Secrets and Masks

62. End of the fucking world

11th April

It took Hermione two days of experimenting before she finally managed to rid Chester and Angel of the charms Crouch had placed on their voice boxes. It turned out to be an incredibly tedious and fiddly task. There was lots of trial and error. It was nowhere near as easy as she'd thought it would be, but seeing the looks on Angel and Chester's faces when they were gone, seeing the joy in their eyes when they finally heard their own voices after so long, it made it worth it.

Sarah and Megan, those were their names. Their real names.

Sarah was one on her own. She had a personality as fiery as her red hair and a low, throaty voice that sounded like she smoked a packet of cigarettes a day. Sarah had a lot to say - most of which were profanities aimed at Crouch and Yaxley and other Death Eaters she didn't know the names of - and every other word she said seemed to be a curse.

Quinzel was appalled by her language. Daphne and Theo thought it was hilarious.

Megan, on the other hand, was very quiet. She spoke enough for Hermione to discover that she was twenty-two years old and had been hiding in a muggle refuge in London when Crouch had found her. She didn't really say much at all and the little that she did speak was in a thick accent that could only come from the East End of London. Theo was convinced that she was the daughter of a mafia boss. Megan just smiled and although she didn't confirm Theo's theory, she didn't exactly deny it either.

Although the group had offered to let them stay at the farmhouse - or let them use one of the other safe houses Malfoy had set up - after a few days of deliberation, they chose to live at one of the Order's bases.

Hermione could understand why. There were a lot of muggle refugees living at the Order's bases and that ultimately was what swayed their decision. When they'd been captured, both of the girls had had families, brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers that'd still been very much alive, and they both thought that they had a better chance of reuniting with them if they stayed with the Order.

No one in the farmhouse seemed too surprised by the girl's decision, but no one told them the likelihood of their families still being alive was impossibly low.

Malfoy and Hermione had taken the girls to East Midlands airport and Ginny and Fleur had come to pick them up. Ginny had smiled and told Hermione that Kingsley would be in touch to arrange a meeting. She'd told Hermione to keep an eye on the postal point they used to use to drop off messages between the two sides, and then she'd Apparated away.

With both Sarah and Megan gone, bedroom musical chairs ensued again. Blaise and Astoria stayed in their room. Theo and Daphne shared Theo's room. Quinzel took what Hermione had assumed was going to be Malfoy's, and Hermione and Malfoy slept on the sofas in the living room.

It was a week before Kingsley wanted Malfoy and Hermione to go to the Order's base. A peaceful week where none of them had to think about battles or attacks or orders from their superiors. A bloody lovely week where none of them really thought about the war and they could just get on with things that used to be important to them.

In those first few days, even the most mundane tasks became like a breath of fresh air.

Quinzel was so overcome with grief for her friend, that she didn't want to do anything, and no one minded picking up her chores. While Quinzel locked herself in her room, the others pitched in, and Hermione swore she even heard Malfoy humming one afternoon while he and Astoria cooked.

Malfoy set very clear and very stern instructions that no one was to go outside of the protective wards he'd set up unless they were doing an essential supply run or it was absolutely necessary.