Chapter 10
"What do you know about the extinct families?"
"The fairytale? It predates Beedle the Bard. I don't know much about it, but it's some pureblood thing."
The prisoner gave a meek smile at Hermione Granger's answer. The Fountain had endured another day of torture and had spent the past hour half delirious and moaning in pain.
The prisoners had done the best they could to heal her but the burn marks were extensive.
Thankfully, she'd finally started to breathe softly in the way that implied impending sleep.
The prisoner exchanged glances with the others. They knew they had to get her out soon.
"There are those of us who still honor the old ways," the prisoner told the sleeping girl. "We will keep you safe."
Fred had spent the week in a stupor.
His family knew better than to bother him so they largely left him alone. He drank firewhiskey and only paused to sleep each day once the drunkenness prohibited all else.
The occasional guard knocked, letting him know that Hermione had asked for him again.
His eyes filled with tears each time. And each time, his mother would shoo the guards away, berating them for bothering her son with that trollop's requests. How dare they bother him with the woman who had betrayed and used her son.
Fred was silently grateful.
Ron had finally confessed to him when they came back from Rosier's, told him all about Hermione's dalliances when they were together. Krum had come to "rescue" her. Longbottom had actually been demoted in the Order for arguing with Kingsley and Moody after not being allowed near her. Some other purebloods left for the same reason.
"I wanted to spare you, mate," Ron had said.
Fred nodded through his drunkenness.
Ron told him all about Hermione's confession to knowing about Rosier. To deliberately lying. To only getting close to Fred to ensure her own safety and admittance into meetings to report back to the death eaters. They'd interrogated her with veritaserum, Ron told him, so they knew it was true.
Ron offered to take him down to the dungeon to interrogate her himself, but Fred knew he wouldn't be able to bear it. He'd asked to the first few days but wasn't allowed. Then Ron told him about her confession and his heart broke.
He hurt too much to see her.
Fred's vision of the woman he loved shattered as quickly as it had been formed all those years ago in Hogwarts.
His heart ached. It'd been aching since he left Rosier's.
Harry Potter waited until the others left the room. He then opened the door and walked to the pond in the woods surrounding the safe house manor and pretended to simply be skipping rocks, forcing a smile on his face to mask the tension in his eyes.
He waited until Neville Longbottom joined him, Neville also wearing a placid farce of a smile.
The Order knew he occasionally met with Neville despite Neville no longer officially being in the Order's inner circle. There had been talk about kicking the Longbottoms out entirely but he was friends with Harry and besides that, the Longbottoms contributed supplies and safe houses the Order couldn't afford to lose. So the Longbottoms were ranked as allies but were no longer permitted a say in higher level Order decisions and were blocked from certain meetings and missions.
Still, most interactions Harry had were monitored. And those with Neville were usually heavily so.
They cast discreet spells to ensure no one was around or behind them along with muffliatos, but still made sure to appear relaxed as they whispered.
"I don't believe Hermione is working with You-Know-Who, no matter what they tell me," came Harry's sharp murmur.
Neville gave a slight shake of his head before widening his fake smile. "I don't either."
"Hermione would never purposefully betray us."
Neville nodded, watching the rock he threw skip across the water. "You ever think it's odd how they never let us see her?"
Harry grinned bitterly. "At first they kept saying it was for our own protection, that they were scared she'd attack us all like she attacked Moody. Then they'd send me on missions whenever I brought it up. Kept saying that it was for the best they kept the Chosen One out of trouble." He laughed before adding, "I should have tried harder, even bloody Malfoy was braver than I was and he says she's never attacked him."
"Harry, what do you know about the Mothers of Magic?"
Theodore Nott approached the edge of the clearing where the wards began. He held his hands up in surrender, face and posture nonchalant nonetheless.
"Draco, I have a message for you."
Draco stopped where he'd been packing their campsite and exchanged glances with Lupin. Lupin nodded apprehensively. Draco pulled Theo past the wards into their campsite.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Nott? How did you find me? I thought you'd run away to some island!"
"It's about Granger."
Draco drew his wand and placed it against Theo's throat. Behind him, Lupin growled.
"I have a message from her uncle. He doesn't think she's safe and he needs your help getting her to safety. I'm going to pull a parchment out of my pocket now, don't hex me, alright?"
Jaw clenched, Draco nodded.
He read the already opened letter. Noticed a few flecks of blood outside it. Lupin stood behind him to read over his shoulder.
They both looked up at Theo in shock.
"Tell me everything you know," said Draco.
Hermione woke up to a french lullaby being sung in her ear. The apparition stopped and smiled at her when she saw her eyes open.
"There, there," said the hallucination. "It won't be long now. The ritual will make it all better, just you see. For now, get some rest. You'll need all your energy when the blond boy comes to rescue you. He'll need your help."
"The blond boy?"
"The handsome one. You think he's handsome too, don't you?" The ghost winked down at her.
Hermione scowled.