Paramour

Chapter 2

Hermione's eyes shot open. She recognised the room in front of her, she was in the Order's meeting room.

Hermione groaned, craning her neck from side to side, attempting the loosen the tension. Stretching her arms, she slowly rose to her feet, still feeling the lingering effects of the 'stupefy'.

It was dark outside. It had to have been hours since Hermione had attempted to forage. She couldn't understand how she had returned to Grimmauld Place.

Then she remembered the stranger. His hard and tall body against her, holding a vice grip against her mouth, stifling her screams. She thought of his leather, gloved hands. He smelt of leather. Leather, and amber and patchouli. It was strong, and still lingered in Hermione's nostrils.

She shook her head as she heard the door to the meeting room slowly creak open, a figure limping into view. Moody.

"Ah, you're awake Granger. We were beginning to think you'd been dosed with Draught of Living Death." Hermione quirked an eyebrow.

"How long have I been unconscious? What time is it, Alastor?" Moody closed in on Hermione, before passing her and sitting on the sofa she had previously been asleep on. He pulled his metal leg out in front of him, adjusting it to make himself comfortable.

"Nine hours, give or take, it's ten pm." Hermione quirked her head, attempting to calculate how she had been asleep for so long.

"Right. But, what I don't understand-" Hermione sucked in a breath "-is how I ended up back here? Surely I didn't apparate? Did one of you come to find me? How did you know I was in Hampshire?" Moody pulled a flask from his inside pocket, taking a long swig before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I don't know. Remus and Tonks found you one road over, on Warren Street, they assumed you had been killed at first." Hermione looked at her feet, rubbing the back of her neck, thinking of all the possible ways she could have made it back.

Surely the stranger hadn't returned her back to Grimmauld Place. The only people aware of its location were The Resistance, and had they been in the barn with Hermione, they would have had no good reason to jinx her. Moody eyed Hermione, noticing she was in deep thought.

"Al-" Hermione stopped herself. She couldn't tell Moody about what had occurred, she would be admitting that the location of the safe house was potentially breached. She would be blamed for being so careless. Maybe she had been followed during one of her prior forages. Maybe she had led Death Eaters right to their location. How could she have been so thoughtless?

"What happened out there, Granger? Did you get Kingsley's communication? Hampshire has been compromised." Hermione froze, unsure of what to say.

"I did." Hermione toyed with the hem of her shirt, twisting it as she thought of what to say. "They closed in awfully fast, I headed towards a barn. Dementors were overhead. I must have apparated, but not before the Dementors had a chance to take their toll. I— I must've passed out on Warren Street." Moody eyed her suspiciously.

"Right." He replied, giving her a curt nod.

"Did you say Remus and Tonks are back?" Hermione asked, hoping they had brought her new information for her research.

"I did. They're in the kitchen, although, don't expect too much, the full moon is in two days and Remus is not in the most friendly of moods currently." Hermione nodded, before turning and heading towards the door. "Oh, and Granger..." Hermione turned her head back to Moody "...no more foraging on your own." Hermione nodded, attempting to mask her disappointment, leaving the room with her head slightly hung.

Heading towards the kitchen, Hermione heard the hushed voices of Remus and Tonks. Hermione thought about Teddy, and wondered how he was. The last time she, his parents, or any of The Order had seen him was at Christmas.