Chapter 9 - Flashback
A few days later Hermione Granger was lounging on the couch in Kielder Cottage, her home, reading a fantasy book. She was wearing biker shorts and a shirt she had borrowed from Bill as it was still early morning, when Harry Potter suddenly burst through the floo.
"You knew!" He accused her, pointing his finger at her form.
"What did I know Harry? I know a lot of things." Hermione replied, putting down her book.
"Malfoy!" Harry simply said and flopped down on the armchair.
"Oh that, yes, well I was there when he did the match."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wasn't allowed to. Draco was the only who could have requested you to be told sooner from Kings, but I think he wanted the time to come to terms with it himself." Hermione replied.
Harry nodded, "That's what you did for Bill, isn't it?"
"Yes, but Bill and I were already going towards something before the law, and before the match."
"I had no idea who it would be you know. I didn't even know if it would be a witch or a wizard. I don't feel really attracted to anyone I know, so I thought it would simply be someone I didn't know, someone older who I never crossed paths with. I wasn't expecting this." Harry explained, starting off in the distance.
"Do you want to appeal?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, I don't think so. I was shocked at first, but I'm starting to think I don't really know him anymore. I don't think I ever did." Harry said softly.
"Then get to know him, the real him. Ask him out on a date, you have a whole year before getting married."
"Yes, that makes sense, I'll do that. Would he be okay in the Muggle world? I don't really want to go somewhere Wizarding and end up on the front page."
"He'd be fine. He really likes football if you want to go watch a game. Or the movies, you can watch Constantine, you were talking about wanting to see it."
"Right, yes, that's a good idea, I'll go owl him right now." Harry said, nodded to himself and dashed through the floo.
"That went well, love." Bill said from the study's doorway.
She grinned at him and stood up, she went to kiss him and he lifted her up and pushed her against the nearest wall to kiss her back.
Later that day, Hermione left Kielder Cottage to go visit Luna who was staying with her father for a few days while he was sick, she apparated as close as she could not having been to the Rookery since the war.
She appeared close to the boundaries of the Burrow and shook off the anxiety filling her at the sight, she turned the other way and started walking towards the Rookery when she was struck by a stunner from behind and the world went black.
Some time later, Hermione started to wake up, she could feel she was laying down on the floor, some type of wood, but her hands weren't tied. Although she could feel she did not have her wand.
"I know you're awake, open your eyes." The voice of Molly Prewett said.
Begrudgingly, she opened her eyes and realised she was in the attic of the Burrow. Where only Molly and Ron lived at the moment, and she doubted the latter would come rescue her any time soon.
She had no idea what Molly was planning for, so she remained silent.
"I told Bill to appeal you know, but no he actually fancy himself in love with you or such rot. You destroyed Ron, you stole Harry from Ginny and now you're bewitching my Bill, no more!"
She appeared manic, and her eyes reminded Hermione of Bellatrix, she had no idea what to expect but did not want to find out or bait her, so she remained silent and simply crawled to sit up against the nearest wall.
"Don't have anything to say for yourself, do you? You were rotten at 14, and since then you've been cavorting with Death Eaters, you're basically a Death Eater yourself at this point. Monsters don't deserve to live, don't you think? They killed my brothers you know, I should kill you, you're one of them!" Molly ranted, sounding more and more insane by the second and Hermione was starting to feel genuinely afraid. This was the woman who had killed Bellatrix Lestrange, but now she sounded completely unstable.
"CRUCIO!" Molly yelled suddenly, and Hermione's world reduced itself to pain, radiating from her skin, her bones. Nothing else existed but the pain.
Hermione's eyes had screwed shut when the spell hit and her body curled up on itself. She only felt the pain, thousands of knives stabbing her, her bones breaking, her skin burning. Suddenly she was back at the Manor.
Liar. What else did you take?
I'm going to ask you once again, what else did you and your friends take from my vault!
CRUCIO
Liar. What else did you take?
This sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts. How did you get it?
Liar.
CRUCIO
Liar! You can't deceive me!
Consider yourself lucky, Goblin. The same won't be said for this one.
What else did you take?
Liar.
This sword is meant to be in my vault at Gringotts. How did you get it?
CRUCIO
Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.
CRUCIO
The pain came all at once, lasted for minutes, hours, years, she wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed, or what time meant, and suddenly it was gone, everything was gone, and Hermione let herself fall into the darkness.
On the other side of the hill, Luna Longbottom waited for her friend to arrive. Hermione was always on time, if not early and 10 minutes past the agreed upon time, she started to feel worried.
She decided to fire-call Kielder Cottage, just in case. Her gut was telling her something had happened.
"Bill!"
"Luna, what's up? What's wrong?"
"Did Hermione leave yet? She's late, she's never late, I have a bad feeling!" Luna said, sounding frantic.
"Let me through."
Suddenly Bill was standing in the Rookery, tense, "She apparated almost 20 minutes ago. Let's go outside."
Bill and Luna went outside, climbed the hill and looked around for any signs of Hermione but couldn't find her anywhere.
Finally, Bill cast a tracing spell on her magical signature and they watched a thin golden light appear close to the Burrow's border, extends a few feet and then disappear.
"What does it mean?" Luna asked in a quiet voice.
"She disappeared but didn't apparate away herself. She was taken." Bill said in a steel voice, then looked at the Burrow for a few seconds in concentration.
"Homenio Revelio." he cast and watched the Burrow appear in front of him, 1 signature downstairs in the kitchen and 2 signatures in the attic.
"Call Harry, Nott and Malfoy, send them a patronus to come to the Burrow immediately." Bill told Luna and ran off to the wards.
The wards had been changed, to exclude him and others, but he was still a curse-breaker and after a few minutes he went through. He darted inside, only to see Ron reading a Quidditch magazine while sitting on the living room couch, "Bill!", his youngest brother exclaimed and paled while glancing at the stairs.
Bill stunned him and sent an incarcerous his way before running up the stairs and sending a bombarda to the attic door.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I told you. I don't know what you're talking
I don't know what you're talking about.
I don't know what you're talking about.
The scene in front of him was horrifying, Hermione was muttering something he had only heard when she had nightmares at Shell Cottage in-between scream.
He didn't stop to think and sent a stunner at his mother, an incarcerous, took her wand and snaped it in half before running to Hermione.
"Love, can you hear me? It's over, it's over, I'm so sorry, it's over, can you hear me? I'm so sorry, it's over, can you hear me? Hermione? Love? Can you hear me love?"
"Bill! You need to apparate to Saint Mungo's immediately, I'll call the Aurors." The voice of Harry Potter told him and Bill looked up to see he had arrived with Nott and Malfoy.
Bill nodded and wrapped her in his arms before apparating away with a crack.
Hours later, Hermione was on a bed in Saint Mungo's, covered in the white comforter, unconscious. Bill was sat next to her on a plastic hair, holding her hand like a lifeline while diagnostic charms beeped in colours around him and above her body.
Suddenly the door opened and Harry came through, he tried to not make too much noise as both Draco and Theo were sleeping on the couch in the corner.
"What happened?" Bill asked.
"She's in Azkaban, awaiting her trial. Robards is pushing for attempted murder and I don't disagree. On top of the use of an unforgivable." Harry replied in a quiet voice.
Bill nodded, "And Ron?"
"Azkaban as well. I don't have all the details, I'm not an Auror anymore but I gather he was aware and part of the plan. He's in for accessory to a murder attempt."
"I see." Bill replied, emotionless, while his eyes expressed despair and anguish.
"How is she?"
Bill closed his eyes to stop himself from crying, "They don't know. It couldn't have been more than an hour, likely less. They don't know if she'll wake up. They don't know if she'll still be herself. If she even wakes up. She might have lost her mind, or her memories. They don't have a fucking clue!"
Harry didn't respond, simply squeezed Bill's shoulder.
A couple of hours later, 3 redheads came through the door, Charlie, George and Fred all sat down in conjured chairs around Hermione's bed, and waited with everyone else.
Luna came in some time later, finally done giving her interview at the ministry, she came with fresh coffee, fresh tea and a few snacks. She put everything on a table next to the wall and sat down, waiting.
Neville joined her a few minutes after.
When it was nearing Midnight, Narcissa Malfoy came through the door, kissed Hermione's forehead and went to see next to Draco who took her hand and cried on her shoulder.
The night was spent in a vigil, some dosing off for a few hours while Bill stayed awake, staring at Hermione and willing her to wake up.
At 8 am, there was a knock, and Auror Williamson came in. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need your statement Mr. Weasley." he said, looking at Bill, who nodded and left his vigil while Harry took Hermione's hand in his.
Bill came back hours later, and took the cup of coffee Luna offered him before sitting back down and resuming his vigil.
An hour later, an Healer came in and cast diagnostic charms on Hermione, checked her vitals, her progress.
"How is she?" Harry asked quietly.
The Healer smiled sadly, "She's stable Mr. Potter, but we don't know when she will wake up, if she will wake up, it's too early to say. At the moment she's in a coma, to protect herself, her mind, her magic reacted and induced a coma."
"How long will she be in a coma?" Neville inquired.
"We don't know, I'm sorry, I wish there was more we could tell you. I'll be back tonight to check on her."
Hours later, after the sun had set, Auror Williamson came back, he eyed all the people in the room and addressed Draco, "Mr. Malfoy, you are noted as her next of kin, I can give you my report in another room."
Draco shook his head, "No, it's fine. Tell us."
"Alright. Ronald Prewett had admitted, under veritaserum, that he knew Miss. Granger had been taken by his mother, he explained it was a plan they had been working on together. He was waiting for Molly Prewett to break Miss. Granger so he could rape her, get her pregnant and marry her, while she was too weak to refuse. He said they were meant to be and she just needed a push. I'll spare the exact words he used in his explanations. The premeditation was added to their charges. I don't think they'll see the outside of Azkaban again. Let me know if you need anything, I'm sorry, she's a fighter though, she'll pull through."
Once Auror Williamson had left the room, Harry darted off to the bathroom to empty the content of his stomach, while multiple shouts of horror and anger were heard behind him.
"If they ever get out of Azkaban, I'm killing them myself, I don't care that they're related to all of you, I'll kill them and I won't regret it." Draco said, daring anyone to object.
"We'll help you." Fred and George chorused together in a cold tone.
"If I see Ron again, I'll ask you to help bury the body." Bill replied to Draco and they nodded at each other in silent understanding.
The constant vigil continued on for days, until Luna, Draco, Theo, Harry and Bill had to take turns leaving for the Ministry to testify.
Bill was sitting in the same chair he had commandeered from the start, reading the Daily Prophet while holding Hermione's hand.
Molly and Ronald Prewett Condemned to Life in Azkaban
By Padma Patil
Yesterday, the combined trials of Molly and Ronald Prewett took place in front of the Wizengamot.
They were being tried for attacking Hermione Granger, a premeditated kidnapping and attack, which happened on the 14 of April (see page 2 for the previous article detailing the attack).
The charges against Molly Prewett were as follow: Premeditated kidnapping, False imprisonment, Use of the Cruciatus Curse, Attempted murder
The charges against Ronald Prewett were as follow: Premeditated kidnapping, Accessory to False imprisonment, Accessory to attempted murder
Both testified under veritaserum (see pages 2 - 9 for the full transcript)
After hours of testimonies from Bill Weasley, who saved Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Luna Longbottom and Harry Potter, the Wizengamot voted guilty on all counts.
Both Molly and Ronald Prewett have been sentenced to life in Azkaban, with no chance of early release.
Today, 9 days after her attack, Hermione Granger is still unconscious.
A/N - The quotes for the Manor flashback are from the movie script
