Chapter Text
A shift in the wards made her jolt upright, whoever it was that activated them wasnât welcome. She moved to the window when they shifted again, this time more violently as a curse hit them. Peeking outside she saw six figures, all dressed in black, silver masks covering their faces, except for one. She couldnât make out her face, but she would recognize those thick dark unruly curls everywhere. A shiver ran down her spine when they all lifted their wands, she knew the wards wouldnât hold much, thirty minutes top.
She tried to apparate in her office but couldnât, anti-apparition wards were put in place. Cursing under her breath she concentrated on her ring, warm and quiet on her finger, Dracoâs heart was calm, he wasnât with his aunt and the other death eater. She tapped the silver band three times, rushing upstairs. Fumbling through her office she berated herself, they got comfortable, became sloppy, and let their guards go down, now someone had to pay the consequences of their recklessness. She retrieved the two vials from her occluded cabinet, downing the potion from one of them just when her muggle mobile started ringing.
âHermione?â Draco´s urgent voice greeted her on the other side.
âThey found usâ she stated a tight knot in her throat.
âWhat?â
âThey are outside, trying to get inâ she explained, âThey already set anti-apparitions wards; I need you to get Lyra out of here the moment they come down, Iâll hold them offâ
âHermione, waitâ muffled sounds came through the line as if he was fumbling around âWe can think of something else, I can try to stop themâ
âDraco, itâs Bellatrixâ She could hear the air leaving his lungs. There was nobody above her, if this was her mission, there was nothing he could do to stop her without blowing out his cover. âIâ I already took the potionâ she continued, trying her hardest not to cry âI reckon I have little less than twenty minutes for it to work. Iâll leave my memories in Lyra's purseâ Letting out a shaking breath she made her way to her daughter's room âDraco, take care of our girlâ her voice cracked âI love youâ.
âI will bring you back to usâ he promised and she knew that no unbreakable vow would ever be as powerful as the sole fierce of his voice or the will of his heart.
âI know you willâ she hanged up.
Biting her trembling lip, she stood in front of the white door with silver stars spread over it, six of them connected and enchanted to twinkle. Lyraâs room. Carefully she opened the door, her heart tightened at the sight of her daughter. She made sure she was fast asleep before getting inside. Moving soundlessly around the room she took the beaded bag safely kept in the closet and shoved the remaining vial into it. Next, she moved to the small bookshelf scanning the titles until she found the one, she was looking for, a worn copy of âThe Secret Gardenâ, one of Lyraâs favourites. She fondled the light pink cover, flashbacks of her father reading that same copy to her filled her mind, of her and Draco reading it to their daughter so many times since she was little, of Lyra reading it out loud when she was learning, a proud glint on her eyes when she succeeded the first chapter all on her own and a toothless grin lightening her features when Hermione praised her.
She choked a sob, savouring the memories, enjoying them while she still could, painfully aware that soon enough she wouldnât have any. The vibrations coming from the wards were getting stronger in the back of her mind as they were starting to debilitate. With tears streaming now freely down her face she packed the book in the bag and continued to the bedside table, she took the golden picture frame, her little family smiling at her from the only photo to ever be on display in the entire house. She put it in the bag with shaky hands and hung it on the bedpost.
Falling to her knees on the side of the bed, Hermione looked at her child, committing her to memory however brief it would be. She had bushy blond hair that somehow, she learned to manage on her own. Her features resembled so much her fatherâs if only a little bit softer, Hermione still could see her own in little details like her smile or the way her brow furrowed when she was concentrated or her scrunching nose when amused. Her silver eyes were the same as Dracoâs but they held such curiosity and innocent wonder, a gleam not yet dulled by the toll of the war. Hermione felt her heart break all over again knowing this moment would change that.
âIâm so sorry, honey.â she whispered caressing her cheek âIâm so, so sorryâ A quiet sob left her lips as she kissed her forehead âI love youâ she murmured against her skin, careful not to wake her âmore than anythingâ.
She forced herself to get up and leave the room, casting one last look at her girl she quietly closed the door behind her. Hurriedly she performed silencing and notice-me-not charms on it, moved a hidden panel on the wall making it seem like the door never existed in the first place, and activated the protection wards settled by Draco on that hallway such a long time ago. Just then the wards outside gave out and she heard the front door shatter. She hurried to her office, there were too many documents with order crucial information and she decided to just set it all on fire, Kingsley already had all her reports and Draco had copies of all her research, he would find a way to deliver them to her eventually. She made sure the fire was confined to that little space and walked out to her brewing room, pounding sounds already coming from the bottom of the stairs as Bellatrix and the rest of the death eaters tried to break through the new wards. She sat by the door waiting for them, the ring on her finger almost burning, anxious but reassuring, silently grounding her, a reminder of who was by her side and who they were fighting for.
Finally, the wards broke; rapid footsteps resounded all over the place. The grip on her wand tightened, a spell ready on her lips. The first bombarda made the whole floor shake, she could only wish her charms were enough to keep Lyra unaware. Squinting through the smoke she sent a Sectum Sempra to the first figure in her line of vision, it fell quickly, gurgling sounds coming from his mouth. Curses started to come her way, erratic and undirected due to the lingering smoke, but constant and unrelenting. She threw her own, screams or hisses resounding when landing. There were already three down; two by her wand, and the third that was killed by Bellatrix when he threw an Avada at Hermione that she dodged by mere centimetres. So they wanted her alive.
Her ring pulsed twice. Draco was coming, she had to bring them as far from the room as possible which meant letting them into the room with her. Peeking through the doorframe she could see them dangerously close to the fake panel. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she carefully levitated a bunch of bottles, deposited them in a cauldron, and flew it a bit higher than needed, the potions exploding just behind their backs, forcing them to step forward to get away from the little fires and their acrid smoke. Casting a protego she stepped out of the door, clearing all the smoke coming from her office and sending it away, using it to occlude half the hallway. The ring pulsed urgently, the message clear, he was here to get Lyra.
Lyra.
The thought sent her hastily back to cover crouching against the wall, her shield faltering, a painful pang on her chest as if a cold dagger stabbing her heart. She couldnât remember her daughterâs features. She knew she was beautiful, a precious combination of hers and Dracoâs but she just couldnât picture her. The colour of her eyes, the right shade of her hair, the warmth of her smile. She muffled her cries with the back of her hand, Lyraâs birthday was coming, she had been planning something for her, but she couldnât remember the exact date or the day she gave birth. An agonizing scream pierced her throat, grief, and pure rage coursed through her body. She got up ready to face the intruders, without missing a beat she levitated one of the masked ones and threw it across the hall, knocking the other one on his way. A cruel satisfaction bloomed inside her as she heard a crack when they hit the wall.
The smoke shifted and she could see a silver blur on her periphery, the ring pulsed a calming rhythm and she knew Draco got into the room unnoticed. She relaxed as the potion erased the last vestiges of her beloved family from her brain.
Suddenly sharp pain clouded her senses, fire invading her every nerve. Bellatrixâs cruciatus knocked her out of her feet, her mind already fussy became disoriented, blind from the pain. She surrendered to it, an unknown calm filling her, an unexplainable sense of accomplishment washed over her before she let herself be swallowed by the dark, two pairs of unknown silver eyes flashed behind her lids as consciousness abandoned her.