[HP] The pros and cons of home arrest #7

Chapter #7: Sad reality.

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“So…What should I do now?” Asked Daphne feeling a little curious and expectant about what Hermione Granger planned to do with her.

“That was delicious, you were right Harry, her mother’s meatballs were excellent!” Hermione said with a satisfied expression.

The blonde could only sigh, after they had that serious talk, they decided to eat first which was something she was grateful for, it was better to talk after enjoying a nice meal rather than with an empty stomach, Daphne has been trying to act good but when she's hungry she loses her temper easily, however, it seems like doctor Granger was only trying to see if her friend was right or wrong about Mrs. Greengrass cooking.

“Oh right, sorry,” Hermione said now as she stared at Daphne's face, she suddenly remembered why she was there. “I think we should get back to the living room,” Hermione added and Daphne nodded with a serious expression adorning her face.

A few moments later and the three of them were already sitting in the living room once again, Harry and Hermione were sitting next to each other in front of Daphne, the blonde was waiting impatiently, she was getting tired of this, but she decided to control herself...For now.

“So…When will you start studying me?” Asked the blonde in a tired tone, she wanted to finish this meeting as soon as possible so she could get some rest.

“Oh, we already started the moment I entered inside this house,” Hermione said in a serious tone.

The blonde was completely taken aback by this sudden change of attitude and the moment Hermione made a notebook appear, she started to write a lot of things at an incredible speed.

“Tell me what’s your motivation…Why did you join the death eaters?” Asked the doctor with a calm expression.

Daphne felt a little intimidated, even though she was trying to act as gentle as possible, for some reason, she felt like Granger wasn’t holding herself back anymore as she did during their school days, and she knew she had no opportunity against these two, so, she decided to be honest, or at least she tried.

“Because I wanted to!” Daphne answered with the firmest tone possible.

Hermione raised her brow, she was feeling a little skeptical but she still wrote, then, she got on her feet with a disappointing expression.

“Well, it seems this is worthless, there’s no point in me trying to help her, it seems like the patient isn’t willing to cooperate,” Hermione said in a disappointing tone. “Sorry for wasting your time, I should better go, my girlfriend is waiting for me at home,” Hermione added.

Harry couldn’t help but stare directly into Daphne's eyes and he was just as disappointed as Hermione, it was so ironic that she decided to humiliate him when he was just trying to help her, she wasn’t feeling good by doing this, she was feeling like she made him look bad in front of his friend and even thought she lied, that wasn't her intention.

“Oh, sorry Hermione, I really thought she was…Showing some change, you know?” He said in a disappointing tone.

“Don’t worry Harry…You’re strong and you’re gentle but you’re also too naive which is understandable by the way you were raised, so, it’s not a surprise she managed to fool you, but I guess it makes no sense for me to continue trying if she isn’t willing to cooperate, don’t worry, It’s not your fault,” Hermione added and she was ready to go but then Daphne got on her feet.

“I did it because of my family!” The blonde said desperately.

Harry and Hermione suddenly looked at her with surprised expressions adorning their faces, she was being too honest right now, which was a little suspicious for the doctor but still, after a quick inspection, Hermione couldn’t detect a lie in her tone, so, she suddenly backed down from her decision to leave and got back to her seat, Harry and Daphne did the same.

“For your family you say? Would you care to elaborate?” Asked the doctor with a calmer and gentler tone.

Daphne remained in silence, she was looking at the floor, this was too much for her, she knew she was looking so weak right now in front of her supposed enemies, this couldn’t get more humiliating for her, but in the end, she couldn’t help but vent this out.

“My father…My mother…My sister…Me…The four of us are pureblood, and we can trace our ancestors and there’s not a sight of mudblood in our family tree,” she explained.

She remained in silence once again, this was too much because she wanted to keep the secret for as long as she could as it was too humiliating for someone who had always preached about feminine independence.

“During our last year of Hogwarts, just at the start of the school year, Malfoy was recruiting people for the movement…I couldn’t refuse to join him, his family made a huge investment in the family company the previous summer after Dumbledore’s death,” the blonde continued.

“Oh right, your family has a potion materials company, right? As far as I know, they harvest those rare plants and herbs that are hard to get unless the conditions are right, I remember doing a study about that in my third year,” Hermione said and Harry nodded, he remembered how annoying she acted during those days because of that investigation, only Hermione could think of doing a final potions project talking about the industrial process when it comes to potion ingredients.

“Yes, those rare plants bring great returns but they require very special conditions to grow, that’s why Lucius Malfoy is always eager to finance the yearly production, it’s a win-win situation because in case something happens and the production fails, the Malfoys were willing to take the financial toll, yes, we’re wealthy but we keep the rare plant harvesting because it's a tradition my family has been doing for centuries, we have other investments that bring more earnings but we have to keep producing rare potion ingredients,” the blonde remained in silence for a few moments.

“Okay, I understand that, but what does that have to do with your decision to join the death eater ranks?” Asked the doctor with a calm expression, she was finding this fascinating but she wasn’t seeing the link between her decision and this.

“Well, there’s a curse in my family that says that no matter what, we should always keep the rare ingredient business alive, we need to keep harvesting those plants or else we could get ruined…Our family became wealthy by exploiting those rare plants in ancient times to the point where almost nothing was left even to these days,” she said in a regretful tone.

Hermione continued to write with complete interest, she was always willing to learn more about the lore of the magical world.

“The legend says that the forest nymphs spared our ancestor's life, however, they had a condition, the family has to to continue cultivating those plants until our bloodline dies, or else nothing but disgrace would fall upon us, that’s why my father was willing to do anything to keep the harvests alive, and as the heiress of the family, I had to act like a proper leader too,” Daphne sighed.

“And considering the Malfoys were the main investors, you had no room to oppose joining the death eater ranks, right?” Hermione asked in a calm tone.

“I wanted to avoid joining actually but I was afraid that Lucius Malfoy could kill my father and take over the company just like he has done with the many businesses the Malfoys used to control, after all, Voldemort was very interested in continuing producing those rare ingredients, and when the Malfoys can’t compete they kill their rivals, I was worried about what was going to happen us, so, I decided to take the lead and try to become the best death eater possible to gain the grace of lord Voldemort,” Daphne explained in a calm tone.

She was trying to sound as sincere as possible but she knew her credibility was on the ground, she was hoping Granger would believe her.

“Your story is interesting and I have zero doubts you’re being sincere…However, there’s something that doesn’t make sense to me…Why were you still with them after the end of the war?” Asked Hermione with a raised brow.

Daphne couldn’t help but gulp, she wasn’t expecting to get this question and she knew the answer, but she felt ashamed of admitting it, however, in the end, she could only sigh and accept her destiny.

“You see…My stay in the Death Eaters was messy, to say the least, I had to do a lot of questionable things that I won’t discuss unless I’m in the presence of my lawyer…By the end of the war, all those things, the freedom, the mayhem, and the use of powerful and dark spells turned into a complete addiction,” Daphne said with a smirk on her face.

Harry and Hermione stared into each other’s eyes, both of them were finding this interview fascinating, meanwhile, Daphne felt like she had screwed up everything, she knew she was wrong, she knew she was fucked up, but that’s the way she is, she became a complete addict to those things, she knew she was over, after hearing something like that, she was convinced Granger wouldn’t allow someone like her to walk free once again.