Chapter 5
Hermione pushed her body against Harry's side.
"This happened before we left." Her voice haunted, empty grey eyes staring blankly up at her.
This girl did not resemble Hermione as the other women had. This fourth year was muggle-born. That was the only connection they shared.
"It looks like he did not assault her," Kingsley told them. "Just clawed her apart; from the amount of blood, I would say he took his time."
"We were right here!" Hermione shouted.
The girl's body was found at the edge of the wood, but even that was too far away for her screams to be heard from the castle.
Hermione felt Draco's hand on her back, "We did a sweep of the wood; no scent or magical signature was left behind."
Hermione curled into herself. "This is all my fault."
Harry grabbed her hand. "It isn't Hermione, don't take any of this on and blame yourself. Greyback is the only one to blame here."
Hermione did not respond, not meeting Harry or Draco's gaze.
"I need to leave."
Draco nodded, "Potter will you tell Kings-"
"No." Hermione interrupted, "Stay here."
"Hermione-"
"Mark and Thomas are still posted outside our house; nothing to worry about."
Except for her, Draco thought to himself. As much as he wanted to go with her, the distance Hermione was putting between herself and them freaked Draco out. He had been up her ass these past few months; maybe she just needed a moment alone to breathe.
"Blaise!" Draco called his friend over, "He'll take you home, then come right back. You're exhausted, and the last thing we need is you splinching yourself."
Hermione did not argue with him about Blaise escorting her safely home, another loud indicator that she was far from ok. Not even a roll of her eyes to silently tell him how ridiculous she thought he was.
Blaise and Hermione walked a few feet away, and then they were gone.
Harry and Draco shared an apprehensive glance neither had seen Hermione act so defeated. Even during the war, when they were well and truly at their lowest, Harry never saw the light go completely out of her eyes. Tonight this murder had pushed his best friend over the edge.
.
Hermione dropped her robes in the middle of her bedroom; she could not bother to care for the mistreatment of the clothes. She walked right into her closet and pulled her trunk out. The last time she had used, it was during her final year at Hogwarts, and it had been collecting dust ever since.
Haphazardly she pulled her clothes off their hanger by the bundle, many of them getting stuck halfway. She left them behind; once she was done in there, she went to her dresser, dumping her socks and underwear on top of the unfolded clothes.
The bathroom was her last stop, grabbing her toiletry bag and throwing it in before latching the truck closed.
Grabbing some stationary from her bedside table, she ripped a page out, writing a few words to Draco. She dropped her wand onto the bed beside her note; dragging her truck behind her, she made her way downstairs.
She was so dazed she had not noticed how she walked by her house-elf Poppy with no recognition. Since when did she allow elves to work for her? She was against that kind of slave labour. Her elf was free; yes, how did that matter when the poor creature was still serving in a household?
What had happened to her? Just the other day, she had been too tired, so she washed her dishes with magic instead of taking the three minutes to wash them by hand.
Her phone was something she did not use very often, which meant it still was charged to over eighty percent. She walked outside, still dragging her trunk behind her. She walked to the end of her driveway and turned left, not looking back.
She made it to her favourite cafe and called for a taxi and was never more grateful that she kept muggle money in her wallet.
.
Draco, Blaise and Harry followed Hermione home almost two hours later. It was well and truly dark outside, and from the lack of noise in the house, Draco prayed that Hermione had fallen asleep.
Poppy appeared in front of the three wizards, her ears pushed back and tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Poppy held a piece of ripped paper and a wand out to him.
Harry took the wand from Draco's grasp, "This is Hermione's wand; why do you have it?"
"Misses has left us." The elf whimpered.
I need to leave. You had the right idea before. If I had listened, maybe she would still be alive.
Draco shook his head; even as Harry grabbed the paper from his hands, all Draco could see was, 'I need to leave. No, she would not leave without telling him; Hermione would not do that.
Taking off, Draco ran around their home, looking everywhere Hermione usually spent her time. In four minutes, he had made his way to their room; his eyes caught the black fabric of her robes on their bedroom floor. Then the asque closet door, throwing that open Draco feel back into the wall. All her clothes were gone; she left while he was out. She knew she was going to do this when she left him behind in the woods earlier.
Fear and anger ran in his veins. Where the fuck was she? She left behind some disingenuous note and then took off without her wand.
This was not his Hermione; she would not just leave like this. She was now out there alone and vulnerable, and he needed to find her before Greyback did.
Two sets of footsteps walked into his room, and Draco looked up lazily at them. He felt like his soul had just been sucked from his body.
Harry's wide eyes took in the vacant spot in the closet and the robe on the floor.
"She doesn't have any family left," His hands still gripping her wand. "Where the hell would she go?"
Blaise cleared his throat. "Not trying to send anyone into a spiral here, but do you think she went to go find Greyback?"
Harry shook his head. "If she were going after him, she would not have packed everything before she left, and she would have brought her wand. The way she looked the whole time we were in the forest, I have never seen her look like that, even when we were tired, cold and hungry on the run. She was always fighting, always had a spark tonight; I saw none of that. I think Greyback killing that student tonight broke her; she's drawing in grief."
Draco started pulling things out of his potions truck. "I'm going after her."
"Not alone, you're not."
It was three weeks, and there was no sign of Hermione; it was like she vanished. Her magic signature popped up in France about eight days into their search, but when they went to investigate, they found nothing.
Harry and Draco had tried everything, with Blaise helping out when he could. Draco was out of his mind, running on an hour or two of sleep an night.
He wanted her back, and he wanted her back now.
When he did finally get his hands on her, he was going to lock her up in their room for the rest of their lives. How was he ever supposed to let her out of his sight again after this?
Depending on the time of day, Draco switched back and forth between infuriated and sick with worry. Harry was not much better.
He was worried sick for Hermione, and to take matters worse; Ginny started pushing at him to be home more. While he loved her, Hermione was his priority right now.
Ron caught Draco and Harry while they were in their office, a rarity these days. Kingsley and forced them to come in mainly so he could make sure they were still alive.
"What is it, Ron? Malfoy and I were just about to go meet with Kingsley."
Ron rubbed the back of his neck; he knew both men were about to be rather cross at him. "I have news from Hermione, well, not really from her, but-"
He had both men's undivided attention. "She sent me a letter, I'm assuming on the night she left. It just got delivered this morning; muggle mail is a lot slower than post by owl."
"Hermione sent you a letter." Harry was shocked; the two had drifted apart.
"You can read it for yourselves." He pulled the small envelope from his pocket. "She says that she wanted to let everyone know she was sorry she left like she did, but she did not know what else to do but leave. She needs a little more time, but she will come back soon."
Harry smiled, "This is great!" He reached for the envelope while Draco re-read the letter. "Where is the return address?"
Ron's cheeks reddened, "I burned it like she asked me to."
"You can't be serious." Harry snapped.
"She asked me to." Ron tried to defend himself.
Draco turned back into the conversation; fire flooded his veins. He had Ron up against a wall in a blink; his knuckles burned.
"Go ahead and tell me again how you burned the only information we have to help us get her back!"
"She asked me to!" Ron yelled back, fighting against his hold.
Draco sneered, "Oh, and you always do everything she tells you, huh, it's how she ended up in the hospital."
"I protected her! Like I should have done by keeping her away from you."
"Watch your mouth!"
As mad as Hary was, he could not let this go on; he stepped in the middle of the two men. He struggled for a moment before he was able to get some distance between them.
"Ron, go tell Kingsley Draco and I will be late for our meeting."
The redhead glared at Malfoy for a couple of moments longer before slipping out of the office.
Draco was shaking with rage, that stupid, no, good Weasel!
"At least we know she's safe." Harry sighed, trying to reassure them both.
"We still don't know where the hell she is."
"I know this isn't the lead we were hoping for, but it's better than nothing. Hermione will come back; we just have to give her time."
She had already had enough god damn time, in Draco's opinion. The hell was she doing? Was she on her own, or did she run away to somebody? The idea of her running away from him to find comfort elsewhere was an uncomfortable blow.
"Malfoy, are you listening?" He looked up at him, "We need to get going to Kingsley's office."
.
Hermione stretched, the soft blankets sliding along her bare legs. The sun was starting to peek through the blinds, and she really needed to get up and start packing; she was headed back home today.
Over the last month, she was able to get some perspective. She was still sad and angry about all the deaths happening in her name, but she was able to get rid of most of the guilt she had been drowning in.
Victor Krum and her had been friends since fourth year and had spent most of their friendship writing to each other. So when she found herself in this whole mess, she ran away, and he was her destination. Not because he was better suited to take care of her than Draco or her friends, it was because, as he was in their school days, 'a man of few words'.
He listened to her when she wanted to talk things out and offered very little in response, letting her work out her feelings on her own. The more she worked out, the more alive and like herself she felt, and that is when the guilt of leaving without a word set in. She knew Draco would be pissed at her, and Harry too.
She did not mean to be so selfish, but she could not help it; it's why she sent a letter to Ron. He could let them know she was ok, and if he knew what was good for him, he would keep her address a secret as she asked.
A girl had been murdered at Hogwarts. The war only won a handful of years ago. Hermione still had flashes of dead classmates lining the castle halls. She thought deaths at Hogwarts were a thing of the past. She did not want this generation of students dealing with this shit.
Hermione had promised herself yesterday that she would be heading out now. Scheduled herself a port key and all in preparation. She was nervous now about the reception back at home.
"Good Morning." Victor greeted her as she and her travel truck came down the stairs.
"Hey, thank you again for letting me stay. It has really meant a lot to me."
Hermione had thought about booking a hotel, but she had left her wand behind in an attempt to feel more muggle. She was missing her parents terribly and thought not having access to her wand and doing things the muggle way would make her feel more connected to them. She needed protection. If she was going to take a risk like that, she needed to be with someone magical.
She thought about pansy in France but knew she would tattle to Draco, and he would come and drag her back. Victor had always been good to her, and she knew he was good with his wand; if there had been a need, he could keep her safe.
"Any time, you know that. I am always here for you. Stay for breakfast?"
"I appreciate that. I can't; I've stayed away long enough, and my portkey leaves in an hour."
Victor stood from his dining table. "Very well."
With a kiss on her cheek, he escorted her to his floo. Once she made her way to diagon, and she would get home from there; she hoped Fred would be kind enough to escort her.
"Hermione, there are a handful of blokes looking for you." The Weasley brother grinned at her.
She nodded, "I suspected; any chance you aren't busy and could escort me home?"
"It would be my pleasure, just hold on tight, and I'll tell my assistant I'm leaving."
The joke shop was as crazy busy as always, with lots of kids running around and parents trying to tame them. Hermione saw the wonder on the faces of a small, obviously muggle-born family. Her heart aches thinking of her own family but found herself smiling at the happy memory.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"I should warn you I sent a Patronus to Harry, thought it best he does a sweep of your house before we get there. I assume Malfoy is with him; those two have been inseparable lately; Gin won't stop complaining about how weird it is."
"They have worked together before."
Fred shrugged, "I don't know the details, other than Harry hasn't been home much the past couple of months. Since you disappeared, Gin has seen him even less."
Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. "Great, just add Ginny's rath to the long lists of people I am currently upsetting."
"Chin up, lovely." Fred lent out his arm for her to grab.
Her stomach pulled as the joke shop disappeared from sight. Hermione's eyes teared up as she takes in the sight and smells of her house. Immediately her eyes zoned in on the mess covering her kitchen table. On closer examination, it was obviously case notes about Greyback and even more about her.
It seemed Draco, Blaise and Harry had spent most of her time away looking for her. Hermione only hoped Kingsley had kept looking for Greyback in the meantime.
Hermione could hear the footsteps upstairs. It seemed the boys had beat them here. She waited to hear the yelling, but all she heard was the rush of the floo twice and then one pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. The floo sounded once more as someone left.
When his blonde head of hair and cool face came into view, Hermione could not help but suck in a breath.
Fred fidgeted behind her. "Malfoy. Take care, Hermione."
With a kiss on her cheek and a hug, Fred took off with a snap, leaving the couple behind.
Well and Poppy. The elf appeared and clung to Hermione's bare leg.
"Misses, you came back; you looking so much better than when you left. Poppy can make breakfast for you; anything you want, you ask Poppy."
Hermione could feel the wet elf tears on her leg and lean down to pet Poppy on the head.
"I'm sorry my leaving upset you, Poppy, I did not mean to make you upset."
"Seemed like there wasn't much thought behind that decision," Draco commented, watching the two interact.
He so so revealed when Fred had sent news to Potter that Hermione was back. Now that she was back and safe, his rage at her leaving took over. While he was trying to control it and not fly off the handle, he felt like he was losing control rather quickly.
He slowly walked up to her, stopping an arm's length distance away, raising a wand to her chest.
"Your wand."
Hermione looked from him to the offering in his hand and back to his very blank face. Swallowing the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, Hermione reached out and took her wand, sliding it into her jeans pocket. Her magic hummed as it was reconnected with her wand.
"I owe you an explanation and an apology." She told him smart enough to not reach out to him.
Draco shrugged, "What is there to explain? You left a note."
He was being cold with her, a little sarcastic, but Hermione did not fault him for it. She would be mad at him if he disappeared without a word, especially given the situation.
Hermione raised her hands out in front of her. "I needed to put distance between myself and everything that had been happening the last few months. When I saw that little girl lying at the edge of the forest, I remember all the times I would take my books out and read under a Hogwarts oak. I remember how peaceful it felt to me; it gave me such comfort when I did not have many friends."
"Then I remembered when it all changed. Hogwarts went from feeling like the safest place in the world to a place where people died. One of the thoughts that kept me going after the war was the hope that future students would only ever see that place as magical, beautiful and safe. It was because of this case and its ties to me that that won't be true for this class of students. It broke my spirit."
Draco wanted to rage and yell at Hermione; she was so logical all of the time she hardly ever acted off feeling alone. It was what made this so hard for him; she was acting so unlike herself; it frightened him. Listen to her now, Draco remembered repairing the school, and on every brick, he lay and the new books he donated, he cast a good luck charm on them.
He, too, hoped that by doing so, the darkness he had brought into Hogwarts could be washed away. He wanted his future kids to have a magical time when they attended school there, much like he and his friends did in the beginning. As much as he used to look up to his dad, the man was cruel. Draco longed through the summer for the fall to begin so he could be rid of him, if only till Christmas.
Draco rolled his neck, taking a steadying breath and letting go of his anger with an audible breath out.
Inspecting his girlfriend, he took note that she looked a lot healthier. That spark Potter had talked about was back in her eyes. She looked refreshed and not at all like the hollow shell he had last seen walking away from him.
"Why the hell did you part with your wand?" He inquired softly.
Hermione licked her lips, a nervous habit. "Things were a lot more simple when I was a muggle; maybe a part of me was hoping to feel that. I realize it was dangerous, but I had protection where I was."
Draco's head snapped up; she had stayed with someone who had magic. If she had stayed with Weasley, he was going to ring that ginger's fucking neck.
"Where'd you go?"
"Victors." She said his name with confidence and then held her breath for the fallout.
Draco saw flashes of periwinkle and red from their yule ball. He saw Hermione and Krum dancing at different gallas threw out the last two years. Krum's hand always riding the line between appropriate and disrespectful.
"How did you even get there without your wand?"
"Took a taxi to the airport, a plane and then another taxi."
Draco shook his head, fingers coming up to pinch his nose. Despite his jealousy of Victor in the past, Hermione had childed him one too many times about the pairs 'friendship'. He knew better than to try and pick a fight now. Hermione loved him; he knew that. She needed a safe place out of the country, and he was the only one she was familiar with.
He did not want to start a fight when what he really craved to do at that moment, what he had been craving for weeks, was her body against his.
Draco raised his hand to her palm up. Hermione studied him for a moment before placing her hand in his; her fingers grazed his and had her wrapped in his arms.
Hermione gasped at the sudden movement but melted immediately into Draco's embrace.
"Don't you ever dare do that again." He growled against her neck.
Hermione's eyes fluttered shut, her lips seeking out his.
A loud howl broke the two apart; Draco immediately wanted to curse himself for leaving his wand on his bedside table. They waited another moment in silence, and then from their back kitchen window, they heard it again.
"He has to know he can't get through the wards; why would he announce himself?" Hermione asked, pulling her wand from her pocket.
"Contact Potter; I have to retrieve my wand." He stared her head in the eye. "You do not move until I get back."
"Go!" Hermione shooed him, already waving her wand to conjure her Patronus.
She heard Draco's feet heavy on the stairs; it was almost loud enough to drown out the sound of phantom breath from beside her. Hermione felt a brush against her arm and then firm pressure.
No! "Draco!" With a snap, she was outside in her yard.
Hermione fought against the hold on her and broke it easily. Greyback's gleaming eyes zeroed in on her from beyond her property line. Hermione had her wand raised, but she could not see the invisible wizard; all she could do was hold it out in front of her and listen.
"Nice try, Golden girl." A male voice sneered, and she was grabbed again.
"Hermione!" Draco screamed her name as he ran toward her.
Another snap, and she was delivered only a couple of feet shy of the boundary. One more apperation and she would be in neutral territory. The only thing was that instead of a couple dozen feet, she had only been apperated about eight. The wizard was getting tired; this was her last chance to get away.
"Draco." The blonde who had been in a dead sprint to reach his girl was halted, by the only other woman he would lay down his life for.
"Mom." His eyes widened in fear.
Greyback had his claws around her throat; one move and her neck would be sliced open. Hermione gasped she had a simple choice laid out before her, save a life at risk of her own. Nothing she hadn't done before.
Draco was still too far away to do anything, paralyzed by the new arrival. She had lost her parents; she would not let him experience that kind of heartbreak. Not when he had already distanced himself from his mother in favour of her.
"Granger! Don't you fucking dare!"
A sinister disembodied chuckle tickled her ear.
"You don't need to hurt her," Hermione told him, well aware that Draco had started into a run once more.
The thing her blonde-haired boyfriend was unaware of, her best friend had arrived and was waiting in the shadows for her to make a move. She trusted Harry with her life, so she confidently took herself beyond the safety of their warding.
Greyback's fending eyes were only for her; his captive disregarded like trash. A feral gleam in his eye, he licked his lips and made to move for her, but he was met with the blunt tip of Harry's wand.
A swarm of auras appeared and apprehended the wolf and dragged another man from the woods. Hermione did not recognize him, but she did not much care. She turned to kneel beside the woman who she had 'traded herself for.
Offering Narssisa a hand up from where she had been dropped, "Are you ok? His claws dug a little into your neck."
"Nothing a simple healing spell won't fix; it was hardly a graze."
Draco arrived and stepped between the women taking Hermione's face in his hands. Eyes wide and wild.
"The hell is the matter with you?"
Hermione tried to calm him, "I knew Harry was there."
"Bullshit!"
"Language, Draco." His mother chided.
"What are you doing here, Mother? Is there any reason to hope that you were not a part of this?"
"Why would I want you or Miss Granger in any danger? I was kidnapped nights ago."
The older witch did look like she had not washed in a couple of days.
"Are you ok?"
"Yes. I was kept in a basement until I was brought here." Draco nodded, turning back to Hermione.
"How many times must I be forced to watch you put your life in peril?"
Harry approached him, putting a hand on Hermione's back.
"Kingsly is going to take Greyback to one of the ministry cells until we can interrogate him."
"Why does he need to be interrogated? Ron and I already surrendered our memories."
Harry sighed, "He says he's holding more girls; he says they are still alive."
"We need to find them." Hermione grabbed onto Harry's robes, twisting out of Draco's hold.
"I promise you, Hermione, we will."
