Chapter 2
He missed his best friend coming in and laughing about something Teddy did, or excitedly talking about the world that he was missing out on. She knew so much about the world, he learned more from her than he ever would without. He'd had to rely on the Weasleys for intel from the outside, and they left him with more questions than answers.
Hermione … even after the war, she managed to see the world with rose-coloured glasses. She still saw the good in the new Ministry, despite her constant gripes and complaints. She saw the incoming class as children instead of a collection of war orphans and Death Eater offspring. He saw everything with a view tainted by the war, but Hermione … She was tougher than him. She had been tortured more severely, had been hurt more savagely, had given more willingly, and she still had the heart to love. A month away from her only fed into his isolationist depression, and he would do anything to have her see him more often.
So, while she was away, he took on the post as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Hermione would be so proud of him, he knew. She would kiss his cheek and tell him it was the perfect job for him, how he'd love it nearly as much as DA lessons, and how Teddy would love spending time in the castle with the ghosts and a hoard of Professors who'd never had children themselves. It was Hermione, the one he imagined, who'd convinced him to do it. After a month without her, he knew he couldn't last until holidays.
That being said, he was worried about her. He thought he'd be able to see her after two weeks, tell her his decision. Instead, he was going on without a word from her. He fretted every day, his only distraction Teddy. He worried.
Hermione was trying to get back to London, but apparating multiple continents was difficult. In the lengthy process of travelling magically across continents, Hermione forgot where she was supposed to be landing. A moment of fear gripped her and she thought of the one thing in London she could at that moment; Harry Potter. She popped into existence in Harry's bedroom of Grimmauld place and immediately sank into his bed, ignoring the screaming of her best friend and her slightly bleeding cheek from the distracted apparition. Harry had immediately jumped up when he heard the apparition pop and was standing next to his bed, but naked and screaming at her.
"Circe, Hermione!" Harry yelled. "What are you doing in my bed?!"
"We've been here before," Hermione reminded him. "Besides, I need to rest after coming across two continents."
"Where have you been?!" Harry demanded. He noticed his bare tool and grabbed the pillow to cover it with a cough. "'Mione, you've been gone all month! You're bleeding!"
"Stories after nap, Harry," Hermione murmured into the pillow. "Come back to bed."
"Hermione, I'm kind of naked," Harry pointed out awkwardly.
"So?" Hermione murmured. "You don't want to do anything to me, right?"
"What, Hermione, no!" Harry exclaimed. "I mean, of course you're gorgeous, Mione, but … is this one of those times where there's no right answer? It feels like it."
"Come back to bed," Hermione murmured again, this time patting down the other side fo the mattress in clear invitation. "I'll lecture you in the morning."
"It is morning," Harry pointed out with a sigh, resigned to his fate.
Hermione heard him rush over to his dresser for a pair of boxers before coming back and sliding under the covers. She grabbed him immediately, placing her head on his lean chest. "Ah, the best pillow."
If she wasn't dead tired, Harry's eyeroll would have been nearly audible to her. "Go to sleep, Mione. Your pillow needs to be up in an hour to get Teddy his breakfast."
Harry couldn't get back to sleep, even after the adrenaline stopped pounding through his vein. Hermione was sleeping on his chest, just like they had when camping, when Ron wasn't around. It was always ruined back then by foul moods brought on by carrying a dark-magic-infused piece of Voldemort's soul around with them. Now, the situation made his heart warm and his arms tighten around her petit body. He pointed his wand to her cheek and did the little healing magic he knew how to do to cover the cut with a clear little spell that would keep her from bleeding further. He was sure Hermione would fix it when she woke.
He'd missed her the last month. Not just because of Teddy, who really did miss his 'Mine' – she could get his to stop crying with some soft-spoken words, a few questions, and a few hushed laughs that spoke of her love for the little Metamorphmagus.
No, it wasn't just for Teddy.
He couldn't sleep while she still didn't know of his decision, and he knew Teddy would be waking soon. He sent a quick Patronus to Ron and Ginny, letting them know she was back, and then occupied himself with stroking her hair and leaning back into the pillow.
He must have zoned out or dozed off for a half hour, because not a second later her heard the familiar cries of the toddler in the bedroom next door. And so the day begins.
To climb out of bed, he needed to grab his pillow and trade ir for his torso. When he placed it under Hermione's head she grabbed it and held it tightly to her in the tightest of hugs, earning a warm smile from the Boy Who Lived. It couldn't be helped. He leaned down and kissed the top of her curly, disheveled hair. He was so glad she was back safe.
Little Teddy was always a temperamental little devil in the mornings. Harry was certain Teddy knew they left his all by himself all night, and that was a cardinal sin in the attention-seeker's mind. Each day he took all of Harry's attention and he loved every second of it.
He was feeding Teddy his normal breakfast bottle when Andromeda bustled in for her morning tea.
"Harry, you're such a peach," Andromeda said tiredly. "I could have gotten him, you know."
"Like you do every morning?" Harry teased. "It's fine. Hermione woke me up anyways."
The baby seemed to recognize her name, hitting his tiny fists against Harry's hands.
"Yes, Aunt 'Mione's back," Harry told the toddler. "She needs some time to sleep before you can see her though, OK?"
"Don't talk for me, Harry," the happy voice of Hermione said from the doorway. She quickly came and lifted Teddy from Harry's arms, Teddy laughed happily, and Harry couldn't keep himself from beaming at his best friend, roommate, and crush. "How is my favourite little man today?"
"Still hungry, probably," Harry told her, handing her the bottle. "But very glad to see you. Are you alright now?"
"Healed myself after I rested," Hermione waved off his concern. "I just have a few people who need punching today for my trouble at the Ministry."
"What happened, dear?" Andromeda asked, cracking eggs into the pan.
Hermione's faced darkened under Harry's gaze, making him worry. He'd seen that look before, the look of anger. Heaven help whoever was on the end of it. "Did the Ministry tell anyone there was a breakout?"
"What?!" Harry exclaimed, suddenly aware of what happened. "'Mione, are you sure you're alright? It wasn't-"
"Death Eaters," Hermione finished, clutching Teddy tightly. "Dolohov, probably some others. I didn't get a good look of their bodies."
"Bodies?!" Andromeda exclaimed, breakfast briefly forgotten. "What happened?"
"Wild animal killed them," Hermione said evasively. "But they were the group the Unspeakables were tracking."
"'Mione. . ." Harry breathed. "I thought we were done."
"And if the Minister had made public the fact that Dolohov either escaped Azkaban, or didn't even make it there, it would have been done," she stated matter-of-factly. "I'll be having words with him today."
"Where is your team, then?" Andromeda asked, scrambling the eggs in the pan.
Hermione frowned. "They had a portkey, I think."
"They left you?!" Harry roared. Baby Teddy didn't like that and wailed around the bottle, requiring more rocking from Hermione. "Sorry Teddy, but Uncle Harry might just have to kill someone today."
"You'll do no such thing," Andromeda said, before Hermione could chastise him. "He needs a good role model, not a prison inmate, for a parent."
"Yes, Andy," Harry nodded with a frown.
"And besides," Andromeda continued with a smirk, "you know that Hermione is perfectly capable of raising cain all on her own."
"I plan to," Hermione affirmed grimly. "Hiding things like this is how the Ministry fell to Voldemort in the first place. They need to learn, now, that we won't tolerate it again."
She grimaced. "I don't understand. The Minister kept us out there for so long, sending letters telling us of their movements. It was like . . . like we were tracking Dolohov, not the Book."
"Hermione," Harry whined, "don't. Please, don't go on like there's something sinister happening. There's been too many adventures in our lives. Write a letter to the Prophet and Quibbler, they'll handle the Ministry. Just stay here with m-Teddy, with Teddy. It's not our job anymore."
"I'll be home before you can say Quidditch, Harry," she reassured him.
That was the plan Hermione had in her head as she flooed to the Ministry. She was just going to barge into the Minister's office, demand to know what had happened, and then – once properly reassured that he would make the breakout or whatever had happened public – she would go reprimand the Unspeakables for abandoning her in a random forest in Africa.
She worked herself up into a speech-giving rage while in the elevators, knowing it would make her more eloquent and assertive than anything else, so that when the doors opened she stormed out and marched towards the Minister's office.
The secretary must have seen the look on her face or been told by the new Minister to always let the heroes into his office, because she didn't stop Hermione from throwing open the door.
"Minister, I-" Hermione stopped as she confronted the scene. The two Unspeakables from the day before were already in the office, speaking with the Minister. All the people she needed to bring to reckoning in one place. Who to attack first? Her decision was made when the Minister spoke to her.
"Miss Granger," the Minister greeted tersely. "We weren't expecting you to return today."
"Or at all," Hermione accused. She glared at the Unspeakables. "You left me there to die!"
"Gentlemen, if you would give me a moment alone with Miss Granger?" the Minister asked kindly. They nodded and backed out of the room, wary of her wanded hand. When they closed the door behind them, the Minister addressed her. "Please, sit down."
"I'll stand, thanks," Hermione said tersely. "Now, care to explain why nobody knows that Antonin Dolohov isn't in Azkaban and is instead now fertilizing the rainforests of the Congo?"
"Are you admitting to killing him?" the Minister asked, his stare hard.
"Answer my question."
They engaged in a battle of stares, as if sizing each other up. Finally, the Minister sighed.
"We were aware that some Death Eaters were a part of the group tracking the same manuscript," the Minister admitted, although Hermione could see a calculating cadence to his words. They were measured carefully, which put Hermione on edge. "To be fair, we did send those Portkeys with the Unspeakables to safely evacuate them and you from any dangerous situation."
"Which explains why they left me behind?" Hermione accused.
The Minister leaned back with a small smirk. "As far as I can see, Miss Granger, they made the right call. You are perfectly fine."
"Through luck!" Hermione screeched. "I was going to die!"
She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "Minister, don't you think you should have told me who we were tracking? I testified at both of Dolohov's trials, which means I was in more danger than your average Unspeakables. More than that, the public should have been warned! He could have hurt people!"
The Minister seemed to be humouring her, and it annoyed her to no end. He was back in his chair, just observing and not truly engaging with her. He smiled politely. "We had people tracking him, that was enough. I saw no need to create a panic."
Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, now you know he is dead, will you release a statement?"
"No," the Minister said firmly. "That mission was secret, and since Dolohov is dead, there's no harm in it remaining so."
"What happened to the 'open door' of the Ministry?" Hermione demanded. "You ran on the premise of transparency and honesty, and people want that after the hell we've been put through."
"Some things must remain a secret for their benefit," the Minister replied with a terse voice.
Hermione clenched a fist. "Fine. You won't release a statement, but I was not forced into any oaths or signed contracts saying that I couldn't. I'm sure the press would love to hear how you abandoned me in the middle of Africa with a half-dozen assailants."
She saw his jaw clench and nostrils flare in anger. "Are you threatening me, Miss Granger?"
"No," she promised. "Merely pointing out something you don't like – I can, and will, be honest with the public if you're not. I'm eager to see how many other Death Eaters that are supposed to be in Azkaban have gotten out. Or, have they been freed?"
The Minister glared. "You are going too far, Miss Granger."
Hermione place her palms on the Minister's desk, assuming a confrontational stance. "You lied. You lied to the public about Dolohov. You lied to me about the mission. You lied about keeping me out there too, didn't you? I don't even know why. I'm not stupid, Minister, and neither am I a pawn for you to use and dispose of. Who else escaped from Azkaban?"
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter!" the Minister barked.
A couple of uniformed aurors entered his office. "We received your summons."
"Please take Miss Granger into custody," the Minister ordered, making Hermione gasp in shock.
"What?!" Hermione shrieked. "On what grounds?"
The aurors were around her in a second, binding her wrists and taking Bellatrix's wand from her arm holster and confiscating her beaded bag. She didn't struggle, but fixed her gaze on the Minister who was failing to hide his smirk.
"You just admitted to killing Antonin Dolohov, and others in his party," the Minister sneered. "I have sent aurors, Miss Granger, and they found several dead bodies where the Unspeakables left you. You are being arrested for murder."
"I didn't kill anyone!" Hermione shrieked as she was pulled to the door. "I never said that! You foul man! You liar!"
"Are you calling the Minister a liar?" the pompous goat jeered her. "Perhaps, with a few hours in custody, you will gain a degree of respect."
Hermione hissed. How dare he? He was abusing his power all because she'd dared to question him. Did he think that just because he threatened her with Azkaban that she'd comply with his lying manipulations?
"Watch yourself!" she called to him angrily. "You have no idea who you're messing with!"
Just before the door closed, she saw his sinister smile. "No, Miss Granger, it is you who has no idea."