"Hermione! Open the door! Hermione let me in we can help you!" cried out Harry as he slammed his shoulder again and again into the charmed bedroom door, but the door refused to budge an inch from his impacts and his pleas went unanswered.
"Fuck!" he bellowed in frustration as he turned his attention to Ron and Fleur.
"'Arry what iz 'appening to 'er? What is a 'orcrux?" questioned Fleur, fear and worry laced into her voice giving her an almost hysterical pitch. Harry and Ron glanced at each other and Fleur easily picked up on their unease.
"What iz it? Tell me what iz wrong" demanded Fleur. Ron and Harry looked to Fleur with torn expressions before Harry sighed and cast his eyes to the floor.
"Ron try and get the door open. I'll talk to Fleur" Ron nodded before returning to Harry's former position at the bedroom door. Harry glanced up at Fleur briefly before his eyes returned to the floor as he walked passed her.
"Follow me" he stated, his voice low. Fleur cast a worried look at the charmed door but Ron offered her a reassuring smile.
"I'm going to get her out Fleur. I promise" though he meant well Fleur certainly wouldn't be relaxing anytime soon until her arms were wrapped around Hermione and she was certain that she was safe. Fleur reluctantly turned to follow Harry across the landing and into the guest bedroom he was currently occupying with Ron and Bill.
Bill, Tonks, Lupin even her mother and sister had departed from Shell Cottage to either complete various tasks or return to France. Fleur frowned in frustration as she recalled her mother's attempts to convince Fleur to return with her and Gabrielle.
They had never argued like that before and Fleur feared that her once close relationship with her mother would never be the same because of it. The sound of a heavy sigh attracted Fleur's attention to the problem at hand. Sat on the edge of the bed, Harry was glaring angrily at the floor while she stood a few feet from him.
"God I have no idea where to begin with all this..." muttered Harry to himself before taking in a deep breath.
"This is all my fault Fleur. If I hadn't let Hermione come with me to destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes then she wouldn't be in this position..." Fleur watched in silence as Harry struggled to compose himself. The anger and self-hate that was coursing through his veins at the moment was unfathomable to anyone but himself.
He had let Hermione, one of his closest friends and confidants down big time and the guilt was crippling. He should've been there for her, should've protected her.
"'Arry what iz a 'Orcrux? What iz 'appening to 'Ermione?" knocked from his self-loathing Harry looked up at Fleur with such sadness in his green eyes.
"A Horcrux is created when someone commits murder, the act itself fragments the soul of the murderer and a special spell is cast which puts the fragmented soul piece into an object or in this case Hermione..." Tears started trickling slowly from his green eyes as Fleur absorbed the information.
"Bellatrix has put piece of her soul into Hermione and it's poisoning her against us Fleur...I don't know how to help her..."
Everything was making sense to her now. Why Hermione had begged her to leave her alone, why Hermione had been clutching at her head and writhing in agony before finally locking them all out of the room. She had been trying to protect everyone from herself. Tears formed in her blue eyes at Hermione selfless actions.
A strangled cry followed by silence alerted Fleur and Harry to Ron's current situation. Glancing at each other fearfully Fleur turned and sprinted out of the bedroom followed closely by Harry. The sight that created them made their blood run cold.
Ron was lying on the floor, completely still under the wand being held by Hermione. The intelligent witch slowly turned her head to the side to acknowledge the horror stricken faces of Harry and Fleur.
The French Veela's heart stopped as she stared into possessed, deranged eyes. Their colour wasn't the warm chocolate brown that she had grown to love, but instead a horrible translucent silver. A sickly smile formed on Hermione's face as she released Ron from the curse she had forced him to endure.
"Well if it isn't Harry Potter, come to save the day have you? I'm afraid you'll find it's too late. You're precious little Mudblood is mine now" Harry reached for his wand inside his jacket but before he could pull it out Fleur had grabbed a hold of his arm.
"Fleur it's not Hermione, she's under Bellatrix's control" he stated while looking up at the French woman. Fleur kept her eyes on Hermione as she spoke to him.
"If you attack 'er zen you will only 'urt 'Ermione" he barely heard her whisper but she made a valid point. Any damage he inflicted wouldn't hurt Bellatrix in the slightest, it would only cause Hermione to suffer more than she already was.
"Let 'er go Bellatrix" Fleur's voice was colder than ice as she addressed the mad woman who had taken her mate captive. It infuriated the Veela beyond all reason that this woman was hurting her Hermione and it took every ounce of self control she had to not physically attack the person in front of her.
The silvery pale eyes darted to Fleur and it forced a shudder to run down the French witch's spine to witness Hermione's facial features twisted into a foreign expression of sickening lust.
"Hello Blondie...my my how on earth did this pathetic Mudblood manage to ensnare you? I must say you are much easier on the eyes in the flesh than in this things memories" Fleur's stomach clenched in disgust at the Death Eaters words.
Fleur's eyes quickly observed 'Hermione'. Her wounds had been reopened and blood was seeping through the tightly wrapped bandages around her torso and spilling onto blood splattered jeans. She needed to find some way of forcing the connection to break.
"'Ermione I know zat you are in zere...you need to fight 'er off" Fleur's pleas were met only with sinister laughter.
"You think that this abomination of the Wizarding world can fight me off and win? What can a Mudblood do against a Pureblood?" with a flick of Fleur's wand a stupefying spell collided with Harry and sent the young man sprawling across the hallway.
Fleur looked over her shoulder with wide eyes as Harry was flung back. Her momentary distraction gave 'Hermione' the opportunity to get closer to the French Veela. The pressing of her own wand into her throat slowly drew Fleur's attention back to her possessed lover.
"I'm going to break her Veela to the point where she becomes irreparable. Everything I do in this body she can see me doing and there's not a damn thing she can do about it. The things I'm going to do to you will be the final nail in her coffin and then...then she'll be all mine to do what I want with..."
"Crucio!" the curse swept over her entire body like a thousand knives attacking her from every angle imaginable. The blonde witch collapsed onto the floor, convulsing in pain. 'Hermione' knelt next to Fleur's writhing form with a sick smile plastered across her face. Flicking the wand the curse was lifted and Fleur was left panting on the floor.
"Oh the things I want to do to you Veela. I've heard about your races legendary sexual appetites and I find it quite...exciting" Fleur's eyes widened at what she was suggesting as she gathered her bearings. A horrible fear travelled up her spine before being quickly replaced with a cold fury. So she waited for 'Hermione' to settle on top of her before she reacted out of instinct.
Surging forward she tried to force the possessed body off of her, unfortunately a stunning spell collided with her chest before she could switch their positions leaving her to lie helplessly on the floor. 'Hermione' leaned forward so her lips were mere inches from the immobilized Veela's ear.
"I'm going to enjoy this Veela...and it's going to break your little Mudbloods heart"