Playing with Fire

Chapter 62

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing fine during this Corona crisis, stay safe! 😘

The days went by without anyone visiting Hermione. Everyone seemed to avoid her, and they were quite right to. She had no desire to go back to the Order, especially not after they abducted her in the hope that she would 'snap out of it', as they put it. The only one who did visit her from time to time was Luna. She was the only one who actually talked to her, who was a good friend to her. The Weasley's clearly blamed her for Ron's death, so she already hadn't expected them to talk to her. But the rest also ignored her completely.

Luna had told her that they were only waiting for the right time to talk with her. That they were hoping she would forget about all the Death Eater nonsense. But she didn't. She prayed everyday that Barty would find her. Surely he had to think of something. Didn't Death Eaters always find each other when necessary? Through the Mark? But there had been no sign of her husband or anyone else, not in the three weeks she had been in the house of the Order. The only sign of Barty she got, was when Luna told her during the first week locked up in the house that there had been an attack on Diagon Alley.

Hermione really started to get bored, and she grew more and more annoyed by the way she was being treated. Especially by the way the Weasley's were ignoring her. It gave Hermione the idea to start making herself useful. Maybe she would be able to gather more information about the Order and their plans, and maybe she could use that information later. Maybe she could even find a wand somewhere in the house, and then she could just escape. When she walked down the stairs, she bumped into Fleur.

"Oh, Hermione," she said surprised. "I was just going upstairs to get you. We'd like to talk to you, if that's okay."

"It's about time. I've been here for three weeks and so far only Luna keeps me somewhat up-to-date," Hermione snapped.

She had to remember that these people were not here friends. Not anymore. They were against her. They only wanted to use her and to try and get some information out of her. Well, that was never going to work. But she followed Fleur downstairs anyways, and she decided that it would be best to play along. Maybe if she started to act like the victim, who had been brainwashed by the Death Eaters, they would believe her. That would make it a lot easier to escape.

In the living room the large table was occupied by several members of the Order. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, Luna and Kingsley were there, and two empty seats for Fleur and Hermione. Where the rest of the club was at, she didn't know.

"Hermione, take a seat," Kingsley offered gently. "How are you doing?"

"Much better, thank you," Hermione smiled kindly.

"We were wondering if you'd like to help us. In the fight against You-Know-Who, I mean. See, we have no idea where you are standing at the moment, and we are not sure if we can trust you anymore, but we want to give you a chance. You have been on our side for so long, and we believe you are an intelligent and smart woman who makes the right decisions," Mr Weasley said, which was the first thing he had said to her since her arrival. "We sincerely hope we can welcome you back. We can protect you against the Death Eaters."

"With respect, I don't think you can," Hermione said quietly, immediately pulling off her new role of the victim. "They have a huge army. And I doubt my husband will rest until he has found me."

"We're safe here, and you can stay here for as long as you like," Mrs Weasley said calmly.

"You're not mad at me?"

"No dear, of course not, you are as much as a victim as anyone else. We don't believe you are evil. They have probably drugged you, cursed you, threatened you... We understand if you don't even want to talk about that all. But we'll keep you safe here," Mrs Weasley said.