Chapter 12
Hermione was completely disorientated when she woke up. She was getting used to waking up at Malfoy Manor. She groaned when she remembered what happened the day before. She didn't know what to do now. The Malfoys had offered her one of their properties to live in, but she didn't want it.
She decided that it was either all or nothing. She would either be part of the family or she would not. She wasn't going to be some black sheep that they stowed away somewhere as they expected. She wasn't sure what this meant, but she suspected it was a separation. Divorce was practically unheard of, but it wasn't sure if it was a complete impossibility.
Again she had things looking like they were going in the right direction just to have it yanked away again. Maybe that was right, maybe that was just how things were, because things didn't go her way. No matter how hard she tried, things just didn't work out. She was smart and she tried her best, why was that never enough? Why did everything have to be so hard?
She sat in her room at the Leaky Cauldron, not knowing what to do now. She had to review her options. Reconciliation with Draco might not really be an option. He had kicked her out, he had probably changed the wards on the Manor by now to ensure she couldn't return.
Kicking her out was a big move, it was a permanent statement. Not a little bickering. Everyone would be aware and Astoria would likely be shunned as was typical of disgarded wives. Usually considered abject failures or fundamentally unsavoury. So there would be no more invites to parties and events. Not that Hermione minded. She was damaged goods now, to be quietly and discreetly stashed away somewhere. She wondered if she was expected to run into the arms of Theo Nott. Is that what Astoria expected, or did she think she could go on like she was?
She wondered if this was some kind of punishment by the Malfoys. She would be left out in the cold for a while until she got the message loud and clear that she needed to behave. Somehow she didn't think so, maybe if Draco had kicked her out personally with a few speeches about how inappropriate her behaviour was, but he hadn't he had refused to have anything to do with her. That was pretty telling.
It didn't matter, it was done now. A second life she had completely screwed up. Guess she had to start thinking about life number three. Staying as part of the Malfoy family wasn't an option. She was still married to Draco and his only option for an heir unless he managed to divorce her. If anyone had the power and influence to do it, it would be the Malfoys. But she wasn't sure Draco would be all that motivated. He didn't seem to have any particular feelings for any woman that would drive him to seek freedom.
It might be easier for them to keep her somewhere, where Draco would come around once a month in an attempt to knock her up, then to take the child away to raise. That was not an option she would even consider. He did literally have the power to imprison her. That would be cruel and she wasn't exactly sure that Draco wasn't up for a bit of cruelty, history has shown he was very good at it.
Being a shunned married woman would really limit her opportunities. No one would employ her. Most women in her situation would have to depend on their husband or potentially their family, but she didn't have any family left.
She needed to decide on a plan, in case it came down to them restricting her movements. She needed to talk to Harry. And that could go very badly.
Harry would be going to work this morning. The best place to catch him would be at the Ministry. She decided that was her plan of action. She didn't have any clothes to change into, she didn't even have a toothbrush.
She had to endure two hours of suspicious looks outside the Aurors department before Harry came out. It looked like he was going somewhere.
"Harry," she called, "can I speak to you?"
"Greengrass?" He said surprised. "Sorry, Mrs. Malfoy."
"Can we talk for a minute?" She asked.
Harry looked around, he seemed unsure what to do.
"There is a conference room down the hall here. I'm not sure if its free, but we can have a look." He said and she followed him down the hall.
It was so good to be with Harry again, she had missed him.
"This really strange thing happened involving Hermione." Hermione started, trying to figure out how she was going to go about this. "See, she died."
"I know that." Harry said shortly.
"But something went wrong. She...I ended up in another body. This body."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Hermione ended up in your body?"
"I know it sound crazy, but its true." Hermione said, fearing his response.
"So Hermione is in you." He said plainly like he was talking to a child.
"Its me Harry, I am in this body." She said. "I have no idea how it happened, but I'm in here, I woke up in this body."
"And you share this body with Astoria?" He said. Hermione knew that Harry didn't believe her, but he would listen. It was part of his training if nothing else.
"Actually, I don't know where Astoria is, she isn't in here as far as I can tell."
Harry was thinking, she could practically see the wheels churning in his head. He was trying to think of intentions that would include this scenario. He would hear her out, waiting for her to talk herself into revealing whatever it was she was after. Or he would determine that she was completely loony.
"And where is your husband?" He asked after a while.
"Draco?" She asked. "He kicked me out."
Harry nodded. He was still looking for the punch line.
"Like me and Malfoy could ever co-exist." She said with a snort. Actually she knew she was lying, the co-existed quite nicely for about five minutes.
"Did he hurt you?" Harry asked carefully.
"No!" She said. "Its not... He isn't important. Its me Harry. I'm in here. Me, the girl you went to school with for seven years, the one you spent a year in a tent with. I like U2. I like cheeseburgers. I walked in on you having a wank in the shower at the Burrow that time, remember."
This made Harry cough.
"I know you think I could have stolen all these memories, Harry." She continued. "But I have them all and I have none of hers."
"Who's?"
"Astoria's."
"And what do you want?" Harry said.
"I just needed to talk to you." She said. "I am going to leave, I think."
"Leave?"
"The wizard world." She said. "I am going back to the muggle world for a while."
"Hermione's parents are dead." He said.
"I know that Harry." She said a little too loudly. "It was me they called from the emergency room."
It was quiet for a while.
"Say I believe you." Harry said. "What do you want from me?"
"I don't know Harry." She said. "I've got no one now. I just needed to talk to you. Let you know that I was alright. I just needed someone to know I was still here."
"Maybe you just picked up some of her memories somehow." He said.
"Maybe." Hermione said. "But its complete. I don't know what happened, I can't explain it. Maybe I am just a copy of her memories, but I have the complete set. Everything in my consciousness is Hermione. All my memories, all my thoughts, all my knowledge."
"This doesn't make sense." He said.
"Do you believe me?" She asked.
Harry didn't answer. "Its best that you don't tell anyone." He said.
Hermione nodded.
"Do you need anything?" He asked. "Money?"
"No, the Malfoy's gave me a pouch as a parting gift." She said and held it up to show.
"And where are you going?"
"I don't know yet." She said. "I can't stay here."
"Why?" He said and the suspicion was right back in his eyes.
"To be Malfoy's little cast off wife, no thanks." She said. "Time to go."
"Back to the muggle world." He said.
"Yeah."
"Hermione wouldn't go to the muggle world, she loved the wizard world." He said. She was really sick of people telling her that what she was doing wasn't anything like her.
"That was before I was Malfoy's wife." She yelled. "That has somewhat changed things."
"Alright, point taken." He said. "When are you going?"
"Now." She said. "Right after this. Harry, can you ask around the Department of Mysteries if they can shed any light on what has happened to me."
The silence prevailed for a while. "I'll see if I can find someone to ask." He said after a while. "Let me know where you are."
The conversation had that done feeling. He didn't believe her but he would give her the benefit of a doubt until he found proof otherwise.
She hugged him tightly for a while and it seemed to take him by surprise.
"I'm so tall now." She said. "Not a bad body, huh? These boobs are huge. They get in the way constantly."
Harry tried not to look at her chest.
"I can have a baby now." She said, conveying something that was very important but realising that sounded quite mental. "Only with Draco though due to the marriage terms and that doesn't look like its going to work out. Anyway, it beats being dead. When is Ron's wedding?"
"A couple of weeks." Harry said.
Hermione was quiet for a while. She felt like the ultimate outsider.
"Best not to tell him any of this." Harry said. "He wouldn't understand."
Hermione nodded again. She knew it was true, but she also knew that Harry was trying to protect his friend from the loony woman.
"He seems happy." She said.
"He is."
"I better go."
"Yeah." Harry said. "Owl me and let me know where you are. Let me know if you need anything."
Hermione smiled and said she would. He would say that to anyone. Even if he suspected they were trying to deceive him.
It could have gone better, it would have gone much worse. At least she had a line of communication open, even if he never believed her.
Hermione walked out of the Ministry and down to the money changers. She changed all the money into muggle pounds. Time to go.