"No, let go!" Hermione screams as guards pull her out of her cot in the middle of the night and manhandle her into a standing position. "What are you doing?!"
Instead of receiving an answer from them, Hermione sees Daphne Greengrass enter into her line of sight. "Mudblood… I am going to give you what you deserve," she says evilly. Her eyes shine with hatred and every syllable drips with contempt. She raises her right hand and Hermione sees she's holding a silver dagger, the blade gleaming in the moon light.
Then she takes a step forward.
"No!" Hermione panics and starts struggling but the guards hold her tight. She is totally helpless and cannot stop them. Cannot stop Daphne from thrusting the dagger into her heart.
Hermione jerked herself awake with a cry. Her first instinct was to fumble with the blanket covering her in order to get to her chest wound. As if she could possibly stem the bleeding with her fingers.
A split second later she realized it had been a dream and relaxed marginally. Or rather she slumped her head on the pillow tiredly. It had been a second nightmare that night and Hermione doubted it would be the last. She turned her head towards the other side of the cell where Ron's bed lies cold and empty, providing her with no solace.
She was alone.
Ron did not return into the cell last night and she hasn't seen him since. Naturally, she tried to question the guards about his absence when they brought her breakfast but they ignored her. She was even more insistent during lunch and dinner but they told her to shut up and ignored her again. Hermione wondered whether the uncertainty of her friend's fate was meant to torture her. But it was more likely the guards simply did not care at all about her. She was a mudblood in their eyes. They did not see her as worthy of an answer, no matter how simple it may be. It made Hermione's blood boil to think how these people treated her just because of her ancestry.
And so when they came to take her for a shower in the evening and once again ignored all her questions, Hermione had just about enough.
She knew that active resistance was not possible. She was alone without a wand against unknown number of armed guards. She was not physically strong enough to attack them either. That left her with only one option – passive resistance. Or so she thought. It was a big mistake.
When she refused to follow them to the showers, they summoned the female guard who had originally brought her into this cell. It rapidly turned to worse from there….
Earlier
"What do I hear about you refusing to shower?" the woman asked with annoyance in her voice.
Hermione folded her hands on her chest and continued to sit on her bed while engaging the guard in a staring contest. "I won't do anything you say. Not until you tell me where my friends are and what you did to them!" she proclaimed, taking a figurative stand.
The woman looked completely unimpressed. "Didn't I explain to you earlier that your wishes mean absolutely nothing here, miss Granger?" she asked and then said, "This petty act of rebellion will only make your situation worse. Besides, what will it accomplish to refuse a shower? Just because you are a mudblood does not mean you ought to stink like a pile of mud," she said what was probably considered a humorous remark among the pureblood supremacists.
When Hermione refused to take the bait, the woman took out her wand and pointed it in Hermione's direction. "I am going to give you one last chance. Do as you are told or you will regret it."
"What are you going to do?" Hermione challenged her, thinking that she was bluffing. "Torture me?"
"Of course not!" the woman said, sounding offended at the mere suggestion. "Nobody will touch you. You are a prisoner of house Greengrass and we would never damage the lady's property." Before Hermione could protest that she was nobody's property, the woman pointed a wand between her eyes, saying, "Imperio!" In that moment, her mind fell into a pleasurable fog. There was no more pain, fear, or struggle. The sweetest voice told her what to do. Stand up… Walk…
Hermione didn't know how long she stayed in the fog and she did not care. She would have stayed in it forever without complaint. Only when it finally left her mind, she understood what has been done to her, feeling like a puppet with its strings cut. A surge of anger flooded her entire being. "How dare you!" she hissed and recoiled away.
"This is your own fault," the guard said without sympathy. "You refused our orders. You still do not understand your situation, mudblood. Perhaps this will show you," she said and looked somewhere behind Hermione. The muggleborn witch turned around and finally realized they were no longer in her cell even though it was a similarly looking dungeon room. "What the hell is that?" Hermione gasped when she saw what was behind her.
She was looking at a solid piece of a two meter high black rock. It was polished and smooth on the side facing her, sporting numerous rune inscriptions and metal hoops attached and protruding from it at various places. There were too many runes for her to decipher at once but with the knowledge gained from the Ancient Runes class, she attempted to decode at least some of the glyphs.
'Health?' she silently read one of the signs prominently placed in the middle.
"This is the Rock of Prometheus," the woman suddenly said, taking Hermione out of her musing and making her look at the rock with shock. "I take it you know what it is?" she asked and Hermione nodded numbly, her heart beating fast in fear.
"Yes, I understand its legend is known even among muggles. Once a person is locked to this stone, they will remain in perfect condition for an indefinite amount of time," she explained and Hermione finally noticed that the metal hoops were placed at positions where, should one lean against the stone, they could be locked around that person's neck, wrists, waist, and legs.
"It will keep them fed and watered, remove the waste, guard their health, even regrow their organs should they be damaged," the woman listed while Hermione listened, absolutely mortified.
"Why bring me here?" she turned around and asked the guard who merely smiled at her darkly. "I think you know why," she says. "Since you refuse to follow our orders, you will be staying here where you will be taken care of automatically and nobody will need to visit you ever again."
"But- but- you can't!" she cried in protest. "Daphne would not allow this! You are going to kill me!" she screamed in panic while backing away, bringing her inevitably deeper into the room and closer to the stone. The woman followed her inside with her wand ready.
"I am not sure Lady Greengrass is aware she possesses this artifact. It hasn't been used for more than a hundred years," the guard admits. "However, she gave us wide allowance when it comes to dealing with you. Besides, the stone will most certainly not kill you. The last person who has been attached to it spent nearly sixty years here before dying of old age."
Hermione jumped up in fright as she bumped against the stone with her back.
"Given your youth, you could easily last a century," the woman said and Hermione was close to fainting upon hearing that. "Now… press your back against the stone."
"No, please!" she said as she desperately flicked her eyes between the guard and the infernal stone. She cannot believe this. She cannot believe some people could be this cruel. Even thinking about what the guard said caused her heart to nearly jump out of her chest. A hundred years?! She would go insane in a week. Would they really do this to her?
The answer to that question came almost immediately and Hermione felt something breaking inside her as she admitted it to herself – yes, they would do this to her. She is absolutely nothing to these people. To them, she is an inferior being… a filth…
Mudblood.
In that moment, she gave up. She turned her head at the guard and pleaded. "I am sorry! I'll do as you say from now," she promised. "Just don't do this… please!"
The guard stopped in her track and was silent for a while as she seemingly pondered her plea. "Very well, but know that this is your very last chance, girl. If you ever forget your place again, then you will wish your muggle mother never gave birth to you," the woman said and Hermione nodded immediately, her will broken by the knowledge of the terrible fate she just narrowly avoided.
After that, Hermione fully expected they would punish her for her resistance. The nightmare about Daphne coming to murder her in her sleep was a direct result of that worry and wasn't the first such dream she had. Fortunately, there was no tangible reprisal for her defiance so far. After the incident, Hermione understood that passive resistance would not work for her either. It only worked when the opposing party cared at least a little about the protesting party's dignity. But these people did not care at all. They would not hesitate to remove her dignity completely. Which meant there was no way out for her. She would either have to wait for a rescue or hope that her captors would eventually make a mistake that would allow her to escape on her own. Both of which seemed increasingly unlikely.
Hermione clutched her blanket tightly and tried to fall back to sleep. She knew the nightmares would come once more but she did not care. She was too spiritually exhausted to make herself stay awake.
The next time she was woken up, it was not from a nightmare, but to a sound of the door unlocking. Hermione opened her eyes, noting that it was morning already and so she assumed it was a guard bringing her breakfast. She was very surprised to see her visitor was not a guard but a young girl and she was not bringing any food.
"Astoria!" she said as she quickly sat up on the bed and rubbed her eyes after waking up. "W-what's going on?" she asked as the other girl stopped in the middle of the room and was looking down on her with surprisingly neutral expression.
"We need to talk, Granger," the younger Greengrass sister said before walking over to sit on Ron's empty bed. That immediately reminded Hermione of her greatest worry. "Where are my friends?" she demanded. "What did you do with them?!"
She did not expect Astoria to really answer but to her shock, the girl actually did. "They are both fine. Ron is back in the room where you spent the first night and is still asleep I assume," she said. "As for Harry, he's with Daphne… that's actually why I came to see you."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, her mind running wild as she digested the news. She was relieved that Ron was fine if Astoria was to be believed. But what was it about Harry and Daphne?
"All I know is that Potter made some sort of deal with my sister," Astoria informed her. "Ron is already in the clear as a result and they will both be coming to see you soon. I assume they will explain what it is about."
Hermione smiled at the idea of seeing Harry again. She had no idea what sort of deal he could have made with Greengrass but hoped that it meant they were going to be leaving this place soon.
"You're thinking you are getting out of here," Astoria said, seemingly reading her mind via the joyful expression plastered on her face. She crushed it with her next words. "Don't get your hopes up."
Hermione frowned at that. "You said you don't know what they agreed on?!" she said and Astoria replied, "No, I don't. But I know my sister."
"Why wouldn't she let me go?" Hermione asked, understanding Astoria's implication that she might not be released. In that moment, she could not comprehend why that might be the case when Ron was already released according to the young girl.
"Oh, I don't know," Astoria tittered sarcastically. "Maybe it has something to do with both of your friends having magical parents whereas yours are muggles… ring any bells?"
Hermione felt stupid for not expecting this. Of course it would always come down to her blood status with these people. "I though you did not care about that," she said despondently.
"I don't," Astoria stressed. "But Daphne does – a lot. She holds…" Astoria paused, looking for the right word. "…let's say an intense dislike for you. Both for being a muggleborn and how you insulted her before."
"You mean she hates me," Hermione inferred. Astoria pursed her lips before answering, "Perhaps. Though I am sure Daphne would deny that."
"I can't change that I am a muggleborn!" she finally snapped angrily. It was all so unfair. Being hated for something she had absolutely no power over was a horrible feeling. It was so crazy and unfair she felt like banging her head against the wall if that would do any good.
"No but you could have behaved more rationally during your third year," Astoria told her which made Hermione even more indignant. "Do you have any idea what she asked of me?!" she asked, remembering clearly the audacity of Daphne Greengrass asking, nay, requesting that she becomes her servant. After that, she gave her a piece of her mind and made it clear what she thought of her oh so generous offer. Hermione did not regret that one bit. Somebody needed to explain to the purebloods exactly how twisted their ideas were.
"You could have politely said 'No, thank you'. Daphne would be pissed by that but she would not hate you. Instead, you just had to insult both my sister and my family," Astoria said and then added. "I imagine it felt good at that time but do you have any idea what kind of position that puts you into now?!" the younger girl said with growing annoyance in her voice.
Hermione did not know and did not care. The things she said to Daphne back then were all true and she would say them again. "Why are you telling me this?" she finally asked.
"I am here to help you," the girl claimed which Hermione had trouble believing. She blinked at Astoria in confusion before saying, "Help me? You tortured my friend… and you broke my nose. And now you want to help me?!"
Astoria frowned again. "I was angry, alright? I know I shouldn't have hurt him! But when he said my dad deserved…" she said before falling silent with a sad expression. She looked away for a moment as she gathered her thoughts before looking at Hermione again with a fiery expression. "As for your bloody nose, you know damn well that you deserved that! Do you have any idea how humiliating that was for Draco? How many years he suffered from taunts over what you did to him?!"
"He was gloating for getting an innocent hippogriff killed!"
"And how exactly did breaking his nose help with that?!" Astoria snapped, throwing her a nasty look. "It was a pointless act of violence that someone like you should have never even contemplated!"
"Someone like me?" Hermione repeated, understanding well what Astoria meant by that. She looked at her straight and said, "You claim you do not care about blood… but you do. You are the same as your fiancé. You two deserve each other," she finished with disgust.
For a moment, Astoria looked like she was about to take out her wand and curse her but then she took a deep breath before saying, "I did not come here to discuss Draco… I am here to save you from falling into the grave you have dug for yourself, you stupid bitch!"
Hermione was about to retort in kind but the pleading expression on Astoria's face made her pause. "What are you talking about?" Astoria threw her arms up, stood up and too few angry paces. "Do you have any idea what kind of shit you are in?! Do you even want to get out of here in one piece?"
"Of course!"
The girl stopped and looked down on Hermione. "Well you better change your tone really fast. You are a mudblood! Your fault or not, that's what you are and when a mudblood behaves like you do, she has a very short live around here!" she yelled before saying the next part quietly. "Daddy… he would have had your tongue pulled out for the way you just spoke to me. And Daphne is all for keeping with family traditions."
"You said that Harry made some deal with her. She would not hurt me," Hermione said but the desperate tone of Astoria's speech made her hesitate. "Perhaps you are right," the pureblood girl admitted. "But I bet she will not mind keeping you in this cell for the rest of your life either," she said and Hermione felt a pang of fear going through her at that idea. It was exactly what she feared. To be rendered helpless and irrelevant, unable to accomplish anything that she hoped to in the future.
"So what should I do?" she asked with trepidation.
"Finally, you listen…" Astoria smiled and continued, "When you talk with my sister, there are couple of things you should keep in mind," she said and Hermione listened carefully. "Most important is… do not let her forget you are a witch."
"She knows I am a witch!" Hermione pointed out.
Astoria stared at her for a moment with a slightly dreamy expression. It reminded Hermione of the way Luna Lovegood always looked at everybody. She briefly wondered where the death eaters had taken her and what had happened to her.
The girl in front of her sighed as she said, "Yes, Daphne knows. But seeing you… it's easy to forget. Even I had trouble with it for a long time."
"What are you talking about?"
Astoria shook her head. "Never mind that," she said and continued. "Just remember… you are a witch. An intelligent and powerful witch. It's the only thing Daphne would respect about you, so make sure that she remembers that. If she mentally categorizes you as a muggle, then it's all over for you. And for Merlin's sake do not spout about muggle or muggleborn rights when you talk to her!"
"Anything else?" Hermione said through gritted teeth. She was not looking forward to tiptoeing around Daphne Greengrass like that. In her opinion, the pureblood girl along with the rest of the world needed to hear the truth.
Astoria was quiet for a while before she said, "It would help if you apologized for how you spoke to her in the third year."
"You must be joking!" Hermione cried out and Astoria shrugged. "Just something to consider."
Hermione did consider it and soundly rejected the idea. She did not do anything wrong by refusing to become Daphne's slave. She had nothing to apologize for! "Anything else?" she asked.
Astoria shook her head. "No, that's it. Just be polite to her and don't do anything stupid. My sister is harsh on your kind but she is not cruel. She won't hurt you unless you give her a reason."
Hermione thought differently on the evil part but she did not voice her thought. "Thank you, I guess…" she said and Astoria nodded. The girl turned on her heel and headed for the exit. "Good luck, Granger. And please… don't give Daphne an excuse to destroy you," she told her pleadingly.
And then she was gone, leaving Hermione alone and with a lot to think about.
Daphne was holding Harry's hand as they together descended into the dungeons beneath the Greengrass manor. As promised, she was taking him to see Granger first thing in the morning. She picked him up outside his bedroom after he did his morning chores and off they went. She was not sure at which point during their walk did her hand slip into his own or even who first initiated the contact. It just seemed natural and seamless to do so. Not for the first time, she was amazed how fast and how far Harry Potter wormed his way into her heart.
"Are you alright… truly?" she asked him with worry. The boy knew what she meant. He looked at her and gave her a solemn nod. "I am fine. I kept the Cloak on as I slept… no nightmares or anything," he said hopefully but Daphne could sense he was still unsettled by the events yesterday.
And who wouldn't be when being possessed by the dark lord or whatever it was. Daphne was impressed that Harry was still walking after what she had seen him go through. The magical exhaustion from performing a wandless killing curse alone would have killed a lesser wizard. Her eyes went to his scar for a second but she averted her gaze before he noticed, knowing that Harry hated when people looked at it. He also preferred not to think about what happened anymore.
But Daphne was thinking about it a lot and none of the ideas she was coming up with were any good.
Yesterday, she had her people examine Harry's scar by every magical and even mundane method they possessed but the results were inconclusive. All they could tell was that 'something was probably there' but they did not find anything specific. Certainly nothing to explain what happened to Harry or how to prevent it from happening again. Daphne was ashamed to admit that she lost her patience at that point. If it wasn't for Harry comforting her and telling her it would be ok, few of her people might now be jobless.
She then ordered Sue Li to search the library top to bottom and see if anything like this ever happened before. But she feared it was hopeless. Assuming Harry's condition was the result of surviving the killing curse, which was something that has never happened before, it was likely that whatever was ailing him was also completely unprecedented. But she refused to give up.
"Here we are," Daphne said after they arrived in front of a dungeon door which had a guard standing next to it.
"She's in there?" Harry asked and Daphne nodded. He was about to step forward and reach for the door handle but Daphne caught his sleeve. There was something that was weighing heavily on her mind and she needed to tell him. "Wait… you should know. Granger is unharmed as I promised. But…" she began hesitantly before continuing with her admission. "I have ordered her restrained."
She watched as Harry's cheek twitched and he frowned at her words. "It was not enough to lock her up in a dungeon?!" he spat angrily as he yanked his hand away from her. "She doesn't even have her wand! What's she going to do to you?"
Daphne let him speak his mind before answering, "For what's it worth, I am sorry," she said sympathetically. "Are you really?!" Harry questioned suspiciously. "Yes, I am," Daphne replied decisively but with complete honesty. She really was sorry about the whole situation, no matter how necessary and inevitable it was. Not for the sake of mudblood Granger, of course. In her opinion, the filth deserved much worse. But she truly regretted that in having to deal with Granger, she was hurting Harry in the process.
Just the realization that his happiness was actually something she cared about was an eye opener to Daphne. That she, lady Daphne Greengrass, would go so far as to consider showing mercy to a most horrible mudblood, all for the sake of a boy. It has been made clear to her how she felt yesterday when Harry suffered the psychic attack from Voldemort. The idea that she might have triggered it by training the magic sight within him made her feel awful. She did not want to hurt him any more.
On the other hand, simply releasing Granger wasn't an option. No matter how much it would please Harry. To do so would not only be dangerous but she would be betraying everything she believed in. Her father always taught her that mudbloods required a firm hand. To show them kindness without letting them earn it first was dangerous to magical society and ultimately detrimental to the mudbloods themselves. What mudbloods needed from her was her guidance and authority, and not her mercy. Of course, that inevitably left Daphne in a pickle. She could not let the mudblood go free as Harry would have wanted. She strongly believed the girl was too dangerous to be running unchecked. But neither could she get rid of her as she would have preferred.
Harry's expression softened a little and he sighed sadly. "You know… I really wish you would finally realize Hermione is not as horrible as you think she is." Daphne smiled weakly at that and said, "And I wish you would understand how dangerous she and her kind is. How far beneath us they all are."
Harry nodded. It nicely summed up their respective positions, both of them wondering if they would ever find a common ground on this issue at all. "So where does that leave us?" he asked.
Daphne bit her lip in thought on that question before finally replying, "I am not really sure." She raised her head straight and said, "What I do know is that it matters to me what you think of me," she finally admitted and looked him straight in his green eyes. "I don't want you to see me as a monster."
In that moment, she showed more vulnerability in front of Harry Potter, or anyone outside of her family for that matter, than ever before. And it terrified her.
Harry must have sensed how she felt because his expression turned completely soft despite their earlier conflict still lingering in the air. "Hey, you are not a monster!" Harry said forcefully and brushed her arm before taking her hand into his own. He then brought it to his lips for a quick kiss. "You are too pretty to be a monster, Daphne Greengrass."
She giggled despite herself. "I am serious, Harry!" she chastised him as she pulled her hand away from him but she did feel a little better already. The boy had an uncanny ability to cheer her up. "Look… am I happy that you keep my friend in a dungeon? Hell no. I hate it," Harry said. "But I also realize that you are trying very hard for my sake," he added with gratitude.
Daphne beamed at him gratefully for his words, daring to hope that perhaps Hermione Granger was not an insurmountable obstacle between them after all. She nudged his arm gently and said, "Go see her."
"You're not coming with me?" he asked surprised. She shook her head. Seeing the mudblood was the last thing she wanted unless she absolutely had to. "No, I trust you Harry. I'll let you talk alone," she told him and Harry nodded with a smile and said, "Thank you."
Daphne then turned around. "I'll come to pick you up later. We still have a lot to discuss," she called at him over her shoulder as she walked away down the corridor.
She felt his eyes on her back and so she put an extra swing into her hips as she went, knowing Harry's eyes would be glued to her lower back. He just called her pretty and so Daphne felt he deserved some teasing. The cynical part of her also hoped to remind him what he'll lose should he decide to take the mudblood's side. But mostly, she just delighted in his attention, no matter the reason.
Harry shook his head as Daphne walked away from him, her heels clicking on the stone floor. He was not stupid and knew well what the girl was doing. But damn if it was not effective.
He was royally pissed when Daphne admitted she had Hermione restrained and was about to give her a piece of his mind. But all it took was a guilt-ridden, wounded doe look to change his mind. When he saw the honesty in her enchanting blue eyes, he ended up reassuring her instead! If only he could dismiss it as a ruse from her side, it would be so much simpler. Alas, while Daphne might not care about Hermione one bit, Harry was positive she truly felt remorse about how the situation was affecting him. And so once again, he forgave her even when part of him felt like he should hate her for her actions.
In the end, it was the sight of the blonde's wiggling butt rather than any argument that made remnants of his earlier righteous indignation evaporate like a smoke. If he thought too much about it, he was honestly terrified how much control Daphne could exert over him with such simple gestures. Her very presence quieted the lingering moral struggles within him and made him feel like he was doing the right thing. Which was probably the reason why he preferred to just let it happen. He did not like saying no to Daphne even when he knew she was his enemy. But now that they agreed to work together and her actions towards him turned genuine, Harry found her positively irresistible. Her beauty, her intelligence, the force of her personality… even her magic.
Ever since Daphne taught him to see magic, Harry could perceive the 'magical auras' around people. He soon noted that everyone's magic looked different. It was difficult to describe with words but everyone had their own unique feel to it that he could see even with his eyes closed. And with that comparison in mind, he had to admit that he liked how Daphne's magic looked. How his own magic reacted to her presence. He never realized it was possible to be attracted to someone's magic but there was no other way to think about it.
He sighed with regret as the beautiful witch disappeared around the corner and out of his sight.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to clear away all previous thoughts from his mind. It was time to see his friend. He shared a nod with the guard standing next to the door of Hermione's cell. The man opened the door for him and he entered.
His eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light as he looked around the room. It was nothing more than a prison cell. Not unlike the one where Daphne initially locked him after their first meeting. At least it looked clean; he supposed that was something. There were two beds and he knew the empty one was Ron's since he was no longer sleeping here after being given a normal room.
Then he looked to the other bed and his eyes fell on Hermione.
She has been lying on her bed when he walked in and was now in the process of getting up. Just as Daphne warned him, he could see that her hands were shackled. Thankfully, she did not look otherwise harmed but Harry still felt a wave of anxiety as he took her in. Something was very wrong.
"Harry!" Hermione cried out as soon as she saw him. She wanted to run towards him but her chains would not allow it. Instead, Harry rushed towards her and enveloped her in a hug as he sat down on the bed next to her. This close together, it finally occurred to him what felt so strange. At first, he thought it was seeing Hermione shackled like a criminal. And while the sight definitely did not please him, there was something else that rattled him so much – there was no magic around her.
The magical aura present around all the other people he has seen in the past few days was entirely missing in his friend. Hermione looked just like she always did but Harry became so used to perceiving people's magic that it immediately unnerved him not to see it with her. He was not sure why that was. Eventually, he put it out of his mind and simply enjoyed the fact his friend was alright.
"Hermione… it's good to see you. I was so worried," Harry whispered before they let go of each other.
"Me too," Hermione said even as she focused and took in her friend. "You… you look good," she said with relief. Now that she could get a proper look on him, she noted happily that Harry did not look hurt or tortured. More so, he was wearing a rather expensive and handsome looking black robe. One that she hasn't seen on him before. And did he get a hair cut and a clean shave too?
She was greatly relieved Harry was alright but her confusion was growing. All this time, she feared Greengrass would have handed him to Voldemort by now. Instead, he was here and looked better than at any point in the last six months. There was a clear concern for her well-being plastered on his face which Hermione appreciated. But other than that Harry looked almost… happy.
"Yeah, I am alright, all things considered," Harry assured her before asking. "What about you? Did they hurt you?" he asked her as he examined the shackles binding her hands.
She lifted her hands to pull on the unyielding chains, demonstrating her situation with a sad smile. After that, she started explaining exactly what has happened to her since they were separated. Harry cringed and grew angry at the mention of Astoria breaking her nose in revenge for Malfoy of all people but calmed down a little when he heard she also ordered it healed.
"All things considered… I guess it could have been worse," she finished and gave him an uncertain smile. Despite being locked up, she had to acknowledge that nobody really tortured or touched her in any way so far. She has been quite scared about that seeing as most of the guards were male and they all saw her as something less than human.
Harry hugged her again. "I am so sorry…" he whispered.
"It's not your fault," she replied quickly but Harry retorted, "Yes it is! If I hadn't said Voldemort's name, you would not be here," he said with despair. Hermione appreciated the sentiment before she realized what Harry did and she quickly let go of him. "Harry, no!" she cried out as she looked around them in panic.
The boy blinked at her in confusion before he understood her reaction. "Oh, it's fine. The taboo does not work inside the manor." Hermione looked at him curiously. "How do you know that?" she asked and Harry replied, "Daphne told me… there is much I need to tell you," he said and Hermione did not miss the smile as he said the name. It was small, almost imperceptible, but Hermione knew him better than anyone. "What do you mean?" she asked, already having a bad feeling about this.
And as Harry started to share all that had happened to him over the last week and a half, the bad feeling gradually intensified into a full blown panic attack!
"You told her?!" she cried out when Harry mentioned the horcruxes. "Harry, how could you?! What if she decides to tell him everything?! Now we will never have a chance to find and destroy them!" She stood up and started to pace about nervously as far as her chains allowed. They had enough slack to allow her a short walk around the bed.
Hermione furiously thought about their situation in light of Harry's news.
She suspected Daphne would try to extract information from Harry but felt confident her friend would resist her attempts. When Astoria informed her that Harry made a deal with her sister, Hermione hoped he simply made her realize that Voldemort was dangerous for everybody and had to be stopped. Or perhaps that he had tricked her in some way into letting them ago…
Not in a hundred years would she expect him to just confess everything to that girl. Right before they were separated, Hermione stressed how important it was to keep the real goal of their quest a secret from their captors. Why would Harry not listen to her?! This was really bad!
"Hermione, please calm down. She agreed to help us!" Harry said before briefly explaining what happened. How supposedly learning of Voldemort's parentage was enough to turn Greengrass away from his cause. Hermione chuckled bitterly at the idea that it was Voldemort's blood status that would finally open Daphne's eyes rather than the murders and torture committed by him and his followers. She figured it spoke volumes about what kind of a person Daphne Greengrass was but it seemed to her that Harry absolutely failed to see it at all.
"And you truly really believe her?" she asked and sighed when he answered yes. 'Oh, Harry,' she thought and then sat down tiredly next to him. "Well, how exactly does she plan to help us?" she asked skeptically and with resignation.
"She already did," Harry said and then added, "Yesterday, we recovered the Elder Wand!" he told her proudly before recounting what has transpired the previous day.
Hermione had to resist the urge to roll her eyes as Harry dug himself deeper and deeper with each word he uttered about the Elder Wand. "Harry, I told you several times before. There is no such thing!" she tried to explain calmly but she was getting frustrated and could not help but let it slip into her voice. Harry's preoccupation with the Deathly Hallows has been grating on her nerves for weeks. The Hallows were obviously a myth but Harry stubbornly insisted that they were real despite Hermione repeatedly assuring him that they were not.
'Of course, Greengrass is smart and devious enough to have used Harry's obsession against him,' she thought bitterly. Suddenly, Daphne's offer to 'help them' was starting to make sense.
Harry frowned at her words. "I can't believe you still think I am wrong. I am telling you I saw it! I held it in my hands!" he insisted but Hermione shook her had sadly. "Don't you see that Daphne's playing you? Spinning fairy tales around your head so you come to trust her?" she said, unable to believe that this was happening. At this point, her tone turned condescending and it visibly annoyed Harry. He stood up and reached into his robes.
Hermione gaped in disbelief when he pulled out his wand. Unbroken and looking good as new.
"Daphne used the Elder Wand to repair it," Harry answered the unspoken question when he saw her shocked expression.
"That's not possible," Hermione immediately insisted. "We tried to repair. You know that it will break again the moment you try to cast any spell. Look Harry, I am sorry I broke your wand but you cannot expect-"
Instead of letting her finish her speech, Harry said loudly. "Lumos!"
A light emanating from Harry's wand filled her cell, so bright that she had to shield her eyes. "Nox!" Harry uttered and she removed the hand from her face as the light faded away. He looked at her with a satisfaction and Hermione had to grant it to him for a moment as she definitely did not expect that.
"How?!" she gasped as she stared at the wand.
"I told you," Harry repeated. "Daphne fixed it with the Elder Wand," he said but Hermione was hardly listening. All her attention was focused on the fact that Harry had a working wand in his hand.
"Then release me and let us go!" Hermione cried out even as she extended her hands towards him so that he could unlock her shackles. She was ecstatic at the idea that they would be escaping after all. Her big smile gradually froze as she noticed Harry was looking at her sadly and not helping her. "I can't… I am sorry," he said with guilt clearly written on his face.
"What? Why not?" she immediately asked.
"I- I want to try to work with her," Harry finally said and then tried to convince her why it was a good idea.
Hermione felt like her head was spinning. She was glad that she was sitting down because every next word Harry spoke made her feel like fainting. Finally he finished with, "I think with Daphne Greengrass on our side, we can actually win this war."
Hermione stared at him for a moment before saying, "Us? Is she going to let me go then?" she asked, rattling her chains for emphasis. Harry lowered his eyes. "Ron and me are no longer prisoners," he said quietly, avoiding her question but Hermione understood his answer all to well and said, "She refused to release me, didn't she? Because I am a 'mudblood'?" she said angrily while making air quotes, realizing that Astoria was absolutely right in her assumptions.
Harry looked at her pleadingly. "I just need more time! I am sure I can convince her to let you go too," he insisted with a hopeful expression but Hermione could not believe what she was hearing. "Harry, please. We don't need her! Release me and we can go right now," she now begged in desperation.
The idea that Harry would see her like this and not help her was something she did not expect even in her worst nightmare. This could not be happening.
"Hermione, I- I can't," Harry finally said as he sat on Ron's former bed, looking towards her across the cell. "I promised Daphne I would follow her lead on this. I think her help is the key to defeating Voldemort."
"Oh, is that the only reason?!" Hermione finally snapped. The little unconscious smile Harry displayed every time their captor was mentioned told her all that she needed to know long ago – Harry Potter was in love with that evil bitch!
To be honest, Hermione feared something like this might happen the moment she saw it was Daphne Greengrass who held them in custody. She loved Harry like a brother but she was not blind to his faults. And one of his bigger failings was that he tended to loose the sight of reason when faced with a pretty girl.
Although Harry denied it at the time, she knew he had a crush on Fleur Delacour like the rest of the boys. Granted, she was a half-veela so it was understandable and forgivable. But then there was his two-years-long interest in Cho Chang whose personality was hopelessly mismatched with his. They both played quidditch but other than that, the only thing connecting them was his interest in her looks and her interest in his fame.
And finally there was Ginny Weasley who was her friend and Hermione was very happy for them. But the truth was that Harry could have dated Ginny for years already. But once again, he only noticed her after she grew into her beauty. Or to put it crassly, became curvy in the right places.
Knowing all that, Hermione has been somewhat concerned over Harry facing Daphne Greengrass whose level of attractiveness was admittedly equal and perhaps above any of the girls who previously caught Harry's eye. However, Daphne was also ruthless and openly evil in her beliefs into pureblood supremacy and so Hermione held out hope that Harry could not possibly fall for such an awful person. Furthermore, Harry claimed he never even noticed the girl before while at Hogwarts so she hoped that perhaps she just wasn't his type.
Now she feared that her hopes were in vain.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry shot back but Hermione just shook her head. She knew it would inevitably lead to an ugly fight and did not want to get into it right now.
"Harry, please…" she tried one last time. "We don't need her," she insisted.
Her friend studied her for some time before he suddenly asked, "Did you know that horcruxes can be destroyed with fiendfyre?" Harry said, completely changing the topic.
The question completely caught her offguard. "Well, yes…" she confirmed while Harry looked at her incredulously. "And you did not think to mention it to me?!" he asked in disbelief.
"It's too dangerous!" she tried to justify herself. "And neither one of us knew how to conjure it," she added. To her, it made perfect sense.
"That's beside the point," Harry replied, looking cross. "You should have told me!"
Hermione felt little guilty under his accusatory stare. The full truth was that she did not want Harry to do something stupid like trying to conjure the cursed flames. Not when there was another, much safer way to destroy the horcruxes. Perhaps she should have told him but it's not like it would have changed anything.
After a moment of silence, Harry said. "When we escaped from the ministry, you told me that they could trace us if we called for Kreacher."
Hermione nodded. "Yes, and I was right. It was too big a risk," she said. While she could not be completely certain, the death eaters would have to be very stupid not to put a tracker on the old elf. It was too risky to call for him after they escaped.
"I was told it's magically impossible to use elf against their master in this way," Harry replied, staring at her from across the cell with an unreadable expression. "We were half-starving even though we could have called on him at any time."
"And I suppose she told you that?" Hermione said and snorted at the ridiculous notion. "The idea that bonding the house elf brings any sort of magical protection or advantage is part of the lie that perpetuates their enslavement!" she protested with passion.
"Yes, Daphne told me that," Harry confirmed, completely unfazed by her outburst which unnerved Hermione a little. "Her elf also told me that I was hurting Kreacher by keeping him away."
'Of course she would own elves,' Hermione thought with disgust. "Exactly my point! Wizards brainwash elves into thinking they need to serve them in order to live. It's vile!" she said and paused, considering Harry's words and the tone of the voice he was using with her.
"You believe her, don't you? You think she's right and I am wrong," she finally said. The idea that Harry believed Daphne Greengrass over her hurt her more than anything else. Even more than his refusal to help her.
"It's hard not to when she forced me to call Kreacher and nothing bad happened after he came," Harry retorted. "She also made me summon Dobby who apparently bonded with me in his second year to save his life." He then told her what happened next. How Daphne had both elves stunned and taken away.
Hermione stared at him in shock. "But- that's impossible!" she mumbled. She knew that Harry would not lie to her so she furiously thought of something that would explain what he was telling her. And then it occurred to her. "It's a trick!"
"Excuse me?" Harry asked, looking baffled.
"Don't you see? They did not trace Kreacher because she's on this! She's lying to you!" she insisted. It all made sense to her. The Elder wand, the elves… Greengrass read their minds when they were captured and knew just what to say so that Harry would trust her and turn away from his friends at the same time. She was playing him, she had to be!
"And what about Dobby?" Harry asked after a pregnant pause. "What about the Elder wand? How do you explain that?"
Hermione could not explain what Dobby claimed. Perhaps he was simply mistaken or Greengrass coerced him into saying what he did. However, she had a very good idea about the so called Elder wand. "She probably knows some old spell that allowed her to repair your wand. That does not prove she was using a mythical wand to do it!"
Harry sighed and chuckled in disbelief. "And what about the power I felt when I held it? How do you explain that? Was I delusional or something?" he asked her angrily.
Hermione did not reply. Mainly because that's pretty much what she thought. The idea of some sixth sense which would allow one to perceive magic was yet another myth. One that she has personally disproved years ago when she attempted to learn that ability after reading about it in one very old book in school's library. She achieved absolutely no results despite following the book's instruction to the letter.
Hermione was perfectly willing to admit that perhaps it was beyond her ability to learn but she was unable to make even the most basic exercises meant for little children work for her. Finally, she concluded that magical intuition or whatever one wanted to call it was only another legend. Especially since most of the other, newer books barely mentioned it at all.
When she did not answer him, Harry spoke, "I have an explanation of my own," Harry said as he stood up from the bed. "Perhaps Daphne understands these things better than you or me. And maybe, just maybe… it makes sense to listen to her."
"Come on, Harry. You can't mean that!" she cried desperately and kept telling herself that this wasn't real. That it was another one of her nightmares and she would wake up at any moment. "You can't trust her!"
"We've been here just a few days and I feel like I learned more about magic than I did in years," Harry said as he looked down on her. "And yes, I do. I do trust her," he said with absolute certainty.
His last sentence felt like a dagger in her heart, reminding Hermione of her dream. In fact it was worse than her dream. Daphne Greengrass turned Harry against her!
"So that's it?" she said and began to softly cry. "You and Ron will just leave me here?"
Harry looked at her with concern that for a moment reminded her of her old friend and not of the mockery twisted by Daphne. But then it was gone. "I swear I will do everything I can to convince her to let you go," he said and then added a warning. "In the meantime, please don't do anything foolish."
His warning stopped her crying and made her see red. "Something foolish?! Like what? Allow myself to be seduced by a blonde death-eater-in-training into betraying my friends?"
She regretted it as soon as she said it. Even if it was true, she did not mean to lash out at Harry like this. Harry looked at her with disgust before marching over to the door and banging on it loudly. The lock clicked and he was about to reach for the handle.
"Harry, I am sorry!" she cried out to him, not wishing for their meeting to end like this.
Her friend paused in his step and turned around to look at her warily. Eventually, after what felt like minutes, he slowly walked back, sat down next to her and pulled her into another hug.
"No, it is me who is sorry, Hermione," he replied afterwards. "I never should have allowed you to come with us in September," he said and Hermione's heart skipped a beat, fearing that Harry was completely rejecting her but Harry continued. "You are my best friend and I wanted you with me. But I did not consider how horrible… how dangerous it could be for you if we were ever captured. I was selfish and I am very sorry."
"Harry…" she simply cried, emotionally riven and unable to form words.
Suddenly she could hear the sound of the door opening again. She expected it would be the guard wondering why Harry banged on the door and then did not come through. However, a moment later, she saw Daphne Greengrass step into her cell. Hermione's emotions settled immediately as they were replaced with cold hatred of the girl in front of her.
"Is everything alright, Harry?" Greengrass asked with fake sincerity.
Harry looked between the two girls before saying, "Yes, it is now," he said before standing up and taking out his wand. Daphne looked at him with concern. "Harry?" she asked uncertainly but Harry pointed the wand at Hermione instead.
"There are guards outside. Do not try to escape, Hermione," he warned her before wordlessly vanishing her shackles.
Hermione rubbed her freed wrists and smiled at him gratefully. She wanted to thank him but Harry was already turned and looking at Daphne. The pureblood girl was clearly displeased by his action and the two of them stared at each other challengingly. Finally, Daphne seemed to cave in with a sigh and said, "Let's go, Harry."
And then they both turned to leave, not paying her any more attention.
'So this is it… he's really leaving me here," Hermione thought before making a split-second decision. If Harry was not going to help her, she would need to help herself!
And so she spoke up.
"Daphne… could I talk with you?" she called after them and pureblood girl turned her head and pinned her down with an intense gaze. It was the first time she looked directly at Hermione since coming inside and if looks could kill, Hermione was certain she would be dead. She knew convincing Daphne to let her go was as probable to succeed as Malfoy dating a muggleborn.
But it's not like she had anything to loose by trying, right?
Hermione expected she would either refuse or ignore her but to her shock, Daphne answered positively. "Yes, I think we should talk," she said and smiled sweetly but her stance reminded Hermione of a viper posed for an attack.
Greengrass then touched Harry's arm even as the boy looked at the situation with growing dismay. "Why don't you wait for me in the study room?" she told him before adding, "This won't take long."
The two of them shared a serious look that Hermione did not like one bit. Harry glanced at her one last time before walking through the door which closed after him a moment later, leaving Hermione alone with Daphne Greengrass.