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Disclaimer: Just checked. I still don't own them. The lovely Ms. Rowling still has total control over the wizarding world. (with the exception of Tiernen)
Warning: Character death!
She couldn't remember a time when they weren't there. She did remember the first time she saw them. She remembers the screams of terror, the blood from her fingers as she tried to claw through the locked door to escape their accusing gazes. The hatred she saw in their eyes as he came into the room, then the welcomed blackness of the sleeping draught she was forced to drink.
She knew they only came during the day. From sunrise to sunset, they were there, with their accusing gazes, saying nothing, just…watching her. At first she hid; under the covers of her bed, in her bathroom for hours at a time or until the sun set. When darkness fell they would disappear and she would breath a sigh of relief…until he returned. Her captor, with his long blond hair, his steel gray eyes, who would first check to see if she was lucid, then the words would come. Words meant to comfort, instead in times terrifying her.
Every day was the same thing; she could find no refuge save in her own mind. And at times even her own mind betrayed her.
Years went by and slowly she accepted her fate. To be haunted the rest of her life by these two men. This was to be her penance for her crimes against them.
Years went by and slowly their hateful accusing gazes demished, turning to merely curious and worried. It was the worried gazes that she could not abide. She didn't deserve them.
This morning was different. She could feel it as she awoke. As usual, she was alone in her room, yet today, her mind was clear. Clearer than it had been in a long time. Turning her head, she spotted them. Standing in the corner of the room by the window as they always did. They were talking amongst themselves, words she couldn't hear.
Flinging off her covers, mindless of her white nightgown, she strode over to them, throwing herself at their feet when she reached them. They stopped their discussion and looked down at her. "I'm sorry." She cried. "I'm so sorry. I betrayed you when I should have died for you." She cried now, lucid tears of regret. Regret of actions done long ago. She couldn't bear to look at them now, she didn't deserve their gazes. Then she heard it.
"We'd forgiven you long ago, 'Mione."
Startled, she looked up at the two men, blinking tears away. "I can hear you."
The dark haired man smiled at her. "Of course you can."
"We just weren't talking to you before." The red haired man next to him said.
She bowed her head again. "I don't deserve your forgiveness." She whispered.
"What you did, however misguided, you did for love." The dark haired man spoke again. "It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah," his partner said. "This is all her fault." He glared at the closed door in disgust. "She brainwashed you somehow. They both did. Don't blame yourself anymore, 'Mione. Please?" He shook his head, a look of confusion on his face. "Although what you see in that ferret, I'll never know."
Her head shot up and she laughed. A laugh that hadn't been heard in years. A laugh of childlike innocence.
The lock on her door clicked and the three looked over towards it. The door opened and a sandy blond head poked in. "Mum? I heard laughter."
Sparing a glance at the two men, she climbed to her feet as the lanky thirteen-year-old boy entered the room. His hair the color of burnished gold and his eyes the color of a stormy sky. "Tiernan." She spoke, crossing the room to greet her son. "You've come to visit me?"
The boy shrugged, smiling. "I heard laughter." He repeated, studying his mother. "You look well today."
"I feel well." She agreed. He studied her more, and then smiled again.
"Well enough to walk in the gardens with me?" He asked.
She glanced back to the to men who were making shooing motions with their hands.
She looked back at her son. "Give me a moment to dress and I will be honored
to walk with you in the gardens."
The years passed again, yet she didn't mind. She now had company to spend her days with. For too many years she had been alone.
Now she spent her time talking with them of the world…a world she no longer
knew, and listening to them talk. This day they had brought a chessboard and
she was sitting in a chair by the window watching them play and laughing at
their comments.
Unnoticed at the open door, stood two people. And older man with long hair so
blond it was white, and a smaller woman, with hair the color of fire.
"She does this every day now." The man murmured. "Sits by the window and talks to herself until the sun sets."
The smaller woman watched the brunette woman sitting in the chair. "What does she speak of?"
The man shrugged. "I do not know. Tiernan will sit in here sometimes talking with her. When he returns, he's full of stories of hidden caverns and secret maps and magical cloaks."
The woman shuddered, glaring into the room again. Suddenly Hermione frowned at something, shaking her head. "Don't say that." She admonished the empty space by the wall. "She's your sister."
The smaller woman shivered again, frowning at the space Hermione was speaking towards. Suddenly she spun around. "Leave her be. There are too many ghosts in that room."
"'Mione, we don't like seeing you like this. You've done your time here. Come with us."
She shook her head, rocking herself on the bed, her knees brought up to her chin. "I can't leave them." She repeated for the hundredth time. "They need me."
"Hermione." The redhead started again before the other stopped him with a hand.
The terrace doors were shut and locked, and she was sitting as far from all the windows as she possible could. The sun was setting and the darkness was coming.
"Please, please stay." She begged them quietly, tears falling from her eyes. "Please, just for tonight. Just tonight. I can't do this on my own."
The dark haired man, smiled sadly as he knelt down in front of her. ""Mione, we can't do that. You know that. We can only be here while it is light. The darkness is for something else."
She shook her head shutting her eyes tight, rocking harder. She refused to believe that. Opening her eyes a crack, she saw that it was night and her room was empty. Scrambling off her bed, she searched franticly around the room. She was alone. "No!" She screamed, pounding at the walls. "I can't be alone again! Come back! You two come back right now! Come back!"
The door to her room flew open and two men rushed into the room. One older, one younger. "What's wrong?" The younger asked. Hermione rushed over to the young man, falling at his feet.
"Don't leave me." She begged, sobbing. She clutched at his robe. "Stay with me here tonight, please. They can't hurt you. They can't hurt my baby."
The young man looked over at the other man staring in horror at her. "Father?"
He begged, his voice wavering. The older man strode over, scooping her up in
his arms, immediately whispering soothing words in her hair. Still sobbing,
she clutched to him.
"They can't hurt my baby. Draco, please don't let them hurt my baby."
He placed her on the bed, still soothing her. Turning slightly, he waved the shaken young man out of the room before turning his attention back to his wife. "Shhh, Hermione. Nobody is going to hurt Tiernan. He will be fine. We were merely going into town this evening."
"Promise me! Promise me, Draco."
He sighed. 'I swear to you nobody is going to hurt Tiernan."
She sat up suddenly, her brown eyes looking at him franticly. "Prove it.' She insisted.
"Hermione…"
"Prove it!"
Sighing again, he muttered the words under his breath as he unbuttoned his
shirtsleeve and pushed back the material to show her his unblemished left arm.
She grabbed his arm, searching it desperately for a moment, before releasing
him and falling back on the bed.
He buttoned his sleeve, and then reached over, brushing her hair from her face.
"They left me." She whispered miserably.
He frowned. "Who darling?"
"Harry and Ron." She said. He froze. Those names hadn't been spoken in over a decade. "I begged them to stay with me tonight, just for tonight. I can feel the darkness seeping into the house." She whispered, tears in her eyes again. "Into this room. But Harry said they were only allowed to stay during the daylight hours. I'm so scared, Draco. I'm scared for Tiernan, for you."
Shaking his head, he continued brushed her hair with his fingers. "There's nothing to fear, love. I told you long ago I would keep you safe and never leave you. Have I not kept my promise?"
She nodded. Smiling gently, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingertips. "And I will continue to keep that promise. As long as I live, you shall be safe and at my side. Now, I'll send Tilly up with a sleeping drought. I'm afraid I did promise Tiernan a visit to Helmstead this evening, and he will be quite cross if I renege now. Shall I buy you a new book? Or perhaps something else?"
Shaking her head, she smiled up at him. He smiled back. "I'll return as soon as I can, Hermione." He said, standing up from the bed. Glancing at her one last time, he left the room, locking it behind him and stopping long enough to instruct a house elf to bring a sleeping drought to the room before going downstairs.
Terinan was standing by the door, looking anxious. "Is mother all right?" He asked.
Draco nodded. "She will sleep until we return. Now we must hurry. Lord Volemort is patient with us, but his patience will not last long."
She stood on the terrace, the spring breeze winding around her before moving on to the south. Closing her eyes, she inhaled the fragrance of the garden below her room. Behind her in the room, the men were playing chess again. She could hear their playful arguing, even if no one else could. She never left her room now days and she no longer had visitors, save the two men in her room now and, every once in awhile, her husband. Looking down at the gardens, she smiled, spotting her son, now a grown man, walking with a young lady.
Turning slightly, she directed her voice towards the room. "He's out. Come see him." She called. Sounds from the room stopped and the two men walked out on the terrace to stand next to her. One on either side, they looked down at the young man walking in the gardens.
"He's very handsome." Harry told her.
"Who's the girl?" Ron asked. Hermione frowned.
"I don't know. I've never seen her here before."
"No offence 'Mione," Ron said, walking back into the bedroom. "But you don't leave the bedroom. You're a prisoner in this room. You don't see anybody."
Casting one last glance at the couple, Hermione followed Ron into the bedroom, Harry trailing after her. "That isn't true. I can leave this room anytime I wish."
The red haired man jerked his head towards the door. "Do it then. Walk out that door and take a walk around the house. See what your husband does with his time."
"Ron…" the other man warned.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean? He works. He runs a business."
"A business that deals in death." Ron stated dryly. "It's amazing what you can accomplish as the second in command of the Dark Lord."
Hermione turned her back on him, walking towards the bathroom. "You lie. I've seen his arm. He's no Death Eater."
"There are spells for that. Concealing charms to block anything that one doesn't want seen."
"Ron! That's enough!" Harry snapped and the two set into bickering before a small voice interrupted them.
"I know."
The two stopped, turning around to face her. She looked up at them, her eyes full of tears. Eyes that shone with full knowledge.
"I know." She repeated. "I saw two days ago. He didn't know I was watching him. He thought I was asleep. Since then, I've been trying to find something, anything to make me feel. It's so easy to pretend it doesn't exist. To lose yourself in insanity." She began to pace. "I don't know why I did what I did. And I can't explain it. All I want is to go back to my dreams, when things were wonderful, and dangerous, and exciting. Where we were together, all alive, all full of promise. But we can't. You're both dead and I'm slowly rotting away in a hell of my own making."
Harry walked over to her. "You aren't." He insisted. "Please, you have done more than your penance. Come with us. We can set you free."
She looked at him for a long time, and then shook her head. "I can't. They need me."
"They?" Ron asked, joining them. "Your son is a grown man. He will soon be marrying and having children of his own. And the ferret you married has had you more than long enough. He no longer needs you. You are trapped here at his convience. We need you now, 'Mione."
Reaching out, he touched her shoulder, and the three of them gasped in shock when his hand didn't go through, merely rested where he placed it. Raising a trembling hand, she slowly covered his. He looked up at him, her eyes as wide as his.
"I can feel your hand." Looking over, she held out her other hand towards Harry.
Licking his lips, he reached out to touch her, smiling widely as his hand made contact. She smiled, feeling the weight of his hand in hers. "What is going on?" She whispered.
Harry smiled wider. "It's a sign. Come with us, Hermione. You're time here is finished."
Looking at the two men, she slowly nodded. "I will go with you. Follow you to the end. But how? The doors are locked."
Ron grinned. "Leave that to us."
She nodded again. "All right. But tomorrow. The sun will set soon and I want one last night. To say goodbye."
"Tomorrow."
Draco and Tiernan visited her that night, to find her looking normal. She sat with her son for hours, reading with him and speaking about subject he believed she had no knowledge of. She asked him of the young woman in the garden, and finally she sent him to his own quarters with tight hug and a kiss. As the door closed, Draco found himself the subject of a gaze he had not seen since before they were married. She stood up and came to him, and that night, he had his Hermione returned to him. Returned with all her passion and love and nature. The same woman that had stolen his heart over a decade ago when they were Tiernan's age. The woman he promised himself he would love forever. And that night, they kept their promises to each other.
Hermione was dressed when they returned the next morning. The recognized her immediately. Hermione, the strong young woman who let nothing stand in the way of what she felt she needed to do. The woman standing before them was their Hermione.
"Ready?" Harry asked. She nodded smiling at both of them.
"I'm ready." She said, taking both of their hands.
The three walked towards the door. Ron opened it, and they walked out of the
room that had long ago become her prison.
She looked over at him in wonder, yet did not ask. She merely followed them
towards the stairs that led towards the tower of the manor.
There was something wrong. Draco could feel it, but he didn't know what. Walking up to the third floor, he stopped suddenly, staring in disbelief at the open door at the end of the hall. Running down the hall, he rushed into the room, searching its contents for the woman that was supposed to reside there. There was nothing.
She'd never known there were this many stairs to this house. She was never curious enough to ever explore the manor house when she first moved in and as the years progressed, she never had gotten the chance. Squeezing Harry's hand tighter, she continued to climb.
"Tiernan!" Draco bellowed as he reached the main floor of the manor. The young man walked out of the study, his face curious.
"Yes Father?"
"Have you seen your mother today?" He asked. Tiernan shook his head.
"No. I saw her last night. Why?"
"Did you unlock her door for the house elves or for some other reason?"
"No. I wouldn't leave her door unlocked. Why?'
"She's no longer in her room." Draco told him, searching the room they stood in now.
"The door was opened and she has disappeared."
"She has to be here somewhere." The young man said, suddenly looking nervous.
"You search the manor house." Draco told him. "Get all the house elves to help. I'll search the grounds. Perhaps she's in the garden."
"We're almost there." Harry told her. She nodded, panting for breath. It had been a long time since she'd climbed this many stairs. Finally, the stairs stopped and they reached an old wooden door. Ron reached over, and touched the handle. The door sprung open.
She grinned over at him.
"I see you've finally learned that spell."
He grinned back, saying nothing.
She stepped into the room, followed by the two men. Looking around the empty room, she shivered slightly. "It's so lonely in here." She whispered.
Tiernan was getting frustrated. He and the house elves had searched the entire house and she was nowhere to be found. He walked down the third floor hall again, when something caught his attention. Looking over, he spotted a hidden flight of stairs. His heart leapt into his throat. Those were the stairs that led to the towers of the manor. Surely she did go up there. Swallowing back the fear that had just begun to rise in his stomach, he climbed the stairs.
She looked out the window, smiling as she felt the wind on her face. Closing her eyes, she could pretend she was standing in the astronomy tower at Hogwarts. She hadn't felt this free in years.
"Are you ready?"
Looking at her two best friends, she nodded, smiling widely. Without asking, they each reached out taking one of her hands in theirs.
A gust of wind brushed past Draco as he left the gardens. She wasn't in the yards, nor was she in the garden. He hoped Tiernan was having better luck than he was. An odd shadow passed him, and he frowned. Looking up, he noticed something in the top tower of the manor house. Rather, three somethings. His heart sunk. He knew exactly what it was.
"Tiernan!" he yelled, running towards the bottom of the tower. "She's in the tower!"
Squeezing their hands, she faced the sky, feeling the wind again, and let herself go.
Terinan burst into the room as the shadow left the window. Screaming, he rushed towards the window, his wand out. "Wingardum Leviosa!" He screamed, pointing his wand towards the figure. The spell didn't work. "Wingardum Leviosa!" He yelled again, focusing. Again, it failed. As if something was blocking his spell. Turning away form the window with a sob, he rushed from the room, heading towards the outside.
Hermione opened her eyes to see Hogwarts in front of here. Standing next to her were Ron and Harry. Both were grinning.
"It's about bloody time you showed up." Ron told her, helping her up off the ground.
"Harry and I were beginning to get worried."
"We didn't think you were ever going to wake up, 'Mione." Harry said, taking her other hand.
"Neither did I." She said, pulling both men to her in a hug. A shadow passed across her face and she looked back. "But what about…"
Harry shook his head. "If he was to come to classes, he knows where they are." He told here. "Now come on, everyone's waiting for us."
Laughing, she tightened her hold on their hands and the three ran towards the doors of the large school. Hermione's face brightened as she saw Hagrid come out of the door, beaming at her. Behind her were all the other, and as Harry and Ron had promised, they were all waiting for her.
She was home.
Draco let out a choked sob, as he approached the broken body of his wife. Dropping to his knees, he looked at her for a moment, and then scooped up her body, clutching it to his chest.
It wasn't fair. He had been promised her for his allegiance. They were supposed to be happy. She wasn't supposed to have gone insane and left their son without the proper love and support of a mother.
He heard Tiernan's voice screaming for him in the distance growing louder, but he didn't answer, instead rocking her body in his arms. Finally he felt his son behind him, dropping to his knees, and sobbing. A hand reached out, to touch the mother he never truly knew.
"You would have loved her, as I did." He murmured. Tiernan looked up at his father.
"What?"
"If you had seen her, as she truly was, you would have loved her as much as I did."
"I did love her, Father."
"It's my fault though. She was beautiful, fearless, and radiant. She was a Gryffandor in every sense of the word. And I loved her desperately for it. That was the mother you should have had. That was the mother you should have loved."
He pulled her body away, needing to see her for one last time. Tears sprang to his eyes again as he saw her face. It was not bloody or broken as he had feared. Instead, it was smooth and clear as he remembered from years ago. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling. Then he knew.
Bending his head, he kissed her lips gently, whispering softly in her hair as he used to so long ago.
"You're home, my love."