To a Better End

Chapter 32

September 10th 1976

It was extraordinarily bright when Hermione finally opened her eyes. She tried to clear her vision by rubbing her hands over her face, but the light was nearly blinding.

"Fuck, sorry." She could make out Malfoy's voice. His voice was surprisingly gentle.

Seconds later, the room was significantly dimmer. Hermione took her time adjusting to her surroundings. Malfoy was pacing in front of her, eyes scanning her body. He was equipped with his wand holster on his thigh and his chest. He looked on edge. After pulling her gaze away from him, she was relieved to find that she was safe in her home. Safe from Tom. Safe from his lies. Safe.

Then the memories flooded back to her. Malfoy took Polyjuice and apparated her to a public area, crowded with witches and wizards. He stunned her. He rendered her unconscious.

"People need to see."

Hermione sat up in bed, smoothing out her blankets noting how the sun peeking in through the curtains caused something on her right hand to glimmer. With a wave of her hand, the curtains flew open. This time, expecting the brightness, she shielded her eyes as she examined her hand. She was wearing a thin gold band, the same one Malfoy had used as an international portkey.

Hermione reached over to touch it but paused when the sleeves of the oversized tee revealed a clean arm. No snake marked with blood. No slur. A clean arm - a clean slate. Returning her gaze to the ring, she made a move to pull it off her hand, but Malfoy was already at her bedside, stilling her hand.

"You can't remove it."

Now that he was close enough, she could see how much paler he was than the last time she saw him. The dark spots under his eyes were no doubt from his lack of sleep.

"How long have I been asleep?"

Malfoy let out a tired laugh. "That's the funny thing about time travelling."

"Malfoy," she said, not in the mood for any amount of humour.

His voice came through exasperated, "You've been out for about seven days. We had to place you in a magically induced coma. I've just been waiting for you to wake up."

"We?"

"Me and Alphard," he replied absently as he continued to scan her body, looking everywhere but her eyes.

"I'm going to need more information."

Malfoy let out a sigh, running his fingers through his already dishevelled hair. Hermione, now being given the chance, realised how long his hair actually was.

"I had to make it seem like you were getting attacked. I took a page from your book and charmed two Sickles. One for myself and one for Alphie." Malfoy reached into his pocket and pulled out the charmed coins. "I informed him right before I took the Polyjuice. He arrived at the scene just as you fell to the ground. It was really quite well choreographed, and I think under different circumstances, you would have been quite impressed. He pulled you off the ground. I charged at him, and together we made a series of apparitions until we were back here."

"Why did you have to cause such a public scene?"

He finally met her eyes. "That's next in the story, Granger. Patience is a virtue. We needed a public attack to justify why a brilliant witch like you would go into hiding."

"Okay," her brow furrowed. "So, then you took me back here and did this," she said, pointing at her blank arm.

"Actually," he began, "Alphie was not equipped with the knowledge that I needed from him in 1945, but he promised that within ten years, he would be."