"Right, so what's the plan?" Charlie asked, running a hand through his damp locks.
"We don't have one yet," Hermione said as she adjusted the towel turban on her head and sat down across from them on the stool with her cup of coffee. "Before the end of the war, Harry and I were perfectly able to blackmail her into silence, but ever since Voldemort died, she got nasty again. Meaning, the information we blackmailed her with is no longer working. We'll have to look into the archive of registered animagi to determine whether she had registered in the meantime and that is why she stopped fearing the threat," she mused, more to herself rather than the boys.
"Hold on, animagi?" Bill asked.
Charlie snorted. "That's what you picked up? I'm more interested in the blackmail part. You and Harry, the two kindest people I probably know, were blackmailing someone?" he grinned.
"Not just someone. Skeeter. After all the crap she kept writing about Harry and I, I managed to find out that she was a flying beetle animagus. Unregistered however. I threatened her with this knowledge and she promised not to write about us anymore. There were a few articles after the war, but nothing too bad so we let it go. This though, this needs to stop. I should have done something last year but it wasn't a good time…" she explained.
"Alright, so what do you want us to do?" Charlie asked.
"Bill, is there any way you can get a look at Skeeter's finances? See if she has a benefactor of some kind for her articles? If there is someone and they are targeting specific members of the population, we can prove malice and conspiracy in court," she suggested.
Bill contemplated it while he took a sip. "It will not be easy. I need a damn good reason to look into her. Considering she has been writing about me, it could be suspicious from the start."
"If I got you a warrant from the Law Enforcement Department?" Hermione grinned.
"And how would you get that?" Charlie asked.
"Harry of course. He will put the issue to Kingsley, who hates Skeeter just as much. If we give him the animagus information and suspicions of conspiracy, he will give a warrant for sure. With that warrant, you will have no choice but to have a look into her finances. Tell the goblins you will be the only one and in order to preserve her privacy, you will write a concise report to the Ministry, instead of giving them full disclosure."
Bill nodded, finally getting it. "They will jump for that. It's all about preserving client privacy. If I promise to do that, they will give me full access. Alright, and what if there is no benefactor?" he asked.
Hermione looked at Charlie and grinned. "That's where you'll come in, darling."
"Is that so?" Charlie asked, very much liking the naughty glint in her eye. "Do go on then."
Hermione chuckled. "You know your last project for the Unspeakables? Part of it was undercover in the muggle world, right?" she asked.
"Right. What about it?" He asked suspiciously.
"Well, instead of using easily-detectable tracking charms, you were using minimal muggle tracking devices. We could use those to track her movements," she suggested, avoiding mentioning how exactly she knew that.
"Can't Harry get those?"
Hermione shook her head. "He would have to set up an official investigation and that would mean department resources. You have some of the tracking devices in your inventory. You need to get them, and we need to put them on her person."
"How will we do that?" Bill immediately asked.
"That will be the unpleasant part," Hermione sighed. "I'll agree to an exclusive interview with Skeeter. She will most certainly twist my words so I'll try to be as careful as I can, but the point of it will be getting the tracking set up."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Charlie asked.
Hermione nodded immediately. "Just to cover our asses legally, I'll tell Kingsley about the whole investigation when Harry requests the warrant. What I need to know is, if we launch this, will you have my back?" she asked seriously.
"Absolutely." Bill said immediately.
"Always, love," Charlie agreed and they smiled at each other.
"Good, we can launch this on Monday. For now, I need food. Who's hungry?" she grinned.
The week whizzed by in a blur for all of them, things getting into motion fast. Kingsley readily agreed to put Skeeter under observation covertly. Him, Hermione, Harry, Charlie, and Bill were the only people aware of the investigation, and they would keep it that way until they had evidence against her. There was apparently a suspicion that she has been communicating with the dark sided during the Second Wizarding War, and kept in contact with several unsavoury wizards in hiding till this day. To prove all of this, and the conspiracy and malice, they would need careful planning. Hermione and Harry worked on a plan, while Bill poured over her accounts and Charlie got access to two of the tracking devices. Until the time they had an idea about her funding, they were working on deciding the time and place for the interview. Hermione's safety was priority number one for all the men involved and she didn't have it in her to argue, knowing she could be inconspicuous enough to do her part of the work well.
In the meantime, Ginny properly explained to her what a harvest celebration entailed, as Hermione had missed the past three ones since the end of the war due to being away for research. Out of the eight wizarding Sabbaths of the year, the May Beltane and the harvest Lughnasadh were the most fun ones. The two holidays had several things in common, namely bonfires, dancing, offerings, and surprisingly body paint. When Ginny explained that part, Hermione was fairly stunned but rather excited to be part of such a sacred thing. This year Lughnasadh fell on a Saturday and a full moon as well, so the veil was thin and the magic would be heady in the air.
When Bill heard about the celebration falling on a full moon, he nearly chickened out at first but since he spent a year away and his wolf felt more balanced, he agreed to participate until the point he felt himself losing control. This was a big night for little James and Albus as they would be getting the blessings of the gods and magical powers, as all innocents did before the dark winter months came. Their family was large and the circle they would create was sure to be a powerful thing. There was nothing quite like it apparently.
They had four hours after midday to get ready and Hermione took her time, lounging in a scented bath in peaceful solitude, knowing that Charlie was keeping an eye on Bill. The brothers have been spending a lot of time together this past week, repairing their bond after such a long time of no communication. It filled her with joy to see they were making progress and returning to the closeness they have once shared. This would be the first full moon they would share with Bill after his return and the curse-breaker seemed to be calm so far. She only hoped it would remain that way throughout the night as well. One thing Hermione felt a slight apprehension about was Ginny's last warning. Such powerful magic often created and brought out powerful emotions. When she inquired about a closer explanation, Ginny merely blushed and Hermione took a guess from there.
If Bill truly wanted to form a pack with them, the powerful magic of Lughnasadh could potentially hasten matters quite a bit and Hermione felt a slight apprehension. It was not that she would refuse Bill as an Alpha in their pack, that was not an issue. But despite the fact that the year's separation did not feel too hard by them after their reunion, she still wanted to take her time. Hopefully she would get it. They would have to rely on making decisions in the moment and she had to trust in herself and her heart making the right decisions for herself and them all under the influence of the powerful magic.
She got out of the bath and gently worked scented oils into her skin for the ceremony, sitting down to slowly dry her curls while they soaked in. As Ginny explained, the Sabbath was as old as magic itself, and at first was celebrated naked within small communities. As ages progressed and communities became larger and less intimate, the celebration changed in nature. It was a time before robes, a time of bare feet, light dresses, handmade leather and linen. In that tradition, the men donned leather trousers and hand-sewn linen shirts. As the matriarch of the family, Molly always made shirts for all her children. This year, Ginny was kind enough to make a couple of shirts for Bill and Charlie, teaching Hermione how to do it in the process for the following year.
As for women, the rules were more complicated. The bath and oils were used to protect the skin from the cold night, as the women wore nothing beneath their ceremonial dresses. The material was often simple cotton but as the years passed, silk, satin and chiffon became acceptable. The colours of the dresses signified the stages in a woman's life, as well as their relation to natural magic. All children, the innocent and maidens wore dresses and tunics of pure white to signify their innocence and close connection to nature and its magic. James, Albus and Teddy would be all dressed in soft white tunics for the evening to receive their blessings. The married women and mothers wore dresses of green to signify fortune, the hearth, and fertility of family. As Fleur was not coming, and George and Remus were without partners, Ginny would be the only one wearing green as a married woman, and mother. The third stage of a woman's life would be represented by Molly, as the matriarch of the whole family, and a wise old crone who brought up many children and allowed for more generations to enlarge the family. She would wear the traditional black dress and cloak, and lead the ceremony with Arthur by her side to aid his magic in calling forth the circle.
Hermione was however in one of those precarious places. According to old tradition, women remained virgins until they were married. Due to modern times, Hermione was long past that stage in her life and not married or bonded yet. Ginny explained that in that case women dressed in one of the colours of the Gods and Goddesses they honored. Gold and silver for the sun and the moon, grey for time and fates, yellow for wisdom, pink for love, red for power, strength, passion and desire, purple for ambition and creativity, blue for healing and the seas, and brown for woods and wildlife. They deliberated over colours for a while, before Hermione finally decided to do this one alone and went on a hunt for her dress after Ginny went back home.
A soft knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"
"Dad firecalled, love. Bill and I are apparating now to help with the bonfires," Charlie said through the door, knowing better than to interrupt the process of preparation by stepping in.
"I'll join you soon," she promised and brushed through her hair once more before looking at the dress awaiting her.
It was a simple yet effective wine red Grecian dress with gold clasps to signify her affinity to the sun. She felt the red would represent the fire of her Gryffindor nature, the power of both the magical and muggle world in her life, and the passion and desire for many a thing within her. The material was soft cotton and once she put it on, she could appreciate the way it hugged her curves and waist before falling down around her hips to the floor around her bare feet. She gave herself a last once over before popping away.
She landed neatly at the edge of the Burrow's wards and looked around. She could see the bonfires already lighting up a loose circle in the vast back garden and took a deep breath. Sunflowers, honeysuckle, mint…just like she could remember it. A year has gone by, so much has changed in her own life and yet standing there before the place she once considered a place of safety and family, nothing was changed. The Burrow was still somewhat shabby and crooked but the whole building emanated love and positive energy and she couldn't help the nostalgia welling up inside her chest. Had it not been for Ginny insisting that she is present, and Charlie's gentle but persistent coaxing until she agreed to join in, she would not have been here. Merlin knew what Molly would say when she saw her… But Hermione wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing, so with one last fortifying breath, she stepped through and headed around the side to the back garden.
Arthur noticed her first and with a big smile stepped closer to welcome her. "Hermione, you look splendid. Happy Lughnasadh," he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you Arthur, happy Lughnasadh and thank you for the invitation," she smiled at the balding wizard, always happy to see him.
Arthur looked around for a moment before taking her hand and patting it gently. "We miss you around here, my dear. Despite what Molly said the last time, you will always be my daughter. And I am very happy to see you here with us, especially tonight."
Hermione blinked away the moisture in her eyes at such cherished words and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Arthur. That means more than you could ever know," she said softly.
He nodded and placed her hand in the crook of his elbow, leading her to the circle. Ginny positively beamed at her when she saw her dress, herself looking splendid in a deep emerald halterneck that made sure Harry could not take his eyes off her. Molly was still in the kitchen so Hermione was not sure what her reaction to Hermione's presence would be, but the moment she saw Charlie's and Bill's eyes on her, she knew tonight would be most interesting….