I Fall(out) to Pieces

By DireSquirrel

Chapter 11

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"Ah, Longbottom," Zabini said as he sauntered back into his room. "Looks like we're bedmates."

Neville did his best Hedwig impression as his eyes went wide and blinked at the boy in disbelief.

"Three beds, five blokes," Zabini commented, pointing to each boy in turn and then at himself. "The bed's huge, we'll just transfigure something into a screen to put between us."

"So who gets the single?" Bjorn Dalen asked.

"I figure the kid should get it," Dean said. "I mean, he doesn't speak English, so it might seem a bit strange when one of us blokes climbs into bed with him."

"Not asking for it yourself?" Zabini inquired.

"A bed screen's fine for me. I just want to sleep," Dean said. "If it's a problem I can share with Neville."

"We're not going to have any trouble from you, are we?" Neville asked, staring intently at Zabini.

"Relax, Longbottom. It's not like I'm Malfoy," Zabini defended. "Hell, if he were in here right now, I'd hex him, stuff him in one of those sports lockers by the pitch and give us an extra bed. No daddy to save him here."

"Not a fan?" Bjorn asked. All three Hogwarts boys shook their heads negative. "I for one hope this gets sorted out soon."

"Me too," Neville said. "I don't think Tonks, Harry or Hermione knew it was going to be like this. The pamphlet Harry sent me didn't describe it like this at all."

"I think they were lied to. We were certainly lied to," Bjorn said motioning to himself and the French boy. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm still supposed to be at Trondheim for University."

"University? You're not a wizard?" Neville asked.

"No, decided to focus on my education instead," the blond man said, leaning back on one of the beds. The other three gaped at him. "What? I was given a choice between flicking a wand and unveiling the secrets of the universe. I chose the secrets of the universe."

"You chose not to learn magic?" Zabini asked in absolute horror with Neville similarly confused by the choice. The tall black teen shook his head. "Merlin, I need a bloody smoke."

"Hey," Harry said, sitting down to Hermione.

"Hey," she said in return.

They were on a bench outside Ollivander's along the walking path that divided the playing fields.

"I've been exploring, since I was too angry to sleep," Harry admitted. "A pool, a few meters deep is over there towards the west. A running track, too."

"I thought this would be different," Hermione said.

"I'd say it is, we don't have these kind of options at Hogwarts," Harry argued.

"I wasn't talking about that," Hermione clarified. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, pushing her mane back over her shoulders. She leaned back and looked up at the metal ceiling behind the bright grow-lights. "I went back to the room after you told me what they said."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"It wasn't any different than at Hogwarts. They kept spouting the same vitriol they did at school," Hermione reported. "Jumping to conclusions before getting any evidence about who you are. They didn't even realize what they looked like to everyone else. I mean, if you don't speak up against something you don't believe in, why are the rest of us supposed to believe you don't agree?"

"Who was that?"

"Daphne Greengrass," Hermione said with a half-growl. "She was always there, part of Pansy Parkinson's Pretty Preppy Posse, standing at her shoulder. She was surprised when I called her out on it. Then she said 'you don't know what it was like in there!' Screamed it at me, actually. I told her that actions speak louder than words."

She leaned forward and screamed wordless aggravation into her hands.

"I thought the vault would be a new start," Hermione said. "I thought I would be able to leave the preconceptions behind and start over again."

"I'm here for you, your parents and grand-parents are here for you, Penelope's like a big sister," Harry said.

"I know," Hermione agreed, "But you've always been there for me since the Troll. My parents have always been there for me. Penelope hasn't always, but she was a prefect first, so-"

"Hermione, you invited her into your house. You went out of your way to be more than just a student and prefect or student to Headgirl," Harry reminded her. "She did too. She didn't have to do all that charmwork for us. She could have charged us for her time, but she didn't. The three of us watched movies together, followed shows on the telly. We're friends, you, me, Penelope."

"I know, but... It's just like when I went to Hogwarts all over again," Hermione explained. "I've always been different. Smarter, driven. I've needed to prove myself, to be the best. I wasn't ever good at sports, not really. I wasn't the funny kid, or the budding artist, or the singer. All I had was my brain, my mind. It kept me apart from people my own age. When I got my Hogwarts letter and the visit from Professor McGonagall, I kept thinking that I was finally going to be with people like me, that I was special and I could be with people who shared my interests."

She sighed and leaned back again. Harry put an arm over her shoulder and gave her a half hug.

"Hogwarts had magic, but it was the same thing with different labels," Hermione explained. "That Halloween... I just can't say how much Ron's words hurt. I was trying to help. I know I have a forceful personality, but I just wanted to help." She paused and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "When he said those things, it was like my expectations had betrayed me. All my hopes and dreams were flushed away."

"Things got better, didn't they?" Harry asked.

"Some, having you and Ron come around helped, but there was always something that kept up divisions," Hermione replied. "Having friends for the first time was great, even if you two weren't as driven as me. But the houses, the rules. It was like everything was designed to split us up, not bring us together. I hated it, still hate it. Aside from you and Ron, well, Ron most of the time, but not all of it, my intelligence, status as your friend and status as a muggleborn kept up the friction. There was no one in my dorm who shared my interests. I kept wanting to ask 'why' things worked the way they did. The few times I did ask, I was laughed at. Lavender, Parvati. Even a few of the Ravenclaws in our year. It made me feel stupid."

"You're not stupid," Harry said. "Of any possible insult, that's the most untrue thing anyone could call you."

"That's why it hurt so much," Hermione admitted. "I'd do something my way and when it wasn't how it was 'just done' they'd ridicule me. Rarely to my face, but it's happened enough so I know the signs. It was worse when I refused to ditch you when the rest of the student body was having another one of their 'let's blame Harry' events."

"Ah, yes, the newest Hogwarts tradition," Harry said. "I'm sorry your association with me caused you trouble."

"It's not your fault, Harry," Hermione said. "I wouldn't abandon you. I'm no fair-weather friend, no matter what some people said. Talking to snakes or not."

"Thank you," Harry said, giving her shoulders a friendly squeeze.

"I don't think I can go back there," Hermione admitted.

"Well, I happen to know somebody had a few extra magical tents brought in and there just happens to be a field right in front of us," Harry suggested. Hermione grinned and elbowed him playfully in the ribs.

"Don't be such a prat," she said with a grin.

"Come on, let's pull out the first tent," Harry said. "I think we've got one that isn't completely filled with books. I swear you must have bought out fifteen stores."

"What did I just say about being a prat?"

"Okay, Snape, this is how it's going to work," Nymphadora Tonks informed the greasy potions master.

"Do you really think you can command me, little witch? I know you inside and out, or did you forget those seven years I taught you?" Snape replied with a sneer. Tonks cocked her head, gave him a once over and clearly found him lacking.

"Look, Professor Dumbledore might have trusted you as a spy," she said. "Hell, that's probably what you're doing right now, spying for both your masters on Harry," she paused briefly as the greasy man gave a derisive snort that she took as confirmation, "But in here? All that matters is the mark on your arm and the fact that pretty much every Hogwarts student and graduate here hates your guts and doesn't trust you as far as Sally could throw you. As far as you're concerned, I'm the boss."

"What?" he demanded.

"Which is why you are going to march right into that cabinet flat," Tonks said, her wand out, pointing to the cabinet she'd used to smuggle people in. "Now."

"Fine! But we will discuss this with the Headmaster in the morning," Snape snapped. "Or did you feel you were not required to bring your mirror."

"Inside grease-ball," she growled, prodding him with the tip of her wand, using a bit of sleight of hand to pocket the man's. He sneered once more and took a step inside, fully expecting her to follow. His cunning seemed to temporarily abandon him as the doors shut tight behind him and refused to open. He reached for his familiar magical tool, only to find the wand missing.

Very pleased with herself, Tonks tucked the shrunken cabinet flat back into her locket and walked off to find a warm bed.

"You'll pay for this, Tonks!" Snape growled lowly. He looked around the flat and realized it seemed cleared of all personal items from the people staying in it. Otherwise, it was well planed out with a full kitchen, bed and bath. There was a living room and a large second bedroom with a walk-in closet almost as large. Snorting, he removed his jacket and began unloading his own smuggled items, revealing an entire potions laboratory with two cauldrons of each type and all the ingredients he, Dumbledore and the Dark Lord could get their hands on.

Once it was set up, he decided it wasn't the right feel. Some people used a teddy bear to sleep well, others used a partner. Snape slept best surrounded by retro-dungeon chic. Considering it seemed like he'd be spending much of his time in there, he decided to charm the walls, ceiling and floor to look like stone as soon as he got his wand back.

He moved his hand to his wand when he noticed movement in the closet. Throwing open the door, he froze as he came face to face with Neville Longbottom who had a bundle of plants in his arms.

"What are you doing here?" they both demanded in unison. Snape in anger, Neville in fear. It was then that Snape realize he had a pencil in his pocket, and not his wand.

"Ridikulus!" Neville said, flicking his wand, turning Snape's robes into a fluffy pink tutu complete with a tiara and ballet shoes. He started chuckling, but it trailed off when the very perturbed Severus Snape proved not to be a boggart. The amusement vanished along with the color in his face as Neville gripped his wand with both hands.

"Oh, Merlin."

Still dressed in the pink tutu, Snape sneered in impotent fury.

"Indeed."

45 minutes later in the living quarters.

Blaise Zabini looked at the empty bed-half, then glanced around as he realized they were missing a roommate.

"I didn't scare Longbottom that much did I?"

Dean just shrugged.

"Dibs on the whole bed."

The sun rose, but the only sign from within the Vault that morning came was an alarm that had all vault dwellers up almost instantly.

"Hi there vault dwellers it's time for our mandatory physical education hour, don't you know," Sally said through the intercom. "How 'bouts everyone meets me and our wonderful Overseer at the athletic fields. Anyone who tries to stay and can listen to my cute little Klaxon instead."

"I do believe that's a woman who deserves every curse we can throw at her and not kill her," Ted grumbled as he and Andromeda sat up in bed. They had chosen to room for the night with the Davis couple with a single muggleborn mother-to-be from Beauxbatons taking the free bed. They had conjured privacy screens between the beds but which had vanished by morning.

"If it's not her voice, it's her attitude," Elijah grumbled, flicking his wand over his body to make himself somewhat presentable. "Does she really think this is going to work?"

"It seems she has gotten over her little break with reality last night," his wife grumbled. "I don't like the idea of cursing her, not really, but these little power plays are going to get old quickly."

"I do not believe she knows who she is dealing with," the young French mother-to-be said with just the slightest accent. "The reputation of Harry Potter is not the same in France as it is in the UK."

"I wasn't aware he was known out of Britain," Ted commented.

"Oh yes, but until the Tri-Wizard, most of us thought his reputation exaggerated to make your nation look good," she replied. "Unlike your British press, his conscription into the competition was well documented in the international papers and on the wireless. His self sacrifice to save the Delacour girl made him something of a hero in France."

"Why?"

"He gave up his own chances of winning to save another, a pretty child no less," she explained. "Some thought at first it was done to curry favor with the Delacours' father, but it was quickly decided that no British wizard could actually have the knowledge of international politics for such a goal. At least not at that age, and especially one so notorious for avoiding the public as Harry Potter."

"Notorious?" Elijah asked, wincing as Sally turned the klaxons on for another thirty second burst of sonic torture. Mary hit it with a silencing charm, but it did little since every hallway and room had it's own speaker. "Notorious?"

"Oh, yes, for someone you Brits held in such high esteem, he was never paraded around, never gave speeches, there were no statues of him built," the woman said as she struggled to get the jumpsuit zip up over her growing belly. "Rarely was he seen in public. The international press considered him quite the recluse, something of a modern day Howard Hughes."

She grimaced and tapped the blue cloth with her wand, letting the fabric slack a bit. With a satisfied smile, she zipped the jumpsuit closed.

"I do regret not smuggling, as others here did," the woman said. "I so wanted more than just my holotapes of my family."

"Where is the father?" Mary asked. The woman just rolled her eyes and gave a dismissive wave.

"Somewhere. Does not matter. He did what I wanted and is now out of my hair," she said.

"Wait, you want to be a single mother?" Andromeda asked, scandalized. Ted grinned; it wasn't often that his Andy was shocked, but it was always entertaining.

"Oh, yes. I have no need of a man to hold my hand," she said. "Let's go see this physical education."

"No father?" Andromeda whispered in confusion. Ted patted her on the back.

"Andy, my sweet Andy," Ted informed her. "There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Most of the Vault Dwellers were there before Sally showed up. They were just clumped into groups chattering amongst themselves, not in nice firm lines by alphabetical order. And there was a tent.

A tent.

On her field.

How did they have a tent?

She stomped right up to the tent and threw the flap back, only to see a much larger space inside with what looked like a complete kitchen. Standing in a tight undershirt and shorts was the man who had pointed the stick at her the previous night. He stared at her in confusion as he was in the process of cracking an egg with his other hand.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked in a tone that really said "get the fuck out" to anyone paying attention.

"Look! It's a Tardis-Tent!" one child said excitedly.

"Wha-what the hell are you?" Sally demanded. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"A person... why?"

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Cooking breakfast," he replied. "Which I'd like to get back to, the skillet is hot already and I don't want the eggs to burn." She instead chose to open and close her mouth like a fish. "I don't really appreciate you letting everyone see me standing in my skivies, either, so please leave."

She stiffened at the clear dismissal and shivered as she tried to find the words.

Someone let out a wolf whistle.

"Looking good Harry!" a familiar voice called out.

"Katie? Huh, another good surprise," he said. He then turned and sent a flat look to a red head giving him elevator eyes. "And Susan? Susan! Susan!"

"Yum," she said before blinking and looking at his face. "I mean: what?"

"Show's over."

He lifted his wand once more and flicked the flap shut.

Furious at being dismissed, Sally tried to rip the flap open again, but it wouldn't budge.

"Wow," Susan said after a moment. "I didn't know he was hiding all that under the robes and baggy clothes."

"Oh, yes, I saw," Katie said with a bit of a purr.

A number of other young women were nodding appreciatively.

"Can I play in the Tardis-tent?" one child asked.

"When are Mummy and Daddy going to pick me up?" asked another child. "I wanna go home."

That seemed to open the floodgates and a deluge of requests to be reconnected with their families came from the assorted children.

Andromeda looked like she was going to explode. Say what you will about the Blacks: dark, evil, insane, but one thing always remained a constant: Family was Family. For her, the idea that these children had been separated from their families was absolutely horrific. She stalked up to Sally, snatched her by the ear and hauled her to her feet.

"Owie!" Sally exclaimed, struggling to get away. Andromeda pulled the woman's ear right to her lips, slapping away the blonde's hands.

"You are going to explain things, you are doing to do it fully, and you are going to do it now," the former Slytherin Prefect hissed. "These power plays cease immediately. You are no longer in control. If you don't comply then I will be forced to explain in detail why my family has been feared for centuries. It might take hours, and actions speak louder than words and I'm feeling very active right now."

"I don't know anything. I just followed what I was supposed to do! Nobody's doing what Maxie was told they would do!"

"What was he told? You gave us some excuse last night, but the truth this time, in front of everybody," Ted commanded. "It's in your best interest. I don't know how much longer my wife can restrain herself."

"Everyone was supposed to stay in their assigned rooms, get up at the right time and go to work at the right time," she explained.

"And why, exactly, did you not explain any of these things yesterday?" Andromeda interrogated.

"It was just supposed to happen!" Sally said.

"Why were the room assignments 5 women and one man to a room?" Elijah asked. "I'm really curious because it looks like you were promoting polygamy. I'm a happily married man. I have no interest in other women, much less some so much younger than me. One went to school with my daughter for Merlin's sake! That's just not right!"

"It was all assigned by Vault-Tech," Sally replied. "Please let me go! It hurts!"

"Good, because pain was precisely my goal," Andromeda stated flatly. "So, your excuse is that you were only following orders? You were just going with the crowd? How incredibly stupid."

A number of people were nodding in agreement.

"But everything got messed up! That girl with the hair and pulling that man out of the pouch and the tent and that shop," Sally said, pointing to where Ollivander's was open for business, looking very out of place when compared to the gunmetal gray of the other vault walls. "Nothing's the way it's supposed to be!"

"Where's this Overseer we're supposed to have?" one young man asked. "We saw him, what, once? Isn't this his job?"

"He's too busy!" Sally said. "He's got a very important job! He can't be bothered to-"

"What? Oversee us?" the pregnant French woman demanded hotly.

"You've both proven that you can't be trusted," Nymphadora Tonks said. "You keep harassing us with your rules and your klaxons. Then you try to use force against us when we refuse to comply? And you're surprised we're upset? Honestly, it's like Delores Umbridge on polyjuice."

The few who had the misfortune to have encountered that particular witch snorted in bemused agreement.

"You've proven you can't be trusted with power in the what? Eighteen hours we've known you? Less for those of us who weren't on the bus?" Mary Davis snapped. "You don't deserve your position if you can't use it right."

"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility!" shouted one comic reading kid, one of the American imports. A number of other kids that didn't really follow the conversation understood that line at least.

"Exactly, kid," Nymphadora said, ruffling up his hair playfully.

"So, why don't you explain to these kids, one on one, exactly why you kidnapped them?" Andromeda growled. She cut the woman off with a glare as Sally tried to summon up a denial. "Someone took them away from their parents. You helped with the crime, so part of your punishment is to help these children heal."

"You can't do this! I was chosen for this position specifically by Vault-Tech!"

"And we've chosen to ignore that," Katie Bell commented with a wry smile. A number of others nodded in agreement. "Which is why Harry is going to get the computer codes from 'Maxie' when you're busy with the kiddos."

"Then you'll-"

"Have total control over the vault," Katie replied. "While not everyone here is quite as in tune with the muggle world, I've always been careful to keep up with tech during the summers away from school."

"Tech? Kompooters?" Elijah asked in a whisper to his wife.

"Thinking muggle library... sort of," Mary explained. "Also like a muggle version of a ward scheme."

"How-" he started to ask, but Mary put a hand to his lips.

"Later."

Harry opened the flap, now fully dressed in his jumpsuit, quickly followed by a book reading Hermione.

"What am I doing?" he asked.

"Harry Potter, everyone! Always willing to help out!" Katie explained, waving towards him like she was a stage show magician calling up an assistant. "Harry, I was just explaining how you were going to get the computer codes from the Overseer so we can have control over our own destinies."

"I was?" Harry asked dryly.

"Can't be harder than that Basilisk you killed when you were twelve?" Katie commented. A number of the other magicals snorted in disbelief, thinking it was a joke. Tracey was particularly deriding in her expression. She glanced up when she heard Penelope Clearwater, Helen and Menelaus gasp and turn pale.

"Katie," Hermione said, not looking up from her book. "Don't joke about that."

"Why not? It's dead, isn't it?" she asked. Hermione sighed, marked and closed her book, walked into the tent and pulled out a few photos the Grangers had taken when they went to visit Hogwarts. She passed them to Katie. "Holy shit!"

The first photo was of Harry, Hermione and Penelope standing uncomfortably in front of the monster's carcass, nervously shifting side to side. Even years deceased, the cadaverous snake dwarfed the three of them. It's skull alone was taller than Harry could ever hope to be.

"Okay, so a lot less difficult than killing the basilisk," a white faced Katie amended, passing the photos to Blaise who was peeking over her shoulder. His eyes went wide, glancing between Harry and the photo. He passed it to Tracey who had a sudden feeling of regret for her words the night before.

"Jinkies," Daphne blurted when she realized the fangs were as long as her sister was tall.

"Hermione, I didn't want to make a big deal about it," Harry told his best friend. "You know I don't like the attention."

"Harry, they'll continue to make snide comments and jokes at your expense if they don't know what really happened," Hermione replied, opening her book back up. "You'd think they got the picture when you out-flew a dragon at only fourteen, but apparently that wasn't enough for them."

"Dragons are real? Cool!" one boy about six exclaimed. "Didja kill it?"

"Uh, no, I just needed an egg from its nest," Harry said uncomfortably. "So, Overseer? Office, right. I'll be back."

"Don't feel bad about getting a little dirty," Katie said. He looked at her funny, but shook his head as he wore a frown. She paused and seemed to shrink slightly. "If you need to, I mean."

Turning, Harry quickly left the field, the shocked looks of people following him as he made his escape.

"JEEZUS H CHRIST! THAT'S A BIG SNAKE!" one of the few Americans exclaimed. "He killed this? At twelve?"

"With a sword," Hermione expanded, without looking up from her book.

"What is he, King Arthur?" Dean Thomas's mother asked when she saw the pictures.

"More like Sigurd slaying Fafnir," Bjorn Dalen commented.

"You know, it's one thing to hear the rumors and something else to see the evidence," Dean said. "I think I owe Harry an apology."

"Thank you, Mr. Thomas, he'll appreciate that," Helen replied. At his confused look, she smiled. "I'm Hermione's mother and your name is on your jumpsuit."

"Oh," he said.

"Holy shite," Tracey muttered under her breath where only Daphne and Astoria could hear her. "Holy shite," she said again, on the verge of hyperventilating. Mary leaned over her daughter's shoulder.

"I do believe that's a double portion of humble pie, my dear daughter," Tracey's mother commented. "Serves you right for playing a two-faced game. Think about that because we'll be having a conversation about what you were really like at school."

"It is most disconcerting to find everything I knew about Potter to be severely skewed," Astoria admitted as humbly as she possibly could manage.

"Nymphadora?" her mother asked, holding out one of the photos. The auror just shook her head.

"No, I've seen the real thing," Nymphadora replied, motioning for her mother to pass the picture along. "Much more impressive in real life."

"What?"

"Dumbledore wanted me, Bill and Moody to make sure the Chamber was safe for occupation after he managed to break the enchantments on the doors," Tonks explained. "It's much, much more impressive in person. You can't see it in this picture, but it's about sixteen meters long, and that's after decomposition."

"It's almost more scary dead than it was seeing it alive," Penelope replied. "Of course, the first time I saw it, it was through a mirror so I only saw teeth and eyes."

"So all that business about the Chamber of Secrets opening was true?" Ted asked his daughter.

"Oh, yes, Lucius Malfoy cursed Molly and Arthur's girl and she opened it up when under Malfoy's control," Nymphadora explained. "He was trying to use her life force to revive his master."

"Master?" one of the few muggle parents asked.

"His master is one of the most evil and dangerous dark wizards to ever exist in Britain," said the pregnant French woman. "Calls himself something stupid, too. 'Flight from Death' or something similarly idiotic."

"It's an acronym of his real name," Hermione put in. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. If you rearrange the letters it spells out 'I am Lord Voldemort.'"

Those not in the know spotted the shivers of those that were instantly.

"His cultists are called Death Eaters," Andromeda put in getting over her involuntary shiver at the name.

"So some kind of terrorist group?" someone asked, obviously one who was not at the meeting the previous night.

"Yes, and primarily a hate group," Hermione explained. "Voldemort- oh stop that! -Voldemort is back, which is one of the reasons Harry, I and others smuggled people back in, even if the bombs don't fall."

"And that Harry kid," the American said, pointing a thumb in the direction the teen had left, "stopped him?"

"Several times," Hermione noted a number of the adults confused as to why a boy was fighting instead of trained adults. "It's been almost a yearly event." She crossed her arms. "Harry doesn't like standing out. He's probably going to be pretty mad at me for doing this. I decided to set the record straight before the rumors started." She glared pointedly at Tracey, who seemed to shrink under her gaze. "He does these things because other people won't. He doesn't do them for the attention. He doesn't like the spotlight. Unfortunately for good and for ill, the spotlight likes Harry. So before anyone here starts calling him a villain or anything else, I wanted to set the record straight."

She closed her book and held it in both hands in front of her.

"Don't treat him like he's a celebrity," Hermione instructed. "He doesn't like it. He's just Harry. If he sees a problem, he'll step in if he's able to help, but he's not doing it for fame. No matter what some morons might think."

Dean Thomas coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "Snape." He glanced up. "Sorry, just some scum that needs to be cleared out."

"Right, so don't treat Harry Potter like he's the second coming of Jesus," Andromeda stated, keeping a hand on Sally's shoulder to keep her from fleeing. "Just treat him like he's a kid. But first, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm hungry and eggs sound like a good idea."

Most of them started towards the cafeteria, but Helen and Menelaus pulled their daughter to the side.

"Harry isn't going to like that," Helen said.

"I just got so tired about people making jokes about everything he's been through!" Hermione protested. "They've got no idea about what it cost him! Merlin! They don't even realize that they have a feast on the day his parents were murdered."

"Feast?"

"Halloween," Hermione explained. "He's had people laughing about him, joking about every little thing he did or had done to him."

"I take it whatever happened last night is a big part of this?" Menelaus asked. "Don't try to deny it, Hermione, I'm your father and I've learned your moods. Don't you remember how shocked we were when Harry spilled the beans about what you went through?"

"Yes, but what does-" Helen cut her off.

"Do you know what it was like for us when we realized what had gone on? When we finally understood why you didn't write the last few weeks of your second year? Or when we found out a murderer had been impersonating your self-defense professor? Or your friend's pet?" Helen asked. "We were alarmed, shocked and in an incredible amount of denial at first. It was too big. We didn't really start to believe until Professor Dumbledore allowed us to visit. When you and Harry were talking to your other professors, Madame Pomphrey and that little guy, um, Derby?"

"Dobby," Hermione corrected.

"Right," Menelaus said. "Your mother and I had a long talk with your headmaster about what had been going on. We think he was honest about it. A part of me wonders if he was just honest about it because he knew you were going to be safely tucked away in here, but he didn't try to cover up the danger you've been in. Only then did we really believe it had happened."

"Well, the Chamber was the first shock to the system," Helen explained with a grimace at the memory. "But the point we're trying to make is that most of those people had only heard things second, third or even fourth hand. You might hate gossip, but it's a fact of life. Every society has gossip. Some people have a very difficult time believing what they hear for that very reason."

"So when they heard Harry killed a big snake, they were probably thinking of 'big' as the size of an arm," Menelaus explained. "You were well intentioned, but I think this was not the best way to deal with the situation. You didn't even discuss it with Harry. Taking initiative is good at times, but not all the time."

"I just-"

"Hermione, we're not mad at you, we just wanted you to see another side of the coin," Helen said. "Do you understand? When Harry gets back, maybe you could have a talk about this with him."

Hermione nodded, but clearly a bit depressed by the conversation.

"Now, what say you we unpack some of our things?" Menelaus suggested with a warm smile. "I was half way through that book and I really want to finish it up."