Chapter 22
They were lying on the ground of the Gazebo, Ariana on the bench, a small bluebell flame heating the space and giving them a little light, Hermione on her back with her head on Fred’s bicep who was also on his back, Regulus on her left lying on his side looking at them, smiling softly at the stories Fred and Hermione were telling them, the fun times at Hogwarts, the pranks, waterslide, pond, the fireworks, Hermione’s cat accident, the Triwizard tasks minus the trauma, the World Cup, again minus the trauma, the Yule ball.
“There she was in a periwinkle gown looking stunning, made of starlight, holding the arm of the youngest professional seeker in History, the nerve!”
They all laughed softly, James too, sitting with his back against the entrance of the Gazebo, he said he wanted to keep watch and after years of him not being outdoors no one argued.
“Your brother was a nightmare to me that night, I ended up crying in an alcove, he was so cruel”
“aww dear Ronnekkins, I’m haunting him when I get the chance”
They Chuckled and after a short silence Hermione needed to confess “It was actually Malfoy who found me, dried my tears with his handkerchief and sat next to me, put his arm over my shoulder and told me to cry everything I wanted but to not let Ronald treat me like that ever again”
“Malfoy?” Fred looked confused.
“The git who bullied you and Harry ?” asked James.
“He would always find me after he was mean to any of us, tell me that I wouldnt understand but to please don’t take it seriously. After the mudblood incident he wrote me a letter that disappeared after reading it and that happened to every apology letter he would write to me”
oh! she thought so this wasn’t my first time with that piece of magic
“He apologized and told me that only twats used that word and that meant he was a twat himself” she smiled softly at the memory “at the World Cup I saw him after the dust had settled, he was looking for us, and once he saw us he took me behind a bush and hugged me. No one ever saw these moments, I thought I was going mad. Then he saved me during the battle, He pushed me away from a curse, it killed him” she was crying and sobbing now, Regulus bent over her and dried her tears with his thumb
“The Manor is our next stop isn’t it? That's why you’re telling us this?”
“Yes, I think so, the last bond is with the Malfoys but I can’t be sure if it is going to be him. I don’t know If it would make me happy to see him or sad that he couldn’t move on”
“Wasn’t Malfoy Manor where they hurt you?” asked James expression hard
“Yes, I also don’t know if I can handle going in there “
The earth shook and the sound coming from outside was like a giant had fallen to the ground. The vibrations of the gazebo got all of them sitting up and Ariana turning to them.
“It’s the house” Ariana explained, somber, “It falls on his shoulders every night, reminding him of the pain it was to be part of his family and other such things” she then laid back down and turned to give them her back.
The horror of the situation left them wide eyed and mute.
“We’ll be there with him tomorrow and we can help him” Regulus promised her “ I’ll be at your side, and If he needs someone who understands what he went through I’ll talk to him. I don’t know if you understand how brave he was to be kind to you even in secret, I was tortured at the age of seven for less”
Hermione stared into Regulus' eyes, her own shining, she was shaking and she hadn’t noticed. She hugged him
“And if he feels like being his twat self, James and I will put him in his place, right James?” asked Fred trying to make her laugh
But James hadn’t listened; he was miles away in his own head.
___________________________
“Good morning” yelled Merope from the entrance of the Gazebo. Hermione was so winded up that she sat up like a board, her magic reacted and blew the curtains away exposing them from pitch black to summer sunlight
“Circe Mery! !
“Sorry”
Groans echoed around her as the boys had had a very violent awakening.
“Very well, now that everybody is awake we can continue, thank you very much Merope. The rest chop chop” Ariana business as usual, sat primly on her bench, stood and left them to run after her.
They started the stone road, leading them to the gate and driveway of the Manor. Hermione hadn’t walked this long her last time here, maybe she should start calling it her last stay, see if Luna was onto something that might help the trauma, the boys exchanged looks and apparently James won, hard to say how that happened, but he approached her and let the others advance in front of them
“Hermione, I don’t think I have apologized enough about my behaviour…”
“James, I really don’t think…”
“Please let me finish? I know I have made you feel miserable and that right now you’re going through many heavy emotions, but, I want you to understand that I thank you deeply for what you’ve shared with me about you, about Harry. Thank you for being the Potter’s savior and I need to tell you that I want to be here for you, if you need me, I know you have already the guys to do, well, everything for you but If you need me I’ll be there”
He ended up holding out his hand in askance, he was being nice, and open and vulnerable right now and she appreciated it, so she gave him her hand accepting his offer, in a surprising turn of events he took it and kissed the back of her hand. He was working for it, now he had to work on his timing because as she turned away she was in front of the doors and about to collapse on her knees. She didn’t even register when they passed the gate. She turned to him and he gave her a half smile, maybe his timing was perfect after all.
James knocked on the door and stepped behind her, it looked like he was getting second thoughts but she felt his presence right behind her back. She turned to her left to see the others, they looked worried but hopeful.
No one answered the door, she knocked again, nothing, she was starting to get dizzy. Regulus came to her side, “Breathe Lovely, we’re going to go in ok?” He asked her and then confirmed with the others over her head and over his shoulder.
She nodded
“Ok, Regulus and Fred you enter first, Ariana and Merope behind Hermione and me, wands at the ready” She didn’t know when they named James the leader but she was so grateful of not having to think.
If it was Draco behind the door, was it happy or sad? Happy because if it was Lucius Malfoy she might prefer to touch Voldydoll and find out what was that about, better than having a bond with the man. But Draco deserved to move on to something better, to have another shot at life.
They entered and started calling “ Draco!” They advanced near closed double doors and stopped, they heard movement on the other side.
“Are you supposed to be Regulus Black?” a drawl that she recognized all too well
“Am I to be bothered by a Weasley and a Potter in the afterlife too?” he scoffed. She was just behind James, desperate to see him and confirm if he really was the kind of person she thought he was, the kind of man she thought so much about.
“The only one related to your little group I cared to see again was…” she entered the room, It was a huge dining room with a table that could sit sixteen, on the other side of the room at the head of the table stood Draco impeccably dressed and coiffed, his face set on his signature smirk, a hand on a pocket, the other holding a porcelain cup his eyes studied her, sadness filled them.
“No” he whispered, she didn’t hear it, only saw his mouth forming the words, he set the cup too hardly on the table, it might’ve chipped, and walked towards her with a look of desperation that rooted her to the ground, he bypassed the others without a second look and when he finally got to her he was crying
“You cannot be dead Granger, you’re too young, you shouldn’t be here” he hugged her as cried silently.
She never thought she'd see him like this, and moreover in public. He held her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
James cleared his throat “We’ll give you a minute. Everybody let’s go to the foyer”
The door clicking gave Hermione a wake up call.
“Draco, Draco please don’t cry, Please listen, I’m not dead”
“You aren’t ?” he said, pulling his body away from hers, and placing his hands on each side of her face, she held his hands there.
“No Draco I’m not technically dead, at least not permanently, I think”
She could see him analyzing the situation behind his eyes, his eyebrows formed a line between them, his eyes narrowed but gentle. He swallowed, and used his thumbs to clean the tears from her face, she was paying so close attention that she could see him hesitating his touch, his hands started to loosen the hold around her face, she let him, not sure what to do. They didn’t know each other so well, Was he getting self-conscious, Was he regretting touching her for who she was, what she was or for the circumstances? Was he embarrassed at his reaction?.
She felt exposed and raw too, but took her fear and transformed it into empathy.
“Should we sit?, I have some things to tell you”
“Yeah..” “ahem, Yes, please have a seat, Would you like some tea, have you eaten?”
He went from vulnerable to polite gentleman, gave her his arm and guided her to his end of the table, pulled the chair for her and helped her get into place.
“Thank you, yes, if it's no bother I’d like some tea and whatever you have to eat, I know we don’t need it but I haven’t gotten used to ‘not eating’ for such a long time”
She hadn’t finished talking when a cup of earl gray and a full english was in front of her. She looked up at him in surprise
He seemed secretly amused with her facial expression, “The house is magical here in the underworld, there are no house elves or anyone else, it just provides” “Hermio…Granger, I don’t understand how or why you are here”
“You can call me Hermione, I already call you Draco, for a while now to be honest. Some very bad things are happening at home, and I have sad news for you If you don’t know already”
“Father is dead, he came for a visit, very short really”
“He didn’t tell you how he died, or what was happening?”
“No, he just said he hoped I liked my present, he would send me something in a form of apology”
Was I to be the present? Of course he would see her like that, Creepy, slavist, leech
“ahem. Well Draco, I don’t know what that is about, I talked to him not long before… Everything. I think I’ll start from the beginning. Your mother missed you terribly, or so they say….”
When she finished telling him how she ended up here with a possible exit door, he had his hands covering his face, she wasn’t able to eat a lot either.
“Would there ever be a time when a Malfoy doesn’t ruin your life?”
“You Draco, are a Malfoy and you’ve never ruined my life, I haven’t forgotten that even when you apologized most of the time you still hurt me a lot at Hogwarts but, Draco you literally saved my life”
“Yes, and because of that my mother took a three year long vendetta against you and you ended up here either way”
“Draco, I know this is all too much but listen to me, I don’t blame you, and my feelings, My OPINION of you hasn’t changed. I rallied half the Order to clear your charges posthumously because you don’t deserve to be put in the same group than them not even with your Family”
He looked into her eyes, and his danced with emotion
“So you did the Ritual, it means you’re bonded to me now?”
“Yes, I’m sorry for what that could mean to you, I still don't know what would happen If / when I go back. I really didn’t understand it would mean something so involved with the families, specially yours and Regulus’s, that are no longer alive”
Numbly he nodded “You’re also bonded to Black, Weasley and Potter” a statement “What kind of bonds?”
“ummm” was he judging her? Was he ok? Why the drastic change? “I’m bonded to the four of you, at least that is the conclusion I reached, seeing that I’m here with you. The kind of bond wasn’t clear in the texts I read, with Regulus and Fred it’s in the romantic spectrum with James I don’t know, It has been a rocky start”
“I would guess being with the dad of your best friend would be complicated yes”
She flinched, she didn’t know why she was expecting something different than critics and judgement, for what she had seen, polyamory isn't so common in the wizarding world. Also not because Draco had been nice it meant that he liked her in any way
“I’m sorry Granger…I was trying to joke, it wasn’t …” “...It is a lot after years of nothing, just a phrase from my father to see him evaporate practically”
“Yes, yes of course, If you want we can leave you and come back”
“No, please don’t leave, I don’t want you here at nightfall but please stay, just, Granger, please don’t think anything of it, I just need a moment”
“Alright, I’ll see where the others are”