Chapter Five
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Early Monday morning, Hermione was awakened by an owl pecking at her hand, wanting her to relieve it of it's burden and give it a snack. "Meeting, now!" was all the note said.
She got dressed and headed to the Ministry as fast as she could, which wasn't easy considering how many fireplaces she had to floo herself to in order to avoid anyone who may have been tracking her. She rushed into the room where they had their meetings and sat down between Harry and Draco. She looked at Harry curiously, but all she got in return was a shrug - apparently no one else knew what the emergency meeting was for, either. This meeting was particularly unusual, despite the fact that no one knew what it was for - everyone was there. Usually Gawain held meetings with each individual mission-group.
Gawain entered and everyone immediately went quiet, it was obvious that something bad had happened.
"We have a real issue here," he said and sighed. Hermione looked at Harry, but he was so focused on Gawain that he didn't even notice her anymore. She turned and looked at the second man following Gawain. She had never seen him before, but she noticed that Harry tensed when he saw him. He was a robust man with a very serious and angry aura hanging around him. Hermione guessed that he looked unhappy most of the time.
"Burton will join us for today's meeting," Gawain said simply. He sat down in his seat and gathered himself before speaking again. "On Saturday someone opened the graves of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks," Gawain continued.
"What?" Harry bellowed. Hermione immediately took Harry's hand in hers and squeezed it hard under the table.
"Yes, they were opened and…." he stopped and bowed his head in reverence, clearly saddened, but unable to bring himself to continue.
"What?" Harry demanded.
Gawain took a moment before clearing his throat and explaining, "It seems like someone, took their hands."
"Hands?" Hermione asked, her voice almost breaking. A loud murmur was heard around the table, everyone seemed
to be talking at the same time. Burton glared at them, obviously not happy with the uncontrolled situation.
"Yes, both of them are missing their right hand." There was silence again. Harry yanked his hand from Hermione and put his elbows on the table. He leaned forward and it looked like he was thinking hard…or crying.
"Who could have done this? And why?" Hermione asked, desperate for answers.
"We really have no clue."
"I want in on this case," Harry said.
"Me to!" Hermione added.
"Granger needs to stay on the Cowell case," Draco spoke up for the first time.
"I am very well aware of what members of my team needs to be doing," Gawain said quickly, obviously annoyed
with Draco and disturbed by his own report.
Hermione realized that Gawain had worked with Tonks for years; she had been his friend as well and understood why he seemed to take a personal offence to the desecration of her body.
"Malfoy, I want you to go to the crime scene. Potter, as Teddy Lupin's godfather, I need you to tell him what has happened and help him move somewhere safe."
"And what about me?" Hermione asked obviously annoyed at not being allowed to help.
"You go back to the hotel and hope Cowell finally lets you near some information." After that, the meeting
ended and everyone got up to go back to their offices. Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her to the side.
"Hermione listen, if Connor really has something to do with this, you need to act like you haven't heard about
this. If you are upset he'll know that you have contacts in the ministry."
"Who is that Burton guy?" she whispered.
"He is higher up within the ministry, he has a lot of power but he is not a very nice man." She nodded and looked into Harry's eyes. They were dark with worry, something she hadn't seen within them for years.
"Harry," her voice was weak and she took both his hands in hers. He nodded as though he knew exactly what she was thinking and brought her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. As Hermione turned to walk away she saw Draco watching her from the other side of the corridor. He quickly turned as their eyes met.
---
Draco walked around the gravesite of Remus and Tonks and saw just what Gawain had told him he would: someone had dug the graves open, bent open the caskets and chopped off the right hands of the two deceased. He looked down at their skeletons and wondered what the point would be to steal someone's hand. He thought it really was for the best that Potter wasn't there; staring at the rotten skeleton of someone you once loved - or in his case, knew - was sickening.
Draco and his fellow investigators quickly covered the scene. They would only have a few hours before the Daily Prophet found out about this and the graveyard would become packed. He couldn't help but wonder, though, whether or not Bellatrix had anything to do with this. Or perhaps Cowell did. But Draco knew that if that was the case, Hermione could be in danger.
After hours of reburying the bodies, Draco returned to his home. He knew the second he stepped inside that something was wrong. He could feel the presence of someone there. "I know you are here, you may as well just show yourself!" A man in a hood stepped forward. Draco could see his face but it was no one he recognized.
"You have been called," he grunted. Draco hung his head and sighed, wishing there was an easier way to do all of this. He allowed the man to put a hood over his head and again as he transported him to Bellatrix.
"Draco my dear nephew," he heard that familiar, shrill voice say. Someone yanked off the hood and he saw Bellatrix standing in front of him. Draco immediately looked around for his mother, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Now tell me, what is being said about the werewolf and my niece?" she inquired. Draco sighed - he had a feeling Bellatrix had been behind all of this.
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"Their hands were stolen. It happened on Saturday. We didn't find any leads." She smiled wickedly. Her eyes kept going in and out of focus and she looked more mental than Draco remembered.
"And the Aurors, do they believe it has something to do with Death Eaters?"
"Yes," Draco admitted.
"And do they have any names?"
"No, not yet."
"The mudblood, has she been informed about it?" she tilted her head and opened her eyes wider.
"No," Draco lied. He didn't know why he was lying to protect Hermione, but he had a feeling that Bellatrix was just looking for an excuse to kill Hermione.
"Believe me, if you lie to me - Sissy is dead!" Bellatrix hissed him.
"I know."
Bellatrix threw something at him. It landed on the ground in front of him and he stared at it, not daring to touch it. "Take it, keep it close."
"Why?"
She glared and yelled, "You don't ask questions!" Draco looked back down at the chain, wondering what his mental aunt could possibly be thinking. He sighed and stuck it in his pocket.
---
Hermione was pacing in her room, waiting for someone to get word back to her on the Lupin case. She had sent an owl to Draco, telling him that she wanted to see him as soon as possible, not knowing that he wouldn't be able to come because of his surprise date with Bellatrix. However, she had sent the same owl to Harry. She finally heard a swoosh in the fireplace and ran over.
"Harry." She threw her arms around his neck. She took his arm and pulled him to the bed; she pushed him down and sat down next to him. "Please, please tell me what is happening."
"Well, so far the Ministry is calling it just a grave plundering. I've moved Teddy, he and his grandmother are staying somewhere safe."
"Good. But grave plundering? They took their hands!"
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I know. There is something really off with it. But Malfoy and his investigators found nothing at the crime scene." Hermione nervously reached for some chocolate and stuffed it into her mouth.
"God, Harry, it can't be starting again can it?"
"Well, we always knew that it might. But I think we should keep calm. This can so easily have been done by some Voldemort-groupie or something." Hermione nodded. They'd had a feeling that even after Voldemort had been defeated, someone from his ranks would try to finish the job. But they also figured that they had killed most of the Death Eaters who would have been crazy enough to try - the rest had all been sent to Azkaban.
"I'm scared," she bent her head and Harry put his arm around her shoulders. "Did you tell the Weasley's?" she whispered.
"No, only Arthur knows about it. And he won't tell them. There is no reason to scare everyone just yet."
"We're supposed to go to the Burrow tomorrow, for dinner with Ron. How can we pretend that this didn't happen?" Harry was a bit surprised at how hard Hermione was taking it. They had seen far worse during the war, but maybe all these years had made Hermione forget it a bit. She seemed really shaken up.
It was as if Hermione had been reading his thoughts, because she suddenly sighed and looked down at her hands, saying, "I'll be okay, don't worry. It's just that it's Tonks and Lupin…. We cared about them so much and now someone has attacked them in their graves. It's just so morbid." They were quiet for a while, Hermione still with her head on his shoulder, and Harry with his arm still around her.
"What a day," Harry sighed.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" she turned her head and looked into his green eyes. Their faces were so close that she felt his breath on her lips.
"We-we said…"
"I just mean, stay here," she added. He nodded and kissed her forehead.
She got up and went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. She stopped in front of the mirror and looked at herself. She couldn't tell Harry why she was so scared. Hearing about the opening of the graves had lead her mind to one place: What if someone wanted to hurt Harry? She had thought all of that was behind them. Sure dark arts still existed, but no one would be foolish enough to try to hurt Harry after what happened with Voldemort. But this, opening someone's grave and stealing their limbs. She shuddered just thinking about it.
"You have to be saf,e Harry, for my sake. I love you too much to lose you," she thought.
As she left the bathroom she saw that Harry was getting undressed and her heart started beating faster. She hadn't seen Harry that naked since the wars, when she had shared a tent with him, Ron, and Ginny. She watched as he climbed under the covers and she joined him. He immediately rolled over and held her from behind.
"It'll be okay, right?" she whispered.
"Yes." He didn't sound convincing at all.
"I'll get in to Connor's office. I have to," Hermione continued and Harry squeezed her harder as she said it. Hermione swallowed hard as he did so. He was painfully close to her and it was giving her painful memories. It was all too familiar.
---
When she woke up, Harry had already left. She wasn't surprised; she guessed Harry would spend most of the hours of the day at the office during the next couple days. She was left alone with the surveillance of Cowell for the moment. It was dull work. She spent hours in front of the window, recording with her magic binoculars what he was doing. He mostly sat at his desk working. Sometimes he'd have young girls in for a visit, and Hermione was forced to watch how he was as sleazy to them as he was to her. She was at least relieved that Connor had eyes for more women than her. It gave her a break from fending him off.
She got ready for her dinner at the Burrow and was relieved at not having to dress in the tight dresses she had to wear with Connor. She chose a flowery summer dress that swung from side to side when she walked. With a loud pop she apparated to the Burrow.
She was worried that it would be awkward with Ron there, but she was usually comfortable with his family. What she was most worried about was watching Ginny and Harry all over each other. When she arrived at the Burrow, she smiled as everyone greeted her and her eyes quickly found Harry sitting in the living room with Ron, his eyes met hers so briefly that no one but the two of them noticed before he quickly looked away again.
---
"Pass the potatoes," Ron said with his mouth full and George passed it over. George was very quiet these days, and no one could blame him. After all, he had lost half of himself. Percy was a regular around the kitchen table in recent times, though, and it brought back some of the cheer that had been lost. Bill and Fleur were there a lot, mostly because Molly loved spoiling their children. Hermione was sitting next to Ron, as she always did. She threw casual glances at Harry, who was sitting opposite of her. He had held her all night; she wondered if he had told Ginny that he had slept in Hermione's bed… she had a strong feeling that Ginny had no idea. Ron filled Hermione's glass with wine and she smiled at him.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," he told her.
"All ready?" she was honestly surprised. When Ron made his way to the UK he usually stayed at least a week. He still had his old flat, and he enjoyed spending time in London.
"Yeah, we have an important game coming up, and I need to practice. You know how it is." She nodded and drank
some more wine.
"Maybe you'll go and visit Ron soon," Molly said, trying to look innocent.
"Maybe," Hermione answered.
"But I'm sure I'll come back soon, that Cowell guy invited me to another one of his balls." Hermione almost choked on her wine.
"Cowell guy?" Molly asked and Hermione looked angrily at Ron. Why would he do that? How could he do
that? Ginny changed the subject quickly.
"So I'm really busy with the wedding plans, I'm hoping for a Christmas wedding. Do you think that could be arranged, mum?" she asked. Hermione felt even worse. She did not want to think about Harry and Ginny's wedding; she'd even rather talk about Cowell….
"Yeah, Christmas is brilliant," Ron added, "I have two weeks off then!" Hermione looked at Harry. He seemed very interested in his dinner.
"Harry, darling," Ginny said and caressed his hand.
"Yeah, sure. Christmas sounds good," he said and stuffed a sausage in his mouth. He glanced up at Hermione and then back at his dinner.
---
Soon they were all sitting in the living room drinking hot cider while Percy was telling stories from work. Harry was very quiet and Hermione knew he was thinking about work. She knew exactly how he felt; it was hard to sit here smiling as if nothing had happened when people so dear to their hearts had been violated in the worst way. But it was part of their job. She thought about Dumbledore, he always said that life had to be enjoyed whenever it could be. She looked at Arthur and he winked at her, at least he knew what she was feeling. She looked at Harry again, noting how sad he was. It would probably take years of dealing with this sort of thing for the two of them to become as use to it as Arthur probably was by now, not that it didn't upset him anyway.
Ginny was sitting next to Harry on the sofa with her hand on his thigh. Ron was sitting in one of the armchairs and Hermione was on the floor playing with Bill and Fleur's baby. She was lying in Hermione's lap and Hermione was hiding behind her hands.
"So Ronald, I saw a picture in a magazine of you and a model," Fleur said and everyone turned to Ron. He flushed slightly and started stammering. Hermione felt sorry for him.
"Yes, she was very pretty," Hermione said. Everyone looked at her. "Don't worry so much guys,"
she smiled. "It's fine. I live over here now." Molly frowned; she didn't like the arrangement her son
had with Hermione. She wanted them to get married, but she wasn't sure it would ever happen at the rate they were
going.
"Ginny, tell us more about your wedding plans," the matriarch said and leaned back in her chair. She could hear her daughter talk about her wedding for hours. Molly had waited for her only daughter's wedding for years. She had been worried that Harry would never ask her. Hermione rolled her eyes; she guessed it would be impolite if she threw up involuntarily on the baby. She bent down and started making noises with her mouth against the baby's stomach.
"Oh, yes, thanks for reminding me mum," Ginny bubbled, "Hermione!" Hermione looked up from the baby, Harry seemed to be paying attention now as well.
"I wanted to ask you to be the maid of honor." Hermione swallowed, her mouth felt unnaturally dry.
"Oh merci, Ginny," Fleur joked.
"No I'm sorry Fleur, you are like my sister. But Hermione has been one of my best friend's since Hogwarts, and she is like a sister to Harry." Hermione and Harry's eyes met again. "It would be weird standing in the church without you next to us," Ginny continued.
"H-Harry?" Hermione stammered, inwardly wishing for him to save her.
"Um... yeah, I don't…"
"Oh, I hadn't told him about it," Ginny explained. Everyone beamed; obviously this was supposed to be some kind of good news. Hermione felt sweaty and her heart beat hard in her chest. Her hands felt cold and she felt like she was about to pass out. How could she stand in the church and watch Harry marry someone else?
"Of course, if you two want me there I'd be honored." Her eyes burned and she looked down at the baby. Everyone cheered and the discussion continued. Hermione handed the baby to Ron and left the room. She went out in the summer night and took a deep breath of air. Returning to England might have been her biggest mistake. Being around Harry was a constant reminder of how she felt and what had happened.
Two hands gently caressed her shoulders from behind.
"Are you alright?" Ron whispered in her ear.
"Yes," she turned and looked at him. "Oh, Ron," she said and threw her arms around him. "I miss you so much, I feel really lost." He caressed her back gently.
"I'm always here for you Hermione, you know I am." She buried her head against his shoulder.
"Do you want to stay with me in my flat tonight?" he asked.
"Yeah." He kissed her cheek.
"I'm going back inside, are you coming?"
"In a minute." She continued to look out over the fields. She kicked a nail in one of the floorboards.
"Hey," Harry said and Hermione spun around.
"Hi."
"I didn't know about the maid of honor thing," he said and took a step towards her. As he did she took a
step back.
"No, it's fine. I'm really happy for you two." Harry looked down at his feet.
"Do you want to talk?"
"About?" she asked, her voice very high.
"About that…you know."
"No!" she looked affronted.
"How about I come back to the hotel with you, and we can just hang out for a while?" he suggested. He could see that Hermione had become upset by Ginny's suggestion. He wanted to be there for her. And more than anything he wanted to know why she had been upset. Were there feelings there for him? He had to know, he would die if he married Ginny without asking Hermione how she felt.
"Ready?" Harry heard Ron ask and turned to see Ron carrying Hermione's jacket.
"You - you're leaving?" Harry stuttered.
"Yeah, we are heading back to my place," Ron answered and handed Hermione her jacket. He headed towards the sports car he had rented. Harry reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand.
"Hermione?"
"I think you're fiancé is waiting for you," she said coldly. She followed Ron to his car and sat down on the passenger side; Ron was holding the door for her, but looked up at Harry and winked. Harry saw them driving away, just like last time.
Bloody Hermione, making him feel like such a fool again.
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