Hermione sat by the window, watching the action down in the courtyard. It had been three weeks since her encounter with Draco by the river and those three weeks had passed by in short bursts of experiences. Those experiences were enough to tell Hermione that the close relationship between the Queen and her personal Knight was severely damaged, they now no longer addressed each other as anything other than their formal titles and they never spent any time alone together.
Hermione was now more in tune with the Queen's feelings and her sadness at the situation was overwhelming. Hermione could feel how much the Queen was being hurt by the rift and as such she was hurting. Hermione's own thoughts that they would sort things out and the affair would continue were starting to fade as she became aware that with each passing experience she was connecting deeper with the character in the story. She had a feeling that before long she would be so immersed that only a few of her own thoughts would surface over the Queen's.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Ginny's concerned voice jolted Hermione from her thoughts and she turned to find her maid standing at the window next to where she was sitting.
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Hermione reassured Ginny as her friend continued to watch the action in the courtyard.
Down in the courtyard a small selection of knights, including Sir Blaise, were preparing to head up to Slytherin's most northern border. Over the last few days the castle had received reports of bandits in the woods to the north of the citadel. The bandits were thought to belong to a small kingdom, Durmstrang, a few miles away. Durmstrang was a tiny kingdom by all accounts and according to King Severus both the kingdoms of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had recently had trouble with bandits originating from there.
"You can go and say goodbye, if you want." Hermione told her maid.
"Really?" Ginny perked up at the prospect. "Are you sure?"
"Of course." Hermione smiled softly. "Go."
"Thank you My Lady." Ginny grinned at Hermione before she rushed out of the room.
Hermione stayed at the window watching the knights preparing to leave and five minutes after she left the chambers, Ginny appeared in the courtyard. With a pang of jealously Hermione watched as Ginny passionately kissed Sir Blaise before he mounted his horse. Hermione knew that if Draco had been leaving with the party she wouldn't have been able to say goodbye like that, but luckily the blond knight was staying in the citadel and Hermione didn't have to worry about him leaving on a potentially dangerous mission.
As the party of knights began to leave the courtyard Hermione turned her attention to Draco, who was standing on the steps watching them leave. As he turned to re-enter the castle he looked up at Hermione's window and the pair locked eyes. Normally a smile would pass between them but the blond knight merely looked at her sadly before turning away and entering the castle.
Turning away from the window Hermione stared at her chambers, wondering how she would pass the time. Normally she would have gone for a ride but with a contingent of knights having just left she knew Draco would be busy, besides she didn't fancy having to deal with the awkwardness that had developed between them. Ginny had even picked up on it and one of the brief things Hermione had experienced over the last three weeks had been her friend asking about the weird atmosphere between the pair of them. Hermione had brushed her friend off, claiming Sir Draco was just worried about the bandit situation. Luckily Ginny had accepted her explanation and the topic hadn't been raised since.
Hermione was still undecided about what she was going to do when Ginny returned to the chambers. While Ginny did her chores and tidied the room Hermione sat quietly in her seat by the window. When her maid had finished her work Hermione suggested a walk in the gardens and the two women left the room and headed downstairs.
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Hermione was walking through the gardens with Ginny when the scene around her began to fade. Getting used to the sensation Hermione patiently waited until the new scene filtered into her consciousness. When it did she was surprised to find herself still in the garden with Ginny. It was only when she looked down at herself that she realised she was wearing a different dress, she had been dressed in deep blue but she was now dressed in pale peach.
"I just can't believe we've had no word." Ginny sighed, drawing Hermione's attention towards her friend. "They've been gone a whole week and we don't know if they're alright."
"I'm sure everything is fine." Hermione responded.
She quickly realised it had been a week since Sir Blaise and his party set off for the northern borders and as yet no word had been heard from them. The whole castle had been filled with apprehension by the lack of communication and Hermione knew King Severus and Sir Draco were starting to worry and had held several meetings on the topic over the last few days. Because Ginny was so worried about Sir Blaise, Hermione hadn't informed her maid of the concern in the court, instead she had tried to keep her friend occupied.
The two women walked for a few minutes more before one of the other servants approached them. Hermione smiled inwardly as she recognised the woman as Pansy Parkinson, so far Pansy had been in the background of a few of her brief flashes and her memories but this was the first time she had interacted with her on a personal level.
"You Majesty." Pansy curtsied as she arrived at Hermione's side. "The King wishes to see you in the council chambers."
As Pansy turned and hurried off Hermione wondered about the request. The council chambers was where the King made all his important decisions about the kingdom and so far Hermione had only entered it occasionally. It hadn't taken her long to realise that King Severus was set in his ways and in his eyes the kingdom was his to rule and he didn't want any input from Hermione. Because of this Hermione was shocked to receive a summons to somewhere she always felt unwanted.
After leaving Ginny in the garden, Hermione entered the castle and made her way to the council chambers. There were two knights at the door that Hermione had never really noticed before but they bowed when she approached and opened the doors for her. Entering the room Hermione was surprised to find it empty, except for King Severus sitting at the long table. Even though she had only been in the room a few times Hermione had expected to find all of the King's advisors in the room with him, she knew that normally when he was working on his own he retired to his private chambers.
"You wished to see me, My Lord." Hermione said, announcing her presence.
"Ah yes." King Severus looked up from his paperwork. "I just want to inform you that the situation has escalated on the northern borders and I've had to send an extra group of knights to take control of the situation."
Hermione looked at the King in bewilderment, he'd never once told her about things that were happening around the kingdom before and she wasn't sure why he had started now.
"I'm informing you because Sir Draco is leading the second party." King Severus explained, seeing the Queen's confusion at his announcement. "Obviously with Sir Draco not around to protect you I would prefer it if you stayed within the castle walls. If you really need to venture further afield, I can provide a knight to accompany you but I would rather you didn't."
"I can stay in the castle." Hermione reassured the King. The truth was she wasn't interested in going anywhere with a knight that wasn't Sir Draco. "May I ask when Sir Draco and his party are leaving?" She inquired, hoping she would be able to find a minute to say goodbye to the blond knight.
"They left at dawn." The King replied. "Our information came late last night and I didn't want to disturb you."
Hermione nodded as she tried not to show how upset she was. The thought of Draco leaving without being able to say goodbye was terrible but what was worse was the fear that had gripped her. If the situation at the northern borders was so bad that the first group of knights needed reinforcements then there was a chance that Draco could be hurt, or worse killed.
After leaving the King, Hermione made her way to her chambers. She was relieved to find them empty, Ginny was either still in the garden or she was attending to some chores elsewhere. Slipping off her shoes Hermione crawled onto her bed and curled up amongst the pillows, thoughts of Draco swimming in her head.
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Hermione went from being curled up on her bed to sitting having dinner with King Severus. For the first time since the change of scenes began, Hermione didn't have to internally work out what had happened and how much time had passed. She knew that Draco and his party had been gone for five days and in those five days they hadn't heard a word from him.
Pushing the food around on her plate, Hermione tried to stop worrying about Draco. Unfortunately no matter how much she told herself he was an extremely capable knight and knew how to take care of himself, she still worried. Trying to take her mind off the worrying, Hermione considered how much more in tune she was becoming with the Queen. Her thoughts and feelings were starting to blend together with the Queens, and if this time jump was anything to go by she was recalling events in between jumps quicker and clearer.
A loud knocking on the door disturbed Hermione's thoughts. When the King shouted for whoever it was to enter Hermione turned round expectantly, no-one ever disturbed the royal couples dinner so she was hoping it was news from the party of knights at the northern borders.
"What is it?" King Severus asked the knight who had entered the room.
"We've had word from the knights at the northern borders." The knight replied, sounding worried. "They're heading back home."
"I take it the bandits are taken care of."
"Yes, Sire." The knight nodded.
"But?" King Severus questioned the knight. "I take it from your manner there's something you're not saying."
"There's an injured knight amongst them." The knight answered. "It doesn't sound good."
"Who?" Hermione asked the question before she could stop herself, luckily the King didn't seem to notice the distress in her voice.
"The message didn't say." The knight told the Queen. "All the message said was they had a seriously injured member of the party so the return trip will be slower."
"Thank you, that'll be all." King Severus dismissed the knight before he turned back to the Queen. "Are you alright? You look quite pale."
"I'm fine." Hermione responded. She didn't even attempt a smile to reassure the King as she knew she would fail miserably. "I just always find it hard when a knight returns home from battle injured."
"It's worse when they don't return." The King muttered sending new shock waves of horror through Hermione.
Her mind had already gone into overdrive at the mention of an injured knight and she didn't need the image that whoever it was might not survive. She felt sick at the thought that the injured party might be Draco and she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she saw him.
"If you'll excuse me, I think I'll retire for the night." Hermione said, pushing her chair back and standing up from the table.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." King Severus said, also rising from his seat. "Let me walk you to your chambers."
Hermione wanted to protest but she didn't, instead she let the King take her arm and walk her to her chambers. Hermione knew the knights and servants they passed on the way would assume they were off to bed together, the King walked her to her rooms at least once a week and Hermione suspected it was to give the impression they were fulfilling their marital duties. Apart from Draco, whom she had told that the King wouldn't touch her, Hermione thought the rest of the castle assumed their marriage had been consummated. Even Ginny had asked her about the King's performance in the bedroom but Hermione had politely refused to answer, mainly as the question had brought up images that she could do without.
After the King dropped her off at the door Hermione entered the bedchamber. Ginny was waiting for her and as she let her maid help her get ready for bed she told her the news. Ginny had been as worried as Hermione, but whereas Hermione had to hide her concern for Draco her friend could openly worry about the knight she was involved with. After a fretting Ginny had left, Hermione lay awake worrying about Draco and what state he would be in when he returned home.