A Bellamort Tale

Part 18

Meanwhile Harry Potter and his friends, as well as Luna, Dean, Mister Olivander and the Goblin were taken care of at Shell Cottage after burying Dobby, who had been hit by the knife Bellatrix had thrown at them just when they were disapparating. The two young men were glad to have escaped the manor just in time before the arrival of the dark lord, yet Hermione wasn't able to relax or stop pacing the room. She had heard something while she was lying on the floor in the drawing room, something she couldn't forget because the thoughts that came to her mind made her sick and shiver in disgust.

"Please, 'ermione, calm down!" Fleur pleaded. "Why don't you tell us what's making you so agitated?" Her English had improved a lot, just the h still caused her some trouble.

"Because I am not sure if it was real or if I just imagined it. Or if somebody even tried to plant it into my head, so we would take the risk to return and try to rescue..." She broke off, shaking her head to clear her mind.

"Rescue who?" Harry asked her from the other room.

Hermione shrugged.

"I heard the crying of a baby. And every time I imagine that they maybe have one or even several children in that house, torturing them, doing whatever they do to them, it just makes me want to vomit. We need to go back and figure out the truth. No matter how bad it may be or the danger we walk into."

Bill and his wife had both turned pale and intertwined their hands, the young woman resting one hand on her lower belly, drawing Ron's attention.

"No way!" He exclaimed. "The two of you are having..."

Hermione tried to catch his attention by waving at him from behind the couple, having noticed Bill and his wife wincing the moment his brother started to call out his assumption. But Ronald ignored her and finished his sentence, just as the young witch closed the gap between them and kicked his leg to gather his attention. But it was too late.

"... a baby? Ow, why are you kicking me?"

Bill answered his younger sibling.

"She kicked you because she has something you lack, Ronald. Empathy. It's a long story with a sad ending which I won't discuss with any of you right now."

He laid his arms around Fleur and pulled her to his chest, knowing she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears. The loss of their unborn, first child was still too fresh.

It was Luna who stood up from a chair in the corner and laid one arm around the French female's shoulders to nudge her gently into the kitchen to make her some tea.

"Je comprends ta douleur sans connaître l'histoire" She told her and made the other woman smile at her. Hearing the younger girl speak in her own language helped her broken heart a lot.

"Merci beaucoup!" She mouthed, her voice failing her.

Bill watched them with a sad expression while Harry and Ron tried to talk Hermione out of going even close to the Malfoy's home and find out if they were really holding a baby captured.

"You know," Bill tried a new approach, "Narcissa Malfoy isn't that old, she could've had another child herself. Maybe even Bellatrix. Who knows."

"Narcissa Malfoy having another child? Have you seen Lucius Malfoy? He's a wreck. There is no way, they even tried 'that'!" Came from Harry.

Mr Olivander objected.

"My dear boy. People do strange things when they are scared. I wouldn't think that Narcissa gave birth recently though, as we saw her almost every day, accompanying her sister when she came down to let out her emotions on one of the 'guests'. Bellatrix though... She wasn't wearing her usual tightly laced dresses anymore and she had indeed gained some weight. But it could also have been from eating regularly again after being in Azkaban for so long. Let me think it through for a moment. Little Bella bought her wand in 1967, making her forty-six or forty-seven by now. It's unlikely but not unheard of."

Hermione was adamant.

"It's way more likely that they have a muggle-born or even a muggle baby there, doing whatever to the poor thing! We need to make sure, they won't hurt it!"

Sighing Bill suggested.

"Why don't you take Harry's cloak and my broom and try to fly as close as you possibly can? Maybe you can find out a few things."

Ron, Dean and Harry started to laugh, while Hermione calmly informed the curse breaker.

"Actually, I am neither very good at nor very fond of flying. I can barely hold on to a broom if I have to. If that's the only way, someone else must do it, because I would get us all in trouble as I wouldn't be able to make a fast escape if they saw me. And I also can't fly with someone, because that would slow us down too. And after all I've been reading about those old, pure-blood families' houses, I am sure we can't apparate in or out a certain area around it, right?"

Bill agreed.

"That's correct. A pity though, that you can't fly well. It might become crucial one day."

Hermione groaned.

"Let's hope it never will!"