A/N Amazing reviews – thank you all for your kind words.
Everything belongs to JK Rowling – I'm just playing with it all
Chapter 6 Taking Stock
Fleur was startled out of her nap as Hermione thrashed around in her lap. The adrenaline coursed through the French witch's veins, as it tends to do when one is jarred awake by something unexpected, she forced a wave of nausea down as she got her bearings and dodged the flailing young witch's arms as she desperately tried to get away from whatever the horror in her nightmare was. The bushy haired witch was working herself up to a full throated scream as Fleur reached forward and pulled her into her arms, trying to hold her still to prevent her from hurting herself, or Fleur for that matter. The Veela could fell the insurmountable levels of panic in Hermione as she realised that she was trapped in someone's arms and the Veela knew that she would have her work cut out for her trying to tear Hermione from this nightmare.
"'Ermione, you are safe. Et is Fleur remember? Please wake up 'Ermione." She kept her voice as low, soft and unthreatening as she continued to try and coax the Gryffindor awake, or to calm her down at the very least. Fleur continued talking, "'Ermione, shhh et is alright, you are safe, I am 'ere 'olding you safe" she kept repeating over and over in her soft low tone that Hermione was safe and the more she talked to her the more the young witch seemed to calm down. Fleur sighed with relief as she felt the body in her arms stop fighting her, she looked down to see Hermione looking up at her, big brown eyes glassy with tears that were spilling down her face. The French witch felt her heart break a little more as she noticed that those eyes staring up at her were filled with fear, mistrust, hurt and a lifetime worth of other emotions. She leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on Hermione's forehead, "I am 'ere wiz you and you are safe" Fleur told the trembling girl in her arms one more time. Hermione blinked, "No I'm not." She stated simply.
Fleur tried to mask the hurt that she felt as Hermione's words cut through her like a knife, how could she believe that Fleur would let harm come to her? She had protected her, comforted her, healed her. The French witch pushed the hurt and other emotions aside and internally admonished herself for not having patience with Hermione, of course it would take time for the young girl to trust her, she had been through so much it was going to take more than a few kind words and a couple of hugs to get her to trust anyone again.
Hermione had not missed the hurt that had flashed across Fleur's face at her statement and inwardly winced, she had not meant her words to hurt, she was simply stating a fact. Bellatrix had been whispering through her mind since she left the Manor that she would be unable to escape her, that she would hunt her down. Hermione knew that Fleur probably did not believe what she had told her earlier, had their roles been reversed she did not think she would believe that a traumatised Fleur was being attacked in her mind. Hermione considered this for a moment, putting herself in Fleur's shoes, and concluded that Fleur must think she was nuttier than squirrel poop. Hermione wondered if she cared what the Veela thought, she found that she rather did and resolved herself to the fact that, somehow, she would prove to Fleur that she had not lost her mind. She began to think how she might do this and sighed, happy to have a mystery to solve as she exercised a part of her brain that she had not used for a while. It was a beautiful distraction for her.
Fleur gently rocked Hermione, she was calm but her eyes had glazed over again, the young witch seemed to have retreated back into her head again. She continued to watch Hermione, trying to gauge just how far from reality she had slipped this time and wondering how she could bring her back, or even if she should? Maybe where Hermione was inside her head was rainbows and puppies and kittens. Perhaps bringing her back to reality and forcing her to deal with the traumas that she has obviously gone through, was a cruelty in itself. What if she was perpetuating the torture that Bellatrix had visited on Hermione by pulling her out of her inner sanctum. She sighed again and realised that she had to pee, and she definitely needed some coffee.
"'Ermione, I am just going to go to ze bathroom," Fleur told the young witch as she gently eased out from underneath her. Hermione did not fight Fleur pulling away but as Fleur moved towards the door to the en suite, Hermione followed. The French witch bit her lip, feeling awkward about the situation but chose to continue on.
Hermione, feeling insecure at being separated from the one thing that had been able to ground her, followed Fleur towards the bathroom, but then realised that no matter how much she wanted to she could not encroach on Fleur's privacy. She reached the door that Fleur had gone through and leaned on the wall beside it waiting for Fleur to finish. Moments later she heard water running in the sink as Fleur washed her hands and forced herself to relax. Fleur emerged from the bathroom and smiled at Hermione, pleased that the young witch seemed to be coping with things better and better.
"I am going to make some coffee, would you like?" Fleur asked Hermione as she walked to the kitchen, Gryffindor in tow like her very own shadow. "Yes please," the Hermione replied, "could I use some parchment and a quill?" The logical witch asked, and Fleur was glad to grant the request as she raised her wand and summoned the items. Hermione sat in the same chair that she had previously and began to write while Fleur made the coffee and cleaned up the kitchen while the coffee brewed. Fleur could not help but think this was a good thing, whether she was journaling on writing to a friend, it could only aid in the healing process and resolved herself not to disturb or push her on the matter.
Hermione wrote down everything she knew about legilimency, it filled half a foot of parchment, and she longed to be able to visit the library at Hogwarts, if it had even survived the battle. The reminder of the battle catapulted her back through her memories and she found herself walking through the rubble strewn corridors of Hogwarts as curses flew past her. A stray flash of green light hitting a girl she had sat beside in Arithmancy class square in the chest. Just like that the light was gone from the girl's eyes as her soul departed and her lifeless body crumbled to the ground in a mess of awkwardly strewn limbs. Looking at the lifeless body of her classmate brought her to the memory of Harry lying dead in the forbidden forest and even though this was not the first time she had visited this memory she suddenly realised that she was watching him through Bellatrix's eyes, she stored the tidbit of information for use later as she examined Harry's dead body on the forest floor. His green eyes had lost their spark as well, his body lay one leg at an angle that was physically not possible without some damage being done, a whimper escaped Hermione's mouth as she continued to look at her brother's dead body.
At the sound of the whimper Fleur's head snapped around to look at Hermione, there was a clear look of distress on the young witch's face. Fleur closed the distance between her and sat in the chair by her side and reached up placing her hand on Hermione's face gently, "What is it 'Ermione?" Fleur asked in almost a whisper. Hermione's eyes met Fleur's and she took a deep breath, she shuddered as she exhaled, "Harry's dead," she told Fleur. Fleur nodded and she used her thumb to brush away the tears falling from Hermione's eyes, "Oui, he died before ze Death Eaters took 'Ogwarts," she told the young witch. The sorrow on Hermione's face was replaced with shock at the news Fleur had told her, "the Order?" she asked the French witch. Fleur wondered for a moment if she should withhold the information she had. She knew that Hermione's Gryffindor traits of loyalty, courage and chivalry would make her want to fight the forces of darkness and she would want to do so before she had properly healed. Fleur knew that if she let Hermione leave the sanctuary that she had brought her too to try and save the world again, she would probably lose her for good. Fleur's stomach lurched at the very thought of this. At the same time though if Hermione was to trust her and feel safe at all then Fleur needed to be as upfront and honest as possible with her. She was completely torn and did not know what to do.
Fleur got up from her seat and went over to the counter where her coffee had finished brewing and poured herself and Hermione a cup as she tried to considered how to proceed. "Fleur, please I need to know if what is in my head is a memory or reality, I need to sort this out." The desperation in her voice was what sealed it for Fleur, she needed to help her friend and so she picked up the two mugs of coffee up and brought them over to the table setting one in front of Hermione as she sipped on the other. The veela took a deep breath and began to recount what she knew of the battle of Hogwarts. "Ze letters I 'ave received indicate zat Voldemort lives and he is at 'Ogwarts wiz 'is army of Death Eaters. Ze Order 'as gone to ground to many different safe 'ouses scattered throughout ze UK." Fleur took a sip of her coffee as Hermione's fixed gaze silently encouraged her to continue on "Ronald and Bill are wiz Molly and Ginerva at their Aunt Muriel's, Arthur did not make it out of ze battle but ze twins are wiz Tonks and Lupin. Minerva and ze staff managed to escape and are hiding out in various places." Fleur was studying her young friend as she absorbed the information that she had just been given, trying to read her mind or at least see how she is handling it all. Hermione looked up at Fleur, unsure how to feel about the news that Ron had survived, could it be possible for her to be happy that he was alive but angry that he had survived at the same time? "Who else did we lose Fleur?" she asked her voice sounding a little more shaky than she had hoped for.
Fleur knew that her friend was teetering on the edge of a precipice and wanted nothing more than to reach out and save her form the information that she was pushing from but she knew that was not how this was going to pan out, for Hermione could be unbearably stubborn at times. "I know zat 'Agrid, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur Weasley, Dawlish, Proudfoot, Savage and Professor Vector all died in ze courtyard of 'Ogwarts. I am afraid zat I stopped reading the letters that started coming in as I 'ad other priorities and so I do not know what else may or may not 'ave 'appened, zough I can tell you zat we 'ave both received letters from ze Weasley's, one a day for each of us in fact." Fleur finished her update by taking a generous mouthful of her hot coffee as she found it hard to raise her eyes to meet Hermione's gaze.
Hermione felt as though she had been slapped across the face, the names that Fleur had listed as dead were those on the front lines, the best minds and most experienced aurors the Order had, now how would they fight? She had to get back in the fight, she had to get back up to speed. Had the snake, Nagini survived the battle? How was the resistance fairing against the Death Eaters now? Was anyone even looking for the Horcruxes anymore. Without even realising it she sprung to her feet, then winced in pain. Fleur reached out and steadied Hermione, "Where are you going?" Fleur asked her young friend, though she suspected that she knew the answer. Hermione dropped her eyes from Fleur and turned away, taking a deep breath she began to step towards the bedroom.
"There are things that I know that could help the Order. A mission that Dumbledore gave Harry that needs to be finished. I need to find Ron and we need to get back out there, it is the best hope that we have." Fleur looked on as Hermione took responsibility for the entire world on her own two shoulders and shuffled towards the bedroom. The Veela sighed, she had known that this moment would come, but she had hoped that she wouldn't be facing it so soon. She knew what she had to do and though she did not want to she knew that she could not let Hermione leave, she would never see her again because she suspected the hurt young witch would get herself killed. She prepared herself for a fight and stepped into the bedroom.