Chapter Thirty Two
"So, that was..."
"Yeah..." Hermione said breathlessly, looking up at the ceiling as she laid naked next to Harry in his bed. Her body was a few inches from his, covered only by a thin satin sheet. Her curly brown hair was askew and her cheeks flushed. She turned her head toward Harry.
He was on his side, his elbow propping him up as he stared down at her.
"What?" Hermione asked, looking at Harry with a blush.
"Just admire my view," he said with a grin.
"Stop," Hermione rolled her eyes, shoving his shoulder gently.
Harry gave a small laugh, and stretched his arms to pull her in closer to him.
"So... when should I expect panic to set in?" He asked, a hint of seriousness in his playful voice. "By now I thought you'd be ranting about how we've made another terrible mistake."
"Mmmm," Hermione nestled in closer to him and curling against his torso. She closed her eyes gently. "I'm far too cozy for ranting."
Harry kissed the top of her head.
"It's late," He said quietly, his right index finger drawing circles on her upper arm. You really should sleep. God knows you need it."
Hermione tilted her head slightly to meet his eyes.
"I want to know what you found out from your investigation."
"You will, but you'll have to wait until morning," Harry replied with a yawn. "I'm knackered."
...
Harry slowly ventured downstairs to the kitchen, yawning and rubbing his tired eyes. He wore only his pajama bottoms and a pair of brown slippers Molly had made him last year for Christmas. He scanned the room for Hermione, and he found her sitting at the small kitchen table, a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. He slanted his head to the side to read the title, Surviving the Unforgivable: Life after the Cruciatus Curse.
"You're up early," Harry said, making his way over to the cupboard to grab a clean mug.
Hermione put down her book and smiled at him. She was already dressed in jeans and plain jumper, her hair pulled up in a loose bun.
"I'm going to head back. I promised Mum I'd stay away from the hospital for at least eight hours," she said. "I don't intend to be gone a second longer than that."
Harry took a seat next to her and reached for the half full coffee pot.
"And how much time does that give us?" he asked, and seeing Hermione blush, quickly clarified. "For breakfast."
"I can spare a little time," she answered, her hands wrapped around her mug. "But only for a coffee and a quick debriefing."
Of course, Harry thought. Straight to business, as usual.
"Alright," he agreed, taking a sip of his coffee and straightening up in his seat. "What have you heard so far?"
"Hardly anything," she answered. "Only that you conducted some interviews and that Lucius escape."
"I'll start from the beginning then," Harry said with a small nod. "According to Hestia, Lucius has had Scorpius under the Imperius Curse since April. On and off, and usually brief, that's why no one suspected anything. He'd wipe his memory after each time."
"No..." Hermione said, shaking her head in disbelief. "His own grandson... I can't believe it."
"Neither can I," Harry agreed with a frown. "Malfoy is understandably furious."
"Draco," Hermione said, remembering her unconventional friend. Panic surged through her. "He had nothing to do with this... right?"
"Your intuition was spot on," Harry said, almost with a hint of irritation. After all these years, he still didn't trust Draco. "He volunteered to be questioned under veritaserum, but I knew from the look on his face he wasn't involved. He was horrified."
"So what exactly was Scorpius doing while under the curse?"
"Spying on us," Harry answered, and Hermione's confused expression signaled for him to go on. "Apparently Scorpius found his way to my private pensive when the kids were all here for Easter. I'd been using it a day prior and forgot cast a concealment charm."
"And what did he find?" Hermione asked, though she had a pretty good idea of the answer.
"Snippets from New Year Eve 1997... and the events afterward," Harry answered sheepishly.
Hermione winced, wondering just how much Scorpius had actually seen, and suddenly she was very thankful that Lucius had wiped the boy's memory.
"Harry... "
"It was foolish of me to keep those memories, I know," he admitted guilty, averting her eyes. "Anyone could have seen them. The kids. Ron. Ginny."
"Then why did you keep them?" She asked pointedly.
"You know why," Harry said quietly, and then added, "that night was... well, I couldn't just let it fade away."
"That doesn't explain how he got my medical records," Hermione said after a beat. "He might have seen them in the pensive, but he certainly couldn't have gotten a copy."
"I have a pretty good guess about how that all unfolded," Harry replied matter-of-factly. "I reckon once Lucius knew the name of the healer you'd seen at St. Mungo's he tracked her down and forced her to give up anything she knew, including your records."
"They were supposed to be destroyed," Hermione pointed out, not yet convinced by his theory.
"They were, but you know how things are," Harry shrugged. "Healer MacMillian may have held onto them for a rainy day. They would have been worth something. Valuable."
"I hate to think someone who took care of me would do that," Hermione scowled, resentful that her private life could so easily be exploited.
"It was trying times after the war," Harry gently reminded her and she took a sip from her mug. "She probably never intended to sell them. They were likely more so a security."
"Great," Hermione snorted. "That makes me feel better."
"We can go after her if you'd like?" Harry offered. "Launch an investigation."
"No," Hermione sighed heavily. "I just want this nightmare to end." She took a large gulp of her coffee. "So once they had the proof, Lucius used Scorpius to blackmail us?"
"Exactly. He had Scorpius write the notes, and when that failed, he had him go to Rita Skeeter at the Prophet. Scorpius cast the spell, putting a copy of the paper on each table at my party, all while under the curse of course."
"Why didn't he just write the notes himself?" Hermione asked. "Spare Scorpius."
"Lucius's penmanship is on many Ministry documents from his time serving on the Hogwarts Board of Governors. His writing would have been easily traceable. He knew I'd be checking."
Hermione nodded.
"Where do Hestia Carrow and Aetes Lestrange come in?"
"Lucius offered them a share of the ransom and promised he could convince the Wizengamot to approve the development of the Sacred Twenty Eight school they'd been dreaming of. They were setting dementors on muggles and planned the Platform Nine and Three Quarters attack to keep us distracted and too busy to investigate our blackmailer. It backfired when we traced it to them and Euphemia Rowle. She'd also been apart of the plan as well until we detained her."
"And Narcissa?" Hermione asked. "How does she fit into all of this?"
"She doesn't," Harry said plainly.
"You're joking," Hemrione balked, remembering the blonde haired woman's callousness in the brief encounters she'd had with her.
"Trust me, I was just as surprised. Apparently she left Lucius sometime last fall. The two of them put on a front whenever Draco and Scorpius visited, she'd stay at the Manor and they pretend to be together."
"That's quite the arrangement," Hermione said with an eyebrow raised.
"That's not even the half of it," Harry smirked. "According to a few of my more seedy contacts, she shacked up with Albert Runcorn around Christmas. It's all very hush hush. Even Draco didn't know."
"Albert Runcorn," Hermione repeated with disbelief. "Really?"
"He's done well for himself since his brief stint in Azkaban, invested wisely in gold and has a small fortune," Harry explained. "She probably saw him as a way back to her former life of luxury."
"So that's everything?"
"In a nutshell," Harry said, and then an uncomfortable grimace appeared on his face. "There is one more small detail. It seems that Lucius also took some sick pleasure in interfering with Rose and Scorpius... and their... uhh... relationship."
Hermione closed her eyes, hoping the worst she was thinking wasn't true.
"Scorpius pursued her while under Imperius, that much is clear. Lucius likely thought this would get him closer to you," Harry said, anger creeping into his voice. "It's not clear if he was further involved or if he had Scorpius under the curse when they... you know... did anything."
Hermione felt sick. Lucius controlling Scorpius's physical relationship with her daughter was too hard to stomach. She hoped it wasn't true.
"Rose is going to be devastated," Hermione said finally with a heavy sigh. "As if she hasn't gone through enough. How's Scorpius?"
"He's in a right state. Malfoy said he's been inconsolable, blaming himself for what's happened to Rose."
Hermione frowned. She felt awful that Scorpius had gotten wrapped up in his grandfather's crimes.
"I wish I had done some damage to Lucius when we were dueling," she said with resentment. "I should have murder him for what he's done to the kids."
"Get in line," Harry retorted. "I'm considering lifting the Ministry's dementor ban. I think that bastard deserves a long kiss."
"You know you can't," Hermione said with a sad smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, but it's nice to dream," Harry said with a shrug. "Rose seemed to be doing well when I came by. Sounds like she be back home in no time."
"I hope," Hermione replied, her eyes darting to the wall clock. "Speaking of which, I should get back."
She stood from the table, but before she could move Harry lightly grabbed her arm while still seated in his chair.
"Wait," he said quickly, and she gave him a curious look. "Aren't we going to talk about last night?"
Hermione smiled and then swiftly leaned down, connecting their mouths briefly.
"I'm done talking," she whispered against his lips.
"Okay..." Harry replied with confusion, and before he could say anything more Hermione was kissing him again.
"I'll see you later," she said softly when she pulled away. "Maybe I'll swing by for my next mandated break."
With those last words, she was out the front door, leaving Harry sitting alone at the kitchen table, trying to comprehend what exactly had just happened.