Hello Love

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑 - 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Hermione always wondered what it felt like, the smoke-like apparition of a Death Eater. It was exactly what Malfoy did the moment he noticed his former comrades appearing in her living room.

The black smoke suffocated her, it smelled acrimonious, evil. He stopped shifting after a while and she noticed they were standing somewhere in a dark alley in London.

Smart, this way they wouldn't be able to follow them as easily.

Malfoy unapologetically grabbed her by her waist, pulled her close against his chest and apparated them back to the cottage the normal way.

She dropped to her knees and Crookshanks ran off towards the bedroom with a hiss. She was gasping for air and coughing. It seemed that her cat was fine though, she only heard a few sneezes coming out from under the bed.

'Breathe.' she heard Malfoy say. 'It's poisonous.'

'You don't say.' she heaved sarcastically and another violent cough escaped her throat. Malfoy conjured a glass of water and hovered it towards her. She gingerly took it from out of the air and placed the cool glass against her mouth.

'I hope they didn't recognise me,' he said. 'Fuck.'

'Who were they?' asked Hermione as she stood up and dusted off her dress. There was a dark smear along the hemline, Ron's blood.

'I don't know,' he said as he glowered at her. 'We need to send word about...' he trailed off.

Hermione swallowed painfully. 'Ron.' she said. 'I'll s-send a patronus.' She readied her wand and focussed on the spell. She focussed on what message she wanted to convey and then its location.

'Expecto patronum!' she shouted and a silver otter spouted from out of her wand, swimming away from them and bursting through the window. She had sent it to Kingsley, knowing that it was the best course of action. She wasn't going to tell Harry, she couldn't.

She carefully walked over to the couch and sat down, her head in her hands. This was quite the bloody evening.

'I'll be right back.' she heard Malfoy say before there was a loud crack!

She was now alone, well with Crookshanks, but still.
Ron had called her a hag, fought Harry and had been a complete cheating bastard of an arse lately, and now he was dead. It didn't make any sense. Why did the Death Eaters kill him? To what purpose? More importantly, why did they need her? Was it some kind of retaliation for Voldemort? Kill the Golden trio? If that was the case, Harry wouldn't be safe either.

Fear gripped her chest again but she forced herself to calm down. There must be a logical explanation, she would work it out.

Crack!

Hermione looked up from the couch to find Malfoy walking inside the cottage through the front door with a suitcase in his hand. She frowned, why was he carrying a suitcase.. Was he.. staying with her?!

'What-' she started.

He walked towards the coffee table and dropped his suitcase on the floor. 'I'm staying,' he said coldly. 'I'm not taking any chances.'

Hermione fell silent. They were both going to stay together at the cottage again. The same way they had last night, the same way they had weeks ago, but this time it was different. This time Ron was dead, and she was in danger.

Ron was dead.

She could say it to herself over and over again, but the impact of the three words didn't seem to register fully in her mind. She lifted her knees to her chest and buried her face in her knees. She wondered if she would be able to cope with it when they eventually did.