AN: please note I do not condone drinking to escape your problems, they tend to be still there the next morning and then you have the added problem of a hangover! (I don't condone it but I do, on occasion practice it )
Chapter 33 Loved
Hermione was laying on a bed, that much she could tell, she could also tell that the room was quiet and dark, other than the crying. Out of sheer force of will she tried to sit up and felt a gentle hand push her back into the bed, the action had startled her and she turned towards where she imagine the owner of the hand was sitting and tried to open her eyes. Normally such an easy task, the act of opening one's eyes so natural it required no cognizant thought process, normally. Hermione had noticed, however, that her body was unyielding in her desire to open her eyes.
Someone was talking to her softly, but she was far more concerned at this point that she could not open her eyes. Logically she cast her mind back to the last time she had been conscious and skimmed over soft spoken words from Fleur she could see no reason in the memory why she couldn't open her eyes, as a matter of fact she had been unable to open her eyes in that memory as well. Puzzled but curious, Hermione pushed further back in her memory and felt a shiver run through her as she remembered laying on a cold floor, and a harsh voice screeching at her. Hermione gasped at the memory and instinctively tried to curl her body up to try to shield herself from the blows she knew were coming, as she curled under the sheet in an attempt to hide.
There were tears in Ginny's eyes at her friends actions, she had been tending quietly to Hermione as best as she could since they had arrived back, not knowing where to even begin with the plethora of wounds covering her body. Kreacher had followed her back to the house and had gone to fetch salves and hot damp towels so that they could wash her friend and determine which wounds were the worst.
Hermione was whimpering softly, her body shivering with fear as she felt a hand brush her check, "Please don't" she pleaded.
Ginny swallowed, she slid off the bed and got down on her knees, "Hermione, it's Ginny. You are home, you are safe. Fleur is coming, she will be here any minute." she offered reassuringly.
"Safe." Hermione repeated, "Not dead." and for some reason her second statement made her cry.
Ginny leaned forward, "Yes darling, safe but not dead." she confirmed.
Hermione reached a hand out to touch Ginny's hair, and the red head froze, letting the witch do what she needed to do to feel safe. The hand rested on the edge of the bed and Ginny reached up and gently held it, the way the bones moved and grated against each other indicated that some of them were broken, but Ginny continued to hold the broken hand anyway.
It wasn't just Hermione's hand that was broken; it seemed to be all of her body and spirit as well. She lay very still, the only moving was her shivers that for the best part seemed uncontrollable, and the quick inconsistent rise and fall of her chest. Ginny knew that she was not asleep, how could she be with the amount of injuries she had? Ginny had been completely at a loss as to how to help her friend, until she realised she had been looking at the situation the wrong way. She had wanted to heal the most severe or life threatening injuries like the wound to her chest Unfortunately these wounds would require someone far more skilled in healing than Ginny. However she had realised that the wound that needed to be treated first was not a severe but the one that was causing her friend the most discomfort and anxiety.
"Hermione, I am going to try and reduce the swelling in your face so that you can open your eyes okay?" she asked quietly so as not to startle the frightened witch.
Hermione heard what Ginny said and lowered her chin to her chest in a weak nod of agreement as she waited patiently. Seconds later it was as though a pressure in her eyebrows had been lifted as her eyelids opened of their own volition. Hermione winced as the light in the room hurt her eyes, Ginny instantly extinguished the light from the room and then lit a dim lamp by the bed bathing the room in a soft light. Hermione could tell that the room was darker and tentatively opened her eyes again. Everything in the room was blurry at first but then Ginny's face came into focus and Hermione's brow furrowed into a scowl as she reached her broken had as she tenderly rubbed Ginny's forehead.
"Gin you are hurt." she informed her friend concernedly as she indicated a cut on Ginny's eyebrow that she had received from a piece of flying debris from the Malfoy marble staircase which had been stuck by an errant spell when the fight had broken out below them.
Ginny smiled, "I'm fine Hermione, don't worry about me."
Panic spread across Hermione's face, 'Where was Fleur? Why wasn't she with her, she must be hurt that is the only reason that she would not be with her.' Hermione attempted again to push her body up, she had to get to Fleur!
Ginny pushed Hermione back on the bed and found that the brunette was much stronger than she could have estimated as she had to forcefully hold her on the bed to prevent her from getting up.
"Hermione, you can't get up, you have been hurt real bad." Ginny begged her friend to lay still.
"No Fleur, I need to get to Fleur!" Hermione argued as she tried to push Ginny away through sheer determination alone.
Ginny was really struggling to keep her friend laying down when the door to the room opened and Fleur stepped, 'Thank Merlin!' Ginny thought.
Fleur sat on the other side of Hermione and gently placed her hands on either side of her lover's face, "I see you 'ave not learned to become a better patient, mon amour." Fleur said tenderly.
Hermione spun to look at Fleur almost disbelievingly, she stopped for a moment, before reaching out and touching Fleur. It was as though time stopped in the room for a moment and Fleur was starting to get worried when Hermione swallowed and pulled her hand back from Fleur as though burned.
"The first night you cooked for me in the cabin what did you make?" Hermione asked, her voice so hoarse it hurt to speak but she had to be sure, Bellatrix had played games inside and outside of her head, and she had to be sure this was not another game.
Fleur frowned at the question, "Chicken soup, zough you did not trust me zen eizer." Fleur stated concerned that Hermione need proof that she was who she said she was.
Upon hearing Fleur's statement Hermione flung her aching body into Fleur's lap and clung to her, quietly sobbing, "I will always trust you to keep me safe Fleur" she quietly whispered through her sobs.
A pop announced Kreacher's arrival back in the room with the much needed medical supplies. He nervously looked over at the crying mistress on the bed as she held on to the half breed as though her life depended on it and his ears drooped against his smooth head, upset at the sight.
Ginny got up from here position kneeling by the bed and went over to Kreacher, "Thank you Kreacher, Fleur and I will tend to her," she gently told the house elf, "why don't you get some rest?" she added as she considered his tired face.
Kreacher frowned at the blood traitor, it sounded as though she cared about Kreacher, he shook his head, in all his years not one of his masters or mistresses had cared enough about him to offer him the opportunity to get rest. Clearly this witch had been hit hard in the head. He looked up at the blood traitor and sure enough she had a cut on her forehead.
"Mistress has hit her head and doesn't know what she is saying." He told Ginny as he pulled her to seating position at the end of the bed before he hopped up and began to tend to the wound on Ginny's head which was clearly much worse than it had looked for her to say such a strange thing.
In her astonishment Ginny complied with the house elf's instructions and sat still while he tended to the wound on her head, though she could hear him muttering about humans not talking care of themselves as he rubbed the salve on her head.
"Mistress should not go to bed for an hour to ensure no lasting damage," Kreacher said and Ginny had the odd feeling that the house elf had treated and dismissed her!
Smiling, Ginny stood, "Thank you Kreacher, I am going to help Fleur, would you please check on Harry for me?" she said trying a different tack.
Kreacher nodded satisfied and then disapparated out of the room. Ginny took the bowl of steaming water and set it on the bedside table and dipped a clean cloth in the water before looking at Fleur questioningly.
It appeared as though Hermione had cried herself to sleep. Fleur gently lifted her from her lap and laid her back on the bed as the two witches worked in silence to heal what they could and treat what was left of Hermione's injuries.
Harry heard the door at the top of the stairs opening and his gaze snapped to the figure carrying the tray downstairs. He was surprised to see Professor McGonagall carrying the tray to him and glanced around the cell he was currently residing in and brought his stool over to beside the bars where the table was on the other side.
"Care to share a nip of whisky with me Mr Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked him as she laid down the tray which carried two tumblers, a bottle that he did not recognise and a plate of ginger newts. He nodded his agreement and reached out to take the glass nearest him as the professor cast a silencing charm around them.
"Have a biscuit Potter," McGonagall offered as she snapped one of the ginger newts up herself.
Harry took a biscuit and nibbled on it a little nervously as he waited for his transfiguration professor to tell him the bad news that she had clearly come down to tell him.
Minerva sipped her dram of whisky and closed her eyes as she relished the burn the started in her mouth and spread down her throat, hopefully smoothing the way for the words she would have to say to convey the news to him that she had. She looked at Harry, she could see the essence of him in the body of the man she had been a bitter enemy of for close to two decades on and off now, resignedly she drained her glass and set it on the table preparing to refill it.
Harry cleared his throat as he sniffed the whisky, it appeared to be actual muggle whisky as opposed to the fire whisky he had tried with the aid of the Weasley twins the year before.
He looked up at his professor, "Not good news then Professor, as I don't expect you are trying to get me drunk," he tried a joke to lighten the mood, he even offered a rueful smile alongside it but at the look on Professor McGonagall's face, he could tell that she was not going to join in the joke tonight.
"Not overwhelmingly good no Harry," she started before emptying her second glass.
"Is Ginny..."Harry couldn't finish the sentence.
"Dear Merlin boy no she is fine," Professor McGonagall reassured him before setting her glass on the table and fixing him with a loving stare. "She got hit by a little rubble and come out of it with nothing more than a small cut on her eyebrow, apparently Kreacher has already treated her." She explained.
Harry sighed, his relief visible even in his strange visage, almost instinctively he swigged the amber nectar from his glass and swallowed it in one hit. Seconds later he wheezed as tears sprang to his eyes at the sensation the whisky caused.
Minerva quirked a bit of a smile, "aye, it has a bit of a kick," she explained as she poured more of the drink into Harry's glass.
"I imagine it takes a bit of getting used to," Harry quipped staring at the drink in his glass.
"Yes, it can be a bit of an acquired taste," she agreed as she saluted Harry's glass with her own before raising it to her lips and took a sip, savouring this glass.
Harry neglected his own drink choosing to focus on whatever news it was she was going to tell him.
"Hermione is back in residence here." She told Harry knowing that he would want to know this.
Harry got to his feet and looked around as though Hermione might have been in the room all along, "Is she alright?" he asked
"Ginerva and Fleur are tending to her as we speak, she is quite...unwell Harry." Professor McGonagall explained as she watched the young wizard sink back to his stool.
Harry reached forward and drank from his glass, this time savouring the burn as it reminded him that things could be worse. He set his empty glass on the table and Professor McGonagall wordlessly refilled his glass under Harry's scrutiny, as if him staring at the glass while she poured would cause her hand to remain steady.
"Miss Lovegood is currently brewing skelegrow for Hermione. I am afraid Mr Potter it might be a few days before Hermione is well enough to look into your situation or enlighten us on her findings that she made before she attempted to rescue you." McGonagall told her student.
Harry could hardly blame Hermione for that, but he could not help but feel entirely frustrated at the situation either. He grabbed at the glass but before he could get it to his lips a cautionary warning to drink slowly was given from his professor. Harry sipped the liquid fire and then set his glass back down.
"Harry, I am sorry, I will of course continue to look into the situation while Hermione heals and gets some much needed rest." The sincerity of her words was heavy with emotion, she hated to see her cub in this situation, and Hermione's state had been much worse. Banishing the thought Professor McGonagall drained the remnants of her third glass before getting up and grabbing the whisky bottle but leaving Harry the ginger newts.
"I just have to take care of something first." Professor McGonagall said and without waiting for a response from Harry she climbed the stairs and left the basement.
The kitchen was empty, save for Kreacher who had somehow found dishes that needed cleaning. Minerva nodded to the house elf and then walked out the backdoor and into the back garden. She looked up at the stars in their multitude and muttered to herself, "Albus forgive me but I see no other way to end this god forsaken war." She still had the bottle of whisky in her hand, seemingly she had been unwilling to part with it. A tear slipped from the aging witches eyes as she felt an icy wind run through her, somehow she knew that it was Albus's cryptic answer to her plea.
Shaking her head, "I will not allow my cubs to be hurt this way!" she seemed to shout to the moon. When she was satisfied that there was no answering breeze she walked to the shed at the bottom of the garden, grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the grate, "Tonks kitchen," she stated clearly before stepping into the emerald flames and rushing into the floo network.
Ginny opened her eyes to whispering and saw that Hermione was in the throes of a nightmare and Fleur was trying to calm her. Getting up from the armchair by the bed she pulled the blanket from the floor that had slipped from the bed while Hermione had been thrashing and covered the two witches.
Hermione seemed to have calmed down and Ginny stretched her aching body as she realised that she was hungry. She cast a glance to the bed and satisfied that the two witches were at rest she quietly left the room to go in search of food.
Hermione saw Ginny leave and felt a flutter of panic, pulling Fleur closer to her despite the ache in her arm from the action.
"Wat iz et mon amour?" Fleur asked, letting Hermione know that she too was awake.
"I love you Fleur." Hermione replied, before adding, "I am sorry."
Fleur tenderly kissed Hermione's head, "Zere is nozing zat you should be sorry for Ma Petite."
"I wanted to die." Hermione said, her voice low.
"'Arry and I felt et, we would not allow et, zat is why we 'ad sent Kreacher to you." Fleur sighed as she pushed the pain of the memory away. "I 'as an idea of wat she would be putting you zrough, I knew wat state you were in ze last time and feared zat zis time would be worse. Forgive me 'Ermione, but selfishly I could not let you die." Fleur held onto Hermione tightly, tears falling from her eyes at the thought of almost having lost Hermione.
"I am glad you fought for me, I could not bear to be without you Fleur, please don't leave me." Hermione whispered to Fleur, her throat still hoarse from screaming.
"Never." Fleur promised.
It seemed as though a weight had been lifted from Hermione, despite the torture Bellatrix had inflicted up on her this time around being more severe than the previous, Hermione felt as though there was no storm that she could not endure so long as she had the shelter of Fleur's loving arms to hold her. Her whole body relaxed into Fleur's grip and Hermione succumbed to sleep knowing that she was in fact safe and loved.
Minerva stepped from the grate into the kitchen of Andromeda Tonks. She was not surprised to see that both Andromeda and Narcissa were sitting at the kitchen table catching up on over a decade of being apart. Minerva walked over to the table and set down her bottle of whisky with an air of resolution and took a seat setting her pointed gaze on first Andromeda then Narcissa.
Minerva McGonagall's visit was not unexpected by either of the black sisters what was unexpected was the look of absolute defeat on her face. Andromeda summoned three glasses and set them on the table allowing Minerva to pour the whisky that she recognised as an expensive bottle of muggle black label. After pouring glasses for each of them Minerva sat back in her chair and nursed the glass in her hands.
"I did what I was able for her," Narcissa said breaking the silence that was hanging ominously over them.
Andromeda could see the danger here that apparently Narcissa could not; in all her years of knowing Minerva she had never seen a look of rage upon her features as she saw now.
"She was raped Narcissa! You of all people surely should understand how grave a wound that is!" Minerva snapped.
"Minerva, she is my sister." Narcissa said quietly but with conviction ignoring the sting that Minerva had dealt her.
Minerva sipped the whisky and fixed her glare on Narcissa, "Which is why I will not hold you responsible for the torture that Bellatrix visited upon Hermione night after night." Minerva snapped.
"Minerva be reasonable!" Narcissa snapped.
"Narcissa you best come to grips with the decision fast because I tell you I will not move on this, Hermione is the closest thing I have to a daughter, how would you feel if the same atrocities were visited upon Draco?" Minerva said firmly.
Narcissa's face drained of all colour as she imagined what Minerva had suggested, "I would destroy anyone who harmed a hair on his head." Narcissa answered quietly.
"Exactly!" Minerva replied as she drained her glass and poured herself another.
Andromeda was stunned, Minerva was going to go through with it; she was going to kill Bellatrix.
"Minerva, can I sway you from this course of action my friend?" Andromeda asked quietly.
Minerva considered the request before nodding, "Aye, if I can capture her I will allow her to be taken back to Azkaban where she can await the kiss." She finally answered.
"She is our sister," Narcissa wailed desperately.
"She is not!" Minerva answered swiftly, "She stopped being your sister the night of your fifteenth birthday when she convinced your father to go to your room instead of hers. She stopped being your sister when she stopped protecting you. Now it is oh so very sad and you three were young and deserved much better than that but the fact remains she threw you both to the dogs and danced with glee as you were both ripped apart. I won't stand for it with my Hermione do you hear?"
Narcissa's world had fallen apart and she grieved for what was to come, but Andromeda saw the truth of what Minerva said and reached out drawing her own glass nearer, she grasped it in her hand and raised it to Minerva, who returned the gesture and both witches, drank. After setting her glass on the table Andromeda reached over to Narcissa and pulled her into a comforting hug.
"Cissy, you know Minerva is right." Andromeda said soothingly.
Narcissa nodded as she tried to compose herself and that was enough for Minerva who got up from her seat leaving the glasses and the bottle of whisky on the table as she headed for the floo. She paused behind Narcissa and placed a hand on the witch's shoulder.
"How I wish things were different, I wish I could have protected the three of you when you were girls, but I could not." She said in lament before adding, "But I can protect Hermione, and I can't ignore that."
She stepped over to the floo and grabbed a handful of powder and tossed it in the flames without looking back she said, "Malfoy Manor" and stepped into the emerald green flames.
To say the inhabitants of the dining room were surprised by the activation of the floo would have been an understatement. Lucius was so surprised in fact that he had tossed his crystal goblet of sherry onto the sheepskin rug as he drew his wand. Bellatrix, who had been engaged in a long conversation with Lucius about why his wife and son may have taken off also had her wand in her hand as soon as the floo activated.
When Minerva stepped from the grate she found herself on the business end of both wands she raised her eyebrow in disdain at the pair.
"How did you get through, you do not have access to our wards?" Lucius hissed at her.
"It may come a shock Lucius but you are not the only one in this room who has slippery ways about them when need be," Minerva answered and then promptly turned her back on the foolish man to face Bellatrix.
"What do you want old woman? Lessons on how to please a Mudblood?" Bellatrix cackled at Minerva.
That was all it took, Minerva saw red and before either Lucius or Bellatrix saw her draw her wand Bellatrix was on her back in a full body bind.
"Now see hear Minerva," Lucius spluttered but she cut him off before he could finish whatever nonsense he was about to say.
"No Mr Malfoy, you see here." Minerva retorted, "I am taking Bellatrix to Azkaban and you can either come with us as my prisoner or you can stay here and hope to Merlin that you will see your wife again because I put in a good word for you, not that you deserve it. The choice is yours, of course you could try and stun me, if you think you have the spine and we can see what'll happen from there." Minerva threatened.
Lucius looked for a moment like he was going to stun Minerva and she scowled at him, "It'll be entertaining for me I can promise you that Lucius but I thought you would be smarter than this!" she scolded him in her best professorial voice. She thought for a minute that her fear was visible by the curious way he regarded her.
"You are very sire of yourself Minerva," he stated as he lowered his wand.
"Wouldn't you be if you had my leader locked in a cell and my wife and child hidden?" Minerva quipped as she stepped towards the floo with Bellatrix floating beside her.
Lucius could find a retort to throw at her so he just stared at the floo dumbfounded.
"You have lost Lucius and I am coming for you." Minerva told him as she threw the floo powder into the flames and said "Ministry Atrium" then she stepped into the flames and disappeared.