A/N: This is more of a linking chapter.
Chapter Fifteen - "Mist"
Less than one month later in the Ministry courtroom, with the last case before Christmas...
The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, returned to the courtroom with his senior colleagues, having conferred with a jury. He sat down, looking tired and stern, as the parents of Jane Howard were brought back into the courtroom, and taken to one bench, and Jane brought in afterwards and taken to another bench on the other side of the room. It had taken four hours for the court to reconvene for the verdict.
Kingsley, banged his wooden gavel to silence the whispers and rustling of papers. "This case has been unique, tiring, disturbing and intense for all involved. We have made sure that all evidence has been looked at properly and with objective eyes and minds. No decision is ever made lightly in the search for truth and justice..."
"I wish he'd just get on with it," whispered Ginny.
Hermione and Ginny were present for the final day of the trial and to hear the sentencing, having given evidence themselves over the past couple of days. The brunette got hold of her wife's hand and held it. "Nearly over," she whispered back.
"First we come to the involvement and guilt of Mr. Kenneth Howard," Kingsley spoke, with the named accused standing. "Of planning the crime we find you: not guilty."
The court room hummed into life again, but the white-faced accused did not look relieved. Kinglsey continued. "Of collaborating in the crime, hiding the truth, assisting in supporting the crime we find you: guilty." The Minister waited for the rustling to die down again. "However, as those crimes are more recognized in a non magical court, you will we passed over to the Home Office; you are sentenced to six months in prison followed by a two-year suspended sentence. You will also not be able to contact your daughter, Miss Jane Howard, nor seek her presence, unless arranged and accompanied by an official and only with her permission. To break this restraining order will result in a lengthened sentence or returning to custody, if free at the time. Have you anything to say?"
Mr. Howard looked to his daughter across the room. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. Perhaps one day you might forgive me?"
Jane looked away from him and down at her hands in her lap; she looked a little emotional, but remained in control, only breathing a little faster.
Kingsley signalled to a witch at the court doors, and upon opening them a couple of muggle prison officers and an official in a suit walked to Mr. Howard and with handcuffs secured, walked him out of the court room.
Once more the Minister's gavel was banged for silence. "Moving to the case of Mrs. Michelle Howard," he said, looking up as the accused stood. "We find you: guilty on all accounts. Of planning, coercing, threatening, and creating the crimes, whereby murder was committed, with a view to fraud. Perhaps even more unforgivable is in the conduct you have shown towards your daughter and to more than one of her professors. As the crime is within the interest of the magical community, committed using magic, even if not performed by yourself, it is the responsibility of this court to sentence you. Your initial sentence will be fifteen years in Azkaban, upon completion of which you will be assessed as to your suitability and safety to be released into any community, or if your sentence shall be continued. You will also be prohibited from contacting your daughter unless she permits it and confers with an official, etc, etc."
Hermione looked to Jane who was a few rows away on their side of the courtroom and she was sure she saw her shoulders drop with relief, or released a sigh.
"Have you anything to say?" Kinglsey asked Mrs. Howard.
"I've been framed. I have been set up by one of your filthy lot...all of your filthy lot...and I will prove it...you wait and see and then we'll see who looks so smug."
"Thank you," said Kingsley, gesturing to a pair of Azkaban officers to use magical handcuffs and take her away, the defendant now looking decidedly ragged.
"I can't see how she'll ever be released," said Ginny.
"If she acts like that, me neither," replied Hermione.
The gavel hit the wooden block again. "And finally we come to Miss Jane Howard,"
Jane stood, resting her hands on the wooden stand in front of her, taking a deep breath to steady herself.
"With knowledge, you carried out the crime planned by Michelle Howard, you were involved with planning and were present at all crimes carried out in the attempt for that scheme to be completed. However, you too were a victim or threats and pressure; you did not cast any of the prohibited spells and upon finding the situation out of your control, you assisted our two operatives to conclude your presence in 1832 in the most positive way that could be done. You also saved the lives of many people with your actions, even though that resulted in your taking the life of a dangerous opponent to achieve that safety. We take into consideration your character, as one of Hogwarts finest students, and the exemplary reports given from your professors and the two women sent to bring you back. But we must not forget that, you chose to take part in this plan, initially, in a set of very unwise choices, being of near full age..."
"I don't think it's going to be as lenient as we hoped," said Hermione.
"Well, it was a bloody stupid thing to do," said Ginny.
"...we also have a responsibility to show that the crime must be punished. We sentence you to ten months in prison at Azkaban, but with provision for you to continue your studies. Then a suspended sentence of three years, to be conducted with close supervision from the Ministry, if and only if you submit to a training programme."
"Oh that's clever," said Hermione. "He's basically telling her to stay good, train as an auror, or you'll be back inside. She gets punished but also gets to prove herself in the job she always wanted."
"Will people trust her?" Ginny asked.
"With time, I think they will...providing she has been honest with everyone and isn't thinking of breaking out her mother and doing something ridiculous. Auror training should get to the bottom of things fairly quickly if she's played us."
"Nah, she looked relieved that she wouldn't have to see her mother again."
"...do you have anything to say?" Kingsley asked Jane.
"Thank you," said Jane. "I want to thank Professor Granger and her wife for helping me, and bringing me home. I also hope to prove how grateful I am for the chance I am being given, after my initial sentence. I hope to never let anyone down again, and certainly not in this way." She bobbed her head to Ginny and Hermione, then calmly allowed her wrists to be magically handcuffed and taken from the court by an Azkaban official.
That evening when the two witches were finally able to get home to Godric's Hollow, Hermione flopped onto their bed. "It's finally over," she said.
"That was couple of weeks," said Ginny.
"I think the outcome was the best it could be. At least she has legal separation from her awful parents."
"I think she might eventually see her dad again."
"Perhaps, but she'll have advice and all the help she could want to make that decision, when and if she wants to," said Hermione.
XXXXXXXXXX
Two months later February 2008...
"Dead end, literally," said Hermione, as she scanned her laptop screen.
"Unless illegitimate," said Fleur.
"Yeah, but as far as we can tell that line goes nowhere." Hermione looked at the clock in the room. Five o'clock. "We might as well leave it for today."
Fleur stretched, pushing back from her desk. "Do you want to stay for dinner? We can message Ginny to come along too?"
"If you're sure?" said Hermione.
"I won't do much, I'll send for some take away," said Fleur.
For the past two months, Hermione and Fleur had been working together, both at the Ministry but more regularly at Shell Cottage - Bill and Fleur's home - with the use of the internet. It worked very well, so that Fleur was often around for her young daughter Victoire, and both she and Hermione got to work in a more relaxed environment, as well as acquiring the autonomy which helped to keep their findings more confidential.
They had come to the conclusion, fairly early on, that the 'rogue' element in this hidden band of otherwise squibs and muggles - but whom had magical power in varying degrees - all were linked to the Gaunt family and by extension the Masseys. A reluctant Filch had helped them with some tests, in trying to gauge if he could in fact have magic; they also took a blood sample. Sadly, for the school caretaker, he was still definitely a squib with no trace of magic, but it was useful in producing a reliable source for helping their database.
In conjunction with a forensic department of a university, they set up some DNA tests, also collecting a blood sample from Jane, given enthusiastically and from her mother which was given much less enthusiastically. Their forensic scientist friends couldn't discover any particular element, and not without Hermione and Fleur having to be more open about the project they were working on, but they began to build a small database. Using readings that spoke to ethnic origins and little pointers the scientists could explain with DNA coding, with eye and hair colour being a basic element. They hoped, one day, that it could give them more answers.
Most of the time Fleur and Hermione were working like genealogists, tracking down names, parish records, census returns, apprenticeships, land grants and a lot of the time they could work on the computer. They still often went to churches or records offices to get more information that wasn't available online, or looked at sensitive records normally hidden, for some crimes, but steadily they had been building a huge family tree.
They knew that like the mythical hydra, finding one head, actually meant there was probably another three lurking somewhere. Their goal was to find as many descendants as possible, and hopefully find out if the living ones were at all magical. So far they hadn't found any more living descendants, but they had only worked through a quarter of the possible tree they anticipated.
Ginny arrived not long after Hermione called her, preferring to use her mobile phone instead of sending a more dramatic patronus, or even Disapparating, to ask her over. Another hour's time and Fleur, Bill - home from the Ministry - Ginny, Hermione and Victoire were seated in the living room of Shell Cottage eating pizza, fries and other unhealthy goodness.
"Any exciting finds, today?" asked Ginny.
"A dead end," said Fleur.
"Literally?"
"Both dead, and no offspring," said Hermione. "As far as we can tell."
"That's good, isn't it?" said Ginny
"Yes." answered her wife.
"Although," said Fleur. "We'd be lying if we said we didn't want to find any living descendants...you know, just to see..."
"If they're a potential psycho, rogue, wand-wielder?" Bill finished for her, with a laugh.
"What if they don't know their ancestry?" asked Ginny. "That would be a shock!"
"I suppose that's the trouble with the unknown possible illegitimate issues, or even adoptions at some point," offered Hermione.
"Old adoptions would be hard to find too,"said Fleur nodding.
"Yeah, because a hundred years ago or more, it wasn't uncommon for a kid to live with someone that took them on and is therefore adopted but not through an agency...and sometimes even agencies could be a bit dodgy."
"I have a little news today," said Bill. "About Jane, but no one is supposed to know yet."
"Oh, she hasn't done something bad, has she?" asked Ginny, imagining that perhaps they had been a bad judge of her character after all.
"No, quite the opposite," Bill replied. "Her ten-month sentence should have seen her stay at Azkaban until October, but I've heard that she's been particularly good and kept her studies going very well, with the help she was given. As long as nothing happens between now and then, the plan is to release her in August, stay with an auror to acclimatize for a month and then fast-track her into auror training in September, with a new intake."
"It's probably the best thing that can happen," said Hermione. "I hope it works out for her."
"What happens if she isn't auror material?" asked Fleur.
"She'll still be involved at the Ministry," replied Bill. "They don't want her out of their sight for the next few years."
"If she turns out not to be good for auror training there are so many departments she could work for, she's bright enough, providing she makes no more bad choices," said Hermione.
Later that night, back at Godric's Hollow Hermione and Ginny were getting their breath back from making love, both tired and sated.
"Two months of full work on this project," said Ginny. "Are you enjoying it?"
"Yeah," said Hermione, laying her head on Ginny's chest. "It's investigating things, but unlike law enforcement it's the real mind boggling stuff. Proper detective work, in some ways. Plus a bit of science and working with Fleur is so easy."
Ginny kissed the top of her wife's head. "I'm pleased. I really am."
"At the end of each day we can see what we've achieved, be it a new name in the tree, a new connection, some piece of information, it's never knowing what we might find next. And hopefully it will make a difference later."
"What happens when you find a living descendant and they also be shown to have a little magic?"
"I'm not sure on the protocol. We can't arrest them, because they may have no clue about it. They might even use magic without knowing. Say, they're about to fall off a bike, swerve, but instead of falling off, the bike steadies and they carry on. Perhaps their will power is actually using magic."
"They can't really go to Hogwarts if they're older than their twenties, though, can they?" Ginny wondered.
"No. We haven't found any yet, but I assume we would have to bring the person to the Ministry or to meet with Kingsley and go from there. Maybe the Ministry could set up a training programme, so that they are properly registered."
"Aurors would be a wise choice for training. Someone like Harry would be perfect," said Ginny.
"That could work," said Hermione. "I'm not sure we truly expect to find any living descendants beyond Jane and her mother. The inbreeding of that whole family means they didn't have that many children survive infancy. A long list of only children."
"I heard someone say that if everyone traced their family back far enough, we'd all be related."
"I've heard that too. I don't know how far back that would have to be, but even so, this family seems to be pretty insular."
They were quiet for a time, then Hermione asked a question she had been wondering about for a couple of months. "Do you still like quidditch?"
"Yeah, I'll always like it."
"Do you still love it?"
The pause before the answer spoke volumes. "After all these years it gets a bit tedious sometimes. The training and routines."
"I know you've felt differently about it for a couple of months," said Hermione, lifting her head and settling with herself on the pillow next to Ginny. "I didn't want to ask, though. I wanted you to be ready to tell me."
"I don't know what I want to do," Ginny sighed. "I wondered about moving teams, but I don't think I could start somewhere new, nor play against the Harpies."
"Do you want to just stop playing? Do something else?"
"I've thought about it. I thought I might ask to have a sabbatical, to get away from the game a little while and see if I wanted to come back."
"I'm sure they'd let you," said Hermione.
"Yeah, perhaps I'll talk to Gwennog and the management next week."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
A month later, and the day found Hermione, Fleur and Ginny standing in Little Hangleton churchyard.
"It hasn't changed much," said Ginny, looking up at the small bell tower, then at the spattering of gravestones. "Not many new ones, not that I can see."
Hermione had gone to the nearest house to fetch a key for the church, and heard a satisfying grind then click, as the old large iron key unlocked the old wooden door.
They walked into the church and their noses were assaulted with the familiar church smells, or damp stone and dust. They walked up to the chancel, where Hermione could see part of a named slab under a rug that piqued her interest. She lifted back the rug to read the full inscription underneath.
It was an epitaph for Tobias Riddle and at the bottom of the stone was added a small inscription for Terrence, both death dates in 1832.
"I didn't expect that!" said Hermione. She brought out a digital camera and took several photos of the inscription. "I thought they were being buried in the churchyard outside? I was looking for possible older names."
"Hmm, it makes sense," said Ginny. "When I did my fake bit of praying, then got accosted by that vicar, he said it was a good thing I hadn't visited on the Sunday because of the funerals. Makes sense if they opened up the vault, or crypt, or whatever it is under there, because I wouldn't have access to have sat here."
Hermione rolled back the rug further, with Fleur's help, and began reading the other stone inscriptions. Ginny walked to the side door she had used before and tried the latch. It wasn't locked, so she went inside. It looked like several things were being stored there, including Bibles and prayer books in dusty piles. She went to a desk and smiled to see the three parish register books she had taken in 1832. She picked them up and took them out to the main area, sitting in a choir pew to open one.
Ginny flicked the pages of the burial register, the older pages covered with the stains of foxing, so common on old papers and books. She went to the 1832 pages for June; they were easy to find, being a small village and seeming to have less events recorded as the years passed. Sure enough there was an entry for Tobias Riddle and 'his nephew' Terrence. Buried 'in the new vault' in the chancel floor. There was an ink mark that looked like a star, and at the bottom of the page another accompanied in very small writing an entry for 'Thomas Riddle' buried near the boundary of the churchyard, 'an unsound, troubled mind, ending his own life' buried 'with prayers and blessings at nightfall' witnessed by the vicar and a church warden.
"They buried him away from prying eyes, or so it would seem. So it wasn't really three funerals, it was two plus a half of one later, when no one was looking," said Ginny, showing Hermione and Fleur, they having rolled back the rug and come over to her.
"I'm sure the village knew about it," said Hermione. "Things like that don't get kept secret for long."
"No other Riddles or Gaunts appear to have been buried in that vault." Fleur said, pointing over her shoulder.
"Which means the next generations were buried outside," Hermione said. "On or around where Harry was taken all those years ago, to witness the rebirth of the evil git."
Hermione took the burial register and flicked to the years that they knew Voldemort's father and grandfather had been buried.
"I wonder when he married? The kid?" Ginny opened the marriage register. "If he even stayed around here, or married here. He obviously must have done to have Voldemort as a descendant."
They remembered that he was born in 1826, and so they checked marriages from 1842 onwards, from the age of sixteen. They found nothing, not even checking later for a marriage in older age brought any marriage to light.
"We haven't looked in detail at his line, because it's so known, we'd only be dotting the i's and crossing the t's," said Hermione. "But we're sure to find out soon. Now we have a few more details we can perhaps start on that line next."
"Look to see if you can find Marvelo," said Ginny.
Flicking pages to possible death dates, Hermione looked at several years. She could find no sign of Thomas Marvelo Riddle Gaunt in any variation of names. "Perhaps he moved out and it was his descendants that came back? After all Voldemort travelled in Europe a lot, perhaps there were family connections over there."
"I imagine he was financially secure, gaining all the inheritance," said Fleur. "He might well have gone overseas."
"Oh, that answers things," said Hermione. On the very next page to the one they had looked at, in 1832, she had found an entry for John Massey. "And it notes that he was 'unlawfully killed by unknown persons on the road to Leeds.'"
"So, Morten Gaunt managed the cover up," said Ginny, nodding in appreciation. "Is there mention of the wife?"
The brunette flicked through a few more pages, and on reaching 1854, found an entry. "Elizabeth Massey, looks like she was interred into the same grave, therefore a double, probably on top of each other to save money on plots."
"Do you have a grave reference?" asked Ginny
"B14."
"Is there a plan in the front?"
Hermione flicked to the front of the register and found a loose piece of paper, that was more like parchment. She carefully unfolded it and saw a basic grid overlaying a plan of the churchyard labelled in different hands over the years. "B14...B14...hmm...looks like it's about three graves in from the path to the road, on the right. Looks like a large family plot next to it, as they've put the name Hammond over the area with lines...very few others except the large Riddle one, that Harry knew, have that type of labelling."
"We might as well, go and look," said Fleur.
They left the church and walked onto the path, looking at gravestones on the right hand side.
"Here's a Hammond...grave," said Ginny, looking over a large stone arrangement. "I say grave...more like a tomb...no, a mini mausoleum."
"I don't remember anyone talking about a Hammond family any time we've been here," said Hermione, looking at the dates, which had various names around kerbing and on a front panel of a stone tomb. "Last date here is 1808. So they must have died out, or the rest moved away."
They walked onto the grass and passed the impressive Hammond family tomb and next to it was nothing, only plain tufty grass. Hermione walked along the length of what would be the grave cut and around the area of it.
"I can definitely feel a bit of difference in the lumpiness of the ground. I'd say there's definitely a grave here."
"Obviously no money for a gravestone," said Fleur.
"Which is good news," said Ginny, walking a couple of steps away. "It means that Jane definitely didn't change their fortunes...and...oh..."
"What?" asked Fleur.
"We knew these ones," Ginny said pointing to a weathered, small squat gravestone, with a little lichen over the upper edges. The lettering was still very readable, though.
"So this is the landlady we knew," said Hermione, crouching by the stone to read it. "Ada Massey. Died 1997. Shit!"
"That feels way more creepy than it should," said Ginny, confused. "I know she probably didn't have much to do with her husband's activities, or appeared not to, but that's so close to all the other things going on at that time, that final few months leading to the final battle."
"I'll give you my take on things; a possible result," said Fleur "She died in 1997, leaving nothing much for Jane's family to inherit. You two go time travelling in 1998, and along the way Jane's mother hears glimpses of things that connect you to them. She works out that you might have killed her grandfather, or know what happened to him, but her mind actually wonders about the small changes you can do back in time, that could have big consequences...add in a pinch of salty obsession and maybe a dash of spicy insanity, and you have what happened here to get to 1832."
"Sounds pretty accurate to me," said Hermione, Ginny nodding in agreement.
Ginny was crouched near the stone, pushing down moss and long grass growing up the bottom of it. "It's probably just a verse or something." A little more cleaning with her fingers to move some of the small moss attached to the engraved letters. "Ah...Also in memory of John Massey, husband of the above. Lost to us, but never forgotten."
"I'll never bloody forget him," Hermione blurted out.
Her wife gave a wry smile, stood up and went to her, giving her a little hug. Fleur walked to the side looking for more graves.
"It doesn't look like there are more Masseys here, unless they're in the burial register...I know that the burial plans don't always keep up to date, from what we've seen," their sister-in-law said.
"Which means we might have to come back again," said Hermione, not entirely thrilled at the prospect.
"Not necessarily," said Fleur. "Have you got a large empty notebook or pad of paper?"
"Always have some in my beaded bag," said Hermione, then it dawned on her. "We'll copy the registers."
"Exactly," said a smiling Fleur. "Look, you two wait here and I'll go do that, then lock up and we can go again."
Hermione handed over two notebooks to Fleur, before the women decided to walk over to the unavoidable tomb of the Riddles. It was hard to miss it, despite it being set well back from the sight of the road, in a sparse area of the graveyard; it was large and made a definite statement.
"I know it's a grave, but it's so macabre," said Hermione, looking up at the image of the grim reaper.
"Has that gothic horror feel," said Ginny.
"I can't imagine what Harry went through that night."
The brunette walked around to the side of the tomb and then backed away slightly, taking in the size of the piece and the angles of the stone carving. As she was looking, she suddenly felt her ankle wobble and saw the horizon change radically, as she landed on her backside on the grass.
"You all right?" Ginny, went to her wife.
"Must have put my foot in a rabbit scrape, or..." Hermione stopped, as she had put her hand to the side to push up from the ground, her hand touched something solid. Something covered in spongy moss.
Something made her rub at the moss, definitely feeling an angled slab of stone. As the moss came away she could feel and see engraved letters. Ginny was at her side helping to clear the furry green vegetation. They couldn't see the dates clearly but the saw the names Morten and Marcella Gaunt. Hermione looked around the space where she had fallen and felt a low kerb of stone surrounding an inner square of grass, but sunken almost below the ground.
"Well, they lived and died here, at least," said Ginny.
"I still wonder where their son ended up?"
"There are some magical burial grounds," the redhead replied.
"Unless he changed his name to Riddle and he was in fact Voldemort's grandfather and not another generation back? Magical aging and all that," Hermione said. "Perhaps he wanted the Riddle name to cause less problems with living in the big house."
"If he did that unofficially then you wouldn't find it in your records, would you?" asked Ginny.
"Even with more official records in the 1800s, you'd be surprised just how many people went 'missing' only to be somewhere else under a different name. Perhaps running from debt, as you could be put in prison for debt, or running from supporting too many kids, or another crime. Sometimes just to get that fresh start."
"In which case, he could be in the big old tomb next door."
"It's sounds more likely the more I think about it," answered Hermione, brushing down her jeans, and getting a wet wipe from her bag to clean her hands. Which means any children he had were probably squibs or completely non-magical, until Voldermort came along a generation or two later, and got the Gaunt factor back in play. But if he did a name change and went overseas too, then it explains why he's not clear in the records."
After only a few moments longer, they walked back towards the church path, and waited for Fleur, who appeared shortly and handed the notebooks, containing the copied parish registers, back to Hermione to put in her beaded bag, as they told her of their find and theory.
They strolled through the village, no horses and carts going by, but a few cars did.
"Apart from that," Hermione gestured to a car that had passed them. "It hasn't really changed, not from 1832 to 1943, to now."
"It seems odd that the house is no longer there," said Ginny.
The Riddle manor house had been demolished in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998. It was seen as a dangerous place for focus to fall in any hint of martyrdom and the fanatics it might serve. A Grade II listed building would ordinarily have so many orders on it, to not even be allowed to change the colour of the paint on the windowsills, but it was a ruin of a building, and the danger of the distasteful interest it could pose, was more important than preserving an old house. Instead a livery and riding stables had been built on the site. Likewise, the Gaunt hovel in the woods had also been demolished, with all trace of it gone, including the flattened pathways that led to it.
"Nice excursions or horrible reminders?" Hermione asked her wife.
"I'd say nice excursion and okay reminders," Ginny replied. "Nothing really bad happened to us last time."
"We got lucky, even though we both got a bit sliced and diced."
"Anne wouldn't believe it if she saw this area now," said Hermione. "Shibden Hall looks more like she was trying to make it, but she never saw the work finished."
"It makes it more obvious, that however and whomsoever you are, that we all sort of flit through life and flit out again," observed Fleur. "A bit like a mist, and it's varied as to how many people get caught in your mist."
"I like the mist analogy," said Hermione.
"So you're saying that, we're the cause of variable amounts of people getting damp and soggy if they come into our life?" asked Ginny, grinning.
Fleur laughed. "The theory still works, if no account is taken of the literal meaning too. We touch many lives, some more than others and some people..."
"We make wet," said Ginny, unable to stop laughing. Her French sister-in-law looked like she might be annoyed, but snorted with laughter too. "Anne Lister was a master at that!" Ginny added.
Hermione actually blushed slightly, but all three of them were trying to stifle the laughs to actually walk straight. "At least you're enjoying your first unofficial-official field trip."
"I see why you enjoy the work. It's detective work, trying to find out the hidden things." Ginny paused, then added. "It's always strange visiting a place we've seen in the past...a long way in the past."
"It's like someone watching you, but you turn round and no one is there," said Hermione.
"I hope no one is watching us," said Ginny, unable to resist a glance over her shoulder. "I suppose Little Hangleton is one of only a handful of places we've visited in three different time periods."
"And I've not really liked the place in any era," said Hermione, disgruntled.
"We've never been here to sight-see," said Ginny.
"You've both always had to visit here with incomplete knowledge but a serious task to accomplish and always met various dangerous opponents here," observed Fleur. "Except for now, although I would say the memories are the opponents now."
They got to the end of the street to where the Hanged Man pub was.
"Oh?!" Hermione was surprised to see that the pub was called something different.
"That's made me feel better about it," said Ginny.
Above the name "The Black Horse" was a painted picture of a proud-looking black stallion.
"I suppose they chose black as Great Hangleton has the White Hart," said Hermione. "No confusion then."
Closing around near the door, they looked at an inset sign on the door lintel, naming the owners.
"Do you have any McConville's on your list?" asked Ginny.
"Not that I know of," said Hermione
"No, none," said Fleur. "In terms of Massey, we think Jane is the last line, and as far as we know she hasn't got married and decided to run a pub."
"I think I'd like to finish for the day," said Hermione. "Maybe start looking at those registers tomorrow."
"Fine with me," agreed Fleur. "I'll see you tomorrow, at Shell Cottage."
They walked around the side of the pub, into what was still a very small lane, and checking that no one was looking their way, they Disapparated to their respective homes.
At Godric's Hollow, Hermione went and sat down in their study, Ginny following and sitting on another chair.
"You didn't find it too boring?" asked the brunette.
"No. It was fascinating and a little creepy," replied Ginny. "It always has been if we've retraced our steps."
"Could you see a career change? Work for the Ministry on something similar?"
"I enjoyed it, and as dangerous as it's always been, I've always got so much out of the times we've been called upon, but I don't think I'm Ministry material, not even an autonomous area like you work with."
"Back to playing, then?"
"I'm wondering if I should maybe look at next season as a final one playing and start incorporating coaching, like Gwennog did," Ginny said. "I wouldn't want the top job, but being involved in some way would be good."
Hermione ducked a hand under her desk, reached for something and heard a 'click' before she then put a red velvet pouch on the desk. She opened it to show the two Time-Turners they had in their possession.
"We hold the power to visit anywhere at any time," said Hermione, turning the one Jane had used over in her hand.
"Perhaps we can go into the future and see if the Harpies win anything next season?" Ginny said, grinning.
"The future is never talked about with these things. Only getting back to where you started from."
"Dumbledore seemed to flit about?" questioned Ginny.
"He was Dumbledore," Hermione smiled. "The rules were always different for him. I don't mean laws, I mean the actual scientific rules of what can and can't be done."
"True enough."
"I often think of things we could go and visit together, but then there's risk involved."
"There's always risk with those things. But maybe there will be a time when the risk seems worth it, or we're asked to do something again."
Hermione carefully wrapped the Time-Turners back into the velvet pouch and reached back under her desk and a 'click' told her the secret compartment had closed. It was always warded with spells too.
"I know you worry about us having them," said Ginny. "Anyone trying to get one not only has to get in here, get past your spells, actually find the catch to open the compartment, but before all of that, they have to get past Humphrey!"
"I never thought I'd hear you praise him?"
"I'm not," said Ginny flatly. "But he's quite useful and very stubborn on the rules of entry to the house. And the back garden can't be accessed except by invitation and somehow, being Dumbledore's old house, it seems to know a person's intent."
"It's certainly safer than Gringotts," agreed Hermione.
"One day, maybe, we'll have a need for those instruments, but until then lets just forget about them." Ginny stood up, walked around the desk, then bent down and kissed the top of Hermione's head.
There would always be thoughts in the back of Hermione's mind, from time to time, about the responsibility they were guarding and the implications and possibilities it held.