"Hermione no!" Bill yelled for the umpteenth time since he got to Zabini Manor, "Please just do this my way."
Hermione rubbed her temples, "Bill I know I'm right on this!"
"Okay." Bill paused when Hermione's head shot up and she finally looked at him again, "But, Harry and I are going back with you and Lucius."
Hermione's eye grew, "Four people is seriously pushing it and you know it!"
"Then Harry stays, and I'll go with you two," Bill said not moving his eyes from the young witch in front of him.
"Deal." Hermione said quickly, "Draco can you get your parents?" Not wanting to argue, Draco silently left for the floo.
"Wait, why am I the one to stay?" Harry asked.
Hermione and Bill both had reasons for leaving Harry behind but neither wanted to be the one to tell him so they ignored him. "When the Malfoys get here, we'll swear them in, explain the plan and then go."
Hermione nodded in agreement with Bill's plan, "Then when we get back here Narcissa, Jean and I will start getting the house ready to be used."
"Hey!" Harry yelled, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Why am I the one to stay behind?"
Hermione took a deep breath, "Harry, it's nothing against you."
"We're going to wait at the house for the fire starter," Bill spoke softly.
"Well, then I should go to help you catch him!" Harry started pacing.
"We aren't going to catch him Harry, were going to watch him do it and then deal with him later. The house needs to actually burn down."
Harry threw his hands in the air quickly, "Why? and why do you say that like we don't know who it is?"
Bill opened his mouth to answer but Hermione cut him off, "Harry, your willingness to accept what Ron told you is why you can't come."
"So you don't trust Ron now!" his question came out as an angry statement.
"Harry calm down," Bill said in a surprisingly calming voice, "It's not that we don't trust him, we just think it's suspicious that Ron happened to be there at the perfect time to see who did it but nothing to catch him or prevent the fire from completely damaging the house."
"Not to mention the fact that he didn't tell us about it until after you knew where I was. Why didn't he send a patronus to give us a heads up? Why didn't he chase the arsonist? Why didn't he put the fire out?" Hermione took a breath, "You know we're logical thinkers and we're people who need all the facts."
Bill nodded in agreement, "There are more questions than answers and it just doesn't sit well with us."
Ginny bit her lip as she watched her family argue: on one hand she wanted to defend Ron with Harry, one was her closest brother and the other was her love. She knew Ron wasn't the best person but he loved Hermione and wouldn't lie about something so important. On the other hand, however, Bill and Hermione were two of the smartest people she knew. They were just and honest and as they said, they just wanted the facts.
"Well I still don't like this," Harry grunted on his way back to Ginny.
"The part where you're getting left behind or the part about us not taking Ron's word like you?" Hermione asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Harry glared at the curly-haired witch in front of him, "Both! Ron is a crucial part of our trio, Hermione! We couldn't have defeated Voldemort without him and I think he deserves some credit for that!"
The whole room got very quiet, no one said anything as they looked between the Gryffindor princess and the chosen one. Harry looked like he was regretting his words already and Hermione looked like she was ready to explode.
Draco walked back into the room with his parents in tow and the three instantly stopped when they sensed the uncomfortable vibes of the room.
"Harry, I understand that he's your best friend, the first one you made when you entered the wizarding world, but that's not an excuse to just blindly trust him," Hermione said in an eerily quiet voice, "This is why you will be staying behind. If you can't accept that then you need to leave."
Harry's glare deepened as he grabbed Ginny's hand and apparated the two of them out of the room. Bill was the first to move once the echoing crack of the apparating left the room, he placed his large hands on Hermione's shoulders and turned her to face him. Once the two were facing one another, Bill looked into her eyes and started taking deep breaths that the younger witch copied.
Once Hermione nodded her head, Bill dropped his hands and back away. Hermione turned and looked to where Blaise and Jean were sitting, "Is there any way for us to know when Draco will be back with his parents?"
"Turn around little sister."
Hermione turned and locked eyes with the three blondes across the room. "Thank you for joining us Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, if you'll take a seat we will explain whats going on." Hermione said in a strong voice that surprised even herself.
Lucius caught on to Hermione's business-like tone and followed her instructions by putting his hand on his wife's lower back and led her to the couch Harry and Ginny previously occupied. Once they were comfortably seated, Lucius turned to his future daughter in law, "Ready when you are Miss Granger-Zabini." He finished with a nod that Hermione returned.
Hermione started things off with the same unbreakable vow the other Slytherins in the room took the night before and then explained everything that had happened before they joined them.
"That's a very well thought out plan Miss. Granger-Zabini, however, there is one problem." Lucius explained once Hermione's elaborate plan was shared, "I can't be the one to cast this spell, only you can do it while you are the owner of the house."
"Why?" Draco asked.
"This is very old, very delicate magic. Only family members can cast it, I can, however, teach you the spell and assist you when were back in time."
Hermione nodded her head, "Okay, how long will it take to teach me the spell?"
"With you being the student, an hour, maybe two. We will also need something to represent the Granger and Zabini lines, do you have a family heirloom from your adoptive parents?"
Hermione thought for a minute before giving a sad nod, "My father has a ring that was passed down from son to son for generations. Will that work?"
Lucius smirked, "Perfectly."
"Well, then I guess we're going to Australia." Hermione said in a rather grim tone.
Everyone in the room looked at the young witch with confused expressions. "Why Australia?" Narcissa asked.
"He was buried with it," Bill said, sharing Hermione's tone.
Hermione nodded slowly, "He put in his will for me to get it if he died but when I disappeared so did my legal rights. The spell probably erased me from that as well and they would have left it on his finger."
"What spell?" Draco asked quietly, already having an idea of what she did.
Hermione took a calming deep breath, "Before Harry, Ron and I went on the run to find horcrux's, I obliviated my adoptive parents and charmed them to move to Australia so they would be safe from everything. Not long after they moved there, they died in a car accident. They were both buried with the jewelry they were wearing during the accident so the ring will be with him. I can take you guys to their graves but I can't dig him up and see that."
"Don't worry little sister, we will take care of getting the ring," Blaise said with his usual smirk that somehow became comforting to Hermione.
Hermione smiled sweetly at her brother before continuing. "We'll use the time-turner to go back a couple of days and then when we're back again with the ring, we'll go back in time again to save the house."
Blaise looked around the room, "Did anyone else not understand that?"
"Yeah," Draco drawled looking just as confused as his friend, "but Hermione came up with it so I'm in."
"Me too," Blaise said confidently.
Hermione smiled at her boys, "Alright, Bill and Lucious, be ready for when we get back."