Chapter End Notes

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Chapter 27

Chapter Notes

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The days grew shorter and colder. There was a chill about the Manor whenever Hermione was left alone in it — her fireplace never quite working to its full potential, the water from the taps never quite warming her bones. She hadn't felt this ill at ease in the Manor since she first arrived.

Narcissa had returned only hours after the three of them left. She'd arrived at Hermione's door with Mippy, the tea and coffee, and a forced smile.

"He's settled in Zürich. The French took Geneva with the help of the Swiss rebels, so for now, he is safe." But her teacup had rattled on the last word. And she had quickly changed the topic.

A week after they'd left, the Prophet reported that Lucius had been sent to the Netherlands to begin negotiations. Two days later, the Dutch Minister pledged allegiance to the Dark Lord, and the day after that, Lucius was seen in Switzerland again, inspecting a new military installation at Lausanne.

Hermione took her breakfast with Narcissa in the dining room every morning. The two of them slowly found a balance between reading the paper with held breath and discussing books and the weather in between stilted pauses.

Two weeks after she'd said goodbye to him, Draco's face appeared in the Daily Prophet. He stood silently next to Bellatrix as they both watched the new Swiss Minister address his government. The old Minister had joined the rebels in Geneva — "abandoning his people" as Skeeter had framed it — and Voldemort's new puppet was brought in to transition the Ministry. Draco was pale and thin, his expression completely Occluded as he nodded once to something the Swiss Minister said. Bellatrix looked bored. Hermione had excused herself from the table and spent the next hour in her bedroom crying.

At the end of November, the French attacked Basel. Skeeter reported that the Dark Lord's armies had managed to quell the attack from French and Swiss rebels with the help of German allies, leaving at least three hundred dead. The picture on the front page of the Prophet was of Draco, wand tip smoking, as he stared down the burning remains of the Basler Münster. The picture caption read: General Draco Malfoy victorious in Basel.