Lies, Buried and Bound - A Dramione Story

Part Fourteen

Hermione's flat had been picked apart by the Bordeaux Police Department - all looking for a little girl with curly brown hair and dark blue eyes. She had answered quite possibly thousands of questions: What was she last seen wearing? Do you really trust Emilie Garnier? Why did you leave in the first place? - It was all weighing down on her and she couldn't breathe.

Immediately upon hearing from Hermione that her beloved grandchild was missing, Jean Granger raced to the humble flat to comfort her.

To Hermione, it felt right that of course, a really great day could so quickly turn into the worst.

At last, after an hour of fruitless searching within a small and clearly vacant flat, the search for Charlotte Belle Granger was carried out into the streets of Bordeaux.

"I must go help them," a tearful Hermione cried to her mum.

"Hermione, no. You need rest. Let the police do their job."

"Mum, if I'd gone missing, you would've done anything in your power to be the one that found me. You... you can't just expect me to-to let these strangers be the ones to find her. And that's not even the worst part, there's another component... I just - "

" - Hermione, what's the other component?"

"There are two worlds that she could've fallen into."

"You don't think - "

" - No matter how much I don't want to believe it, she's a powerful child and she doesn't even know it! She's been Apparating with me since she was two! She fuels so much magic into this home and in my life, I have no doubt that she could've accidentally Apparated into the Wizarding World."

"So, you go back to the Wizarding World and look for her. I'll stay here."

"Mum, it's not simple. Apparating is extremely dangerous when not done properly. If you Apparate prematurely or can't quite envision the place you want to go, you can get... you could get splinched."

"Darling, what does that even mean?"

"Uncertain body parts may get stuck between destinations and dimensions. It happened once to Ron during our hunt for horcruxes. My little girl could be ri... she - " Hermione sank to her knees, breaking down into sobs that shook the very ground she sat on, " - she could be ripped, mum, torn to shreds and I wouldn't - I-I shouldn't have left her alone... I just needed..."

Instead of demanding to know why her daughter had been recklessly travelling with Charlotte in such a dangerous matter, Jean instantly understood that Hermione had been enamoured all this time by the copious magical abilities her daughter possessed. Hermione had always had faith that her daughter was powerful and she always trusted her own abilities as well.

So Jean cried, reaching and cradling her daughter in her arms. "It's okay, Papillon, we'll find her." She held her daughter's face and gave a convincing smile. "You're one of the greatest witches of all time. We must have hope."

"There's something else, Mum," she said flatly. Tears reached into the corners of her mouth and she licked them away. "I saw Draco yesterday."

"What?"

"And I-I still love him, Mum, it's never left. I don't know if I can continue raising her without him - I know he still loves me. I know it... I... the way he held me yesterday and looked at me... nothing's changed. But I've royally screwed up... he can't possibly - why would he want this?"

"Because as you said, he loves you."

"I just don't want to confront any of this - I love my baby but I still wish I hadn't had her... why couldn't I have waited until I was older to meet my baby girl...?"