Chapter 21: More Trouble Came
The
day proved to be full of revelations.
Long after Sirius' departure
Hermione sat at the kitchen table. Her back rested against one of the mismatched
chairs, her hands were folded loosely in her lap, her eyes gazed at nothing in
particular as she thought about what he had said. And oh, had he ever had a lot
to say. Hermione never would have guessed, she never would have even realized,
that he felt such things for her. How had she missed it? For years it had seemed
like everything that he had done, everything that he had said, was done for the
sole purpose of hurting her. But if what he said was true, and she could
honestly see no reason why he would lie, then it started to make an odd sort of
sense. He hadn't been trying to hurt he had been trying to push her away.
Hermione couldn't even imagine
what it must have been like for him. He had spent so much time and energy
ensuring that he would never have what he wanted. Hadn't Sirius been through
enough hardships in life? The very idea of it made her heart hurt for him. Life
had been so unfair for him. The many sleepless nights that she spent for him
paled in comparison to what seemed to be years of devotion.
Things were clearer now. His
abrupt departure during their sixth year followed by his silence and coldness to
her. That one desperate kiss. Hermione squirmed uncomfortably as thoughts of the
morning's earlier activities came momentarily to a forefront in her mind. She
liked kissing him. She had liked the kiss in her seventh year, that hard,
frightening kiss. It had been full of more want and passion than she had ever
felt before from one person. It had been, at least, until Sirius kissed her
again.
This was all starting to be a
bit too much for Hermione. If she had been asked yesterday afternoon whether or
not Sirius Black liked her, she would have had to say no, but now...now she
could hardly put it into words. And not for the last time she wished that Harry
and Ron were here. She wished that things were as they were, as they had always
been, she was breaking under the pressure.
Sirius Black was in love with
her. He had always been in love with her. He would be returning to her and he
would be expecting an answer to his unasked question.
~*~*~*~
"You've been in an off mood
all day." Draco said as he handed her a fresh mug of coffee.
Hermione wouldn't meet his eyes,
"I do not know what you are talking about. I am fine, just a little
tired." She allowed herself a slight smirk that she had learned from him,
"for some reason there just didn't seem to be much room on my bed."
"Granger, Granger,
Granger," He settled into a chair across the table from her own. "How
many times do I have to tell you that you are a terrible liar? You can't even
manage to change topics with some measure of grace."
Hermione scowled up at him over
a large stack of books but said nothing.
"I noticed that a certain
Mr. Black is missing today." Draco prodded.
Hermione opened a book, Magical
Maladies & Mishaps, and ignored him.
"Hermione," He
wheedled.
"I don't want to talk about
it, all right? We need to work on this."
His eyes widened as if something
had been confirmed for him and then he smiled at her slightly. "It'll turn
out all right, you know."
She looked up in surprise, dark
curls falling back, "What?"
But Draco just smiled that smile
and ignored her questions. After a while, Hermione just let it go, and Draco
continued to smile at her long after anything that even remotely resembled
happiness was gone from his eyes.
Hours later, well after they had
shared a plate of cheese sandwiches, Hermione had an idea.
"Draco, do you know
anything about the enchantments that Voldemort has on himself?"
Draco nearly choked; he had been
relaxing on the sofa eating a few pieces of Mrs. Weasley's fudge that he had
found in the icebox. "What?"
"You know," Hermione
said impatiently as she stood up, pacing seemed to help her think,
"Voldemort wandered the world as some sort of spirit form until he had a
new body created for him, what type of enchantments did he use to enable that
ability?"
"Uh...well, loads of black
magic for starters, why?" Draco had learned, just as Harry and Ron had,
that Hermione's sudden burst of inspiration could be quite frightening.
"Oh don't look at me like
that!" She snapped at his expression, "I think I might be onto
something."
"You don't say?" The
snide remark was out before he could stop it. "Sorry, sorry," He said
quickly as her eyes flashed, "please tell me what you're going on
about."
Hermione dragged a chair over to
where Draco sat. "I've been trying to think of a way to banish his soul
once his new body has been destroyed but I haven't been able to find anything.
But in all the books that I've read, wizard and muggle, they've all agreed on
one thing. Once the body is destroyed the soul should depart from this plane of
existence. The soul should move over to whatever comes after this life."
"Unless said soul becomes a
ghost or a poltergeist." Draco interrupted.
"That's true, but Voldemort
was never a ghost, was he? He never really died because his body was just a
shell."
"A shell?"
"Your soul and your body
are one living entity. You shouldn't be able to live without one or the other.
But Voldemort did, he continued to live on after his body was gone."
Draco frowned as he listened.
"He funneled enough magical power into his soul that he didn't need his
body anymore. He was able to keep going for years without a body. But
how...?"
"How was he able to make
the separation between his soul and his body before the attacks on Harry? I'm
not sure. That's what we need to find out as soon as possible." Hermione
had begun to unconsciously tug on a curl.
"Why would knowing that
help?"
"Because if we know how he
did it we can reverse it. If it is reversed and then he is killed, his soul
won't be able to linger on this plain anymore as a malicious entity, he'll be
forced over to the other side."
Draco reached out and grasped
her hand to prevent her from pulling the lock of hair from her head. "I'm
not sure what spells he used, but I know that most of it is very dark
magic."
Hermione smile at him,
"well, that is your specialty, isn't it, Draco?"
~*~*~*~
It was dangerous for him,
Hermione had no doubt, but Draco always said that he liked danger and Hermione
imagined that he was starting to get a little stir-crazy here in her flat. He
hadn't left it in days. So when he offered to sneak into Diagon alley and visit
one of the numerous, Draco assured her, Malfoy vaults in order to relieve it of
some of its ancient dark magic books, Hermione didn't spend a great deal of
effort trying to dissuade him. In fact, as he wrapped himself up his
top-of-the-line invisibility cloak his eyes gleamed far brighter than they had
for a day or two.
Now that he was gone, she was
all alone, Hermione hadn't been by herself here, since, well, she couldn't
remember ever being in that situation in her flat. When Harry and Ron were still
there they never left her alone. They had never said so, but Hermione had always
known that they made a point to never leave her completely solitary. Ron or
Harry was always there. In fact, Hermione couldn't remember the last me that she
did anything by herself. Ever since the attack on the Underground, no one ever
let her be. It used to drive her absolutely mad. The way that Harry and Ron
always insisted on hovering around her, like she needed Ron to go robe shopping
with her. He hated that. You would think that she had twisted his arm into going
with her all those times when really she always tried to steal out of the flat
without them knowing but that long ago spell made sneaking very difficult when
Harry or Ron were involved.
They had moved into the flat for
that reason, for their need to always be there, Hermione knew that they never
got over the fact that they hadn't been there before. Not that they should have
been. She couldn't ever make them understand that they weren't responsible. That
she just happened to be in the wrong place at the worst possible time. But Harry
and Ron never really listened and a part of Hermione appreciated never being
alone.
When they had come up with the
plan, when Harry had come up with the plan, her being alone had been one of the
biggest concerns. It shouldn't have been, but it was. She had worried about it.
It had been so long since she had been without Harry or Ron. How could she come
back to this dead apartment? How could she do anything without them? But then
Sirius had come and then Draco. And things hadn't been as bad.
Hermione was alone now.
~*~*~*~
She wasn't alone for long.
Sometime that late, overcast
afternoon Hermione had a visitor ring her bell. It was immediately unsettling,
no one ever rang her bell, all the neighbors knocked and by now Sirius and Draco
knew her lack of discipline when it came to warding the door so they usually
tended to walk right in.
With a good measure of
trepidation Hermione approached the door. Her wand was held tightly in her hand.
She forced her thoughts to focus as Professor Bankotsu had taught her. Hermione
leaned against the wall by the door her mind creating a picture of the visitor
awaiting a response. It was a man, tall and older. It was someone familiar,
someone that she knew.
"Yes?" She responded
finally really not wanting to open her door.
"Ms. Granger? I've been
sent by the Ministry, we have a few questions for you." A cold voice asked.
Hermione's shoulders slouched.
In truth, she had been expecting this. It was only her connections to Albus
Dumbledore that had kept the questioning Aurors at bay for so long. But now, to
send this man to her, there must be serious concerns over the validity of her
story.
Hermione opened the door slowly
and gazed up at her former Professor whom she had wished to the farthest depths
of hell two years ago. "Mulicber."
The older man looked back down
at her with a cold smile lighting his sharp blue eyes as if he was finding a
great deal of enjoyment out of the situation. Hermione figured that he probably
was.
"May I come in, Ms.
Granger?"
Hermione lowered her head, she
could tell him no but he would only come back later with reinforcements, so
Hermione nodded and stepped backwards allowing him to brush past her into the
flat.
He looked around himself once he
was inside, his quick eyes took in the extra blankets on the couch, the
scattered paper work, the dirty dishes in the sink that could not possibly have
come from one person alone. Hermione stood at the end of the hall next to
Harry's door and watched him.
"Been entertaining, have
you?"
"I have had company."
Hermione replied vaguely. He had no reason to be suspicious. There was nothing
wrong with having people over after a death.
"But you are all alone
now?" He asked rhetorically.
She could offer him a seat or a
cup of tea but Hermione didn't want to be so welcoming. Mulciber had no qualms
concerning her hospitality, or lack there of, as he sat down at the table. One
of his well manicured hands reached out to take up her notes. Hermione moved
quickly forward to snatch them back.
"What do you want?"
She asked coldly, rudely.
He smiled at her coldness
glinting in his eyes, "So many things."
An angry flush colored her
cheeks. How dare he speak to her like that? She was an Auror, his equal, not
some ignorant student whom he could wield his power over. Hermione was no longer
someone that he could intimidate with heated gazes and suggestive dialogue.
Though her hand did slip into her pocket to reassuringly palm her wand
nonetheless.
He laughed, "You act like
I'm going to attack you, Hermione."
She flinched at the use of her
name. "Are you?"
He switched topics. "What
made you three decide to go to Malfoy Manor? There has never any direct
connection between the Malfoys and the Dark Lord." The smile was gone and
he was suddenly very serious.
The fact that he did not answer
her question did not slip her notice.
"Is this an official
Ministry question?" Hermione answered his question with a question. If this
was an official meeting then she was obligated to speak to him. If it wasn't,
however, then Hermione had every intention of throwing him out of her home.
"Do you think that I'm here
for my own amusement?"
"I certainly would not put
it past you, Sir."
He casually placed one elbow on
her kitchen table, leaned his chin into his hand, and crossed one leg over the
other. "Answer my question, Ms. Granger."
While he spoke he removed a dark
blue quill with a silver tip engraved with the Ministry seal from an inner
pocket of his robe. He set it; point down, on her table. It was a Veridicus
Quill. It was similar to a Quick Quotes Quill but it was far more reliable. It
would record everything that was said as it was said, no enhancements, no
untruths. It was heavily enchanted to guard against outside interference and
tampering. It required no parchment only a smooth surface. Aurors often used it
while interrogating a suspect. Hermione herself had used one in the past on
occasion.
Hermione stepped back from him,
and went to her desk. She carefully arranged her notes, her back turned towards
him, but never once was her attention not fully focused on the man behind her.
Hermione turned finally to look at him, her hands once again submerging
themselves into her pockets, fingers finding her wand. She could not allow
herself to be taken in to custody if Mulciber saw fit to try, not when they were
so close, not when they were almost done.
After a long pause in which
Hermione studied Mulciber warily she finally spoke. "We received
information leading us to believe that the Malfoys were indeed Death Eaters who
strongly supported Voldemort."
His eyes glinted at the use of
the name. "And who gave you such information?"
It never failed to surprise her,
the way people reacted to the name Voldemort as if the word itself would invoke
the dark wizard's corporeal presence right there in their midst
"You know that I cannot
give you the name of my source." Hermione said carefully choosing her
words. "For their safety, of course."
Mulciber casually studied his
hand, "You attended Hogwarts with the younger Malfoy, Draco, didn't
you?"
She refused to let any reaction
to her friends' name color her expression. "I believe you are right."
"What was your affiliation
with young Mister Malfoy?" A wicked smile, one that made Hermione think
that he was envisioning her relationship with Draco in a highly carnal fashion,
spread across his face.
Dirty old bastard.
"He hated us and the
feeling was mutual." The lie was easy. "There was not much more to our
relationship than that."
He was still smiling like he
knew more about it than he should. "So that was all there was? There was
nothing more between you two? No secret passion that might lead him to betray
his Lord?" His eyes were glinting brightly again with that half-mad light
that she remembered from the time he had accosted her at Aylesbury.
Hermione frowned at his words,
alarm bells going off, she did not like where this was going. "What is the
Ministry's interest in Draco Malfoy?"
Mulciber sat straighter,
"You don't know? No, I suppose you wouldn't, having holed yourself up here.
Draco Malfoy went missing about two weeks ago. Right after the unfortunate
incident concerning Misters Potter and Weasley."
He was watching her closely for
any reaction. Hermione could see it easily in his too bright eyes that he
suspected something. She kept her gaze straight and steady, forcing herself to
calm just like she had been taught. Hermione would not let him get to her.
"No, I did not know
that." She casually brushed back a lock of a hair, a move that on most
would tell of subconscious nervousness but Hermione was in touch with her normal
nuances, to eliminate her familiar motions would only signify to Mulciber that
she was indeed hiding something. If she acted in anyway out of the ordinary he
would have the whole Ministry upon her before she could blink.
Mulciber rose from his seat,
unfolding himself easily, and took several small steps towards her. It took all
of her willpower not to back away from the smiling man.
"We believe that Draco
Malfoy has valuable information concerning the Dark Lord. His life is in danger.
The Ministry is willing to offer him protection if he can be of some
assistance." His arms were crossed back behind his back. He stood before
much as he had in the days when she was a student.
"Malfoy was no fool."
Hermione responded to the unasked question. "If he is in danger then I am
certain he would have fled Britain immediately."
He came to a stop very close to
her. Hermione focused on studying the man in order to fight back the nervous
tremble that wanted to shoot up her spine. His light brown hair was streaked
with far more gray than it had the last time she saw him. More lines scarred his
face giving him an older, rugged look. She couldn't deny that he was handsome in
that older gentleman sort of way. But she despised everything about him. This
man had persecuted Sirius. Had helped drag him off to Azkaban without finding
out whether he was innocent or not. This man was disgusting.
"I thought you said,"
He smiled, shining sharp looking white teeth at her, "that you and Malfoy
hated each other." He obviously thought that he had caught her in a lie.
"I did." Hermione
allowed a smirk that she had learned from the man in question cross her lips.
"And we did hate each other. But I'm not fool enough to ignore his
intelligence. That is one of the first rules we learned at Aylesbury, never
underestimate your enemy."
"Yet, Mr. Potter and Mr.
Weasley are both dead and buried now, aren't they?"
Hermione bit the tip of her
tongue in order to keep her thoughts to herself. If they really had been killed,
Harry and Ron, she would be hysterical now. What type of person would willingly
inflict this sort of mental barrage on another human being, on a colleague?
"You're very callus, Ms.
Granger." He raised one hand quickly, tracing the edge of her cheek, before
she could pull away. "I could see it back then at Aylesbury. You had such
promise. We could have done amazing things together."
Hermione jerked away from him
with an angry noise. She shoved past him, intent on showing him the door, he
could damn well come back with fifty Aurors for all she cared. "You are a
bastard." She shot over her shoulder at him. "I would never, ever, do
anything with you."
There was a sound from the far
end of the hall. Someone was opening the door. One of her guests had come home.
"No," Hermione
whispered then louder, "No, g..."
Mulciber grabbed her from
behind, one hand harshly covering her mouth while the other fought for her wand
and won. "Shh, it's all right little lamb." He breathed heavily in her
ear as he pocketed her wand before bringing his own up to press against her
throat, "Let us see who's come to visit."