Disclaimer : Harry Potter - JK Rowling's
A/N: I hope HHr shippers can forgive me for making this more difficult for Hermione and Harry.
Chapter 21. The Third Unspeakable
A short, thin man was in his kitchen having very early breakfast and was very concerned. This had gone way beyond what the current Head of the Department of Mysteries wanted to happen.
Miguel Gomez was a very ambitious wizard. He was street smart and manipulative. Both traits helped him climb to the top of the Ministry ranks quickly. Before long, he was the Department of Mysteries second in command, though really that was in name only. He pretty much ran the show; Dorner was merely a figurehead during the last few years.
Then Gomez became impatient. Dorner seemed to want to stay forever and ultimately was in the way of his becoming Minister for Magic. There was also his growing insecurity of this up and coming very bright Muggle witch, Granger, a media favourite, the youngest ever witch to report to the Department Head directly. There was talk that even at her young age there was a political push among the elders in the Wizengamot that she was to be groomed as Dorner's successor and eventually, in a few years down the road, maybe even Minister for Magic. He needed to act before she became ready.
Gomez was the one who put the seed of special projects in Dorner's mind. He even suggested what projects and which two other Unspeakables would be perfect to do it. But he had to wait a year into the special projects before putting his plan in motion. It would make it less obvious.
The plan involved a field of study that was precious to his heart, the mythological Cardinal sins. As an orphan he grew up with a lot of Muggle clerics who constantly pounded on him and the other unfortunate unwanted children the dire consequences of sin. His interest in the Cardinal sins grew as his knowledge of magic grew. He read about Merlin and Morgania, how they were supposed to have used their opponents sins against them.
While ruthless and motivated, Gomez knew his limitations. He was a skilled wizard and a knowledgeable Unspeakable, but he was not as smart or as capable as Granger was. Admittedly, he suspected the curses were opportunistic, but was impressed that Granger found out how, when he couldn't. He had an inkling of how the curses would work but he would not be able to create the spells. Nor did he want to. He could not be remotely involved to C7 to continue his path to the Minister's position.
From what he knew about Granger, it could be a hard sell to get her working on something like C7. And even if Granger agreed, she had too much sense in her to know that unless absolutely necessary, the curses were to remain in the vaults of the Department. He needed someone like Lowes to even attempt to test and not realize what he was doing. He would get Dorner to assign Lowes C7 knowing he would never be able to do it without help from Granger. And he had to frustrate Granger by giving her Lumos, to get her to create the curses to come up with the counters.
Somehow, he knew Granger would not disappoint him, though it took longer than he expected. It took eight months for her to get the report to Dorner. Unfortunately, to disgrace Dorner, a mere theoretical report was a weak weapon. The murders were necessary. Gomez was not a murderer but he knew someone who had the potential to be one. He introduced the Cardinal to Lowes and was there when Lowes made the Unbreakable vow. He convinced Dorner to share Granger's report with Lowes and Lowes did the rest.
The plan was to only murder Muggles; filthy sinning Muggles who did not deserve to live anyway. There would be seven cardinal curse murders for maximum impact and newsworthiness, and Gomez actually was excited that he had a part in bringing the myth to life. After the seventh, the Ministry would be informed. Dorner would be disgraced and Granger implicated in the process.
But there was a glitch he did not anticipate. Gomez underestimated how much admiration the Cardinal had for Granger, having had this high regard for her since they attended Hogwarts. With Granger tipped off by the notes, it was a matter of time before the rest of the Ministry found out about the Muggle murders before the seven were completed.
Lowes would not dare say a word but he misjudged Dorner. Dorner shut down C7 and Lumos, and continued his best efforts to sweep it under the rug. He was fighting for political survival and likely buying time. Dorner had turned on Gomez so Dorner had to die before he could find a way to pin the murders on him. The Cardinal, now unhappy at Granger's rejection, obliged.
The night Dorner died, Lowes had been dead for about a month, and Granger was about to be sent to Azkaban with no reputation left. There would be no need for more murders. Though it was quite unfortunate Dorner told Scrimgeour he chose three Unspeakables, he was able to make a convincing theory so there was really no push from the Minister to find the third one. Everything was perfect, just as he wanted. That was until Granger escaped.
He was livid at the humiliation he endured for that, particularly because he did not know how she did it. It obviously had something to do with Potter's return. Her escape should not have mattered that much except that now, the Cardinal wanted to follow through with a different plan. Gomez tried to be supportive, but this was going too far. He was getting really impatient with this concept of completing another set of Cardinal murders. There was only so much one could get away with.
"What do you mean Malfoy's not dead?"
The Cardinal seemed to expect this reaction, "He fought it."
"But he would have been perfect! Everybody knows Granger hates him! You should have just killed him anyway. What does it matter if they have a wand or not! They are still wizards without them."
"It just didn't feel right," the Cardinal replied.
And now, the Cardinal wanted perfection! Wasting an absolutely good opportunity because Malfoy fought the curse! It didn't feel right? Either way, it was going to be murder, it would never feel right! His ward had become a monster.
Gomez spoke, "End this now. Forget about the rest. Link Granger to the Muggle murders and let's get this over with."
Then he left the Cardinal at their meeting place. That was late last night, and this morning, he picked up an advance copy of the Daily Prophet. Malfoy's attack was mentioned. But there was another murder.
It was decided. Gomez was going to end this today, without the Cardinal's blessing, before things got more out of hand. He took out an envelope and emptied it. In it were copies of Granger's Muggle employment records. There was confirmation that she was working tonight and tonight, Gomez was going to make sure Granger went straight to Azkaban. Or if Gomez was lucky, to her funeral.
XXXXXXXXXX
In the same affluent neighbourhood, a few blocks away at Ritchie's, Hermione woke up at 5am as usual.
She crashed that night after a shower. She went back to the study hoping to talk to Ritchie when he got back but fell asleep on the couch as she was trying to catch up on what she missed. She was so exhausted she did not even realize he had taken her to his bedroom until he set her down on the bed.
She was fading in and out of consciousness; hearing him get into the shower and feeling him get into bed with her. He cuddled her from behind as he had countless of times before and she slept in his arms as Harry thought she would.
"I love you," she heard him say, actually whisper, thinking she was already asleep, just before she dozed off.
Hermione did tell him that she did not want to hear him say it. So, for the past month, she endured hearing it while he thought she was asleep. Truth be told, before Harry's return, she liked to hear him say that he loved her. Before Harry's return, she needed to hear him say he loved her. She did not want to hear him say it because she still, no matter how much she wanted to, could not say the words back and felt bad about it.
She looked at the man sleeping soundly beside her. In the last two months, they cared for each other, they enjoyed each others' company, they filled each others' physical needs and Ritchie said he loved her enough for the both of them. Ritchie knew someone had hurt her so bad she could not make the same emotional investment, but hoped that someday she could feel safe to love again and that it would be for him.
Admittedly, Hermione used Ritchie that night two months ago. She was not proud of what she did. Her life was spiralling into a bottomless pit for the longest time and she felt like she was dying. She was very lonely; in the last few months she had alienated her friends, with the exception of Ron, and her one sanctuary, her work, inspired her no more. In fact, at that time, she was in the process of finishing her minor projects and was going to leave the Ministry. Had it not been for the Cardinal using her final major contribution to magic for murder, she would have faded away just as Harry had. And the final straw to the imminent gloom she was facing was that she felt powerless to stop what the Cardinal was going to do. It was a moment in her life when she needed to feel good about herself and unfortunately self-indulgent Hermione, a side to her that was fairly new, was in charge.
She was glad it was Ritchie and not some stranger, or many strangers, considering that once she sat at the bar at the Screeching Moon, Tom the bartender giving her the pros and cons of what she was going to do, very tempted to accept propositions for meaningless sex. She thought about the really horrible experience of dating Hector Aimes, one of Ron's co-workers, for which she told Ron he was banned from ever setting her up on a blind date again. By the end of the very short night she had received a most extensive education on musculoskeletal anatomy and would never look at well-muscled men the same way again. That night of her escape, she had no qualms whatsoever cursing Aimes for being her worst date ever. And not that she would ever admit it to Ron, she actually, very fleetingly, considered asking him. That would have been really bad.
So, yes, that night with Ritchie was to fill a desperate physical need to feel wanted, to feel important to someone, and to finally exorcise what she thought was the final remaining Harry Potter demon needing closure; to make love to Harry one last time. It helped a lot that Ritchie was attractive, that she knew and liked him in the past, and that Ritchie already knew her intimately.
It could have been just what she told Ritchie it could be; she made it clear to him that she had nothing to give and was not looking for a long-term relationship. But despite her pushing him away, he persisted. He asked her out again, and again, and again. Ritchie actually saved her from herself. He stopped the self-destructive mode she was in. She was a mess when he found her and she would be eternally grateful to him for helping her turn it all around.
Ritchie was supportive, in fact more supportive than Ron, about her wanting to live a Muggle life. She couldn't stay in the Magical World. It reminded her too much of everything she was sad about; it reminded her too much of Harry. He was helping her with the transition, which was taking so long because she still needed to work at the Ministry until they could catch the Cardinal.
Hermione liked being with him because he made her feel wanted and he made her feel important. But she was torn. She felt guilty not feeling for him the same way he felt about her. She could not allow herself to fall in love again.
Two weeks ago, Ron gave her some advice about him; unsolicited but well-meaning advice. It was late night after their encounter with the Cardinal two weeks ago. She and Ron were at the Screeching Moon, having a few drinks and waiting for Ritchie to finish paperwork over at the Yard.
Tom, the bartender, had just brought a second bottle of firewhiskey at their table and Ron was starting to feel less inhibited, not that he ever was before with her but he sometimes came up with the most odd things to say after a few drinks.
"So, Ritchie got stunned. Good for him."
"What?" she exclaimed, "What exactly was good about that?"
"Now, he's one of us," Hermione just shook her head, not even wanting to ask what he meant, thinking, it must be some guy fraternity thing.
"We should have taken him to St. Mungo's," she thought out loud.
"He should be fine. It was just a stunner," Ron tried to reassure her.
"He's a Muggle; he's not used to them," Hermione reasoned.
Ron's eyes rolled up briefly, "I'm a Wizard; I'm never going to get used to them. Do you think he would have preferred a more Muggle traditional gunshot?"
"And he's gone back to the Yard! He really should get some rest, right?"
"Will you stop? He's fine; sore but fine. You're starting to sound like his mother."
"Ron, you've never met his mother," she pointed out.
"Oh, right. And you have," Ron realized, then said, after a brief pause, "So, are you starting to sound like his mother?"
And Ron started laughing causing Hermione to do the same. It wasn't even that funny but between the firewhiskey and all the events of the day, it was just one of those moments.
Ron continued, more seriously, "I hear he asked you to move in with him and you turned him down."
She replied, "He's going too fast for me."
"Perhaps, you should tell him to slow down. The question is, slow or fast, have you decided where you're going with him?"
"What do you mean?" she was just hoping he was not asking her the question she had been asking herself since Ritchie confessed he loved her.
Ron made an observation in a very un-Ronish kind of way, "You've been going out with him for over a month, you practically live at his place, and yet I get the sense that he doesn't really know what he is to you. I just want to know if it's not going anywhere so I won't bother hanging out with him. Kind of like you not wanting to make idle talk with my girlfriends, which I prefer by the way. I don't know what he is to you. So I'm asking, what is he to you?"
She looked at him, and said with all honesty "I don't know what he is to me."
"Maybe it's about time you gave it more thought. He's a decent guy, Hermione. Pardon the pun but you should stop dicking around with him."
"Whatever happened to 'just don't fall too hard this time'?" she asked, remembering their conversation when this first all started.
"Notice I didn't just say 'don't fall'. I know this was about moving on and you've had it bad for so long so I'm not going to criticize how you chose to heal. Frankly, I would have been less concerned if you had a brief run of nameless, faceless men. But what you're doing with Ritchie right now is going to end up hurting you again."
"How do you figure that?" she asked.
Ron's said, "You and Ritchie kind of remind of a couple Melissa and I saw last weekend at this Muggle Park for Amusement."
Hermione, on instinct, found something not good about Ron's latest relationship, "Do I really want to hear this? I hope you and the rookie Kingsley trusted you with were at the Amusement Park on official Ministry business."
He ignored her, "There was this couple in line at the roller coaster ride just in front of us, arguing, guy raring to go on, chick really not so looking forward to it, previous bad experience she says. Standing in line, he was in a battle of keeping her on it. She had so many chances to bail but she was starting to believe this could be better than the first time. Finally, they were at the front of the line for the next train and now there was a decision to be made. Guy wants to be in the first car and chick wants to be in the last car. Which car do they take?"
"The last car, of course."
"You'd think, but the guy is bold, feels miffed it's been all about the chick all day and tells the chick, listen, I'm sitting at the front because I really like it there and so you know it's not so bad. You can decide if you want to join me or not."
"She didn't."
Ron nodded, "You remind me of the chick, on that last car that's still chugging and climbing towards that first anticipated big drop. You had all the chances in the world to not go on the ride but you just realized that you're actually on it and there is no bailing out now. You just saw Ritchie's car go over, and you know yours will eventually follow. You're scared, trying to hang on, hoping it will be better and it's just a pity you're not in the same car to share the experience."
"Tom must have something else in this firewhiskey," Hermione commented, "So what happened?"
"To what?"
"To the couple."
"Don't know. I think they had a row and broke up."
"A fitting end to a ghastly story," she said and they chinked their glasses against each other, "Just to let you know, I am so not that chick on the last car."
Ron agreed, "Not yet, but eventually you will be if you don't make a decision. Right now you're that chick near the start of the line and you're letting people pass through because you haven't decided whether you should go on the coaster or not. You have to make a choice soon. Are you getting off the line, are you going to stay in that last car or will it be into the same car with him?"
"It's such a difficult decision to make," she confessed.
"How do you feel about him?"
"I enjoy his company. I admire and respect him as a person and he makes me feel good about myself."
Ron added, "You don't argue about little things, he's supportive and allows you to be yourself. What else do you want from him? What's wrong with him? Is he bad in bed?"
She blushed, "Ritchie and I never had a problem with that. There's nothing wrong with him."
"I certainly hope you're not still moping around for Harry to come back."
"I'm over Harry. He's not coming back. I am not moping around."
"So you keep saying. If you're so over him why can't you tell Ritchie about him? Should I say it again?" Ron answered before she could protest, "Harry could be dead. He could have fallen in love with someone else. He might have a wife and kids. He might not love you anymore."
"It's not about that. I just don't feel that way about Ritchie."
"Which way? Are you talking about how you felt with Harry? The I-can't-live-can't breathe-can't-sleep-without-you stupid kind of way?"
She nodded.
"That's okay, you shouldn't. He's not Harry so be fair to him and stop comparing how you feel about them. How many times do you think people fall seriously in love like that in a lifetime?"
She shrugged.
"Do you think you can go through falling in love the way you fell for Harry ten more times?"
"Definitely not."
"Sure, because after the first earth shattering one that obviously left a sour taste in your mouth because you're not with them anymore or never was at all, everything else will pale in comparison. And it will be different each time. We're not meant to fall in love that way over and over again."
Hermione said under her breath, "I certainly hope you're right about that."
"I think you care about him more that you realize. How come you haven't gotten rid of him like you did me?"
"You were quite annoying. He's kind of nice to have around."
"Thanks, I appreciate the candour," Hermione had this frown and Ron knew was she was thinking, "I'm going to be honest with you because you're my best friend and I love you dearly. You might believe you're waiting to feel that overwhelming desire to be with Ritchie for you to invest more of yourself into your relationship; actually, it all boils down to one of two things. Either you're still moping around for Harry to come back, which you tell me you're not, or you're a coward."
"A coward?"
"It's scary putting yourself out there again, exposed and giving another human being power to break you, kind of like what Harry unintentionally did. Ritchie is out there for you and if you don't decide soon you're definitely going to break him and he'll disappear from your life. That would be such a pity because you've been more fun and happier with him around. He's kind of grown on me."
"I can't fall in love with him."
"You can, you just don't want to because you're a coward, or you still want Harry back."
"I'm a coward," she said, firm this wasn't about pining after Harry at all.
"If you do take that ride, I think you should decide if you just want to screw Ritchie with no strings attached whatsoever and sit at the back, which, frankly I don't think you can do because you're not the type, or make him really a part of your life. Personally, I think you should pick number two. He didn't say anything to me but I can tell he's madly in love with you."
"But I don't want him madly in love with me. I'm not madly in love with him."
"It's not your choice. That's kind of a stupid reason to not allow the man peace of mind. Believe me. He'd rather be with a woman he's crazy about and you'd rather be the woman he's crazy about. So either end his suffering by cutting him loose or give it a go."
Ron had been right, of course. And that night she decided with some trepidation it was going to be a front car roller coaster ride with Ritchie. He was ecstatic when she told him and said he'd offer to get stunned more if that meant more moments like that.
Then of course, Harry came.
She got up slowly so as not to disturb Ritchie, pausing briefly when he stirred. He would wake up in a few minutes. It was their morning routine. She would go down to the kitchen and make them a pot of coffee, and then wait for him out in the backyard porch, to talk until they had to get ready for work.
She was sure that she still loved Harry, and it was as strong as it was when they made love that night two years ago. When Harry kissed her last night in her apartment, she was surprised not only by how he did it but also by her equally raw response. The moment his lips touched and devoured hers she totally forgot who they were and lost all control of her faculties. How could one person affect her so? Thankfully and regrettably, Aimes showed up and they couldn't continue what they were doing.
Clearly, she could not just leave Ritchie for Harry. Surely, Harry did not expect her to do that just because he was back. But her reckless side, the same self-indulgent voice that drove her to Ritchie in the first place, kept telling her 'why not'. She really did not have the time or energy to sort this out, but she knew she had to.
On cue, Ritchie came through the back door, in his pajamas still half asleep.
"Are you okay?" he had a worried look on his face.
"I've been better," she smiled at the handsome man who sat beside her. He took a sip of coffee from her cup as she offered.
He smiled back, put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.
"It's a bit chilly this morning."
She conjured a blanket to appear beside her, careful so he would not notice and wrapped it around them.
"Something's troubling you."
"You mean besides being a fugitive, having Ron in the hospital and trying to catch a serial killer?"
They both smiled.
"I'm sorry about the asinine behaviour last night," he remembered to apologize.
"It's okay. I've never seen you that way before," she replied.
"I've never been that way before," he admittedly sheepishly.
"I'm sorry you had to feel that way," she felt somewhat responsible.
"It's not your fault, not really."
"I can't stay here, Ritchie," she finally said. "It's only a matter of time before your Minister caves in to our Minister and my picture is going to be on your most wanted list. I don't want to cause you trouble. It will be bad if you get pulled from this case."
"I had a feeling you'd say that. You don't think you can hide out somewhere in this bloody mansion?" He was joking. She smiled and shook her head. "Where will you go?"
"I'll be around. You can always call me."
"Maybe Harry will let you stay at his place. Isn't it supposed to be unplottable or something like that?"
"I'd rather not stay there."
"Why not? At least I know you'll be safe."
"I'll be fine Ritchie," Hermione wondered if he was trying to make up for his behaviour the night before. Did he realize what he was asking her to do? "We just have to catch this creep faster."
Ritchie was staring at her. She finally asked.
"What?"
"Something is different about you."
She brushed it off.
"Is it the I'm-on-the-run-from-the-law difference?"
He shook his head, "Tell me when you're ready, okay?"
If only he was less nice this would not be so hard. She had to tell him. And after telling him everything he was smart enough to know what that meant.
She took a big breath in and out, "I am ready. I'm finally ready to talk about Harry."
"That's great," Ritchie countered though Hermione felt he was less eager to hear about it than she thought he would be. He said, "We probably need more coffee."
She took the empty cup from him and watched his face as coffee appeared in it. She used a refilling spell. Ritchie was not surprised, not at all.
"Thanks," he said as he took the cup from her and took a sip, "And after we talk about Harry, maybe you can tell me all about your escape. I've been dying to ask you about it all night."