Chapter 22
Hermione woke up feeling tense the next day. It was a bit scary knowing there might not be anything standing in the way between her and a new life. If Draco found out, he would probably be very angry. Good thing she didn't care what he thought. But she was paranoia. Paranoia he was having her watched. Which was ridiculous, but so was putting curses on her to stop her from leaving.
If all else fails, she could potentially go to the Wizengamot to have them release her, but she wasn't sure she would get heard to begin with. It would likely be too politically embarrassing to have mudbloods suing to be released from overzealous bonds.
No it might just be that she would get one chance at this. Heaven knows what he'd do if he found out. Maybe even put her under the Imperious curse. She wouldn't put it past him. He could even just take her. Who would stop him? She certainly didn't feel she could rely on Ron's friendship, to be her great defender. Not likely.
She would take what he offered, but she didn't forgive him. If it had been a few years ago, she would have nothing to do with him, but things had changed and if purebloods offered something, she felt no qualms about accepting. In the end, was he anything other than a pureblood.
Hermione acknowledged how jaded she was, felt. Maybe she wasn't capable of seeing past the blood status thing anymore either. And the hope of an end to it all had flickered to life in her and she couldn't extinguish it. And it was growing by the minute. As was her determination.
She broke the news to Edna that she was thinking about leaving. Edna refused to show anything other than full support. Like it was the only natural path forward. Maybe it was, because Hermione could for some reason not see any other paths anymore.
If things worked out, she would ask Connie to sell all her things to support Edna. Connie would be able to get a good price for it. Edna would stay on in the apartment. With the jewellery Draco gave her and a bit of frugality, it might serve her for a good ten years.
The temptation to just walk away from everything itched under her skin. All the pain, the humiliation and the sadness. Just leave it all behind. Start new with no memories of this horrid place. In the bright and shiny muggle world.
She would also forget where her parents were. Lost in Australia not aware they have a daughter. It was the only kink in the plan. She might never find them. Then again, she might not ever be allowed to go looking if she stayed here, and her wand could certainly not handle something as complex as undoing the memory charm.
Her mind was buzzing with trying to think what to do. There had to be some way around this. If she could only get a message to herself. Maybe she could write something on her arm to tell her where they were. Or maybe a letter. Direct contact such as an owl would be out of the question.
A knock on the door broke her musings.
"Ron." She said as she opened to door.
"I brought a curse breaker." Ron said. "She can't stay long."
Which was Ron's way of saying this was costing him a fortune. She let Ron and the old woman in.
This was not a nice old lady like Edna. This was an old crone. Really a model for Disney villains. The woman's hook nose and stringy hair made her want to pull her hand away, but she offered it. The woman did not take Hermione's extended hand. Obviously not a fan of the lower classes.
"This is the girl?" The woman spoke to Ron.
"Yes." Ron replied. "She said there were two placed on her."
"Sit down girl." The woman ordered. Hermione hesitated as the woman pulled out her crooked wand. Everything about this woman seemed crooked.
The woman mused over her, trying to read the traces of magic.
"They are powerful." The woman said. "Dark. The caster is not unaccustomed to dark magic."
Hermione could only grind her teeth at the thought of the caster and the types of magic he indulged in.
"One is simple, but powerful. A location aversion."
"The Ministry." Hermione offered.
"It will be simple enough to remove." The woman said and Hermione got a whiff of her breath. "The other is a tracking spell."
Hermione nodded. It made sense.
"The caster can tell where you are at all times."
"Can you remove it?" Ron asked.
"Of course I can, boy." The woman snapped, obviously annoyed at being doubted.
The woman went to start.
"Wait." Hermione said. "Will he know?"
"Will he know what?" The woman asked.
"That it has been lifted."
"He will be able to tell immediately."
"Then he will come here." Hermione said as she exchanged looks with Ron. "We must leave."
"I will apparate us as soon as its lifted."
"He will know where I'm going. He will head me off at the Ministry."
"Then we need to get past him."
"Are you ready?" The woman said.
"Wait." Hermione said. "I need a minute."
"Hermione." Ron winced.
Hermione rushed into her bedroom and rifled through the boxes with Harry's things. She remembered a stack of letters. Because she had a feeling she had seen a postcard in there. Once she had sent from Gibraltar one summer to his house in Privet Drive.
After some frantic rifling, she found it. It detailed her entire summer. She grabbed her wand and wiped the post mark off the stamp, then wrote a quick note down the bottom, 'But I my parents preferred Adelaide'.
"Here, Ron." She said. "You must mail this. There is a muggle post box in Godric's Hollow. Your father must know where to find it. Please mail this Ron, it is very important."
Ron nodded and put the post card in his pocket.
Hermione sat down in front of the old crone and the lady went to work.
"There are some boxes in the bedroom, Ron. Harry's stuff. You get it to Ginny, ok?"
Ron nodded again. "Where did you get it?"
"Quiet!" The crone ordered.
It took a good ten minutes, but Hermione felt the tracking spell leave like a little pop inside her.
"Now he knows." The crone said. "I expect payment by the end of the week." She said turning to Ron.
"Fine." Ron said and took Hermione's hand. They apparated away.
Appearing again in a fine pureblood house.
"This is my house." Ron said.
"Oh." It was nothing like him. She could never have known.
"He might come here." Ron said.
"Hopefully he is too busy trying to catch you at the Ministry." Hermione said. "But he might come here. We must move quickly."
"I can render him unconscious, I suppose." Ron said. Hermione could tell that Ron was not all that excited about taking Draco on. She could understand. She could well imagine that Draco would be bitter about such a thing. Draco would definitely keep a grudge.
"Maybe it would be better if its all a bit quiet. Slip by unnoticed." Hermione said.
"How?" Ron said. "Like a disguise."
"Have you got any polyjuice potion?"
"No, not the kind of thing I keep around the house." Ron said.
"We should have thought this through. This is too rushed."
"But I think I still have some of George and Fred's Ugly toffees." Ron said.
"Ugly toffees?"
"It was something they were working on. It makes one hideously ugly. They never released it, because they couldn't work out the side effects."
"Side effects?" Hermione asked suspiciously.
"It makes you really itchy." Ron said. "But you'd be so ugly, Draco wouldn't want anything to do with you even if he knew it was you. Its the best I've got."
"Ok, lets do it." Hermione said. She could handle a bit of itching.
Ron returned after a few minutes with a couple of toffees in his hand.
"Take one and keep the other in case it wears off too quickly. I had forgotten I had these." Ron said with a slight but sombre smile while he obviously remembering sometime in the past. "I am going to miss you."
Hermione was sure that Ron was talking about more than just her. She had forgotten that he had lost practically everything too. His family was decimated.
"Wait." Ron said, when Hermione was about to pop the toffee in her mouth. "Will he know your clothes?"
"He might." Hermione said.
"I'll be right back." Ron said and apparated away.
He came back with a dress over his arm. A servants dress.
"You have servants?" Hermione said disbelievingly.
"No, Pansy's mother does."
Hermione put the dress on and swallowed the toffee. The toffee was as uncomfortable working as polyjuice potion was.
She could tell by Ron's expression that it worked.
"Ready?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded. "Wait. I need to write a note to Connie. Can you owl it?" Ron nodded while she wrote Connie a quick note asking her to please sell all her stuff for Edna and a goodbye to one of her dearest friends along with the best hopes for the future. It would have been more eloquent, but she didn't have time. It was time to go.
Ron apparated her into one of the side alleys down from the Ministry.
"Go before you are spotted." Hermione said.
"Mione..."
"Go Ron." Hermione said. She didn't want to start crying and as much as she was angry with Ron, it was still hard to say goodbye, because this was it. The end.
He wouldn't go without a hug and he held her tightly.
"Be happy Hermione." He said, his voice a bit shaky.
"I will be." She assured him. "Now go, or the toffee will run out. And oh my god am I itching."
Her skin was practically crawling, but she didn't mind because it let her mind be distracted from the fact that she was walking away from her life and a person who had been her closest friend through a large chunk of it. It distracted her from the good memories.
She heard Ron's apparation pop behind her as she turned to walk out into the main thoroughfare. It didn't take her long to see some of Draco's set. He had obviously brought re-enforcements. But no one noticed her. Her skin was itching so badly, she could barely walk straight. It took all her might to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
She calmly walked past everyone. It was a busy day and there were people about which was good for her purposes. She made it into the Ministry. Draco was in the foyer, standing in the middle, watching the crowd. He was angry. She could tell.
Her heart caught in her chest as his eyes perused her. She thought for a second that the game was up, but he made a quick expression of disgust before moving his gaze on. She slowly moved across the foyer. Crabbe and Nott were in there as well. Neither of them recognised her.
She could feel Draco's presence like electricity in the middle of the space. He stood there, straight and tall, watching the crowd intently. She wondered what he would do if he caught her and a perverse part of her wanted to know. Wanted him to catch her. Wanted him to take her choices away.
But she knew in her bones that there would never be a future there. Choosing him would be a fool's option. He would hurt her again and again. The amount of grief and pain would far, far outweigh anything she could gain. There was no denying, now in the crux of it, that she burned for his touch. Thank Merlin, she was itching so badly she couldn't feel anything else but intense discomfort.
Without incident, she made it to the lift. She had to blink back tears as the lift door closed. This was it. She was doing this. If they had been meant to be, he would have caught her. Seen her. But he didn't.