AN: Once again thanks to the reviewers :D Each and every one of you gave me reason to smile.
Also just a reminder it's not mine – but then you knew that!
Chapter 15 Dare to Hope
Hermione was shaking as she hugged the toilet and expelled the contents of her stomach. She had enough time to think that she was being absolutely ridiculous, she had no reason to be afraid of Ron, after all the worst thing he had done to her was fail to act to protect her. She heaved again but she had already emptied herself and so nothing came. She was sweating profusely, but had somehow managed to block out the rest of the world as unbidden tears flowed down her cheeks.
Fleur grimaced at the retching sounds coming from the bathroom. She was torn between storming downstairs and out the back door so she could rip Ron's testicles off and feed them to him, or going into the bathroom to comfort Hermione. Common sense prevailed and she pushed her anger down and turned to Kreacher, "Please would you find Ginny and alert her to ze situation?" she asked the house elf who obediently nodded his head and exited the room with a 'pop'.
Fleur quietly entered the bathroom to find Hermione still slouched over the toilet. Evidently the act of vomiting had sapped a lot of her energy. She reached over and pulled the handle, swiftly flushing the contents out of sight, then turned on the cold water faucet. Fleur grabbed a facecloth, soaked it in the cold water, wrung it out and pressed it onto the back of Hermione's neck while she filled a glass with water.
Hermione slumped to the side against the wall as Fleur closed the lid on the toilet and sat down so that she was not towering over Hermione. Hermione could not bring herself to look at Fleur, she was deeply ashamed at her reaction, she had come up against far scarier people and not reacted this way. Fleur sighed, she could feel shame and embarrassment emanating from Hermione and she wanted to impress upon her that she had no reason to feel these things. She wanted to reassure her, hold her and love her as she had been doing before Ron had attempted to breach the wards.
Instead Fleur reached forward and grabbed the cloth, using it gently to wipe Hermione's face before holding the glass out to her. Hermione took the glass, still avoiding eye contact with Fleur, she sipped delicately, not wanting to upset her stomach any further. Fleur watched Hermione taking small sips form the glass and found herself again worrying about her young friend's weight. Hermione really could not afford to lose any weight.
Fleur was shaken from the thought by a knock at the door, she reached forward and gave Hermione's shoulder a soft squeeze as she got to her feet to answer the door. She opened the door a crack and was greeted but Kreacher's small form. Fleur raised a questioning eyebrow at him and he took that as an invitation to speak, "Mistresses Weasley and Lovegood asked me to tell you that they are handling the blood traitor, he will remain confined to the kitchen." He told her. Fleur nodded and shut the door, letting out a sigh of relief as she did so, as that meant that there were three floors between Ron and Hermione.
Hermione had heard what Kreacher had said and held back a whimper as she rested her head against the wall. Fleur turned to her and crouched down beside her, pulling her up by the hand and into her arms. "You are safe ma Petite. I swear to you I will not allow him to harm you in any way." She told the trembling figure in her arms. Hermione nodded as she clung to Fleur for a moment, internally she was telling herself that she trusted Fleur, Fleur would protect her. She exhaled, her body seemed to relax with the action and she knew that she believed Fleur's words and her thoughts. Hermione pulled away from Fleur and wiped her face, she turned to the mirror and appraised herself. She resolved that she looked awful, but that said she did not look like she had been crying.
Hermione folded the damp wash cloth that Fleur had handed to her and set it on the edge of the sink, "Let's go and confront him." She said in the strongest voice she could muster, "He will lie through his teeth like the coward that he is but Ginny will see through it." She explained.
Fleur had to stop herself from beaming with pride at her friend for being so brave, this was after all a very serious situation that was going to have very serious consequences. She leaned forward, plated a reassuring kiss on Hermione's forehead and took her hand leading her out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and down the stairs. The two women stopped outside the kitchen door where Hermione took her hand back as they listened to Ron admonishing Ginny for locking the rest of the family out of the house, apparently Molly was going spare – when wasn't she? Ginny was not defending her actions bust every now and then would sigh in exasperation. Luna it seemed was sitting silently listening to the conversation.
Fleur pushed the door open and the two women stepped into the kitchen. Ron's eyes widened at Hermione's frail appearance, "'Mione, we have been so worried about you," he told her as he got to his feet and stepped towards her. Luna did not think that she had seen people move so quickly before. Hermione stepped behind Fleur, the Veela raised her wand in Ron's direction threateningly. Ron's face flushed in anger at Hermione's hiding, or perhaps it was the threat from Fleur.
Ginny on the other hand put herself between Ron and the two witches , "Sit down you tosser," she spat at him. Ron got more angry at Ginny speaking to him that way and reached into his sleeve to draw his own wand, by the time he had removed it from his sleeve, Fleur's was pressed against his throat and Ginny's was pressed against his crotch. He raised his hands in defeat as Luna stepped over beside Hermione. Luna was pretending to make tea and engage Hermione in a quiet conversation about wrackspurts but she had also managed to put herself between Hermione and the raised wands, clearly letting everyone in the room know where her allegiance lay.
"Expelliarmus," Luna said as she flicked her wand in Ron's direction, his wand flew from his hand and landed neatly on the counter between Luna and Hermione. Luna turned back to Hermione and continued brewing the tea.
"alright, alright, back off Gin," Ron exclaimed and he took a step back from the imposing wands, throwing himself down on the chair. Fleur was satisfied with his backing off and the fact that he was disarmed, not that she was overly concerned. It seemed to Fleur that the worst thing Ron could do is give in to his cowardice and run back to You-Know-Who with word of where they were, if that were to happen then Ginny had already arranged the next safe house, but just in case Fleur couldn't trust Ginny either she had a plan C in mind as well. Fleur replaced her wand and turned to check on Hermione, who could not tear her eyes away from Ron. A shadow had settled across Hermione's face, this caused Fleur's brow to crease and she wished that she could read Hermione's thoughts and know what she was thinking.
Ginny was still brandishing her wand in Ron's direction, in fact she had not backed off a millimetre. "Why are you hear Ron?" she snarled at him. Fleur could tell that the red headed witch was angry, but she did not know why, all her behaviours before had indicated that she did not believe that her brother was a traitor, but now it looked to Fleur as though Ginny had done a 180 degree turn on her opinion.
"Told you, Mum's going spare," he explained. Ginny remained silent but raised an eyebrow for him to continue, "she has no idea why you have locked the whole family out of this house, she is worried about you and Hermione and Fleur, there is a war going on you know!" he said emphatically. Ginny actually stepped closer to him her wand still raised threateningly.
"When did you speak to her Ron?" Ginny asked, struggling to keep her voice level. Ron started to sweat and he fidgeted on his seat. Hermione knew him well enough to know that every word that had come out of his mouth was lies and half truths but she was frozen on the spot.
"Had breakfast with her didn't I?" he told her, "It's clear that you are all mental, I just want to go and hug my friend! She was my friend long before she was any of yours, I am closer to her than any of you, I just want to help her!" He told the room. Hermione set a hand on the counter to steady herself as panic was raising like bile in her throat. Ron's words were causing the hairs on the back of Fleur's neck to rise, something was very off with this situation, Ron seemed desperate to touch Hermione and Fleur knew that she needed to prevent that no matter the cost. She was not the only one who had come to that conclusion; Luna was now standing directly in front of Hermione, as close as she could get to her without touching her.
"Every word you have said so far has been a lie Ron." Ginny told him matter of factly, still keeping him at wand point. Ron stared at his sister in disbelief and looked around the room. "So why are you so desperate to touch Hermione huh?" Ginny asked. It was clear by the look on his face that Ron knew he was busted as he continued to search the room, perhaps looking for an escape route, or maybe just looking for a way to get to Hermione.
"How do you know I'm lying? I just want to offer her support!" Ron tried feebly. He was trying to buy himself time and the whole room knew it. Luna was trying to herd Hermione back out the kitchen door but she was rooted to the spot, staring at him.
"For a start I had lunch with Mum and she told me she hadn't seen you in days, that makes one of you a liar and I don't think its Mum. Secondly while I was having lunch with Mum I told her exactly why everyone was locked out of the house and she is not 'going spare' she knows exactly what is going on. She was devastated to hear that you were a traitor Ron but she definitely was not surprised!" Ginny explained. Ron paled at the words, the cat was officially out of the bag, he tried to slip his hand into his trouser pocket but Fleur saw the movement and darted forward and grabbed his arm.
There was a scuffle as Fleur pushed Ron to the floor, straddling his legs she punched his face and body over and over again while he fought to protect himself. Fleur issued body blow after body blow, allowing herself to give into her rage. She felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped turning her head to find Hermione staring at Ron, "I heard you Ron, I wasn't unconscious on Bellatrix's floor," Hermione told him in a whisper. Ron couldn't look at her, instead he turned away. Hermione turned away as well, walking back to Luna and heading out of the kitchen door. Fleur was stunned, but proud of Hermione for facing her fear. Fleur turned to look at Ginny who, while she still had the wand waving in Ron's direction, was also watching Hermione leave the room, Luna following her.
None of them had noticed the blade that Ron slipped out of his sleeve until he had thrust it into Fleur's gut pushing her off him as he did so and heading to the door. Stunned at what had just transpired Ginny reacted half a second slower than she normally would. "INCARCEROUS" she screamed pointing her wand in his direction, chains shot out of her wand and coiled themselves around him and his momentum carried him across the floor until he crashed head first into the wall, the blow knocking him unconscious.
Fleur did not feel the blade being plunged into her belly, rather she felt as though all the strength had been sapped out of her. She had looked down to where Ron's hands were pushing her and her mouth formed an 'O' of surprise when she was the handle of the blade protruding from her. It was as though time slowed down for her in that moment, her pupils dilated and her eyes widened as she could do nothing but watch the dark red blood spread across her grey shirt like a bottle of spilled ink. Fleur reached her hands down to hold the wound, she did not know why but something told her that it was the most important thing that she could do and so she clutched her stomach like her life depended on it, and she suspected it did. She fell to the floor like a domino, eyes fixed on Ron as he slid into the wall bound in chains. She watched him pass out and a wave of relief went through her body as she knew that for now Hermione was safe, with that she thought it would be ok for her to close her eyes just for a minute.
"LUNA, HERMIONE HELP ME," Ginny screamed as she slid across the floor on her knees towards Fleur. She grabbed the injured witch's shoulder and pulled her over onto her back, "fuck, fuck, FUCK!" She repeated it over and over as she stared at Fleur. Luna came into the Kitchen holding Hermione's hand, she still couldn't tear her eyes from Ron.
"Oh Fleur," Luna said and the tone of her voice jerked Hermione out of her fear and she took in the sight on the floor in front of her. Hermione dashed over to her friend's side, grabbing a kitchen towel from the counter as she did so and sank to her knees. Her heart wrenched at the sight as she packed the towel around the wound and tears stained her cheeks. "Ginny see to Ron." Luna told her as she pulled her wand and waved it over Fleur's body.
Ginny got up and walked over to her brother who was still unconscious; she stared at him for a moment then drew her foot back and kicked him solidly in the face. Ron's nose and lip exploded in blood but he remained unconscious. Ginny went out the back door to the shed to call the same people she called every single time she was in over her head.
Luna looked at Hermione, "talk to her Hermione, I will do what I can for her," she told her friend softly.
Hermione nodded, leaned over and swept a stray hair from Fleur's face, "Fleur can you hear me?" she pleaded. Fleur's soft blue eyes fluttered open and met Hermione's and a smile spread across her face. "Why are you smiling Fleur? You've been stabbed!" Hermione exclaimed unable to keep the alarm from her voice, it was most certainly not normal to smile when one had a knife sticking out their gut.
Fleur reached up and touched Hermione's face gently, it was almost as though she did not believe that Hermione was real and had expected her hand to pass clean through her. Taking Fleur's hand in her own Hermione leaned over and kissed Fleur's head tenderly, she glanced nervously at Luna who had removed the knife and was casting healing spells that Hermione had never heard before. "You are going to be alright Fleur," Hermione told her, not sure if she believed it or not. She could not lose Fleur now, she needed her, she loved her.
Fleur smiled and whispered something that Hermione could not quite hear, so the young witch leaned down so she could head better. "As long as you are wiz me I will be alright." Fleur whispered to her. Hermione turned and faced Fleur and their eyes locked. They stayed like that for a long time just staring into each other's eyes, trying desperately to communicate their feelings to each other without actually saying them out loud. Fleur squeezed Hermione's hand tightly and then passed out.
The Weasley twins followed Ginny into the kitchen and looked at their brother in disgust, "git," Fred muttered under his breath, where as George chose to express himself by actually spitting on Ron. Neither of them seemed even remotely concerned about the fact that Ron was bleeding, or unconscious. Ginny pulled her twin brothers arms and they both spun to face her, "You will take him to Remus?" she asked, they nodded in response.
"We will give Remus the memory you gave us and let him do what he thinks is best with the git. Is she going to be alright?" Fred asked pointing in Fleur's direction.
Ginny pulled on his arm and pushed him towards Ron. "We are all going to be just fine, nothing to see here and nothing to tell anyone, you promised!" she scolded them.
Inexplicably George threw his arms around Ginny, "You did good sis, we will take it from here. Not a word about any of this will leave our lips we swear." He told her then he released her and with a flick of his wand Ron levitated between them. Ginny followed them out to the shed so that she could close the floo connection, then stepped back into the kitchen and re-keyed the wards to prevent any of her brothers from being able to get back in without them knowing about it.
"Mr Kreacher," Luna called out. Kreacher appeared in the kitchen doorway and looked quizzically at the strange blonde name who addressed him formally. "Sir would you mind apparating Fleur to her bed, she has had quite an afternoon, I imagine that Hermione will want to go with her." She asked the shocked house elf. He stared at her in disbelief for a moment and then nodded at her, shuffled over to the two witches, took a hold of them and apparated them to the bed.
Luna smiled to herself and got up from the floor, walking over to the counter she grabbed two of the cups of tea and set them on the table. Ginny threw herself into one of the chairs, exhausted, pissed off and wishing she had kicked Ron harder in the face. Luna sat in the chair opposite Ginny, took a sip of her tea. "Well you certainly were right about an adventure Ginerva, though that was not quite what I had in mind," she told her friend. Ginny stared at Luna with a look of incredulity on her face, then the two witches burst out laughing, the tension disappearing from both of them.
Hermione undressed Fleur and saw that Luna had done an excellent job healing Fleur there would not be a scar. She saw the medical tin that had been used to heal her fists just a few hours ago and went through it until she found a blood replenishing potion. She unstoppered the bottle, gently pulled Fleur's mouth open and poured the whole bottle in, knowing that Fleur would subconsciously swallow what was in her mouth. Hermione slipped a clean shirt onto Fleur, desperately trying not to get distracted by her beautiful body. Hermione got into the bed and pulled Fleur into her arms, gently caressing her head as she rested, she dared to hope that in the look that passed between them Fleur was telling her that she loved her the way that Hermione loved Fleur.