Chapter 8: Home Alone


The Black Grotto House was not a manor, not by Blacks or Malfoys standards. For Hermione Granger, accustomed to Muggle living and Weasley household, her new residence certainly felt like a manor. The House was sectioned into two wings and a large central part. It had two floors, an attic and a basement level. The attic for the most part was the elves' domain, and after her first venture there she left it alone. The basement was sectioned into labs, and storage rooms, and gave off such a strong sense of foreboding, Hermione would have sworn it was haunted if all her detection spells didn't come up empty. Still, her curiosity about the labs and stored items was not strong enough yet to insist on exploring the space. After several attempts to overcome unpleasant feelings she stayed away from the basement. The other areas of the house and the grounds had plenty to occupy her attention.

As the islands went, this island was a tiny rocky one. There was one steep, uneven path to the water. Hermione had to use magic several times to save herself from plunging to her death on her way down. The freezing water and high waves stopped any thought of ever attempting swimming. After failing to climb back up using the path, and panicking just a bit, Hermione discovered she was able to apparate without issue to any point on the island.

That however didn't mean that she could apparate out, no matter how many times she tried. The apparition point in the orchards accepted her and seemed to allow for the spell to be performed. She felt the pull behind her navel, and then it would dissipate. The Honeymoon clause in action. No matter how much she wanted to leave the island, something compelled her to stay. The determination part of the three Ds apparition rule fizzled to nothing within her at the very last moment time after time after time.

Hermione suspected the flat elevated space at the top where the house stood and the orchards flourished was not created without magic. And the danger of the only path to and from the house had to be by design as well.

She decided that despite the almost constant rain, occasional thunderstorm, and the spooky basement the property was very nice.

Several days after her initial explorations, she realized that Narcissa left her a note on her bedroom nightstand, undoubtedly left there by an elf . The note contained the property layout and marked points of interest, the names of several house elves on the property, the names of the owls, and details of how to floo Narcissa in a case of emergency.

While Hermione discovered most of the information on her own, the location for the floo, owlery, and a path to the beach were new for her and very helpful.

Much to her aggravation, the path to the beach was not the same that she braved earlier, and unlike her own discovery, the new path was quite safe to traverse, and the beach it led to, while once again unsuitable for swimming, was much nicer and well maintained.


Hermione was on her way to the small study which housed the only working floo, when she heard a muffled voice which sounded a lot like Harry's voice. This was going to be her third attempt to reach Grimmauld place and it looked like her friend found her first.

'Harry?'

Harry's head was in the flames of the fireplace, a scrunched worried look on his face.

'Oh thank Merlin! It's been two days, Hermione!'

'I'm sorry Harry, I put it off…and put it off some more… I was going to owl back this afternoon. I didn't mean to worry you!'

'Did you figure out how we can visit?'

'Not yet. This floo should work for travel, but it doesn't and I still don't know why.'

Unlike apparition point which seemed to function fine and where her ability to travel was stymied by the marriage law limitations, the floo simply refused to start for travel. Neither Harry from Grimmauld nor Ron from the Borrow were able to connect to it for travel either.

'I've written to you about the apparition point. I'm quite sure both floo and apparition are keyed to one's blood or magic or something else unique to a person.'

Hermione lowered to sit cross-legged in front of the fireplace.

'Mr. Black was quite paranoid about intruders. I've found payment notes and privacy and security charms designs in his papers, all dating to the First Wizarding War. The designs are quite complex, and parts of the documentation are in code. It is very frustrating.'

'Kingsley has been asking after you again. He wants to meet or have a call.'

Hermione hummed. She was not ready to talk to the Minister, or to Professor McGonagall, or to Molly Weasley. While the Minister used Harry as a messenger, both older witches owled her several times in the past week.

'I'm still settling in. I will reach out to him soon... But Harry, please don't do anything rash, even if I don't reply promptly! I'm fairly certain you'd be harmed or killed by the wards.'

'Alright, alright… but please don't disappear on us! We were going to go to Malfoy's to demand that Narcissa apparate us there.'

Hermione realized then why Narcissa insisted on property rights transfer. Even if the witch was pushed, the wards won't allow her to grant anyone further access… Only Hermione or Bellatrix should be able to do that. Of course, Hermione so far had no idea how to do so.

'Harry, where is Ron?'

'Well… At the Ministry, he has a veritaserum-style interview about a situation.'

'A situation?'

'They discovered an Extendable Ear in the Marriage Initiative Commissioner's office. The ear's tail didn't go anywhere, it was just stuck within the wall, but DMLE was still tasked with investigating this incident. George and Ron are being interviewed because George is the inventor and Ron was spotted near the offices one day after hours. They wanted to interview me too, as a person known to use such a device, but then they'd have to interview half of Hogwarts. I got out of it.'

'What did you two do, Harry?'

'Don't worry about it Mione, we sorted it out.'

'Sorted it out? How?'

'I obliviated Ron. He cannot say under serum what he doesn't know.' Harry smiled winningly at her. 'You will be able to get his memory back, right?'

'This is mad, what were you even trying to accomplish?'

'Ron is obsessed with the matching spell. He is sure that you were matched like that on purpose. On a malicious purpose. Remember how I was in our 6th year about Malfoy being a Death Eater? That's how Ron has been since the night of your match.'

Hermione frowned.

'Harry, I- I don't think there was any interference…'

'What? Of course there was! I am with Ron here.'

Harry waited for his friend to add anything and when Hermione just sat quietly he continued.

'Anyway. The plan is to learn Ron's match ahead of time. And make a recording about it ahead of matching. And then, when the match is announced, we could protest dishonest conduct. Demand to stop the matches. Have people annule unless they actually want to stay together.'

Hermione was almost impressed if not for the fact that Harry and Ron broke multitude of the Ministry rules and probably some laws too. And they no longer had excuse of fighting an evil wizard.

'That was actually not a bad plan… but Harry, you are not listening... You two think the matching was set up because of my match but what if that's not so?'

Harry frowned. Hermione made no sense. In his opinion the only true match for Bellatrix was her precious and finally very dead Lord. How his poor friend got tangled with the horrible witch he didn't know but was just as determined as Ron to find out.

'Hermione, that's bollocks! Why are you saying that? Did Narcissa Imperiused you? Slipped you a potion? Do you feel like you are in love with Lestrange by any chance?'

Hermione glared at the wizard.

'Harry! No one is threatening me, Harry. And I'm not under the curse or a potion…'

'Of course you'd say that,' he half-joked, but Hermione only frowned deeper.

She hugged herself tighter and looked unhappily at her friend's face.

'Mione?'

Hermione knew this was her last chance to laugh Harry's concern off. But she didn't want to. She had to tell someone, or she would explode.

'I did something really awful, Harry… almost did…'

'Like what?'

'I almost killed Bellatrix yesterday.'

That clearly startled her friend. His eyebrows rose, and then a hand appeared in the flames to push his glasses up his nose and rub his forehead over the famous scar.

'You did? How? What did she do? When did she wake up? Hermione, we must find a way to reach you at short notice! This is not-'

'No Harry! That's the awful part! Don't you see?! She is still out of it. I almost killed a defenseless person.'

Harry was quiet for a moment. When he called this was not a revelation he expected from his friend. Hermione saw his head shift this and that way, to get into a more comfortable position, most likely.

'Many would say she is not a person.' he tried.

Hermione shot a thunderous look at his joke. She hoped it was a joke.

'What exactly happened?' he tried again.

Hermione's eyes took on a faraway look, and her speech became clipped. Whatever Hermione thought she did clearly distressed her. Harry once again felt a pang of anger at the dark witch. Even unconscious she managed to create chaos around herself!

'I went to her room. Don't ask me why. I don't know. I've been doing that for days. Seeing her like that makes me feel safer, I guess. I was just looking at her, from the doorway. As usual. But then I started to think.'

Hermione fell silent, then took a large stuttering breath and continued.

'I thought of the protective wards and physical barriers I set every night. In my bedroom. How I'm scared to even go to the kitchens at night. What if that night would be the night she comes to her homicidal senses, you know. I'm the one with a wand, and still I feel like that won't be enough… like I won't be enough to stop her…'

Hermione fell silent again. Something about his friend hinted to Harry then that almost killed was not just a figure of speech as he thought.

'And it occurred to me I could stop being scared. I levitated a pillow over her face. Out of bizarre curiosity I suppose... On and off. On and off. And then it was just on. And I made it press down. I kept it charmed. She stopped breathing and started sort of arching off the bed. Her hand was making these weak random scratches over the blanket too. And all I had running in my head is that she is a human after all.'

Hermione fell silent again. Harry waited, and waited. Hermione was not joking when she said she almost killed Lestrange. Finally he decided to risk a question.

'And? what happened then?'

Hermione blinked and refocused on him.

'Oh... well... She started to make these wheezing noises trying to breathe and I snapped out of it. I don't go near her anymore.'

That was a very redacted version. Hermione didn't think that Harry needed to know the details.

Even if her mind kept going back to the events in Bellatrix's room.

...She was so disturbed by her actions that when she broke the spell and dropped her wand she didn't think to remove the pillow. The witch kept struggling to breath. She had to run into the room and pull it off the wheezing witch's face. She sobbed her apologies next to the witch's bed for what seemed like ages.

Then, with a start, she realized she was not alone in the room. Large gray eyes of a house elf blinked slowly at her from his perch on top of the tall wardrobe.

She sniffed, wiped her face and straightened.

'Please take Bellatrix to the sunrise sunroom for two hours after breakfast, and to the sunset sunroom for two hours before dinner. Make sure she sits comfortably and can see nature outside the windows.'

'Yes Mistress'

'And when she is in here, awake, please make sure the curtains are open in a way that allows her to see something outside.'

'Yes Mistress'

'And if I do something like that again… if I assault her again… when Bellatrix cannot defend herself, you stop me.'

The elf was quiet.

'Please. You must!'

'Yes, Mistress'

The elf then jumped onto the bed, touched the silent witch's arm and disappeared. It was still just minutes after breakfast after all, and he had his orders.

And Hermione started to sob once again...

Hermione had a lost faraway look on her face. Harry kept quiet sensing that Hermione was not done talking, but also unsure of the right words for such a case were.

He often thought about Hermione's position to avenge everyone that the Voldemort's most faithful hurt. To avenge Sirius.

He didn't understand Hermione's outrage at the amendment until he was assigned to protect Avery's bride. When the Amendment came out, the witch started to receive cursed howlers demanding Avery's death. She couldn't even step outside without someone expressing their displeasure or their opinion. She wanted to choose financial punishment, but instead gave into the demands to keep her own life and livelihood intact. Harry felt sorry for the witch. When she tearfully sent her official decision something appeared broken in her eyes.

However, Avery was financier and harmless without his money. Lestrange was something else entirely.

And so he had to admit, he still didn't understand Hermione. Unlike his wife, and their friends, and even the Minister, Harry doubted Hermione would be free of the marriage law in 33 days. He had no doubt that Hermione's decisions were largely tied to the desire to get back at the Wizengamot and the Minister. He didn't understand why that was more important than getting the dark witch punished for her crimes.

Hermione's soft words brought him out of his musings.

'Her eyes were open. She wasn't sleeping, Harry. Her eyes were without recognition, but they were open. She must have known on some level that she was dying, that she was being murdered.' She wiped angrily at her eyes. 'Tell Ron there is no conspiracy.'

'That's bollocks! You two are not a proper match and we'll prove it! That just shows it. You feel bad about what happened, I'd bet my wand she gave no thought to what she'd done to you or to many many others.'

He gave her a look and shook his head to stop her interruption.

'And, Mione, there were many many others. Robards had us compile a list of her activities both rumored and proven, to anticipate the sources of possible attacks on you or your residence.'

'Attacks?'

'Potentially. There are many who like the Prophet's narrative of peace and union or whatnot, but there are plenty of people who are downright angry with your decision. You didn't get any howlers there, did you?'

'No… I've only received letters from people I know. Some were not so nice, but no howlers.'

'Good! Don't open any howlers, or anything at all from people you don't know.'

What Harry decided not to share is that even he and Ron got told off about Hermione's decision by several angry patrons in the pub, when they went to observe the matchings.

The two changed the subject then and talked about the latest news and developments with their friends' lives. They were about to say their goodbyes when Hermione remembered Harry's odd choice of words.

'Harry, what did you mean you will prove the match isn't real? Surely-'

'They didn't find all of them!' He grinned. 'So far it's just gossip and chit chat. And Kingsley and the Commissioner are dating behind closed doors… Well not like that… Maybe like that but not behind ministry doors… Hermione, stop looking at me like that, you know what I mean!'

'Harry, you two may lose your jobs or even worse! You must remove those things and stop it! '

'It's more than just your match now, Mione. Ron is sure he'd get someone just as objectionable…'

Hermione took a deep breath wondering whether sharing with her best friend the conclusion she came to while sobbing in Bellatrix's empty room was a good idea. It was better to know ahead of time if she still had a friend than dance around it, she decided.

'Please don't hate me, Harry, I know how everyone expects this to play out... What you probably want me to do as well... but I can't be here and focus constantly on the anger and fear. I have to make this work. Somehow.'

Harry sighed.

'She might not wake up.'

'But she might...'


End of Chapter 8