The Silver Envelope

Theories

"What's going on? Is she alright? Did you find anything else at her flat?"
The questions burst out of Ron as if a dam had broken the second Harry walked through the door of Grimmauld Place later that afternoon.
Harry's hopes for a nice, quiet tea and some time to think suddenly dissolved like leprechaun gold.
Ginny would be gone at practice until late tonight, so he had planned to ask Kreacher to make him some of that delicious leek soup he'd made last week and settle into bed early.
"She's fine, Ron," Harry sighed, pulling off his coat with heavy movements. "Have you just been waiting here for me? Ginny's not even home."
"I told Marietta to take over the shop for me today," Ron said with a grimace. "I can't work when I'm like this. I only drive people away."
Indeed, Harry had experienced that firsthand. After Hermione had left Ron, his foul temper had led to more than one child bursting into tears at his shop. George had told him to piss off and only come back after he had put himself together.
Harry made a beeline for the kitchen, Ron following closely at his heels. A loaf of fresh bread was cooling on the kitchen worktop. Gratefully, Harry tore a thick chunk off for himself and rummaged around for some butter.
"Is she going back to Malfoy's place tonight?" Ron asked sourly.
"I think so," Harry said, avoiding looking at his friend.
Ron had been inconsolable since Hermione had gone to stay with Malfoy. He was convinced that Malfoy was somehow behind the attacks against Hermione and couldn't let it go.
For his part, Harry wasn't sure what to think. They hadn't found any connections between Malfoy and the attacks against Hermione-but that didn't mean they didn't exist. It did seem a bit too convenient that the moment Hermione cut off contact with Malfoy was the exact same time Johanna had launched her show to attack her. And this business with Malfoy's missing elf_ Ron had a point about that. Hermione wouldn't be able to resist helping him find his elf. Perhaps it was all a ruse to drive her back into his influence. Into his home, even.
He couldn't make Hermione's decisions for her. If she wanted to stay with Malfoy, he had to respect that choice. But that didn't mean he had to like it.
All he could do was watch and investigate. He hadn't lied to Hermione when he'd said that his team was looking into every possible source for the threats against her. Obviously, that included Malfoy.
Ginny had said that Malfoy was falling in love with Hermione. While the idea had seemed preposterous to Harry at first, he had seen firsthand Malfoy's intensity around her. This morning, when he had gone to pick up Hermione, Malfoy had been there was no other way to phrase it-obsessive about her. He had watched her every slight movement, shifting when she did, anticipating her needs. It was sort of creepy, in Harry's opinion. Even Malfoy's own father had been able to pick up on his son's infatuation for her- and he was locked inside a maximum security prison on an island miles away.
Harry would never, not in a million years, admit this to Ron...but Hermione was just as bad around Malfoy. Her constant awareness of him was obvious on her face and in her body language. It had always been that way, with her. Even back in school, she had tensed up around Malfoy, purposefully ignoring him and averting her eyes every time he was around. He'd thought it was only due to Malfoy's bullying, but now, years later, she was exactly the same way around him. The only thing that had changed was that Harry had realized that Hermione's behavior didn't come from fear. At least, not completely. From the way she blushed every time Malfoy looked at her, fear seemed to be only a small part of how she felt about him.
Harry knew Ron had spotted a bit of it too, on the few occasions he had seen the two of them together. It was driving him insane, the knowledge that he was not only losing Hermione, but losing her to Malfoy, of all people. Harry hated to see his friend like this, but he didn't know what to do.
"Did you find anything else out about that poison?" Ron asked.
Harry took his time chewing his mouthful of bread.
"Er, yeah," he said, drawing out his bite of food as long as possible. "It wasn't deadly, at least, it wouldn't have killed her if she'd drunk only one cup of tea. But it would have probably paralyzed her, at least partially."

Ron stared at him in horror, the blood draining from his face. He slumped into a chair across the table from Harry, looking as though he might vomit.
"But she's okay," Harry reiterated. "I had my team check out the security on Malfoy's place. It's airtight unbelievably so. She'll be safe there.
Ron blanched.
"Not if Malfoy's the one who's going to hurt her," he said.
Harry had no response to that.
"Ron..." Harry started to say, but Ron anticipated his words by the mere tone of his voice. They'd had this conversation too many times for him not to know what was coming next.
"Don't tell me to just let her go, Harry," Ron ground out. "You said it. She's family. I can't just stop caring about her. Even if she wants me to."
Ron's voice wavered as he finished speaking. He turned his hard gaze to the wall, not wanting to look at Harry.
Ron would never admit it out loud, but Harry knew he meant that he still loved her. Ron would probably always love Hermione, no matter how long it had been or how he had appeared to have moved on from her.
"I know," Harry said softly, but countered it with some tough love. "But she isn't yours to worry about anymore. You have to let her make her own decisions."
"But what if she's not in her right mind?" Ron shot back at him.
Harry repressed a groan. They'd been through this before as well.
Ron's theory was that Malfoy had Hermione under some type of control, such as the Imperious
Curse. But Harry didn't see it. Hermione seemed to be acting of her own volition, even if her choices didn't reflect what he would have done himself.
"He tried to kill me once, remember?" Ron said quietly. "Malfoy poisoned me. How can you not suspect him of doing the same thing to Hermione?"
Harry would never forget. It was ironic, that the same type of incident which had originally brought Ron and Hermione together so many years ago had now brought her closer to Malfoy.
*We're looking into it, Ron," Harry promised. "We'll find out who did it."
Ron looked unhappy, but let the matter drop for the time being.
Kreacher walked in then, bowing low to Harry as he passed.
Kreacher will make Mr. Potter his favorite soup, if he pleases," Kreacher said in his gravelly
voice.
"Yes, please," Harry said gratefully. "I would love that."
Kreacher started on the soup, glaring over his shoulder at Ron as he began taking out gleaming copper pots and fresh vegetables. Ron looked suddenly uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.
Kreacher threw Ron another dirty look, mumbling unintelligibly as he continued cooking.
"It's nothing," Ron said, making a face. Then he leaned closer to whisper, "I think Kreacher might be losing it. He keeps saying I stole my wand or something. I've no idea what he means by it. I've been avoiding him all afternoon.
Harry looked down at the table, examining Ron's wand. Ron had bought it from Ollivander's years ago. It looked the same to him. Harry shrugged.
"Kreacher's weird sometimes. He'll get over whatever it is," he said.
Kreacher banged a pot particularly loudly at that, causing them both to flinch.
Harry finished the last bite of his bread and stood up, stretching.
"I've got some more work to do, Ron. You're welcome to stick around, but I can't hang out with you," Harry said.
Truthfully, he needed to write to his contacts at Azkaban. The story Malfoy had told him this morning had caught him by surprise. He needed to learn if anyone else at the prison seemed to know about the attempt on Hermione's life. And especially, he needed to know who else Lucius was in contact with. Any visitors, cell mates, or correspondents associated with Lucius would need to be thoroughly investigated.
Right now, Harry's primary suspicion was that Lucius had gotten someone to stage the break-in for him just to spur his son into filing the petition for his release. It could work, Harry reasoned.
He would have made arrangements for someone to plant an almost-but-not-quite deadly poison and tip over the flowerpots as a clue that someone had been there. If Hermione almost died but didn't, perhaps the younger Malfoy would become desperate enough to protect her that he would give his father what he wanted.
Perhaps it was far-fetched, but Harry couldn't shake the idea.
Ron nodded, getting up as well.
"It's fine. I've got some things to do as well. See you Saturday?" he asked.
Harry nodded.
Hopefully, whatever Ron was leaving to do would bring him a bit of peace. Saturday was approaching quickly, and Harry was beginning to worry that Ginny had been right about Ron's growing desperation. Harry was positive that Ron didn't want to hurt Hermione, but he might be willing to do something drastic to get her away from Malfoy. He would have to keep a careful eye on everyone from now on.
A thought occurred to Harry suddenly, and he felt guilty immediately afterward just for thinking it.
But maybe he needed to look into Ron as well.
If Harry was discreet about it, Ron would never need to know that Harry had broken their bond of trust. And if Harry had learned one thing in his time as an Auror, it was that even the closest people to you could be driven to doing mad and dangerous things, given desperate enough circumstances.