Chapter Fifteen
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Harry and Hermione sat in front of each other; Hermione had her eyes closed and the complete look of concentration made Harry smile slightly. She reminded him so much of Hogwarts and the way she looked during exams.
"Ready?" he asked and she nodded. Harry went soaring through her mind. He went back through her memories, filtering them out as they came swooping towards him.
There it is! He had found it, that evening.
He was so excited to find the memory that he almost lost the connection.
Hermione opened the door to her room as Draco turned and began walking back through the corridor.
Hermione walked through the door and Harry immediately saw a figure standing in the corner of the room. He wasn't able to make out the face, since Hermione hadn't seen it, but he hoped that she would catch a glimpse for him before she was knocked unconscious. Harry wanted to jump in and scream for her to turn around.
Hermione suddenly turned around when she heard a footstep and the creaking of the floor, but she was hit and thrown to the floor.
All he could see was the outline of a female figure, just as Hermione had described to him. He watched as someone kicked Hermione hard in the ribs, and again in the face, but he could still only see a black outline. Harry could tell that reliving the memory was making Hermione very timid - he felt her quiver, but he had to continue and try to figure out who had tried to kill her. Harry was shaking violently, the feeling of seeing someone you loved being just about killed was unbearable.
He wanted to leave, but he forced himself to stay until the very end, just in case he would see something useful. He withdrew quickly and was just about to leave her mind…. but he couldn't… he just had to see what she had meant that morning. That very significant morning…
With a twirl he hustled backwards in time again. He was afraid of what he would find, afraid he might see intimate scenes between Hermione and Ron, or worse Hermione and Draco.
He itched to go back and see what had happened when Hermione had gone to Draco after his mum was killed, but he would never do that to Hermione. Instead he went exactly where he wanted to go. He had to, he knew it was wrong, but he had to!
The memory flooded him and he was soon walking in through a door. On the bed he saw himself and Hermione having passionate sex on his bed.
He felt Hermione struggle against him, she knew what he was doing and wanted him out of her memory. He fast-forwarded to the morning after. He watched them:
Hermione was lying in his arms. She turned towards him, she looked a bit nervous.
Harry smiled at her and gently kissed her.
"Good morning," he whispered.
"Hi," she answered back. It was so obvious; Harry could read her face so well. She was worried what would happen now, she was afraid it would be uncomfortable.
"I'm glad you are here," Harry whispered and Hermione looked relieved. Harry kissed her gently and she soon eased into the kiss.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. That moment had been so magical for him and, years later, he felt exactly what he had back then. He had never felt anything like it in his life.
They both turned to lay on their sides, facing each other, and she draped her leg over his waist. He kissed her and pulled the covers off of her, exposing the top half of her naked body. He let his hands gently explore her skin. The night before had all been about lust and sex, but he wanted to enjoy every inch of her this time. Hermione rolled over onto her back and Harry kissed her breast. She arched against him as he made his way inside of her, biting her shoulder as he thrust.
"Harry," she whimpered and arched her hips higher. Their fingers were intertwined and their bodies were moving in rhythm. He placed his sweaty forehead against hers and noticed her breaths becoming more rapid. They finished together, sighing, moaning, and finally collapsing into each other. Harry kissed her again and she moved his sweaty bangs out of his face, kissing his scar.
Harry watched a while longer and saw himself get up and walk into the kitchen to fix breakfast. He could feel Hermione struggling harder to get him out of her mind, but he had to know why she had changed her mind about being with him. He watched as Hermione took a shower and walked back out with a towel around her head. He heard her mutter the word, "Coffee" and open the door to the bedroom. Harry heard his own voice and watched Hermione. She was frozen to the spot.
"Decided to stay home today,"
"I agree, Gin, we really need to talk. I'm glad you called, actually…." Hermione pulled the towel of her head and put a hand over her mouth.
Oh no, oh no no no - Harry thought. Was that what had happened?! He continued to look at
Hermione listening to his conversation. Harry was shocked, finally understanding why she may have left.
"Eh…no, not now. How about in a couple of hours? I need to go out for a run." He paused as he listened to Ginny. "Great, Gin, see you soon."
Harry watched as Hermione sat down on the bed and threw the towel on the floor. She put her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart. Harry decided that he had seen enough and pulled himself out of her mind.
As soon as the living room came back into focus, he saw Hermione start towards him, fists raised. She slapped him hard across the face.
"Harry James Potter!" she screamed furiously. Harry grabbed both of her arms.
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I'm sorry!" he said quickly. He let her go and she took a step back.
"You had no right, Harry! No damn right!" Tears were welling in her eyes, threatening to pour out.
"Please listen to me, Hermione!" Hermione turned to leave but Harry grabbed her arm and twirled her around. He kissed her hard on the lips, but received nothing in return. Instead, Hermione's hand made contact with his face again, stinging more than the first time.
"I didn't tell Ginny…."
"I don't care!" she bellowed. "You can go back to Ginny, and marry your precious pureblood!" she shrieked and turned around. Harry grabbed her again.
"Listen to me, Hermione," he pleaded. She jerked her arm free and ran out the door.
---
When Bellatrix's cronies came again, Draco was asleep. But he didn't go without putting up a fight. They had killed his mother - he had nothing to lose. He was dropped on the same floor he had been so many times before. His hood was pulled and he looked at Bellatrix. He wanted to kill her more than he ever had wanted to kill anyone in his life.
"Draco, my dear," she drawled.
"How could you kill her?" he yelled out.
"Draco, haven't you even figured out why these people have to die?"
"Yeah, you are killing those who helped kill Voldemort, but what did my mother ever do?"
"Did she not lie to the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix asked and stood up. She sounded somewhere between laughter and disgust. Her hair had many grey streaks, and her face had hardly any color.
"So then why didn't Pansy kill Granger?" Draco asked.
"Forget about that mudblood, she won't be a problem for long. I need for you to do one more thing," she continued and Draco jerked to break free.
"Why would I do anything for you?" he demanded. Bellatrix turned hastily around and looked at him, smiling insanely.
"Naturally, I wouldn't have killed Sissy if I hadn't still had some insurance," she answered. Draco's mind raced, trying to figure out what she could be talking about. There was no one else. Bellatrix watched him in amusement.
"You don't understand now, but you will." Pansy walked into the room and Draco chuckled. There was no way he would help Bellatrix for Pansy's sake. But then he noticed that she was carrying something small.
"What is it?" he snarled.
Pansy put the object on the ground and Draco was dragged forward to get a closer look. With a mixture of curiosity and fear, he leaned forward to look at the bundle. A pair of silver grey eyes looked up to him.
"Meet you daughter, Draco," Bellatrix laughed. "This is Mallory Malfoy!" Draco pulled back so fast that he fell into the guard holding him.
"What? No!" he yelled.
"Did you not wonder why Pansy left so suddenly? I took her into my care while she prepared to give birth to your daughter." Pansy took a few steps towards Draco and started to help him stand.
"We can be a family," she breathed in his ear.
"Let go of me!" Draco shouted and wrenched his arm back. Bellatrix was growing impatient.
"You need to steer the Aurors towards that key on the chain that you planted for me. It's vital that they
follow the trace…. And you should also have them analyze that substance they found on Sissy…."
"How do you know about what they found on her body?"
"How do you think I know?"
"We have analyzed it, but found no dark magic."
"They shouldn't look for anything concerning dark magic, just regular magic. Something simple!"
"But -."
"Just do it!" she shrieked.
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Two days after Draco's meeting with Bellatrix, there was a meeting for the Aurors. Gawain was looking very anxious and Harry noticed that he had extra guards at the door. Bruno Burton was at his side, as always. Harry threw a fleeting look over at Hermione, who was determinedly avoiding him.
Draco had been working all night; he had done exactly as Bellatrix had told him.
He looked from Hermione to Harry. "I didn't know you had a tattoo, Granger," he spat, not able to stop himself. Both Harry and Hermione quickly looked up.
"What?" she answered in a somewhat bored voice. "I don't have a tattoo!" Draco quickly looked at Harry, who smiled smugly. Draco glared at him.
"Ronald Weasley's apartment was torched tonight," Gawain started. Hermione shot up off her chair so fast that no one had time to blink. Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. He had already been informed of this, and knew Ron was safe. He wondered briefly why Hermione didn't know.
"Fortunately, we had an idea this would happen, so we got him out in time," Gawain continued and Hermione heaved a loud sigh of relief.
"We now have a prime suspect for these murders," Burton spoke. Draco sat up a bit straighter, he had not heard this before and, judging by the look on Hermione and Harry's faces, neither had they.
"The key on the chain." He held up a necklace with a key attached. "We found at the crime scene went to Ronald Weasley's apartment," he continued.
"What?" Harry asked and almost started laughing. Was he implying that Ron was involved?
"He still has his key, and he has only given it to one other person," Harry looked at Hermione, who was listening intently. "The substance on Narcissa Malfoy," Gawain's eyes darted to Draco briefly and he continued, "was from a straightening potion, a very specific potion sold to people with very unruly hair." The guards walked up behind Hermione. "Hermione Jean Granger, you are under arrest for the murders of Narcissa Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, the goblin Griphook, and the opening of the graves of Remus Lupin and Nephadora Tonks," Burton boomed at her.
Hermione was completely taken aback. "Are you kidding?" she managed to get out.
"You can't do this, Gawain!" Harry bellowed.
"Harry, help me," Hermione cried as the guards started pulling her away. "I didn't do this, I swear!" she called. Harry made to run after her but a guard held him back.
"Let me go!" he screamed.
"Harry, if you try to go to her, I will fire you!" Gawain commanded. "The evidence is all against her. She has no alibi for any of the occasions! The straightening potion was the same one that she uses. The key was obviously hers; it was dropped at Griphooks murder. The very day of Neville's murder, hundreds of people saw her with him in Hogsmeade." The guards were still holding Harry and Burton walked away with Hermione. "Listen," Gawain continued. "We will try to find out what is going on and we hope that she'll be proven innocent, but…it doesn't look good."
"She is innocent!" Harry screamed, still in shock.
"Burton will interrogate her now," Gawain continued as if he hadn't heard Harry.
"You can't let him do that, he will torture her!" Harry bellowed. Gawain looked away guiltily.
"So this is what we've come to?" Harry asked, "Why don't you just bring Umbridge in to interrogate her?" Harry turned to Draco, "Do you believe Hermione did this?" he requested.
"No, of course not," Draco admitted.
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Harry and Draco watched from the next room as they interrogated Hermione.
"Why did you do it, Hermione?"
"I - I didn't!" she answered between sobs.
"It all points to you, Hermione!"
"But then someone planted those things! Why would I want to burn my own parents' house down?" she cried.
"This is very serious Hermione. And we plan to get the confession out of you," Gawain answered and motioned Burton over. "Burton here has never failed."
Draco and Harry both knew what that meant - they were actually going to torture Hermione.
"The night Neville Longbottom was killed, where were you?" Burton asked.
Harry knew Hermione had gone to Draco, he had been at her flat and she hadn't answered.
"I - I, was home."
"Can you prove it?" Gawain asked.
Harry looked at her, she was lying. He had been there, he had knocked her door. She hadn't been home.
"No, I had taken a sleeping draught."
"Why?"
"I was in pain." Draco looked at his feet. He knew why she had been in pain.
"Why? Because you had injured yourself when killing Narcissa Malfoy?"
"No!" she shrieked. "I had fallen and injured my hip."
"How?"
"I just fell - stumbled!" Harry could see it, she was lying, but he didn't understand why. Draco felt awful; he knew she was lying for him. She didn't want to say that Draco had tossed her into a dresser. "Where is Harry?" she asked.
Harry's heart ached. He wanted to go to her.
"You won't get to see him. Tell us, Hermione, what had Neville done? Why did you kill him?" Gawain continued. Hermione cried into her hands. "Tomorrow morning you will be sent to Azkaban, but before that we will get answers from you. Just think about what is waiting for you tomorrow. You better be more cooperative by then," Burton scolded.
Draco stared at Hermione's face as a guard lifted her from her chair, she looked so scared. So this is what he had done…. He had helped Bellatrix frame Hermione Granger. Everything went racing through his mind.
He couldn't understand why she would want to frame her, though. Was she trying to keep her away from Connor Cowell? But then it hit him - Hermione was going to be killed in Azkaban. Since the Ministry thought that Hermione was the murderer, they would close the case and no one would know that Bellatrix had killed Hermione.
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Draco ran home to look for his files. He needed to find something to have Hermione exonerated. He couldn't stand the idea of being the one to send her to prison. He thought back to the last meeting he'd had with Bellatrix.
"Forget about that mudblood, she won't be a problem for long."
Then he knew… Draco was sure that Hermione was going to die in Azkaban. Draco had to come up with a plan to set her free.
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Draco found Harry in his office; he had all his files in front of him.
"I need to talk to you," Draco whispered and closed the door behind him. The office was quite deserted all except the few Aurors on the night shift. Harry looked up from his files.
"I don't have time for you, Draco. I - I have to find some way to help her."
Draco frowned at the sight of Harry, his eyes were red and he looked like he hadn't even permitted himself to blink in fear of missing something important. Draco pulled up a chair and sat down next to Harry.
"Listen, Harry, I think someone is going to try and kill Hermione in Azkaban," he whispered. Harry stopped dead and slowly looked up at Draco.
"Why?"
"I can't tell you."
Harry went to stand up, but Draco stopped him. "Listen, I have an anonymous source and I can't risk that person getting caught because I believe there is more to find out," he said and Harry stopped for a second.
"I can't let her be taken to Azkaban!" Harry said matter-of-factly. "I will break her out!"
"No, listen," Draco lowered his voice slightly. "I will do it."
"Why?" Harry demanded.
"Because I believe someone will come after me if Hermione is released. I need to hide for a while, too." Harry looked at him suspiciously. "Besides, you're more useful here trying to prove her innocence."
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Hermione was lying on the stone brick bench in the dungeon, shaking. She was cold and hungry and she couldn't believe this was happening. She knew that when an Auror was suspected of a crime, they always received the worst sort of treatment.
Maybe to scare others or maybe it was just to punish that Auror for being a traitor. But she was innocent…she couldn't figure out how someone could think that she had killed anyone. She heard someone and looked into the darkness beyond the bars of her cell. A face came into focus and Hermione ran over to the bars.
"Oh, Harry," she cried. He put his hands through the bars and Hermione put her face in his hands.
"Listen, Hermione, we don't have a lot of time," Harry hurried, "We believe someone is going to kill you in Azkaban." Hermione's eyes shot open with fear. Harry smiled sweetly and gently caressed her cheek. "But you know I will never let anything happen to you. Draco is going to break you out at dawn and you will go into hiding for a while."
"But, Harry…."
"No, it has to be done!" Tears spilled over Hermione's face.
"I have to tell you something, Hermione, I have to tell you about your memory, the one I saw."
"It's okay, Harry…." she started
"No, listen, Hermione! You have it all wrong! When Ginny called, I asked her to come over because I wanted to tell her about us. I was never going to get back together with her." .
"What?" Hermione looked surprised
"Yes, and I didn't know that you'd heard me talking to her on the phone. I love you, Hermione," he whispered.
"Oh, Harry, I love you, too!" Hermione pressed her face through the bars and they kissed. The kiss was quick and hurried, but the feel of his lips was more than she could have dreamed of. It was so sweet and warm, the quick graze of his tongue against her bottom lip made her feel… fire! When he pulled back, he put something in her hand.
"Take this ring. It's magic. If you need me, just whisper my name in the stone and I will find
you."
Hermione opened her clenched fist and looked down at the dark blue sapphire ring.
"When will I see you?" she whispered, tears continuing to fall.
"I don't know, Hermione, it might be a while… I can't risk leading them to you!" They both heard something and they turned towards the darkness.
"I have to leave, Draco will come in a few hours," he promised.
He kissed her again and with the blink of an eye he was gone. Hermione put the ring on her finger and caressed the stone. "Oh Harry," she whispered.
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AN: There you have it, now you know why Hermione left that morning!
Thanks to my beta Chelsey, any mistakes are because of my last minute changes.
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