The image Harry saw as he barged into Daphne's office might've been considered comical under other circumstances. Namely, he saw Hermione hunched over and looking like a stereotypical thief as she leaned over Daphne's table, mischief practically written on her face. Her left hand was just about to touch her former wand when she had inadvertently triggered the magical trap and became frozen. The associated spell was two-component, placed partly on the wand and partly on Hermione herself during one of her medical examinations. Only by the two objects coming in physical proximity was it activated, making it virtually undetectable until it was too late. Several items and places around the manor had been booby-trapped in this fashion... on Harry's insistence. He suspected Hermione was too terrified to stand up to Daphne directly but using stealth and covert means to escape was something Harry could see her trying.
And so, as soon as Hermione tried reaching for her old wand, the trap was triggered and Harry received a warning from the wards telling him what happened. He knew he was likely to find Hermione like this but he still couldn't believe she'd be so stupid as to try and steal Daphne's property, especially knowing what her punishment would be. Sadly, the evidence in front of him was quite irrefutable.
"Damn you, Hermione!" he cried in frustration, knowing his former friend effectively ruined any chance of ever being free after the war. More than that, a muggleborn stealing from a pureblood lady was liable to lose both her hands in punishment. Hermione knew this well as they had made her read all sorts of books about how muggleborns should behave in the company of purebloods. And still she would do this! Hermione's only possible saving grace was that Daphne wasn't as cruel as some of her ancestors. Instead of permanently maiming her, she'd probably settle for Hermione spending the rest of her live in Azkaban. Especially since Hermione's primary intent behind reclaiming her former wand wasn't stealing but rather a desire to escape from the Greengrass manor.
Harry was just coming to terms with his former friend dooming herself to a lifetime imprisonment when he finally noticed the object in Hermione's right hand and realized it was far, far worse than that...
With frightening speed Harry surged forward and yanked from her hand the other wand Hermione was somehow already holding. Harry looked it over but it was unknown to him and he couldn't identify its rightful owner. Still, this was very bad! Hermione shouldn't even be able to get anywhere near a wand without the assigned guard pouncing down on her in response. Daphne might have been overconfident in her security measures regarding her muggleborn prisoner but she wasn't stupid. The fact Hermione somehow managed to obtain a wand anyway, despite her actions being magically monitored, made Harry's blood curdle and boil at the same time. If his suspicions were correct, then lifetime imprisonment was something Hermione wouldn't have to worry about in the future after all...
Harry waved his wand over Hermione's face and watched as she blinked in confusion, disoriented after having her body and mind frozen for several minutes. Finally, she noticed him and her eyes widened in shock.
"You stupid fucking bitch," he yelled at her. "You just had to go ahead and do it!"
Harry noticed she was about to open her stupid mouth and he fired a spell at her throat to silence her for the moment. If he had to listen to one more of her idiotic rants right now, he'd kill either her or himself for sure. Afterwards, Harry twisted her arms behind her back and conjured ropes around her wrists. Hermione was still frozen from neck down and couldn't do anything to stop him. Once she was unarmed and restrained, Harry half pushed half carried her into the chair behind her. He finished by conjuring more ropes, tying her legs and midsection to the chair. Still frozen and unable to speak, all Hermione could do was look at him with hatred... and also disappointment. The girl desperately wanted him to feel bad about his actions but at this point, Harry felt fully immune to her guilt tripping. Instead of sympathy, all Hermione received from him was the tip of his wand pressing into her throat.
"What... did... you... do?!" Harry spat with contempt even as he yanked her head back by her hair so she would actually look into his eyes. Only then did he cancel the body-bind and silencing spells.
Hermione knew what being caught meant for her – she was doomed and probably soon to be dead. The fact it was Harry who caught her changed absolutely nothing. Her former friend was so far under Daphne's control he might as well bleed pureblood. The only difference was she didn't feel quite the same level of fear at the idea of confronting Harry as she did with his girlfriend.
And she was right to feel that way. Daphne Greengrass was no doubt going to question her soon and would inevitable succeed in breaking her like always. There was nothing Hermione could do about that but she'd be damned if she let herself be interrogated by that girl's slave. Because that's what Harry Potter was in her eyes – a snared dog ready to fetch at his owner's command, a parody of a friend and a man. In the grand scheme of things, Harry Potter didn't matter anymore, being nothing more than a pawn for the evil pureblood witch to play and amuse herself with. Hermione wouldn't waste her breath on a loser like him.
"I have nothing to say to you!" she told him defiantly.
"Where did you get the wand? Did you hurt somebody? Did you kill someone to get it?!" Harry questioned her further and when Hermione continued to glare at him in silence, he sighed and shook his head. "Daphne's been teaching me legilimency, you know..." he told her even as he twirled his wand between his fingers.
Hermione felt a pang of fear and her resolve cracked a little at hearing those words. But still she said nothing. She wasn't going to give Harry the satisfaction of seeing her squirm, or allowing him to report whatever she tells him to Daphne like a puppy eager for a belly rub.
"I admit I'm far from her level so it'll probably be painful," Harry mentioned with regret and a look of sympathy before his face twisted up. "But make no mistake, Hermione!" he said with a sneer. "Either you talk willingly or I'll rip the truth out of your mind right now! Do you understand me?!" he yelled at her, spittle flying from his mouth.
Hermione stared at him with hatred as she pondered his words. She wasn't sure whether Harry was actually capable of extracting information from her via mind magic. Nevertheless, the thought of him invading her mind (even if he were to fail miserably) filled her with both disgust and fear. The latter because Daphne Greengrass had repeatedly invaded her mind since their capture and each time it felt like hell, especially when Hermione tried to resist. The pureblood girl was supposedly proficient in legilimency and was likely taking care not to permanently destroy Hermione's mind in the process. Not because of concern over Hermione's well-being, of course, but rather because Daphne wouldn't want to break her toy and lose the opportunity to torment her again in the future. Nevertheless, it still felt like someone was cracking her skull open and making scrambled eggs out of her brain. So how much more painful and damaging would be Harry's clumsy attempts? She didn't want to end up like a mindless vegetable afterwards!
More importantly, Hermione felt utterly repulsed by the idea of her traitorous former friend taking a leisurely stroll through her mind. It had been so completely humiliating any time Daphne did it. Not only the act itself but also the larger statement the pureblood girl was making – even Hermione's mind wasn't hers anymore. And Hermione couldn't do anything to stop her! She had no choice but to submit in her mindscape just as she'd been forced to submit to Daphne Greengrass in reality. And through it all, Hermione was able to feel the girl's unwavering conviction and self-righteousness. Daphne truly believed she was perfectly justified in every horrible thing she was doing to Hermione and other muggleborns like her. So seeing what a pathetic excuse of a person her former friend turned out to be, Hermione was honestly scared by what she might gleam from Harry's invasion of her mind.
In the end, she decided not answering Harry wasn't worth the risk, especially since it was ultimately pointless from the tactical point of view. While Daphne wasn't around at the moment, she'd be back eventually and then Hermione would be forced to answer everything one way or the other. When Harry once again asked her what she did, Hermione gave him a clipped version of what happened to her today, starting from her arrival in the hall of glory. During her narration she could see Harry's expression of horror and it brought her some small degree of satisfaction despite how she'd failed miserably in the end.
"And that's it?!" he asked after she was done. He seemed to believe her but was seemingly unable to accept her story. "That's the big clever plan you came up with?" he added mockingly.
"Things haven't exactly gone according to the plan," she told him through pursed lips and he snorted at the understatement.
"I'll say," Harry agreed before turning serious again. "Well, you assaulted a guard and tried to escape," he told her and was silent for a moment before adding quietly, "You know what this means, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know," she replied in resigned voice.
"Damn it, Hermione!" Harry snapped and exploded. "We're literally days away from finally getting rid of Voldemort and freeing this country. The war's going to be over soon. In few weeks, you would've been free anyway! So why... why did you have to ruin everything for yourself by doing something so MONUMENTALLY STUPID?!" he yelled at her while repeatedly pushing his finger into her shoulder.
Hermione flinched away from his touch as much as she could while also searching his eyes and sensing Harry really didn't understand the reasons for her defiance, especially given the timing. In his mind, she was an equivalent of a prisoner who stupidly tries to escape the day before they are released. Hermione knew there was no point in trying to explain her full reasoning to Harry. He was far too broken upon Daphne's will to objectively see how evil the pureblood girl was and why Hermione had to do what she did. But seeing as she'd be executed soon anyway, she might as well try and reach the few tiny shreds of morality that might still exist in Harry Potter.
Hermione looked up at him and said, "Do you blame Sirius for escaping Azkaban?" she asked, much to Harry's confusion. Before he could react, she continued, "Just like he was, I'm being illegally incarcerated. Daphne has absolutely no right to keep me a prisoner but she does so anyway... because she can. And she'll continue to do so as long as she wants, even indefinitely. Are you seriously going to blame me for trying to escape this?!"
"That's different and you know it!" Harry snapped. "Sirius would've stayed there forever had he not escaped. Daphne was going to let you go eventually. Besides, where the hell would you even go right now? You're considered a wanted criminal! No, it's far safer for you to stay. It's for your own-"
"- my own good?" Hermione finished mockingly and laughed. "You're really gone if you honestly believe that, Harry! Daphne's not keeping me here to protect me! She simply wants me to be unable to prevent her plans to turn my kind into slaves. She said so herself! Besides, she was never going to let me go-"
"She is... she was!"
"She wasn't!" Hermione insisted. "And even if she was, Daphne would've let me go only after she and the other purebloods had an unbreakable grip on this country. After they took complete control and permanently destroyed every chance my kind ever had of being treated as equals. Again, she said so herself! You think I wish to live in society where I'm considered a worthless trash just because my parents are muggles?!"
"You wouldn't be treated like that... not unless you make yourself into a worthless trash," he retorted angrily before adding. "Daphne told me about everything she plans to do after the war... the laws she wants established. And honestly, I think muggleborns will be better off for them. Certainly far better off than ever before. You'll be protected!"
"As long as we do exactly as Daphne and other purebloods say..."
"Well... yes," Harry said and shrugged.
"And you seriously don't see anything wrong with that?!" she asked in open-mouthed shock at Harry's nonchalant attitude concerning something Hermione personally saw as the greatest injustice in the world.
Harry was silent for a while before he said, "Fundamentally, it's not fair, I agree," he admitted and for a moment Hermione thought she saw some remnant of her old friend. But it was gone in a second. "Ultimately though, I think what Daphne proposes makes sense. Even disregarding the whole physical magic issue, there's simply too much to magic that takes more than a single lifetime to comprehend. Muggleborns being guided by the old families isn't a fair solution but I honestly think it's the best one there is. Even for you. You could've had a fantastic life if you just cooperated with Daphne!" Harry declared wistfully.
Hermione laughed bitterly at that. "And what if muggleborns happen to refuse that generous guidance?" she asked sarcastically before adding. "Enough with the stupid euphemisms, Harry. Daphne wants to enslave my kind! She doesn't cooperate with muggleborns, she subjugates them. I could never live like that!"
"And why the hell not?" Harry seriously asked and Hermione could hardly believe what she was hearing, that such sentences were coming from Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. "Countless muggleborns had submitted to Daphne's ancestors throughout history and they all lived good lives. So why couldn't you? Are you so arrogant you think yourself something better than thousands before you?"
"Oh, yes. I know all about the Wild Hunt," she replied sarcastically. "Enslaving vulnerable muggleborns and brainwashing them into worshipping purebloods... it's what Daphne wanted done to me but she realized it wasn't going to happen so she decided to murder me instead," Hermione made the accusation.
"That's not true. Daphne's not a murderer!" Harry insisted with outrage at the mere suggestion. "And I already told you she was going to let you go after the war!"
"She wasn't!" Hermione insisted, "I would've been killed in my room long before that, just like poor Griphook!" she said and watched as Harry flinched nervously at the reminder what his murdering girlfriend had done to the goblin.
For a moment, it looked like Harry was going to react to her accusations but then he merely shook his head. "I believe in her," he declared with rock solid confidence. The expression on Harry's face was a perfect combination of lovesick and worshipful and it sickened Hermione to the bone knowing someone as horrible as Daphne Greengrass was its cause.
"Well I don't!" she retorted before she sneered and added, "It might surprise you, Harry, but some of us have ambitions greater than being some evil girl's slave!"
Instead of being even slightly ashamed or disturbed by her accusation, Harry actually smirked at her last sentence. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You wanted power after the war and now you're angry you're not going to get any," he told her and nodded when she looked at him questioningly. "Yes, Daphne told me what she saw in your mind. How you wanted to become a minister one day..."
"And why not? Why shouldn't I or any other muggleborn become the Minister of Magic?" she challenged him.
"No reason at all as far as I am concerned," Harry replied calmly. "Unfortunately, Daphne sees it otherwise," he said next in a tone which it made it clear he meant it was unfortunate for Hermione. "And as I said, I believe in her... and I love her. I'm going to help her however I can so she can achieve her dreams."
His last sentence was a final straw for Hermione. "You'll make sure Daphne gets her perfect pureblood utopia. You'll let her realize her dreams but at my expense... at the expense of everyone who ever believed in you," she shook her head sadly. "Now do you see why I had to escape before you make that move of yours?!"
Harry stared at her in confusion that rapidly turned to disbelief as he decoded the meaning of her words. "So it's true then," he whispered. "You were actually hoping to sabotage the war effort?!"
"You're damn right I was!" Hermione screamed out, contrasting his quietness. "Nothing would give me greater pleasure than seeing all your plans crash and burn!"
Harry was momentarily stunned by her outburst. Then his hand flew forward and Hermione could do nothing to defend herself as she felt it connect with her cheek. "FUCK YOU, HERMIONE! FUCK YOU!" he yelled at her angrily after he slapped her. "You'd rather see Voldemort continue to murder people?!"
Hermione ignored her stinging cheek as she stared at Harry defiantly. "Defeating you-know-who doesn't mean a shit if you're simply going to replace him with something worse," she said before turning passionate. "Open your eyes, Harry! You're not freeing this country from V-voldemort, you're handing it over to Daphne Greengrass!"
"And you actually think Daphne's worse than Voldemort..." Harry deduced and shook his head in apparent resignation.
"To me and other muggleborns, yes, she's far, far worse!" she insisted. "Voldemort only wants our lives. But Daphne... she wants our minds and our souls. She wants our future and dreams! Our potentials! If she succeeds, people like me will have nothing but scraps the purebloods mercifully decide to throw at us!"
Harry said nothing for a long while as he watched her nearly hyperventilate before at last declaring callously, "Well, at least you won't have to worry about living under purebloods' rule."
Hermione nodded. "I know I'm going to die," she said and looked into his eyes. "The thing is, no matter what happens to me, your fate is much more terrifying, Harry," Hermione told him and when he raised an eyebrow questioningly, she added, "Me? I'm just her prisoner. Daphne stole my freedom and future away and she's now going to take my life too. But as far as you go... she killed you," she said and before Harry could interrupt she continued, "Not physically but spiritually. Daphne killed your soul... destroyed everything that made you the person you were. Now you're only an instrument of her will, unable to stand up to her evil. Hell, she goes around cutting people's throats and you don't even care!"
"Enough with that damn goblin beast," Harry snapped before calming and meeting Hermione's gaze. "Daphne didn't kill Griphook... I did," Harry admitted, truly surprising Hermione for the first time since their conversation started as her eyes widened.
"W-what?" she stuttered in shock.
"Well technically, he took his own life. But I made sure it was the only reasonable choice he could make at the time," Harry said, shrugging nonchalantly even as Hermione gaped at him in horror.
"But... why? W- why would you do something like that?" she stammered her questions.
"Because... he was a threat to Daphne and me. To our future lives together," he told her and then looked at Hermione with solemn expression. "Just like you are, Hermione."
Cold sweat covered her body at his words. Hermione knew she was going to die but for some reason, she always assumed Daphne would be the one to do the deed. "You can't mean..."
Harry lifted his wand. "Just like Griphook, you're my responsibility, Hermione... you've always been my responsibility. I see that now," he said and paused before adding quietly. "For what's it worth, I'm sorry it had to come to this."
Hermione couldn't believe this. Her friend... former friend... he was... he was going to...
Then Harry waved his wand in front of her face and everything went black for Hermione.
It wasn't the end.
Hermione woke up with a groan. As she opened her eyes, she saw herself sitting in a comfortable chair in a completely different room. Her first thought that this was heaven was quickly dismissed as the architectural style suggested it was still Greengrass manor, albeit a room Hermione had never seen before. There was a table in front of her chair and on the other side of it she saw Harry sitting. He had a wand in his hand and was looking at her with unreadable expression.
"I- though you were going to-" she moaned as she sat up straight.
"For a while, I thought so too," Harry agreed. "But it turns out I can't... or rather I really don't want to," he correct himself and took a deep breath before continuing. "For the sake of the times when you were actually my friend, Hermione, ... when you were saving my life instead of trying to destroy it, I'm going to offer you this one last alternative," he told her and nodded towards the table. "The bag... take it."
Hermione followed his gaze and noticed there was brown leather bag lying on the table. She also realized she was no longer restrained. Hermione quickly checked her pockets but of course the guard's wand and the goblin dagger weren't there. She noticed Harry shaking his head before repeating his order for her to pick up the bag. With a sigh Hermione finally complied. She picked up the bag, unzipped it, and cautiously peeked inside.
"I don't understand," she told him honestly as she took out the wrapped up stack of banknotes from inside the bag. She immediately recognized them as French francs, remembering them from the vacation she once took with her parents. But there was a lot more inside the bag. Hermione saw American dollars in there as well as couple of other currencies she didn't recognize. She suspected there was enough money inside the bag to live by on for quite a while. Of course, none of it so far explained why Harry was handing her a bag full of muggle money.
"This is all I could gather on such a short notice," he explained when he noticed her questioning gaze. "You'll also find a world map inside along with a magical passport that should pass up any inspection by muggle authorities."
"What's going on, Harry? Where are we?" Hermione asked, turning her head as she examined the strange room, noticing the unlit fireplaces with luxurious vases on the mantles. Despite her general confusion, she was constantly mindful of Harry's wand which was pointed in her general direction.
"This is the entrance room. Guests can arrive and leave through here when they visit Greengrass manor," Harry explained, capturing Hermione's interest. "In a moment, you're going to step into one of those fireplaces..."
"But it's not safe!" Hermione protested, wondering whether Harry was losing his mind to be suggesting something as dangerous and stupid as to be using the floo. "The Ministry-"
"It's a private network, not controlled by the Ministry," Harry stopped her interruption. "And kindly let me finish my sentences for once, will you?!" he told her with annoyance before continuing. "You're going to step in there and say Greengrass dock. That'll take you to a small private port near Plymouth. Don't worry, it's not guarded," he added when he noticed her expression. "Once there, you'll take a boat out on the sea. Inside the bag, you will find a paper with coordinates. Follow them closely and you will bypass the detection grid set up by the Ministry. Eventually, you should reach the coast of Brittany..."
"You're really letting me go?!" Hermione asked and felt like crying of happiness. "Harry, I-"
"I'm not doing this for you, Hermione," Harry told her coldly, stopping any gratitude she might have been about to throw in his direction. "If you stay here, then Daphne would have to execute you in retaliation for your actions. And in doing so, you would have forced her to become the monster you so desperately wish her to be. And I won't allow you to do that!"
"Wait a minute," Hermione said and frowned. "So the reason you're letting me go is... to protect Daphne?" she asked in disbelief.
Harry nodded. "You will go away, Hermione. You will leave this country and never come back. If you do, then Daphne won't have to be the one to execute... we'll do it together!" he informed her and the embers of affection she might have briefly felt sparkling for her former friend were finally snuffed for good.
"So that's your solution? You're forcing me to leave my country? To disappear forever in the muggle world?!" she cried at the unfairness. She was a witch, damn it, just like Daphne Greengrass! But whereas the pureblood girl would push her into a subservient role in the magical world, Harry was planning to force her out of it altogether. She couldn't accept that! "Where the hell am I even supposed to go?!"
Harry shrugged. "Not my problem. My suggestion would be Australia. Go there, find your parents, and just stay there!" he said before adding, "Do it and I'll make sure Daphne doesn't send anyone after you."
"And if I don't?!" she snapped even though she already knew the answer.
Harry sneered at her haughtily in a decent imitation of his girlfriend. "You can stay here and face Daphne's judgement, if you wish, but we both know how that's going to end. And I seriously doubt you truly want to die that much," he told her and stared at her without blinking.
Eventually, Hermione lowered her eyes. Harry was right, she didn't want to die. But that didn't mean she was fine with Harry forcing her into exile. There had to be a way out of this. Harry obviously came up with this plan in hurry and was bound to have overlooked something, in fact...
"You should know I've placed several tracking charms on your body while you were sleeping," Harry suddenly informed her. "You attempt to leave the dock on foot or purposefully try to get caught by following incorrect course and I've ordered the house elves to bring you right back. The same happens if you try to return," he warned her, seemingly reading her mind.
Hermione clutched the bag close to her chest. "Looks like you've thought of everything," she said in a voice which made it clear she was anything but pleased by the fact.
Harry's lips twitched into a smile. "I'm a slow learner... but I learn," he proclaimed and ignored the way Hermione snorted at his statement.
"What about my wand?" she asked afterwards.
"Ah, yes," Harry said and leaned back in his chair before taking Hermione's wand out of his robes. "You mean the wand you tried to steal from Daphne."
"I didn't try to steal it, it's mine!" she hissed while again glancing at Harry's other hand which was still pointing his wand in her direction. Her first instinct was to jump over the table and get her wand back at any cost but Harry would be able to stop her.
"Semantics," Harry said dismissively before continuing. "In any case, I'm willing to return this to you... but only if Daphne agrees. If she does, I'll have the wand sealed into an unbreakable package and delivered to your boat. You'll only be able to open it in a month or so," he said briefly glancing at Hermione's wand. "I still need to figure out how to do that, actually, but it should be possible."
Hermione already knew it was possible. Packages or envelopes which could be opened only after a specific time had passed were relatively common in the magical world. The exam commission had used them during the written part of their OWLs to make sure everyone had the questions available at the same time. Hermione briefly shuddered at the memory of her OWLs and the fact Daphne Greengrass was among the three other classmates who were in her group. Had she known back then what the blonde would end up doing to her... and to Harry... she would've killed her without mercy. Even if it got her thrown in Azkaban for the rest of her life.
"It's a pointless discussion. Daphne's never going to agree to return my wand!" she cried desperately. "Please, Harry. You know I can't restore my parents' memories without it!"
"It's quite possible she won't agree," Harry said and shrugged, obviously unperturbed by the high chance of Daphne not returning her wand. "If that happens, I'll send someone to Australia to restore their memories once you get there. But after that, I don't want to have any contact with you... ever again. As far as Daphne and I are concerned, you won't exist," he told her coldly but Hermione felt barely hurt by that. As far as she was concerned, Harry Potter she once knew no longer existed. Hermione didn't want to have anything to do with the mockery sitting in the chair opposite to her except wanting to stop him.
"And what's preventing Daphne from kidnapping me or having me killed while I am there?" she asked him then.
"I already told you. I'm going to convince her not to do that," Harry repeated impatiently. "I'll explain my reasons for letting you go and why I think it's for the best."
"And what if Daphne disagrees?" Hermione said, mocking Harry's earlier words from before he stunned her. "What if she comes back here and orders you to use your tracking charms and bring me right back?!"
Harry was silent for a while. "Then you're coming back here... and face punishment for what you did," he eventually told her.
It was just as Hermione suspected, then. Harry was apparently willing to let her go but he wasn't willing to stand up to Daphne and make an issue over it. Unlike Hermione he had a wand and was potentially able to stop the evil bitch at any time. But he was never going to. Daphne Greengrass had masterfully exploited all of Harry's weaknesses and now she had him completely wrapped around her little finger. In all likelihood, Harry would never stand up to her again as long as he lived.
"Daphne's going to be back soon," Harry declared after a while, interrupting her thoughts. "Let's get this over with," he said and stood up. "Get up and get to the fireplace," he instructed.
With no other choice for now, Hermione stood up and walked in the direction indicated. Her only other option was to wait for Daphne to come back and for her and Harry to execute her for trying to escape. It was horrible knowing her only chance for survival depended on Harry's ability to convince the pureblood girl not to immediately come after her. Hermione knew Daphne was never going to agree to return her wand but there was a chance she might actually let her depart Britain. The blonde would probably see it as a victory of sorts – to set Hermione adrift in the world without her wand and any means of defending herself magically.
They reached the fireplace and Harry instructed her to grab some floo powder from the vase. He also warned her not to try and go anywhere else as he had apparently locked the fireplace to a single destination. Hermione sighed as one more of her potential escape plans was demolished right in front of her eyes.
Oh, who was she kidding! Like the fool he was, Harry might truly believe he'd be able to convince his girlfriend but there was simply no chance of Daphne ever letting her run free! As soon as Daphne realizes what Harry did, she would order him or her people to drag Hermione right back so that she could start torturing her! Hermione noticed Harry was still pointing his wand in her direction, practically unblinking. The way Hermione saw it, she only had one last chance...
Her gaze went towards the doors on the other side of the room and her eyes widened. "Daphne!" she cried in shock.
On some level, Harry knew Daphne wasn't in the room. She wasn't even in the manor. If she had been, he would've felt it. Sadly, the way Hermione cried out her name and widened her eyes in horror was far too convincing. Harry had also been thinking about Daphne ever since she left for her grandfather's castle as he very much wanted her to come back. His wishful thinking coupled with Hermione's superb acting made him turn his head on instinct, too late realizing his mistake.
Hermione used his momentary inattention and threw the bag he gave her directly at him with all the force she could muster. Harry saw it coming in his peripheral vision and barely dodged the flying projectile. But that wasn't all as practically at the same time, Hermione also threw a fistful of floo powder she was holding right into his face. Harry couldn't possibly dodge that and was forced to blink or risk going blind as it hit his face. But ultimately both of these actions were a mere distraction for Hermione's true intent as a moment later, the muggleborn girl ran forward, crushing into him. The impact of her body pushed his wand arm away, making it impossible for him to curse her. Harry managed to remain standing but just barely. Meanwhile Hermione was like a desperate wild animal, scratching... and biting.
"Aaaiiiih!" Harry cried in pain as the brunette sunk her teeth into his neck like some sort of vampire. At the same time, her hands went for his wand arm, trying to yank the Elder wand right out of his hand. Hermione actually managed to grab the wand and would have taken it from him if not for his firm grip.
Harry had enough.
He purposefully jerked his wrist, throwing the wand away in the process. This time, it was Hermione who was distracted by his unexpected action as she watched the object she so coveted fly away and squarely out of her reach. Her momentary pause was enough for Harry to negate any advantage she had gained with the suddenness of her attack. He first pushed Hermione away from his body before proceeding to slap her so hard she actually fell down to the floor.
"YOU FUCKING MUDBLOOD!" Harry cried out. His vision became a burning tunnel of fire. All he could see was the lying bitch who had been doing nothing but trying to ruin his life and hurt the woman he loved. He followed Hermione down to the floor, jumping on top of her and straddling her body. The girl tried to fight him away but he ignored her feeble attempts as his hands encircled and closed around her throat.
Hermione desperately beat against his arms and body but it was useless. She was a girl who had never done any sports in her entire life and possessed practically zero upper body strength. Harry would've had a much tougher fight on his hands with someone like Ginny. But with someone as physically weak as Hermione, combined with how angry he was, Harry was able to completely ignore her hits as he kept squeezing her neck.
He wasn't sure how long it was before her hands stopped beating against him and fell down along her body. Even then Harry didn't let go. The fucking whore crossed him for the last time! To think he actually tried to let her go! All he wanted was to spare her miserable life and like always the bitch repaid his efforts with scorn and a vicious attack! No more! Harry could see tears streaming down Hermione's face as his hands kept crushing the life out of her. There was deep fear in those familiar brown eyes as Hermione knew it truly was the end this time. The only time Harry had seen her so scared was during the troll incident all those years ago. They became best friends after that. But now his best friend was dying... he was killing her.
It was like a massive electric shock went through him, dispersing the dark clouds of anger from his mind. Harry let go of her neck and got off of her as fast as he could. Hermione wheezed, desperately trying to get some oxygen into her body in what might've been the last moment before unconsciousness. Meanwhile, Harry sat on the floor, breathing heavily and staring at his hands in shock. They were shaking like crazy but it was nothing compared to what was going on through his mind. He was about to murder Hermione in cold blood! How the things between could have become so screwed up? How did they go from being best friends to him choking her to death?!
For a moment, Harry watched Hermione lie helplessly on the floor, trying to catch her breath. Seeing as she wasn't going to get up any time soon, Harry eventually stood up and went to retrieve his fallen wand, thinking there had to be another way to solve this. One that wouldn't make him or Daphne cold-blooded murderers. Harry picked up the Elder wand from the floor and turned back to Hermione... just in time to see a spell flying right at him.
It was already far to close and Harry felt it hit him before he could even move a muscle. After that, he couldn't move even if he wanted to as his body became stiff as a board. In a forcibly silenced shock, Harry saw Hermione holding a wand. Her hand was shaking as she was lifting it from the floor with supreme effort. It was Hermione's old wand and for a brief moment, Harry couldn't comprehend how she could possibly have it. But obviously, she must have nicked it from him earlier, either as they struggled or while he was busy choking the life out of her. Harry was unable to check his robes to verify but since he could actually see Hermione holding the rosewood wand, it clearly couldn't still be in his pocket.
In the end, it didn't matter as Harry collapsed down on the floor, totally helpless. All he could do now was to turn his eyes to the side and see Hermione slowly getting up from the floor, wand in hand. He wondered whether that had been her plan all along. The way she struggled with him for the Elder wand made him completely forget about the second wand he had in his pocket. It was quite possible that had been yet another distraction on her part… and he fell for it.
Daphne always insisted he was a good man and not a fool whenever his morality came back to sting him. And as always, she spoke it with such passion Harry couldn't help but believe her... at least until now. There were certainly many mistakes he had made today that led him to this situation. But the most immediate one, the one staring him right in face, was that he had been unable to murder his former best friend in cold blood.
And now all might be lost because of it.
With Harry safely neutralized by full body-bind, Hermione took time to gather her bearings. She needed it after the evil bastard nearly choked her to death. It had been so close! By the time she finally managed to snatch her wand from his robes it almost didn't matter as her brain was already so oxygen deprived she could no longer cast any spells. Hermione really thought that was the end for her. But just as her world was about to go dark, Harry suddenly stopped for some reason and went to get his wand instead. Hermione suspected he either wanted to torture her a little more before killing her or was planning to present her as a gift to his monster of a girlfriend. Regardless, Hermione wasn't about to let that happen.
After much effort she finally succeeded in standing up, swaying on her feet for a moment before managing to regain her balance. Hermione looked around with worry but there was no sign of alarm, no guards barging in. Her attention then switched to Harry. The bastard was about to banish her out of her homeland and push her into irrelevance. And he thought there was nothing she could do about it! Well, he thought wrong. Hermione walked towards the fallen form of her former friend while feeling a supreme satisfaction at seeing fear in his eyes even as the full-body bind kept him immobile. She crouched next to him and began to search his pockets, quickly finding his cloak of Invisibility... as well as the goblin dagger he must have taken from her earlier. Figuring the weapon might still be useful later, she put it back into her own pocket.
Hermione was about to throw the cloak over Harry in order to hide his body. But before she could do that, she noticed Harry's fallen wand on the floor few meters away... the Elder wand, if Daphne and Mr. Ollivander were to be believed. After few seconds of contemplation, Hermione walked towards it and picked it up. She didn't expect anything special to happen and for a moment nothing did. But then she felt... something. It started small but rapidly filled her entire being. Part of Hermione was concerned and disturbed by the wand apparently having this effect. But ultimately she was unable to resist as the feelings were something she hadn't experienced in a long time and very much missed – power and might.
For months she had been kept powerless; a helpless toy for Daphne Greengrass to amuse herself with. The evil blonde had her trapped like a fly in a spider's web and was taking great joy in plucking Hermione's wings and legs away one at a time. The constant psychological pressure got to a point where Hermione couldn't imagine standing up to Daphne without becoming paralysed with fear. As if she was doing something sacrilegious and wrong by wanting to be an equal and actually fighting for her rights! Sadly, the pureblood girl had systematically eroded her confidence to such a degree Hermione sometimes couldn't help but feel inadequate in comparison. In those moments, accepting Daphne's philosophy almost seemed like the natural next step and it absolutely terrified Hermione.
So was it any surprise she not only didn't resist the images but actually experienced true bliss as the fantasy of utterly defeating Daphne invaded her mind? And this time without any fear or paralysis! Clear as a day, Hermione saw herself proudly holding the Elder wand and repeatedly torturing the pureblood witch with it. That fantasy was rapidly followed by countless other scenarios but they all had two things in common – Hermione was powerful in them while Daphne Greengrass was helpless and screaming in agony.
And the best thing was, Hermione somehow knew she could make those fantasies reality, she was certain of it! In fact, that's exactly what she was going to do and more. In the future, the purebloods would be made to understand it's completely unacceptable to discriminate muggleborns in any way... for any reason! With her eyes half-closed Hermione moaned with pleasure as the vision of the bright future enfolded her and found firm purchase within her mind. She would make sure intolerance is never again tolerated by the society and that every wizard and witch is considered equal. Should anyone refuse to accept that, they would have to be removed from the society, one way or the other. Re-educated at the very least; imprisoned or eliminated should re-education fail... it was the only way to protect the innocents.
Eventually, Hermione came out of her fantasies and focused her gaze towards the fallen boy who tried to murder her earlier. "I must say... you were right about this wand, Harry," she admitted while relishing in the terror she saw in her former friend's eyes being multiplied thousand-fold as she held the Elder wand. And then it multiplied by million as she took out the goblin dagger out of her pocket...
Hermione's eyes flicked between the dagger and Harry's terrified face. She reckoned it would be easy and probably for the best. With Harry completely under Daphne's control, her former friend was no longer a hero but rather an instrument of unspeakable evil. Countless people were going to suffer because of his actions and one might say it was Hermione's duty to stop him by any means necessary. But in the end, Hermione decided against ending Harry's life, even though it was a good idea in the long-run. Just as with the guard, she feared the wards would sound an alarm if she were to kill him. Even causing him a fatal but slow-progressing injury was too risky.
And so, instead of slitting his throat as Harry would've deserved for accepting pureblood supremacy and discriminating against muggleborns, Hermione instead conjured magical ropes around his wrists and ankles. She also added a gag into Harry's mouth. Finally, she took out the cloak of Invisibility and thought about what to do with it for a moment. Knowing how to cast perfect disillusionment charm nowadays, courtesy of the Greengrass manor library, she didn't really need it. It would also serve as a constant reminder of Harry and what a pathetic person her former friend had turned out to be...
Hermione smirked at his bound form before deciding to twist the metaphorical knife. "I'm going to make sure your monster of a girlfriend gets what she deserves," she gave him the chilling promise, "And that you end up in Azkaban for the way you betrayed us all!" she screamed the last sentence before casting a silent stunner. The spell that came out of the Elder wand was hugely overpowered, guaranteeing Harry would be out for hours, perhaps more. Hermione then levitated his body to the most inconspicuous corner of the room before performing a simple spell to transfer all the tracking charms from her body to his. Seeing as they were all keyed to Harry in the first place, she could've probably cancelled them altogether, but this way was faster. Finally, she covered Harry with the Cloak, making sure he wouldn't be found. With any luck, he'd die of thirst first. If not, then Daphne would simply possess one more slave until the time Hermione deals with them both.
Hermione then took a deep breath and a stock of her situation. She did it! All she had to do was apparate away and she'd be free. But not just yet. There was one last thing she had to do before leaving this accursed place forever. She didn't think she could do it before but with the Elder wand, she felt like it was going to be a child's play!
"Unlike you, Harry, I never abandon my friends! Never!" Hermione spoke to the seemingly empty room with determination. Then she turned around on the spot and was gone.