CHAPTER SEVEN
"Well don't you both look like you've been satisfied by tender and generous lovers" a voice drawled and Hermione's eyes shot open in alarm, immediately awake to see someone hovering over her.
"Bella! What the fuck are you doing here?!" Tonks asked incredulously, jumping as Hermione covered her breasts and the opening of her thighs with her hands from where she remained in the middle of her open legs to preserve her modesty..
"We've been sleeping!" Hermione snapped.
"In the bath, I worked that out for myself two minutes ago when I walked in, thanks. I was checking you didn't drown, you've been gone for about 2 hours. I have a life debt to repay, you know."
"Can you repay it by immediately leaving and never doing this again?" Tonks asked and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Probably not, no. BUT I thought you might like to know I DIDN'T risk sneaking into the Order of the Phoenix headquarters using a scrap of parchment Dumbleore had written it on that Sirius in a rare moment of brilliance didn't destroy just to ogle you both in the bath, being my niece and her student girlfriend. What I DID sneak in her to do was to tell you that Dumbledore has just sent Andy a note saying that he is coming to talk about my tragic recent passing, and I thought you'd want to watch the fallout." With that she skipped gleefully from the room and Tonks turned to face Hermione and gave her a questioning look. Hermione rolled her eyes but grinned seeing her barely restrained excitement.
"Ugh I'm all wrinkled from being in the bath for so long. Come on then. Where do we hide?"
"Still got Harry's Cloak? I have Moody's" Tonks offered quickly pulling on her bra and knickers, dutifully ignoring a wolf whistle from Bellatrix who was clearly still loitering around as she sprinted down the hallway and returned with two sets of jeans and two shirts, pulling one over her head before trying to apply jeans with far more haste than one should apply jeans that tight by jumping up and down around the room.
"Tonks am I even going to be able to fit in these – shit!" she cried, reaching out as Tonks stumbled over in her pants dance, nearly falling face first onto the edge of the bath before pausing in the air. "Did I – did I just do that wandlessly and wordlessly without even practicing?"
"Amazing!" Tonks cried before dropping to the floor and leaping back to her feet to kiss her cheek and continue her jeans wriggle. "God you're arse is going to look fucking phenomenal in those jeans sweets, I left you the tight ones on purpose" she winked.
"How are you so energetic? We've had two hours sleep! Did you eat coffee powder when you went to get these?" Hermione demanded incredulously. "And, I say again – am I even going to be able to fit in these?"
"Oh I would kill for coffee" Tonks groaned. "But mostly I'm just excited to see mum blow up at someone who isn't me. It almost never happens. Come on, quick, in the jeans!"
Grumbling at the rush and being awoken after only two hours sleep in the past two days or so, Hermione put on her bra and, eying her 24 hour old underwear, gave Tonks an indecent wink and slowly stepped into the jeans. "You don't mind if I go commando do you?" she asked innocently as she shimmied them up her bare legs. She smirked at Tonks when her violet eyes flashed and she bit her bottom lip and whined before turning to face the wall.
"Stop that immediately, unless you want to miss the grand event and have me shag you here in the bathroom where Bella will probably walk in and give us a running commentary" she stated.
"I would, you know. It's been a long, lonely 14 years" Bellatrix called from where ever she was in the house and Tonks snorted.
"See? Now for the sake of efficiency I'll walk in front of you, you don't seem to suffer from my raging libido" Tonks chuckled as she stepped out the door. Hermione looked down to see the shirt she had been given was a ratty old Hufflepuff Quidditch shirt that said TONKS in large letters on the back and scowled at it before creeping up behind Tonks seeking revenge and breathing huskily in her ear.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"Oh fuck" Tonks growled and turned to look at her hungrily while Hermione could only give her a smug look.
"Come on love birds, dinner and a show first then you can sneak off for a shag. When all the Blacks are reunited I've decided I can be the cool Aunt, Cissa can be the proper fancy one who lectures you all on manners and saving yourself for marriage and all that nonsense. Though I don't know what the rules are with the gays" Bella mused as she walked up behind them in the corridor and shoved them down the hallway.
Stepping through the Floo back into the Tonks Cottage moments later Hermione flushed under the heat of Tonks' gaze and mouthing of "later!" with a lecherous wink and was quickly hustled by a gleeful Sirius through to the sitting room where they were instructed to hide quickly as Dumbledore was expected in the next few minutes.
"Tonks, how are we going to fit Bella, Sirius, you, Minerva and I under two invisibility cloaks?" Hermione asked practically. "Wont he be able to sense us anyway? I'm sure Harry and Ron suspect he could."
"I will most certainly not be hiding under an invisibility cloak!" Minerva scowled at the group before Andy rushed into the kitchen looking furious.
"Firstly, he is only permitted to breath under my wards because I allow it, he has absolutely zero chance of casting any magic with a wand or without it, just keep your damn Occlumency shields up to prevent passive legilimency. Secondly, you most certainly will be Minnie, I won't having you getting obliviated again" Andromeda snapped as she walked into the sitting room and, seeing the excitable group, threw her hands up in frustration. Hermione watched as Minerva eyed the fireplace and the group, clearly deciding if she should leave and miss the drama or watch like a voyeur with the Blacks and Hermione, frowned deeply and strode over to the group.
"Here, pass me a Cloak" Bella insisted and snatched Harry's out of her hands. "God this thing is tiny! Be bigger!" she yelled impatiently before staring wide-eyed as it the shimmery material seemed to expand before her eyes. "Smaller!" she yelled and it shrunk and the occupants of the room all stared at it in amazement while she grinned gleefully. "Bigger again! Much bigger!"
"Give me Moody's!" Sirius yelled and snatched it from a shell shocked Hermione. "I command you to be bigger!" stated firmly and Bellatrix cackled when nothing happened.
"Ha! Clearly you can't speak to the cloaks like I can" she said and raised her chin in the air imperiously.
"Well give me that one!"
"No! I had it first" Bellatrix snarled.
"Shh! He's here!" Tonks hissed, feeling the wards flicker and quickly snatched the Cloak from Bellatrix and flung it over everyones head as they huddled together before realising everything from the knees down was still visible and Dumbledore was likely to be suspicious seeing five sets of disemobdied legs in the corner. Hermione had to cover her mouth to stop a fit of giggles when everyone started frantically hissing 'Bigger! Bigger!' to the cloak as it inched towards the ground, including her frantic looking Transfiguration professor.
"Amateurs. Now stay still" Andromeda muttered, rolling her eyes before waving her wand to cast a silencing spell on the group of them all hidden under Harry's miracle cloak and glancing to the door and a dangerous smile appeared on her face, making Hermione shiver.
"Dumbledore" Andromeda stated, wandlessly and wordlessly disarming him with a vague wave of her hand. "Please, come in. Do take a seat."
Dumbleore, to his credit, other than a brief flash of something, appeared unphased by the fact that he was wandless and dutifully strode into the room and took a seat on the lounge where Andromeda guestured and she dropped the wand on the table in front of them both.
"What brings you to my humble home today?" She inquired politely.
"Andromeda, I came to express my condolences regarding your sister. I understand young Nymphadora was the one to find the body of both her aunt and Warden Rossington. A shame, to lose two people in such an unfortunate circumstance" he said quietly and Hermione placed a hand on both Tonks and Bella to placate them as they stiffened. "I do hope you and your family are not too burdened, weighed down with the loss. I must say you appear to be holding up quite well" he stated carefully and Andromeda's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I can only assume you refer to me being burdened with the knowledge that you let my innocent sister risk her life for your little schemes then rot in Azkaban. I can assure you I am pleased to know she is no longer suffering. Any burden, or loss, rests on you" she replied coldly.
"Alas, Andromeda, if it was an outcome I could have avoided I can assure you I would have leaped at the opportunity" he said sadly. "Are you aware that young Nymphadora has been assisting me with some projects of late?" Hermione saw Andromeda stiffen and Hermione found herself incredibly relieved that her mother, in fact, had been recently made aware of such a thing and had reached a begrudging understanding about why Tonks had been helping with the Order.
"Yes, Albus, I am."
"It is dangerous work, I can assure you that I hold her safety in the highest of consideration" he said seriously. "It is important that we all band together now, more than ever, to stop the Dark Lord from destroying families, destroying all we hold dear, and work together" he said calmly. To Hermione's surprise, Andromeda began to laugh though the sound was not pleasant or warm like it had been the other times she had heard it.
"Did you really come here, on the day my sister's death was announced, to try and recruit me to your Order which, might I add, has done far more damage to my family than Voldemort himself, by threatening to not look after my daughter?" she asked incredulously. "Because let me make this very clear, if anything happens to even a hair on her head in this war while she is working under your merry band of misfits there will not be a place on Earth I wouldn't find you and make you suffer for what you have done to my family." Despite the calm tone to her words Hermione felt the magic in the air crackle around her and watched as the saucer in front of Andromeda on the table began to tremble.
"I was afraid you would say that" he sighed. "Perhaps you might find yourself more agreeable should you not be so concerned with dear Bellatrix's actions throughout the war and were more focused on the future."
"What, you mean her innocence?" Andromeda snarled suddenly and stood up as the windows began to rattle with Andromeda's barely restrained fury "Planning to obliviate me of that fact, help me along?" Hermione chanced a look in the corner of her eyes to see that almost everyone had drawn there wands and were glaring furiously at Dumbledore as hard as she was.
"Of course not Andromeda" Dumbledore replied, backtracking though his tone had taken on an irritated note. "I would be a fool to even try with the protection you no doubt have on your property. I am merely pointing out the dangers that we all face and the importance of us all working together to protect those who cannot protect themselves, particularly those of us too young to protect your sister had been alive and managed to escape with the other prisoners I believe we will see over the coming weeks her position as His most trusted Death Eater would have been a vital blow against the darkness and saved many lives. Why even at Hogwarts we have the the Ministry interfering with my students. Madame Umbridge is a known pure-blood supremacist with suspected links to Death Eaters, and quite legally targets those from muggleborn backgrounds without restraint. For example, I believe your daughter would by now be quite familiar with young Miss Granger, having met her at the Order Headquarters over the summer. I am only human, it is unfortunate that for the greater good of Britain as a whole more of time is spent recruiting capable outliers to fight the Dark Lords forces as it leaves my other duties and roles with less time, and less protection."
Hermione's jaw dropped at the thinly veiled threat to her person and felt herself nearly stumble forward, turning to see Sirius, Bellatrix and Minerva struggling to hold still her red-headed girlfriend who looked ready to throw herself from under the Cloak and murder the Headmaster with her bare hands. Being at the front of the group she carefully turned to face her and placed a hand on Tonks' face, forcing furious eyes to meet her own and shook her head in warning, holding her gaze until eventually she nodded and the group gently released her arms. At the sound of of a breaking glass Hermione whipped around quickly again saw the cup on the table had shattered and the windows rattled even more loudly as the tension in the room crackled.
"If you step foot in my home again there wont be enough pieces of you left to fill a shoebox let alone a coffin. How dare you threaten to not protect your students, not protect my daughter – your fellow Order members. Get. Out." Andromeda hissed, handing him his wand.
"Andromeda, I fear you misunderstand -"
"I understand perfectly, Albus Dumbledore, now leave this place before you lose the opportunity and you leave my family alone" she snarled.
Albus stood and calmly strode from the room, letting himself out and the room stilled when he disapparated with a loud crack and the cloak was quickly dropped to the floor.
"That fucking - I'll strangle him with his own beard!" Bellatrix screeched and Tonks glowered dangerously at the spot he had disappeared from, clenching her fists. To her surprise, Andromeda strode over to Hermione and pulled her into a warm embrace before pulling away and holding her by the shoulders.
"You need to stay away from that man, do you hear me? All of you!" Andromeda declared and Hermione nodded seeing her chin trembling as though she was either restraining tears or fury before yanking her into another embrace that left her gasping for air.
"Alright, no need to kill the girl Andy" Sirius murmured placing a calming hand on his cousins shoulder before wincing as Andromeda launched herself on him instead.
"We can't go back to Grimmauld Place, can we?" Tonks asked and Hermione shook her head, giving a grim smile to McGonogall as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"No, it's too dangerous. We need to think of something else" Hermione muttered and rubbed at her face.
"Well this looks like a fun welcome home party" came another voice from the doorway and Ted strolled in, looking nervously around before spotting his wife's disposition and rushing over to her.
"What's happened Andy? I haven't seen you this riled up since you last saw Dumbledore on your trip to the Ministry."
"She saw him again, dad" Tonks replied, anger still lacing her words. "He came to offer his condolences over Bella's death."
"But...isn't that Bella right there?" he asked nervously. "Hello, erm, long time no see" he offered before putting his hand out to shake and Bellatrix threw a glance around the room.
"He's been a good man? Protected her?" Bella asked looking at Tonks and McGonogall and when they both nodded, incredulous that she would even ask, and she dodged a smack from her sister. "Alright, alright, I was just checking" she scowled before grasping his hand then, with an awkward shrug, hugged him instead.
"Thank you for looking after her. I worried about her the most, being such a target" she mumbled and he patted her gently on the back.
"That's more than alright love, I haven't seen you since your last year at Hogwarts. From what I can gather all your secret visits I pointedly ignored happened whenever I wasn't around. I'd never let anything happen to her though, or our Dora. Family is everything" he said firmly and she nodded as she met his eyes. "I take it this now includes the rest of you lot?" he inquired. "Am I right to assume we are about to have a few more houseguests?"
"I think that would be best for Bella and Sirius as well as the girls" Minerva stated calmly. "At least for the weekend to give everyone time to rest and plan. You'll be pleased to know, Ted, that you currently have two of the brightest witches I have ever taught in the room and I'm sure they will think of something if they apply themselves " she said shooting a pointed look to Bellatrix "And don't go and instigate any wild plans of saving the world without assistance" she added looking to Hermione who flushed, in comparison to Bellatrix's smirk.
"Going back to Hogwarts Minerva?" Andromeda asked and she nodded.
"I shall try to return again later on this weekend. Do not try to pass on anything confidential through Floo Call or owl, I suspect the Ministry is searching the mail and monitoring the Floo" and the group nodded. She quickly departed and group collapsed onto the lounge. Hermione tucked herself into Tonks who yawned widely and winced as her mother caught her eye.
"Back to bed, both of you. And yes you can share! Lets not have a repeat of earlier this morning" Andromeda muttered quickly shooting a warning look to Bellatrix and Sirius. Not having it in her to argue, or even be embarrassed, Hermione nodded her thanks and stood up, pulling up her witch and allowing herself to be steered into the bedroom.
"Please don't forget to cast the right privacy spells though!" Andromeda called up the stairs after a beat and Hermione winced as Bellatrix cackled gleefully with Sirius.
"Erm...That won't be necessary!" she shouted in assurance as she was pushed out of sight around the corner towards Tonks' bedroom.
"Yes it will" Tonks growled as her eyes flashed darkly and her fair faded to a dark, almost black purple and pushed her against the wall next to her doorway, latching onto her neck so hard with her teeth Hermione wouldn't have been surprised if she drew blood and she quickly shoved her own hand in her mouth and bit down to stifle a moan. Hermione fumbled with her other hand for the door behind her and found herself shoved into the room while Tonks flicked her wand to cast the relevant privacy spells, never letting her eyes leave Hermione's face.
Nymphadora Tonks was not generally an aggressive or possesive person and had never particularly been much of an aggressive lover – not that this was any criticism on her or a sign of any lack of competence, Hermione mused, but it had been the most stressful fortnight of Hermione's life and she could certainly understand where this slightly unusual behaviour was coming from on a logical level. On a more intimate level, the feral look in her witches eyes as she stared at her possessively was making the fact that she wasn't wearing any underwear exceedingly obvious.
Having finished casting the spells Tonks seemed frozen in the doorway and Hermione quickly stepped towards here and shimmied out of the jeans and slowly peeled the shirt and bra off her, maintaining steady eye contact as Tonks visibly swallowed and stepped so close to her they almost touched and she noted how her trembling hands clenched and her eyes closed.
"Don't hold back, take what you need."
This was, apparently, the only thing she needed to say and she found herself spun around and pushed back against the closed door with teeth on her neck and hands grasping at her roughly, and something inside her coiled and snapped as she quickly divested Tonks of her shirt before hearing another low rumble in her chest at the intrusion, forcing her to step back as the top came over her head before their bare chests pressed together again and Tonks grasped at her thighs to wrap them around her waist, lifting her against the door. Tonks jammed a hand beneath them and they both groaned loudly at the sensation of her rough hands sinking down into the apex of her thighs.
Tonks quickly set a brutal pace as she fucked her with her fingers and all Hermione found she could do was claw at Tonks' back with her nails as she came to pieces, feeling hot breath on her neck as Tonks pressed her forhead into her the increasingly blemished skin of her neck and collarbone as she felt her muscles tense around the still pistoning fingers inside her, and when she came quickly, then again mere moments later she was glad for the silencing spells as she cried out and bit back a sob as they sunk to the floor, a tangle of arms and legs.
To her surprise, Hermione recovered first and unceremoniously ripped the jeans from Tonks' legs and latched on to a nipple, gripping harder as Tonks moaned her name. Tonks climbed on top of her and despite the somewhat awkward angle of her wrist sunk firmly onto Hermione's waiting hand without warning, and rode her unabashed.
Hermione nearly came again herself from the site of Tonks bouncing on her hand when she opened her eyes and grabbed a hold of Hermione's disheveled hair, forcing eye contact as she came until the shattered pieces of her psyche slowly came together and she sunk to the floor and Hermione felt herself pulled close, a hand resting possessively on her chest and a head on her shoulder.
"Mine" Tonks muttered incoherently and Hermione placed a kiss to the top of her head and waved her fumbling hand blindly around behind her, pulling the blanket off the bed to cover them on the floor. They were both asleep within moments.
0x0x0
Tonks winced and stretched carefully to not wake Hermione, still kindly acting as a pillow from their spot on the floor and rubbing her eyes with the ball of her hand before opening them and yelping at the sight of Bellatrix crouching over her again, grinning widely and waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Hermione, underneath her head, woke from the noise cracked an eye open and groaned loudly, pulling the blanket over her head.
"No. No, no. This isn't my life now" Hermione mumbled, the sound muffled by the blankets. "We should have left her in Azkaban."
"Am I going to wake up to your face every bloody day now? Why do you keep doing this?" Tonks cried out in exasperation.
"Well excuse me, given that you've been asleep for 20 hours your mother – future mother-in-law for you, kitten – sent me up to fetch you for lunch" Bellatrix replied and Tonks groaned loudly.
"Can't you just knock on the door like a normal person?" Hermione snapped.
"No, I think this way is far more amusing. Andy said I needed to do things around the house to keep busy and I have missed out on over a decade of family bonding, so I've decided on this to set up a familiar routine" she declared happily.
"You're fucking mental" Tonks growled. "Get out now, please."
"Fine, but I wont subject your poor parents to this obvious display of violent love-making for their sake" she said, waving a hand at the scattered clothes around the room and obvious bite and claw-marks on what she could see on their shoulders as she yanked the blanket from over their heads to their chests. "I'll fetch my cousin to get you up instead. Sirius!" she yelled in a sing-song voice. "The girls want to say good morning!"
"No we don't!" yelped Hermione.
"Bella! Leave the girls alone!" came Andy's voice from the other end of the house.
"Tonks I love you, these months we spent together have been amazing but we are going to have to call it a day" Hermione sighed. "My fragile mental state can't take much more of this."
"Nice try kitten, your stuck with us now" Bellatrix cackled and Tonks snorted.
"Do you think we can transfigure her into coffee? I need coffee" Tonks said. "Where's my wand?"
"If that doesn't work we can just blast her through the wall" Hermione stage-whispered dangerously.
"And that attitude, kitten, is why you are stuck with us. Face it, you belong here" Bellatrix laughed and skipped from the room. "Andy, put the coffee on. You should have warned me they're like bears with sore heads in the morning. Worse than you even!"
"What are you talking about Bellatrix Black? I warned you to not go in there at all!" Andromeda yelled back.
"What have we done?" Hermione mumbled and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "We've made a horrible mistake."
"Yes, but we will just have to live with it now, wont we. You alright?" Tonks asked, sitting up alongside her and placing a kiss to her temple. "Wow your hair is practically a sentient being this morning" she chuckled, trying to smooth it down somewhat.
"A little sore, but definitely not in a bad way" Hermione grinned cheekily before catching sight of her hair in her reflection. "Oh Christ its enormous" she groaned.
"Come on, coffee and food first, hair later" Tonks grinned helping her to her feet and throwing on some clothes before waving a hand at her wardrobe and tallboy. "Help yourself by the way."
"That's easy for you to say, with your bloody magical hair" Hermione muttered before summoning her knapsack. "And I think I'll stick to my own for now, I could barely breath in your tight jeans yesterday."
"You looked delicious in them though" Tonks grinned. "And I insist you keep my old Quidditch shirt when you go back to Hogwarts. It will amuse me endlessly to know you'll be sleeping in it."
"Well it will amuse me endlessly to not wake up to your highly inappropriate aunt, you'll have her all to yourself" Hermione shot back smugly and chuckled as Tonks shuddered. "Now come here love, lets hide the evidence of our debauchery before we head downstairs shall we?"
Tonks could only beam happily as Hermione leaned over and delicately traced her wand over the marks on her shoulders and neck before stepping backwards when she went to heal her back. "Nah you can leave those ones, the sting will be a happy reminder of yesterday and no one will see them. Your turn" she giggled as Hermione rolled her eyes. Making their way downstairs Tonks stepped into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her mothers waist as she cooked and rested her face on her back between her shoulder blades.
"Hello mother dearest, who I love with all my heart. How are you this morning on this beautiful day, almost as beautiful as you?"
"Coffee's on the table you rotter" Andromeda chuckled and patted her hand. "Now get out of my kitchen, shoo."
Tonks threw herself into a chair at the dining table and watched happily as Sirius and Bellatrix bickered while her father and girlfriend watched quietly in amusement and sipped at their coffees while she gratefully took a swig of her own and Andromeda came and took a seat at the table, serving everyone some stew which she tucked into enthusiastially.
"Mum, can you please make Bella stop waking us up?" Tonks asked innocently and Andromeda shot a glance to her sister and raised an eyebrow.
"Family bonding!" Bellatrix cried and Tonks recoiled when her mother turned back to her with a smirk.
"No. You can suffer through it, that can be your eternal punishment for doing something so dangerous in the first place. An excellent reminder, I think" she said and Tonks covered her face with her hands and groaned loudly as Hermione muttered 'bugger' quietly under her breath.
"Ha!" Bellatrix cried victoriously.
"On a different note, we've had a few ideas about what to do about everyone's living situations" Ted interjected calmly and Tonks watched as Hermione turned to face him in interest. "It seems to me that the Order is splintered and, to be frank, not particularly effective. We can't exactly put this place under the Fideleous as much as I'd like to and it's likely to get a bit cramped given in the holidays Harry will be here as well and he wont want to share a room with this scoundrel" he said slapping Sirius on the back.
"I don't think he'd mind at all, given his living situation at the Dursley's he would live in a cardboard box with you if he had to without a word of complaint" Hermione smiled at Sirius who patted her hand gratefully.
"Still, not particularly practical with us all on top of each other, so I had another idea to implement over the Christmas break. Harry can come here and use some of his godfathers never ending pile of gold to purchase something more appropriate and we can ward that. A new headquarters, I suppose" Ted mused, rubbing at his chin.
"If we find someplace big enough then anyone else in the order not wanting to put up with Dumbledore's rot can come and stay as well."
"As long as they don't have any of us sent to Azkaban and want Voldemort gone I don't care if we have 1000 residents" Bellatrix declared and Tonks nodded in agreement.
"Will we be able to get something set up for Moony do you reckon?" Sirius asked and Hermione nodded.
"We can come up with something secure enough, the hard part will be convincing him it isn't charity and it won't be to the detriment of everyone around him existing with people close by" she warned and he nodded, determined.
"Who's Moony?" Bellatrix asked with interest.
"Reums Lupin. He's a werewolf" Hermione said and Tonks noted her and Sirius watching for a reaction and she scoffed.
"Oh please. If I can put up with that fucker Greyback I won't have a problem with your Mr Moony" she drawled. "I was the one to set up the wards to keep him contained on the rare occasion he wasn't ordered off to wreak havoc on Britain on the full moon, we can handle that easily. So whats the long term plan, after security? I assume it won't be our life's accomplishment to hide forever and hope the Dark Lord goes away, or Albus Dumbledore." Tonks grinned widely as Hermione jumped up from the table and started pacing. She looked even more like a mad scientist with her mental hair.
"We need to get rid of Voldemort for good. If we can do that, Dumbledore will be a non-issue. In the mean time we just need to avoid his machinations" she mused aloud. "But to do that properly, we need to work out how he managed to not die the first time. There must be something that stops him from being killed."
"Some sort of ritual, I'd bet. He talked about immortality all the bloody time" said Bellatrix as she slowly climbed to her feet and began pacing around the other side of the table. Tonks bit her lip at an effort not to laugh at the sight of both of them doing the Mad Scientist lecture. "There might be something in the library at Grimmauld Place. Is it secure enough to search the house for us, or will Dumbledore drop in and try something?"
"Why not re-cast the Fidelious?" Andromeda asked. "As long as the secret keeper doesn't live there that would keep it secure until we find somewhere more appropriate that isn't full of dark magic and somewhere the Death Eaters might start hanging around the front of, waiting for us to slip up. Who else is living there at the moment?"
"It was just Moony and Tonks and I" Sirius said, rubbing his face. "If we do that then Bella, Tonks, Remus and I can look through the library and the house for anything helpful. Ted can look for a new safe place for us and put down a deposit and Harry can visit Gringotts and finalise everything when he gets back from Hogwarts. While Bella isn't doing anything strenuous she can rest up before Hermione hacks off her arm."
"Hey! I won't be hacking off her arm! Well not unless its a last resort anyway" she trailed off, looking troubled.
"Does anyone know how to actually cast a Fidelious?" Tonks asked and Bellatrix raised her hand. "Someone who isn't temporarily banned from using magic?"
"I can teach smarty-pants over here. She'll pick it up quickly, we can do it tomorrow before she has to head back to Hogwarts" Bellatrix offered and winked at Hermione who scowled at her.
"Who's going to contact the other Order members to see if they want to leave Dumbledore to his own devices?" Tonks asked. "And what do we do to check they aren't spying on us?"
"Question them with Veritaserum to see if they are committing for the right or wrong reasons. If they say no, they can go on their way with no hard feelings." Hermione said strongly. "It's not worth the risk. I can talk to Harry and the Weasleys, I suppose you would be in the best position to deal with the other Ministry employee's love."
"What do we tell them about, well, me?" Bellatrix asked.
"The truth. Dumbledore threw you to the wolves." Andromeda said firmly. "With an unbreakable vow that they won't reveal it." Her statement was met with nods.
"That's a good start for now then if we're done. I can't think of anything else urgent for us to start working on. Did you want to start showing me the Fidelious Charm?"
"Um, the hell we're done!" Tonks said incredulously. "What the hell are we meant to be doing to keep you safe at school? I've been worried enough with that fucking toad Umbridge making life hard for you, let alone all that shite Dumbledore said yesterday. It's only the start of December, you still have 6 months of school!"
"Love, I know you don't like it but...what can we do?" Hermione asked softly. We've still been practicing our defense and I keep an eye out, and I'm sure McGonogall and Snape are keeping an eye on things now but I what would you have me do?"
"Extra precautions. You stick to your work, keep your head down and out of trouble. Nothing risky or things that will draw Dumbledore or Umbridge's attention to you. You follow curfew, and go nowhere alone. Don't make me storm that school and end up in Azkaban again seeking vengeance for something someone's done to you" Bellatrix said firmly. Hermione's face betrayed her emotions as surprise flickered across her face followed by genuine affection.
"I'm touched, but please don't do that."
"I will! I think I can say with some certainty most sitting at this table would."
"All of us would" Andromeda said firmly, taking her hand. Tonks felt a rush of warmth settle in her chest looking around at her family. She wouldn't change it for the world.
