Which Weasley
By jessebelle
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Chapter Two: Recovery
It was unfortunate that Bill's hopes weren't recognized. Both he and Charlie set off to Egypt and Romania respectively two days after their visit to Hermione in the hospital. Any progress George had made that day had been erased after her nightmare. However, now knowing she was aware of what went on around her and that she wasn't completely broken gave everyone new hope of her recovering from the accident. It was now three months later and after some intense therapy there was a significant improvement.
The attack had happened over Easter break. Hermione had been taken to Hogwarts, as school was still in session; but now it was June, school was ending, and she didn't know where she was to go. It was a definite dilemma, and it also reminded her that she was alone now that she didn't have a home to go to, or parents to take care of her…
"Hermione?" A voice broke through her depressing thoughts. Turning her head she took in the messy hair, glasses, and familiar scar: Harry. Three months ago she wouldn't have even realized he was there. Two months ago she would've ignored his presence and just turned over. A month ago she might've given him a sad smile or a small hello and let him do all the talking, but she'd made a lot of progress…she was better now.
"Yes Harry?" She gave him a smile, he looked a bit nervous.
"Um…well, I wanted to ask you something." He wasn't meeting her eyes and was playing with the sleeve of his robe. Yes, he was definitely nervous. Hermione got a bad feeling.
"Okay." She waited, but he didn't say anything. "Well?" He responded with a sheepish grin.
"Right, um…how did you think you did on your NEWTs?" Hermione knew that wasn't really his question, but answered nonetheless.
"Really well; not as good as I would've liked, but I did my best. I guess being a know-it-all and practically living in the library for the last six years made up for the time I missed, huh."
After the attack Hermione hadn't been able to attend normal classes; she still wasn't in fact. Instead, due to her intelligence and high promise, her teachers met up with her once a week to go over the material and collect her homework. She spent most of her time reading and was caught up with her classmates in no time, therefore she was able to sit for her NEWTs and graduate with her friends. Of everything that had been done for her, this meant the most. She'd put way too much effort into her studies for all of her hard work to go down the drain. It was hard enough losing the title of Head Girl; not being able to graduate would've killed her.
"That's certainly true, and I'm sure that even missing three months you still did better then anybody else. I think I did all right; not too sure about potions, but-"
He was interrupted by a loud 'bark.' Both teens looked toward the sound, and then watched in amusement as a large, black dog bounded into the hospital wing followed by a middle aged man holding a broken leash.
"Padfoot!" At the sound of his name, the dog gave another bark and jumped excitedly onto Hermione's bed. Harry and Remus watched as Hermione squealed in delight then began to laugh as the dog licked her face. Hermione herself was struggling not to wet herself. Padfoot's licks tickled horribly. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and called it to a halt.
"Sirius!" Instantly the dog began to change and within seconds there was a familiar man sprawled on the bed beside her, ankles crossed and arms behind his head. He had on a smile and looked completely comfortable lying on the bed next to her.
"Hello luv, how're we doing today?" Hermione, Harry, and Remus just stared at him before she broke into giggles. Sirius just gave the other two a confused look, "What did I do?" but after a pointed look from Remus he began to grin. Turning to his godson he nodded his head. "Hello Harry." Then all the men turned to watch Hermione laugh, a rare sight and one they all cherished. Unfortunately it didn't last as long as they'd hoped, but seeing the girl laugh, even for a moment, was worth galleons.
Hermione gasped for air as she tried to control herself. She didn't know why Sirius had been so funny, but he'd well and truly tickled her funny bone. She suspected, though, that half the laughter had been her body releasing some pent up stress since she refused to cry. When she was finally able to breathe again she noticed the men looking at her. She felt her face flush with embarrassment. Pretending that nothing happened, something she'd become a bit of an expert on, she turned expectantly to the man who was still lying beside her.
"Hello Sirius."
"All right then, Mione?" She knew he was referring to more then just her laughing fit. She nodded.
"I'll live." Relief flooded his face and was mirrored by the other man standing next to Harry. "Professor!" The older man grinned down on her.
"Hello, Hermione, but really, you needn't call me professor anymore; it's Remus, or Moony, if you prefer." She nodded sheepishly.
"All right, Remus. So what brings you two here today?" She was generally curious. After all, she hadn't seen the two properly since Christmas, before…everything. Next to her Sirius grinned flirtatiously.
"Why, to see your beautiful face of course." Hermione's eyebrows rose skeptically. She sincerely doubted that. She turned to Remus who put her curiosity out of its misery.
"We had a bit of order business with Dumbeldore. We figured we'd come by and see how you're doing. Both of us were awfully worried about you." She nodded knowingly; she'd suspected that was what it was.
"So any new news on the remaining death eaters' actions?'
She hadn't heard a thing in the Hospital Wing. She suspected visitors were told not to bring up any news because of her 'condition'. However, she'd rather know what was happening then be left in the dark. They didn't seem to realize that hearing any progress on the post Voldemort cleanup would only help ease her fears. Harry had defeated Voldemort the summer before their seventh year giving then all a bit of normalcy in their lives, until March that was. The remaining death eaters had been the ones who organized the attack on her home and it was solely Malfoy's fault her parents were dead. Of course, Malfoy hadn't been caught as the fire that had destroyed her life had also destroyed any evidence against him. While Bill had won the duel he'd managed to escape the flames and after retreating he'd done as he always had done; denied everything and made a considerable donation to the ministry, giving him more influence on Fudge then ever; a fact which frightened her horribly.
She watched as the two remaining Marauders exchanged glances before Remus answered her question.
"Nothing new I'm afraid. Fudge is still an idiot and the Ministry's still corrupt. No one is taking the Death Eater threat seriously now that Voldemort's defeated and until the Order can get a little more pull within the government, we just have to accept it."
Hermione took a deep breath and sighed. She'd known that before she'd asked. "You didn't answer my question." Another look was exchanged before Sirius tried a new tactic.
"Eh, let's get off this depressing topic, I've had enough of talk of Death Eaters to last me a while." Once again Hermione opened her mouth to question them, she knew her best chance at getting any information would be through the men before her, but it was Harry that intervened this time, diverting her thoughts to a place she'd been trying to ignore.
"So Hermione, have any plans for after Hogwarts?"
To a normal student on the cusp of graduation this wouldn't be too hard of a question, but to Hermione it brought deep thoughts she wanted to avoid.
She'd had plans, good plans. She was going to graduate with her friends, then spend the summer with her parents. Living away from them for the majority of the year and having magic as a barrier between them they'd grown further and further apart. She'd hoped to rebuild her relationship with them while at the same time continuing with her muggle education. Unbeknownst to her friends, she'd participated in a correspondence course working toward her muggle degree. She only had a few classes left.
She knew career wise that she needed to get a job and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. With her intelligence the Ministry had practically begged her to work for them, but she'd declined all their offers, instead choosing to take part in a double apprenticeship at Hogwarts in both potions and transfiguration. Though it had taken quite a bit of convincing, she'd managed to talk Professor Snape in agreeing to teach her while McGonagall had instantly agreed. Come September first she was supposed to return to Hogwarts to learn. But now…her plans were derailed.
She'd never get a chance to spend another summer at home, nor to even talk to her parents. She'd been told by McGonagall that her apprenticeship offer was still valid, but if she couldn't even attend classes as a student, then how was she supposed to teach. And now she didn't even have a place to live.
A cough brought her back to reality and she saw that Harry was still awaiting an answer. Rather then explaining everything, she shook her head and gave a simple. "No."
"So, you haven't talked to Molly about living at the Burrow?"
She shook her head negatively. Sirius' question brought up another unpleasant topic she'd been trying to avoid. While most of her visitors were friends from school, Mrs. Weasley had become a frequent presence in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, determined to help Hermione's recovery. While she hadn't asked Hermione's opinion yet, she knew that the matriarch had been making plans for her to come live with her family at the Burrow and coming up with ways to teach Hermione to be a proper housewitch. But, while she appreciated the thought and though it would solve her housing problem, she had no desire to live with the Weasley family for two reasons.
The first was that even though her plans were screwed up, or on hold, she'd had plans, and none of them included learning how to cook, clean, or become a housewife. Sure, she planned to get married and have kids some day, but she wanted a career first, something Molly didn't understand. Spending her days learning cleaning charms and ways to take care of a family wouldn't help her recover any faster, and they certainly wouldn't help her mental health.
The second reason she didn't want to stay at the Weasleys' was Ron. She wasn't stupid, far from it in fact, and had realized her best friend had feelings for her. She'd briefly shared those feelings too, when the having a boyfriend was a novel idea. But, she'd soon discovered it had been just her hormones and not attraction that had caused her to believe there was more between him and herself then there really was. In reality he was the farthest thing from her type. He was possessive; thinking he owned her, jealous; which just got on her nerves and spoke of the trust between them. He had zero manners, had yet to realize there was more out in the world the quidditch and Hogwarts, and while she wasn't saying he was stupid, his intelligence clashed horribly with her own. She needed a man who wouldn't feel threatened by her smarts, who would be able to challenge her, and someone who could trust and talk to, really talk to. She did love Ron, but like a brother, and it was unfortunately something he hadn't realized yet.
Of course after, everything, she knew things had changed. At first he'd ignored her. She didn't remember much in the early days after her accident but she did remember seeing a lot of redheads, none of them being Ron. Harry had explained that he'd come to see her right after the accident and the sight of her in the hospital wing, not talking and seriously injured, had shaken the redhead up quite a bit. She hadn't cared at the time, but after she'd begun to heal and thought about it, she'd been hurt. Harry, and everyone else who'd come to see her had been disturbed by the sight, but they'd still come to visit her. Then she'd begun responding and talking again. Ron had done a complete 180, visiting her constantly, being way too overprotective and treating her like a doll. All that had accomplished was to make her pissed off. Currently he was following Harry's advice, stopping down to visit after dinner most days to get help with homework, treating her normally and just hanging out like they used to. Of course, it helped that they weren't alone and that Harry, Ginny, Neville and her other friends came at that time too, making a relaxed atmosphere and acting as buffers between the two. The fact that the house elves sent food didn't hurt either.
These two things both spelled out awkwardness and she had no desire at all to purposefully encourage his feelings or deal with his mood swings. So that meant the Burrow was not an option as a place to stay, which meant she was back where she started…homeless. Coming out of her thoughts, she observed that these men were all looking at her worriedly. She sighed and looked to Sirius for confirmation.
"I did it again, didn't I" She kept losing touch with reality, losing touch with her thoughts. It happened less frequently but she knew it still bothered everyone.
"Yeah, but nothing's wrong with that. I spent most of my time out of reality and look how well I've turned out."
"Padfoot, not helping."
"What? All I did was point out that as a kid, I tended to space out a lot, particularly during classes and anything I didn't really want to do."
"You still do that." Hermione smiled at their antics, amused but still worried. It was Harry that put her at ease, softly touching her arm to get her attention.
"Really Hermione, that's the first time it's happened in three days, you're doing better and if I remember, even before…all this, you'd get lost in your many thoughts all the time." She smiled sadly at his efforts.
"Thanks Harry, now, why did you want to know my plans or if I'd talked to Mrs. Weasley?" Sirius grinned now, back on track.
"Well, you didn't have any plans now, right?' She nodded and was confused by how her answer, if possible, made him grin wider.
"Excellent."
"You're happy that I have no place to live?"
"Au contraire, mon frère."
"Mon frère means brother." Remus pointed out. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Mon girly-frère, and I'm not happy, I'm ecstatic." Hermione gave him a dubious
look.
"Still not seeing cause for joy."
"Well-" But before Sirius could continue dancing around the subject, Harry
blurted out the question he knew they were there to ask..
"Will you come live with us?" Hermione's mouth dropped open. As she stared in shock, Sirius turned to his godson in disappointment.
"Aw, Harry, you ruined it!"
"Ruined what?" The boy asked curiously. Remus rolled his eyes, already knowing the answer to the boy's question. He answered before the animagus could.
"Anticipation. You see, Padfoot here can't just answer, or ask a question without sidetracking the issue and annoying the person he's talking to. It especially drove your mother nuts."
"Hey, I find holding off until the right moment particularly helpful in getting my way. By the time I ask the question, the person has built up so much anticipation that whatever I ask they usually say yes too. Lily only hated it because it worked."
"You want me to move in with you? Like, all of you, or just Harry, because I don't fancy staying with the Dursleys." Hermione's voice brought them back to the subject at hand. Harry laughed.
"Neither do I, nor do I have to. Because Voldemort is gone, I finally get to live my life. I'm going to be living at Grimmauld place with Sirius and Remus, and hopefully you."
Hermione say their anxious expressions. It was obvious that they really did want her presence at their home, but she only had one question.
"Why?" It was Sirius that answered first, getting the important stuff out of the way.
"Well, you're a girl; we kinda need a female presence at the house, makes it more 'homey'. You're nice to look at, and you'll keep me inline better then Remus ever could."
"Sirius!" The werewolf couldn't believe he'd said that, but after seeing the quirked lips on the girl in the bed, he didn't lecture. Instead he got serious.
"Hermione, Sirius is right, we do want you at the house and you probably will help keep us bachelors in line, but not as a piece of eye candy." He rolled his eyes at the term but smiled at Hermione's giggle. "The point is you need a place to stay, preferably somewhere quiet so you can recuperate, and someplace protected because you're still in danger. With us at Grimmauld, you'd have plenty of space, we wouldn't bother you or mother you, and you'll be protected. And if that doesn't sell you, then there's always the Black family library and the pleasure of living with us three handsome men." And with his last declaration the three struck poses that had her smiling. But she zeroed in on the youngest, her best friend.
"And what about you?" Harry grinned.
"Well, it was my idea actually. You're like my sister Hermione, and I'm worried about you. I'd like to know that you're okay. Beyond that you're my best friend and I wouldn't mind sharing a house with you, if anything so I'm not stuck with these two." The two marauders each gave indignant yells of 'hey!', but the boy-who-conquered ignored them, staying serious and taking Hermione's hand. "Please Hermione, move in with us?"
It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders; one problem solved in the list of many. With another look to each of them, seeing their sincerity, she nodded her head.
"Yes, I'll move in with you."
At her affirmative answer, the three men shared smiles. Harry gave a happy shout of 'yes!', Remus grinned, and Sirius promptly turned into Padfoot and attacked Hermione on the bed with his doggy kisses, filling the room with Hermione's laughter. It was a happy scene, one filled with hope because now she had a new plan. Granted, it was only a small plan, but at least she knew where she was going to live, and for now, that was enough.
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A/N: Yay, another chapter down. I would've had this one up a lot sooner, but I lost my jump drive and had to find my handwritten notes in order to retype it all up. Then, a portion of the story was missing, so I had to remember my previous thoughts from a long, long time ago and rewrite it. Plus, well, life's been happening in a major way. So, it couldn't be helped. Anyway, I'm hoping you guys still like this story and I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know if I should continue, the next chapters almost done. More Weasleyness to come. Oh, and if anyone can spot the borrowed quote and where it came from, I'll give you a cyber cookie.
Toodles,
jessebelle
