Chapter Twenty-Five
Lady Malfoy and Regulus left moments before the wards fell around them. At least they were safe. There was so much chaos and confusion when unfamiliar wizards streamed in. Although taken by surprise, Hermione, Lucius, and Theo fought valiantly against their many attackers.
Hermione watched in horror as Sirius was led away, out of her sight. Spells to subdue were sent her way but the more sinister spells were cast at her husbands. As powerful as they were, they couldn't fight off the hundred or so wizards that had taken the cottage. Once the barrage of spells calmed down, Avery was led into the sitting room, disarmed and furious.
Lucius and Theo were pinned face down, a knee in between each of their shoulder blades. Hermione's hands were bound behind her back, forced to stay on her knees by the heavy hands on her shoulders. The invading wizards froze as their Lord and Master waltzed in as if he had all the time in the world.
"I have to admit, Schätzchen, I never anticipated that it would take two hundred and fifty wizards to get to you but here we are."
"Grindelwald, I should have known. If it's not my deranged family, it's you."
"At least you thought of me."
"What happened to your face?" Hermione asked.
His face darkened as he glowered in displeasure.
"It is a side effect of taking the Elixir of Youth. The drinker gains youth but loses beauty. That's fine though. It's not like you are the vain sort."
"Have you seen my husbands? They are all drop dead gorgeous. I may not be supercilious but I would be lying if I said looks didn't matter at all. You have to be at least attracted to a man."
"Are you trying to say you aren't attracted to me?"
"Oh, I am definitely saying that. Even young and unblemished I never had a thing for you. If I were to have a thing for anyone who wasn't one my husbands, it would have been Tom. Instead he is my older brother."
"Well how about this, I will take great care of your brother and when you come to your senses, you can come and get him."
"Get him where?"
"Burke Manor of course." He gestured to someone outside. Hermione assumed they were the men holding Sirius.
"Let him go." She yelled desperately.
"What are you going to do for me if do?"
Hermione bit her lip and furrowed her brow.
"I'll go with you."
"Like Hell you will!" Avery shouted before he was elbowed in the stomach. A silencing charm was immediately cast, much to his consternation.
"As much as I am pained to part from you, I think you need to want it more. I always feel like I am the only one working on this relationship."
"That's because you are. You are delusional."
"Well that is not going to get you what you want, now is it?"
"Please, Gellert, leave Sirius out of this. He is only twelve."
"See all you needed was some motivation. I love it when you say my name like that Schätzchen." He smirked at her and ran his finger over her bruised bottom lip with his thumb. "I tell you what. If you come to me tonight at Burke Manor alone, I will forgive everything. I will let your brother into the care of the Malfoy's. Hell, if you promise to be mine in every way, I will even let your husbands live."
Grindelwald walked out of Nott Cottage smugly. He had her, now he just had to be patient a little while longer and stay away from the annoying twosome, Riddle and Dumbledore.
Hermione watched as Grindelwald took Sirius and left. Tears were streaming down her face. She would do whatever she needed to protect Sirius. Grindelwald crossed a line. She may have set herself on a suicide mission but by God, she would make sure her loved ones were safe. A plan formed in her mind. Her husbands were really going to hate this.
Hermione stood as the last wizard left the premises and found her wand laying among the ruined furniture. She lifted the spells holding her husbands to the floor.
"You can't go Kitten. We will find another way." Avery said.
"Lucius gave me the pendant. You could come to me any time."
"You are not actually thinking of doing this, are you?" Avery stood staring at her incredulously.
"I have a plan but I need to go to Grimmauld Place first."
"Why?" He demanded.
"The Black Family Vaults."
**HGHGHGHG**
Hermione walked alone into Orion's or rather her study once more. She stood in front of the woman in the painting.
"Hello Regent Hermione. Welcome."
"Oh um, Hello. What did Orion call you?
"I am Lady Lola Lestrange. The last female to be born of the line."
"May I ask why you are in Grimmauld Place, the House of Black?"
"Of course. I became the lover of Arcturus, whose marriage had been an unwanted, arranged affair. Having a mistress was common in those days, even if the lady in question was high born. No, the scandal was that I was so much younger than he was. I was only sixteen when I caught his eye. I was two years younger than his oldest son, Orion. I died in childbirth just two years after we promised ourselves to each other. I was twenty-years-old. My only child, was adopted by my lover's wife. It was quite the scandal. My daughter's name is Cassiopeia Jean Black."
"Are you saying that you are my biological grandmother?"
"Does it matter?"
"I guess not. I need to get into the vault."
"Of course you do, or you wouldn't be here, having this lovely conversation with me."
"Will you let me in?"
"Only with the passphrase."
"Fucking Hell. I don't have time for this. What was it?" Hermione mumbled to herself. Something about the end and rising.
"If you need a reminder, go to your desk and ask the journal."
"What do you mean ask the journal?" Hermione hesitatingly asked, looking at the desk as if it had fangs.
Lady Lola gestured for her to take a look. Hermione hoped with every fiber of her being that it didn't resemble Riddle's diary. She was to be mildly disappointed however. It was a near perfect replica and on top of it sat something she hoped never to see again. A blood quill.
With a look of disgust, she picked the quill up gingerly as if was about to attack at any moment. She opened the journal and began to write:
Hermione Black, Regent.
Good Afternoon Regent, How may I help you today?
What is the password to the vault?
The end is nigh and before I fall, I rise.
You are not a Horcrux are you?
No. Does that displease you, Regent?
No. I just wanted to make sure.
Very well. Is there anything else?
No.
Consult me whenever you have a need.
Hermione hissed through her teeth and massaged her hand. Stupid blood quills. She shut the journal. It was awfully polite for an inanimate object. Hermione kept shooting it suspicious looks as she made her way around the desk to stand in front of the painted curly blond woman in her pink dress.
"Well Dearest?"
"The end is nigh and before I fall, I rise."
"Ah, there we go. Don't forget the cake this time." Lady Lola said as a table once again appeared behind Hermione.
"Where's the key?" She asked as she pocketed the green petit four.
"Where ever you put it last time."
"I still have it?"
"It disappears with use. The key that was given to you had a number written on an attached parchment. You have to use it that many times before you are given another. It has always been like that."
Hermione rummaged around in her beaded bag and sure enough, she found the key wedged in Hogwarts a History. It was the very edition that her parents bought her when she started at Hogwarts. She palmed the key before lifting the bottle of shrinking potion. She tossed the entirety of the contents to the back of her throat remembering how uncomfortable it felt.
With a shrug, she unlocked the small door and walked through. She smiled as the path lit up around her. She felt the cool dampness seep into her as she followed the stone corridor down its winding path. Once she met the stone barrier, she pulled out her wand and cut open her palm. She pressed the offering into the stone, which pulsed and sucked in her sacrifice. The stone rearranged itself to form a doorway reminiscent of Diagon Alley.
Using her wand to close the wound on her hand, she wiped the excess blood on the thigh of her robes. Walking into the vault for the second time, she was more in awe. Perhaps it was because she didn't know what she was looking for per se or maybe it was because she wouldn't die a most horrible death from touching the contents. Whatever it was, she gaped in open mouth wonder at the vast amount of riches that laid before her.
She slowly followed the path that she had taken before. It didn't take long before she was where she had meant to be.
"Percival?"
"Oh, now you remember me. I feel honored at finally having your attention."
"Stuff it! You're lucky I don't burn you."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Would you like to test that theory?"
He grumbled.
"What was that?"
"Fine. What do you want?"
"How magnanimous you are Percival. I need you to tell me what I am supposed to do as regent if the young heir has been kidnaped."
"Oh ho, you lost him already, did you?"
"Just answer my question or you will never see the light of day again. And I mean that!"
"Fine. No need to get huffy. So, sensitive it's no wonder. What would possess the Black Patriarch to name a woman Regent? Really, what did he expect?"
"Percival!" Hermione yelled.
"Sorry. Right well, unless he is wearing the family ring I would venture to say there wasn't much that could pull him home without engaging in a fight but if we are talking about the Knights that would be a different story."
"Why would that matter."
"Because Orion was involved with the Knights. They tried to obliviate him after he stumbled into one of the meetings but they weren't particularly skilled. His memories are in the pensieve to your right in the mirrored cabinet."
Hermione looked around and slowly approached the indicated cabinet. It looked exactly like the one Albus had in his office at Hogwarts. She opened the doors and the huge stone pensieve pulled out with shelves filled with vials of silvery memories. Some were clearly labeled, obviously, the newer ones. There were many at the top that looked older than the cabinet. Her fingers itched. Had she more time, she would be watching all of the memories. Some of them had to be hundreds of years old. She was in heaven.
"Which one is it Percival?" She asked.
"Which ones." he emphasized. "The ones labeled O-68-I. There should be three. Look at the one with a butterfly in the corner of the label first, then the one with a bell, and finally the one with a house last."
"Right, because labeling first, second, third would be way too obvious."
"And you yell at me for the sarcasm." He mumbled grumpily.
Hermione rolled her eyes and dumped the contents of the butterfly vial into the pensieve. She took a deep breath and sank her face into the surface.
Orion was walking along a small path in the dead of night. It must have been late fall because he pulled out his wand and muttered a warming charm. Orion was furious. It was the second time in as many months that Cygnus had blown him off. He should cut off his allowance, he whispered angrily. This is not what he planned on doing on a Thursday night, Dante was waiting at the club for him, promises of some high stakes card games.
He pulled a small scrap of parchment paper out of his pocket and brought it close to his face, casting a nonverbal lumos.
Hermione read over his shoulder.
Burke Manor. The grove. Midnight.
-Cygnus
Hermione rolled her eyes. Why were they always so blah? If she ever needed to send menacing messages, she was determined to write them in limericks. It would at least be entertaining.
As he approached the grove, he heard the quiet mumblings of a small group of people who were determined to be quiet.
There were seven wizards, cloaked in silvery robes. He was admitted to the circle and unceremoniously shoved to the middle. He controlled his surprise as the wizards pushed the hoods off their heads, grinning with conspiratorial looks. The Lords Burke, Yaxley, Rosier, and Lestrange were easily recognizable but his eyes were almost immediately drawn to Cygnus who was standing smugly with a challenging glint in his eyes. It was the other two that took him a moment to place. Antonin Dolohov, a first-generation English family whose parents fled their own war-torn country. He was a newly wealthy pureblood with an insignificant but pretty title. The other was a young blond man whose face was ruined. He might have been classified as handsome once. It was this man who addressed the very confused Orion Black.
"Join us Lord Black in our endeavor to raise the prestigious Magical blood above that of the common muggles. It is we, who should rule the world. How the Muggles cope without magic is beyond me."
"How exactly are you planning to achieve this?"
"We are going to start a war."
"I am sure there are many ways to get what you want that avoid war. Most of the wizards here are Lord's that sit on the Wizengamot."
"Perhaps, but the muggles need to know exactly where they stand."
"And where is that?"
"Beneath us as slaves."
"I respect what you are doing as far as bringing magic out of secrecy but I don't believe we should enslave the Muggles."
"My own Paterfamilias a Blood traitor." Sneered Cygnus.
"Cygnus!" He boomed.
"What a pity. I was hoping for a good alliance with Hermione's father." Grindelwald said.
"Hermione? I only have two children and they are both sons."
"You will. She just hasn't been born yet."
"Who are you?"
"I am Gellert Grindelwald and I am going to be your son-in-law in the future."
"That is presumptuous."
"Your daughter is an amazing woman."
"How would you know?"
"She is a time traveler."
"My daughter?"
"Yes."
"Incredible."
"I feel terrible about this but since you aren't with us, you are against us. Obliviate."
The memory went white and Hermione was back on her feet in the Black Family vaults.
Okay, so the first memory was of the failed induction. She sighed. On to the next. After she replaced the first memory back in its appointed bottle, she unstoppered the second and watched it swirl as she added it to the basin of the Pensieve.
She took a deep breath before putting her face back into the liquid.
Orion had stopped over to talk to Cygnus about the gaps that began forming in his memory. After all, if anyone could figure out what was wrong, it would be his brother-in-law. Cygnus had a talent for retrieving memories. He was often called by St. Mungos for his expertise.
"What better way of showing our dedication to the cause than making an example out of the squib born of the pureblooded families?" Cygnus boomed.
Orion paused just outside the door as the cheering died down and Cygnus' voice raised authoritatively once more.
"Come brothers, join in the movement against the lesser race! Cull the family trees."
Orion was horrified. His younger squib sister was twenty-four and entering university. What Cygnus was proposing would put her in the line of fire. He couldn't allow that!
He pushed open the door and the room slowly went silent. As he looked around he started getting flashes of his missing memories. The same group of men over and over. He had thought something was wrong with him health wise. He felt betrayed as he realized the root of his problem was Cygnus. He looked up at his brother-in-law and his already aimed wand.
"Obliviate."
Everything went white but unlike last time, there seemed to be things moving around the edges. Things he couldn't quite remember. Things that centered around Cygnus.
Hermione found herself once again in the Black vaults, mildly trembling. Her mother had been targeted. Without wasting another second, she quickly put the second memory back and dumped out the third into the Pensieve. She pushed her face back in.
"I don't know why Jean! I can't remember." Orion shouted at a young Jean Murray.
"Slow down Orion, it will come to you."
"It was a mistake bringing your memories back."
"How can I protect myself if I don't know the truth?"
"Maybe you were better protected before."
"Don't be an idiot. Just because you close your eyes doesn't mean the threat will go away."
"He knows you were placed as a Murray. He searches for you even now."
"Then I will have to change my name."
"It's not that simple."
"No?" She thrust her left hand under his nose. "He asked me. It only took him three years but he finally did it. We were going to marry in May but in light of what is going on, we can push the wedding up."
"This is madness. It will never work."
"You are always so pessimistic, Orion. On a more pleasant note, what are you going to give me for a wedding gift?" She asked jokingly.
"A well placed obliviate."
"Don't even joke about that."
"It would be the kindest thing I could do for you. It would protect you and any children you bear with that Muggle."
"He has a name."
"You are too good for him." Orion pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her curly head. He left her on campus and walked to the apparition point three blocks away. It was ridiculous that he had to walk so far to find it.
He was nearly there when a red spell missed his face by mere inches and exploded the brick of the building next to him, sending chips flying. He turned around as fast as he could and raised his wand. He immediately set up the famous Black family wards to hold his attacker in place.
He stood face to face with Cygnus.
"You should have known I would follow you here Orion." Cygnus sneered.
"I did, I also knew you would follow me and not her first. Stupify."
Cygnus lost his sneer as he barely managed to deflect Orion's spell. It was never any secret that Orion was the better dueler.
"Stupify. Stupify. Stupify." Orion shot them rapidly. He knew that Cygnus would weaken quickly. It was on the last casting that Cygnus went down.
As Orion walked up to his brother-in-law, he drew an empty vial out of an inner pocket of his robes.
"Incarcerous. Enervate." Orion had Cygnus bound and awake on the ground, while crouching over him. "Legilimens."
As adept as Cygnus was with memories, one would think he would have learned Occlumency or Legilimency. It was to his detriment that day. Orion easily flowed through the younger man's thoughts until he reached the ones about Jean. He withdrew them and placed them in the vial in his hand. Once it was capped it went back in the depth of his robes.
"Let's see what else you have been up to." Orion muttered as he sunk back into Cygnus' mind.
Cygnus was on his knee before Grindelwald and he was holding a wand that was a family heirloom. An heirloom that had been missing since Orion's father, Arcturus, died. The wand was supposedly made to strengthen the Black family. Only a true Black could wield the wand. It was an Aspen and Ash wand with a Dragon heartstring core. The woods were wound around each other creating a spiral effect. It was a wand like none other and it was now in the hands of Grindelwald. He wouldn't be able to ever use it to its full potential, if at all. It was a temperamental wand.
He pulled out of Cygnus' head and gave his brother-in-law a hard stare. After a moment of thought Orion lifted his wand.
"Obliviate."
The memory faded to black.
Hermione pulled herself out of the pensieve and stood blinking, deep in thought. It was clear that she needed to get that wand from Grindelwald, but how?
**HGHGHGHG**
Hermione had spent the last several hours enjoying the company of her husbands. She liked to think of that as the quiet before the storm. It was a very subdued time. None of them wanted to be separated but knew they had little choice in the matter.
While Hermione had gone to Grimmauld Place, Lucius had informed Albus and Tom what had happened. They also gathered every ally they had, pulling strings and using favors to build an army big enough to go against the size they believed Grindelwald's forces had swollen to.
Hermione watched as grown wizards mobilized around her. It was a sight she wouldn't soon forget. It reminded her of when Grimmauld Place was the Order's safe house and the combatants came in and out for meetings and safety. It was a happy and sad moment for her. Sad because she had to once again lift her chin and fight until she had nothing left to give. She was happy because this was it, the last battle. She could feel it. Harry would never have to be a warrior at eleven-years old after a childhood of neglect at his Aunt and Uncle's hands.
The moment came when she had to leave and she begged herself not to cry. She prayed hard that everyone would make it out alive. She refused to give that hope up.
Hermione stood up from where she was sitting on the sofa in the sitting room of Nott Cottage. The wizards surrounding her froze, at least four of them with mutinous looks on their faces. None of them wanted her to go but they knew she would never abandon Sirius, not even for a moment. She had never abandoned a single person she loved.
Lucius pulled her into his body and took her lips desperately in a fear fueled kiss. It said everything he could not bear to say out loud. 'I will always love you'.
Avery was shaking when he walked up behind them and pulled her back into his chest, Lucius still kissing her. Theo threaded his fingers with hers and as soon as Lucius came up for air stole her lips away.
Hermione let out the breath she was holding and stepped back from them. She turned and put her arms around Tom's neck and whispered into his ear.
"Take care of them for me, all of them, if anything happens to me."
"Nothing is going to happen, Hermione."
"Just in case." She planted a light kiss to his cheek. "If something happens to me find a new reason to keep you from turning into a Dark Lord. I really couldn't bear it if after everything I still lost you."
"I will never let you down and I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you. When we come back from this, I will show you a memory that is absolutely precious to me. It is the only memory that works for me to cast a Patronus."
"I look forward to it."
He kissed the top of her curls and backed away first needing her to see his strength and belief that everything would be okay.
Hermione grabbed her beaded bag and with a last look around, she twisted on the balls of her feet, apparating to a grove that she had seen once in a memory.
The nights were starting to get slightly warmer as April turned into May. Hermione shuddered. May second was the day Hermione and the boys broke into Gringotts and rode a dragon to its freedom. May second, the day that changed her life. That day may have been exactly twenty-six years in the future but it felt the same. Immediate war was looming then, just as surely as it was now.
She jumped as she stepped on a small twig that snapped under her feet. Within moments, she was surrounded by silver cloaked wizards that 'escorted' her to their leader.
"Schätzchen, as always, you look ravishing."
Hermione couldn't tear her eyes from the large steel cage holding Sirius. It was only big enough for him to sit with his back against the bars and his knees pulled to his chest. Hrodulf Lestrange was grinning and petting his hair as Sirius sat stiffly, not moving an inch.
"Let him out of that cage." She croaked, still staring at Sirius.
"Not quite yet Schätzchen. We have a few things to address first."
"What do you want?"
"An unbreakable vow that you will be mine and only mine for as long as we both shall live."
"And if I agree, you will let Sirius go?"
"Immediately."
"I accept."
"Burke, be our binder."
"Yes, My Lord." Lord Burke said looking slightly nauseated.
"Do you, Hermione Black, vow that you will be faithful to Gellert Grindelwald for life?"
"I will."
"Do you also vow to stay with Gellert until death parts you both?"
"I will."
"Do you vow to live with Gellert Grindelwald for as long as he wishes it?"
"I will."
The three ribbons binding her to the vow wrapped around their hands. Grindelwald looked happy and smug as Sirius watched in horrified fascination. Look at what Hermione was willing to do for him, the brother she loved so much. He began to weep as the cage dissolved leaving him free to go.
Hermione stood up and walked over to Sirius and put a small ruby brooch into his hand. She kissed the tears off of his cheek before whispering 'portus' sending him to safety at Malfoy Manor. As he disappeared in front of her eyes, tears streamed down her face. When had Malfoy Manor become synonymous to safety?
"Now that that is taken care of, we should plan our wedding night, Schätzchen." Grindelwald leered at her as he sauntered ever closer to Hermione. He should have noticed something was off from her willingness to go along with things, but Grindelwald was so wrapped up in his delusion of her love for him that he never saw it coming. Or so she thought.
Curling her hand around her crimson jewel, she desperately sought her husbands. It was the signal they had been waiting for as hundreds of wizards began filling the copse of trees, wands at the ready.
As the wizards fighting on her side began casting, innumerable wizards stepped out of the shadows of the forest. Grindelwald was prepared for a fight. He would have been a fool to think that the Great Hermione Black would yield without a fight.
The fighting began in earnest as casualties began piling up on both sides. Hermione had found a nook in one of the Ash trees behind her. It was a good thing the bowtruckles seemed to like her. They could be nasty buggers when angered.
She was shooting curses at any of the enemy that she could see, the poor buggers going down without a clue to their attacker. Across the clearing she could see Grindelwald. He was using the Black family wand. She tried summoning it, but Grindelwald kept it in his grasp, erecting wards as quickly as she could tear them down. She needed that wand.
She erected her infamous wards and grabbed her beaded bag. What the hell did she have in there that could possibly help? Her stomach clenched as she grasped and pulled out a tiny vial. The silvery potion sloshed in its tiny bottle and Hermione looked as it doubtfully. The Mopsus potion that she had co-won with Theo on the very first Potions class she had on her first day at Hogwarts 1971.
Bottoms up. She thought as she drank the contents of the vial. She needed to hope for the best. Quickly she took down the wards and waited for the potion to kick in. She could feel it burning through her body. It was like alcohol on fire, as it burned, so did the efficiency. She had only a few moments.
She could see the path his wand would take and tore down his wards. It felt like her mind split into two. As her wand kept his wards at bay, she lifted her left hand, palm up and wandlessly summoned the Black Family wand. The wand seemed to sail across the divide in slow motion as she dispassionately watched while he tried to reclaim it. It was futile though, her telekinetic abilities granted by the Mopsus potion would only last a few seconds longer. In any case, it only enhanced her wandless abilities. Had she not been capable, she would not, at that very moment, have the wand in her hands.
She felt drained as the last of the potion drained away. She looked at a shocked Grindelwald as he was trying to come to terms with just happened. She knew she had a choice to make. If she captured and imprisoned him, there would always be the fear of his escape. If she killed him…
He must have seen the choice she had made in her eyes.
"I have always loved you, Schätzchen." He mouthed.
She wasn't surprised when the green jet of light hit him in the middle of the head. What did surprise her was that she didn't cast the final curse. Turning around she saw Tom, standing not two feet behind her, with a desperate look on his face. He went down on his knees and flat on his face before she could even scream.
She blasted a path to his side and sunk to her knees beside him.
"If you fucking die on me Tom Marvolo Riddle I will invent a new time turner, go into your past, and crucio you until you go barmy!" She screeched as she flipped him over and cast enervate. She nearly passed out from relief when his eyelids began to flutter.
"I'm not dying woman. Get a hold of yourself." He mumbled weakly as she let out a breathy chuckle. "I really wouldn't dare. I fully believe you would do exactly what you said."
"Have you seen my husbands?"
"Last I saw, they were driving back the right flank and doing a bang up job of it too."
"Maybe if we are really lucky we will all make it out of this alive."
"Maybe."
Hermione grabbed a hair pin and set it in his palm. He looked up at her.
"I can still fight."
"You are such a liar. Go to Malfoy Manor. Tell them that Grindelwald is dead. Portus."
She stood quickly so that his grasping hands couldn't pull her with him. She turned around the moment he was gone. She had three husbands to find.
This was easier said than done. The fighting had all but died as the news spread of their fallen leader. Hermione walked back to the clearing where she and Grindelwald held their last battle to find Albus on his knees sobbing over the still form of Grindelwald.
She rubbed his back, trying to console him. He never said it to her, but she knew that even after all that time, he was still deeply in love with Grindelwald. After another small pat on the shoulder, Hermione left Albus to grieve for his loss.
Hermione finally found the last pocket of resistance that was surrounded but a small force of allied troops, her husbands included. She could feel them drawing upon the well of their shared magic as they performed incredible feats, that put awe on the face of every wizard regardless of side.
Watching as her husbands' easily restrained the five wizards left of the inner circle. Once they were bound, the other wizards stepped in, transferring their charges to Azkaban. Hermione ran into the clearing and into Avery's arms.
"Thank Merlin!" He yelled and laughed at the same time. Lucius and Theo each joined their hug making a Hermione filling to the surrounding man flesh. Arms, hands, and lips were everywhere. Not knowing what part belonged to who, the four of them celebrated their win. Finally, it was over.
The threats had been taken care of and neutralized. All that was left was living the life she had and she was really looking forward to it.
The four of them apparated to Malfoy Manor where chaos reigned. It was set up as a sort of hospital, where the combatants had gone for healing. They were also retrieving the dead and separating them by sides. There were many more of Grindelwald's followers but there were enough wizards who fell fighting for her. Hermione walked over to the fallen soldiers and loudly sobbed. Lord Malfoy, her father-in-law was staring with dead eyes at the night sky. She leaned down with shaky fingers as she closed them for a final time. She barely heard as Lucius realized who she was touching. Avery threw his arms around Lucius and pulled his blond head against his own black one. They were brothers and they would morn this loss together.
Hermione stood in front of Lucius and stroked his face, tears sliding down her cheeks. He tried to pat her dry but gave up as more and more tears flooded his hand.
"I am going to find mother and make sure she knows. I would hate for her to be the last one to hear." He whispered. Avery and Theo gestured that they would go with him as she turned back to her self-appointed task.
Trying to keep herself together she walked the line of dead men. She promised herself that all of these men would be honored for their sacrifice that night.
She walked into the Manor, drained, looking for the physical reassurance that Sirius and Regulus were alright. She opened the door to the dining room and saw Reg and Sirius sitting next to Tom Riddle who had been placed on the table where he was waiting to be treated.
"Everything went well, I trust." Tom said anxiously, noticing her white face.
"Lord Malfoy died tonight."
"I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Thank you."
"I promised you that I would show you a memory if we made it out alive. Do you have a vial?" He asked her gently. She nodded her head and produced the very vial that gave her the family wand. In the end, she didn't need the wand. Tom cast the final spell that ended his life. She would put the wand up for when Sirius took over the estate. He could do what he wanted with it.
Tom pulled a long silvery thread from his head and stuffed it into the tiny bottle and shoved in the stopper. He sent her a lopsided grin as her brothers wrapped themselves around her.
"Thank you 'Mione." Sirius said. "For everything."
"Never for one moment believe that I don't love you with every fiber of my being, both of you."
"Why don't you boys stay here with me and keep me entertained while Hermione takes a moment for herself?" Tom asked them.
"Sure, what do you want to do?" Regulus asked.
"Why don't we play exploding snap?"
"Awesome!" Sirius said.
Hermione quietly left the room and walked out beyond the wards and for old times sake, apparated on the top step of Grimmauld Place.
Knowing the drill, she entered the vaults easily.
"Grindelwald is dead."
"Good. Does that mean I am getting out of here?" Percival demanded.
Hermione let out a snort.
"After I view this memory, I will put you in my front hall."
"Oh goody. And here I thought leaving this dump was my lucky day."
"I would miss you too much if I left you down here, Percival."
"Yes well, it's my winning personality. I am a people person."
"Obviously." Hermione deadpanned. She quietly snickered as she walked over to the mirrored cabinet and pulled out the Pensieve. She dumped Tom's memory in and watched the liquid churn. With mild trepidation, Hermione plunged in head first.
Tom was laughing with his group of friends, leaning back in his chair during second year transfiguration. The girls were throwing him adoring looks and he occasionally winked at them, sending their hopes soaring. He nearly crashed to the floor when at the front of the room a beautiful woman appeared, just like magic. With little more than a thought she turned not one but all of the beetles in the box into buttons. He knew for a fact doing many transfigurations at one time was incredibly difficult. He had to find out who this black-haired beauty was. He immediately knew he wanted to marry her one day. Once they were released to practice on their own, he had a burning determination to impress her. He smiled triumphantly as his beetle turned into a button on the first try.
"Professor, Tom got it on the first try!" Philip Greengrass announced.
"Great job, Tom! Ten points to Slytherin." Professor Dumbledore said. Tom beamed as he watched her double take. She waved at him, uncertainly, but with a smile on her face. His heart swelled with rapture.
He watched as the woman talked with the Professor. Straining his ears, he heard the Professor call her Hermione. His eyes went wide. Could she be the same Hermione that time traveled, the same woman who changed his birthday by eleven years? He couldn't understand why his mother hated her, she was the most brilliant, beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Once they were dismissed, he was slowly following his friends out of the classroom, barely listening as they chatted about the lesson. His head turned right around once he realized they started on a new subject, Hermione.
"A Black. I wonder who she married." Philip Greengrass mused.
"I haven't heard that any of Black family got married. My father is a Lord and has a seat on the Wizengamot, we would have been invited. I wonder who she really is." Magnus Prince argued.
"She has to be a Black. That circlet is special, I heard my sister complain about it once when Lyra Black married Lord Lestrange. Lilibeth was sore about it for weeks after." Aldric Travers added.
Tom was devastated. She was already married. If he couldn't marry her, then he would make her family another way. She cared about him. He believed that with every portion of his unblemished soul.