Pinching the bridge of his nose, her boss leaned back in the chair and sighed, "You don't know, do you?"
Rolling the cigarette back and forth between her fingers, she exhaled and trained her eyes on the man, "Know what?" she stated in a bored tone.
He leaned forward and pulled a rolled up newspaper from his pocket, tossing it down to the girl on the floor, "It starts on the front page, but continues on page 5."
'what now' she thought as she opened the paper and leaned back. There, bold as hell on the front page was a picture of her from 6th year and a headline that screamed:
Hermione Granger, not the monster we all thought!
As a reporter, it is not every day that the one and only, Harry James Potter, walks into your office with a story that could change lives. We all know the story of three friends, working from a young age to stop Voldemort from taking reign of our world. We also know of the betrayal that had almost cost us the war, and that betrayal was known as Hermione Jean Granger.
Years have passed with Ms. Granger being on the top of the list of the most hated individuals. I, myself, have seen her treatment and up until Mr. Potter came to my office, never felt a lick of sympathy for the girl who had betrayed her friend, and our world as a whole.
But the story, , laid out for me, I must admit, not only turned my stomach but came as a hard smack to the face when I realized that girl we had all turned our backs on, treated like scum, and alienated from society, had lost far more than any other survivors from the war and did so while most of us were safely tucked in our own lives.
I would be lying if I said that wring this article was easy. It is in fact, one of the hardest, most disturbing I have ever taken on, but the truth needs to be told, the wrongs need to be righted, and a girl who was willing to give up her life and had done so in many ways needs to finally get the Merlin first class she justly deserves, but more so, chance to live a normal life.
As Hermione read on, she showed no emotion to what she was reading. He had expected to see something from her, but when there wasn't even a small sparkle of light in her eyes of relief or satisfaction, he confirmed to himself that she was too far gone to ever live a normal life.
He watched as she flipped the page and continued to read. He could see her occasionally shake her head, heard her mumble once or twice, and he was pretty sure she growled at least once. It wasn't much, but something on the second page had stirred something in her, he just wasn't sure what.
After about five minutes, Hermione calmly folded the paper, lit another cigarette, and stood. She looked at her boss, face still blank.
"So what? Potter had someone write an article that for once doesn't put me in a bad light." She sucked in the smoke from the cigarette, and exhaled slowly, "But at the same time, thanks to the second page, the entire fucking world knows that I was a shag bag for a death eater, they know that I was weak and begged for my death, they know about the starvation, the torture, the scars… things that only a few were ever to know."
"But it's good." Her boss stated firmly, "That article saved your life. There is no way we can just dispose of you like the contract requires… too much is at stake and in doing so would cause riots within the ministry." The man sighed again, "Thanks to that article, you are now just as respected and Harry Potter himself."
Hermione rubbed her hands over her face, looking calm and peaceful, but on the inside a storm that had been steadily brewing was now at its maximum peak.
"So you think that because precious, Harry fucking Potter, decides to tell everyone my business, business that he didn't even want to know when he threw me out on my ass and turned everyone against me, that I should just – be grateful!"
Her boss was not a dumb man, he knew when he was being baited and decided it was best just to keep his trap shut.
"I am leaving now, I need to speak with Potter, but when I get back I expect that the contract be fulfilled. It is a legal binding contract and I demand it to be carried out."
Oooooooooooooooooooooo -0000000000000000000000
Still sitting with the two slytherins, Harry didn't know what to do next. He wanted to hold her like he had done when she was first found, promising her that everything would be alright. He wanted to take everything back, every hurtful word, every glare, everything, and yet he couldn't and knew her true forgiveness would most likely never happen.
Abby had long since fallen asleep after being fed everything her heart desired. She snuggled into the warm blankets of Uncle Severus's bed, content that she had her father back. Content that she would eat more than once a day. And content that she finally felt safe.
Draco and Severus were in conversation discussing nutrition potions that would help Abby get her health back, but another thought was on the girl that he had a serious like-hate relationship with.
The refusal of the house was really getting to him. He thought that by being the one providing the house that he could possibly form some sort of friendly relationship towards her, after all, she had showed him that maybe not every part of her was dead and if not for her, his daughter would have most likely been offered up on a silver platter to bring Voldemort back.
But he would keep all of that to himself. She was gone and most likely in hiding or dead. She hadn't showed him even once that she was remotely interested in him other than the single night where he tried to show her that making love was not the same as rape… and he had done a good job in his opinion.
He sighed and sat back, continuing to hold a conversation with Severus while watching the boy who lived , look as if he were the boy who was close to throwing up.
A relative peace was within the room so no one was expecting the arrival of one angry witch, that was until she appeared, armed with a rolled up newspaper in her hand.
The first thing she did when she arrived was look around the room, seeking her target.
Harry looked up just in time to see the streak of paper that instantly began assaulting his person.
"You think that a fucking article is going to fix things?" she yelled as she swatted him, "The entire fucking world knows what I had tried to keep secret." She added, not relenting with the paper in the least.
"You THREW me away, not the other way around. I took everything, EVERYTHING, that man did to me knowing that if I were not killed, that I would still have you."
Tossing the paper to the side, she grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt, pulling him from the chair, and slamming him into the wall.
Holding him in place, she pinned her forehead to his, "I loved you Harry. I loved you enough that I was willing to forfeit my life in order to save yours." She said, still seething with anger, "Do you know what it feels like to be fucked by someone who just beat the hell out of you not 5 minutes earlier? Do you know what it's like to beg for death, knowing that it means you will lose everyone you ever cared about?" She let him go, stepping back from him, "The article has done nothing but cause people to feel pity for me… and they shouldn't. I kill people, Harry, and I do it without feeling remorse. I take husbands from their wives, mothers from their children, and it provides me with a sick satisfaction that I can't explain. I am not the same Hermione Granger that you grew up with. I am, in fact a monster."
"It's normal that you feel that way." A voice said across the room.
Hermione turned and walked towards her ex-professor, "It's normal that I wake up and the first thought in my mind is how im going to kill someone?" she asked, stabbing her finger into his chest, "What fucked up fantasy realm have you grown up in to where you think any of this is normal in any way?"
"It's normal because you are angry." He replied, unfazed at the angry witch standing in front of him.
She stepped back and cackled, "It doesn't make any of this normal."
She looked around the room, shaking her head. "Let my last words to you be remembered – FUCK all of you!" and with that she was gone and off to complete her final mission, Mrs. Malfoy was a dead woman.