As Harry walked into the small study room, he could observe Hermione dusting off a statue of one of Daphne's ancestors. Her ever present guard was standing in the corner, vigilantly watching her every move. Despite being unarmed and essentially helpless, Hermione's muggleborn status dictated that she not be trusted. Not unless she has submitted to one of the pureblood families, something which his friend categorically refused to do. And while Harry's new relationship with the head of House Greengrass protected Hermione from the brunt of Daphne's ire, his friend was still a prisoner. The man glanced at Harry when he entered and they nodded at each other in greeting.
"Leave us alone, please," Harry politely asked him, causing Hermione to notice his presence too. In the beginning of her servitude, there used to be hope in her eyes whenever she saw him, no doubt thinking he was finally there to help her. But Harry never did and the hope gradually faded from Hermione's eyes more and more. All he saw in her eyes right now was mild curiosity but no real hope things could get better. Harry hated that. He hated he had to let it happen, that he had to leave his friend to suffer in order for something good to come out of it.
"Sir?" the guard asked with some concern but when Harry repeated his instructions, he obeyed and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Per Daphne's instructions, her family's servants were to obey his orders unless they contradicted her own. And while many of them did not trust Harry given his previous actions, they knew openly challenging their lady on this decision was pointless.
"Harry... w-what's going on?" Hermione asked in uncertain voice, her eyes glancing between him, the door and the duster in her hand, not sure what she was supposed to do or what was happening.
"We need to talk," he told her and tried to give her an encouraging smile. He gestured at chairs arranged around a small coffee table and said, "Please... let's sit down."
"... and if you maintain regular exposure to magic, you should be able to keep the current level of physical magic indefinitely," Harry explained, paraphrasing as best as he could what Daphne and even Sue Li told him earlier about Hermione's current state.
For the past twenty minutes, he has been talking almost nonstop as he explained all the benefits and possibilities that opened up to Hermione now that she had at least some physical magic in her body. He hoped it would make her understand what had happened; perhaps even entice her to cooperate with Daphne in the future. Except of few short questions, Hermione remained curiously silent throughout his explanation. It unnerved Harry as it was very much unlike his friend. But she seemed to be carefully listening and thinking about his words and so he went on, explaining how the magical transfer worked and why it was necessary for her to become Daphne's servant.
And that's when it started.
"Y-you knew," Hermione said, not looking at him as she spoke the words, instead staring ahead at nothing. Harry noticed her eyes were watering.
"Hermione, I-" he began to say and he reached out to touch her shoulder.
She jerked away. "NO, DON'T TOUCH ME!" she yelled out as she bolted out of the chair as if it was on fire. "For months, I've been humiliated and threatened every day!" she screamed as she slowly backed away, staring at him with horror and disbelief. "All this time, I kept hoping you'd help me! I thought... I thought you just didn't know all that Daphne was doing to me. But you knew. You knew everything and you didn't care! You allowed her to do this to me!" she finished, putting so much accusation and hurt into that last sentence it broke Harry's heart.
"I cared! I wanted it to stop! I wanted to help you every day. But I couldn't!" Harry told her desperately, standing up too now. "If I told you everything, it wouldn't work anymore. The transfer wouldn't work. And I wanted it to work... so you'd finally have the same opportunities as purebloods!" he explained. Harry knew what his friend wanted above all else was to be treated as equal. And the way he saw it, obtaining the magic which was missing in her body was a major step towards that end. Surely she had to recognize what a huge boon this was to her!
"So you'd sat by and watched them humiliate me... only so that I'd get 'physical magic' into my body," Hermione tittered sarcastically before adding with even more sarcasm. "I guess I should actually be grateful to Daphne for giving me this oh so lovely glow, shouldn't I?"
"Yes! You should be!" Harry blurted out in annoyance, Hermione's words and her tone of voice reminding him too much of the earlier days when she would dismiss all of his ideas with a similar attitude. And he always let her get her way. But he could not let her trivialize all Daphne did for her and let her mockingly summarize it as 'giving her a lovely glow'. Harry knew it was so much more than that, so many situations where having a magical body was an advantage. He's already told her the gist of it and he knew many of the books she was made to read discussed the same topic.
Unfortunately, it seemed his friend did not believe any of it. Did not see any benefit to the gift she's received. Instead, Hermione stared at him in shock for a moment before declaring, "Have you gone completely insane?!"
Harry sighed. "If only you could see what I see... you'd understand," he said, focusing his magic sight on the weak albeit noticeable aura of magic around Hermione's body. It paled in comparison to anybody else in the Greengrass manor but given there was none in the beginning, the contrast was unbelievable and Harry relished in the sight. No longer did he feel the involuntary pangs of disgust when looking at his best friend or perceived her as something lifeless and unnatural. And it was all thanks to Daphne and her actions. Even if they made Hermione suffer for a while, he could not help but think they were justified to get this result. It was all worth it.
"Right... you can see magic," Hermione said sceptically before narrowing her eyes. "When did that start?" she directly asked.
"I am sorry?" Harry asked in confusion.
"When did you start seeing magic?" Hermione repeated and then added. "As I recall, you never could do that before we came here," she clarified her question and Harry briefly explained the magical exercise he did with Daphne that allowed him to unlock the ability.
"So let me get this straight," his friend said after he finished. "She touches your head and performs some unknown spell on you... even openly admits to having sent magic into your brain... and you're suddenly able to see magic," she summarized before looking at him like he was a complete idiot. "And you don't find that even a little bit suspicious?!"
Harry frowned at her implications. "The exercise is fully legit if that's what you are suggesting. It's regularly done with magical children. Even Ron confirmed it," Harry told her, thinking that settled it, but Hermione was not so convinced.
"She still could have done something to you in that moment," she pointed out before pausing to think for a moment. Finally, she said, "In fact, I bet that's what she did. All you have experienced since then could have been manipulated by Daphne!"
"Look, I realize you don't trust her... at all. But you don't know her the way I do. Daphne is a good person and she wouldn't do anything like that!" he told her, only for Hermione to shake her head at him. "Please, Hermione... don't let what had happened and your personal antipathies to Daphne blind you to the truth," he pleaded.
"What truth?!" Hermione snapped while continuing to shake her head in denial. "Let's assume for a moment that you are correct, that what you see is real, and there really is something like physical magic. In that case, Daphne still forced it on me without my knowledge or consent," she reminded him. "Do you have any idea how violated that makes me feel? Or are you so deluded by her that you see absolutely nothing wrong with it?!" she told him with much hurt in her voice.
Harry sighed again. "I know! I know it was wrong..." he admitted to a small smile from Hermione who took it as a sign of her victory. He immediately wiped it away with his next words though. "But there was simply no other way! So yes, it was wrong, but I- I am convinced it was for the best," he told her.
"Best for whom?" Hermione reacted crossly. "Daphne? You?"
"Everybody!" Harry blurted out the answer before elaborating. "Best for the whole magical society! But most of all, you," Harry tried to convince her but was not sure how. As long as Hermione did not even think the physical magic was real, it was going to be difficult.
"Y- you really believe that, don't you?" she asked and when Harry nodded, she sighed and shook her head. "I have rights as an individual, Harry!" she told him. "You or Daphne can't simply decide there's something wrong with me and then trick me into undergoing this, this ritual... or whatever it was. Nobody can!"
"We... they can if it's for the good of the society," he replied, repeating what Daphne once told him when he raised the exact same issue with her. He too thought fundamentally altering someone's nature without their consent was wrong. And while Daphne agreed with him on the principle, she also convinced him there were some exceptions to it. "If it's for the good of the society... and of the individual... then the individual's rights can be temporarily limited," he told her.
"And I suppose she told you that?" Hermione immediately guessed and sneered. "That kind of thinking only proves how primitive magical world is," she scoffed. "Daphne thinks muggles are animals but they would never resort to this kind of barbarism!"
Harry frowned at that, not happy with Hermione slandering magical world, something which he would have also taken lying down in the past. But not anymore. And besides, in this case, he also thought her arguments were false. "Even in the muggle world, a person with life-threatening disease would be forced to undergo treatment even if they refuse," he told her.
"You're wrong," Hermione shot right back. "It's also an inaccurate analogy. A vaccination would be a more apt term and even that's never forced in the muggle world! In any case, being a muggleborn is not a disease, Harry. Despite what Daphne would have you believe, there is nothing wrong with me, there never was!"
Harry took a step forward but she recoiled from him once more. "Hermione... please try to understand. We- Daphne wanted to help you," he told her but it was seemingly the last thing Hermione wanted to hear as she put her hand forward to silence him.
"No, Harry. She wants to enslave me, wanted to enslave me ever since I first spoke to her all those years ago. Just like she wants to do with the rest of my kind... and if you believe otherwise, you're only deluding yourself!"
Harry was getting tired of this but he tried to be patient, tried to see things from Hermione's point of view and he could somewhat understand where she was coming from. "Hermione please... let's sit down again," he suggested and after a tense moment, she obliged, returning to her seat but still very tense and leaning away from him as far as possible even as he sat down in the chair opposite her.
"Daphne... she showed me her memory of your encounter in the third year," Harry told her after they sat down.
Hermione looked at him surprised. "S-she did?" she gasped in shock but soon overcame it. "Then you know how awful she is! I only tried to be nice to her and she responded by saying I should be her slave!" she yelled.
Harry nodded and said, "That's not what she said or meant but otherwise, I agree. Daphne was completely out of line on that day," he admitted.
Hermione raised an eyebrow and asked, "But?" correctly guessing where this was going.
"But..." Harry continued, "... you could have handled it much better as well."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"Just try to see it from Daphne's perspective for a change, would you?" Harry pleaded with her before saying, "Daphne was raised to see muggleborns as her inferiors whose purpose is to serve purebloods like her," he told her and Hermione huffed at his words.
He ignored her and continued, "Did you know your conversation was the first time she personally spoke to a muggleborn who wasn't a servant?" he asked her and Hermione shook her head, her interest somewhat piqued now. It surprised Harry too when Daphne told him that but he supposed that it made sense. After all, there were no muggleborns in Slytherin and Daphne would certainly not make friends with one outside the school, not that her parents would allow her to do so, anyway.
"Then imagine how Daphne felt in that moment," Harry went on. "She couldn't fathom what you wanted from her, couldn't imagine why you would just come over and speak to her like you were equals. And so she assumed you were doing it because you wanted to become her servant... it's the only thing that made sense to her," he finished.
"Is there a point to this, Harry?" his friend asked impatiently, folding her arms across her chest.
"The point is... Daphne tried to be nice to you too that day. She tried to be nice in the only way she knew how with muggleborns," he told her and Hermione laughed bitterly at the idea. Harry let that go, finishing with "But instead of politely declining and going away, you responded by verbally attacking every aspect of her culture, family and beliefs."
In Harry's humble opinion, both girls acted very foolish and insensitive that day. The difference was that after a lot of introspection, Daphne was able to see that and even admit it. He wondered if Hermione was capable of the same.
There was stunned silence for a while before Hermione said, "Certainly an interesting way to look at it, Harry," she said mockingly. "Personally, the only thing I am taking from that story is that Daphne Greengrass is a bigot and pureblood supremacist," she told him and when Harry took a breath to defend his girlfriend, she raised her hand and said, "Let me finish! I get that she was raised that way but Daphne's an adult now and she still completely believes this stuff... and don't you dare deny that!"
"I am not," Harry simply responded.
"I thought she was only tricking you and wanted to hand you to you-know-who but I was wrong, I see that now," Hermione then admitted and Harry looked at her with a surprise since this was the first positive thing she said about Daphne. It did not last long though. "Of course, the only reason she's helping you is she now knows you-know-who is not a pureblood. She didn't mind the murders at all but his blood status is a deal breaker for her... that alone demonstrates what a completely horrible person she is."
Harry shook his head in denial, "You don't know her..." he growled angrily.
"I know enough!" Hermione snapped. "She's not helping you because she's good but because it fits with her pureblood supremacist bigotry. Honestly, I think that makes her much worse than if she served the dark lord purely out of self-interest. Daphne Greengrass is truly, irremediably evil... and it honestly scares me, Harry, -" she told him and looked straight into his eyes, "- that you would trust such a monster. That you would... find her attractive," she almost whispered the last word.
"She's a good person, Hermione. I know she is," Harry said with total certainty but all Hermione did was roll her eyes.
"Oh, please Harry, enough! Spare me of this love-sick babble, for heaven's sake!" she begged while leaning back in her chair tiredly. When Harry asked her what she meant, she said, "Just look at yourself, will you? You're so enamoured with her that Daphne Greengrass could start eating muggles for breakfast and I bet you'd still find a way to rationalize it! You'd insist it was for society's good and that she was only doing it to help the muggles. Just like you are doing with me!" she said and shook her head dismissively at Harry's protests. After a moment, she looked straight at him and outright asked. "Are you sleeping with her?"
'Here we go...' Harry though. He wondered when his friend would finally dip into that area but he was shocked at her crassness. Usually, Hermione was more subtle with questions like that but it seemed she was beyond caring at this point. "No, I am not," he told her truthfully but the tone of his voice gave Hermione all the information she needed. "But you want to. You are going to," she correctly guessed and when Harry did not deny it, she just closed her eyes and muttered, "Oh my god..."
When she opened them again she looked at Harry and asked seriously, "What is it about her, anyway? Is it the blonde hair? I mean, she looks just like Malfoy!"
Harry screwed up his face in disgust at that remark, wondering why Hermione would wish to put such a horrible idea into his head. On second thought, he knew exactly why she'd want to do that. But it was not going to work the way she hoped. "Actually, it's the other way around. It's Malfoy who looks like her," Harry informed her.
"Excuse me?"
"Lucius' grandmother was a Greengrass," Harry explained. "It's where he and Draco got their looks."
"That's not my point!" Hermione snapped angrily and shook her head in disappointment. "I just thought you weren't shallow like that, Harry. That you wouldn't betray everything you stood for and abandon your friends for some girl's pretty face. That's all," she said in a very reproachful voice.
"You think I like her just because of her looks?!" he asked in disbelief. "It's so much more than that, Hermione," he insisted and then started to explain his feelings for Daphne. He did not feel like he should have to justify himself to Hermione, not when it came to his relationship with Daphne, but figured he owed her as much. And so he explained how he eventually realized Daphne was what he had been missing his entire life. How she gave him true hope and made him optimistic about the future for the first time ever...
At the end of his speech, Hermione looked at him with a mixture of horror and pity. "You really love her," she whispered, seemingly unable to accept her own words. "But how can you? How can you possibly love someone as evil as Daphne Greengrass?!" she asked in accusatory tone.
Harry was not sure what to say that would refute Hermione's statement. From her perspective, Daphne had certainly been awful to her, so what could he say? That she was not awful to him? That he truly thought she was a good person and wanted only what she honestly thought was best for everybody, including the muggleborns? None of it would make Hermione feel better and he had already said most of it. So he said nothing, because in the end he did not think loving someone could be rationalized and it wasn't entirely dependent on his free will either.
"So what's the plan, Harry?" Hermione asked him once she realized he was not going to react to her bait. "You're going to marry her? You're actually going to marry a woman who believes your mother was a worthless filth?"
"Daphne doesn't mind that," Harry immediately replied. In all his time with Daphne, she did not say a bad word about his mother. Harry knew she was not exactly happy with her (and consequently his) blood status, but she also respected Lily's accomplishments as a witch. He imagined what it would be like if the two witches actually met but realized with much sadness that was never going to happen...
"Oh, I am sure she doesn't mind," Hermione said and snorted, interrupting his wistful reverie. "Daphne stands to gain a lot by marrying you. So much so that she's even willing to overlook your mother being a mudblood," Hermione said while making air-quotes. "But I bet that won't last. Once she takes everything from you and you're no longer useful to her... she'll get rid of you. And you'll be lucky if you survive that," she warned him seriously before her voice turned sarcastic again. "After all, it wouldn't be appropriate for the great Lady Greengrass to be married to a halfblood."
"You don't know anything about Daphne or the relationship we have!" Harry told her in annoyance. He was really trying to be patient but Hermione was starting to be deliberately hurtful. That and she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He briefly thought about telling Hermione of the ritual Daphne and he were going to do together, but it would probably give her a stroke.
"I told you... I know enough!" Hermione retorted right back.
Harry took a deep calming breath before he said, "Just so you know, Daphne respects my mother. She even read some of her scientific articles before we even met," Harry said with a dreamy expression, thinking of his girlfriend instantly lifting his mood.
"I read them too," Hermione told him almost dismissively, leaving Harry speechless.
"Y- you read them? But I didn't even know my mom wrote any!" Harry said in disbelief before frowning. "When was that and why didn't you tell me?!" he demanded to know.
To her credit, Hermione did look a little abashed at his words but only for a second. Then the infuriatingly stubborn, 'I know best look' returned. "Last year. And they were on advanced potions, Harry. Not exactly your thing. Besides, you weren't even doing your regular homework and I was supposed to make you read something so advanced?!"
"Are you kidding me?" Harry gasped, unable to believe what he was hearing. "My mom wrote them. Even if I didn't understand a single word, it would have meant the world for me to read them!"
Another guilty look appeared on his friend's face but it was short too. "I am sorry I didn't tell you, Harry. At the time, I was angry at you over that damned potion book, and... please don't make this about us, alright?" she chastised him before pausing as something occurred to her. "I suppose Daphne gave you the articles to read, didn't she?" she asked suspiciously.
"As a matter of fact, yes, she did," Harry admitted. He was still amazed by the irony of having learned so much about his muggleborn mother from his pureblood supremacist girlfriend. "She thought it would make me happy to read them."
Hermione smirked like he just proved her point. "She's manipulating you, Harry. With every gesture and every word, Daphne Greengrass manipulates you," she said, looking deeply disappointed with him. While she was obviously missing the whole grandfatherly look, it reminded him of Dumbledore for a moment as she spoke. "I admit she's good, even very good at it, but the fact you fail to see it after two months makes me question your intelligence."
Harry sighed as they finally came to the gist of it. "In other words, you think I am fool for loving Daphne," he summarized.
"You are letting a thoroughly evil and reprehensible girl manipulate you into helping her spread her hatred and vile ideas. And you call it love!" Hermione spoke her accusation. "That makes you either a fool or a traitor... and I don't know which is worse."
"Hermione..." Harry said, trying to calm himself again in face of the avalanche of accusations but they were increasingly ridiculous and his patience was wearing thin. He knew their talk could go like this and he thought he was ready for it but it was even more taxing than he anticipated, "I didn't betray you. All I did since we came here was with your best interests in mind."
Hermione laughed at that bitterly. "You did betray me, Harry. But let's put that aside for a moment," the muggleborn girl suggested and then said, "Instead, let's talk about the magical world in general. You are the boy-who-lived, people look up to you! What do think will happen when they see you with someone like Daphne Greengrass?" she asked in patronizing tone that Harry did not like.
"I guess some of them will be angry... which I don't give a shit about," Harry told her angrily. She just didn't understand. Everyone's expectations of him based on all that boy-who-lived crap was part of what made Daphne so perfect for him. But he doubted Hermione would ever accept that, so he just said, "It's my life!"
"It's not just about you, don't you see that?!" she spoke to him like he was completely stupid. "Daphne will use you, Harry! She will use you to gain support for her horrible plans!" Hermione yelled at him almost hysterically before calming a little and trying to explain, "She won't even need to put too much effort into it. Simply being seen with Daphne Greengrass on your arm in public will be enough to sway people!"
Harry sighed again. "I know... she told me."
"W-what? You know? And you don't mind?" she asked while shaking her head in disbelief.
"She's not tricking me, Hermione," Harry stressed. "In fact, she was willing to end our relationship for this exact reason. Because she knew how people would react... I talked her out of it," Harry told her and then briefly explained the rest of the story. He left out the intimate parts and the fact it excited him to obey Daphne like this, of course, but Hermione was clever and able to put some pieces together.
"You – you really are a traitor!" she gasped as she started to cry openly now. Once again she jumped up from her chair and retreated from him. "Daphne is going to turn muggleborns into slaves. And you are actually going to help her do it!"
"They won't be slaves," Harry said and moved to approach Hermione but stopped when she jerked nervously, his physical proximity causing her distress now. "And neither will you. What's happening now in the world... that will all stop," he assured her as she retreated from him as far as she could, all the way to the wall.
"Oh? So she's going to treat me and other muggleborns as equals, is she?" Hermione asked darkly between the sobs.
Harry lowered his eyes a little at that. "It's... complicated," he finally said.
"It's not complicated at all," Hermione said right back. "In fact, it couldn't be simpler. Either I am her equal or I am not. So which is it, Harry? Which is it?!" she demanded to know while staring at him unblinking with her glistening eyes. When Harry did not reply in a long time, she slowly sank to her knees, her back sliding against the wall. "Oh my god..." she gasped as she went down.
"Look... I just think there is a middle ground between what you and Daphne want the society to look like," he finally said but it seemed like Hermione didn't even listen anymore.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Hermione wailed while staring down on the floor. "We were supposed to win this war and change the world for the better. Instead, instead..." she muttered, unable to even look at him in that moment.
"Hermione... all I wanted was to defeat Voldemort. I never signed up for any follow-up muggleborn revolution," Harry told her. He always hated how people just assumed and never bothered to ask him what he really wanted.
Hermione finally looked up at him and there was hatred in her eyes. "Get out. Just leave me alone," she hissed.
"Hermione..."
"NO! I don't even want to hear you voice anymore," she said as she wiped away her remaining tears and stood up defiant. "I mean look at you... you are nothing but Daphne's slave. It's pointless to even listen to you. I should be talking directly to Daphne, and not her slave," she sneered.
"Hermione... I am sorry," Harry merely whispered but she wasn't done yet.
"Actually, you are not a slave. A slave knows he is a slave. You're more like Daphne's ensnared dog... and a stupid one at that. You see plainly all the evil she plans to do. You know she is going to use you like a puppet and destroy everything you believed in. But instead of fighting her, you are content to whine at her heels," she said and paused as she looked at him sternly before declaring with finality, "You are pathetic, Harry Potter... a truly pathetic man and I wish I've never met you!"
Harry closed his eyes for a moment, sensing a lifelong friendship die in front of him. He feared this could happen. Daphne repeatedly warned him this could happen. But he still hoped. And now that hope was gone from him.
"What about Ron... what does he say about what you're doing?" Hermione suddenly asked and Harry remembered his old vow to at least let her keep one friend in case this happened.
"Ron... isn't in a position to change anything," he lied and Hermione smirked at that.
"Just as I thought. Unlike you, he wouldn't leave me at the mercy of that awful girl," she declared and Harry did not correct her.
"I'm am sorry, Hermione," he repeated. "I'm sorry I dragged you off on this quest, I'm sorry I got us captured and you are paying the price. I'm sorry the future isn't going to turn out the way you hoped it would," he said kindly before his face turned into stone and he finished with, "But I am not sorry about who I love! Daphne Greengrass is the best thing that had ever happened to me. If you can't accept that, then..."
"So what happens now?" Hermione asked, not impressed by his words. "You're going to let your girlfriend kill me like she planned to do from the beginning?" she asked sarcastically but mixed with genuine concern.
"Once the war is over, you'll be free to go," Harry assured her. "In the mean time, you will stay here in the manor as a guest, not a prisoner. You have my word."
Hermione reluctantly nodded and said, "Your word is worth nothing, Harry. Not while Daphne holds you on a leash. But... I suppose I don't have any choice but wait if it's the truth," she said unhappily.
Harry was about to give her a snappy comeback that she indeed did not have any choice but then thought better of it and simply turned to leave. Just as he was about to exit the room, Hermione cried out to him. "Look at me, Harry!"
When he turned around, he saw that she had picked up the duster she was using before he came inside. "Take a good long look at me! This is the fate of every muggleborn in this country if your girlfriend gets her way. At best we'll all be slaves... and it will all be your fault!"
Now, during their entire conversation, Harry forced himself to be nice and civil even when he felt like snapping at her. He vowed he would be patient with Hermione, even should she curse him and angrily refuse everything he had to say. She was his friend and he was willing to endure almost anything if there was even a small chance it would remain that way. But unlike before, he was no longer blind to her faults. And with her last statements, Hermione Granger finally reached his limits.
"For heaven's sake, Hermione, get some bloody perspective!" he yelled out as he stepped closer to her angrily. "All Daphne did to you was have you clean around for a few hours each day... and you're acting as if she's been torturing you!" he told her. "Well, guess what... I've been doing a work like this since I was four years old. Except I did it for the whole bloody day and wasn't given food, clothes or even a room to sleep in while doing it! And you know who forced me to do that?!" he finally spat the question, knowing Hermione knew the answer well. "That's right... your precious muggles!"
"My precious muggles?" Hermione repeated, conveniently ignoring everything else he had said up to that point. "You're even starting to sound like her!" she sent another accusation in his direction, probably thinking it would throw him off but Harry merely smiled.
"You know, I'll take that as a compliment. Because the thought of sounding like you makes me sick right now," he told her.
"Then go ahead and say it!" she told him and when he looked at her in confusion, she added, "Call me mudblood! It's the only name Daphne ever uses for me, so why don't you say it too... be done with it!" Hermione yelled and then started an incredible loud and self-absorbed rant about the horrible unfairness of her situation and about how pathetic Harry was for allowing this to happen.
While he listened to Hermione's vitriolic speech and insults, Harry did not feel pathetic at all. But he did feel like a fool. Fool for hoping that for once Hermione would trust in his judgement and see reason. He supposed that he really was naive. Even now, as she spat poison in his direction, he still felt affection for her. After all, she was his friend...
Daphne, on the other hand, knew better. She felt nothing for Hermione and Harry suspected it allowed her to gauge her reaction better. Daphne knew Hermione was going to react this way and was quite worried over the emotional impact it would have on him. She even suggested there was no point in telling Hermione the truth. But Harry did not trust her judgement on that, thinking his best friend had the right to know. And this was the result – his former best friend insulting his girlfriend, calling her all sorts of nasty names while repeatedly calling him pathetic and irrelevant.
It made Harry wonder whether it was even worth it. Virtually all the arguments he had with Daphne were either about Hermione or at least peripherally related to her. At one point, he even seriously considered betraying Daphne over the way she treated his friend. He was about to betray and abandon the girl he came to love because he was worried about Hermione. It was a small miracle and a lot of understanding and good will on Daphne's part that they did not come to blows that day. Instead, his girlfriend demonstrated the wisdom she possessed and left all the decisions concerning Hermione up to him.
And so when Harry decided Hermione should be allowed to go free, Daphne Greengrass accepted his decision. She knew Hermione was going to hurt her political position and that she might actively organize a resistance against the order she hoped to impose after the war. But she allowed it anyway because it's what Harry wanted and she loved him.
As for Harry, he chose to do what he thought was best for his friend even though he knew it could hurt his girlfriend. And what did it earn him, exactly? His friend looking at him with hatred, spitting on their friendship and all his efforts to protect her. She would not even listen to him. Would not consider a single argument he made. Nothing ever changed in that way and would never change.
And he had enough.
"Fine... have it your way," Harry declared loudly, finally stopping Hermione's rant.
"What are you talking about?" she questioned, folding her hands across the chest.
"You made your bloody point. You don't want my help... don't want to have anything to do with me. I get that," he summarized in annoyance mixed with wistful sadness at a friendship lost. "You can deal with Daphne on your own then. I promise I won't interfere," he told her firmly and watched as shadow of fear passed over Hermione's face, briefly wiping away that arrogant look. And she was right to be afraid as unlike him, Daphne was not inclined to take any of her crap. Not even for a moment.
Hermione's lower lip briefly trembled at his words before she schooled her features, "Great. Makes much more sense to deal with the puppeteer rather than the puppet!" she screamed.
Harry merely nodded in acceptance, knowing Hermione had no idea what she just brought down on herself. Daphne was fair but she had certain expectations for those of lesser blood status. She was never going to accept anything but absolute obedience from a muggleborn.
Harry looked her up and down before saying, "I am done with this, Hermione," he told her and turned around to leave. "I suggest you listen to Daphne and do exactly as she says," he stressed, giving her the last piece of advice. "It will make things much easier for you," he finished, closing the door just as Hermione angrily threw the duster in his direction.
After Harry left the room, Hermione continued to stand there, unmoving and staring into nothing. She could not believe it. This had to be a nightmare! For two months she meekly faced whatever humiliation Daphne Greengrass threw at her. She did it because she was certain Harry was bound to eventually see what a monster his new girlfriend truly was and then all three of them would escape together. But it didn't work... worse, it completely backfired. All Hermione accomplished was giving Daphne enough time and ample opportunity to sink her exquisitely painted nails deep into her friend. So deep, that when Harry finally saw Daphne's true nature, he no longer cared. Harry Potter was in love with that evil monster and completely in her thrall!
She did not think too much of his earlier words as she knew they were all Daphne's words and not his. During their talk, Hermione desperately looked for typical signs of love potion use: sudden hot flashes, facial ticks, red knuckles... but there was nothing. Neither were there any other indications of magical or mundane methods of coercion and as far as she could tell, Harry seemed truly happy. It all led her to the terrifying conclusion – Harry Potter was a traitor.
Hermione was certain Daphne Greengrass seduced him into doing what he did but that in no way excused or lessened the magnitude of his crime. At some point Harry had to have made a willing choice to support her. He was son of a muggleborn but he allowed a pureblood supremacist to convince him muggleborns were worthless. He was the boy-who-lived but he abandoned everything he believed him and joined the literal enemy. Not Voldemort, granted, but just as evil and insidious, perhaps even more so.
And for what exactly? Did Harry really betray everyone and everything, just for a chance to have a beautiful girlfriend? Hermione was certain the relationship was entirely one-sided, of course. The evil witch must have simply seduced Harry, knowing he was very useful for her plans. No doubt Daphne Greengrass and her family were secretly snickering at his stupidity right now. Hermione was also utterly convinced Daphne would dispose of Harry as soon as he stopped being useful.
But even if things were mutual between them and Daphne, in a very twisted way, was in love with him too, what Harry did was still unforgivable and Hermione made a vow never to forgive him for this treason...
"Granger... Granger!"
She suddenly heard a voice and saw her guard already returned into the room. She did not even see him come in.
"I assume your conversation with Mr. Potter is now finished?" the man asked, his eyes flicking between her fuming expression and the duster which she threw after Harry and which was now lying next to the door.
"Yes... it's finished," she growled, thinking she was now finished with Harry in general and not just with their conversation.
"Very well," the guard acknowledged before gesturing to the room. "Return to your work," he ordered.
Hermione looked at him in utter bewilderment. "I am not doing this anymore!" she yelled out. She could not believe they seriously expected her to resume her chores after what just happened. Besides, knowing there was no point to it, she had no intention of doing anything they told her, ever again...
The man chuckled at her words. "It's obvious to me your conversation with Mr. Potter upset you greatly. I'm therefore going to let this slide. But know that until Lady Greengrass orders otherwise, you will continue with the duties assigned to you!" he said before gesturing at the duster at his feet and ordering. "Now pick that up and get back to work!"
"And if I don't?!" she asked defiantly as she folded her hands across her chest and faced her guard. She was no longer going to play their ridiculous games. "What then? Are you going to kill me?"
Instead of anger or annoyance at her question, the guard looked at her with great pity, "Are you refusing the lady's orders?" he asked quietly.
Hermione smiled and said, "You bet I am."
A wand flew into the man's hand. "Then you have just made your final mistake, mudblood," he informed her, pointing the wand directly at her.
For a short moment, Hermione wondered if he was right, if she really made a huge mistake. Then she saw a beam of red and everything went black.