"They're going to pay for what they did," she vowed, her voice hollow and misshapen.

His grey eyes stared down at her. He moved a curl behind her ear. And he nodded.

Chapter End Notes

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TRIGGER DETAIL - A public execution takes place. The executed are killed by firing a cannon at them at close range.

Chapter 19

Chapter Notes

Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks to SaintDionysus and raven_maiden .

Very excited for this chapter. One of the scenes in here was an inspiration for writing The Auction in the first place. Very glad to share it with you all now after almost two years.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Waking on Saturday morning was like pulling herself from a thick bramble that had settled over her in the night. Fighting her way back to consciousness, she struggled against aching muscles and a pounding behind her left eye.

She turned on her side and willed her body out of bed. But she couldn't move.

And then she remembered.

The Occlumency.

The One O'Clock Gun.

The strawberry-blonde's scream.

Dolohov's eyes.

And Draco's voice in her ear, steadying her, guiding her through the night's horrors.

He'd let her sob, let her lean on him, holding her close. And then he'd nodded. Agreeing with her? Agreeing to help her?

He'd called for an elf to take her back to her room with a Dreamless Sleep Potion, and her mind had shut down the moment her body slid in between the sheets.

Her eyes fluttered open as her mind sputtered to life, remembering all the things she needed to be doing. But such strong Occlumency had taken a toll on her body and mind. In spite of her intentions, she found herself drifting back out to sea.

~*~

When she could finally sit up in bed, the clock next to bed read four in the afternoon.

Hermione groaned. She couldn't afford to lose any more time. She needed to build up her Occlumency endurance. She needed to set an alarm from now on. She needed the elves to splash her with pails of cold water if she didn't move before nine.

Dragging her legs from the covers, she sat on the edge of her bed until she could pull herself into the bathroom. When she returned from a cold shower, there was a pain relief potion on her nightstand. She sent a prayer of thanks to the elves and downed the contents.

Once her head was clear again, Hermione focused her thoughts, closing the books in her mind that held the horrors of the One O'Clock Gun and the grief for the nameless Scottish girl and her brother.

A fresh memory fluttered to the surface. Arms holding her close, long fingers tracing the shell of her ear. Grey eyes locked on hers as he'd nodded.