It\'s All Done With Mirrors

A/N: There will now be a short interlude of tactical manoeuvres on Hermione\'s part. About Time too. Kxxx
ran: oh, don\'t worry...he will!
LittleBird: Thanks for that! It will get twistier and turnier yet...


Chapter Seventeen
A Little Game of Truth or Dare


The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade, August 2010


\"I\'m being serious, Granger. I dare you to tell me that you were happy living with Ron.\"

I chose not to reply just yet, as Lavender, Dumbledore and Harry were joining us. I increased the size of the table and \'drew\' a few more chairs with my wand. I waited for the three of them to be seated, not taking my eyes off Malfoy for a second. I pointed wordlessly to a stool, and he sat, returning my glare with those intense, silvery eyes.

\"I would think, actually, dear Draco,\" I lilted, \"that in fact it is your turn to accept a dare.\"

To give him credit, he had the decency to award me a grudging smile.

\"Or a truth,\" I added, sweetly. At that moment, I realised there was a way to find out if there was any more information that was being kept from me. Turning towards the assembled, Itowetowed upon them one of my most dangerous smiles.

\"Truth or Dare, anyone?\"

According to \'Hogwarts - A History\', there has not been one single instance when that challenge has gone unmet. There were a few cautious looks between Lavender and Draco, as well as between Harry and Hagrid, but they all looked at me eventually and accepted the gauntlet I had thrown down.

I sat down opposite Dumbledore, who looked at me sheepishly and muttered something which sounded like an apology for Fawkes\' behaviour. I chose to ignore him, and instead gave a challenging glower to the party of meddlers. \"Shall we begin then?\" I asked, rather snootily.

\"We ought to wait a second for Ginny and Minerva to bring the drinks, though,\" someone said.

\"What? You mean G\'s \'s hereere\ere\'re the babies, then?\"

In reply to this, Lavender and Harry both opened a fold of their robes, and two heads - one dark, one red - could be seen, the little eyes closed in sleep, two tiny pairs of lips pursed round the meal they were enjoying in their dreams.

\"Oh.\"

I was saved from making further comment by the arrival of Minerva McGonnagall and an obscenely bright-eyed Ginny, laden with a huge tray full of beakers, glasses and tankards.

*

\"So, we\'re all agreed, then.\" I had appointed myself the MC for our Truth or Dare game. Everyone nodded.

\"If you don\'t like the question or the dare you can switch to the other, but no switching back again. If you pass you will lose an item of clothing.\" I paused while Minerva giggled, \"If you don\'t tell the truth your nose will grow one inch,\" I saluted Harry, \"and if you don\'t accept the dare, then you will get an itching boil on your bottom.\" This remark I directed at Dumbledore himself, who shifted uneasily in his seat.

We all took gulps from our respective drinks, and I raised my wand imperiously.

\"Let the Games Begin!\"

There was a weak cheer from the assembled.

\"OK, Malfoy,\" I drawled, iiateiately. \"Your turn first. Truth or Dare?\"

\"Truth,\" he replied at once.

\"Too chicken to accept a dare?\" I asked.

\"Is that the question?\" he countered.

\"No, silly.\" I looked to the others. \"Anyone?\" There was no reply. I racked my brains, trying to think of the best question to ask him, but one popped out before I could stop it:

\"Why did you hate me so much at school?\"

Draco paused, arching one delicate blond eyebrow. \"Granger, I hated you because...to be honest, I was frightened of what you represented. You had all this magical ability...but you weren\'t from a Wizarding family.
\"I know that sounds really, truly awful...but that\'s because I was capable of truly awful thoughts. Seeing you, able to do pretty much anything you wanted - no charm was unpronounceable enough, no potion complex enough for you to meet it head-on...\"

I was silent, looking at him curiously.

\"Basically, Granger, I was bloody jealous of you, you clever cow.\"

That made me laugh.

\"As a bonus answer I might add that I hated Potter because he wouldn\'t make friends with me, and I hated Weasley because he got to be friends with Potter...plus he managed to get a snog out of Lavender in the Sixth Year, while she wouldn\'t even look at me.\"

Lavender giggled as she smoothed the tousled black hair of the sleeping baby girl.

\"OK, who\'s next? Ah yes, Albus. Truth or Dare?\"

Dumbledore looked at me, and smiled. \"Dare,\" he twinkled.

Ginny glowered at him. \"Albus, I dare you to tell Hermione what you did to her satchel.\"

Dumbledore sighed, and looked wryly at Ginny. \"Thank you, Mrs. Potter. Hermione,\" he leaned toward me, face impassive. \"When you were trying to make a quiet escape from your house yesterday morning, I took the liberty of weakening the strap of your receptacle so that it would break when lifted. I am afraid I did not consider the immediate repercussions of this action.\"

And then everyone looked at me curiously as I continued to regard Dumbledore, noting the sorrow mingled with disgust in his countenance.

\"But my intention was merely to make you late enough for work in order that you should be fired from your then current position...so that you would be moved to seek out the situations vacant cards in Diagon Alley.\"

\"I see,\" I simply said.

\"Hermione, I must apologise for the ordeal you went through as a result of my actions,\" said Dumbledore, gravely.

\"I\'d tolerated much from Ron over the years. Perhaps if I had had enough of the old Hermione within me, I would have put my foot down. But I was so sad for Ron when he lost his wand...\"

I couldn\'t go on. I took a glug from my Butterbeer, and heard Ginny struggle to regain her composure.

\"Lavender. Truth or Dare?\"

\"Truth.\"

Harry spoke. \"Lav, tell me truthfully what you see in that bloody oaf Malfoy.\"

He ducked, as Ginny aimed a swipe at him, and opened his robe to hand her their baby boy, whose red head she placed to her breast. I twitched in my seat as I sneaked a glance at my late husband\'s namesake.

\"Harry, you\'re a git. You\'re also a blind git, if you can\'t see why I love Draco. But ou iou insist...\" Lavender blushed.

\"Draco Malfoy fell in love with me when I was sitting under a hot lamp, sewing a hat. I had pins in my mouth, oil smudges on my cheek, and no makeup on because it had melted off under the heat of the lights. Anyone who was prepared to give me a second glance before I spent an hour in the bathroom was someone worth giving that hour - and all the others following - to.\"

She smiled shyly at the assembled, and then added saucily. \"Plus, he\'s hung like a Hippogriff.\"

Dumbledore choked on his drinkrry rry went an almost translucent shade of green, and Minerva, Hagrid, Ginny and I roared with appreciative laughter. Draco, on the other hand, sipped his drink and looked superciliously at us all.

\"Rubeus! Truth or Dare?\"

\"Yeh\'ve got me there, I reckon. Oh, blimey, will yeh look at the time?\"

We all started to grumble at him, but Albus ordered silence with a wave of his hand. One day, I must ask him how he does that.

\"I\'m afraid our friend has Keepering duties which cannot be delayed, so please let us excuse him.\"

Hagrid started to rise from his seat, gratefully.

\"But, Rubeus...we will each hold you to one Dare, on the morrow, as a penalty for quitting early.\" Albus\' eyes twinkled playfully, and Hagrid groaned, then got out from behind the table and stumbled out of the door.

\"Minerva, you\'re next. Truth or Dare?\"

\"Truth.\"

\"Have you ever awarded points to Slytherin?\" Draco was grinning evilly.

\"Have I - oh what a silly question, Mr. Malfoy! I am sure I can\'t remember...\"

She stopped, and we all watched as her nose began twitch. She put her hands over it in alarm, and coldly answered the question:

\"I have never awarded points to Slytherin.\"

The group\'s sniggering resounded round the emptying bar, as McGonnagall removed her hands from her nose, and rested them primly on the surface of the table. Then she let out a chuckle, and then a roar of laughter, and she beamed at us all.

\"I needed to redress the balance, that\'s all, due to the actions of...a certain other member of Staff.\"

\"Ginny. Truth or Dare?\"

\"Dare!\" A modicum of her schoolgirl vivaciousness glimmered in her lovely eyes.

\"Ginny Weasley, I hereby Dare you to ask that woman over there - \" Draco pointed to a middle-aged prostitute, hanging round a group of inebriated men, \" - to hold ickle Ronald while you \'nip to the Ladies\'.\"

\"Draco Malfoy!\" Ginny was outraged. \"No bloody way. Truth.\"

\"OK, then...explain your choice of names for the twins.\"

\"It\'s a Weasley tradition that the forename is taken from the most recently- deceased Weasley in the family, the middle name from a living relative. Athena Weasley was my grandmother...Tilly and Caitlin had already taken the names of Dad\'s sisters, so Athena was the next furthest back. And, um, hence we named Ronald after...\" She paused. \"I\'m a little bit freaked by that, actually, given the circumstances.\"

We all silently considered this, and to be honest I was glad that there had been no other reason. For the first time since I had told her the news, I was able to look Ginny in the eyes. We shared a tearful look, then Malfoy got our attention again by going back to the matter at hand.

\"Potter. Truth or Dare?\"

\"Truth.\"

I got mine in before anyone else could. \"Harry, tell me truthfully. How much did you know about what life was really like for me with Ron?\"

\"\'Mione...I knew he loved you, he always did. Almost to the point of obsession. In our last year at Hogwarts, he used to tell me that he would win your heart when we\'d all graduated. He\'d planned it all, right down to the last bunch of roses. When you disappd ond on Graduation night, I assumed that he\'d found you and taken you somewhere to tell you how he felt.
\"But when he showed up alone, just before midnight, robes in tatters and eyes like a frightened rabbit\'s, I just hoped he hadn\'t found you, because that would mean you\'d gone...well...mental on him.
\"He wouldn\'t tell us where he\'d been, just kept asking for you, had we seen you. Well, Neville and I had been swapping shaggy dog stories with the Patil twins, but we had seen you come in earlier, with a parcel in your hand.
\"I\'m sorry, love, we should have come over and included you, but I suppose...well things had been a little weird...now I know why...but at the time I was being selfish. I just wanted to have a laugh with the people I wasn\'t likely to see again. I hadn\'t a clue that you were going to run off. I\'m so sorry, \'Mione.\"

He cleared his throat. \"When you and Ron got it togethenallnally, I sort of thought all our troubles would be over. Ron would stop mooning over your loss every day, and you would start to smile again...To answer the original question, Hermione, I had no idea. No idea that you had no pleasure from your marriage, I had no idea how miserable you were. And I blame myself for not knowing...because I wanted your lives to be as happy as mine. I just took it for granted that they would be. And now I know different, it\'s still beyond me - knowing as I did how much he had always loved you, I can\'t understand why..di..did that...to you, of all people. I don\'t know what to say other than - \"

He lifted his tankard. \"To Happier Times\"

We all raised our drinks and repeated the words of the toast.