magic and lay back against Ron with her eyes closed. He put his feet up on the coffee table and stretched out, pulling her more comfortably against him as Harry did the same on the other end.
She knew they still had so much to do, that their mission did not stop because they were at the protected Shell Cottage. They had lost out on enough days already, because of her. But for tonight she was content to lay back with her two best friends and let their worries wait until tomorrow.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
A/N: Reviews are appreciated; I absolutely love reading what you all think. I've always had a bit of a fear of sharing my written work, but publishing fan fiction has really helped me begin to get over my worries about people reading and commenting on my work. You've all been so encouraging and kind. So thank you!
There is only going to be one more chapter left to go, which is going to finish the story and tie it back into the book. I will get it up as soon as I am able. And for those of you who are waiting for updates on my other stories, I'm getting to them for sure, they haven't been abandoned.
