August | Hermione Granger x OFC

Chapter Seventy-One

CW: discussions of child abuse and stuff bleh 

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Hermione watched with a fond smile as Robyn hurried away after kissing Ginny's cheek.

"Since when is she so affectionate?" asked Ginny with an unsure laugh. "That was weird."

"So weird," agreed Hermione, amused.

"So...d'you reckon we should listen in? In case it's an Order meeting?"

Hermione frowned. Eavesdropping in on Order meetings was all right, she supposed, for the sake of knowing what was going on. And there hadn't been one for a while. And she knew Robyn had to have some sort of significance for the fact she'd been at the graveyard, and that Dumbledore had been so keen on hiding her away, so maybe she would be let into a meeting.

But what if it wasn't a meeting? She didn't want to intrude on a private conversation. She'd be no better than that awful Rita Skeeter.

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on," pushed Ginny. "If it's not an Order meeting, we'll stop listening straight away. Should we get Harry and Ron?"

"No, just- wait. All right, we'll listen in first, for a second. If it sounds like anything good, then we'll get them," reasoned Hermione, still not entirely enthusiastic, but she could understand why Ginny was. They wanted news, they wanted updates.

"Okay, I'll get the Extendable Ears."

"I'll wait by the banister."

As she waited, she was given a fright as Sirius's mother's portrait started her screaming about filth and whatnot. She watched Sirius emerge from the kitchen to slam the curtain shut.

A minute or so later, Ginny reappeared with the Extendable Ears.

"Sorry, they were trying to give me a Canary Cream."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with."

Ginny lowered the ear so that it hovered at the bottom of the kitchen door, or as near enough as she could get it. She held up the other end of the string between the two of them.

It was fuzzy for a second, and quite difficult to hear, but there was something. Neither Muffliato nor the Imperturbable Charm had been cast.

Ginny gave an enthusiastic thumbs up which Hermione acknowledged with a nod.

"Robyn..." they heard Sirius say slowly, "did- did they...hurt you?"

...

"My father used the Cruciatus Curse on me last summer."

Ginny gasped audibly and dropped the string in shock.

Hermione felt like she was going to be sick. Like her heart dropped into her stomach. Like her mind went haywire. She was frozen, staring down at the ear on the ground.

"Shite," hissed Ginny, rushing along the hall and down the stairs to pick up the Extendable Ears before someone else could.

Tears sprung to Hermione's eyes, a rush of emotions overwhelming her as she processed what she had heard. She was angry – angry at Robyn for not telling her, but even more so, angry at her poor excuse of a father for what he had done. And she was upset – heartbroken, that Robyn had gone through such a thing. Not only the physical pain, but emotional, too. She must have been miserable.