silent devotion ; dramione

07 | east of eden

a/n sorry it took so long to update :) are you guys enjoying this story so far?

east of eden
john steinbeck

And now that you don't have to be perfect,
you can be good.

—

The Burrow was quiet. A rarity in its purest form. Hermione enjoyed it this time, it gave her a second to catch her breath, to think and feel her surroundings. The witch had a tight grip on the back of one of the dining chairs while Molly Weasley fixed the tea she had insisted both her and Harry take. Hermione took the woman's kindness with ease.

It wasn't incredibly hard to trust Molly and Arthur Weasley. They took her in easily, fed her, clothed her, housed her. For years. She loved them undoubtedly.

But Hermione found, as she grew older, that sometimes their love was too sickly sweet. Like Black Treacle. Sticky, even while comforting and sweet. Hermione felt guilty for feeling this way, she put it to herself turning to stone. Maybe she wasn't deserving of it all and she certainly didn't feel like she was deserving of much good but she still accepted it, and it was greed, she feared. Her worst sin. Perhaps she was rebelling, the thought made her laugh to herself. Of all the time she had, her body was contorting towards rejection and reclusiveness during a time she should be flinging herself ungraciously at warmth.

Ron entered the burrow, followed by Ginny and George. They sat at the table and made idle chatter. Quidditch, Hogwarts, The Ministry. The same old stuff she'd been mindlessly nodding her head at for the past eight years with a smile on her face.

Once Molly and Arthur had joined them, Hermione began to sweat. How could she tell them? After how long she'd kept it from them. She felt sick.

The family looked between her and Harry, with smiles and encouraging eyes. Hermione shifted nervously in her seat, and let out a sigh. "Well, It's not a great thing to just be explaining to you. It happened a while ago but due to recent events, I wanted you to find out through me rather than the paper." Hermione tells them, their expressions don't change.

"Just before Ron, Harry and I went looking for Horcruxes, I had read my parents name in the prophet. The Death Eaters were looking for them, they weren't safe. I remember feeling like I was the worst thing that had ever happened to them in that moment, I wanted to scream. It was getting worse, and it got to the point that I couldn't even look at my parents without feeling sick. So, the morning we left, I packed up what I needed from my bedroom and walked downstairs. They were sitting on the settee, cuddled into each other and watching the news. They were usually like this in the morning... Calm and quiet. I stood behind them, and remembered that if I didn't do something, they'd be dead and I couldn't stand the thought of innocent people dying because of a world they weren't even apart of. I felt like a plague on them. So, I obliviated them. I took myself away from their memories that morning, and watched myself fade from the photos on the mantelpiece and I left, locked the door and posted the key and apparated here." Hermione hadn't realised she had begun crying, reliving that day caused her more pain than she had thought.

It took her a minute to realise they were all still looking at her, Molly with tears in her eyes and everyone else not saying much, but she could tell they were shocked. Ginny spoke first, "Oh, Mione" she said, then her waterworks started. Ginny stood and walked to Hermione's side and kneeled down, holding her friend close.

"I can't believe you kept it from us" Ron said shortly, and then he sighed and rubbed his temple. "I understand why, Mione but we would have been here. You could be in loads of trouble now. If you're saying it's in the paper. Dad, will she be alright?" Ron looked over at Arthur, eyebrows furrowed.

Arthur Weasley cleared his throat, and straightened his back. "Well, it's a tricky one Hermione. To be honest, dear. I'm surprised that it's gone unnoticed for this long. However, you're a good witch, you've done a lot for this family, and the wizarding world." He tells her, watching her closely. "Hermione, dear. We are your family. You're our daughter as much as Harry is our son. We will do absolutely anything to make sure that you're safe. We always will, no matter what." Arthur put his arm around his wife, and Molly reached for Hermione's hands.

"Thank you for trusting us." The older witch says quietly, sniffing away her tears. Ginny still held Hermione and Ron smiled at her. George then stood and stretched his back, "Right, then." The man started, "I'll put the tea on. Be glad Percy wasn't around to hear that Hermione. He'd have had your head on a spike" George laughs but Hermione winces, she forgets about Percy most of the time. Hermione believes that Percy is a good man, but he goes around it the wrong way entirely which is why she keeps clear of him. She respects him because he is a Weasley, but she wouldn't trust him with a Bowtruckle nevermind her own secrets. "I better get going, I'm working tonight." She says with a smile, Hermione stands and puts on her coat. She buttons it up and stops slowly. She closes her eyes.

"Before I go, I also just wanted to let you know that I'm helping Draco with his Father's trial at the Ministry." Hermione barely gets her sentence out before George comes bounding back into the dining room, and Ron has almost thrown the table upside down with how quickly he stood up. Hermione puts her hands infront of her to stop whatever they were doing, the room is watching her silently. She couldn't bare it. Harry took her side and furrowed his eyebrows at Ron.

"No. Before you all start talking over me and shouting. I'm doing this, Draco has shown me how much he wants his Father gone. They are just another family suffering, like you all are. Maybe the circumstances are different, but I won't see another person fall at fate of cruelty." Hermione could feel herself get angry, Ron tries to interrupt her but she continues on. "His mother is dying. Inside and outside, she's losing all hope and her husband... That man is killing his family, his child and wife. Can you even bare the thought? Draco has changed, or for now he is showing that he is changing. You can't and won't stop me from doing this. I'm going to make sure Lucius Malfoy gets the fate he is bound to." Hermione animatedly pushed hair from her eyes and looked around at the people surrounding her.

Ron shrugs and sits down again. "You can't help everyone, Mione." Hermione isn't sure how to take this statement, so she mulls it over for a second. No, she couldn't help everyone, that wasn't her intention. She didn't owe Draco Malfoy a thing but she felt as though she may owe Narcissa something akin to respect. She had saved Harry after all...

"You are ridiculous to think that you are of any use to the Malfoy's, Hermione. Just give up while you're ahead." There it was, the nail in the coffin. Ron was waiting to see how she'd react before he could form the sentence he'd just spoken. Hermione shakes her head and laughs.

"Right." Is all she says before she apparates from The Burrow. How could she be so stupid as to think he would understand. She could admit that Ron was probably trying to look out for her, reigning her in with soft eyes and lopsided grins. He had always been stubborn and set in his own ways, Hermione found it hard to stay angry at him usually. Although he irritated her to no end.

Hermione didn't know where she had gone when she apparated, but somehow ended up in front of large iron gates. She recognised the place instantly from her time in the war.

Malfoy Manor.