The next day, Hermione was true to her word and after picking up a gift-bag for the books and toys she'd got him, apparated to the apparition point closest to Andromeda's house – Andy had set up old magic wards years ago, to prevent any unwanted surprise guests arriving without at least a warning. As she wandered along the path, she breathed deeply, enjoying the crunch of leaves underfoot, as well as with the lack of smog that came from leaving the city. Stepping slightly out of her way to step on the crunchiest leaves, she got to the front door just in time for a half-metamorphmagused Teddy, with an elephant trunk and bright pink flamingo feathers along his shoulders, to tackle her legs. "Aunty 'Mione!" Hermione grinned and attempted to one-arm hug him, despite the height difference. When he let go, she crouched down, set aside the gift-bag and pretended to look at him suspiciously. "My nephew isn't an elephant with pink shoulders!" Hermione studied him, "nope, definitely not. It is his birthday though, so I've come to see him. Do you know where he is?" Hermione pretended to look around, hand shielding her eyes from the sun, searching high and low for him. Teddy laughed, "'Mione! It's me!" She looked at him again, stroking an invisible beard on her chin in thought, before feigning a moment of sudden realisation, "oh my goodness! It is you!" Without further ado, she swept him up and spun him around, before pulling him close, "happy birthday Teddy-bear." Teddy morphed his nose back to its normal shape, albeit sky-blue in colour, and grinned, "I told you."
"You did indeed. I will have to listen to you more often." Hermione's face was entirely serious as she said these words, and remained so as she tucked him under her arm like a newspaper before picking up the bag with her other hand and walking into the house.
Teddy giggled the entire time.
Andromeda came around the corner, noticing the wide-open door, "Teddy!"
"Don't worry, I've got him." Hermione said, winking at Andy, who raised an eyebrow. "He was running away to join the circus. But I caught him just in time."
"The circus, huh?" Andy crouched down and twisted her head to the side, until she was eye to eye with the grinning boy.
"Yup, I was gonna be an acrobat."
"Ah, I see…" Andy lifted Teddy from Hermione's arm and hung him upside-down, "you don't have to run away to do that, you know."
Hermione grinned as Andromeda set him down, exchanging a quick hug, along with the usual small talk and comments about how much he'd grown.
"He's picking up the morphing quickly, same as Nymphadora did," Andromeda's expression turned slightly, her smile bittersweet. Hermione put a hand between her should blades, "and I'm sure he'll be just as much trouble." Andy's lips turned up in a grin at the thought of that inevitability, and the joviality of the moment was restored. "Oh, he's already catching up fast…"
Hermione was the first to arrive for Teddy's birthday gathering, and sat with Andromeda in the kitchen, sipping warm tea as Andy regaled her with stories of Teddy causing mischief in class, as the boy himself was thoroughly occupied with the birthday trinkets Hermione had given him.
The others started to arrive soon after, Ginny with Harry and the rest of the Weasley clan, along with Narcissa and Draco. Even if everybody didn't quite get along, they had an unspoken agreement – in some cases, in others Andromeda has threatened people at wand point – to be amiable around Teddy, he was important to all of them. As the house filled up and the noise level became a loud hum, Hermione retreated to the garden, half-heartedly scolding herself for not being able to lose herself in the festivities of the day. She looked out at the wild fields that spread off into the distance, admiring the view of unbridled natured before her, and enjoying the cool breeze against her face.
"Is it something to do with Ron?"
Hermione spun half around, to find Andromeda leaning in the doorway, holding a mug and looking at her.
"What?"
The panic lacing her voice was almost invisible.
Andromeda stepped out into the garden, but kept a distance between them.
"Is he the reason you're… not quite yourself, today?"
Hermione had a moment of realisation that she had completely forgotten she was supposed to be… what? Planning to tell Ron that magical contraceptives weren't 100% effective? She suddenly understood the 'it's complicated' status people had on muggle social media.
Only, it wasn't really all that complex. She just hadn't quite figured out how to tell him and then let him know it wasn't an option, without hurting him. Would it even hurt if he lost the chance of having something he'd never even known about? The unintentional distance between them probably was helping… Catching sight of Andromeda's carefully expressionless look – though could she see a hint of concern? Hermione fidgeted slightly and answered slowly, "no. It's not him. He's…"
"…a million miles away from your thoughts?"
"Something like that," she felt an awkward half smile grace her lips.
"I won't pry, but if you need someone-"
Hermione looked at her as Andy cut herself off, what would be the harm? It might even help, she rationalised.
"I want… I need to get my parents' memories back."
"Ah." Andromeda nodded as Hermione continued fidgeting with the sleeve of her plaid shirt, "and you've discovered how difficult that's going to be?"
It was Hermione's turn to nod, slightly reluctantly.
"If it were easy – well, the world would be a different place."
Andromeda gazed off into the middle distance as she spoke, as though thinking of a few things in particular she would like to be different. All at once, a thought seemed to occur to her, and she turned to face Hermione, speaking in a carefully measured sort of manner, though Hermione recognised the façade from the twinkle in her eye, "my family – my old family, the ones who disowned me," she spoke with a reserved, borderline nostalgic, tone, "had a lot of books on memory charms." Hermione's heart skipped a beat, realising in that moment how relieved she was that she wouldn't have to go traipsing around Knockturn Alley to find some halfway-relevant dark arts ritual to perform. It definitely would have been crossing the line between brave and stupid, and Andromeda's words made her realise how much she had been not looking forward to it. Realising she was caught up in these hope-filled thoughts, Hermione turned her attention back to Andy.
"I'll ask Narcissa for you."Andy caught the cautiously disbelieving look on Hermione's face and let out a slight laugh, "she might not be the friendliest person on the planet, but she values family, and she'll understand why you need to do what you need to do. You remember what she did for Draco? Twice?"
Hermione bit her tongue and nodded, half unwillingly to allow herself the hope that the answers she'd been seeking had been practically under her nose this entire time.
She thanked Andromeda, before the older witch rested a hand on her shoulder briefly. There was a silent moment between them, Andromeda might not have been able to get back anything that she had lost in the war, but if there was hope for Hermione, she would help her find it. Hermione looked at her with grateful eyes, noticing suddenly how Andromeda seemed somehow younger in this light, shadows highlighting those sharp, beautiful features characteristic of the Black sisters. Hermione felt herself shiver a little, following which Andromeda raised an eyebrow and pretty much coerced her into going back inside, thinking it was a reaction to the cold.
Narcissa was gone by the time did Hermione venture back inside, but then it wasn't surprising that her and Draco had left before things got too raucous with the Weasley clan. Ginny was half-way through setting up some kind of extreme Quidditch tournament to take place in the backyard, that Teddy was beyond excited about after Ginny said he could share a broom with her. Andromeda's eyebrows were approaching her hairline at the increasingly wild suggestions the others were making, such as having the Quaffle be on fire, as a literal hot-potato. Thankfully Molly caught her eye and the two of them started a whispered conversation at the back, on how best to weave an invisible, protective net around the garden, and the possibilities of transfiguring the grass into some kind of foam or bouncy material, to avoid injuries. Molly was an old hat at all this, having turned the fields around the Burrow into a relatively safe Quidditch practise space on multiple occasions. Arthur would have helped too, had he not been asleep on the couch, following a rough night's work at the Ministry last night, but at least he was getting to enjoy his day off, surrounded by the overenthusiastic, increasingly wild contributions of the people he cared most for.
After being volunteered by Harry to take part, "the teams need to be even 'Mione,", Hermione wound up on a Nimbus, having far too much hectic fun to mull over her conversation with Andromeda. In fact, she forgot about it completely until a letter arrived the next day from an impressively tall, light grey-feathered owl she wasn't familiar with. The bird flapped long wing-beats outside her window, remaining at a steady height until Hermione unlatched the window and pushed it open, the bird moving swiftly and smoothly out of the way, before settling on the sill and allowing her to remove the letter from its leg. Hermione's curiosity only grew further as she saw the neat, cursive writing of her name on the front. Cautiously checking the letter for nasty spells, and determining it was clean, she slid open the wax seal carefully, which gave with a pop.
Unfurling the letter, she found a few flawlessly calligraphied paragraphs in black ink, composed by an elegant hand. Scanning straight down to the bottom of the page, Hermione saw the swirling, neat signature of Narcissa Black. Hermione supposed she must have gotten divorced after the war, then realised she was most definitely focusing on the wrong thing.
In essence, the letter stated that Andromeda had told caught her up on Hermione's situation, and that Hermione was welcome to join her and look around the Black's extensive library, and would Wednesday 2pm suit her? Hermione wrote an immediate, rushed reply, before reading it through and realising she wasn't making any sense. The owl seemed to look at her judgingly, as she crumpled up her first attempt and threw it in the trash can. Her second attempt was much better, and it actually made sense. Yes, she was happy to meet Narcissa at the entrance to the Manor at 2pm this Wednesday. Secretly insanely grateful the collection had not somehow been moved to Malfoy Manor, though she supposed she could've faced some demons if it meant getting some more information. Hermione, satisfied with this attempt, tied it into a tight little roll with a ribbon, before attaching it to the owl's leg and waiting for him to fly off. The owl looked at her, its dark yellow eyes unblinking. Hermione looked back at the owl. The creature hopped a little to the left, onto the desk and right by where Hermione kept her bowl of owl treats. Hermione shook her head disbelievingly, but picked up a few and gave them to the big grey beast. It took them swiftly, munching in what Hermione could almost imagine was a happy, satisfied fashion, then hopped back onto the windowsill and flew off without further ado.
