Watching

Watching

Chapter 20

The truth was out, and my brother believed us. I didn't know what to say after my father finished his story. The three of us had sat in silence, absorbing the information. How could my mother do all that? How could she live with herself after all that? And then to decide that she wouldn't give up Harry, no matter what...

He wanted to confront the Weasleys, and I wanted to go with him, but he couldn't leave Hermione. There was a ring on that woman's finger and it was from him. They were beautiful together, even if she was still lying in a coma after a month.

He hadn't surfaced since then. Three days, and he was back to lying next to her all the time. He hadn't eaten anything. When the house elves came to clean, there was nothing to do except dust.

Needless to say, we were all worried.

The door was closed when I came by to check on him. This was part of my daily routine. I checked on them daily after each meal. Each meal I saw him ignore. There was always a tray on the desk, and it was always full of food. He was getting paler, thinner, sicker than he'd ever been before.

"Harry?" I asked, cautiously stepping into the room.

He looked up at me. "Why hasn't she come out yet?" he asked. "Why won't she make a choice?"

"Maybe she's lost," I said sitting on the floor next to him. "Maybe no one over there wants her to come back and she's fighting with them to let her. You can't keep locked up in here, Harry. You'll kill yourself by doing it."

"I have to be here when she wakes up."

"You also have to eat. And I know you have questions for the Weasleys. You should ask them. I'll go with you."

"I can't leave her."

"She's not leaving you. And knowing her, she'll wait until you come back before she wakes up."

"How will she know?"

"She's probably watching you. There were three people I saw just before I came back. You, dad, and Draco. And if I know Hermione, she's weighing her options. After all, all she needs to do is just step inside.

"You on the other hand need to get the hell out of this room, and if you don't do it yourself, I'm going to make you."

"What are you going to do? Put me under Impervious?"

"No, I know you can break free of that. There's no point in even trying. Besides, I'm trying to be a good girl now, and that curse, although fun, is illegal after all."

"Then what would you do?"

"Be your sister. Now come on. You need to eat, then we're going to the Weasleys."

"Fine," he grumbled. We stood up and he turned to the door. I looked down one last time at Hermione and grabbed his sleeve.

"Harry!" I gasped.

"What?"

I smiled. "She woke up."

Watching

Chapter 21

"Dad," I said bursting into the study. "She's awake! She woke up!"

"She's awake?" he asked looking up from his notes. "That's wonderful."

He didn't sound pleased. "What's wrong?" I asked walking in. "Why aren't you happy?"

"Athena, I have to go back to the school. I don't want you leaving this manor. Do you understand? The Dark Lord will have people waiting for you and Draco to leave. They're probably waiting for Lucius and I as well, however they will not act should they see us. I want you to be safe. Promise me you will stay here."

"Why are you going back?" I asked.

"I need some supplies. And I have classes to teach. I can't be gone forever. Promise me."

"I promise."

"I don't want you going anywhere without Lucius. If you do go somewhere with him, make it a very public place. Diagon Alley, Gringotts, the Leaky Cauldron, that's it. Any questions?"

"What about the Weasleys? Harry wants to go there and get answers, I want to go with him."

"Go with Lucius. Or have them meet you in Diagon Alley."

"The Weasleys won't like having Lucius in their home. You know he and Arthur hate eachother."

"Now that they're on the same side, I think an agreement may be reached. If I can do it, they can."

"I'll talk to Lucius then. Be safe, dad," I said giving him a hug.

"I'm still not used to that," he confessed returning the hug. "I'll be home as soon as the term is over. You can count on that."

I walked away before either one of us revealed our emotional side.

"Hello, love," Draco said waltzing up to me. He pulled me into a kiss before I could get a greeting out.

"What was that for?" I asked when he let me go.

"We know why Hermione's been out for so long now," he informed me. "She's been visiting the future, and she's got some interesting news for us."

"What is it?"

"I don't know yet," he replied with that adorable smirk of his. "But I'm in a good mood today."

"Dad doesn't want us leaving the manor," I said as we started walking back to Harry and Hermione's room. "He says it's too dangerous for us right now."

"Really?" he asked, suddenly not in the same mood he was in only seconds ago. "Why?"

"Because we're traitors. He says the Dark Lord will have spies waiting for us the moment we go somewhere alone. He doesn't want us leaving without Lucius with us."

"Alright."

"He's going back to Hogwarts as well," I continued. "He needs to finish the term."

"You don't seem very happy about that."

"I'm not. I'm scared for him. For the first time in my life, I'm scared for him."

"Don't be. He's a powerful wizard, he'll be just fine."

"He's horrible at wand magic though, Draco. If someone attacks him, there's nothing to say that he can defend himself."

"He knows enough to defend himself, and he's quickest to his wand out of everyone I've ever seen duel. He's got a great defense as well. Trust him. He'll be fine."

"I can't help but worry for him."

I walked into the room where my brother and his fiancé were waiting ahead of Draco. "Hey," I said falsely cheerful. I'm sure they saw through it at once. "How are you feeling, Hermione?" I asked.

"Alive," she replied quietly. She hadn't used a voice in so long, it was like she had forgotten how to use it.

I smiled. "I know exactly how you feel. Well, maybe not exactly, but I know how you feel."

"Why?" she asked. "What happened?"

"Turns out we were hit with the same curse," I said, sitting next to her on their bed. "Lots of fun, wouldn't you agree?"

"No, not fun, not really," she answered.

"I hear you saw the future?"

She nodded. "You have an interesting one," she revealed. "Right now, though, it is time to go to the Weasleys. Maybe you should call upon Lucius?" she asked, knowing that Draco and I couldn't leave without him, yet she shouldn't know because we only just found this out.

"Alright," I said. I turned to Draco. I may have grown up here, but I don't know this place near as well as he does. He nodded once and left to find his father.

"Would I really look like you?" Harry asked. "If I didn't have all of these charms on me?"

I shrugged. "You would look like you were meant to look. Hopefully, you don't have dad's nose."

Harry made a face. "I think I would kill myself if I had his nose."

"No you won't have his nose, Harry," Hermione said. "You'll look like Athena."

"I take it I take off these charms?"

"The Weasleys do it for you."

"That's nice."

Draco returned a few minutes later with Lucius. "Are we ready?" he asked.

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley aren't going to like having Malfoys in their house," Harry muttered. "Should we give them warning?"

"No," Hermione answered. "They'll be fine."

"I'll be nice," Lucius promised. "And I won't say a word about their house or their thousands of children."

All of us laughed. "We're ready, I think," Harry said. "It's time for answers. Are you up for Apparating?" he asked Hermione, who nodded.

"My body's had plenty of time to heal, as has the rest of me. I'm fine."

"Then let's all go to the Burrow."