Chapter 9 - Lost and Found
The first thing that Hermione did when she arrived to Paris was go directly to Daguerre Street. She asked Draco to look for any information he could about Ginny, while she would focus on her parents.
Her former home had been drastically changed. Daguerre had always been a muggle street, but now, without the Weasleys, it looked even more common. She knocked on the door and a woman with a very unfriendly face opened it.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply.
"Emm... I'm looking for the people who used to live here. The Grangers..."
"I don't know them," the woman said, shutting the door.
Hermione knocked again. The woman opened and gave her a death glare. "I was wondering if you could have any information about their whereabouts."
"Do I look like a damn phone book?" the woman exclaimed. "I moved here a year ago, the house had been empty for almost two years before that. Now leave me alone or I'll call the police!" She shut the door again.
Almost three years... That meant that her parents had moved a few months after she had left with Harry. She remembered the time she called and someone had told her they had moved... 'Maybe they didn't move... Maybe they were moved,' she thought bitterly.
"Hermione!? Oh my God, dear child, I can't believe it's you!" a voice said from behind.
She turned around and saw that old Mrs. Figg was hobbling across the street. It was nice to see a familiar face.
"You've grown so much in these years! Your father told me you were going to some college in London! I always thought you were too smart to work in that shop..."
Hermione interrupted her. "Mrs. Figg, I'm looking for my parents. Do you know where they've moved to?"
Mrs. Figg gave her an odd look. "You don't know where they are?"
Of course, she couldn't explain they had lost contact due to a war. "Umm, I went on a trip to Thailand and lost contact with them..." That excuse was so lame!
If the old lady thought it was strange, she didn't show it. "Well, I'm sorry, but I have no idea. Your parents moved shortly after you left, and I felt it a little odd that they didn't say goodbye. One day, I noticed the house was on sale, but there wasn't trace of them."
Hermione felt her heart sank. Knowing her mother, she would've never left without saying goodbye to her neighbours. A painful anxiety started to overflow within her. She said goodbye hastily to Mrs. Figg and walked away as fast as she could from that street.
She tried the clinic where her parents worked as dentists, but they told her that one day, they had just stopped showing up at work.
The muggles couldn't help her. Maybe the wizards...
Lady McGonagall had given her the adress of a friend who worked at the new Ministry of Magic that had been installed in France. They could have records about parents of muggle-borns. It was worth the try, anyway. She went downtown, to an owl post office and sent a letter to Lady McGonagall's friend, a woman named Pince.
* * * *
The next day, she received an owl from the French Ministry of Magic. The letter was signed by Madame Pince, and it asked her to go that afternoon to her office to look for the information she had requested.
Draco spent most of the next few hours trying to calm Hermione, who was incredibly nervous. Finally, he decided to go with her, but waited outside.
Madame Pince was even older than Lady McGonagall, but was definitely scarier. She didn't smile when Hermione introduced herself, only asking her to sit down.
"Very well, Miss Granger," the woman said. She was entirely British. "If your parents had any contact with the FOS here in Paris, we'll probably find something. They were very organized with their information."
Hermione squeezed her robe tightly around her while the woman started poking around in the files. She wondered if it would've been faster if wizards used computers. While she was waiting she had an idea.
"Madame Pince?"
"Yes?" the woman said, without turning around.
"By any chance, do you have information about people participating... directly in the war?" she asked. She wasn't sure if Harry's activities were secret for some of Gryffindor allies.
"You mean in the Resistance?" Madame Pince asked.
"Yes, in the Resistance. I have a friend, and I haven't had any news from him, so I was wondering..."
"Look, Miss Granger, I'm really making an exception for you, because common citizens aren't allowed to have this kind of information, so I think it would be better if I just focus on finding your parents and not some lost boyfriend," she said in a harsh voice.
Hermione nodded. She only kept her mouth shut because that woman was doing a huge favor for her...
"Here it is. Granger." Madame Pince handed her a piece of parchment.
Hermione's hands were trembling when she started reading. It was written in French. The FOS emblem, a silver snake surrounded by a green circle, was on top.
"In January of 1999, Albert H. Granger, muggle, and Susan D.Granger, muggle, were taken by our special agents into custody. The reason was the unfulfillment of the contract they had signed on November 1998, in which they had sworn they wouldn't let their daughter, Hermione E. Granger, a mudblood, get out of the country in exchange of preferential treatment for her."
Hermione gasped... November 1998, that was when her parents had been taken away for "interrogation". They had signed a contract with the Ministry? But why would they do that? And why would the Ministry agreed to give "preferential treatment" to her...?
"The case was examined by our agents, and the sentence was execution for both of them. This was carried out a week later."
The parchment fell to the floor. Her parents were dead... She had feared that, of course, but she hadn't known that they were dead because of her. If she hadn't left, they would be still alive. Now she understood why they had been so reluctant to leave France. She remembered her father's face when he let her go with Harry that night...
"A lot of muggle-born parents were killed," Madam Pince commented, with a softer voice. She handed Hermione a handkerchief.
Draco spent most of that day trying to comfort her, but it was useless. The guilt she felt wasn't going to leave any time soon...
* * * *
"Hey, how are you today?" Draco asked that morning when she finally decided to leave her room. Her eyes were red and puffy.
She didn't answer and sat down. "I know I have to keep going... I still have to look for Ginny."
Draco grinned. "Well, I guess I can help you there," He handed her a big envelope. "I found your friend. She's alive, after all."
Hermione looked at him, in disbelief and she opened yellowed piece of parchment. "Draco, how did you get this?"
"I have my contacts," he said, shrugging.
"How am I going to pay you this?" she asked, starting to read the infromation.
"You can save your thanks for tonight," he said, winking. "Anyway, I read some of that information... It seems that your friend has been through a lot in the past three years."
* * * *
Rue Crepe was one of the poorest wizard neighborhoods in Paris. Three-floor buildings were accumulated one after the other. The street was dirty and the misery was evident. In one of those buildings, in the apartment 2-A (although the mark in the door had been stolen long ago) lived a young woman with red hair. With one look at her, anyone could tell she didn't belong to that place. There was an aristocratic air around her, even though she wore rags. Maybe it was the way she lifted her chin or despised the others. She didn't have any contact with the people around her... They were just scum in her opinion anyway.
Nobody knew her name, but they suspected she came from a wealthy family. The reason why she was there wasn't a mystery to anyone. She had been accused of treason... She had probably collaborated in a way with the former Ministry, commanded by the FOS. Ever since the Resistance had liberated France, most of the people who had helped Slytherin or his people in any way had been put to a trial. It was likely this woman had been one of those bastards' mistresses. Who knew for sure?
Ginny Weasley was aware that people commented about her. That's why she kept to herself most of the time, inside her ridicolusly tiny apartment. She only went out for her job. She worked in a witch's robe store. Her employer, Madame Vinya was a disgusting woman in Ginny's opinion, but at least she had given her a job as a dependant without asking about her records. Vinya was smart enough to realize that Weasley, even though a British surname, belonged to an important family. So it gave some status to her store that her dependant was called a name that carried significance.
Ginny's life had changed a lot in the past three years. After being a prisoner in La Sante... She still remembered what had happened. A few days after she promised to her father that she would make the traitor pay, one of the Wardens there had informed her that Arthur and Molly Weasley had been executed. She had made a vow to herself and to her parents that she would be strong and refused to let those people cause her further pain.
"Miss Weasley," Goyle announced, with a scary smile. "Your parents were executed for treason against their country. We don't think you're involved in their affairs, but, nevertheless, we'll give you a six months sentence here."
"For what? Living in my house, with my parents?" she snorted.
"We don't appreciate your attitude. You might have been rich and important in the past, but not anymore. Here, you are just a prisoner," Goyle said. "The Warden in charge of you will be Vincent Crabbe."
Vincent Crabbe was, by far, the worst thing that could ever happened to Ginny, and she realized that in the very minute they had met. Crabbe was a lustful, vicious man. He sold Ginny's 'favours' to the other Wardens. Ginny had learned to deal with that; a month later she didn't feel anything...
But she had only spent three months in La Sante when she was released. Viktor Krum, one of Slytherin's Generals, had pulled some strings and got her out of there before her sentence had concluded. Ginny had heard about Krum from her father. The General was at least ten years older than her, and had a dry attitude towards people. He took her to his Manor, in the best part of Paris. He apologized for everything that had happened in La Sante. Ginny got the impression he didn't completely agree with Slytherins methods, but politics was one subject that Krum never discussed at home.
Ginny had nowhere to go, so she accepted the protection that Krum offered her. He gave her jewerly and a wardrobe worthy of a queen. Soon, she realized he was in love with her. So, when he went one night to her room, she didn't refuse his advances. Why would she? After being raped by every single warden in La Sante, she didn't care if she had to share her bed with another man, as long as she would get to do what she wanted.
She spent those two years living that way, until one day, she realized she was pregnant. She didn't want to have a child of a Slytherin ally, but Krum found out before she could do anything about it. He was thrilled about it and everyday, he gave her an expensive gift.
Nine months passed and the time to have her baby came. Krum was out of the country. Ginny knew that all the servants in the mansion despised her, so when she started screaming for help, no one came. Finally, one of the maids took pity on her and called a healer.
The old healer who came was a declared enemy of the Slytherin Goverment and didn't seem very happy to take care of a British woman who was some General's mistress. He only did it when he found out her last name was Weasley. It seemed that Ginny's father had helped him a couple of years back.
The delivery was hard and painful. Ginny was losing a lot of blood and the healer didn't have all the necessary elements to perform a cesarean section. The servants in the house weren't very helpful either. Ginny wasn't going to beg to them. She was too prideful.
Finally, a baby boy was born. He cried with all the might of his lungs, and, despite herself, Ginny felt her face wet with tears. After seeing he was OK, she passed out and didn't wake until the next morning. The healer had left a note with the special care she needed. "It was a miracle you survived, lady. I guess God can be unfair sometimes." The note ended.
Krum was incredibly happy with his son's birth, which Ginny had named Daniel. But a couple of months later, the Gryffindor troops attacked Paris and defeated the FOS lines. The Liberation had come. By that time, Ginny didn't care much about Gryffindor's cause. Why should she worry about muggle-borns rights when she wasn't one of them? But her heart was filled of hatred for the FOS, so she was happy when she heard they would be punished for their crimes.
Of course, Krum was taken prisoner as well. He was a General under Slytherin's command, even though Ginny knew he was against his doctrine. Krum was taken to jail, but he killed himself a couple of days later, before the trial. She suspected that he had "been suicided" by his old mates from the FOS. Her luck wasn't much better. She was accused of treason against her country. The mansion where she lived was taken and she was forced to leave with only her child, leaving behind all her clothes and jewerly. Even when she was leaving, and the servants of the house spat on her, she kept her head high. She was a Weasley, and she wasn't going to lose her dignity, no matter what. She secluded herself in that rathole that was Rue Crepe and started her new life as an outcast, despised by both Gryffindor and Slytherin's allies...
The six month old baby boy shifted in the box that Ginny had been using as his cradle. She gave him a sad look and took him in her arms. That boy was the only thing she had left...
A soft knock in the door startled her. Was one of those nasty neighbours to bother her again?
"Go away!" she yelled.
"Ginny? Is that you?" a woman's voice asked.
Ginny whirled around. No one there knew her name... Who could it be? She left Daniel in his box, and opened the door slightly. There was a woman standing outside. She was shorter than her, with long, brown, bushy hair, and big cinammon eyes.
"Ginny? It's me, Hermione... Hermione Granger..." she said softly.
A/N: Now you know a little more about what what has Ginny been doing. I'll post the next chapter right away because this one was too short.
Thanks to Emily for her beta reading!