Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise. This is for fun only, please don't sue.
Chapter 36: Day Off
The Dame had been installed in her accommodation suite and Charlie had stashed the rest of her close protection team in all the other hotel guest suites. One of the first things that Tonks did for Hermione when they reached the reserve was the lifting of the glamour from Hermione. Hermione as part of the protection team had been stashed in apartment not far from Max and Charlie's new apartments. In the apartment between the two executives was where Tonks crashed. This apartment had been set up for the Lupins as they were coming to stay for the Yule break at the reserve.
It was about 10am when a very hyperactive little boy who had somehow managed to get into her room awaked Hermione. She was a bit befuddled about he had gotten into the suite but she was having to answer lots of quickly fired questions that all seemed to have the common demand of "Aunty Mia, Aunty Mia". Fortunately there was a house elf in residence whose job it was to keep young Teddy Lupin amused and out of trouble while daddy woke up sleepy head mummy. More was said and Hermione knew she had the words out of babes to tease his parents with when it was opportune. She certainly had a giggle into the mug of coffee over "cockblocking radar" amongst others.
Unlike Hermione who had a small boy jumping up and down on her bed Tonks had a familiar pair of lips ghosting over her neck and clavicle. There was a warmth spooning with her and a gentle soothing repetitive movement being played on her hip. When her waker dragged his teeth down her ear lobe Tonks decided that it was worth waking out of her half doze and started to participate a little more in the seduction started by her husband.
She had started to half sit up looking for their young child as like all parents had an inbuilt detection system for finding his parents in flagrante delicto or just about contemplating acting in a manner that would result in that state.
"Don't worry Rosie is watching him and he is waking up Mia in her suite" whispered Remus pulling Tonks back down to the bed. Now that she was facing him and he had better access he set about seducing her and reducing her stress levels considerably. Tonks matched Remus in that she had a very healthily active appetite and with her job as an Auror and as a Shade in the Unspeakables she needed sex to help burn off the frustration and tension of the job. Remus was very happy to assist his wife in this manner as he had gone for years denying himself refusing to look for his mate, as he had been sure that he was too much of a monster for anyone to want.
The pair of them quickly engaged with each other, as they knew they didn't have long before their son would return to the apartment demanding a parent. Daytime sex for them had become virtually reduced to quick stolen moments of passion. Given their frustration both of them had been known to have a nooner in each other's offices. Their instincts had been dead on and fortunately for the couple they had moved their activities into the bathroom.
Hermione the ever loyal friend had strongly suspected that young Teddy's arrival at her place of stay with the elf was a clear message that the pair would be up to something. So it was with great caution that she tried to delay her godson return to their apartment here on the reserve for the holidays so his parents could have sometime for their personal relationship. She was relieved to hear the water running in the bathroom when Rosie popped them into the apartment but that quickly turned to flustering, as she had to instruct Rosie to throw up a silencing charm so he didn't hear them going at it like a pair of screaming hippogriffs.
Rosie laid out a large breakfast and then went to call the Lupins to join the rest of breakfasters. There was a knock on the apartment door and before Hermione could catch him Teddy had thrown open the door it was Charlie and Max. Charlie quickly moved round the lad and strode into the room to Hermione where he kissed her hard. Max picked up Teddy and settled him on his hip while he closed the door before entering the dining area.
"Always the brides maid Teddy never the bride that's me" complained Max.
"Put him down Girlie and come and eat at the table" Max snapped sourly as he observed that the pair was still in locked in an embrace in the hallway.
Rosie had succeeded in disturbing the Lupins who joined their guests for brunch. Teddy had been popped into a high chair that was attached to the table between his mother and Max.
"Well how successful have we been?" inquired Tonks of Charlie.
"Anything in the papers. Nothing on the boundaries" she prompted.
"No the Daily Prophet believes that Hermione has gone to ground with the Goblin nation. There is a press pack outside of Gringotts. The search for Delores Umbridge continues according to the headlines," Charlie advised the group.
It had been a pleasant lunch and it seemed that Dame Eliza was happy in her hotel apartment. Remus had portkeyed in with two gentlemen when he came with Teddy from London via Bucharest. One man was apparently the Dame's cousin and the other was her husband. There was a look from Tonks to Hermione as they had two guesses whom the cousin was; it could only be Duncan but if he was travelling through the ministry as a general citizen they wouldn't blow his cover.
After breakfast Rosie popped the Lupins into Dame Eliza's apartment while Max walked the long way with a certain little boy who was playing on a scooter in the long corridors. This was to give his parents enough time to discuss the recent situation with the formidable lady.
Charlie had called for Ziggy. Hermione had been surprised to see him in Romania but he was there to make sure Miss Mia followed the goblin healer's instructions and got plenty of rest. Back in the hotel apartment the couple had settled on a couch beside a warm fire while watching the snow falling through the large panoramic windows. From this lodge suite the couple see across a volcanic lake into the Carpathian Mountains. It didn't take much for Hermione to fall asleep. Charlie was happy to be cuddled up with his love under a soft merino wool blanket. He had a book and her what else did you want on your lazy day off?
o0o0o
It was later in the afternoon when Rosie and Ziggy popped the Dame and her cousin into Hermione's suite. It was Duncan. Hermione and Charlie had a working meeting with the pair of head spooks discussing the implications of what was happening in the muggle and magical communities. After the elves had returned the spooks back to Dame Eliza's suite Charlie and Hermione had enjoyed a candle light dinner for two. While Hermione seemed happy there were moments when he thought she was not, it got to the stage where he decided to call her on it.
"What is wrong sweetheart?" he asked her over their dessert but she didn't have an answer, as she didn't know how to explain it.
Sitting on the couch after dinner allowing Ziggy the opportunity to clear the table Charlie tried again to get her to tell him what was bothering her. She had been sitting there gnawing her lip almost splitting the skin. Taking her in to his arms he helped her to settle into her into his side. With a peck on forehead he reminded her he need to know what was wrong so he could help solve the problem.
"I might known dragon body language but I am not sure about yours so since I don't have mystical mind reading abilities I need you to talk to me," he told her before adding another kiss to the earlier litany she had received.
"What is it about me? Should I have Bill do a professional consultation am I cursed? I don't want fame or infamy but I have got it in spades. I just want the freedom to be me. You know I thought when I was told when I was a witch now here was a chance for me to be accepted as one of the crowd," she explained to him. He was watching the tears starting to crystallise on her lashes. He knew that there was more and he should let her say it all. After wiping a cheek angrily Hermione continued on with her explanations.
"In primary school I was bullied. I was made fun of because I was too bright, too intelligent, had funny hair, and had a mother who worked. I basically was the magnet for the bullies and it could be anything that they used as their reason to single me out. I was a lonely only child and then we get an explanation for the strange things that used to happen around me. I was a witch. My parents just wanted me to be happy and were super proud encouraging parents. I had a hope dangled in front me that maybe I would be accepted. Didn't that come crashing down round my know it all ears.
I was so worried before that first term that I wouldn't be good enough to stay that I would be told I had to leave cause I didn't come from a magical background. I only got my wand the summer before first year. We had stopped in and out for books at Diagon Alley so I would be prepared for this new world but there was still so much for me the learn. Half the time I felt like I was learning a new language while living in a foreign land. I was disorientated and was always running flat out just trying to keep up. There was so much jargon so much expected prior knowledge. I get a little defensive when I am nervous" she said.
At this point Charlie couldn't help himself he snorted trying to keep a laugh in. Hermione had given him a light smack, as she knew that it could be more than a little.
"Just a little love, but I love you for it," he agreed with her placing a gentle buss to her hairline.
After a pause of silence she continued for him. "So my people skills have never been that great. I am shy I know" when he did a double take on her but she snuggled in so he settled back down on the couch so she was comfortable.
"Some shy people hide and others bluff it out. I am bluffer. Shite liar but can bluff for England. Anyway my bluffing at that age could have been seen as standoffishness, bossiness, and a pretentious smart aleck or as a combination of all three. I felt alienated I was not a girlie girl and in my dorm I had Lav Brown and Parvarti Patil two walking fashion plates. There were no common points of interest with anyone else in the girls and then the boys were just scared of me. You know your brother's most frequent comment about me to this day is 'Something mental about her'.
Then I ran into the displeasure of being considered a second or third class citizen because my parentage. I was a muggleborn so therefore I was dirt beneath everyone's feet. I had to work twice as hard to get half as much recognition by the teaching staff. I never forget the comment I overheard between two professors in the first couple of weeks who discussed how I needed to overcome the disadvantages of my parentage. You know that bathroom the night of the troll just before the attack I had come to the conclusion I needed to ask my parents to pull me out of Hogwarts. I was just so miserable.
Thanks to Harry I am still here. When he came to find me someone he didn't really know it was the first bit of true kindness I had experienced. I decided to stick it out until Christmas and by then we were friends. I made a promise to myself that I would always stick by Harry as he stuck up for me that Halloween night.
Talking to mum about the blood purity that Christmas break she explained it was like racism or sexism. Something that one person had to take a stand to overcome and break it down. Mum had experienced it as a dentist. She wasn't a burn your bra feminist but she was egalitarian. She said I could choose to accept the status quo or I could choose to rise above proving how wrong the behaviour or attitude was. You know my mum was hero when I was younger " and then Hermione hitched a breath. She was crying hard now and all poor Charlie could do was hold her and attempt to sooth her.
His dragon call was reacting to the situation he just wanted to shut the world out and wrap her up in cotton wool so all the barbs of the world couldn't get to her. She needed to grieve properly Charlie thought that she had hidden her parents' death and hidden the need to deal with emotion. Hermione had a high concentration level and she could be very determined. Charlie had concluded that she had done everything to distract herself from having to deal with the grief. Hermione was crying in a heart-wrenching manner and Charlie summarised that this emotional release had been a long time coming.
He had thought when her breathing quieted that she had fallen asleep so he was shocked to hear her say "I knew the risk when I gave Gornurk the instructions to lodge the petition but even I hadn't seen the outcome of the Privy Council and Her Majesty declaring that UK magical community needed a radical change. I thought it would be a long slow process but it now seems like it will be happening by hook or crook in the next year or so. The meeting yesterday afternoon was scary I had heard of Royal Privilege but I didn't know much about the workings or power that it could weld. The 10 page document was all it took to separate the magical judiciary from the legislative body.
I can see so many potential outcomes and I had raised the question yesterday of 'What if the Ministry of Magic fails to accept the Order in Council'. I saw the full force of the royal command tone when the Queen responded that would their foolish mistake. She is fully prepared to enable the Muggle Government to deal with the Ministry if they failed to accept her legal direction. The Unspeakables have already agreed to support her decisions. So if Kingsley and the Wizengamot say no way you're a muggle you can't tell us what to do she said she would send a joint force in of magicals and non magicals to dismiss or arrest and remove all those who refuse to fall into line. She would appoint an interim Minister for Magic and then weed through the Ministry to ensure that she had the support. Those who tried to oppose the reform and attempt to fight back would be facing a treason charge. The Queen would not tolerate any civil disobedience or mutiny.
Now it seems I have brought the UK magical community to the brink of another conflict just because I want my privacy and didn't want to register as a Veela. It is scary being the poster girl of the world order. I suppose we will know if we are in a civil war by the end of the week hopefully the seasonal spirit will help to calm any hot heads".