Chapter 6
Hermione had been alone in the tent for hours now. This had to be some type of psychological torture, being left to her own devices for so long, so soon after being captured. When Lucius had first left her, she’d been apprehensive to have a closer look at everything around her. She assumed there must have been protective spells guarding it all, if not something more sinister. After the first thirty minutes had passed however, she grew restless and decided any action was better than none at all.
The first thing she needed to know was the date. Even if it wasn’t the exact date, knowing just the year would ease her anxiety immensely. Hermione inched her way over to the large table in the middle of the room, constantly looking behind her, just waiting for Lucius to come back through the door. When she was less than a foot away she released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. If anything was going to happen to her for looking at the documents before her it surely would have happened by now.
There was a large map taking up most of the space on the table. It was a magical war map to be certain, there were small illustrated armies moving up and down in various formations, as if acting out what the outcomes could be in such a battle. Hermione’s curiosity piqued again and she ran through all of the complex spells that would be needed to create something like this.
Enough, she reprimanded herself, if you keep getting side tracked you’ll be stuck here forever.
She moved slowly around the edge of the table, reading everything she could see without touching any of the objects. One thing she could see was the beginning of a letter.
Loxias,
I am writing to you on the 30th of October, 1745, to inform you of the plans I have commenced for tomorrow morning. Should the strategy succeed, we can hope to take our plans to the next stage. Please allow me to be th
The writing stopped at that point, and there was a smudge of ink. There was that name again, Loxias. In the furthest recesses of her mind, Hermione felt she had read the name somewhere before but no matter how hard she tried to recall, she just couldn’t put her finger on it.
At this moment that didn’t matter though, she knew it was 1745, and if this letter was recent then it was approximately the same time as back at home just… two hundred and fifty six years earlier. That thought was dizzying. She had known it but putting an actual number on it nearly made her faint. The farthest back anyone had ever gone back in time without causing irreparable damage to the timeline was five hours; another thing she had learned when she got her Time-Turner. How on earth was she going to fix this?
She had spent another hour just walking around to the various display cabinets. Some of them were very interesting; she spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what all of the different potions were. There were more than a few cabinets that she stayed far away from, she could feel the Dark magic in them and wanted no part of it.
Hermione was most intrigued by the doors. She only recognized one of the runes after getting a chance to inspect them more closely. It was othila, which represented either estate, heritage, or possession, depending on the context it was used. She couldn’t put together why any of these meanings would be on a doorway protected by Dark magic in Lucius Malfoy’s magically expanded tent.
After identifying the rune she had tentatively reached out to touch it, but when her hand was less than six inches away from the door, the rune suddenly began to glow. The edges were blindingly white and the inside was as dark as a black hole. The best description for the color Hermione could come up with was neon black, but she knew how ridiculous that sounded even in her head. What kind of ward could possibly produce something like that?
Eventually, Hermione had run out of things to occupy her mind. She had tried so very hard not to fall apart up until this point, but it had been hours since she had seen or heard another soul. The tent must have silencing charms on it too; of course it would.
She was now sitting on her bed trying not to cry. The last thing she wanted was for Lucius to catch her in a moment of vulnerability but she was not going to last much longer. She pulled the drapes around her bed tightly, cast a quick muffliato, and let the tears fall.
She thought about everyone in her life and she wondered if anyone had noticed she was truly missing yet. She hoped Poppy wouldn’t think she had just left without a word. She regretted not returning Molly’s owls about the wedding plans. She thought about missing Harry and Ginny’s wedding. Never seeing her parents, or going to Shell Cottage again, or walking through the halls of her Hogwarts.
But mostly, she thought about Ron. Of course they had a fight before this happened, of course she couldn’t have disappeared on a good note. Obviously she would have preferred not to disappear at all, but that seemed out of her control at this point.
They had always had a mutual crush, all seven years at school. He had fumbled his first chance with her in their fourth year when he neglected to ask her to the Yule Ball, the Christmas dance held when the Triwizard tournament had been located at Hogwarts that year. He had fumbled yet again in their sixth year, when Lavender made it known to the world she also had a crush on him, and they spent the year snogging in every corner they could find. By the time they were graduating though, he had pulled his act together and somehow, slowly, the two of them had fallen in love. Had it really only been two short months ago that Ron had finally worked up the courage, after four years of dating outside of school, to ask Hermione to marry him?
***
“Ronald, be careful, you’re far too close to the curb!” Hermione shrieked for what had to be the fifth time on this short journey so far.
“‘Mione, relax, I know what I’m doing. I passed my test this time, remember?” Ron said with a glance at her in the passenger seat, “just sit back and enjoy, we’ll be there soon.”
He had indeed passed the muggle driving test, the third time he took it. Ron thought learning to drive was a wasted skill when they could just apparate anywhere they needed to go, but Hermione had insisted they both get their muggle licenses anyway. Their potential children would someday be a part of that world too, maybe not full time but they would have muggle grandparents so certainly for some parts of their lives, she had insisted. Ron was just endeared by the thought of their future children, so he had let Hermione run with the idea.
“You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” she pouted from her seat, while she looked out the window at London passing them by.
“Don’t worry about it. Close your eyes, we’re nearly there,” Ron replied, reaching over and pulling Hermione’s hands up to her face.
She rolled her eyes but went along with Ron’s plans and covered her eyes. They drove for five more minutes before Hermione felt the car pull into a spot and Ron turned it off. She heard him exit the car and assumed he must be walking around to her side.
“Okay, you can look now!” Ron exclaimed excitedly, as he opened the car door for her.
Hermione opened her eyes and looked around to see… “King’s Cross Station? What in the world are we doing here, are we going somewhere?” she asked, perplexed.
Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the station, “Don’t worry, you’ll see.”
They walked hand in hand through the station and when they reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Ron held his arms out with an, “after you, my lady,” allowing Hermione to go through first to Platform 9 ¾.
They were alone together on the platform, that was a first. Any other time they had been there, it was always a mad hustle and bustle of people and animals all trying to get on the train before it left promptly at 11 o’clock.
“Ron, what are we doing here?” Hermione asked again, still mildly confused.
“We’re going for a ride together, just us and the Hogwarts Express. I know how much you love the highlands and the views from the train, I just thought it would be fun,” Ron blushed as he spoke, the red going all the way to the tips of his ears.
“How did you manage to pull this off? I didn’t even know the Express ran other than to and from Hogwarts each year,” Hermione said incredulously.
“I met some people at the Ministry last month during, erm, auror training,” he began awkwardly but Hermione cut him off.
“You know what, don’t tell me. This is incredibly sweet of you,” she leaned up and wrapped her arms around Ron’s neck, “all aboard, captain!” she added with a kiss.
They walked along the train and Ron seemingly picked a cab at random to enter. They walked through the narrow hall and stopped at a cabin near the end. Ron opened the door and motioned for Hermione to enter.
There were fairy lights wrapped around the luggage rack up top… wait, no, they were real live fairies, fluttering around with tiny lanterns. There was a small table with a red tablecloth between the two benches, and a couple of candles hovering over the surface. The table was absolutely laden with every single one of Hermione’s favorite meals from Hogwarts, still literally steaming hot like they had just come out of an oven.
“Ron, what… this is lovely,” Hermione breathed out, smiling from ear to ear.
Ron smiled even bigger than Hermione, if that was possible. He hugged her from behind, kissed her cheek and said, “Let’s eat.”
The train left the station soon after with the couple on board. They filled their stomachs, laughed until they cried, reminisced about their school days and Ron’s ignorance of Hermione’s seven year crush on him, prophesied about their future careers, and then just sat cuddled together, watching the highlands pass them by.
Hermione was about to nod off, she was so content and comfortable, when Ron cleared his throat.
“Erm, ‘Mione, I have a question for you, or well, I suppose I have two questions for you,” he said in a shaky voice.
Hermione sat up and turned to look at Ron, her heart picking up its pace, “what’s that, Ron?”
He looked at their surroundings and asked, “Do you recognize this? Not the train, I mean, this cabin specifically?”
She looked around, but other than the extra decor Ron had added, it looked much like any of the other cabins on the train. “Erm, not really, I’m sorry, should I?” she hesitantly replied.
He smiled and took her hand. “Hermione, this is the cabin where Harry and I were sitting when you barged in and I laid eyes on you for the first time,” he began quietly. The memory came back to Hermione, and she laughed as she thought about young, gangly Ron, she remembered he had-
“I had dirt on my nose, you pointed it out almost immediately. I haven’t walked into a Hogwarts Express cabin without peeking at my reflection in the glass since that day,” he laughed along with her. “I knew you were going to change my life that day, I didn’t know how much or in what capacity, but I could just feel it,” he continued on, growing more serious.
Hermione’s heart was pounding, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ron could hear it. She watched as he slowly began to get down on one knee, and pulled a box from his pocket. She gasped.
“Hermione, would you please do me the honor of continuing to change my life, every day, for the rest of our lives?” Ron’s face was even redder than before, and Hermione could see his hands shaking. The ring in the box, oh the ring. It was gorgeous, one large diamond surrounded by clusters of tiny sapphires and aquamarine; both of their birthstones.
She squealed. Hermione actually squealed. She dropped to her knees in front of Ron and pulled his face to hers, kissing him with everything she had.
“Yes, Ron, yes of course!” Hermione squealed, again.
Ron stood up and pulled Hermione up with him, placing the ring on the third finger of her left hand. He pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair and kissing the top of her head, “Thank bloody Merlin, that was the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
***
Hermione had to get home. She had to get back to her life. She had to get back to Ron.