It's been 5 years. I have no excuse. I have no promises. Enjoy.
Chapter 10
As soon as Damon Salvatore had fucked off after repeated assurances from Bonnie that she would be fine and eventually repeated threats of Bonnie frying his blood vessels, Hermione breathed a huge sigh of relief and collapsed on the comfy sea-green sofa. Then she remembered that she had not cast proper wards after accidentally blowing them up and gave Bonnie a considering look.
Maybe she could just start with wards? She didn't need a wand for them now so it would be easy enough. Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her as she finished looking around the large room and focused back on the short girl, "You going to explain what I'm doing here?"
She hadn't taken a seat and Hermione could tell she was uncomfortable so she stood up as well, pulling her wand from her sleeve. She breathed deeply, there was only so much preparation one could do when revealing something like this, after all.
"Bonnie, I'm a witch. I'm sorry that I've been so cagey and everything with your friends but there are laws in our world regarding this but I can promise you that I'm just here to help."
Bonnie's eyebrows were touching her hairline but Hermione wasn't dissuaded, she could do magic in front of the girl so there was no problem about her believing what she was. It was her intentions she was worried being questioned about.
"And you couldn't tell anyone else this – because?"
"Because – well, according to the Statute of Secrecy, vampires don't qualify as magical beings. They're magical beasts and the protocol states clearly that unless a magical beast is threatening innocent people or themselves or needs to brought in for registration, questioning, examination or execution, we are not allowed to reveal the existence of the magical world to them. It's completely stupid, I know but I've been sent on this bloody assignment instead of actual useful projects so –"
"Wait, Statue what -? Protocol? What the hell are you on about?"
"A community, Bonnie. Of witches and wizards. Exists right next to normal people and we have a government and laws and everything. And if I told your friends anything, I would be breaking that law."
She said it all very slowly, hoping it would be clearer to the young girl and she saw comprehension dawning on her face, replaced quickly with confusion, "Wait, so why don't I know about it? I'm supposed to be a witch too but my grams didn't tell me anything."
Hermione smiled finally, at least she was moving in the direction of believing her, "That would be because you're a different type of witch. Let me explain in detail, but first of all – has your grandmother explained to you the reason for your powers and how they work?"
Bonnie scrunched up her face before nodding, "It was a while ago but I remember the basics. She told me that we draw power from the pure elements like air, water, earth and such and the best way to do that is through plants because they're directly connected to all three. And also that we can use blood because it's a life sustaining force or something – I don't remember exactly about that one."
Hermione smiled encouragingly, she was sure that Harry was the best teacher around but she had picked up a few things at least, "Correct. Let me give you some details. It's all about power – always remember that. When you draw from air, you're drawing on the power of the wind because it's extremely potent and dangerous and unending. Similarly, when you draw from earth, you're drawing on all the power that causes and sustains life and it's the same with water. And plants have a direct link to the earth so they're easiest to draw on for you. It's different with blood though - be very careful about that. You can use another's blood to do blood magic because blood is a life sustaining force and gives you power to tie your magic to them to make it easier to do spells – like locator spells and stuff. You with me till now?"
Bonnie nodded carefully, having taken a seat on the sofa, "But what does this have to do with my question?"
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I'm not the same type of witch you are. I don't draw on the earth for my magic. I don't have that ability – my magic comes from my own magical core. It's present in my body, sort of like blood but not exactly. It's hard to explain because proper research about it is still ongoing in the Department of Mysteries."
"The Department of –"
"Mysteries, yes. But listen carefully. I'm the sort of witch who has a magic core – I envision it like a nervous system made of magic, but basically what I'm saying is that I'm channeling my own magic from my own body and blood. No outer forces needed – it's all inside me. Like I said, science is still working on exactly where inside me."
Bonnie nodded slowly, eyeing Hermione with renewed interest, "So since when have you known that you're a witch? And did my grams know about this stuff? Did she not tell me deliberately - ?"
"Sheila Bennet, right? Yeah, I'd say she knew but I don't think she ever thought you would come across my type of magic. By the way, what you can do is called Pagan Magic, forgot to mention that. You are a pagan witch but I don't know what to label myself, honestly – I'm the majority here and only minorities are labeled in the wizarding communities, like everywhere else in the world, I suppose."
Hermione tried not to huff but it came out like that anyway, before she hurriedly added, "No offense Bonnie."
"It's alright. So Pagan witches are what? Less in number? And that's why they're not included in the community?"
"Oh no, they're included alright. Well, the thing is – you're kinda new, are you sure you wanna hear all the bad stuff too?"
Hermione eyed Bonnie warily but the brunette only nodded with a defiant set of her chin, "I think I can take it."
"Alright, don't take this personally but since Pagan witches can draw from other powerful things, they're known how to draw from Death too. It is, after all, a powerful event – almost as powerful as life. While Death magic may not be more powerful than the rest of the pure magic, it is certainly more potent and… effective, let's say, for now. Most Pagan witches prefer to draw on Death because of this so they're sort of shunned by society but it's mostly case by case in our world. Your Grams, for example, was probably the best Bennet witch around. She was notoriously powerful and known to be outspoken against Death magic. I would have really loved to meet her, you know, you have no idea how sorry I am about that."
Bonnie looked away, a little teary eyed, she suspected, and Hermione was struck with a wave of sympathy for the girl. She wasn't even out of High school yet and she had already faced so much. She caught Bonnie's hand in hers and tried to give her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry though, I'm here to help you practice and everything. We'll have fun too – I've been waiting really long to tell you!"
The girl gave a small smile as Hermione continued on, "By the way, you don't know all this because Pagan witches don't need to be strictly educated about their powers because most of you either don't properly discover it and some who do, don't practice it. Basically, you have to search far and wide to find a witch who practices so you're not really a proper threat that the Ministry would need to educate or eradicate."
"Wow. That's kind of a lot." Bonnie said slowly, putting her head back on the safe and blinking at the ceiling.
"I know. I'm sorry to lay it all on you like this but it's high time that someone told you and honestly, that I told something to one of you so you can stop making plans to murder me in my sleep."
Hermione grinned easily at the brunette but the sadness in Bonnie's eyes did not fade despite her slight smile. Her eyes roved the ceiling as she spoke, "It's alright. I'm just thinking of Grams and if she knew about all this and if she did, then how and when… There's a lot I would've liked to hear from her, that's all."
Getting the hint, Hermione squeezed Bonnie's hand again and silently retreated to the kitchen. One couldn't expect anyone to just straight up swallow the existence of a magical community with a functioning government and everything.
When she returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups of tea, it was to find Bonnie at the mantelpiece, looking through the photos of her, Harry and Ron from their time at Hogwarts. She smiled slightly as she noticed Bonnie staring at a picture of her and Draco standing outside the castle, looking highly uncomfortable, before they were dumped in two buckets of snow from above.
"Why are the pictures moving?" She asked and Hermione grinned at the look of surprise on Bonnie's face before answering, "Because that's normal for us. I think the negatives are treated in a special potion to make them move - I have a photographer friend who told me."
"I guess even you guys have photographer friends." Bonnie muttered before rolling her eyes and coming to sit by her. She picked her cup and sniffed it carefully before taking a sip while Hermione stared bemusedly.
"Sorry, you can't be too careful these days." Bonnie said, turning a little pink despite herself and Hermione snorted, "Please, that just proves you're not naïve, which, given the circumstances, is a really good thing."
Before Bonnie could think to question her about the exact circumstances, she hurriedly continued, "And I was eleven when I found out, by the way, that I was a witch. I got a letter from my school and Professor McGonagall came down to explain it to my parents and everything. I was so shocked, I can't begin to explain – I'd just thought I was weird."
Just as she had hoped and expected, this quickly confused and distracted Bonnie, "Eleven – wow! But wait, why did someone come to explain to your parents? Isn't it hereditary?"
"Ah. That's a bit more complicated. It's not always hereditary – I don't know how many generations it skips or whatever but sometimes, a magical kid is born to two totally normal or non-magical, otherwise called muggle parents. I was one of these kids – we're normally called muggleborns. When a magical person marries a muggle – that's a normal person – or when a magical person marries someone who's muggleborn – like me – and then the kid born to them is magical, then that kid is called half-blood. You with me till now?"
"Yes, I think." Bonnie was frowning heavily as her eyes followed Hermione's every movement, "Kid born to two normal parents is called muggleborn, kid born to one magical parent is called half-blood. The other parent can be a muggleborn or a muggle."
"Perfect. And a kid born to both magical parents is called a pureblood. Now half-bloods and purebloods have some kind of connection to the magical world beforehand so they mostly know about Hogwarts but muggleborns have to be informed and their parents have to be convinced of the existence of magic and then to send their kid to boarding school in a giant castle to learn spells and potions and stuff."
"Right." Bonnie said finally nodding, "So you're muggleborn. Your parents were both normal and you knew nothing about anything till you were eleven? And Hogwarts is the school? But if all you magical kids are studying in one castle, wouldn't people notice?"
"Yes, Hogwarts is a school and it's where I studied and it has loads of muggle repelling charms and stuff all over the place to make sure muggles – that is normal people, don't come near it. If they do come near, all they'll see is a ruin and a sign that says 'Danger. Do Not Enter.' I was actually going to show you how to cast wards for protection – also, are you a book learner or do you prefer practical learning?"
"Er – practical, I'd say." Bonnie said uncertainly, fiddling nervously with her teacup for a few moments, "Why?"
"Oh, because then I'll just show you how to do it now instead of giving you books to read first. I will give you the theory to read up on later – it's incredibly hard to understand the theory on wards but since you're a pagan witch, you can only work on creating your own protection spell after you understand the full theory. Every spell by a pagan witch is unique to the witch herself and to create a spell you need to understand the basics of the spell you're aiming for."
Bonnie nodded and hummed deeply in understanding as she hesitantly picked up Hermione's wand from between them and looking at it curiously. Hermione smiled and deposited her empty cup on the table before getting up and signaling Bonnie to follow. She tucked her wand behind her ear when it was handed back and laughed at Bonnie's confused stare.
"Oh I can't use a wand here yet. The American Ministry doesn't allow the use of wands without a wand permit and I still haven't visited the Ministry yet and got mine. I'm trying to do wandless magic till then and I'm not an expert but I can at least cast my wards wandlessly – it's pretty straightforward."
"But why do you need a wand anyway? I thought you just had to channel it from your blood or something?"
"Oh we do, but it's present in such large quantities from birth itself that it's absolutely not safe to channel without a medium like a wand, especially as childered. All wands are unique to the wizards but at the end of the day, they're just mediums to channel our magic – A wand is only as powerful as the wizard. We can practice wandless magic to some extent but it takes years to be completely in control of yourself to the extent that you use it daily and don't accidentally blow something up when you get angry, yknow."
She chuckled slightly as Bonnie nodded in understanding and they reached the main gate. Taking a deep breath, Hermione carefully began the chants of her several protective enchantments, walking slowly so that Bonnie could follow her around. It took her almost half an hour to make it back to the starting point, just like last time. She had also belatedly wondered if Damon had really gone back to the Boarding House or just lurked around the building to find a way in. Her temporary anti-vampire charms at least should have kept him out of the property. She should probably teach Bonnie those as well.
"Can I ask what's wrong with your arm?" Bonnie asked hesitantly as Hermione tried her level best to not flinch as the ligament throbbed with pain again. It had been doing so for a while and she knew it was because of excessive use of wandless magic, but she had determinedly refused to look at it to keep Bonnie from noticing it while giving her a tour of the basement.
A quick glance had her gritting her teeth in anger – her ploy had been of no use because the bloody thing was bleeding through the bandages like a damn waterfall. She bit in a curse before walking angrily towards the kitchen cabinets, Bonnie following her at a distance.
"I don't mean to pry but it just looks painful is all."
Hermione pulled out the salve in the thick container and handed it to Bonnie before walking back into the living room and collapsing on the sofa with a groan. How would she explain this one now?
"Well, when we do too much wandless magic without daily and proper practice, it takes a toll on our magical core because it's not used to being tapped in such a –raw – way. And that sort of weakens the body which cause old scars –" She opened the bottle with a clunk, " – to open up again."
"Oh. I didn't know healed injuries could open up again." Bonnie said as Hermione unwrapped the bandages, then pointedly looked away when Hermione stared at her before pulling the last one off.
"Those caused by dark magic do. They're like old decrepit buildings - like a permanent wound which never heals – no matter how much you try to temporarily close it off, as soon as it sees weakness, it festers again."
It was probably the bitterness in her voice that was making Bonnie give her an enormously sympathetic look while she laid her head on the sofa and enjoyed the cooling sensation of the salve. It had been made specially from phoenix tears and unicorn tail hair.
Before she could distract Bonnie, she asked again, "Who would hurt you with Dark Magic? How old are you anyway?"
Hermione tried to smile slightly at the sound of innocent disbelief in the girl's voice, "And I thought you weren't naïve, Bonnie. I'm nineteen, why do you ask?"
"And how many years do you study at Hogwarts?"
"Seven."
"What job do you have in your World?"
"I work for the Department of Care of Magical Creatures in the British Ministry of Magic."
"So… a magical creature this to you?"
There was a prolonged silence as Hermione mulled over what she could and should tell Bonnie Bennet. The girl needed no hardening, that was for sure, but somehow, a part of Hermione wanted her to be prepared for anything. For everything. She didn't want her to function with the delusion that the magical world was safe. It might be safer, but it would never be safe.
"You remember I told you about being muggleborn?" She said finally, breaking a silence Bonnie had held stubbornly. She turned her head on the back of the sofa to look at the girl properly; she looked confused as she nodded.
"Well, there are people in the magical world, purebloods mostly, who seem to think themselves above everyone else because of their pureblood status and regard others like half-bloods and especially muggleborns, as filth."
"But you can't help how you're born! You can't choose your –"
"Yes, glad you see the point. But that's not all. There was a War. There were two wars actually and the same psychopath was behind both. It all started some seventy years ago, I think and The Second War ended about a year and a half ago – my best friends and I were in the thick of it. We're the reason that sick bastard is dead. He used to torture and kill muggles, normal people, for fun. And muggleborns were treated as less than scum. Him and followers, they – well, it was a difficult few years but we managed to get him in the end."
She looked again at Bonnie and was unsurprised to see the look of shock and disgust on her face. She managed a small smile again before Bonnie gathered herself, "But – but we never heard about any War –"
"Oh, it didn't really spread to America, actually. He was still growing powerful in Britain all these years, I expect he imagined expansion but never made it. And all accidents and killings were well hidden by the government, of course, magical and normal alike."
Bonnie looked slightly placated but still immensely worried as she studied Hermione, "And you got that scar while – while fighting in the War? At seventeen?"
Hermione chuckled slightly before answering this time, "It was his right-hand woman, that psychotic cunt Bellatrix did this while torturing me for information. But I lied to her even under torture and she believed me."
Her grin was probably a little more sadistic than she had aspired for as Bonnie looked slightly alarmed. Hermione made herself sit up as she continued, "Sorry. But she's dead now and I'm quite happy about it, so don't mind me. Do you know how great it is to say my name and not have people go absolutely ballistic? It's amazing – it's one of the reasons I'm quite enjoying this assignment – the anonymity. And it's refreshing to share all this with you without all the back and forth with Damon. Yes, quite relieving I'd say."
Bonnie rolled her eyes at that but still regarded her curiously, "So you're like, really famous because of the War?"
"Oh hush now, Bon-Bon. I'm tired of the War talk - let's talk about something else for a few hours till I gather my strength and then I'll show the books I was talking about."
"Do not. Call me. That."
Halfway through their conversation about Hogwarts Houses, Hermione suddenly stopped talking, tilting her head to the side, "Did you tell Caroline you were going to be here today?"
Bonnie shook her head and Hermione gave a single nod before moving to open the front door for the blonde girl, "Well, she's here. I guess Damon must have told her."
"You can't tell her any of this, by the way. Not yet, got it? I'm going to the Ministry in a few days to get permission and everything but I can't say anything till then."
Hermione made sure Bonnie understood before opening the door for the blonde, who looked ready to knock and then extremely surprised at the sudden view of her best friend waving at her from the sofa behind Hermione's head.
"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" She asked, making her way into the room without preamble as the short girl stood up, looking nervously at Hermione, but not answering.
"She was helping me with something, Caroline. And I know you all want to know what but we gotta wait a few days to clarify all those things. And I've told Bonnie not to tell you anything, so please don't hold her responsible, alright?"
Caroline looked between her best friend and Hermione for a few seconds and it was clear that she was not happy with the situation. She folded her arms and almost glared at Bonnie, but the girl had more sense than to stay.
"I can see you're not here for me, so I'll just… leave." She moved to leave but before she had taken a few steps, Caroline was by her side, "Bon, just wait in the car. I'll drop you home, alright?"
Bonnie exchanged a glance with Hermione, who nodded, and then promptly left after taking the car keys from Caroline. Once it was clear they were alone, Caroline sat on the sofa and put her face in her hands, shoulders hunched over pathetically.
"I thought Stefan said you all would be coming over tomorrow to discuss things?" Hermione asked slowly, taking a seat beside Caroline carefully trying not to set the girl off accidentally.
"Yeah, Stefan told me at school. That's not why I'm here. I need your help with something else – something personal and Stefan said we have somewhat of a truce with you so I was hoping you could act as a non-effected third party and help me understand this situation."
"Oh," Hermione tried not to let her surprise show on her face as the girl flexed her fingers again and again, apparently out of nervousness, "Uh, yeah of course, Caroline. I'm ready to help you in any way I can. Do you want some more blood pops before you explode though?"
"Yes, thank you, they're great for curbing the cravings y'know. I wish I'd had them before." She said gratefully as Hermione brought over a packet from the kitchen.
She waited patiently as the blonde took her time relaxing around the bloody snack, her hands fiddling with her jacket sleeves all the time.
"Has anyone told you about how Damon and I met?" At Hermione's blank look, she continued, "No, of course not. Why would they, it's not that important in the bigger picture."
"Caroline, if something's bothering you, then it's important enough for you to worry about it freely. I'm here to help if you think I can. Tell me, how did you meet?"
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