silent devotion ; dramione

06 | the becoming, wing

 

The becoming, wing
Nayyirah Waheed

Be easy.
Take your time.
You are coming
Home.
To yourself

—

Harry sat idly at Hermione's kitchen table, the Daily Prophet folded in front of him. He sighs and looks at his friend sat opposite him with her cat sat on her knees, she strokes him slowly and closes her eyes.

"I don't know what to do." She says quietly, Hermione can feel her nose tingle from the build up of tears. Harry watches her with furrowed eyebrows and a thin-lipped smile. He knows Hermione hates when people feel sorry for her, but he couldn't not feel sad with her.

Rita Skeeter had found her way back into Journalism after a six month stint in-front of the Wizengamot, she had been tried numerous times for defamation, Harry being just one of many who had something to say about her. The witch was suspended for a little while but it was quickly dropped when an influx of Death Eaters that had gone into hiding were found. Somehow she aided in the findings without any prior knowledge into where they had been, Harry concluded she was a master of lying and the Ministry overlooked many things in favour of loyalty.

Hermione stands and paces back and forth. "How do they know so much?" She peers at the paper. Skeeter had photographed Hermione and Draco on numerous occasions entering and leaving Flourish and Blotts, The Leaky Cauldron and even Hermione's own home. Hermione was stunned at the lengths she had gone to in order to catch the two in such innocent acts and make it look scandalous. She'd made a picture look as though Draco was snogging Hermione's face off right outside Gringotts when they were collecting his father's bank logs.

Hermione was furious reading the first few paragraphs of the story, and then her heart shattered.

Rita Skeeter had found out about Hermione's parents.

Hermione was quiet. Reading the newspaper. The moving pictures began to irritate her, there's some of her leaving work, chatting with old classmates in Diagon Alley, even her entering Grimmauld Place. "How did they know?" She asks Harry calmly, raising her eyes to his face. He was the only one who knew. Harry watched her, "I don't know, Hermione." She knows he's telling the truth, she could spot his lies from a mile away. He was terrible at lying.

Moments later, Draco bursts through her fireplace, leaving emerald flames and dust floating around her living room, she can feel the warmth from around the corner. He runs into the kitchenette fuming, hair everywhere it could possibly go. Draco has the Daily Prophet crushed between his fingers. "What the fuck is this?" He glares between Harry and Hermione, accusing them just with a piercing stare. He's just as befuddled as the other two are.

Hermione allows herself to cry then. Perhaps it was the raised voice, perhaps it was because she hadn't even considered how he must be feeling. A sob leaves her mouth, her shoulders jerk quickly. She bubbles an apology to the men, she means it more to Draco. His face softens but anyone can see he's frustrated. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to shout." He tells her warmly, as if soothing a toddler. She sniffles and Harry stands to hug her. Her alleged relationship with Draco was the least of her worries. She couldn't care less about the rumour mill and it wouldn't change her plans on helping him.

"Is it true? About your parents?" Draco asks, she supposes he has the right to ask. She pulls away from Harry but stays close to him, holding onto his arm incase her knees give way. Hermione only nods before she takes in a sharp breath.

"I did it before we had gone looking for the Horcuxes. They were named in the paper, top priority in some Death Eater list just for being associated with me. I could only hope they didn't have an address for them before any plan was made to kill them." She pauses and watches Draco, his eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are pressed together. "So, a few days leading up to it I used their savings and bought them a house in a small suburb in Australia. I packed up my whole room the morning of and I remember thinking that it didn't matter what I did because if anyone was going to make it out alive it was going to be them. It had to be them."

Hermione stops crying. The story is a cautionary tale, not a sad one. Draco and Harry are silent, she expects this. "Only Hermione Granger could get away with Obliviating two muggles. No warnings, nothing." Draco jokes, eliciting a laugh from Hermione which hurts her throat momentarily. She sniffles and sits down at the table again, "Well, maybe not for long. I was very careful with my movements and my plan was airtight. Now, everyone knows about it and I pretty much expect my wand to be snapped in two." Hermione thinks this might just solve all her problems, so she smiles and fidgets with her fingernails. The only thing she can think to do is shrug, "The Weasley's didn't even know. I would have taken it to my grave whether early or not."

Draco watches her and shakes his head, he catches Harry's eye and receives some sort of lopsided smile: Draco thinks it's silly and almost laughs out of some kind of adolescent urge. He refrains and sits across from the witch. "You should tell them before they jump to any conclusions. Thank you for trusting me with this, Granger but there are more important people in your life who deserve to know your story." He tells her, Draco doesn't once look away from the tabletop. He scares himself, being all wise and allowing people to rely on him. He expects Hermione to laugh at him but when she doesn't do anything he accepts it.

Silence loops around the three of them and is only broken by a stiff mewl from Crookshanks. "Right well, Draco, we should continue with your father's trial anyway." Hermione announces, sounding a bit more confident than she had the whole day. "I'll talk to the Weasley's today at some point, if you'll accompany me, Harry." She looks at him and he only nods his head.

Draco watches her in disbelief. She still wanted to help him? Even though she was now in the target line of a Ministry headhunt. Anyone in their right mind knew she would be under investigation from now on. He doesn't respond to her. He doesn't know how because he wants her help but he doesn't want her to risk her life to do it, she's his only chance at putting his father away.

The next thing Hermione recognises in a flurry of emerald flame, is how daunting The Burrow seemed to her all of a sudden as it stood in all its wonky glory.