Chapter 7 “ Building Bridges
Hermione stared with a look of shock at the sight of her best friend and momentarily forgot about her current situation with her parents and the boys.
“Ronald! What brings you here at this hour? Are you alright?” She looked at him with her eyes wide open in concern.
Ron looked perplexed. He looked over his friend’s shoulder and waved at Mr. and Mrs. Granger nervously. He walked down the steps and exited the bus. Ron leaned in close to Hermione’s ear. Something seemed to be a bit off.
“Did I interrupt something, Hermione? I can go…”
The doors to the Knight Bus remained open, unsure of the destination of the red headed wizard.
Hermione licked her lips. “Well, it’s a bit confusing, really. I don’t quite know how to begin.”
The Grangers tried to pretend there was something fascinating about a rose bush and Hermione shuffled her feet. Even in the dark, one could see the nervous looks being passed amongst one another.
Ron asked again, feeling the tension.
“Should I leave, Hermione? I don’t want to be in the way. I was just about to go completely nutters if I had to watch Bill and Fleur making kissing faces any more. Ugh! I had to get out!”
Hermione wasn’t sure how to respond to the situation. She crossed her arms in front of her and shook her finger at her friend in a condescending manner. “Ronald, does your mum even know you are here? You could have gotten hurt!”
Once she saw the pleading look on her friend’s face, she softened slightly. “I see your point and I’m sure it’s driving your family a little batty. How is your””
Hermione stopped mid-sentence when she noticed a faint light coming from somewhere off to her left. Curious, she slowly moved her attention towards her childhood home and realized that it was glowing an eerie green color.
As the color drained from her face, Hermione lost all thought. She couldn't move, couldn't breath. Her world spun. She began to scream but stopped as she remembered the two people standing behind her.
She heard her parents gasp at the sight of the Dark Mark above their home.
The young witch tried to be calm and suddenly realized that the Knight Bus hadn’t left. Hermione turned to the man she knew to be Stan Shunpike and sputtered her next words nervously, trying to stay level headed.
“Excuse me sir? Can you transport my parents to Mr. Weasley’s home at the Burrow? We’re in a bit of a bind.”
Stan tipped his conductor’s hat down and bowed regally. He obviously had not seen the Dark Mark hovering above.
“Anything for a friend of Harry Potter.”
Hermione thanked Stan and turned to her parents.
“Mum? Dad - do you remember Molly and Arthur Weasley? You’re going to their house, okay?”
“Hermione Jane Granger, what is that thing floating above our house?” her father demanded.
Hermione bit her lower lip, desperately trying to think her way through the situation. Ron, thankfully stepped in between her and her parents.
“Sir, I think you really need to just trust the both of us on this. Please just get inside the bus and we promise to explain everything very soon…”
As they continued to ask their daughter questions, she gently prodded them up into the bus, handing them the fare to pay for their travels.
“Up you go! Give the Weasleys a hug for me and let them know we are fine. We just need to clean up a bit… Bye Mum! Bye Dad!”
They looked at each other with confused looks as they proceeded towards a place to sit and heard Ron yell, “Hang on tight!” as it (quite literally) took off.
Hermione ignored Ron’s extended hand and began running towards her house, not caring about the possibility of Death Eaters still being inside.
She took in a breath and let it go when she saw Harry and Draco walking towards them. She and Ron slowed their pace down to a brisk walk. Ron tried to focus on who he saw walking towards them and reached for his wand when he realised who it was.
Hermione grabbed his arm. “I can explain, Ron, but please don’t be mad.”
Ron began turning multiple shades of red. Harry approached the two of them and had a look that could only be described as one between disbelief and confusion.
“Ron? What are you doing here, mate?”
Hermione gasped at Harry’s lack of concern over the current emergency. She walked past Ron and stood inches from Harry and Draco with her eyes ablaze.
“Why is the Dark Mark over my house, Harry? Surely you didn’t…” She motioned between the two of them.
Draco snorted and looked almost offended. “Don’t be ridiculous, Hermione. You should know we have more class than that.”
Seeing the look on her face, he explained, “The Dark Mark was their idea of a joke, so to speak.” He looked over to Harry for support and he nodded at Hermione.
“That,” she spat, “was the cruellest so-called joke I have ever heard of.” She almost growled the last few words. She proceeded to ask more questions but was interrupted by the almost frantic breathing coming from behind her.
Ron was still staring at the blond wizard in front of him. “Malfoy…?” He clenched his fists.
Draco simply glared right back at him, matching him look for look and finally asked, “What are you doing here, Weasley?”
Hermione gave Draco a somewhat dirty look and sighed. Turning towards Ron, she pleaded, “Please just try to calm down and hear us out.” She walked back over to him in hope of deterring him from approaching the Slytherin boy.
Ron looked between his two best friends. Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He knew why Ron felt distressed but realised that it was similar to how he too had felt before the meeting with Dumbledore when everything was explained.
“Why is Ferret Boy at your house?”
Harry stepped forward wanting to end any sort of confrontation before it started. “Ron, let’s go for a walk.”
Their confused friend stepped back and looked incredulously at the three of them. “And leave him here with Hermione? You’re insane!”
Draco raised his hand as if he were asking permission to speak. He glanced in the direction of the raven-haired wizard, almost looking bored.
Motioning to Ron he said in an annoyed tone, “Harry, please calm your girlfriend down before this gets ugly. I would hate for things to get any messier than they already have been this evening.”
The witch gasped. “Draco, you’re not helping by making comments like that!”
“I’m sorry, Hermione, but this needs to get cleared up sooner rather than later, don’t you agree?”
Allowing her curiosity to get ahead of her, she interrupted to ask, “And what did you mean by ‘messier than they have already been’?” This made Harry laugh.
“Lucius knocked down your mum’s fruit bowl in the kitchen when he was sneaking around.”
Draco rolled his eyes, “He’s rather clumsy, actually. Stealthy, but clumsy.” Hermione did not look amused.
Ron silently watched the playful banter between the three people in front of him with a look that varied somewhere between disbelief and nausea. Hermione was reminded why they were standing in the middle of the street when she caught another glimpse of the Dark Mark out of the corner of her eye. Even with the knowledge that the mark was not real, its presence still made her feel uneasy. She wanted the evening to be done with and only saw one way of achieving that goal.
Facing her two best friends she announced suddenly, “Ron, go with Harry. I’ll be fine.”
“But Hermione, he’s our enemy!” Ron looked as if he was preparing for another argument.
Harry looked at Hermione with a pleading look. He mouthed the words, “help me.”
Draco saw the exchange and turned so that Ron was looking right at him. “Ron, I give you my word that I will never “ not tonight and not ever “ allow harm to come to Hermione.” He kept fierce eye contact with Ron, determined to prove his point. Harry and Hermione’s attention was now focused on the scene unfolding in front of them.
Ron shook his head trying to remain calm. “Malfoy, your word means very little to me. You come from a family of Death Eaters. You’ll have to try harder than that.”
At that comment, Draco raised the cuff of his shirt to reveal clean skin where the Dark Mark would normally be in view. “This will have to do for now. Go with Harry and let him explain. I’ll take Granger back to her house, and we’ll set up protective wards the second we set foot in the door, okay?” He was determined to see the plans through. It was his belief that Ron needed to be brought into the loop of things or the present alliance would crumble between Harry, Hermione, and himself.
Ron looked the blonde wizard in the eye and approached him, standing inches from his face. He was shaking by this point. It almost scared him how much anger he had inside towards the boy in front of him.
Ron seemed to be overcome with sudden clarity and said with a calm but spiteful tone, “If you harm one hair on her head, my wand will be the last thing you see in your short worthless life.”
He and Harry walked away.
Hermione and Draco slowly made eye contact and Draco smiled at her. “That went a lot better than I had imagined it would.” She shrugged and they embarked on a slow walk back to her house.
Minutes later, as her house came into view, Draco explained to Hermione what had happened earlier that evening while he and Harry were under the cloak. When he mentioned the Death Eaters planned to return, Hermione went pale. She slowed her pace down as they approached the front door.
“So now what? Leave my mum and dad in a house full of Weasleys for goodness knows how long?”
Draco grinned, “No, I’m trying to think of another less traumatizing solution. Just give me a few minutes.”
She put her hands on her hips and gave him an expectant look. “Well, let’s head inside, and I’ll make us some tea so you can mull things over.”
Draco stepped in the doorway ahead of her and blocked her entrance with a sly smile creeping across his face.
“Actually… you know what sounds really good? Better than tea?”
She hung her head down and sighed. He gave her his best puppy dog face as she looked into his eyes. He could tell she was losing control and he would break her willpower in seconds at the rate he was going. At the same time he was hoping that there were no other people within eyeshot to see this pathetic display. It was not very aristocratic, that was for sure.
“Fine, Malfoy,” she sighed. “I think we still have marshmallows left.” Seeing the look of triumph he was displaying, she continued, “Honestly, for being the son of one of the most feared Death Eaters, your love of a Muggle treat such as s’mores boggles the mind!”
They walked inside and headed for the kitchen, Draco following with an air of utter satisfaction.
Safe Haven by NikkiSue
Chapter Notes: This chapter never would have seen the light of day without the help of my fantastic beta, Rita Writer and my patient cousin, Loralie. We dissected a piece of this chapter for over an hour via a very long IM... This chapter is where things begin to get both interesting and sticky. I hope you enjoy it. (Updates shouldn't take long as I have written up to Ch. 21.)