𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 | 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖒𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗

ix. uncle aberforth

"Wha-" Deanna jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked around to see that it was Hermione.

"I've been calling you a few times now," said Hermione worriedly. "Are you alright, Deanna?"

"Yeah, 'course I am," said Deanna in an unconvincingly cheerful tone. Hermione stared at her for a few moments before reaching behind Deanna and tickling the pear.

"Come on," said Hermione, pulling Deanna into the kitchens.

"Good evening, Miss Deanna!" said the house elves before they looked at Hermione with apprehension.

"Good evening, oh right, this is Mione, my friend," said Deanna, smiling at all of them. "Is it fine if we talk here?"

"Yes, Miss," said a house elf named Dopey, and the house-elves all bowed before leaving Deanna and Hermione alone. Deanna led Hermione to the couch by the fire where she slept last week.

"They don't seem too fond of you," said Deanna amusedly. "Why?"

"Well," said Hermione, flustered. She told Deanna about S.P.E.W. and how she tried helping the rights of house-elves, but it seemed to make them angrier.

"Hermione," said Deanna slowly. "You may think that it's bad, but right now, what they need is kindness. Maybe sometime later, they would realize that they too need salary or pension, but all we can do for now is to save mistreated elves and show kindness to all of them."

Hermione felt better now, hearing Deanna's words. She smiled widely and nodded at the girl. "Thanks, Deanna." Then, she remembered why they were there in the first place. "Here, let me." She took out a vial of murtlap essence and dropped some on Deanna's hand. Though it hurt, Deanna did not make a sound and watched Hermione's face. Why was Hermione so kind to her when she was a monster? Why was she still here despite Deanna being one?

Hermione felt Deanna's stare on her and blushed as she wrapped the bandage around her hand. Why was she staring at Hermione like that? It made her feel as if Deanna was trying to study all of Hermione, and that made Hermione nervous. Her heart making the same sounds it did when Deanna kissed her forehead. She finally finished and looked at Deanna. "W-Why are you staring at me?"

"Why are you so kind to me?" Deanna blurted out. Hermione looked at her in confusion, not understanding why she was asking that so suddenly. Deanna didn't know why she was asking Hermione of all people, but it came out naturally. "Why are you so kind to me when I'm a monster?"

Hermione frowned at her. "Who told you that?"

"N-No one," said Deanna, looking down. "It's just... Did you know that Voldemort became Voldemort because of me?"

"W-What?" said Hermione, her eyes widening.

"Yeah," Deanna smiled bitterly at her reaction. Great. She expected this. They would all know now how she was the monster who created Voldemort. How she destroyed her father's hard work. Yeah, she should not have returned after all. Hermione frowned at how sad Deanna looked. She had always been cheerful even when she was having detentions with Umbridge. Just a few hours ago, she was happy that Harry was getting convinced on teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. That meant something must have happened with Umbridge.