Erlking

Chapter two.

Hermione slipped back into Grimmauld Place shortly before dawn,and was relieved to see nobody awake. Good. That meant no one had noticed her absence.
Creeping up the stairs she prayed fervently not to wake any of the portraits and sent up a silent thanks to the powers that be when she slipped into her room without eliciting a single murmur from them.
"Where the hell have you been?"
Hermione's head whipped round and she saw an indignant Ginny sat up in bed, very much awake and looking rather irate.
"And what have you done to your neck?" the diminuitive redhead demanded.
Hermione rushed to the mirror on the dresser she and Ginny shared and paled as she saw the ring of teethmarks on her neck, the blood dried to a gross-looking black crust.
Yanking open a drawer, she pulled out a packet of antiseptic wipes and cleaned the blood from the wound.
"It looks worse than it is..." she mumbled, trying to avoid Ginny's gaze,which sought hers in the mirror.
"If my brother did that..." Ginny said angrily- it took Hermione a moment to realise that Ginny was not angry at her, but on her behalf.
Of Course.
Not two days ago she had told Ginny she wasn't comfortable with how quickly the relationship was progressing. Hermione choked on a laugh- if only it was that simple!
"No,no. It wasn't Ron." She assured Ginny, then kicked herself-now she would have to explain,and she'd always been a dreadful liar.
Ginny was eyeing the bag Hermione had set down in the doorway with a puzzled frown.
"If you weren't with my arsehole of a brother...where were you?"
Hermione rested her head on the mirror for a moment then sighed and dug in her drawer for a first aid kit to put a dressing over the bitemark.
"Ginny," She started "You must swear to tell nobody..."


Ten minutes later she was done, and Ginny let out a stunned breath.
"Bloody hell, 'Mione." was all she said.
Hermione dropped her head in her hands. feeling a wave of delayed reaction wash over her.
"I know." She said and a defeated voice.
There was a long silence as Ginny processed everything she had been told.
Hermione stood and quickly changed into a tanktop and shorts, climbing into bed and pulling the covers up to try and ward off the chill that had plagued her for days.
"When did you figure it out?" Ginny asked,finally.
"Last week" Hermione replied in a miserable voice.
"Bloody hell." Ginny said again. "And Snape said that Sandeman bloke could help?"
Hermione nodded.
"But how could he expect you to trust him after everything he's done?" Ginny asked. Hermione's smile was bitter and humourless, and when she met Ginny's gaze, the redhead saw her eyes were full of a pain that was threatening to break her.
"What choice do I have?" She replied, grimacing at the memory of his earlier words.
"I have to figure this out, Ginny, I have to. There's no other way."
Suddenly, the pain overwhelmed her and she surrendered to the tears that she'd been holding back for days, her shoulders heaving as agony ripped through her.
Ginny crosed the room and put her arm around Hermione's shoulders, her own eyes haunted.
"I have to find away around it" Hermione sobbed "Because if I don't,Harry will die, or worse; he'll never be free."
Hermione looked up and two pairs of brown eyes met in perfect understanding.
"Oh god, Ginny" Hermione mumbled "How do I tell him? How the hell do I tell Harry his scar is a horcrux?"