A/N: Sorry about the missed update. I had a pretty crummy week and it was busy like crazy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!!
Chapter 6 “ We’ve Never Been So Alone
“You wash your hands and come out clean
Fail to recognize the enemies within
You say we're not responsible
But we are…”
- “We Are” by Ana
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Ginny could hear the raised voices as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Glancing around quickly, not really knowing where she was going, she decided to follow the arguing voices of her brother and others who were gathered outside a private room a few hallways away.
When they caught sight of her, Ron’s face softened just a bit, but Hermione spoke up first.
“He’s fine.” She wrapped a comforting arm around Ginny, giving her shoulders a squeeze.
Ginny didn’t say anything, but looked around at the others: Remus was carefully avoiding her gaze, as were her two other brothers, Bill and Charlie. Ron kept glancing towards the closed door with worry. Ginny’s dad was in a quiet conversation with McGonagall, Kingsley and Tonks.
She saw the signs of battle all over them from torn clothing to gashes in arms and legs. Charlie’s arm was in a sling and Hermione’s ankle was bound. She supposed she didn’t look much better. Besides the pure exhaustion she was feeling, Ginny knew she had a wide cut on her back, a makeshift bandage covering it, along with both her hands bound in bandages from being burned by the flames as she tried to help evacuate the Three Broomsticks.
“If he’s fine, how come no one’s in there with him?” Ginny asked carefully. It was amazing that only three hours ago, the greatest dark wizard in history had finally been defeated, but no one here felt like celebrating.
“He doesn’t want to see anyone, Gin.”
“What?!” Ginny pulled away from Hermione as she heard Ron’s words.
“Ginny, he’s confused and disoriented. We have no idea what he went through during those two hours,” Remus reminded her sympathetically.
She remembered the two hours vividly. Harry had finally reached Voldemort and they had both begun to duel furiously. Soon enough, Priori Incantantum was activated and a few moments later, both Harry and Voldemort seemed to be encased in a large gold bubble, blocking everyone else from view, and no one knew what was happening inside, and why the bubble hadn’t broken. Ginny had seen Harry disappear into it and had tears running down her face for the next hour as she struggled just to stay alive on the torn battlefield.
Finally, when no more tears could come and there were no more death eaters standing, the Order had gathered around the bubble, watching nothing, and waiting for something. An hour after that, they were all blown off their feet as the bubble exploded outward. They were all quiet as the smoke cleared and Harry stood their, his wand gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes found Remus’ and he clearly stated, “He’s dead” before falling to the ground.
Everyone was afraid he had died, but they had gotten him to St. Mungo’s in time. To her annoyance, Ginny had been sent back to the Burrow to tell Mrs. Weasley the news. She had been caught in her mother’s web for almost two hours before she had finally managed to make it back to St Mungos.
And now she was here…waiting…like everyone else.
But she wasn’t like everyone else. Harry knew that.
She stepped towards the door, quickly blocked by Ron. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Ginny glared up at her older brother. “Don’t push me right now, Ron. You’ll get a bat boogy hex in your face.”
“Ginny, I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
They glared at one another for a few minutes. Ginny felt Hermione reach out and put a restraining hand on her shoulder, but other than that, no one moved.
“None of us can even begin to imagine what this was like for him,” Ron finally said. “He deserves all the space he wants.”
Ginny’s nostrils flared as her temper rose. “He doesn’t want space from me.”
“How do you know that!?” Ron finally snapped.
Hermione’s hand tightened and Ginny felt her jaw drop, rage boiling inside her. Quick as lighting, her fist came up, punching Ron right in the nose before he could think about dodging.
That seemed to snap everyone into action again, but before anyone could stop her, Ginny slipped into the silent room.
----
There were worse situations to be in, but Hermione Weasley couldn’t think of any at the moment.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she said through gritted teeth, watching Emily Lennon casually looking at the portraits and decorations that donned the walls and shelves of the Weasley sitting room.
“Surely you wouldn’t be so rude as to dismiss me before I even told you why I was here?” Emily straightened up and turned around to look at Hermione.
“Apparently you overestimate my hospitality. I could really care less why you are here.” Hermione walked swiftly over to the door, opening it and motioning Emily out. “All I care about is you leaving and never coming back.”
Emily didn’t seem phased by her rudeness, merely smiled and began a rather slow walk towards the door. “You seem to have already made up your mind about me, Mrs. Weasley. Can you really make such a judgment after a single dinner party?”
“Despite not knowing the details or circumstances, Harry Potter is my friend, and whatever you have done to him has already earned my distrust,” Hermione said stiffly as she led Emily down the hallway towards the front door, both of them walking rather slowly.
“Then you do not believe in redemption?”
Hermione sniffed. “For a select few, yes. But being through a war…once my good judgment is lost, it is hard for someone to get it back.”
Emily stopped and turned towards Hermione, her face curiously gleeful. “Then I am sorry for you, Hermione, truly sorry.”
Ignoring the use of her first name, Hermione replied, “I appreciate your sympathy, but I would prefer your departure.” She waved her arm again, motioning to the door that was still a ways ahead of them.
“Do you know, Miss Weasley,” Hermione frowned at the title as they both began to walk slowly up the hall again, “I don't mind your talking morality a bit. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike. You dislike me. I am quite aware of that, and I am beginning to detest you. And yet, I have come here to give you some advice.” Emily stopped suddenly, situating herself right in front of Hermione and her voice dropping slightly to a more serious tone. “I hold your husband in the hollow of my hand. And if you are wise, you will make him do what I tell him.”
Hermione felt her heart drop, her face an open mask of shock as she heard the words. Shock quickly turned to rage as she glared at the slightly shorter woman. “How dare you class my husband with yourself!” She jabbed a finger towards the door, not noticing that it was being opened and a person entered quietly. “Get out of my house?”
“Your house?” Emily sounded appalled. “A house bought with fraud and lies?”
Hermione’s head whirled as she heard a muffle footstep and turned to see Ron there, still in his Quidditch robes, his face pale and his expression shocked. She caught his eyes, confusion clouding all other thoughts as she heard Emily continue to speak.
“Ask him where the fame came from. Ask him about the game in 1998 and just how easily he was able to get into the Keeper position and make it look like pure coincidence.” Emily had been walking towards Ron and she stopped right in front of him, looking innocent. “Ask him about his tainted past.” Her head turned to Hermione. “You will find it much more interesting than mine.”
Hermione couldn’t find words. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her bottom lip trembled as Ron simply stood there, not denying anything at all.
Silence reigned for several more moments before Ron blinked and looked over at Emily.
“Get out,” he said sharply and Hermione saw his shoulders slump slightly as he looked down to the ground. “You’ve done your worst now.”
Emily took a few steps toward the door before turning back to the both of them. “Unless you meet my demands, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, I think you’ll find that the worst is yet to come.”
And without another word, she finally left.
But Hermione didn’t even notice, she was still looking at Ron, every emotion from anger to sadness to rage and betrayal swirling through her. Ron caught her eyes and he took a tentative step forward, making Hermione take an unconscious step back.
“Tell me it’s not true.” Her voice sounded dead, even to her.
“Hermi-“
“Tell me it’s not true!” Her hands came up over her belly, covering it with them and backing up another few more steps.
“Just let me explain-“ He tried to walk forward a few more steps, but she kept the same distance between them, her hands protectively covering their unborn child as if afraid Ron would leap up and attack. She wasn’t so sure he wouldn’t anymore. She wasn’t so sure about anything anymore.
“Ron, tell me it’s not true!” She shouted it out finally, releasing a bit of her rage.
“If you would just let me-“ He darted forward quickly, getting close enough to reach one of her arms, but she pulled away sharply.
“No, don’t come near me, don’t touch me!” she cried, tears leaking out of her eyes.
“Listen to me!” Ron begged, not trying to get close to her again.
“Listen to more lies?” She scoffed. “How many besides this was there, Ron? You’ve lied to me! To the world!”
“Hermione, please. I have to tell you.”
“No,” she cried, “I don’t want to hear anything!”
She stopped, breathing heavily, her hands still over her stomach and her back pressed against the wall, her whole body shaking with emotions. Ron stood a few feet in front of her, his hand dropping to his sides and his face full of anguish, a tear falling down his face.
Silence reigned again, broken by the sound of small house elf footsteps running away from the scene. It seemed Trixy was scared that her masters were fighting.
Ron gulped. “I suppose I should…go?”
Hermione hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding once. “Yes. Get out.”
Without a backward glance she rushed away to the stairs, tears covering her face and small sobs racking her body as she threw herself down onto their bed and wept.
----
“It’s not a pity plea,” Ginny argued, looking annoyed. “But come on, Harry, it’s the Weird Sisters! You know you want to catch them in concert. If I don’t use these tickets I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair as he saw Ginny give him another puppy-dog pout. “And Edward is…where?”
Ginny rolled her eyes, flicking her hair impatiently in the flames that surrounded her head. “Work called him in today, some emergency about the goblins going on strike.”
Harry leaned back in his chair, purposefully giving her a hard time. “Well, I dunno, Gin. I had a date with a pizza and the Star Wars Trilogy tonight. Hermione gave them to me for my birthday this year.”
She obviously wasn’t convinced. “Come on, I’ll buy you dinner, huh?” She batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.
A flash of discomfort flickered across Harry face, but he quickly hid it and leaned forward, forcing a smile. “Right you win. I’ll be over there in about a half hour, is that alright?”
“Perfect!” She smiled brightly and her face disappeared with a ‘pop!’ leaving Harry alone again in his house.
He hadn’t lied. He was planning on watching some tv tonight, but he had to admit, spending time with Ginny didn’t seem like the brightest idea at the time.
Standing up, he made his way back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up a bit. As he wiped down the counters, he thought about their conversation. He wanted to have kept the banter up longer, but it felt too much like their old routine flirting that he had panicked and quickly given in.
He wasn’t ready to go back down that road just yet….Harry tossed the dirty rag into a basket and started walking towards the stairs.
A knock snapped him out of his musings and he hesitated for half a moment before reluctantly going to see who it was.
His eyes widened in surprise as Draco Malfoy stood there, looking uncharacteristically disheveled and worried.
“Dear Merlin, Draco,” Harry ushered him in quickly and closed the door, turning back to his friend. “What happened?”
“Death Eater attack,” he was breathing heavily, “at Hollow’s point. I was called up to go help when the situation was getting too far out of hand.” Harry knew Draco was referring to his on-call Auror position that he held to bring in the extra money that he needed. “Someone got the Imperious curse on me seconds after I got there.” He started chocking on his words, his fear becoming evident. “They made me take down three Aurors before I could finally fight it off.” He blinked furiously, pacing around and fidgeting. “Blast it, Harry! They think I killed people! I had to run for my life once I broke the curse…”
He finally stopped, looking Harry straight in the eye. “You believe me…don’t you?”
Harry’s face betrayed no emotion as he scrutinized Draco. “Of course I do. Or, have you somehow found a way to break an unbreakable vow?”
Draco closed his eyes in relief. “I didn’t know where else to go. I tried to find Lupin, but I think he’s at work still and I didn’t want to attempt to get into the ministry just now.”
“No,” Harry said, trying to think quickly, “you’re just fine here. We’ll figure something out.” He began leading Draco back to his office. They had just answered when a frantic knock sounded at the front door. Draco and Harry looked at each other in worry and Harry hurried Draco into his office.
“Stay here,” he said quietly before hurrying out, shutting the door behind him.
He strode up to the door , collecting himself, but was once again shocked to see Ron standing on his doorstep, a small pack slung across his back, looking as if his entire world had been taken from him.
“Bloody hell, Ron…” Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. “She found out didn’t she?”
Not seeming to be able to find words, Ron just nodded, unable to meet Harry’s eyes.
Harry’s mind raced with desperation, trying to figure out what to do, all thoughts of his earlier conversation with Ginny pushed out of his mind. Both Ron and Draco needed help now, and Harry was the only one who could give it to them.
He gently steered a shaking and silent Ron into the living room, sitting him down on one of the overstuffed chairs.
“Wait here, alright. I’ve got…I’ve got to take care of something else for just a moment and then I’ll be right back.”
Ron gave him a halfhearted nod and Harry gently shut the doors behind him.
As he continued back down the hall towards his study, a loud pecking sounded at the window. Sighing in annoyance, Harry darted into the kitchen, opening a window and allowing the owl to fly in, drop a small note on the table and flying directly back out again. Harry snatched up the note and felt a little more hope drain out of him.
I need you. I’m coming there now.
-Hermione
He was going to need more help with this situation. A devious little plot sprang to his mind.
“Dobby?” He called softly, carefully.
With a crack, the house elf appeared in front of Harry, bowing low. “What can Dobby be doing for Harry Potter sir?”
Harry supposed he should have called Kreature but Dobby obeyed better than that miserable old bat, and he was more inclined to obey Harry rather then spend every moment trying to fid a way around his orders.
“Listen, there’s going to be a young woman coming here in a few minutes. Make sure you take her into the dining room and be quiet about it. Tell her I’ll come and see here there in a few minutes. Now this is very important Dobby: Don’t let anyone else in the house, you understand?”
“Dobby understands, sir. Dobby won’t let anyone in except the young lady and will keep her in the dining room until Mr. Harry Potter, sir, comes to see her. Dobby won’t let any one else in.”
“Great, Dobby, that’s perfect.” Harry gave the house elf a friendly clap on the back and smiled at him. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“Dobby is a good house elf, Mr. Harry Potter sir. Dobby will do whatever you tell him to.”
Harry smiled. “I know, Dobby, thanks.”
Dobby’s eyes started to get a little watery at that point and Harry hurried away before the elf could break out into noisy tears and give the game away.
As he headed back to the study, he hoped he knew what he was doing.
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A/N: This next chapter coming up should be pretty funny, for those of you whw have seen “An Ideal Husband” :p I hope you understood this chapter and everything. Harry’s “plan” will be totally revealed in the next chapter, so stay tuned!