A/N – I've finally finished this story over the weekend, and it has 18 chapters and an epilogue. I had been debating making this my last story as over the last couple of weeks I've had very little response for this story. However, I've had several reviews claiming that not all the chapters are showing up, so I'm guessing that yet again some people are having problems with the site (or app), although everything seems fine on my end and the chapters are all showing up when I check on the website. Even with the issue going on, I will continue to post so the story will be all there when the problem is solved. As for further publishing, I will likely try another story after this one as I don't really want to stop publishing, especially as I have a couple of completed stories and lots more nearly finished, but if things continue like this with another story, I am more than likely going to stop publishing as I don't see the point in doing so if no-one is interested in my stories any more.
Perched on the end of her bed, Hermione carefully applied some rarely used make-up to her face, virtually hiding the bruising that still shaded part of her face. She was heading home for a short trip, and she'd decided it was best to try and minimise the look of the damage she'd received activating her and Harry's plan. Of course, Draco had seen her first hand and had known exactly how badly she'd been hurt, but her father hadn't seen her and she didn't want to give him any reason to turn all protective and keep her at home or something stupid like that.
"How do I look?" she asked Harry, who was lounging on the bed behind her.
"Lovely," Harry replied with a sigh. "If you didn't know, you wouldn't be able to see any bruises."
"So if my bruises are hidden, what's the problem?" Hermione asked.
"Just jealous I guess," Harry admitted. "I'm am so sick of being stuck here, Hermione. I feel as if my life is in limbo."
"It won't be for much longer," Hermione assured him. "Our plan is working perfectly, isn't it?"
"It is, but it is going to get harder and harder to let Dumbledore get his own way," Harry pointed out. "The first time I gave in pretty easily, even though I made it clear I wasn't happy about it. And the last time I fought a bit harder, but still went along with what he said. But now I've got a third fight coming up when Flitwick is returned to us, and quite likely at least another one after that. If this was genuine, would I have backed down that many times?"
"With Dumbledore and Sirius both dead against it, I think you would have," Hermione said. "Let's be honest, if they truly wanted they could ensure that you couldn't even leave here, therefore couldn't meet with my father even if you wanted to. We agreed that you would need a large motivator to go against them, and Ginny is that motivator. I just need to speak to father and point out he's going to have change tactics, which I am going to do today."
"Fell free to tell him to move things along if he wants," Harry said. "I have no objection to this all ending sooner rather than later."
"It has to be done right, and sometimes that needs time," Hermione cautioned. She was far more patient than Harry and although she understood his frustration and desire for their plan to be over, she also understood that to work properly the plan had been executed perfectly and occasionally that meant her father needed time to plan before he made his next move.
"I guess you're right," Harry conceded with a sigh as he got off Hermione's bed. "How long do you think you're going to be?"
"I don't know, not long," Hermione answered. "I'll certainly be back before father makes the next move. But in the meantime you can sow the seeds for getting Ginny to visit the twins in Diagon Alley."
Since Ron's demise Bill, Charlie and Ginny had all visited Grimmauld Place, along with the twins when they were free, and Ginny especially had taken to joining Hermione and Harry when they were supposedly back looking into Voldemort's Horcruxes. Since she wasn't going back to school anytime soon, she was spending all her time between the two most secure Order locations, so Hermione had suggested that they needed to get her to go elsewhere otherwise the dark's plan to use her to trigger Harry finally meeting with Voldemort wouldn't work. However, they were both aware they would have to be subtle as it couldn't look as though they were encouraging Ginny to take risks with her safety, but Hermione was sure that Harry could make the first moves and she would listen to him without fearing the worst.
Harry promised to do what he could as they headed downstairs for Hermione to leave. When they reached the ground floor, they were rather surprised to smell bacon sizzling as it was nearly midday and breakfast had been hours ago. In the kitchen they found that it was Sirius frying bacon, and Harry knew for certain that he had already eaten as they'd had breakfast together.
"You're never having a second breakfast, are you?" Harry asked in bewilderment as it wasn't like Sirius to stuff himself.
"This is for Remus," Sirius replied with a sigh. "I thought it might help sober him up."
"Was he out drinking again last night?" Hermione asked, sharing a look with Harry. Even with Dumbledore's pleas for people to be careful, Remus was going out drinking on a nightly basis following Tonks death. Given the situation it was reckless thing to do and Hermione and Harry had already talked about her passing the information onto her father in case it was of any use to him.
"He stumbled back in around two this morning," Sirius replied with a shake of his head as he flipped the bacon into a fresh bread roll and smothered it was sauce. "I wish I could get him to stay in. I would go with him to keep an eye on him, but I'm not leaving you two."
"We are safe here," Harry pointed out. "Besides, Hermione is going home for a few days so it'll be just me."
"All the more reason for me not to leave you," Sirius shot back as he picked up the bacon sandwich to take to his best friend, along with a cup of strong black coffee and a vial of hangover potion. "I just have to hope I can get through to Remus and make him see the risks he's taking. Now, you be careful Hermione. Are you sure you don't want me to take you to your parents' house?"
"I'll be fine," Hermione assured him. "Thanks to the adjustments you made to the wards, I can apparate from the back yard directly home, and then back again. I will be in no danger, I promise."
Leaving Sirius to deal with a hung over Remus, and saying goodbye to Harry, Hermione headed off home for the first time since their plan had been put into action. The moment she arrived home, Hermione was filled with the same desire as Harry for the charade to be over so they could start living their lives. It felt amazing to be somewhere that she didn't have to hide who she was, and she longed to give Harry that same freedom. He deserved to be free, and to live the life he wanted, not the one Dumbledore had decided he should live.
Wondering if there was a way to hurry the plan along, Hermione set off in search of her father. When he wasn't in his study, she wondered if she'd managed to arrive at a time when he wasn't home, which wouldn't have been impossible since she hadn't been able to contact him and let him know she was coming. She could send an emergency signal to his wand if she was in serious trouble, but other messages had to be delivered in person. Since she'd never been grounded like Harry, it had been decided not to give her an additional way to contact home as they didn't want to risk anyone finding out her secret.
Resigning herself to a few hours alone, Hermione wandered into the garden and was surprised to find her father sitting outside with a book. Voldemort wasn't exactly the relaxing in the garden sort, and Hermione could never recall seeing him do anything similar, but he seemed pretty relaxed and at ease.
"Topping up your tan, are you?" Hermione joked, making fun of her father's pale complexion. His paleness was a result of his long time spent in such a bad way health wise, and while he was a lot more human looking than when he'd first returned, he was still abnormally pale.
"Hermione, what are you doing here?" Voldemort asked, rising to greet his daughter.
"I thought I would come home for a quick visit," Hermione asked. "Where's Mum?"
When Voldemort had returned to full strength during her time at Hogwarts, her parents had reunited and resumed their relationship. However, her mother stayed completely out of Death Eater business and when something major was occurring, she tended to remove herself from the picture.
"She's visiting an old friend, but I can contact her If you want," Voldemort replied.
"No, leave her be," Hermione said. "I'll be back home soon enough and then she can see me every day."
"And at least then you won't be covered in bruises," Voldemort remarked, his sharp eyes scrutinising Hermione's made-up face.
"It's nothing," Hermione said, dismissing her injuries and sitting down on the bench Voldemort had been sitting on. "It got the plan off to a perfect start, and it's still going great guns. Besides, I'm not the only one whose been hurt. I heard Professor Snape was knocked out last night."
"That wasn't intentional," Voldemort admitted with a wince. "Rabastan stunned him, but when he fell he hit his head on the sink. From what I can gather he's perfectly fine. Although it did keep him from coming under suspicion from Dumbledore or anyone else."
"When are you sending Flitwick back?" Hermione asked, wanting to be back with Harry before that happened.
"When we've got our next target lined up," Voldemort answered. "Although, I want to get to the Weasley girl soon, but I'm going to need your help there. Obviously she's not at school, and even if she was Hogsmeade trips are currently suspended. But we can't get to her if she stays at home or is at Order Headquarters. We need her out and about. Of course, we could use our back-up of the twins."
"Actually, Harry and I have already started work on that," Hermione informed her father. "We're going to try and convince her to help the twins at their shop. The only thing is, she'll likely be escorted there and back, or a direct floo connection set up for her to use, and I can't see the twins letting her out of the shop."
"I can solve that problem," Voldemort chuckled, reaching over and tugging a few strands of hair from his daughter's head.
"Ow!" Hermione cried, her hand instantly flying to her head. "What was that for?"
"A lure," Voldemort chuckled, summoning a vial from inside and tucking Hermione's hairs in it. "Just make sure when the Weasley girl is at the shop, you're with Harry or someone else the whole time."
"Okay," Hermione muttered, still rubbing at her head. "But Harry and I have been talking and we've realised you're going to have to change tactic with Ginny. We set things up this way so that there was no chance of him saving Ron, but if we keep doing the same thing, it will be the same situation with Ginny. As it stands, once someone has been taken, they're dead."
"Don't worry, I've thought of that," Voldemort assured his daughter. "I can make it look like I'm growing impatient and have changed tactics to try and force a confrontation."
"Oh, there is another thing," Hermione said. "Remus Lupin has turned to drink following Tonks death. Even though Dumbledore has the entire Order keeping inside as much as possible and watching their backs, he's going out and getting drunk. I thought that might be useful for you to know."
"Now that could be very useful," Voldemort mused. "There's only so many pubs in the wizarding world, and if he's getting drunk every night, it shouldn't be too hard to snatch him. It rather looks like out next victim had delivered himself to us on a plate."
Pleased to have been a help to her father, they chatted for a while longer before Hermione announced that she was going to go and see Draco. Since it was a weekend she knew he wouldn't be working, so she just had to hope she caught him at home. Or if he wasn't at home then at least he would be returning that evening.
Before she left Hermione re-checked her make-up to ensure her bruising wasn't too bad. Satisfied that it was barely visible, she headed to Malfoy Manor. The house elf that greeted her informed her that Draco wasn't at home, but he still took her to see Lucius and Narcissa, who like Voldemort, had been relaxing in the garden.
"Hermione, this is a pleasant surprise," Narcissa greeted with a smile. "I didn't know you were home."
"Just a flying visit," Hermione replied. "I had hoped to catch Draco."
"He should be home shortly," Lucius informed her. "He only popped to Diagon Alley to pick up a few bits and pieces."
"Would it be okay if I waited for him in his room?" Hermione asked, an idea of how to surprise her boyfriend starting to form.
"You go and make yourself at home," Lucius replied with a smirk, clearly having an idea of what Hermione was thinking. "We'll make sure he comes right up when he comes home."
Leaving the older Malfoys to enjoy the sun, Hermione headed up to Draco's wing of the manor. Since she'd been visiting the manor for years she knew her way around the place and despite the size of the house she didn't get lost once as she headed for her boyfriend's personal domain. Making a beeline for his bedroom, she went to settle herself on the bed before she had a better idea. Rooting around in his things, she found his old Slytherin quidditch jersey and with a cry of triumph she removed her clothes and slipped the top on over her naked skin. Draco had always liked seeing her in his quidditch jersey, likely because his name was plastered all over the back, and since it had been rather a while since they'd had a chance to be alone, Hermione wanted to make the experience memorable.
Dressed in nothing but Draco's old quidditch jersey, Hermione settled herself on Draco's bed to await her boyfriend's return. Not knowing how long she would be there, she summoned a book from the bookshelf, but she'd only managed the first chapter before she heard footsteps heading her way. Putting the book to one side, she made herself comfortable and was waiting with a smile when Draco waltzed into the room carrying a shopping bag.
"Hermione," he gasped in surprise, dropping the bag at the sight of his girlfriend lying on his bed.
"Surprise," Hermione chuckled, beckoning for Draco to join her.
"And it isn't even my birthday," Draco smirked heading towards the bed. However, rather than climbing up beside Hermione, he gently took her face in his hands and scrutinised the disguised bruising.
"I'm fine," Hermione said softly. "The bruising is almost gone, and the rest of my aches and pains are no more."
"I hated seeing you like that," Draco admitted in a low voice as he sat down on the bed beside Hermione.
"I know, but it got the job done," Hermione reminded him. "No-one suspected I was involved. Like Harry, I am above suspicion."
"Is there much suspicion about the leak?" Draco asked.
"Not as much as I thought there would be," Hermione admitted. "I think a few people questioned Dumbledore as he'd organised the whole thing. Sirius even suspected Ron, and he thought that was why he was taken rather than me. But then he turned up dead, and he hasn't mentioned it since. And since then, people have been too worried about keeping safe to really think about how the dark know so much and have such access to the Order. Not that it truly matters, as causing suspicion and distrust wasn't really our aim."
"Our aim was to get you back home," Draco said.
"And Harry," Hermione added.
"Yeah, it would be nice to earn him his freedom, but call me selfish but I'm more interested in you," Draco replied. "You're the one I want back."
"Soon," Hermione vowed. "But I am back now, and I am very eager to please."
"So I see," Draco remarked in a low voice, his gaze dropping to her body draped in his old quidditch jersey. "I do so love you in Slytherin colours."
"I look even better out of them," Hermione purred, sliding the bottom of the jersey upwards, exposing the top of her thighs. "Want to come see?"
Not needing a second invitation, Draco kicked off his shoes and jumped onto the bed with his girlfriend. Hermione's visit may have only been temporary, but they intended to make the most of their limited time together. With any luck they would soon have all the time in the world to be together, but for now every moment counted and they planned to make every one of them memorable.