I arrived back at my apartment, tired once again. I collapsed onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened. Adrienne did not work the day shift. When we were friends, she said that she rarely went out in the daytime. Why on earth, then, would she be visiting her aunt, who had no memory of her anyway, in the middle of the day?
I couldn’t explain it; the logic simply didn’t make sense. She and I were great friends, when suddenly she became a “ a demon. I couldn’t put two and two together. We had been friends. I wished that I could make amends with her, even if I didn’t know what had gone wrong in the first place. Maybe a few hours of sleep would put my mind at rest.
I laid back and closed my eyes. How I wished it was winter, so that I could slowly watch the sun go down through my eyelids. That had always been a favorite activity of mine as a child … especially when I was lonely …
I awoke to a tapping on the window a few hours later. The clock read seven twenty-four, as I sat up in bed. There was a quite familiar tiny Scops owl ramming itself into my window. I smiled at the remembrance of Ron.
I rose and opened the window. “Luminesca minimo,” I murmured, as Pigwidgeon flew in circles around my head. Immediately, the lamp beside flickered on, and I was able to read the letter. It had been hastily scribbled on parchment paper. I could tell because of the blotted ink and the smudged letter. In short, it read:
Hermione,
I’m sorry for the short notice. I can’t believe we forgot to invite you!
Fleur’s shower is tomorrow. We would be coming up short if you were not there. You may not know many people, and I doubt that you know much French, so you may bring a few guests if you like.
Molly
I lifted my eyes and laughed. The Weasley were so dear to me! Beside the smudged letter was a hurried postscript “
P.S. - Neville has asked to bring your friend Hannah! What a cute couple they make!
I sighed. Mrs. Weasley was my favorite person in the world.
It was becoming dusky now, and the streets of London were emptying slowly. I smiled on them and thought of them fondly, as I had spent most of my youth here. Why, only a few blocks away was my father’s dental practice! I remembered walking on that corner, just there, with Timothy. He was my dearest childhood friend. I never spoke to him again after we left Hogwarts.
I sighed. I would be a shame if I never spoke to Adrienne again. I resolved that I would go see her at work tonight, even though I didn’t have to work until Monday, and I would invite her. Friend or foe, I wished we could make amends.
I smiled and sat down at my writing desk. “Maxima!” I flicked my wand and the rest of the lights in the room flickered on.
Dear Mrs. Weasley,
Of course I’ll come. Don’t mind the short notice. You know me “ as long as it’s not during work, I’m up for it. That said, thank you for inviting me. I’m going to be bringing my friend Adrienne, I hope, and maybe one more, so make sure you set an extra place or two.
Lovingly,
Hermione
There, I thought. That should be good enough. I snatched Pigwidgeon, still hooting ceaselessly, out of the air and tied the note to his leg.
“You’re Ron’s owl,” I said to him, holding him down. “Make sure this gets to his mother.” I walked to the window and tossed Pigwidgeon out of it. He plummeted a few feet and sped, screeching, off into the night.
I looked up at the royal sky. It was a deep, velvety blue, dotted here and there with stars. Oh, how I loved these English nights “ the ones when you could look up at see the deepest parts of the universe! I sighed and crawled into bed, overwhelmed by the beauty I could see in the sky around me.
“Nox,” I murmured, and the lights fell down around me.
I awoke the next morning to Crookshanks massaging my stomach. His yellow eyes glared down at me.
Feed me, he said, glowering down at me. I let you sleep, now it’s my turn.
“All right,” I mumbled, sitting up in bed. I staggered to the cabinet door and shook a bit of cat food into his dish. “I hope you’re happy,” I laughed at him, as he devoured his food gratefully.
I smiled at Crookshanks. Now that I looked around, I was glad he had woken me up. I had a baby shower to attend today, and I needed to get ready. I walked over to the window and swung it open, hanging my head out and it and looking down into the streets. People were bustling about below. It was Saturday morning, around eleven o’clock. The sun was shining brightly, heralding the coming of the summer. It was the first of May, I realized, smiling to myself. Maybe Hannah and I would go shopping.
I dressed, took and pinch of Floo Powder, and threw it into the fire.
“Shenandoah,” I said, stepping into the swirling green flames. I felt their heat rising up against my face. I clenched my fists tightly and prepared for a slightly unpleasant ride. Floo Powder had never been my preferred means of travel, I thought as my empty stomach churned. It was a good thing that I hadn’t yet had breakfast.
I stumbled out of Hannah’s fireplace a few seconds later. She looked up from the breakfast table, raising her eyebrows. “Warn me next time, Hermione,” she said, setting down her spoon. “What do you want?”
I regained my composure quickly and stood up straight. “I would like to apologize for the short notice,” I said, bowing cordially, “but I would also like to invite Miss Hannah Abbott to my friend’s baby shower this afternoon.”
Hannah laughed, her eyes lighting up. I dropped my formal tone. “Mrs. Weasley wanted me to bring a few friends, as most of the people there will be French.”
Hannah’s brow furrowed. “French?”
“Bill Weasley married Fleur Delacour,” I said. “From the Triwizard Tournament, do you remember?”
Comprehension dawned on Hannah’s face. “I think I remember. She was half-Veela, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah,” I said. “A quarter, I think.” I paused. “Anyway, would you come?”
Hannah laughed at me again. “Of course, dear,” she said, standing up. “What are we wearing?”
“A “ about that,” I stammered. “I need to go shopping “ badly.”
Hannah smiled. “Career overshadows all, no?” she remarked.
“Indeed.”
“Wait for me a minute.”
She disappeared back into her room and came back out dressed. “Let’s go. Where are we off to, then?”
“Diagon Alley,” I said. “I think I saw a shop with dresses in it there … long ago.” I lied. I didn’t think there was one at all, actually. I knew that there was one at the very end. I had found it many years ago and bought the dress I was wearing when I rejected Ron for the final time. I hated that store, but I would venture there once more out of respect for Mrs. Weasley.
“I’m glad you’re coming with me,” I said. “I couldn’t bear to be there alone.”
Hannah closed her eyes and smiled. “I would have been there anyway,” she said. “Neville’s been invited, and he asked to bring me along.”
Now it was my turn to look stupid. Excellent actress that she was, I should have expected it. Ever since that spring, I had been forgetful.
“Well, I’ll have to bring Adrienne then, I suppose, if I’m to look like I have any friends at all,” I laughed, my eyes shining. “Wait here a minute; I’ll be right back.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Honestly, Hermione.” She folded her arms and shook her head. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were the most forgetful person I’d ever met.”
“Don’t worry, I am,” I said sarcastically, taking a handful of Floo Powder. I threw it into the fire. “Aisling Hollow,” I called clearly into the swirling green flames, and they accepted me as I stepped into them.
I whirled about painfully in the green flames for a few seconds, catching occasional glimpses of living rooms, but it was all a blur to me. Within the minute, I found myself on Adrienne’s hearth, coughing up ashes from the fire. I looked up and found Adrienne standing over me, glaring down at my visage.
“What do you want?” she snarled, reluctantly throwing down a hand to help me up. I took it gratefully and struggled to my feet.
“I wanted to invite you to a shower tonight.” I looked at her with contempt, but I fought for a smile. “You might remember Fleur Delacour from the Triwizard Tournament. She went to your school.”
“Of course,” she said bitterly. I knew that she hated Fleur as I once had, but I had long since realized that Ron loved me and not her. Oh, how I wished that I had not taken that for granted! “How could I forget?” she said, folding her arms.
“Yes, I know,” I said. “Anyway, I thought it might be nice if you came, considering you know her. It’s her baby shower.”
Adrienne raised her eyes from the floor and looked at me. “All right,” she said. “I’ll come.”
“Hannah and I are going shopping today,” I stated, hoping for a ray of friendship. None came. “Would you like to come?” I prompted, reaching out for some symbol that things were repaired between us.
“That’s all right,” she murmured, shrugging. At least she didn’t look ready to hit me. “I’ll be there.”
“Okay,” I said, moving slowly back toward the fire. “I’ll be going then.”
“Yeah,” Adrienne said, her eyes misting. I couldn’t say why, but it seemed as though she felt sorry for something. I brushed those thoughts off in the blink of an eye and and turned back toward the fire. “Shenandoah,” I repeated.
Hannah laughed at me as I stumbled out of the fireplace, coughing up soot. She extended a friendly had to help me up with shining eyes. “Hermione, I don’t understand you.” Her knees weakened with her peals of laughter and she sank onto the couch. “You can’t arrive at someone’s house uninvited by Apparition, but you can leave it.”
I sighed. Quite honestly, the thought had never occurred to me.
We arrived in front of the Leaky Cauldron a few seconds later. We walked toward it. “A bit gloomy, isn’t it?” Hannah remarked, looking up into the sky. Since the morning, the sky had become cast over with dark clouds. She said gloomy; I would have said ominous. The clouds cast a foreign shadow over my heart, and I felt the coming of some unknown detail “ something I couldn’t stop or save. Something was going to happen, and it was too late for me to intervene.
Small rain drops began to fall and we started running toward the shop at the end of the Alley. Inside the shop, the rain began to fall harder and pound heavily on the roof. I was scared. I felt as if the rain was coming to get me, like a shadow of a past life. Whatever it was, I didn’t like it.
Hannah and I left the shop after an hour or so and decided to spend a few minutes to have a drink in the Leaky Cauldron. By now, it was raining so hard that I had to conjure a magical umbrella in order for us to walk safely down to the opposite end of Diagon Alley. A river now ran diagonally down the cobblestone street and there was a great rut where the water cut deeply into the mud. Hannah and I skipped over this, making sure that we kept our purchases out of the mud and dirt below us. When we finally reached the Leaky Cauldron, the charm on my umbrella had worn off, and we were cutting it so close to the time we had to be at the party that we both decided to go home.
“I invited Adrienne, by the way,” I remarked. “She said she’d come.”
“I thought she was mad at you?” Hannah questioned, obviously confused.
“I don’t know why we were angry in the first place,” I said. “We just were. At least everything’s patched up now.”
Hannah shook her head. “Not necessarily. She could cause you all kinds of trouble if you aren’t careful tonight. Be on the watch.”
With that, she Disapparated. I did the same. I got home, changed, and decided there was nothing I could do with my hair. My best hope was to sweep it up into some sort of bun while it was still wet, and hope for the best.
I arrived at the party a little late, but Neville and Hannah were already there. I ran over to them, best I could in the tiny heel that Hannah had forced me to wear. “Neville!” I said, giving him a hug.
“Hi, Hermione,” he said. I smiled at him. His pudgy boyish face was not so far gone as I had thought it would have been, and it was refreshing to him after all these years. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine,” I said, glad to have the company of an old friend. “And yourself?”
“Never better,” he said. I noticed he squeezed Hannah’s hand as he said this. I felt warm inside, but a pang of loneliness worked its way in eventually.
I could see Bill and Fleur sitting together, surrounded by a flock of friends and well-wishers. Bill looked tired. He had cut off his long hair recently, I could tell, and if I was not mistaken, a tiny bald patch had begun to appear at the back of his head, so like his father. I smiled. Mr. Weasley was like a father to me.
I said see-you-later to Neville and Hannah and walked toward Bill and Fleur. She looked absolutely exhausted, but she was still beautiful. She had always been beautiful. At one point, I hadn’t thought it fair, but then I realized that beauty was never everything. There was some boys standing in lonely corners, staring toward the mother-to-be, seemingly mesmerized.
“Fleur,” I said, “do you remember me?”
“’Ermione?” she said, through her thick French accent. “Is zat you?”
“Comment ca va?” I said, smiling and using the only bit of French I knew. Fleur smiled at my attempts at an accent.
“Tres bien,” she laughed. “Et toi?”
“Tres bien.”
Fleur hugged me. “It is so wonderful to see you again, ‘Ermione. I am glad you are ‘ere.”
“The same to you,” I said. “Congratulations.” I noticed how very much her English had improved. Bill’s tutoring must have done some good before they were married.
Fleur put a hand to her bloated belly. “Bill is very happy,” she said, glowing. “’E swears
‘e is ze luckiest man on ze earth.”
“I’m sure he is,” I said, making Fleur blush. I didn’t know her very well still, but I no longer had anything to hold against her, save that she was prettier than me.
As she turned to greet other people, I caught a glimpse of Adrienne out of the corner of my eye. I turned to get a better look, and I saw her kissing a man goodbye. He was tall with dark hair, and just as I was about to put him out of my mind, he bent and kissed her hand.
It was Redman.
I looked a bit closer. Yes, it was him, all right. There was no mistaking that walk, not for the world. Adrienne looked nice, but there was something about her not right. What it was, I wasn’t certain … yet.
She approached me and kissed me on both cheeks. “Hermione,” she said. I noticed how different her accent was from Fleur’s. I knew they had both gone to Beauxbatons, but Fleur had lived in France until she married Bill, and she had not seen the outside of it since the Triwizard Tournament. Adrienne, however, had moved to England when she was twelve, but her parents insisted that she continue going to Beauxbatons, because it was part of her heritage. She still spoke fluent French, but her accent was gone.
“How are you, Adrienne?” I asked courteously and carefully, trying not to break her.
“I’m fine,” she said shortly. “Where’s Fleur?”
“Over there.” I gestured toward the tight-knit group of people that surrounded the woman. “She hasn’t got much time to spend with anyone.”
“She’ll make it for me.”
Adrienne’s manner was very abrupt. I felt as though she was here for no other reason than to snub me, for snub me she did. I felt slighted, but her dress was beautiful. It hung just below her knees and it glittered. It was a deep shade of green, perhaps suggesting her house, had she been at Hogwarts. Her long black curls fell around her face and shoulders, and a thin mesh covered her arms.
What was this? On the upper of her arm, nearly on her shoulder, there was a tattoo. I had never seen it before. I edged closer to her so as to get a better look. When I figured out what it was, my blood ran cold.
On her upper arm, a skull had been tattooed “ branded, it was possible. The human cranium had a serpent snaking in through its eyes and out of its mouth, and the mere sight of it was menacing. The eyes of the serpent flashed a bright red, and Adrienne fiddled with the mesh covering her arm.
Adrienne Krapf bore the Dark Mark.
Immediately, I began to sweat. It was hot in the house with so many people, but never before had it been this hot in my life. All this time, Adrienne had been the inside operative, and I had never once suspected her! How could I have been so blind? A wave of anger swept over me. She “ she had been the one to hurt my Ron! Oh, I would kill her for it if it was the last thing I ever did! My common sense returned to me slowly and I realized of what I was accusing her, my dear friend. Treason against the human race.
Nonetheless, I needed no more proof. Adrienne bore the Dark Mark, and in those days that was enough to have one thrown in Azkaban for life. I had to tell somebody “ immediately. I had no other choice.
Quickly I found Mrs. Weasley in the crowd. “I’m not feeling well,” I said softly, trying to stop looking terrified. “I’m “ I’m going to go home.”
“Oh, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley, feeling my forehead as if I were her own child. “Go home and rest. Be better in the morning.”
I dared not Disapparate, lest I find myself amidst some unknown place. Yet this was the quickest way to get anywhere. Once again, Floo Powder was my only option. Oh, how cruel life is.
“Can I use the fireplace?” I asked timidly. “I don’t think I’m feeling up to Apparition.”
“Of course, dear,” said Mrs. Weasley. “What’s ours is yours.”
I staggered to the fireplace, on the verge of blacking out. This was amazing. My dear friend “ a Death Eater! Of all the ways that this could have turned out, I was most stunned by this method. I swallowed hard and stepped into the fireplace.
I arrived in the lobby of St. Mungo’s after a few seconds. I rushed past people I barely knew, knocking down patients and staff alike. None of them were important right now “ I needed to tell somebody. I made my way briskly up to the Dai Llewellyn Ward. If anyone else knew about it, she would be the only one who knew what to do. “Healer Llewellyn?” I called. A tall black woman arose from amongst large stacks of paper. She wore large glasses and had grey hair. I was swore she was twice the height of a normal human “ she looked so intimidating in her long white coat.
“Hermione,” she said in her deep, rich voice. “Please, just Dai.”
I was too scared and out of breath to communicate anything comprehensible in reply to that. I simply nodded and waited for acknowledgement.
Something in my eyes must have told her I had something important to say. “Speak, child,” she said, her deep voice washing around me like honey. “What is it?”
“Healer “ Dai,” I said, standing up straight. “Adrienne Krapf wears the Dark Mark.”