A/N : MY WRITERS BLOCK IS GONE! thank you for all the help and advice! :D
The dinner had ended not too soon after that and the guests, understanding the situation had left early. Mrs. Potter was dismayed and couldn't bring herself to do anything but wait for news. Hermione had learnt in her time here that the Prewetts were rather close to the Potters and could understand the concern they all felt.
Lily was biting her lip nervously, James was pacing the room waiting for word from his father, Sirius was holding Dorea's hand in silent comfort but his eyes were on Hermione who was curled up in an arm chair, her mind already whirring into action.
The handsome Marauder was frowning. He could tell clear as day that he was missing something. Hermione wasn't fidgeting anymore but had a calculating expression on her face and the look Dumbledore had giver her still bothered him.
Once again his thoughts were interrupted by the flash of green in the fireplace and Charlus Potter stepped out. He looked at his family for one long moment before collapsing into the couch.
"Charlus?" Dorea asked a bit worriedly.
"They will make it" The man replied with a sigh.
"How bad was it?" The woman asked, pressing her husband for details. He looked once towards the four others in the room before continuing.
"Pretty bad, a lot of broken bones and quite a bit of blood has been lost. Gideon lost an ear, cursed off…nothing poppy can do about it and Fabian is yet to wake up" The man said, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Lost an ear?" Lily asked, her voice an octave higher.
"It's a miracle they did not die. Twelve death eaters, Twelve!" Charlus exclaimed
"And they all got away?" James asked angrily and Hermione sucked at the air, anxious for the answer
"No…eight got away, four are dead" Charlus answered and she breathed quietly in relief.
James looked stunned but Dorea waved it away.
"At least they survived" she said, the first wave of relief crashing over her.
"That part is still a mystery. They were rescued by a pair of house elves that apparated them to Hogwarts" Charlus said, frowning again. Dumbledore had refused to give more details to the senior auror and the presence of the elves did not add up.
"House elves? But the Prewetts don't have elves…" Dorea said in surprise while Hermione stiffened. Charlus shrugged in response.
"Doesn't add up, but maybe the twins will be able to explain something tomorrow….Oh and Molly hasn't been informed yet, Gideon wanted us to wait until Fabian was awake. So no one really knows, not even the office. Their absence will be officially investigated only two days later until then it's under the wraps" The man answered.
The conversation went on a while longer, James and Lily asking a few more questions but the other couple in the room had long lost interest. Hermione was trying to figure out the next course of action and Sirius was focusing on her.
Her reaction to the news, her lack of interest in the details, her almost relieved expression all of it made him wonder if she had somehow been warned of this earlier….except that seemed quite impossible, or was it?
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Another twenty minutes passed before the family decided to retreat to the comfort of the beds for the night. Each of them disturbed by the nights events, the four walked up to their rooms.
"Cassie will kill us if we don't let her know" Lily was saying as they reached their door.
However it seemed like James was the only one listening for neither Sirius nor Hermione said a word. The former pushed his door open and Hermione followed in and the door closed just like that.
"That was strange" James muttered but Lily didn't seem to think much of it.
But the Potter heir was right, it was strange. Inside the room, Hermione vanished quietly into the shower and Sirius sat once again with the completed cube in his hand. A good half hour passed before she came out again and by now Sirius was much more confident of his theory.
As she stood on the balcony, drying her hair the muggle way, Sirius slipped out of bed and joined her by the railings and cleared his throat. She turned to him with raised eyebrows but he refused to meet her eyes, turning instead to the ocean of stars above them.
"You sent the elves" It wasn't a question. Just a statement…
She stiffened again, not wanting to protest but not ready to explain. She kept forgetting that Sirius Black was more than he seemed. She had often felt those eyes on her, read them enough to know that he noticed every little slip. She knew that though he never called her on any of it, he was always watching and there was very little that he did not see. Then again she knew a part of her didn't want to remember to cover her tracks up around him, let him find out on his own if he wanted to….
He studied her and much to his surprise the initial stiffness was gone and there was a slight hint of a smile on her face.
"So I am right?" he asked quietly. Her smile widened a little more.
"You seemed pretty sure a moment ago" She teased.
"I – yes I am sure…I just thought you would deny it" Sirius replied in honest surprise.
"I don't lie to you" She reminded; a slight note of hurt evident in her tone.
"True…I'm sorry" Sirius admitted pulling her closer, letting himself get assaulted by the strong fruity flavor of her hair.
"I'm still waiting for you to ask" Hermione said, breaking a long stretch of silence.
"Tell me when you want…I don't pry" Sirius replied with a slight smile.
She laughed openly at that and it seemed to cast a peaceful spell upon them for they spent a fair majority of their night in the balcony, simply holding each other.
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The night and the following day seemed to hurry past and it was well into the next night. Lily had been sent to fetch Cassie while Charlus and Dorea had gone to inform the Weasley's.
The twins were both awake now and Sirius and James were keeping them company when Hermione walked in with the headmaster. Minutes later they were followed in by the former head girl and a thoroughly shaken raven haired beauty.
Cassie flung herself on Fabian, even as her hands sought her boyfriend's twin and she cried openly. The others retreated a bit, giving the family a bit of space only to have the room crowd in more.
The weasley's had arrived with the Potters and Molly was looking more formidable than all twelve death eaters as she yelled herself hoarse through her tears. Hermione couldn't help the small smile for it was the first time she was seeing the Weasley matriarch in this time and the woman looked exactly like she remembered her, well perhaps with lesser lines on her face but all the same, she was still same old and a livid one at that.
However she seemed to be the only one who found it refreshing or dare she say even comforting to listen to Molly reprimanding the twins. The others flinched and back tracked, Dorea hurrying a two year old sleeping Percy out of the room and Bill seeking solace in Aunt Cassie's arms. She turned to Arthur who was trying to pacify his wife, noticing only then a scared looking Charlie eyeing his mother from his hiding spot behind his father's legs.
"Charlie come here darling" She said quietly and picked the little five year old up.
Bill looked up and watched the brunette take his brother away and as much as he wanted to follow he couldn't find the courage to go past his mother right then and chose to bury himself deeper in his aunt instead.
Outside the locked wards of the Hospital wing, Charlie was clinging to Hermione tightly, his mother's screams still slightly audible.
"Shhh its okay sweetie" Hermione shushed the highly bothered child and then carried him to the nearest window.
"Ever seen a dragon fly up there?" She asked him, effectively diverting his attention from everything else.
"Dwagon?" Charlie asked looking keenly up into the sky. The next ten minutes she spent telling him fascinating tales about the fire breathing creatures and Charlie had completely calmed down that was until the eldest Weasley child came fleeing from the room.
"BILL!" Hermione called in panic as the terrified boy stood outside the door with tears streaking down his face.
"Momma" He said in a frightened voice.
She looked up behind him to see Molly Weasley going into labor. Percy was urgently thrust into Charlus as Dorea and Poppy both rushed in and slammed the door shut behind them.
The stunned brunette numbly knelt down and opened her arms to a young Bill who gratefully flung himself into her. Both of them clung to her as she soothed the scared kids, all the while fighting a relieved smile.
No wonder the dates didn't add up. Molly had been affected by the attack on her brothers and had delivered the twins early. She smiled up at Dumbledore whose eyes were twinkling with merriment, glad that this time round the woman hadn't completely lost her brothers.
Satisfied, Hermione pulled the boys to lie on her lap and listened to their prayers for a sister. You'll have a sister, the most wonderful sister anyone could want, she thought smiling fondly at the two serious faced gingers on her sides.
Sirius, James and Lily all watched Hermione subconsciously stroke the two red heads on her lap, looking happier than any of them remembered seeing her.
"Someone loves children" James teased, her radiant smile affecting all of them.
"What?" Hermione asked distracted from her thoughts of Ginny.
"You certainly seem to have a way with them, they love you" Lily said referring to the effortlessness with which she got Nymphadora, Bill and Charlie all wound around her finger.
"Of course they love me" Hermione laughed, winking at the two little boys as she said it. Before they could continue the conversation though, Cassie walked out precariously balancing two infants in her arms.
Bill and Charlie both raced towards the bundles in her arms, Hermione not containing her eagerness any better than the children as she too rushed towards the proud aunt unable to contain her wide grin. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the Weasley's till then and she was ecstatic to have five of them around again.
"Twin Boys!" Cassie declared happily and Hermione's smile widened. Born at Hogwarts to wreck havoc in Hogwarts; bless the soul who would have to be prefects instead of her when they got started on their joke shop.
She hadn't completed the thought when she saw both James and Sirius gingerly take a twin each. How perfect, held by the Marauders on the very day they were born, all hope of them growing up to be anything but pranksters was lost and she burst out into fits of giggles, much to everyone else's amusement.
There was simply something about her grin that was infectious and the entire company spent the night grinning like fools.
A/N : No Hp fic is complete without the Weasleys! I rest my case :p
