A/N: Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I love 'em all!
Chapter 13 - Understanding
Dear Obnoxious Brats,
Stay the hell out of my business concerning Harry. Yeah, I'm only in it for the money, and I'm sick and tired of you two trying to get in between me and the loser-boy's money. It's all mine, MINE! And you'll never get me away from it, no matter how hard you try!
It's harder than you thought playing on the big girls' court, isn't it?
Rot in hell, you little pests.
Wishing you the worst,
Hannah
Raven and Jade stared at each other in shock for a few seconds trying to comprehend what they had just read. The problem was even worse than they thought-Hannah was onto them. And she had said that they would never be able to wrest her away from their dad's money.
Then they both looked at the paper with wide eyes. They smiled at each other and started laughing as it sank into them what had just happened. Hannah was dumber than they thought: she had sent them bloody proof that she was only marrying Harry because she wanted his money! This was their golden opportunity, what they had been waiting for! And they hadn't had to do anything, Hannah had sent it to them!
"Raven?" asked Jade slowly, a grin on her face.
"Yeah?" said Raven, her face mirroring her twin's.
"She really is stupid, isn't she?" said Jade.
"Yes, Jade," replied Raven. "Yes, she really is."
Raven stood up to go show the letter to Hermione, but as soon as she had taken one step the letter turned to ashes in her hands. The girls watched the ashes slowly fall out of Raven's hands in shock. They looked up at each other, their spirits sinking quickly. They had had the proof in their hands! They were seconds away from being rid of Hannah forever! This wasn't happening, there was no way this was happening!
"Hey, losers," said Scorpius, sauntering over to the twins. "Why are you standing there like idiots staring at Raven's hands?"
Jade gave a weak chuckle before collapsing on the floor. She had been holding her breath in shock and passed out from lack of oxygen.
Raven made no move to help her sister-she just stared at her hands. She didn't watch as Scorpius called for help, and Teddy came running up. She didn't watch as the two carried her twin sister up to the hospital wing. She just blinked.
She couldn't believe how close they were, only to have failed. She was having an out-of-body experience, taking in everything and nothing at once. It was like Hannah had played the pair of them like a harp. She seemed to always be two steps ahead. Nothing they did worked, and not only that but she had just crushed their spirits and resolve with seven sentences. It really was that much worse having gotten their hopes up first.
She finally moved as the bell signaling the beginning of class rang, dragging her feet and keeping her head down as tears welled in her eyes.
Meanwhile, up in the hospital wing Jade had just been woken by Madam Pomfrey. "Are you alright, dear?" the woman asked.
Jade just nodded dumbly. "I-I'm fine. I just need…I need some water," she said hollowly.
Madam Pomfrey filled Jade's water glass with a quick aguamenti and handed it to the young girl, a worried look on her face. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Jade smiled at her, realizing that her previous response was insufficient. "I'm fine, really. I must've stood with my knees locked for too long."
Madam Pomfrey retreated back to her office with a few concerned looks back at her patient and closed the door. As soon as the door had closed, Jade squeezed her eyes shut to unsuccessfully try to stop the tears from coming.
After school, Scorpius came up to Teddy, who was sitting on one of the couches in the common room. He sat next to his friend and sighed, pulling his homework out of his bag and slamming it on the table. "It sucks to see them like that," he said, his voice breaking the silence like a gunshot in the night.
"Yeah," agreed Teddy, "it does."
They looked over at their female friends, who were sitting at a table across the common room, looking glum. They were supposed to be trying to bust out some homework before Quidditch practice started, but they didn't even have their school bags with them. Their mood seemed to be affecting that corner of the common room, making all of the kids around them seem less happy.
"We have to do something," said Scorpius.
"Yeah, but what?" asked Teddy.
Scorpius took a minute to think about it, finally saying, "It looks like we'll have to try implementing one last plan before Christmas Break all on our own. I think they're done for at the moment."
Teddy slowly nodded, replying with, "They'll be ready to go again when the break starts. There's no way they'd miss an opportunity like that."
Scorpius nodded determinedly, Teddy repeating the gesture.
Hannah smiled to herself as she paid for the new set of pin
k dress robes she had seen in the shop window of her favorite store. She wasn't smiling because of the purchase…well, maybe a little bit of the smile was because of the purchase, but the rest was for evil purposes.
Her little letter to the brats should've been good enough to keep them out of her hair for at least a few weeks. There's nothing worse than getting your hopes up only to have them crushed-Hannah had learned that one the hard away (but then again, doesn't everyone?).
She could imagine the piteous excuses for girls' faces right now. They would most certainly start crying…hell, Jane-or-whatever-her-name-was might even pass out! It was simply marvelous! Hannah loved the fact that she could show how smart and clever she was by successfully hurting two eleven-year-olds. It was like picking on a pair of sixth-graders!
Grinning and just barely being able to stop herself from cackling evilly, Hannah made her way back to the alley, Harry's money lining her pockets.
On Saturday, Harry went up to Hogsmeade as usual. He couldn't wait to spend another few hours with Hermione-it was when he felt the most comfortable and sure of himself.
Not to mention the fact that he was still completely and utterly in love with the woman. That definitely made seeing her that much better.
He couldn't deny it anymore-he really was still just as in love with her as he was the day he confessed to her. It was just too bad she didn't love him back. He had Hannah for that.
He wasn't taking advantage of Hannah, definitely not! He was just in love with both of them.
He didn't know if he should tell Hermione how he felt. If he did so and she found it awkward, it would ruin their friendship for another few years…unless she blew it off and let him off easy. That might make it easier and less awkward between them.
He sighed as he weighed the pros and cons in his head.
He ultimately decided he should tell her as soon as possible, especially considering the fact that he just couldn't hold it in any longer-he just wanted to shout it for all to hear from a mountain top! She deserved to know whether or not she returned his feelings. Not to mention the fact that it would take a big weight off his chest.
He found himself smiling as he seated himself at their usual table in the Three Broomsticks. It was ten minutes until their usual meeting time, and that ten minutes felt like ten years. And in those ten years-plus another fifteen-nobody showed up but for an old man with a raggedy cloak.
Harry frequently checked his watch over the next few hours, the amount of butterbeer bottles on his table steadily growing. At three hours after their usual meeting time Harry finally left, his head hung low and his shoulders stooped. He walked up to the castle, fearing that he may find that Hermione had been doing nothing and had just forgotten about their lunch. If that was the case then they clearly didn't mean as much to her as they did to him.
Raising his hand to knock on her door, Harry took a deep breath.
Hermione's crying abruptly stopped as someone knocked on the door. She had been crying because she was supposed to meet with Harry but was intentionally blowing him off, hoping that he would stop trying to see her. She had succumbed to Ron's truthful words and found herself unable to be in Harry's presence-it just hurt too much knowing that she would be that close to him and not be able to have him…and knowing that it was all her fault.
But it seems that Harry had come up to find her, which she had not been counting on. She cleaned up all evidence of her crying from her face and smiled as she opened the door to Harry, who didn't seem all that happy that she had blown him off.
"Hi, Harry," she said, hating herself for doing this to the man she loved. "What's up?"
Harry couldn't believe his ears. She had missed their lunch and had the gall to just nonchalantly ask 'what's up?'
"So did you have an important meeting today or something?" Harry asked through clenched teeth, already knowing the answer to his question.
"No, why?" she asked. "And what are you doing here?"
"W-what?" sputtered Harry. "What am I doing here? You're the one who missed lunch!"
"Lunch?" asked Hermione, genuinely confused. "Is today Saturday? I'm so sorry, Harry, I totally forgot!"
Harry looked down at Hermione's feet, hurt and pain welling in his eyes. "It's alright, I-I'll see you later," he said before apparating through Hogwarts's wards.
He got home and collapsed on the couch, pressing his hands into his eyes. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have really hoped that Hermione would return his feelings? How could he have even considered telling her his feelings when he was engaged to Hannah? Did he love Hermione more than he loved Hannah, his fiancée?
He was so confused! And he was angry at himself for almost breaking his vow to Hannah, who loved him with all her heart. He wasn't that type of man!
Taking a deep, calming breath, Harry assessed his options.
And came to a conclusion.
Taking out a pen and paper, he began writing to his girls.
Raven and Jade had just began returning to their normal selves when, one week before winter break, they received a letter from their dad. His writing was written with sharp points and the paper was indented to the point of ripping at some points, indicating that he may have been angry when he had written it.
Dear Raven and Jade,
I have great news to tell both of you! Hannah and I have decided to push up the wedding to the end of winter break! Isn't that great?
I hope both of you are doing well and I can't wait to see you on Saturday!
Love,
Dad
The twins looked at each other, not knowing what to feel. They knew they should have been feeling depressed, alarmed, and angry, but they really only felt the depression and indifference. They had been fighting a losing battle anyway-it was difficult trying to outwit an adult who had much more life experience than the pair of them combined.
It seemed inevitable that this would happen in the end.
Raven laughed and tore up the letter, tossing the pieces up to let the wind carry them away. Maybe then they could pretend they hadn't seen the contents.
"W-we have to do something," said Jade quietly, trying to grasp at straws and only saying what she felt needed to be said so they could go to sleep with clear consciences. "We can't just stand by and let this happen."
"We can and will," said Raven bitterly. "There's nothing more we can do."
"What are you talking about?" asked Jade, surprised that her sister was giving up so easily. It wasn't so odd that Jade would let something like this happen, but her sister wouldn't give up until the very end, where she still only went kicking and screaming. Her sister, who she was always looking at to show her the way and help guide her. Unfortunately, (and she would never admit this to her sister) she needed Raven a lot more than Raven needed her.
"I'm saying it's done," Raven said, tears gathering in her eyes as she gazed at her sister, who had tears building in her eyes too. "I'm saying we failed. We failed our dad and we failed Professor Granger!" she shouted.
Jade's lower lip quivered and she swiped at the tears on her face. "W-well, I see you've given up. I guess it's just me and the boys then. Because I'm going to do this for daddy."
Raven took in a shaky breath, her lips also quivering. "You're not going to guilt me into this. You're right, I've given up. We'll have to watch him with her for the rest of our lives, knowing that she d-d-doesn't l-love him l-like Professor Granger c-c-could."
"I can't believe you, Raven," whispered Jade. "You've always been the outspoken one, the stubborn one, the fiery one out of the two of us. And you're going to leave me to face this by myself?"
"I'm sorry Jade," Raven whispered back just as quietly. "But there's really nothing we can do."
She reached out a hand toward Jade to comfort her, but it just got slapped away. "Y-you…you're not my s-sister. I d-don't know you!"
And with that she turned and fled, crying harder with each of her sister's cries of her name.
A/N: Unfortunately, it gets even worse next chapter. Only a few chapters left I think, so I really am building up to the climax here this time!
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