Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how terrible I am as I haven't updated for more or less, 3 whole months, but to be frank, I was during my Boring, Depressive, Uncreative, Stressful Era with a couple of trips during it, so I wasn't that able to write... but, I guess, here it is now! The second-to-last chapter is up.
Well, I guess some notes are essential before reading this: Firstly, I once again apologize in advance, as I don't know how right the Italian phrases are (translator's fault, not mine!), and well, if you remember from first chapter, due to age, I keep to change most of Luna's 'r's with 'l's.
After that, about the actual chapter: it is actually divided into 2 parts of sorts; that's the purpose of the title, as well. 'Truth' has to deal with the first part of the story, while 'Abyss' is meant to describe the second part (I'm sure that after reading the chapter, you'll be able to understand what I mean...)
And finally, I'd like to inform that any reference to historical events, locations or dates etc are completely fictional.
Ooof! Now I'll just shut up and let you read... Enjoy! :)
Love And War Don't Discriminate Between Nation
~Truth And Abyss~
She was humming quite off-key as she was attempting to sweep meagerly the floor with a half-broken broom she had accidently found in the small closet. As she was passing before the fireplace, her eyes fell on the girl some distance away, who was now playing with a couple of quite thin, wooden dolls Ron had made for her the other day. She secretly smiled to herself for a moment before resuming her housework lighter in soul, thinking of the few bright stains she was grateful to have through this dark, shadowy chapter of the world's life. Oh, she now lived to acquire such stains from the two most unexpected people she could think of giving her such things, yet she was even more appreciative it was actually them- she really was.
Her head snapped up the moment she heard the door opening and she welcomed with her smiling face the man who entered the hut, who was bringing, along with his presence, the aura of a vast, forgotten forest during the start of the autumn and the evening of a mild summer. He looked at her as well, his face calm and then also bright, as a genuine smile appeared on his thin face. She momentarily forgot all about the little girl a few meters away and as she let the broom fall on the floor, she ran to him and fell in his arms, even surprising herself with the actions. Ron, as well, seemed quite surprised but a second later he was laughing merrily and he hugged her back tightly, savouring the bliss of the moment maybe even hungrily. A huge smile appeared on her face while the echoes of his laughter were still audible in between the walls of the ancient hut, giving a different, more alive essence at the stone and the wood. A moment later, she also felt something tightly wrapped around her knees and it only took a glimpse to realize that the beautiful girl was hugging their legs happily, surely wanting to participate in this minute moment of contentment. The man's chuckle was once again audible and he bended down to effortlessly take his daughter in his arms, putting her between them. Luna instantly giggled merrily and after kissing her daddy's cheek soundly, she eagerly put her tiny arms around Hermione's neck, hugging her in an also life-depending bond. Her blood surely couldn't find more motivation for keep its pace than this one.
After some minutes of doing actually sweet nothings all together, Ron let Luna on the ground and they went further into the room as he let a bucket full of wood near the fireplace. As Luna went once again back to her corner, playing with her meager toys, Ron came near the brunette and after kissing her cheek affectionately he whispered with awe:
"Nice welcoming…" he said and giggled almost inaudibly for a second, his cheeks getting slightly redder as his shiny eyes were staring at her. Hermione's eyes threw him a mock glare while a tiny smile appeared on her lips and she lightly hit his forearm, liking the little interaction between them.
"It was just on the spur of the moment, so don't get your hopes up!" she said with falsely angry tone in her otherwise laughing voice. The man's already enormous eyes widened theatrically and he opened his mouth like he was letting a silent gasp free, looking at her mistakenly offended.
"I say I sorry for last night, Miss Granger!" he said with his low, childishly stubborn tone as his eyes sparkled with innocent glee and so lovable playfulness, so the woman found it exceptionally difficult to even be teasingly annoyed with him. "I know" she whispered sweetly to him and her fingers played tenderly with the collar of his worn shirt, her eyes shyly cast down. She then heard the man sighing softly and rubbing for a moment her shoulder-blades soothingly and after he glanced towards his daughter's side, he secretly gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, his own ones turned upwards in a breathtaking, gentle smile. They were like this for a few more seconds until they unwillingly pulled away from each other's arms, knowing that their stolen moments alone would be existent only moments after Luna would close her eyes for slumber. Hermione tried to composure herself with deep breaths and inner thoughts of mild reassurance until she went back to her attempts of house-working, this time dusting off with a leaky, very old cloth. Of course that only for some minutes until the redhead man was standing right behind her, so close that she was clearly able to feel his breaths caressing her thirsty skin. She turned around quickly, slightly not wanting to be once more a victim of his immense and pure kindness and love- at least not so quickly…
"What is it?" she asked rather curiously, not really understanding why was he acting like this now; she knew very well that he was somewhat careful with his fondness around his child and his difference in moods was quite inexplicable to her.
He looked at her with big, innocent eyes, probably quite unsure and curious himself about her behaviour, but a second later he smiled coyly at her. "I just… well, I find this when out and I think you may want to see it… You can read, I not- it be English" he said gently and Hermione was instantly about to ask him what he meant but the answer was given even before the question was out: Ron's hand appeared at the space between them, gently holding what seemed to be some old leaflet. Hermione's eyes widened quite unconsciously as she was staring at the typed pages in his hand, quite unable to believe that he had accidently what appeared to be a… a newspaper.
"Oh my God…" she only managed to say quite breathlessly and absentmindedly she grasped it, taking it away from his hand like a starving man would grab a loaf of bread he found on street. She immediately looked at the front page, and as her eyes scanned the little letters feverishly, she exhaled gladly when she understood that it was indeed an English newspaper. She quickly checked at the typed date on the front; it was a week's old… so it seemed like she was going to get some news from the world after centuries, really, of hiding…
Ron looked at her from behind, a tiny, knowing smile on his full lips, his blue eyes somewhat more relaxed as he was witnessing her eagerness. She noticed that and she turned around right away, hugging him so very tightly that she could feel the calm, steady heartbeats of his from inside the ribcage. She let him go a moment later, gazing up into his eyes with a grateful, sweet look in hers.
"I cannot really believe that you found something like this… it's wonderful! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed with a thrilling tone and immediately unfolded the newspaper, taking in keenly the headlines and the articles, suddenly so overly desperate to know about what had happened outside this untouched forest. She heard faintly the sound of a momentary, almost inaudible chuckle as the Italian went to the other side of the room, probably wrapping Luna's clothes tighter around her tiny body or something similar. She let her mind wandering around the mater no longer, the thirst of news, with the passing of the time more crucial and less unnoticeable, so she set loose her second nature, her hunger for every kind of knowledge, and her pupils wildly travelled across the tiny lines.
The scheme seemed by no ways unfamiliar, yet it was still so painful to witness with any way this inhuman, even animalistic malice that had engulfed the wounded soil and polluted the innocents' air so brutally. As the hours passed quickly and the brunette kept reading the articles with despair and agony in her hyperactive system, she finally came across the lines fates had arranged to send her way…
…Victims of the attack- Tiel, 24 August 1944
Between the hundreds of names, her eye caught the sight of two that seemed so very familiar…
… Diana G. Granger, 25
Eric J. Granger, 28…
Hermione Granger felt her legs suddenly shaking violently and her feet standing on no earth, like she was in the middle of brutal nowhere, where abuse and suffer were more tangible than your own skin and bones, where misery was even below mild, where death was paying visits every single moment.
She really wasn't able to feel the wetness on her cold, sickly pale skin, she wasn't able to hear the oncoming sobs and she wasn't able to realize she had fallen into blackness due to the acidic blurriness of her drown eyes.
This just couldn't be true…
Not seconds later, she felt herself being wrapped with the warm, tight embrace that she surely needed, yet feared of permanently losing right now, just because of the deep blow life had given to her. She sobbed hoarsely as she buried her face in the softness of his torso, desperate to feel something, if not more, at least as touchable as the fatality she had just witnessed.
"What wrong, Hermione?" she heard his concerned voice and she cried more, the loss she was feeling even more painful because of the dreadful outcomes that popped in her restless head like an inescapable snowstorm. She felt her arms and back instantly being rubbed reassuringly, and after some moments, her face being removed from its position, so her wet eyes would look up to his anxious, now dull-blue ones.
"What happen?" he said with the worry escaping freely out from his pale lips, the muscles of his face being pulled back almost unhandsomely from the fear and the so unhidden anxiety that prevailed inside him. She sobbed softly, obligating herself to be weaker right now; if she had to grieve- which she needed to do so- she would do it the way they deserved it. She tried to calm some her uneven breath, but the lack of response from her part seemed to concern him even more.
"Hermione?" he whispered with a somewhat weak tone in his tiny voice, his eyes scarily widened now and glassy, his thin face drained of all the blood; even his comforting hands seemed to freeze and petrify on her body. She had to answer now, just because she couldn't see him like this- it hurt more than explainable.
"The newspaper… it told about deaths… my cl-closest cousins d-died…" she finally said out loud the truth her spirits didn't want to accept, the one thing she didn't dare to stomach. Moments passed like eons and she felt the man's huge palms petrifying on her body slowly once more, this time more painfully, as unknown mumbles of Italian words set loose from his dry, pale lips. Then cooing ensued, as the tall figure hugged her more tightly and every cell of him seemed activated now, taking unquestionably the task of soothing her as much as possible. At the feel of his gentleness and reassurance, Hermione let all her walls and insecurities aside and she freely started to cry and sob, while her hands unconsciously clutched on him like he was life itself- even though to her, it didn't make much of a difference now.
Moments flowed quickly and suddenly Hermione, despite all the mourning, was able to hear hesitant, almost soundless footsteps nearing them and after another moment, they were followed by soft and quite curious a: "Papa? Why Hel-mimi cly?"
The gentle noise made both of them startle and look at little Luna with some anxiety. Hermione instantly turned around so she could hide the tears from the child, while Ron kneeled down to her, hugging her loosely with his quite shaky arms.
"Nothing, my Luna" she heard him whispering smoothly to his daughter, "She alright" he added and even though the evidence told other stories, the girl nodded innocently to her father before going towards the woman. Hermione didn't look back at her immediately in attempts of composing herself, and when she managed to briefly do so, she looked down at her with a tiny, forced smile on her pain-stained face. Instantly, the little girl hugged tightly her legs and closed her eyes, most probably lingering on the moment.
"I love Hel-mimi…"
The words that were out a second later surprised the brunette to a great extend, but as she felt a grand wave of warmth crushing down the jagged pain of bereavement, she was fully sure that it was relief that ensued this surprise. She kneeled down next to the girl and embraced her warmly, even… even in a motherly way.
"I love you too, Luna" she heard her words before realizing they were out, but she didn't care, because she knew they were true and solid. She kissed the petite head with care and the smile came uninvited on her mouth, not that she minded it… she didn't mind it at all…
When she opened her eyes eventually, she couldn't miss the gleam in those crystal blue eyes, as dazzling, tiny droplets were escaping from the outer corners, as the full lips of his held a warm smile now. She felt a tiny sensation of contentment rising in her soul like a hesitant, new-born flower and she smiled back a bit, as at this very moment, the pangs of guilt also made their appearance inside her.
And at this very moment, despite the even dizzying variation between the conflicting sentiments, she knew one thing: she had to tell the truth.
...
The sun was up in the sky, shining warmly for some last times before the change of the weather, but this didn't make Hermione enjoy the feeling as much as she hoped to. Still feeling the death of her beloved cousins sucking every drop of life from her, and now knowing what would follow, she couldn't help but feel this unbearable feeling in her stomach. In the distance, she could listen to his melodic, deep voice as he was singing foreign lullabies to his precious daughter; this perfect voice managed somehow to linger in her ears and stroke soothingly her wounded spirits with ease, making her forget some of the weight on her shoulders.
How much she really did love him… She just hoped with everything of her existence that she would still deserve his love afterwards…
Moments passed quickly until Ron finally came from the other room and sat next to her without hesitation, his long arms quickly wrapping around her tiny body. The woman leaned on his body absentmindedly and sighed inaudibly as she felt his calloused hands stroking her arm and side reassuringly right away; even though it felt so very right being near him, she couldn't help but feed the doubts in her heart with the dark memories of her hidden past… How could all of this remain intact after her words and how would she be able to face the great desolation and loneliness? She really did not know…
"Feel alright?" she suddenly heard the man's soft whisper tickling gently her ear as his lips were ever so softly tracing the side of her face, the warmth of his soul apparent in every small movement of his. The woman wanted to cry but she just blinked back the betraying moisture and tried to find inside her a non-existent courage, as she knew she would encounter with a trial that she deserved; a testing with God and person apparent.
She just hoped she wouldn't be punished too harshly.
"I need to tell you some things, Ron…" she said with her low voice that would most probably crack at any moment, but she desperately tried to hold back any sign of weakness, so it wouldn't backfire on her with undesirable effects. The said man turned his face around so he could face her properly, and as Hermione stared at his angelic face, she slightly ached inside to see that it was stained with some mixture of plain curiosity and worry, as she never really attempted to answer to his well-natured question.
Even though she couldn't even dare to think of it, it suddenly occurred to her that she may not deserve his sympathy… his love…
"What?" Ron asked her kindly, his eyes faithfully glued on her for any sort of response from her side. Hermione caught the look of genuine interest in his eyes and that made her more fearful inside, as she felt her heart crying out for some mercy she doubted she could gain at the moment. She took a lungful of air inside her before finally taking the final step.
"I didn't tell you everything about my past… I hide too many things, Ron…" she whispered with a somewhat tiny voice and dared to take a glimpse of his unblemished face, there seeing eyes widening and whiteness covering the skin. She heard a shaky breath being taken from him before he let out a so soft: "Tell."
"Well…" she started, trying to think from where she should start her stinging story, "I was almost 20 when… when my cousins and I decided to join an anti-Nazi, secret society… Back there in England we were very passionate about doing as much as possible about sabotaging the Nazis' work, so we immediately thought positively about it- we were ready to risk all of our lives just to ensure our freedom. And we were accepted.
We were all in university at the time being, so we were doing as much research as we could, and at night, we would go at the headquarters and type proclamations and such, so we could disperse them at universities and the town. As time passed, my two cousins and I would be very trustworthy in the society and they would send us all over the Europe to take information about the Nazis' plans etc. But that only until I finished my studies, so they believed then that I was ready and very much capable to do more than simple researches…"
She eventually took a deep breath and dared to glance up at his face from under her thick eyelashes. She still couldn't find any tint of disgust on his perfect, untarnished characteristics, just some interest in her till-then-untold story. After taking another breath, she finally let the dreadful words spill out from her sinful mouth.
"Everyone at the headquarters noticed some beauty on me, something attractive that would surely wouldn't be unnoticed by high-rated Germans or Italians… so, they gave me numerous of identifications and I started travelling around Europe once again, but this time… this time pretending to be a… a scarlet woman… a highly-paid whore…"
Hermione tried very hard to hold back her tears or sobs, as with her head hung and her tone low and shameful, she kept talking, not having the courage to look up to his flawlessness anymore. "Many of them hired me to pleasure them, almost on daily basis, but my aim was actually to make them spill out as many secrets and as much information as possible. Back then, despite the humiliation, I firmly believed that the results deserved all the suffering and the hiding and the portraying… So, I had to endure their mood and their hormones, but sometimes… sometimes it was harder than usual…
You see, most of them wanted relief from their sexual frustration; they wanted it rough, but that was it, I couldn't do anything but oblige. But sometimes, some of them had other… tricks in their minds… They wanted to spank, to beat, to make their sluts bleed and scream from pain… Sometimes, this slut happened to be me. At- At first… at first I faced it, I believed that it had to be suffered, but after months of getting harder and harder to handle it, I- I did it… I… I killed three of them…
I couldn't stand it anymore… That last day, h-he had brought a whip and a knife with him… H-He beat me and then pushed me on a glass table, which shattered and most of the glass cut me… I w-would be dead that night if… if I didn't take the knife from him… The other two were s-similar…
Then… then they understood that I wasn't safe anymore at this kind of spying, so they transferred me back to England, were I started working on a law firm with another man of the society. His… his name was Albert Smith and he was like a second father to me, as I was like a child to him… He was my boss at the law firm and we together were trying to extract information that would be useful, but that only until… until some months later… when- when we found him… we found him dead…"
Hermione couldn't hold back the caustic wetness anymore and she let it leak out from her red eyes, as the set of her inner eyes were still staring at the curled corpse of Mr. Smith, all covered in blood. The sharp image of her memory cut her insides once more, as she felt all the sins struggle her painfully.
"That's when they thought that some of us weren't safe at all any more… The murders had started and many were panicked… S-So, they sent us away… Th-They sent me here with another name, so I could be safe, but then I had to escape from the town, as well… and that's when y-you eventually m-met me."
She finally put the last full-stop in her short, yet life-wearing telling and she let out a mouthful of air combined with a choked cry, while acidic droplets never stop escaping from her scared eyes. She felt her body quivering and freezing and she looked down at the blurry sight of the flawed floor beneath her, because looking somewhere except the dirty soil could be considered even hideous. Now that the whole truth was out, now that there was no pretending from her part, she felt filthier than before, just because now she finally realized that she might wasn't actually able to afford his love, even his attention.
So she kept looking down, sobbing a despairing "sorry" out of her trembling, dry lips. But that only until she heard a nearly silent sob that she didn't identify as hers…
She looked up immediately and blinked her eyes so many times, so she would force that torturous sea out of her stinging eyes, just to be able to look up to his face, only to see… to see tears leaking out from his innocent eyes, to gaze at the venomous drops to stain little by little his sickly white skin like it was nothing… She stared up to his half-closed eyes and to his pulled-out characteristics, all of which showed an amount of hurt indescribable to an untouched soul.
She counted the seconds, waiting for her by-right crucifixion… only, it never came…
She felt firm arms pulling her with some weakened force over another body; she felt her muscles and bones being covered tightly by a shuddering body; she felt foreign wetness dripping on her unclean skin and she heard cries coating her own ones, dusted praying of another language being whispered like a shivering requiem and a bigger, purer heart shattering near hers…
"They hurt you?" was the only thing that was understandable from out of his uncontrollably trembling lips, which were tracing her cheek and jaw-line like it was the precious wood of a holy temple. The tiny woman was shaking more between his muscles, as she couldn't understand a trace of his demeanor. With heavy and exhausting force, she pulled away only a bit, so she could look up to him abashedly. She found a dull ocean between puffy, bloodshot eyes and a damp face, as tiny, fearful pupils were gazing at her with crucial agony and terror. "Tell", he whispered with a shaky choke as more and more droplets were escaping from their ocean.
She only nodded once, because words were worlds away from her throat to be found, and the sobs were too proud to let anything articulate to be spilled out of those chapped lips. Ron's eyes grew dark, reached almost the blackest tints of blue existent, and the woman in his arms got afraid as she felt the muscles stiffen swiftly, but no; this scary body just brought her closer to itself like it was vital for it.
More cries were audible now.
"No, no, no…" she listened to an unstoppable, pained murmuring after a few excruciatingly long moments and two large, quivering palms travelled up and down the small of her back somewhat stiffly, as a strange moisture and numerous feather-kisses were washing the side of her face and her head constantly. Hermione felt even more guilty because of his unexplainable behavior… wasn't he able to understand? To comprehend?
"Ron…" she finally seek some hint of courage and told him, "I… I murdered p-people… I-I k-killed! Do you un-understand? I'm filthy!" she cried out softly through some tears and sobs that were still apparent. The redhead man looked out at her with eyes full of soon-to-be-shed tears that widened fast and a somewhat shocked expression over his hurt one. He shook his head with painful determination.
"No, no…" he chanted once more from under his quite heavy breath while his long arms tightened around her small body even more. Hermione looked up to him from her position with wide, teary eyes and a very confused and full-of-ache mind. Her millions of questions weren't able to be out, or at least a tiny sample of them, as Ron spoke again, this time barely more audible:
"You be no killer… no…" he whispered with strength in his still-a-bit choked-out voice as one of his palms then cupped her cheek gently, yet surely. "You not a bad person, you a fighter and I sorry for the harm… harm you many?" he asked with kindness dripping out of his mouth almost tangibly and Hermione wanted to cry again, but this time for so different reasons…
"Are… Are you not dis-disgusted?" she sobbed with some hope waking in her hesitantly; maybe there was still some hope for atonement… "Don't- Don't you h-hate me?"
The pain, along with the firm determination, remained on his thin physiognomy. "N-Never, Hermione… I only think how many you suffer, you pain… Oh…" he choked out with some despair coloring his deep and gentle voice as he started kissing her face once again, between kisses the woman could hear incomprehensible sounds coming out of his pale, yet warm mouth.
'Thank you…'
She finally let her numb arms to reach his body and hug it desperately, like she yearned to do, though she had feared to. She let her tears to escape more freely than even, as the embrace was returning back to her lovingly and a wave of soothing release emerged her soul setting-freely.
"I love you" she heard the echoes of his warm saying lingering in her thirsty ears like an angelic hymn and instantly she looked up to his awfully shiny eyes, which, despite their appalling state and the heavy weight of painful emotions they carried, held an immeasurable amount of one pure sentiment she craved to grasp and feel:
Love.
She threw her quite trembling arms around his neck swiftly, hugging him with everything she had in herself. Ron didn't seem to hesitate about hugging her back with new-found power and only after a short moment of near silence, she eventually whispered in his ear the God-sent words:
"I love you, too, Ron… Forever"
"Forever… I protect you forever" he whispered his shaky words of solid promise.
And while the swear-sealing embrace, they let their final tears to be dropped, securing their moment of complete redemption.
...
(Some days later)
Once again, despite the entering of the melancholic autumn, the sun was making everything warm and shiny, and especially in this forest, sun could make everyone under its touch even proud and content.
And Hermione Granger was one who could enjoy some of this generosity of the nature.
She was smiling softly, yet brightly, as she was gazing at a random book of her love. The mere thought made her heart accelerate its pace, as memories from the previous night rushed into her head with rude, yet welcoming force. She just couldn't forget his hot, sweet breaths hitting her face and neck, his warm lips that were travelling around her heated skin caringly, his manly scent as he was sighing from above her. The sensation of his slightly sweaty body entangled with hers during the warm night wouldn't abandon her soon, or most probably never… and she felt so very grateful for that…
She sighed as lingering bliss stained her heart welcomingly.
After moments, she looked up, only to see the beautiful, little girl some meters away, playing with the toys her dad had made for her. Her occasional squeals of happiness and her bright, innocent smile made the older female to sigh once more, as the dazzling effect of the sunbeams caressing the strawberry-blonde hair of Luna's made her think of other things, of shy thoughts that recently would visit her fewer and fewer…
After that one moment that Luna told her without hesitation that she loved her, and after Ron's forgiveness and precious words of eternal worship, she wouldn't stop herself but wander around possible paths of the future… paths that would lead to a life without war, only with Ron and Luna and maybe… maybe another children that were as much theirs…
Yes, it would be a lie if she couldn't admit to herself that she felt Luna as her own daughter now, as a child she'd be so eager to rise up with all the love she could muster; after that, she wanted so much to bring to a peaceful, warless world at least a child, a beautiful, red-haired child that would be theirs…
Her smile brightened as some gray clouds gradually appeared on the light-blue sky, staining it unwontedly. The woman noticed it after a moment, as she also noticed a dreadful feeling rising on her stomach and chest.
Something was wrong… or would be…
She stood up with alarming speed she couldn't wholly decipher, yet she somehow trusted; her instincts, so far, had never betrayed her, so she shouldn't doubt them now. It only occurred to her now that they hadn't changed a location to stay for a very long period of time, something quite careless for their state. Because of the some protection and comfort the hut provided to them, they never seemed to think about leaving soon- something that now appeared to be quite inconsiderate to her.
Feeling her blood now hitting the walls of the veins with extreme force, she quickly turned around and ran over to the girl, who, by now, didn't seem to notice the woman's sudden swift of mood. Hermione caught Luna in her arms cautiously and made her look deep into her eyes. The girl now seemed alarmed too, but also very afraid of the swift change of the atmosphere.
"Luna dear, you have to listen to me very carefully, do you understand?" she said with a quick and alarmed tone that made the girl gasp softly, but also nod shakily. Hermione couldn't stand seeing the girl like this, she wanted so badly to sooth her until she was smiling again, but her heart screamed her that time was flowing like the torrential water, so she had to hurry up. "You need to hide, because… because you have to, alright?" When she saw another nod as a response, she kept going, while trying to adjust the crazy pulsation of her alarmed system. "I'll find you a good place to hide but I need you to promise me that in any way possible you will not come out of your place until you hear me or your papa calling you" she told then firmly, staring hard and seriously at the child while shaking her a bit on the shoulders, so she would make her point even more understandable.
"Y-Yes" Luna whispered shakily as her almost-round eyes started to well up with tears. Hermione kissed her head quickly and forced a tiny smile to her face so the girl was all that scared; she mustn't be frightened, even though the circumstances the woman's instincts cried out looked to be downright terrifying.
"That's right, Luna; you won't come out until you hear my or papa's voice calling you- until then you'll be hidden and you won't make any sound at all!" she said rather loudly and forcefully and the girl seemed scared, but despite her sadness, she knew that she had to do this. "You won't cry loudly or even softly! You won't call me or papa, and whatever you hear, you won't speak, until papa or I call you out. Is that understood, Luna?" The little girl nodded once again as her tiny body was at the moment shaking quite uncontrollably and some tears begun escaping from her huge eyes. Hermione then instantly caught her in her arms and stood, looking frantically around for a good place to hide the child. She finally went to the smaller room, where there was the furthest corner, which was almost hidden, and there, there was a tiny, wooden, sort-of cupboard on the ground. She opened it and put the child inside and then covered it with a small blanket, so only half of her face could be visible, and that only if the cupboard was open. She looked at the girl for a moment, seeing the tangible fear stinging her blue-grey eyes awfully.
"Everything will be alright, Luna" she reassured hollowly, because promises soon tended to be broken in times like those ones. "Just do everything I told you and everything will be alright… And in case papa or I don't call you and then night comes and then morning again and no one calls you…" she started saying, but the dreadful prospect sunk in her more heavily than she could handle at the moment… For a millisecond, her inner eyes could see Ron's body curled in the forest and covered with bullets and blood, but she terribly much needed to push the image aside, and with great force she did so, despite the inescapable heartache.
"Then?" the shaky words of the curled girl made her to turn back to reality and she looked back at her cautiously. She had to cover any possibility, so she could secure even a meager hint of Luna's safety.
"Then you will pray and you will very carefully go to the river, so you could drink water and eat. But that we'll secure not to happen, alright?" she said with a tone that deep-down held a shuddering. Luna nodded her confirmation once more and looked up to the woman fearfully. Hermione, realizing that time was shortening, kissed quickly but reassuringly the girl's forehead and whispered so very softly the word the girl needed to know, just in case…
"I love you so much, Luna." Her tone held determination and sureness that made the shiny, blue-grey eyes hold a tiny hint of easiness.
Hermione didn't then wait another moment to waste; she stood up and so very quickly went and packed everything of theirs in Ron's big sack, trying to hide any hint of them. Fortunately, most of the things were already in the sack, so Hermione just stuffed it with any other remaining object and then sealed it and put it also in the cupboard next to Luna. "I'll leave it there, if…if papa needs it. Don't move it and move much yourself, alright?" she said and once the tiny child nodded, Hermione carefully closed the cupboard, leaving it only a tiny bit ajar so the girl could breathe. She quickly went to the other room and kneeled in front of the fireplace. Her body immediately let her immense fear and agony to be shown by the forms of irrepressible shuddering and poisonous tears, as her heart would burst at any moment and her mind would faint from the unbelievable blood pressure.
She just prayed as she waited, because she knew that if they ran away, it'd be much, much worse… A sacrifice to the altar of peace and love was all needed… She just hoped they would still love her and if she made it, if she was lucky enough, she would find them once again… if it was God's will to happen…
And then, there was it.
The door burst open violently.
Angry yells could be heard so harshly that you'd want to rip your eardrums.
Cries could be heard above the horrible sound of skin meeting cruelly skin, as unkind hands grabbed already bruised arms.
Sounds of rapid and hard searching, along with more barking, made the heart shutter willingly.
And after some horrible moments that seemed like centuries, after more beating and roaring, a desperate, still conscious body was dragged out of a half-destroyed hut- the abused spirit's screams could be so straightforwardly heard:
"NO!!!"
Another hard blow, and then, darkness.
The footsteps were considerably light, as a so soft whistling was coming out from the full lips. The tall figure even skipped during its walk, as there was a feeling of meager pride inside- he was lucky enough that day to fish a couple of big, tasteful-looking fish.
Yes, he felt even lighter as he was walking back towards the familiar hut, knowing that his daughter and the brunette he loved greatly were there, waiting for him.
Ron smiled a bit wider as the striking image of Hermione wrapped his mind and warmed his heart easily; he felt so content, despite the world that was hunting him like disgrace.
He was content, because he was once nothing, he was somewhere in the darkness of nowhere, and she gave him an opportunity to see the dawn again.
At least for that, he loved her greatly.
After some moments, he finally saw the trees being less and less and the ground being more and more spacious, until he eventually made out the so small clearing where the small, stony hut was.
It took him some moments to realize that something wasn't right… no, something wasn't right…
For some reason he couldn't fully comprehend yet, his heart clenched painfully and his head started to hurt a bit. His heartbeats quickened and quickened as his eyes made out a wholly ajar door… For any reason the entrance of the hut was totally open ever, but now it was.
Even though some rational part of his mind instructed him to be careful, to measure every motion of his before taking it, his steadily-getting-worried soul didn't have any of it and the man felt his legs taking longer strides- any hint of lightness had completely vanished from his pace now, that held only anxiousness at the time being.
He quickly reached the entrance of the hut and with alarmed eyes he looked around swiftly; then, he felt his heart stopping.
The little, familiar hut, the one that they had managed to paint with their love and care and tend with their eagerness, was now… empty… shattered… destroyed all the way on the inside…
And nowhere a hint of humanity…
His blood instantly froze in his throbbing veins, and his heart stubbornly kept saying to him that the signals were untrue, they had to be untrue. He entered the hut quickly and looked around frantically, trying to find out a hint of familiarity in this whole mess, but nothing came. All his restless eyes could catch was hard, cold walls of impassive stone, ruined wood and fabric, destroyed furniture and a heavy sense of dust that was overwhelming in the air. He felt his eyes suddenly stinging from the behind, as moisture was surely coming up to them, but he tried to push it aside childishly, needing to reassure his meagerly mended spirits that tears and pain were irrational and unnecessary; they were there, somewhere around there, somewhere…
He couldn't find them anywhere… they weren't there…
Tears, without asking him, begun travelling down his cold face, scarring him merely- the vaster scars were elsewhere, as it seemed, deeply inside… He ran around the room madly and the bucket with the freshly-fished fish fell on the floor carelessly, totally forgotten. The tall form started shaking as legs took desperately footsteps between the cool walls, as hands stretched to touch something or someone that was actually non-existent. Soft sobs came uninvited and finally dreadful prospects and terrifying images drowned in his head. He started to feel dizzy, but he didn't dare to give up what seemed to be already lost…
"Hermione?" he asked the air with an almost cracked tone that held so much insecurity. "Hermione, you here?" he asked again, and the answer came by the silence of the eerie atmosphere around his shattered self.
"No, no" he whispered to himself between chokes and sobs, as his eyes produced stinging tears. His knees started to shake violently and moments later he fell on them clumsily- yet, the physical pain told nothing to him.
"Hermione!" he cried out with despair clinging on his voice hurtfully. His heart pounded so painfully and he just wanted to rip it out of his chest eternally, because if this was true, his life was no more valuable than filth or mud… "Hermione! Luna! Hermione!" he just kept going after some minutes, yet the answer never changed. His mind travelled back suddenly, to the one day he had felt like this before… That horrible night that his dear Flora had passed out was exactly the same, yet at the same time, it was quite nothing near to what he was feeling right now… He had lost Hermione and Luna, his two everythings…
He was really nothing now…
He cried in his hands for what seemed to be a lifetime to him, only it was a couple of long moments. His heartbreaking cries and sobs were loud and the man wasn't able to hear the creaking of some flaw wood, or the hesitant steps that followed. No, he was only able to hear his own, stabbing cries and his heart gasping from the ache that felt. This, however, stopped when his desperate ears finally caught a sound that seemed familiar and so vital…
"P-Papa?"
His head shot up right away from the pleasant shock that he wasn't sure if was true or imaginative. A second later, his blurry eyes made out the sight of his fearful-looking, tiny daughter that was looking back to him with tear-stained face and shaking limps.
He was hugging her tightly in his arms a second later and he silently thanked God for answering to his unconscious prayers.
"Luna… oh, Luna…" he could only sob for a couple of minutes, as he was stroking her body reassuringly and carefully, wanting somewhat desperately to ensure himself that this wasn't just a delusion, but a tangible relief. They cried in each other's comforting embraces for some more minutes, until the man's mind finally resurfaced from the mixed sea of relief and soreness and focused on the one thing that mattered at the moment.
"Luna, dove è Hermione?" (Luna, where is Hermione?) Ron finally asked the most dreaded question as he was looking down at his daughter with agony and only a minute trace of hope that was trying so hard not to crush and disappear from under all this pressuring and painful weight of his ignorance and helplessness.
His eyes slightly widened as they witnessed the little girl's sudden terror and swift shine in the huge eyes. "Papa… non so… mi ha detto che pel nascondelmi ed allola sentissi la gente allabbiata e Hel-mimi che glidano e dopo un istante non potlei sentile qualche cosa…" (Dad... I don't know... she told me to hide and then I heard angry people and Hermione crying and after a while I couldn't hear anything...) His daughter's words were like little sharp knives that victoriously reached his heart and stabbed it uncaringly. He looked down, unable to decipher the few words that were trapped in the air venomously and more wetness emerged from his enormous eyes.
"Hel-mimi mi ha leso la plomessa che non uscilò o non parlelò fino a che non la sentissi voi o che lo denominate… ed il sacchetto è dove elo, ugualmente…" (Hermione made me promise that I won't come out or speak until I hear you or her calling me... and the bag is where I was, too...) Luna continued speaking most probably absentmindedly, but the words were as painful as the previous ones. Why the heck did she have to think of him? Why? Why did she have to be so selfless and just for once think of herself, of her own safety? He did thank her with every cell of his for considering his girl's protection, but why didn't she consider hers as well?
Oh, God, why?
Despite the hot rivers that were endlessly coursing down his cheeks, he knew that he had to act fast; he shouldn't be ungrateful enough as to ruin the one chance she had given to him without actually thinking. He quickly asked his child where she had been hiding, and after quickly collecting his sack and throwing another glance to what he temporarily called 'home', he took his daughter securely in his arms and ran away, letting behind what he didn't want to even tear away from his, or at least not so abruptly.
And tears never stop running down his pained face.
...
The sun had already started its slow dip towards the horizon, leaving behind only some not-so-comforting tints of purple and red on the skies. A set of sorrowful, dark-blue eyes was watching the phenomenon without interest, but only with a great amount of melancholy and ache that were prevailing inside them. Two lips then stiffened and pursed considerably, as invisibly the front teeth bit the bottom one hard, so no sob or any other, desperate and hurt sound would escape from them. Only the sound of the girl's voice made him focus back to a misery reality.
"Non siete affamati, papa?" (Are you not hungry, daddy?) he heard Luna's innocent voice reaching his ears carefully. The man instantly looked back down to the girl on his lap and forced a big smile on his pale face.
"No, caro Luna, non sono affamato" (No, dear Luna, I'm not hungry.) he whispered back softly and with one hand he caressed her soft, long hair soothingly, like he knew she liked it. After a small, warm kiss on her forehead, Ron cut some more of the fish's flesh with his hand, and after putting out any bones, he put it in his daughter's mouth, letting her eat more of the nutritious meat. As he watched her chewing it quite eagerly, a spontaneous, tiny smile flashed on his face for a second before his mind drifted back to sad thinking.
Three days had passed since their departure from the hut, since he returned from his fishing to find out that…
The thought alone, even unfinished, brought another wave of wintriness to his mournful soul. He took a very deep breath so he wouldn't break down again.
Yes, that was actually some kind of ritual of the few days that had passed: he would move constantly once again, trying to find safer and safer places to spend their nights, he would take care of Luna and find her food and when the girl was asleep, he would finally set all of his emotional ache loose, letting himself cry and beg and pray to God that she was okay, wherever she was… He couldn't sleep; he couldn't eat; only he would constantly think of her stunning image that he had lost… His mind was unable to escape from the memory of her overwhelming scent, of her feather-like touches, of the intoxicating taste of her lips and skin or of her lingering, gentle voice… Faint ghosts of whispering were still audible in his ears…:
"I love you, too, Ron… Forever…"
The gradually fading sunbeams were able to reflect on a slowly-coursing, glistening drop at the exact moment.
The man knew very well that his parents weren't able to afford learning sessions for all of them, thus he knew the very essentials as regards general knowledge; however, he knew- or at least he could realize- that he must have done something very bad on his life, so the Almighty would punish him so severely… during 26 years of life, losing more people than the heart could possibly bear… especially the two, most important ones…
First it was his dear Flora; he couldn't still forget the way she used to smile to him and make his heart skipping beats… She was his first love, and it was one of the sweetest, purest, kindest things he had ever savoured in his life. But then… there was Hermione…
His love for Hermione was all those things: sweet, gentle, caring… but the redhead man couldn't help but notice that there was a fire between them, a flame undimmed, something that he didn't remember experiencing before then; his love for her was also frenzied like unquenchable thirst and passionate.
It was something he so unexpectedly found and he so abruptly lost.
Hours once more passed with the unstoppable thinking of her, until darkness engulfed both of them. Ron securely wrapped a blanket around his sleeping-daughter's form and after letting his restive, tired eyes to gaze at her for a long moment, he stared up at the sky, where no moon and no stars were hanging. He sighed soundlessly as his pupils wandered to the unstained veil above him, while his restless soul started once again praying for her. As minutes flowed by like water, tears didn't hesitate to come for the millionth time up to his dark, almost soulless eyes. His long arms instinctively wrapped around his body as the back of his head hit the rough surface of an old tree.
'Oh, God, please, just please; keep her safe and alive wherever she is… Please don't take her with You, too… Just… Just, Lord, give me a sign… a sign that she's alive…'
Suddenly, his huge eyes witnessed a tiny star appearing and gleaming on the dark-blue, starless sky. A crushing, yet so warm wave of relief embraced his sore heart and tears of meager release escaped from the outer corners of his eyes.
'Thank you' he thought a million of times with great gratefulness and a tiny, so hesitant upwards-twisting of his mouth was barely visible, yet still apparent.
And as he thought back of one of their most caring encounters, he remembered his unconscious, yet proper promises.
And at that precise moment, he knew that it was time to fulfill them.
-Ok, to be frank, this chapter was long enough as it was, so I'm sorry for any kind of mistakes, because I'm too tired to do the essential checking... After that, another note: while I was writing this, I had to check back to the previous chapters, and I noticed a tiny flaw... In chapter 4, Ron and Hermione's lovemaking is referred as Hermione's first, or something along these lines. Well, with the new chapter this matter is actually untrue, so I'm sorry for that. But either way, there's some trace of truth in her thoughts while the said chapter: Hermione never 'made love' with someone, she just had to participate in an act of sex that she didn't desired... As for the pain she seemed to feel with Ron, well, I guess it's due to the roughness of the previous times... (all these are written and explained so no one is confused or irritated by the flaw, and by all means, I'm sorry if I'm causing you a headache right now!)
-Well... I just really hope you all liked the chapter after all this time of waiting... And the author right now is SO desperate for your precious REVIEWS!
-Being frank, the final chapter isn't known when to be published, due to the many tests I'll have to face in the oncoming period of time... Though I'll try my very best and update as soon as possible... Until then... xxx :)