The woman was silent for a moment, absorbing this interesting bit of information. She walked around to the back of her desk and covering her face with her hands. “I never thought it would come to this …” she said quietly, sighing. “Are you certain? This is a very serious accusation, Miss Granger.”
I swallowed and a shiver ran up my spine. “I saw it there,” I said. “On her forearm. I saw it.”
Dai Llewellyn rose from her chair and stood before me. “Very well, Miss Granger. If you are certain that this is what you saw, then we cannot waste time. I will contact Albus Dumbledore immediately, and he will alert the Ministry of Magic.”
“Why the Ministry of Magic?” I queried, clueless. “Why must they know?”
“Hermione, this is something that everyone must know. It is one of the things that will stand out in the minds of those whose positions are uncertain and may cause them to take a side for better or for worse.” She took to pacing. “If Dumbledore can convince them, this will be in the Daily Prophet tomorrow, and our forces will be greater than theirs, we can only hope.”
I nodded. Things like this just did not come to me when I needed to think of them.
“As for Adrienne,” Llewellyn continued, resuming her pacing around the room, “she will need to be removed immediately. Tell me, where did you see her?”
“She was at a baby shower for my friend’s family,” I said right away. “I invited her. I had no idea until I saw the Mark on her arm.”
“We must act quickly,” she said, turning to look at me. “We have no time to waste. If any one of the Death Eaters find out, Adrienne will be removed and they will storm the Wizarding world. Now, go back to your home and try to get some rest.”
I blinked. “I want to help,” I said forwardly, staring at her. “This is my war as well.”
“The fewer that are involved in this,” she said, sighing heavily, “the better. Go. Do not waste your time here.”
I turned and walked from the room, my eyes burning. I didn’t know what to think anymore. Adrienne had been one of the few people in this world who I thought I could trust, and my trust was destroyed when I found out that she was under the thumb of the Dark Lord, our enemy.
I smiled briefly. I wondered how I could ever have lived without Ron. Even now when he could not share my sentiments, I referred to everything in the plural -- us together. Things like this made me happy in times of sorrow, and I was glad to know that Ron would love me no matter how much pressure was on me. I would visit him, I decided, before I had to stop in at work the next day.
As I turned the corner, I realized how Adrienne would hate me for what I had done. I had revealed her secret … as a Death Eater. I could not picture her in my mind as one of Voldemort’s followers … or perhaps I could. How could I have been so blind? Of course, that day in Ron’s ward she was not visiting her aunt “ she was trying to find Ron and hurt him. Anger burned in my veins at the very thought. I couldn’t believe that a woman I had befriended for all these years would turn on me at the drop of hat “ rather, an offer for power and prestige.
I was sad for her. She was just a child, so mislead and undone. Then again, I knew that she was a few years older than I, and that she had had a life harder than any woman I had ever known. When she was a child, her father had murdered her mother, and from that point on she had never been the same. She had never liked to talk about these things with anyone, and I didn’t feel right forcing her to throughout our friendship.
All that was gone. Now that she had turned against the Wizarding world, she was my sworn enemy, and it was my duty to treat her as such. I checked my watch. It was nearly seven. I felt lost and didn’t know where to go. Ginny always helped me when I felt like that.
“Hermione?” Ginny’s brown eyes looked worriedly at me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “I need someone to talk to.”
“Harry’s not here,” she informed me, pulling the door wide. “Come in.”
I stepped over the threshold and immediately a sense of security washed over me. The couple that lived here was among my best friends, and I knew that neither one would judge me “ for any reason.
“Hermione,” Ginny repeated. “I know there’s something wrong.”
I took a deep breath. “That girl Adrienne I brought to the shower today,” I said.
Ginny frowned. “Yes, I remember her,” she said brusquely, not looking me in the eye.
I smiled. “You didn’t like her?” Ginny shook her head. “I thought as much. With good reason, Ginny,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. Ginny looked up at me, confused.
“You invited her,” she said. “Shouldn’t you, at least, like her?”
“She wears the Dark Mark,” I said.
Ginny gasped. “No!” she said. “Don’t accuse her of that! I’ll deal with her if “ Hermione that’s a serious accusation!”
I shook my head. “It’s true. I saw it on her arm. Adrienne wears the Dark Mark.”
Ginny sat in silence for a while, shaking. “There was a Death Eater in our midst,” she murmured, clearly unnerved. “Harry talks about them all the time. They’re everywhere.”
“They are,” I said. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know who to trust.”
Ginny wore a knowledgeable look. “You’re lonely.”
My throat began to hurt and my nose began to prickle, heralding the coming of tears. “Yes,” I whispered, barely getting the words out before I choked on my breath. “Oh, Ginny, he’s going to die! I know it!”
Ginny patted me on the back. “You need to be strong. He won’t die; you just have to wait.” She looked at me. “He loves you more than you know, Hermione. He really does.”
Heartened by her words, I looked up. “I know,” I said, brushing the tears away. “I hate waiting though.”
“You made him wait,” Ginny sighed. “It’s coming back to bite you, but he’ll be with you eventually. Look at Harry. He was blind once, as well.” I could see the laugh in her eyes.
“Gin, you’re the best,” I laughed shakily from the tears. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” She hugged me to make me feel better. The door opened, revealing Harry’s tall and lean frame. He smiled. “Hello, Hermione,” he said, pulling me and giving me a hug. “What brings you here?”
“Just trying to figure things out,” I said, knowing that he could see through me.
Harry wore a knowledgeable grin. “Women,” he muttered. “He’ll be all right.”
I glared at him and hit him, much reminiscent of the way I had tackled Ron all those years ago after we got our N.E.W.T. results. We were always together, and that was part of the reason we loved each other so. This was why I had befriended the two young ones. I had felt it in my bones that we were meant to be friends “ I didn’t know how much they would mean to me in the end at the time, but they were dear, dear friends, and I would not have given them up for all the world.
I returned home to find Crookshanks sitting on my bed, his ears pricked. “Hello, Crookshanks,” I said, sitting beside him and stroking his ears. He narrowed his yellow eyes and purred with contentment. “Today’s been wild, that’s for sure.” I collapsed back onto my bed, tired from the day’s events.
The next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes to a bright spring sunshine flooding in through my open shutters. I rose slowly and threw them open further. Spring days delighted me. They reminded me of the many beautiful days I had spent on the Hogwarts grounds with my dear friends.
“Ronald, hurry up!” I whined at him, as he fell behind on the sloping Hogwarts lawn. We’re going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures!”
“Hagrid doesn’t care,” he said, kicking a dandelion that had popped up amongst the grass. Heaving my bag back up onto my shoulder, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him toward Hagrid’s cabin.
“Come on,” I said. “We’re going to be late.”
I could see his ears turning red at the very thought of me touching him, but I didn’t care. I liked him, true enough, as a friend, but I could not bring myself to love him. He was too much to me.
“Harry!” I cried, frustrated. “Make him move!” Ron had planted his feet firmly in the turf and, try as I might, I could not force him to move anywhere. Harry simply smiled and kept walking. I glared at him. He had been wearing that devilish smile he always wore when he was scheming --
I shook my head, clearing it of any and all memories. I had more important things to concentrate on than old times. I had my career ahead of me.
I dressed quickly and grabbed my ID. Heading out of my apartment, I looked wistfully back into it. I wished so much for a home I could safely call my own and a family. I rarely saw my own parents anymore, since I had become a legal witch. It wasn’t enough that I was successful “ I needed people who loved me just as much as anyone else.
Once in the lounge, I found Hannah sitting on a chair reading The Quibbler. I rolled my eyes at her momentarily. She giggled when I did so. She knew that I thought her habit of doing so was stupid, and I knew that she did it just to annoy. It was a mutual understanding of annoyance. Just one of those things we did.
“Hi,” I said, swinging into the chair beside her and pulling a claw clip out of my bag. I quickly twisted my hair up and fastened the clip there, as Hannah set down her copy of The Quibbler.
“What’s wrong?” she said. “You look tired.”
I sighed, resigned to telling her the story. I told her everything, from Adrienne’s mysterious behavior to the meeting in the closet over a month ago. When I had finished with my tale, her eyes were full of tears. “Hermione,” she said, amazed. “I had no idea any of this was going on. If there’s anything I can do …” She choked and swallowed. “Oh, I just can’t believe this.”
“I can’t believe it either,” I added. “But we’re going to have to.”
Hannah nodded resignedly. I sighed and said, “Well, I better get going. Work’s waiting.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “All right,” she said. “I better get going too.”
She went downstairs to her ward, and I went to mine. It just made me feel better to be able to walk alone and sort out my thoughts. I tried to weigh the good against the bad. I wouldn’t have to deal with Adrienne anymore, that was one good thing. Ron was safe as well; that was another. Of course, there were people watching my Ron, and Adrienne would be far from happy that I had gotten her fired. I swallowed the small lump in my throat. I would have to walk through this like everything else.
I saw Ron lying there, as I opened the door. The cut on his head had completely healed from the day he had arrived. It struck how long he had really been there now. It had been well over a month; perhaps two, I couldn’t properly tell. I had lost count. Information escaped me when he was around. It was then that I realized what he was to me.
He was everything. He was my life, my breath. He was everything. He was my very being. If I let him go, I wouldn’t have anything left. If I let him go, I would be lost. Lost and utterly hopeless. I could not survive without him. I touched his forehead and brushed away the fiery locks from his forehead. There were tears clinging to my eyelashes now, but not for the life of me could I remember how they had gotten there. Suddenly I was kissing his face, his forehead, his neck and anywhere that I could reach. Ron was my all, and I should live without him for one more second, my world would come crashing down upon me.
I sat there for a moment next to him, realizing what I had just done. Had anyone seen me, I could have been fired, no matter how much this man meant to me. I didn’t care. If that was the price for one kiss, it would be a small price to pay. Slowly, ever so slowly, ever so carefully, I lowered my head and kissed him softly on the lips.
It was as if a shock of electricity had bolted through me when I did it. Now I had realized what he was to me. Now I knew how much truly depended on this man’s survival.
Ron moaned in his sleep. Shocked, I looked down at him. His eyes were fluttering open. Slowly, he was realizing where he was.
“Mione,” he croaked, his voice raspy from disuse.
Immediately, tears began to pour down my face. In the next bed, Emmeline Vance sat up and clapped her hands together. I could see here sitting there, but I never gave her a second though. My mind was blown. “R “ Ron?” I stammered, taking his hand tightly in mine.
“Mione,” he said. “You … I knew you wouldn’t …”
I put my finger to my lips. “Shh, Ron,” I said. “Oh … I can’t believe it. Finally.” I didn’t know what to do or say. After all these long months apart, he had come back.
Ron looked dazed. He sat up, looking at his surroundings. “Hermione, I don’t remember,” he said. “You’re …” he struggled with his tongue. “You’re all I remember.”
I pulled him close. “Ron, it’s going to be okay,” I said softly, rocking back and forth with him. “You can home soon. I’m so sorry.”
I could tell he had no idea what I was sorry about, but I felt the need to apologize for everything I had put him through in the last ten years. All those times he had poured it heart out and I had left him alone. Oh, how I wished I could take it all back! None of that mattered now … only that he was safe.
I lay him back down on the bed. “Sleep, Ron,” I said with difficulty, wishing that I could hold him forever. I knew it would be the best thing for him to sleep a true, natural sleep, but I didn’t want to let him go. Tears rising in my eyes, I walked over to the inter-hospital Floo Network and threw a pinch of powder into it. “Michske Ward,” I called into it, almost choking. “Healer Llewellyn to the Michske Ward.”
I began to cry as soon as the fire disconnected. Ron was sleeping a natural sleep, and I was so happy that he was finally all right. A few seconds later, the tall African woman was looming in the doorway.
“Ah, Miss Granger,” she said in her deep, mellow voice.
“He’s come around,” I said. “He’s just gone back to sleep. I thought that would be best for him.”
“Thank Merlin he’s all right,” she said, her rich voice floating in the room. “Terrible things could have happened to him.”
I nodded gravely. Healer Llewellyn spoke again. “You did a wise thing, Miss Granger, to let him sleep. Go home; you are excused from the remainder of the day. You’ve done quite enough work. Let him sleep, and he should be able to go home in a couple of days.”
“He doesn’t remember anything,” I mused. “He remembers my name, and that’s all.”
“He has heard others speak to you and about you during his sickness,” she replied. “Naturally, he knows your name.” I smiled. “He will, however, have to have a Healer take care of him at his home when he returns there.”
I nodded again. “Go home, Miss Granger. Come back tomorrow.” She smiled and me and left the room.
I sighed, giving my consent. She was right. He was awake, and all I could do now for him was to let him recuperate. One must wonder, though, why he woke up at that exact moment. Perhaps the power of love is stronger than I had imagined. Shrugging, looked back at him, kissed his cheek, and left the room, knowing that all was well.
On the horizon, however, there were uncertainties that I could never unfold. What would Adrienne do to me for getting her sacked? Who was the other operative? It seemed to me that the whole world was a mystery. But for now, I was content. Ron was back with me, and for now that was all that mattered.