Chapter 23
She found them in the parlor they passed right after the entrance door, they were sitting eating sandwiches and drinking tea.
After they left her with Malfoy the three guys had a conversation while Merope played with a doll house that appeared out of nowhere and Ariana drank tea watching over her. The house, apparently, answered to their wishes, nice and convenient, Malfoy.
“I need you to be really honest right now, are you interested in Hermione?” Fred asked being left out of the prior conversation on the subject
“Listen Weasley, I think so, it’s complicated, I am, was, in a really shitty headspace but I’m feeling like myself again, and not to be simplistic about it but who could even meet Hermione and not be attracted to her? She’s a powerhouse of a witch, gorgeous, brilliant and with a heart so full, I… I understand my place after the shit I put her through but I want to try, I want a second chance” James answered in hushed tones
“I think James will be good for us, Fred. I don’t feel like the bond is pushing us together, it’s more like making us more aware of each other but, I think it’s a sign that this is supposed to happen for Hermione, for her to be able to stay with us or go back and leave us behind, I don't know, but whatever she needs we should do it. I’m still running on the theory that not being close to the bonded she has met could hurt her and her magic”
“She needs supportive, loving men around her, not someone who’s going to treat her badly, so if we open a place in this relationship for you Potter, you better get a grip of yourself” Fred pointed directly in James’ face
“Stop that” Regulus slapped his hand away rolling his eyes “This situation with Draco can make or break everything, she obviously has been harboring feelings of guilt and really cares for him, If he doesn’t know how to answer or if he rejects her… and after all she's been through...”
Fred agreed “ Yeah, and this is the last bond, we may not even have a lot of time left together, we need everything to work out smoothly”
“Let me help” James proposed “You already have established a dynamic, I think I can take some of her load, you three have fun together, Regulus should help Malfoy, seeing as they’ve been through similar roads, and If I learn the needs of all of us she would have time to get along with her feelings and breathe a little…” he broke the circle to approach Ariana, “In fact, follow me”
Ariana looked at the three silly boys approach her with determination, Finally, she thought, they at last understood who was holding the reins
“Cast a muffliato around us Mr Potter” she said smirking at the sight of the confident men almost stumbled over their feet “state your terms”
“uh” he cleared his throat. “We believe that after helping Draco Malfoy, Hermione’s time here would have come to an end… we want to extend it. Have some more time with her and I think you can make it happen”
“I can, and I will if that is what she wishes, however I can give you less than a week, days are longer here than in the overworld but they are going to need her back very soon or the ritual won’t work”
They had mixed feelings about the deal, they hadn’t yet asked Hermione and maybe she didn’t want to stay longer, it was more time than originally but having a concrete timeline was making their goodbyes too real.
“I have conditions of course” said Ariana, the young girl had always been very polite and a little snob but who knew she was such a serious negotiator “First I’d like to state that doing this puts Merope and I in a difficult situation, I alone don’t have the power to give you the time but Merope grew very fond of Hermione and with her and my wishes of making Hermione happy we can achieve it. My conditions are simple, you will all give Merope a chance, a real chance at getting to know you and share time with all of you, and you will trust me implicitly”
“We will” Answered solemnly Regulus, with the class of a pureblood heir in face of an equal.
“You cannot promise that yet Mr Black, this deal includes Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter knowing the truth about Merope and the promise of thrusting me has to be absolute, there are very hard times coming your way, and only if you trust that we are going to sacrifice what we can for Hermione to be happy, can she have the future she deserves.
We’re betting our time here, Merope and I, we trust that Hermione will be our last assignment. We just need your trust in return”
Ariana took her cup of tea that didn’t change from the perfect temperature “You have until nightfall to answer, and Mr Potter, I’d advise you to be on the lead to resolve the Malfoy task, might get you some brownie points” the smirk came back to her face and she drank her cup of tea, conversation over.
Minutes later, Hermione came into the room followed by an almost desperate Malfoy, James didn’t need to know Hermione very well to know that something went wrong.
“Hey, everybody” she clears her throat “ I think we should…”
“Please, follow me, I’ll like to show you to your rooms” interrupted Draco, sending a pleading look to Hermione before looking at them, asking for help.
“Sure Malfoy, I’m James Potter, I’m sure you arrived at that conclusion yourself, you can call me James. I think the group would like to freshen up after our camping trip last night, maybe later Merope would like to see the grounds?” he offered the little girl, he didn’t know what was wrong with the little girl to make Ariana plead her case but he was going to make it work, he had to.
Hermione looked sad and confused but Malfoy jumped to the opportunity. “Nice meeting you James, sorry for earlier, you may call me Draco and please follow me”
Draco led the way out of the foyer and showed them the way into the house, a grand staircase at the end of the hall, on one side of it the dining room and on the other the Ballroom. There was a set of doors he didn’t address and they all understood. James stood between Hermione and the door blocking her view, Regulus placed his hand on the small of her back from her right and Fred brought the rear.
Merope wasn’t shy to go ahead and open doors and ohhhed and ahhhed at every hornate thing she saw, Draco looked at the small girl’s features curiously but didn't ask, Ariana kept distracting Draco asking him about the paintings, it was the most social they had ever seen her.
Hermione appreciated what James and her men were doing, trying to breach the gap with Draco and protecting her from bad memories. She let them, taking the time to look, for the first time, at Draco’s home, in the daylight and without the presence of his aunt. It was a beautiful place, crown moldings, carved archways, gold banisters, gold frames for some paintings, elegant decor.. a niffler’s wet dream, Oh! look at that! my niffler jokes didn’t die with me, and was that gallows humor? It looks like I’m getting better at that…or worse.
Draco appointed a room for each of them, all of them lavish and luxurious, Merope was jumping up and down her bed, saying she was a princess.
Between the room of prophecies and today she hadn’t had the time to study Merope, she looked better than the first time she saw her, happier, healthier, that made her remember how she looked after their swimming afternoon, she had looked cleaner.
Obviousy she looked cleaner, Hermione, she washed in the water.
How could she have ignored that? Was she really so prejudiced from the little girl’s past that she thought the dirtiness was a representation of her soul? How am I different from the blood purists?
Hermione felt responsible for Mery and guilty about her obliviousness, she looked behind her and the boys looking worried, James looking vigilant, odd, and Draco was looking at her longingly, she couldn’t help Draco sort out his feelings and she didn’t want to be there when he realised that he regretted being kind to her or saving her, so she sent a silent apology to the others for her cowardice and announced “I think I’ll stay with Mery for a while, help her find some clothes and so, see you guys later” and closed the door on their faces.
Ariana turned to them, “seems like you have a chance to sort some of this. Mr Malfoy, before the dunderheads state their business I’d like to talk to the four of you, lead the way to your study”
Draco looked at her surprised by the command and offered her his arm.
Once in the study that used to be his father’s, they sat around the fireplace, the young girl Ariana, stood before them.
“The end of Hermione’s stay is coming, at least once they help you Mr Malfoy with the subject of your house, these three…” she threw her hand in an arch in a gesture towards the others “had made a deal with me and by proxy Merope to extend her stay with you all, part of the deal is to give Merope a chance despise her past and to trust me no matter what, with the promise that I’ll help you and that I’ll help Hermione come back and have a good life.”
“Alright, yes, yes I agree too, If it buys me some time with Granger..” Draco stopped at the raised hand of Ariana
“As I told them, you cannot make that promise without all the information. I’m Ariana Dumbledore the youngest sister of Albus Dumbledore” She said his name as if it smelled “I was killed in an accident by a flying curse, I didn’t see it coming before dying so I don’t know who was it but the responsibility lies in my brother. I was… hurt… by muggles who saw one of my bouts of accidental magic when I was little, after that I wouldn’t practice magic, it was unreliable, I lived like a squib and with panic attacks every now and then until I died”.
“That’s why Hermione is so careful while using magic around you?” Fred asked, having noticed how nervous Hermione was when he had pranked Ariana and how she made a point of asking every time she casted around her.
“Yes, I was quite an invisible person in the wizarding world, not even alive did they care for a Dumbledore who wasn't Albus, though they were always there to mock my father or Abbe. I know a journalist did a kind of biography about Albus I guess there’s where she learned
about me”.
she swallowed, she was scared of their reactions about the rest of their stories.
“I chose to stay and be a…” she scoffed at the ceiling “... please dont tell Hermione, a guide for the souls who travel here, and I promised Merope, once I got to know her that I wouldn’t move on before her and leave her behind, she has a task to do, you see, or she would never rest”
“Ariana” Regulus started “What exactly is Merope? Where does she go at night? and…” he lowered his voice “Is the doll who we think it is?”
Ariana leveled him with her stare “For those who don’t know or have doubts, Merope Gaunt was Tom Marvolo Riddle’s Mother, you knew him as Voldemort, and little Tommy is the representation of what’s left of him”
The outrage, shock and questions echoed in the room.