Author's Note: Happy Veteran's Day!
Today, Jay released a new album. So I'm excited beyond belief to get it. You guys probably have no clue who he is… but he's my favorite artist ever. I'd say singer, because that's what he's most well-known for, but he does everything—songwriting, acting, directing, scripting… so awesome, so talented. I saw him live this January… most exciting day ever!
But anyway, enough of that. Here is the next installment of Turncoat. I'm kind of bummed, because we're getting sort of close to the ending. I haven't finished writing yet, so there's a chance it might extend a while longer, but… aww, I'm gonna be sad when this is over.
Chapter 90
"What did he have to tell you?" Fred asks as soon as the door falls shut behind me.
"Not much. Look, I'm going to Draco's to see if I can find Harry. You guys can't come with me because of the Fidelius Charm, but I can take Ginny because she's been there before. Please don't stop me."
Fred and George exchange glances, and I hold back a sigh.
"I won't hesitate to fight you," I add.
They both turn to look at me, brows raised.
"Does Malfoy really mean that much to you?" George asks.
I glance at Ginny. "You told them, then?"
She nods. "And Harry told me what Ron did to you, so I told them about that, too."
"Yeah, sorry about our brother, Hermione," George says.
"He's turned into a bit of a wanker, hasn't he?" Fred adds.
George nods. "A right foul git, he is."
"Can I go, then?" I ask impatiently—I feel like I've already wasted far too much time here.
"Take Ginny," Fred says.
"Yes, she's better than nothing," George quips.
"Hey! I'm far from useless, and I'll prove it if you piss me off," Ginny says.
Fred laughs and gestures for us to leave.
"Go on, then," George says, voicing his twin's sentiment.
I nod and turn away. I walk briskly to the end of the hallway and start going down the stairs without bothering to check whether or not Ginny is following—I'm sure that the twins will send her after me soon, anyway.
She catches up with me as I reach the large double doors, and we exit the castle together. As we stride across the grounds, she speaks.
"Harry never mentioned what exactly happened to my darling brother after you found out. Care to share?"
"I left him hanging from a wall in Draco's kitchen."
"That's it? The bastard poisoned you, Hermione!"
"That bastard is still your brother," I remind her.
"Yes, of course, but he poisoned you!"
"I've had more important things to deal with," I say.
"It's all right, then. Leave the punishment to me," she says.
Then she laughs almost evilly, and I begin to wonder if she's enjoying this too much. Ron can't have been that horrible to her.
"And Mum," she says. "Oh, he's going to wish he'd never been born."
I only shake my head.
"Granger! Wait!"
I turn to see Greengrass running toward me, followed closely by the twins.
"What is it?" I ask.
She reaches me quickly and asks, "Can I have a private word with you?"
I gesture toward the boundary. "I sort of wanted to—"
"Just one minute. Please."
I nod warily and lead the way away from the Weasleys. Fred and George stop running when they reach Ginny, and all three of them glance in our direction, looking slightly worried. I give them a reassuring smile before walking a bit quicker to put some distance between us.
Finally, when we're out of earshot, I ask her what this is about.
"Draco… he knew he was going to be captured when he went to save Blaise," she says.
I frown. "I thought we already—"
"My point is… he knew ahead of time that Blaise would be captured, and he was able to pull off a rescue. He also knew ahead of time about his own capture, so that makes it seem as though he'll have secured an escape route for himself. But we don't know—"
"Look, I don't like to look for the double meaning behind everything that you say, and I don't plan on guessing your thoughts before you get to them. Can you skip straight to the point and be done with it?"
"All I'm trying to say is…" her voice fades, and then she sighs. "Did you see Blaise's face when he saw how concerned you were for Draco?"
"Yes."
"I wish I could tell you not to worry so much. Blaise… he really likes you. I haven't seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you."
"I already feel guilty. What are you trying to accomplish by telling me this?" I ask.
"I understand that you seem to be… involved with Draco. But Draco… he has problems. Problems with emotions, trust, the way he treats people in general, and I just—"
"You want me to consider Blaise instead?" I ask, trying to keep the incredulity out of my voice.
She doesn't respond.
"I thought you liked him," I say.
"I do," she says, and her voice is heavy. "But I know very well that he doesn't feel anything for me. All I want is for him to be happy. And if you're the only one who'll make him happy, then—"
"No. The answer is no."
"Granger, I—"
"No," I say firmly. "Blaise is one of my closest friends, but I can never feel that way toward him. Draco… I know that it'll be difficult, but I'm going to fight for him."
Greengrass shakes her head. "He'll never let you in, Granger. It's not in his nature."
The words seem to pierce me in the heart—please don't let them be the truth.
"I always liked challenges," I say, not letting the effect of her words show.
"Very well, then," she says softly. "Don't tell me I didn't warn you."
"I won't."
She turns away and starts to walk back toward the Weasleys.
"If you want Blaise to be happy so badly, why don't you try it yourself?" I ask her.
She stops walking but doesn't turn to face me. "Because he doesn't love me. If I insist on being with him and he accepts, then his life will turn into an act. He'll pretend to be happy, just so that he won't hurt me the way he did last time."
"Then confront him about it," I say, walking around her so that I can see her face. "Don't walk on eggshells around him. No one only falls in love once."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Granger. When one of us gets the strength—or is forced—to admit that we love someone, it won't change. It hasn't changed for me, and I don't think it'll change for him, either," Greengrass says.
"Nothing's that permanent—"
"What a Gryffindor perspective. You're always so optimistic, thinking you can save us, save your friends, save the whole goddamn world with your crazy antics. But the world isn't yours to save. So what if you finally kill the Dark Lord? Death Eaters around the world won't just disappear. The killings won't just stop."
That isn't entirely relevant to our conversation, but her extremely skewed take on our perspective has me incensed, and I grit my teeth. We're not stupid. The violence obviously won't go away entirely just because Voldemort's gone. But he's the root of the problem, isn't he? Without their leader, the hordes of Death Eaters will be so much less intimidating.
"What does that have to do with you and Blaise?" I ask, keeping my temper in check. I don't have time to have a dispute with her about this.
"Nothing," she snaps. She draws a deep breath. "I was just getting frustrated with… well, you."
"Oh, thanks."
"I don't know how you can look at situations through such a positive lens. I could never."
"You could if you tried. Now I'm going to go find Harry. Stay with Fred and George, okay?"
She nods, and we make our way back to the three redheads.
"Is everything all right?" George asks.
I nod. "Don't let anyone attack her, okay? She won't be hurting anyone."
"What do we look like, bodyguards?" Fred says.
"Yes. For the next few hours, you'll be bodyguards."
George sighs. "Fantastic. In Hermione's eyes, we're no better than common goons."
"Barely a step above Crabbe and Goyle," Fred agrees.
"That hurts our feelings, it does," George says.
"Shut up, you two," Ginny says, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Hermione. Let's go."
We continue our walk toward the boundary. When I turn back, I see the twins leaving with Greengrass.
"What did she say to you?" Ginny asks me.
"It doesn't really concern you. I'd rather not say."
I understand how difficult it is for a Slytherin to open up about his or her feelings, and I shouldn't make light of the fact that she confessed her emotions for Blaise to me.
"Is she still… does she still like Zabini? I mean, with everything that happened in school—"
"Ginny, don't ask," I say. "It isn't good to be so nosy. It's her personal life."
"So she does still have feelings for him…" Ginny guesses. "Damn! I wouldn't feel anything for a schmuck who did what he did. I'd probably give him a nice, good smack."
"Don't talk about things that you don't understand."
Ginny bristles at my statement. "Don't talk down to me, Hermione. I'm not as smart as you are, but I'm not stupid, either."
"But you clearly don't understand what you're talking about."
"Of course—"
"What if Harry did that to you?"
"He wouldn't—"
"Yes, I know. But what if he did?"
Ginny falls silent.
"See my point?" I say as we reach the boundary. "Now let's get out of here."
We Disapparate together and appear in Draco's living room. I look around and immediately note that no one's here.
"Check the guest room. I'll see if anyone's in Draco's room," I tell her.
I pull open the door to Draco's room and take a step inside. It's empty, and I turn back around just as Ginny calls for me.
"Harry's in here!" she says.
I move over to the guest room and see Harry lying in bed.
"It looks like he's… sleeping," Ginny says.
I step closer and sit on the side of the bed, giving him a gentle shove. There's no response.
"Harry?" I say, shaking him a little harder.
"You don't think he's hurt, do you?" Ginny asks. She sounds a bit nervous.
I shake my head. "If he was with Draco, then he should be fine…"
"What if Malfoy was the one who did this to him? What if he's going to turn him in—"
"Ginny, stop it right there. I won't let you question his motives like that."
"So defensive."
I run through a few quick spells to check on Harry's health, and everything appears to be in order. But he's just… not conscious. Why?
"He's reminding me a lot of what you were like when you went under," Ginny comments. "You wouldn't respond to anything we said."
Oh, shit.
Now I understand why Harry was asking about whether or not he should trust Draco—at the time, I'd been too distracted by the arrival of the Death Eaters to put much thought into it.
Oh, god… he wouldn't really die for Harry, would he? I know that he'd do anything for me and that he knows how much I want this war to be over, but surely he won't… he won't let himself die just for that, will he? I'd much rather have another few years together with him, fighting the war, than lose him right now.
And sure enough, he chose not to tell me what he was going to do. If he dies… I won't have a chance to really say goodbye to him.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asks.
I realize that my eyes are welling up and blink a few times, rapidly. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Do you know what's wrong with Harry, then?"
"He's going to be fine," I say, sitting down on Blaise's bed.
"Do you know something that I don't know? Does it have to do with Malfoy?" Ginny asks.
I shake my head. "I… I have to think."
"Can I do anything to help?"
"Just stay with Harry. He'll wake up eventually. I have to…" I let my voice fade.
Then I get to my feet and move into the living room, closing the door to the guest room behind me. I have an idea of what to do.
"Naree!"
The small house-elf doesn't appear, and I feel discouraged. Did Draco think of this already? Was he so sure that I would try asking Naree for help?
Almost a full minute later, Naree appears with a loud crack.
"Miss Granger," he says in greeting.
"Hello, Naree," I reply. "Do you know where Draco is?"
He shakes his head.
"But if I asked you to find him, could you do it?"
"Miss Granger…" he begins uneasily.
"Could you take me to him?" I ask. "He's in danger—you don't want your master to die, do you?"
Naree shakes his head furiously.
"Then take me to him. I can help him. Please, believe me."
The small house-elf hesitates for a long moment, fixing his large eyes on mine, but I refuse to waver. He has to take me.
Then his long fingers wrap around my wrist, and we Disapparate.
We appear in the middle of a stretch of woods, and I look around, alert. Where are we?
Where is Draco?