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Dark Gods In The Blood	By : Hayseed Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 3951 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
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- 19
A/N: None for this
chapter. Thanks for reading.

Summary: A wandering
student comes home, a broken man pays his penance, and a gruesome murder is
both more and less than it seems. Some
paths to self-discovery have more twists and turns than others.

Rating: R, for intermittent
dark themes, violence, and language

Disclaimer: Nothing
you read here (save the plot and bits of the text itself) belongs to me. Harry Potter and his cronies are the
property of JK Rowling and Warner Bros. (and someone else, probably, but not
me). All chapter headings are properly
credited to their sources.

murder?�

Her voice hitched in her
throat for a moment. �Like -- like
Harry�s. Same circumstances, I
guess. They didn�t talk about it, but
Shacklebolt was pretty insistent about Ron�s going in.�

�Hrm ...� He was quiet for a little while, hovering in
Ron�s -- her -- doorway.

�Um ...� she found
herself saying anxiously. �Would you
... like to come in, sir?�

. He�s a Dumbledore, through and through.�

spanspan>

�He looks nothing like
you,� she said in a small voice, though she was not sure why.

�He�s got the Snape
coloring, I�ll grant you,� he agreed, �but a temper to rival Aberforth�s on the
worst of days. I like to think that he
inherited my sense of humor,� he said airily, smiling at her frown, �but
Severus� wit is truly rapier-sharp. I�m
afraid mine is but a broadsword�s edge.�

Hermione was absolutely
flabbergasted. She�d never heard Albus
speak so. �Fran�oise is righhen,hen,�
she said, having no better response.

�Of course she is, my
dear,� he said. �She�s quite a
perceptive girl, when she puts her mindit.

�I�m glad,� she said,
meaning it. �Harry always deserved to
be happy.�

�He did,� Albus
agreed. �Although I�m afraid I didn�t
particularly assist him there. Another
victim of one of my mistakes. Possibly
more than one, but I do not care to think on it.�

�I doubt he saw it that
way,� she said staunchly.

<

Albus sighed, and it was
unhappy. �I know he did,� he said. �At leonceonce, that is. But I think, at the end of it all, he
understood. He understood what needed
to be done and why I needed him to do it.
I only wish ...� His voice was
wistful and had a disturbingly despondent note in it. �I only wish I could somehow make Severus understand as well.�

She regarded him with
furrowed brow. �Understand what?�

His laugh was
bitter. �You saw less than I�d
suspected, Miss Granger. Tell me -- why
do you think that Severus hated -- hates
-- Harry Potter like he does?�

Si'>Silent as she mulled his
question over in her mind, Hermione chose her response carefully. �There was bad blood between Professor Snape
and Harry�s father. I know that. And he always said that Harry reminded him
...�

pan>pan>

�Even Severus Snape is
not so churlish as to condemn a child
for actions his parent committed before his own conception,� Albus retorted
sharply. �No, Hermione, Harry earned
Severus� bad blood on his own account.�

�I can state beyond any
doubt that�s medically impossible, Ron,� she said in an attempt to cheer him
up.

His expression remained
glum. �Bones -- that�s the other
victim, Alistair Bones -- had a son.
Kid just turned ten, according to his mother, who I spent the afternoon
interviewing. I hope he didn�t ...�

�I�m sure he didn�t,� she
replied swiftly.

�Nicholas did.� Ron�s tone was dark.

She had nothing to say to
that and so did not speak as Ron fiddled with a teapot and cups. The water was soon boiling and he went about
preparing the tea, using a potholder to carry it over to the table. �Best let it steep for at least ten
minutes,� he said.

�You always did prefer
your tea bitter,� she said. �I always thought
your tea tasted like what I suspected boiled bark would.�

�You never said
anything,� he accused.

Grinning at him, she
poked at the sugar bowl. �Did you never
notice that I took nearly five sugars whenever you made tea and only one when anyone else did?�

�It�s been a very long
time since I made you tea,� Ron said.

With a suppressed sigh,
she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the table.

�Hermione ...�

�Ron, it�s two in the
morning,� she said, frustrated. �It�s
not the time ...�

He exploded. �It�s never bloody time, is it,
Hermione? What, d�you expect to show up
after being gone for thirteen damned years without so much as a �how�ve you
been?� You left without saying a word!�

�I left a note,� she
protested weakly.

His laugh was reproachful. �Yes, you left a note,� he said. �I carried that goddamn note in my pocket
for years -- until it fell apart, as a matter of fact. Dear Ron, I have to go away for a
bit. I can�t tell you why, but I didn�t
want you or Harry to worry about me.
Don�t write to me, Ron -- I won�t reply if you do. Take care of yourself, and Harry too,
although he doesn�t think he needs it.
Love, Hermione. Do you know how many times I read that letter?�

Many, obviously, she
thought to herself, not speaking.

�I wrote you so many
letters, Hermione,� he continued, anger radiating from every pore in his
body. �Please come home, or what did we do wrong. Tore every
single one of them up. Do you know we
even went to Albus looking for you?�

an>

�I didn�t want --�

�It doesn�t matter,
Hermione, what you didn�t want. Did you
honestly think we wouldn�t worry about you?
That we wouldn�t go looking for you?�

�I --�

�So when I ask you where
you�ve been,� he said slowly, �I�m not asking out of curiosity or even genuine interest. I�m asking out of need. I�m asking
because of all of our sleepless nights, all of our tears, all of our
anger. Hermione, tell me!�

�When I left,� she began
hesitantly. �I didn�t know where I
wanted to go. All I had was a suitcase,
a rather aggravated cat, and eighty Galleons.
My first Portkey took me to France.
Spain after that. I was so
disoriented -- the only thing I knew was I didn�t want to be anywhere I�d been
before. My next Portkey, then, took me
to America.

�But America was too loud
-- too busy. Even in the quiet
places. So I went down to Mexico, as
I�ve said. I was there for the better
part of three years, traveling around, not settling anywhere. My eighty Galleons were long gone, so I took
odd jobs here and there, staying around just long enough to save enough money
to travel somewhere else.�

His gaze was still
stony. �How did you wind up in Tibet?�

�I was trying to get to Peru but took a Portkey to Hong Kong by
accident. I�d always wanted to see
China, you know, so I just stayed, working my way further and further
west. It took me many months, but I
finally got to the Himalayas. I had no
more money, no more food, nothing but the clothes in my pack, and I didn�t know
where to go next. I was even beginning
to debate going home. But one day,
stumbling around in the cold without so much as a cloak, I found it.�

�The monastery,� he
supplied flatly.

�The monastery,� she
agreed. �The monks were kind and took
mewithwithout question. I later learned
that they do that sort of thing a lot -- taking in weary travelers with nowhere
else to go. The difference is, most of
their visitors usually take refreshment and leave. I just sort of ... well, stayed.
For ten years.�

His face was
disbelieving. �And what did you do in
those ten years?�

�I helped Master Xi with
the garden,� she said, straight-faced.
�And, in return, he taught me.�

�About ...?�

�A little about
everything. Nature, philosophy, some
martial arts. Specifically, usually
about the Way. The path to
enlightenment. I�m afraid I am not his
most attentive of pupils.�

�I find that hard to
believe,� Ron replied, finally softening a bit.

Hermione laughed and,
this time, he smiled faintly. �Do you
know what the monks called me? They
called me Butterfly because my attention
wavered so quickly.�

�You�re the only person I
know who read Hogwarts, A History in its
entirety,� he said dryly. �And that�s
more than two thousand pages. Your
attention doesn�t waver, Hermione.�>

�You�re vastly
overestimating my abilities,� she said.
�And possibly underestimating the monks� teachings. Possibly, I ought to say simply that my meditation
skills are pitiable at best and Master Xi was appalled when I was unable to
spend more than an hour in the rock garden.
He himself can spend upwards of four days there without moving. And before you start your disparaging
remarks, let me say that I�ve actually seen him do it.�

Wisely, Ron returned to
an earlier subject. �Butterfly,� he mused.
�You know ... I rather like that.
The caterpillar emerging from its cocoon and all that. And what�s more, butterflies flit in and out
of your life without so much as a pause, but you�re always glad to see
one. I approve of your monks,
Hermione. Or should I say Butterfly?�

�You will whether I give
you leave or not,� she said with only a small sigh.

�So that�s all?� he
asked. �You spent the last ten years
camping out with secret monks, learning kung fu?�

�Not exactly,� she
replied. �Not kung fu. Although I am very glad of the blocking
moves Master Shen taught me before I was introduced to Master Xi. You might say ... well, you might say that I�ve
been learning how to be still.�

Shaking his head, Ron
drummed his fingers on the table. �It�s
just difficult to picture. You sitting
still.� His face returned to its earlier
somber cast. �Hermione ...�

She hummed questioningly
and poured herself a cup of tea, hoping against hope that it wasn�t bitter
beyond repair.

�Why?�

Taking a sip, she made a
face and reached for the sugar bowl.
�Truthfully?�

�Truthfully,� he echoed
firmly, hands splayed out on the tabletop.

�When I walked out that
door, I thought I�d only be gone for a week,� she admitted with a rueful smile,
stirring the contents of her cup. �I
went to work that morning as usual -- in one of the Research departments over
at the Ministry -- but my boss called me into her office. I can�t even remember her name -- isn�t that
awful? Anyway, she called me in and
fired me.�

His mouth fell open. �Fired you?
Fired Hermione Granger?�

She laughed at the look
on his face. �Yes, Ron. Apparently their department needed to make
some cutbacks and as the most junior staff member, I was cutback number
one. I stood there -- it wasn�t even
nine in the morning yet -- with my last paycheck in my hand, not knowing what
to do. So I went back to the flat,
packed my bag, and decided I was going to take a vacation, figure out where to
go from there.�

�Helluva vacation,
Hermione,� he said with a sarcastic snort.

�I went to France, as I
said. I was sitting at one of those nameless
little cafes in the middle of Paris, having a coffee, and wondering how on
Earth I could face my family with this news.
Fired -- their perfect little daughter -- actually fired. And that was how I wound up in Spain.�

�But I always thought
your parents were quite --�

Flapping a hand, she cut
him off expertly. �My parents are nice people, Ron.
And they loved me very much, I�m sure.
At least, they loved me when I was helping them fulfill their perfect
dreams. It was all right, you see, when
I had such problems in school when I was younger, because my grades were
astronomical. As long as they had
something to brag to their bridge group about, they could ignore the fact that
I came home every day in tears or with a note because I�d accidentally set
something on fire again.�

�Why didn�t you ever --?�

�Oh, I did,� she said,
anticipating his question. �I was eight
or so. I deliberately flunked
two-thirds of my subjects. Mum and
Daddy slapped me into therapy before I could blink. I was so happy to go to Hogwarts -- not just because of the
magic, but because it meant I had days where I didn�t have to constantly worry
about them. Do you know that when I left, Mum sent me exactly one letter asking me to come home? And I don�t even think she wrote it. I think she had one of her receptionists
draft it and just put her signature to it.
I had to ...� Her voice dropped
to a whisper. �I had to hear from one
of my parents� old friends that I ran into in Hong Kong that my father had
died.�

He sighed. �You always seemed to get along so well ...�

�I saw them no more than
twice a year,� she said. �And if you
recall, I never gave them a reason to be unhappy with me. Dumbledore never notified them about my
injuries during the years, so they never realized what was really
happening. Oh, they knew a bit about
Voldemort, and enough of our escapades to know that I had friends for the first
time in my life, but they never saw that I was in any sort of danger. Thankfully.�

�So you left because of your
parents?� His tone was doubtful.

�In part,� Hermione told
him. �But mostly because when I thought
much about it, I realized I�d become the daughter my parents wanted -- dutiful,
respectful, sensible. And I hated it. �Good
old Hermione, she�ll know the answer,� everyone said. I just ... I wanted to go somewhere where they didn�t want me to
be perfect. Somewhere where I could
just be ... well, just be, really.�

Ron looked vaguely
apologetic. �I didn�t know we put so
much pressure on you.�

�You didn�t, truly,� she
explained. �But I always had a function
in everyone�s mind. You and Harry,
well, you two were just friends, no strings attached. But I -- I was your friend because of what we�d been through at Hogwarts. Admit it, Ron -- you never would have so
much as sneered at me if we hadn�t gotten into trouble together our first
year.�

He was
uncharacteristically silent, not denying her assertion. After a long, sickening pause, he finally
spoke. �It was Harry,� he rasped. �Harry was afraid you�d be hurt. I didn�t want to --�

�I know, Ron.� Her voice was kind. �And that�s fine. I understand. But do you
see, then, what I mean? I felt that --
I felt that I had to make
- 17
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Dark Gods In The Blood