Hey guys! Sorry its taken long, but one quick announcement.
My friend convinced me to get a tumblr, so if you have one, please follow me so I don't feel so alone.
alysewinchester . tumblr . com
Thanks!
Everyone sat around the Nott living room, watching patiently as the Aurors wrapped up their scene. They were notified some of the Aurors spread out to look for Marilis, but other than that, it had been fairly calm since they busted in and Hermione had shaken off the curse.
Now, Hermione and Draco were sitting on the loveseat, quietly whispering back and forth while Draco had his arm thrown around her shoulders and she was leaning into his side. William and Phaedra were on the coach, clutching hands and resting into each other, still slightly shaken. The Malfoys were also on the coach, Lucius had his arm around his wife while her hand lay gracefully on his leg. And lastly, Teddy sat in an armchair, sitting across from Penelope sitting in the armchair across from him.
All of them sat quietly, until Auror Jackson and White approached them. Hermione smiled at the first familiar faces she had seen that night. Behind them Peronel yelled angrily as she was silenced once again.
"Peronel has told us information we thought might peek your interest," Auror White said bluntly, looking at Hermione for the go ahead. She nodded toward him. "I'm sure you may be wondering how she is here, being that she has a death certificate for a little over half a month ago. She chalks it up to an altered version of the Sleeping Death potion she found in a journal left behind at the Hayfield house she's been staying in. It lasts five times as long as the regular potion and tamps down the visual signs of having taken the potion so it is nearly impossible to figure out."
Auror White looked backwards at Peronel, clearly disgusted with her.
"She created a plan to get back at Hermione for something Peronel saw as wrong. She believed Hermione was a disgrace to her family line, being that she was the only one aware of Hermione's true heritage. She told you," he motioned toward Phaedra and William, "so she would have more to take away from Hermione. Other than that, a Healer who arrived with us guesses she may be mentally unstable, but we will not be sure until we get her to hospital."
Draco raised his eyebrows and smirked, obviously expecting the state of Peronel's mental health. He held Hermione tighter as Peronel silently snarled at him, nuzzling his nose into her neck to make her angrier. It worked, but the silencing spells on her caused the Aurors to not notice.
"Thank, Aurors," Hermione said quietly. Ever since the Cruciatus had worn off, she had been oddly silent and unfocused. Draco only guessed it was her way of processing, but he shivered at the thought of her trapping herself in her head all by herself. Maybe someone else should be in her to keep her company, he thought with a smirk, lovingly stroking her upper thigh at the thought.
The Aurors head off, leaving the other ten to do damage control and take some statements. Other than that, the silent group continued to sit in silence, almost like they were daring each other to speak first. Finally, Phaedra sighed.
"Maybe we should relocate to the kitchen for some late tea," she suggested, and everyone responded by getting up and heading in that direction.
Phaedra and Narcissa moved in perfect tandem to make the tea, skirting around each other to make multiple pots. At last, it was ready and everyone sat around the dining room table.
"I guess I should start." The statement surprisingly came from Penelope Hadley. No one had seen her before, but Hermione was very aware, from reading the Ministry over and over again, that this was the woman who had found her parents. She was a witch who lived nearby and went over every day for tea. And Hermione knew why she was here.
Penelope hopped up, obviously a very active and energetic woman in her youth. Her eyes scanned the small crowd, silently chewing on her words before speaking. She looked to Hermione first.
"I take it no one knew I was coming?"
Immediately, everyone's eyes swiveled to Hermione. She bit her lip, and then shook her head. Penelope nodded.
"Well, then, hi everyone," Penelope waved her fingers, only met with stoic faces waiting for answers. Penelope sighed, slightly defeated. "I received an owl yesterday asking if I could meet Hermione here so she could ask more about her parents. Hermione told me she had noticed in the Auror reports I said I was close with Mr. and Mrs. Granger. She asked me to come over at eight tonight."
Penelope looked at the clock, pointing out it was nearly ten at night now. Hermione immediately turned to her left, where Draco was sitting next to her. He was limply holding their hands in his lap, looking down as he played with her fingers. A wave of guilt flew over her, and it hit her hard, even though she had been expecting it.
"Draco, I—"
"I understand," He quickly told her, but still not looking up. Hermione squeezed his hand desperately. He looked up at her and slightly smiled.
"You're the brightest witch of our age, 'Mione. I knew you wouldn't leave it alone. I just… I'm sorry you got hurt."
Hermione bit her lip as her eyes watered, placing her hand on his cheek. Draco leaned into it, and then tilted forward to touch his forehead against hers.
"I love you, Draco," Hermione hiccupped, stroking his cheek softly. He chuckled.
"I love you too."
"What?!"
Draco and Hermione immediately looked up, quickly discovering it was not their moment that caused Phaedra to be upset, but rather Penelope, who was staring at Mrs. Nott with a soft smile and sad eyes.
"Yeah, Phaedra. I know we have never officially met, or at least that I remembered, but I'm your uh… your baby sister. Penelope Hadley."
Phaedra sat, stunned. She gazed at Penelope with so much emotion in her eyes, Penelope looked down and for the first time that night looked nervous. Hermione saw the similarities almost instantaneously, and wondered how she missed them. Penelope had blonde hair, thought lighter than her sisters, and telltale blue eyes.
"Phaedra… Hadley was your maiden name…" William whispered, seemingly as much shocked as his wife.
Teddy was staring at her too, thinking hard like questioning her existence. Penelope giggled lightly and ruffled his hair.
"Hard to believe I was an aunt at age 10."
"But, Penelope…" Just with the name coming out of her mouth, Phaedra launched herself at her little sister, dramatically sobbing into her hair as she pulled her into her chest. At the show of positive emotion, Penelope started crying too, but was laughing along with it. She wanted everyone to know they were happy tears.
The long-lost sisters stood hugging each other for many minutes, shoving out the world and holding each other. Finally, Phaedra asked a question she was dying to know.
"Penelope, where is mother? Is she well? Does she want to meet Theodore and Hermione?"
Penelope faced morphed a few times; first confusion, then understanding, lastly pity.
"Phaedra, Peronel killed her eighteen years ago."
Phaedra sobbed, throwing her hand over her mouth and collapsing into William's lap. He immediately shushed her, as if he knew exactly what she was feeling. Hermione guessed that Phaedra had spoken of reuniting with her mother for ages, and this was a disappointment to her. But deep down, she had to have known it was true. With no word or contact all this time, the thought had to have crossed her mind. Penelope sadly continued explaining.
"When you were about to have Hermione, mother got an owl from Peronel saying she wanted to meet me. Peronel said she was lonely, since father was dead, we were in hiding, and you wouldn't talk to her. Mother fell for it. She gave Peronel our location and told her to come at night with no one else. Instead, Peronel showed up demanding we come back with her and help her… dispose of your baby."
Phaedra gasped, looking at Hermione as if she were still in danger. Hermione smiled lightly at her, trying to reassure her. Hermione leaned into Draco more when his arm tightened around her. Penelope cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Mother hadn't known you were pregnant, but just upon hearing about it, she was determined to keep you and the baby safe. She refused to, and tried to send Peronel away."
Penelope took a deep breath.
"I don't think I've ever been more scared in my life. Peronel went crazy. She hit mother with a curse, which I later learned was the Cruciatus. Mother threw her wand at me, but I wouldn't leave. Eventually, Peronel killed her. She stared down at with such disgust…"
Penelope's voice started to crack, but she took another deep breath and forged on quickly.
"Peronel started running after me, but I used mother's wand to get out. Mother had taught me as much as she could about the Wizarding world under our… circumstances. I knew that a small pub down the street from our place had a Floo system in the proprietor's office. I ran there and Flooed to the first place I could think of, which was another pub close to your house." Penelope motioned towards Phaedra, meaning close to their first home.
"Mother had told me to go to you in case of emergency, and I counted this as such. But when I got here…"
Penelope's eyes spaced out, and she said her next words with spiteful emotion.
"Peronel was carrying a baby out of your house, and I heard you crying."
Everyone collectively gasped as they realized Penelope had witnessed Hermione's kidnapping. Hermione bit her lip, slightly uncomfortable with discussing her abduction. Draco tucked her under his arm further.
"I went back to mother. She always kept things underneath her mattress, and told me to only get them out in an emergency. I, of course, counted this as such. It was an emergency contact for a second cousin in France, so I packed up my stuff and Flooed there. They didn't say anything, just showed me to my room and told me they'd take care of my mother. The next year I went to Beauxbaton with their daughter, and the rest, as they say, is history." Penelope finished heavily, her eyes betraying her mind, which was obviously swimming in her past.
Phaedra grabbed her sister's hand, squeezing tightly. Penelope smiled at her, then quickly told the rest of her story while grasping her sister's hand.
"I moved the Australia when the Dark Lord rose again. I didn't want to be sought after because of father or Peronel. I got a muggle job as an accountant, and luckily, I discovered shortly after that my boss was a wizard as well. He ordered the Daily Prophet for me so I could keep up with what was going on in Britain, waiting until I could go back. When it finally happened, I couldn't leave."
Penelope had a ghost of a smile as she looked at her sister guiltily.
"I think I fell in love. My boss, Zack, he's only a year older than me, and after we discovered we were both magic we spent a lot of time together. I didn't want to just get up and leave when our relationship seemed to be going so well but… when the Grangers were killed and I heard about Hermione actually being a Nott, and having solid information that some of my family had survived, I knew I had to come back. I came back to finally meet you, Phaedra, and to get to know my brother-in-law, my niece and nephew…"
She trailed off happily as she playfully ruffled Teddy's hair.
"And that's my story. Any questions?"
~:~:~:~:~:~
Wow, that took a lot longer than it was supposed to. I sincerely apologize, but I've been uber busy last couple weeks, and this was the first chance I had to sit down and make it happen!
So, as you can now tell, a lot of you guessed it! Penelope Hadley is Phaedra's long-lost little sister. The following names are the ones who guessed and get to give me a little PWP idea for the next few chapters…
-Secret Hopeless Romantic
- Izz Fizz
- grey eyes lover
- shaymars
- ashes10
- Lyss300
- LolqueEn460
Wow, that's alotta smut bout to happen, my dear readers. Get Ready!
Also, because only TWO people knew where Penelope was from, I'm gonna let them suggest a lemony-plot to me too! So, Guest and Grey Eyes Lover, give me something!
Thanks guys! Get those ideas in ASAP for a faster update!
Love, ~Terra