~Chapter 14~
Dirty Little Secrets
Harry was stony silent as he waited for Hermione to get into the car. She could notice the subtle chill that seemed to envelope the small space. She glanced at him nervously as she buckled her seat belt, surprised he hadn't even bothered to greet her. Hermione said nothing, though; sensing he would tell her what was bothering him when the time was right. He put the car into gear and headed toward the open road toward Surrey, where Melissa Gorokhov was residing.
Melissa had seemed less than thrilled to see Harry and Hermione standing on her door step. She had attempted to close the door on their faces, but Harry would have none of that and pressed his way into Melissa's living room. He looked around the room, interested to see that much of what had been there that first time had been carefully packed away in cartons and crates. Harry looked at her expectantly, but found the woman unwilling to offer him any information.
"Moving?" Harry finally asked. The woman looked at him distastefully.
"Obviously," Melissa replied. She glanced around her house, as if ensuring nothing was out that she didn't want to be seen.
"Why?" Harry inquired as he sat down on the couch. Melissa looked enraged, but kept her temper in check.
"That is none of your business," Melissa snapped. Hermione looked at Harry curiously.
"Are you moving because of Rayleigh or her father?" Harry challenged. Melissa smiled coolly as she saw right through his ploy.
"Mr. Potter, I maintain what I said on your previous trip. Though I may be a squib, my daughter has rights in your world, and no matter how much you visit or press, her privacy will be maintained," Melissa assure him as she glanced at her watch. "Now, if you don't mind, I am a very busy woman, as I am sure that you both are very busy officials. I would recommend you give up this quest to find out who fathered my child. From what I hear, you have already confirmed that she is, indeed, the heir of Tom Riddle. That should be enough."
"How did you know that?" Hermione asked stopping the woman from passing.
"What?" Melissa snapped, indignant that Hermione had blocked her from proceeding to throw them out of her house.
"How did you know that we confirmed that information, Melissa?" Hermione asked. "That is privileged information. Few people have access to it, and certainly a non-magical person such as you would have that information."
"I…" Melissa faltered a moment. She clammed up quickly. "Leave now, or I will file a complaint with both governments for harassment."
Hermione and Harry left Melissa Gorokhov's house and headed to the hotel that they were staying in while on location. They had planned to stay as long as needed. This was information that was critical according to the ministry. Harry disagreed. The father of one student was not remarkable. There were plenty of students at Hogwarts that were being raised in one parent households. He felt as if there were still things that he did not understand, pieces he knew existed, but that no one had told him.
"Do you want to talk?" Hermione asked Harry as they sat in the small hotel room. Harry was furiously going over the schematics of the Gorokhov house. He didn't look up.
"Not really," Harry replied. Hermione sat in silence for a moment, biting her lip. She stood up and went to Harry's side.
"Harry, you have been distant these past few days, and while I am perfectly fine with you being that way with me, I am sure that Ginny would be happier if you could unleash a little bit of this anger," Hermione said quietly. Harry laughed bitterly.
"I doubt that," Harry said. Hermione had never heard Harry talk that way, not with that tone, about his wife. Harry refused to look at her.
"Harry," Hermione said as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Damn it, Hermione," Harry yelled. Hermione jumped back. She knew he had a temper, and a breaking point, but it had never been directed at her so pointedly. Hermione crossed the room and glared at him.
"I don't know what your problem is, Harry, but you are to never yell at me again, do you hear me?" Hermione told him with anger inching into her voice.
"Do you want to know what my problem is?" Harry snapped at her angrily.
"I already said that I do," Hermione said as she softened her voice.
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," Harry snapped. He got up from his chair and raked his hand through his hair as he sought the words.
"What is it, Harry? You can tell me," Hermione offered gently.
"It's Ginny," Harry said.
"You two have had fights before, Harry," Hermione reminded him. He shot her a look of rage and hatred.
"We didn't have a fight; in fact we haven't fought in months. It's not that," Harry said.
"What is it?" Hermione pressed. Harry continued to glare angrily.
"She's cheating on me," Harry confessed. His shoulders slumped forward, as if by saying the words he was finally admitting defeat.
"Oh, Harry, no," Hermione said as she brought her hands to her face. "Not Ginny! She loves you. Are you certain?"
"I couldn't be more certain. That morning you told me that you and Ron were getting a divorce, I went home to get something before going to talk to Ron," Harry said. He was shaking with rage and pain. "She was in the bathroom, and she told me she wasn't well, so I went to leave. I saw his briefcase on my chair, his things in my room. She called out to me, but I was frozen in shock, then… then I heard it. I heard them, in my bathroom, in my bedroom. My wife in my house, Hermione, having sex, and not any old sex, no, but good sex. Great sex, in fact. All these years she just laid there, disinterested in our love making, but then HE made her cry out in ways she never would with me."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said as she approached him.
"Oh, and if that wasn't enough, I know who it is, so I can't get the vision of them out of my head," Harry spat angrily as her practically jabbed his finger into his own head.
"Oh," Hermione said. "Who?"
"No one other than Draco Malfoy!" Harry shouted as he slammed his fist on the table.
"Not Draco! Surely it is a mistake?" Hermione offered weakly. Harry collapsed on the bed, no longer looking at Hermione. He stared up at the ceiling, tears brimming in his green eyes.
"Oh, no, not a mistake," Harry laughed bitterly. "I can still hear her moan and crying out his name, and him replying in like."
"Oh, dear God," Hermione said as she sat next to him.
"So, yeah, I really doubt that Ginny will care if I am in a good mood or not," Harry replied. "She has Draco."
"Did you have any idea?" Hermione asked.
"Did you?" Harry replied. Hermione bit her lip and shook her head. "I didn't think so."
The silence between them stretched through out a couple of awkward minutes as they thought about the crappy relationship they seemed to have. Hermione sighed and was the first to get up. As much as they both would have liked to wallow in self pity, they knew that it would not do them any good. They had work to do, and then, once the job was done, they would figure out what they were supposed to do next.
"She's leaving now," Hermione whispered as they staked out Melissa's house. Sure enough, Melissa was heading down the side walk dressed in a server's uniform. Harry and Hermione sprinted unseen to the front door and made short work of the lock with their wands. The house was partially packed up, and they headed straight up the stairs to Melissa's room.
"Wow, talk about a Quidditch fan," Harry murmured as he looked at rolls of posters that were neatly placed in cardboard tubes.
"Plenty of people are," Hermione reminded him.
"Yeah, but not usually muggle born people and squibs," Harry told her. Hermione looked like she was contemplating something, something with the information just out of Hermione's reach.
"Hmm…" Hermione thought as she walked around the mother's room. It still had a rather girlish charm to it, despite the fact that Melissa had to be closer to Harry and Hermione's age than not.
"There isn't anything here," Harry growled as he closed the last dresser drawer. "Maybe we should check the girl's room?"
"It can't hurt," Hermione said, though she doubted that there would be anything more to find out. Melissa had obviously erased all trace of the father of Rayleigh Riddle.
Harry and Hermione walked into the small bedroom, their eyes adjusting to the piercing dark of the room. Even with the light on, the room was on the darker side. Hermione shivered at the sheer chill of the room.
"Why is it so cold in here?" Hermione murmured as she pulled her arms around her. The walked deeper in the room, finding the windows were covered by thick paper, taped into place. They imagined that even in direct light, there wouldn't be much to glow through.
"Is this blood?" Harry whispered as he pointed to the bedside where a drop of something had dried.
"Harry, don't touch anything," Hermione whispered. "I have a bad feeling about this place. I don't know of any girl that would have this stuff in her room."
"I wasn't planning on it," Harry said. "Let's get out of here."
The two headed down the hall and were startled to see Melissa standing at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes were wide with anger and fright. She didn't say anything, just looked up at the two people standing at the top of the stairs with a shot gun aimed at their hearts. Harry and Hermione were rooted to their place, uncertain.
"I think we have a problem," Harry said quietly as he raised his hands. Hermione followed suit and raised her hands.
"Oh, God, Harry," Hermione cried out as Melissa cocked the gun.
"Well," Melissa said coldly. "Did you find out all you needed to know about my daughter's dirty little secret?"
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