AN: Hi all, I got a lot of reviews asking me to update soon – so here it is. I hope you like it.
PS. I was going to be really cruel and leave Kreacher out of the chapter but I didn't think you guys would forgive me.
Chapter 31 Family
Hermione rolled onto her side and tried to stifle a gasp as an ache in her side made itself known. She fought to open her eyes but found that, despite her best efforts, her right eye would just not co-operate. Hermione pushed herself to her knees on the stone floor below her as she tried to do an assessment of her injuries in the dimly lit basement. Checking that her wall was up first, she let out a sigh of relief to note that her wall was completely intact.
She forced her mind back to the events that took place after she killed Nagini, she remembered Narcissa grabbing her and dragging her to the headmaster's office with Bellatrix, Lucius and Draco following close behind. Once they were beside what used to be Dumbledore's desk without hesitation Narcissa apparated with Hermione. Once the world lurched back into focus Hermione felt her stomach drop as she realised they had arrived at some unknown destination.
Narcissa's hand was still clamped tightly around Hermione's wrist and she dragged Hermione down a narrow, dimly lit staircase and threw her on the ground wordlessly. Hermione cast her gaze around the room and then turned back to Narcissa who was standing appraising the girl quivering on her basement floor one perfectly manicured eyebrow arched with curiosity.
"Don't waste your time trying to escape, if you are a clever as I am led to believe you will know it is pointless and would be better off reinforcing your wall." Narcissa said
Hermione was stunned, was Narcissa Malfoy helping her? Almost instinctively Hermione had tested her wall causing Narcissa to smirk. The sound of boots on the narrow stone staircase had been Hermione's first warning that things were going to be bad. Narcissa turned and walked away as Bellatrix entered the dungeon and heaved a kick in Hermione's direction.
Hermione clenched her sides as she knelt on the cold floor of the now empty dungeon as she tried to stop the memory of the beating she had received. The thing that shocked Hermione the most was that Bellatrix had not asked her anything, only cackling as Hermione's blood was spilled and her screams bounced off the walls of the dungeon. Hermione took a deep breath and struggled to prevent a cough, she was unsuccessful and the coughing fit that followed had her doubled over in pain as she tasted copper in her mouth.
Hermione was so tired and in so much pain that the thought of laying back on the stone floor and going to sleep was indeed very appealing, however she pushed herself to her feet and hobbled over to the wall. She knew that she needed to get out of this dungeon and away from the deranged woman, before she came back.
Fleur apparated back to Grimauld place, landing in the back garden she tried desperately to compose herself as she pushed through the back door into the kitchen. She cast her eyes around to see a roomful of people who all were busy at work, Luna had a team of people brewing what looked like healing potions, Professor McGonagall was tending to some of the more seriously wounded and Fred and George were headed down to the basement.
Fleur took a deep breath and shut the door behind her then walked through the kitchen, taking in the scene of recovery in the living room as she breezed up the stairs slammed the bedroom door shut and threw herself on the bed. She cried, hard. Fleur buried her head under the pillow, curled up in a ball and sobbed.
Ginny took the damp cloth and wiped it across the face of her arch nemesis tenderly. A pale hand lifted to touch hers and Ginny stopped for a moment and looked at the face of the brow she was mopping. The eyes fluttered open and a smile curled from the lips.
"Ginny, love." Harry said.
Tears spilled from Ginny's eyes, "I am here," she placated tenderly, "I am here."
Harry grabbed her hand then saw the hand that he had used was so pale and started to panic, "Get away from me Ginny." He yelled.
Ginny sat squarely where she was, making it clear to Harry that she was determined not to move, "I'm not leaving you Harry." She told her boyfriend.
"Please," he begged, desperation plain in his voice despite the hissing lisp that accompanied it.
Ginny leaned over and kissed his head, "shh, it is alright." She soothed.
"Ginny," Harry said, he was still staring at his hand. He flinched, he was weak and was in pain, but that did not detract from the fear he felt at the body he was in, the body that was not his own. "Ginny where is he?" Harry asked.
Ginny gestured across the hall, "He is over there, locked up and silenced." She told him.
Harry pushed himself up and swung his feet over the edge of his bed, he looked at the cell across the hall. Voldemort stared tight back at him from his own body, his eyes, the ones he had got from his mother were looking at him with contempt. His own body was screaming at him with rage, but Harry could only tell this from his face turning red, but the screams were muted.
Ginny put her hand on Harry's face and forced him to look at her, "Harry, love. Hermione is going to have a plan to fix this. We just need to give her time, until then you need to rest and recover." As she spoke to him Ginny pushed Harry back, forcing him to lay down.
"No, I have to," Harry's sentence broke off, he didn't know what he had to do, but definitely felt as though he should be doing something.
"I know Harry, we are doing something, all of us." Ginny soothed.
Just as Harry started to settle he glanced over across the hall, panic quickly spread through him as he saw that Voldemort was banging his head against the bars. Blood was dripping down his face but he continued to assault the bars with his head. Ginny sprang to her feet and yelled for Fred and George who were playing exploding snap, they instantly abandoned their game and leapt into action. George threw a stunner at Voldemort to no affect; Fred threw a 'Petrificus Totalus' again to no affect. Ginny glanced at Harry and noted the panicked look on his face and swiftly took action, stepping into the cell with Voldemort she struck him swiftly with spell after spell, when Voldemort in Harry's body was on the ground wrapped in ropes and chains. George wrapped his arms around his sister pulling her out of the cell as Fred closed the cell door behind them.
Ginny was shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her body, she relaxed against George for a moment letting her brother comfort her.
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked from his perch on the end of the bed.
Ginny looked at George then Fred, both of whom shrugged at the question. Ginny freed herself from George's grip and went over beside Harry, tenderly stroking his face, "I will go find her." She told Harry, then got up to leave.
Harry squeezed her hand, "Thanks Gin," he told her.
Ginny turned back and flashed a smile at him, then started up the stairs. Entering the kitchen she looked around, "Where is Hermione?" she asked.
Luna turned to look at Ginny then shrugged and turned back to the potion she was brewing. Professor McGonagall entered the room from the hallway, "I have seen Fleur go up to her room, perhaps Hermione is up there?" the professor told Ginny.
Ginny nodded but she had a bad feeling in the put of her stomach, she took the stairs two at a time as she raced upstairs and without knocking she opened the door to Fleur and Hermione's room.
Fleur was sitting on the bed with her back to the door, she had stopped crying and even had managed to regain some of her composure, knowing that it would not be long before Ginny, Harry or Professor McGonagall had realised that Kreacher had not reappeared with Hermione. Ginny stood in the doorway and stared at the back of Fleur's head, fear tightening it's grasp on her.
Fleur got to her feet and walked over to Ginny and pulled her into her arms, not a word passing between them, and neither Ginny nor Fleur knew who was comforting whom at this point.
It was Ginny who finally had the courage to break the eerie silence between them, "What happened?" she asked quietly.
"She killed Nagini and came to find me, Bellatrix was between us. 'Ermione turned to run but everywhere she turned 'er path was blocked by Malfoy's." Fleur faltered it was painful to remember the fear that danced across Hermione's face as she realised she was caught.
"Did they..." Ginny's voice trailed off, she could not ask Fleur the fear that was in her heart, she swallowed the rest of the statement.
"Non, zey took 'er. They dragger 'Ermione into ze castle, by the time I got to ze door I could 'ear zem apparating away. I 'ave Kreacher looking." Fleur finished, though as she did so she pulled away from Ginny.
The two stood there for a moment, Fleur giving Ginny a moment to process what this meant, and Ginny running over in her head the things she knew Hermione had endured the last time she had been at Bellatrix's hands.
"Would the go to Malfoy Manor?" Ginny asked desperately, suddenly needing to go and retrieve Hermione.
"Non, even zey are not zat stupid." Fleur replied, not turning to look at Ginny but instead making her way back around the bed to Hermione's side, she picked up the torn envelope and the parchment that had fallen from it. Fleur had read and re-read the letter that Hermione had left for her under Fleur's pillow. Fleur smiled bitterly, Hermione had suspected that things would have gone this way, that Fleur may have returned and she may not.
Fleur walked over to Ginny and handed her the letter. Ginny took it from Fleur and though her hands shook she dragged her eyes across the parchment absorbing the words written by Hermione.
Ginny sank to her knees, "FUCK!" she yelled, pain and anger finally taking over her.
Fleur didn't move, she knew exactly how Ginny felt, she knew that the words in Hermione's writing telling them not to come after her meant that Hermione had given up. There was nothing that Fleur could have said to make Ginny's anger or any better. Ginny picked up the letter again, some of the writing smudged from her tears, or had it been Fleur's tears, as she read the letter again. Hermione had outlined the next steps in getting Harry back in his own body, turning Voldemort over to the aurors and she had even laid out a plan for getting the Order of the Phoenix to identify infiltrators in the ministry. Hermione had thought of everything, except how to get herself out of the situation she was in.
Ginny lifted her gaze to Fleur, tears spilling from her eyes as she did so, "What are you going to do?" she asked Fleur.
Fleur spun and stared at Ginny for a moment, emotions fleeting across her face as she swallowed, hoping that the physical action would push the rising beast within her back down.
"I am going to 'unt zem down and get 'er back." Fleur replied her voice completely void of emotion at this point.
Ginny's eyes went wide for a split second then she nodded and pushed herself to her feet, "I will help."
Fleur considered the young girl for a moment; "Ginny, I want to be clear." she started, unsure if she should say plainly what she and the beast were planning. "I will kill Bellatrix and the Malfoy's to ensure Hermione's safety."
Ginny stepped over to Fleur, "And you will need help. Look I don't know what Hermione went through last time, but I know enough to know that if I had come face to face with Bellatrix before they took her again then I would have avada'd her right there. Hermione barely got through this," she reached up and swept the hair from Fleur's face so that she could see her eyes, "without you she never would have got through this, this time it is going to be harder so whatever we do we need to guarantee that it will never happen again. The only way I know how to do that is to wipe out the whole bastarding lot of them."
Fleur stared into Ginny's green eyes and could see that the girl meant every word of it, she nodded once and then stepped away from Ginny. She was battling the beast who had heard Ginny baying for blood and wanted to join in. Fleur knew she needed to get better control if she was going to mount some sort of rescue mission.
"Miss Weasley, Miss Delacour, you seem to be up here plotting alone." Professor McGonagall stated, startling the two witches.
"Professor, I..." Ginny started to explain.
"Save it Ginerva, Hermione is family to me, I am here to offer my services." Professor McGonagall replied matter-of-factly.
Before either of the witches could respond a voice from behind Professor McGonagall came, "Me too," Luna agreed. Then more voices offered their support to the unofficial mission, several members of the DA and the Order were standing behind Luna and McGonagall.
Fleur felt slightly overwhelmed, she knew that Hermione had touched many lives but had no idea that the lengths people would go to, to help her.
"Miss Delacour, you look surprised. Is it really so hard to believe that you have friends you trust who will support you no matter what?" McGonagall asked but then before Fleur could answer she said, "If that is so hard to believe then hold on to the fact that Hermione touched each of these people's lives in such a way that they are simply not willing to leave her to Bellatrix's fate."
Fleur swallowed, "I 'ave no plan," she said, her voice a little shakey.
Professor McGonagall smiled softly, "Well, it would seem that Hermione has the start of a plan," she said as she gestured at the parchment in Ginny's hand, "Let's start with getting Mr Potter back in the correct body, I think then we will have a bit of an advantage."
Hermione closed her eyes and braced herself as best she could less than a second later the 'crucio' attacked every nerve in her body and she could not help but scream. She pictured Fleur in her mind, her deep blue eyes like the ocean her golden hair perfectly framing her face and her soft lips tenderly brushing against her own. Hermione smiled as the Fleur in her mind soothed her agony by whispering tenderly in French.
"ah ah ah Muddy," Bellatrix scolded as she ceased the torturous spell, "I can't have you going off to other places." She said in her sing-song maniacal voice.
Hermione snapped her eyes open and stared at the lunatic before her, Bellatrix was clearly unhappy at Hermione's attempt to dissociate with her body.
"What do you want from me Cousin Bellatrix?" Hermione asked bitterly. She had learned from the first beating that the more she referred to the familial link between the two witches the more unhinged Bellatrix became. The benefit to this was that it seemed to push Bellatrix away from the task of breaking Hermione's mind, instead she just wanted Hermione to suffer.
While Hermione had no desire to open herself up to the mercy of Bellatrix's wrath, she certainly did not want to give her mind over to the witch and so the inevitable and brutal beating was the lesser of two evils. Hermione clung desperately to the hope that she would push Bellatrix over the edge of her psychosis and she would accidentally kill her during the beating.
"FILTHY MUDBLOOD," Bellatrix screamed.
Hermione curled herself into a ball instinctively as Bellatrix raised her wand and it transfigured into a whip. Hermione ground her teeth together to stifle the scream of agony that was fighting to leave her throat as the lash tore through her shirt and back. Again and again Bellatrix brought the whip down until Hermione had no shirt left and her essence began to spill on the floor along with her blood. Her eyes glazed over and suddenly she felt very light. Hermione smiled as she felt Fleur's lips kissing the scars on her back and felt a single teardrop run from her eye. Her pain was gone, she was no longer exhausted, she was as light as air as she started to float.
Hermione smiled, "I love you Fleur," she whispered as relief flowed through her like a warm liquid. She knew she had done it, she had enraged Bellatrix so much that she was in her final moments. Hermione had won and her only regret was that she would not get to live her life with Fleur.
Bellatrix laughed and then spat on Hermione's body on the floor.
"Pathetic Mudblood" she hurled the insult at the empty eyed brunette as she continued to bleed on the basement floor. Bellatrix stepped over the pooling blood, not wanting to get any on her shoes, and left the basement.
Harry in Voldemort's body was pacing his cell as he listened to the plan that McGonagall was laying out for the rescue of Hermione, it was a long shot, but he would do what he had to, for Hermione.
Ginny and Fleur were going over some of the final points when Fleur gasped and pain exploded in her chest as though someone had reached into it with clawed talons and torn her heart into pieces. She felt to her knees and gasped for air as she fought to lift her head to look at Harry.
Harry had sat down hard on the edge of the bunk in his cell, he was looking up at the ceiling at something that clearly only he could see. The others in the basement were screaming and yelling at Fleur and Harry, begging for them to explain what was happening.
Over in his cell Voldemort in Harry's body was laughing triumphantly, despite being chained to a wall by his hands and feet, he knew that their cries were of pain and loss. Voldemort thought to himself that the Order might have won the battle but this change of events meant that he had all but won the war.
As soon as Bellatrix left the basement Kreacher stepped forward out of the shadows and looked at the body on the floor, then he looked up at Hermione floating above her body a quizzical look on his face. He raised his hands and began to cast healing spells, it was going to be tricky, he knew that he would need to heal her enough to stop her from dying but not too much or Mistress Bellatrix would know he was there.
Stupid human, he thought to himself as he felt Hermione fight his attempts to make her complete again. Did she not realize he had orders to obey? He had no desire to heal the Mudblood who had stood in his Mistress's house as bold as brass and plotted against the family motto of Tojours Pur. But he had a new Mistress now, and though everything this new mistress stood for went against everything he had learned while serving the most noble house of Black he still had orders to fulfil, a duty to do no matter what. It was with this unwavering determination to fulfil his obligation that he cast the spell again and forced Master Sirius's bastard to rejoin her body despite her efforts to fight him.
Kreacher stared down at the girl for a long time, she had the same nose and chin as Master Sirius and this seemed to tug at some string in his heart as it stirred memories of happier times he had spent with Master Sirius and Master Regulus when they were younglings. Sighing Kreacher wondered why he even bothered to fight his nature as the caretaker in him took over and he leant down tenderly stroking the girls face, hoping to calm her enough that she would sleep, rather than writhing in pain. He stayed with her until she the darkness swallowed the pain and she drifted to sleep, shaking from the agony, or perhaps she was shivering from the cold? Kreacher cast a warming spell on her and was sad to see that the shaking did not stop. Shaking his head he wished he could take her with him, but he had tested the wards and they would not allow her to leave, he snapped his fingers and with a 'pop' he apparated out of the basement.