Memories, good and bad.
Mikey actually behaves, for once, more memories are viewed, Greybacks motivation is revealed.
Quite a long chapter. I think his memory took most of it. I wasn't planning on that big of a memory but it just happened that way.
After classes were over, the eighth years went back to detention. It was becoming a regular sight for the younger students, watching their prefects and Head Boy going to detention. The professors Scabior and McKeon just shook their heads and kept their fingers crossed that their boys didn't get in enough trouble to actually be expelled. They all seriously wanted to see their boys graduate.
Umbridge, still furiously angry, over her kitten plates, announced their detention. Since it was the whole class, she divided them by house. The Hufflepuffs were sent with Filch to polish all the trophies in the trophy room, by hand, no magic allowed. The Gryffindor group, minus Hermione, was sent to Hagrid to help him round up his blast ended skrewts who had escaped into the Forbidden Forest. The Ravenclaws were set to washing every one of the plates in an attempt to wash off the green dye. The Slytherins were led to the Great Hall and told to scrub all the tables clean of stains, again by hand, no magic allowed. Mikey and Alex were held in the hallway. They were directed to polish each and every one of the rules framed on the wall. Hermione was directed to sit down and do nothing. Unknown to Umbridge, this was the worst punishment for Hermione. It was how her parents used to punish her. They knew there was nothing she hated more than to sit still without a book in her hand.
Pretty soon, though, she found she didn't mind doing nothing. From where Umbridge had seated her, she had a perfect view of Mikey up on the ladder. Marcus, Draco, Aidan, Gregory and Blaise sniggered as they watched her lean back against the table and stare dreamily at Mikey. The boy, himself, was so busy washing portraits that he didn't notice being watched until he was halfway down the ladder. Then he smirked at her as he contemplated the temptation of 'accidentally' dropping some of the stupid rules he was having to wash. Her eyes widened and she shook her head no, even as she was giggling. She pointed up and then to her temple and blew him a kiss. With that silent promise, he promptly decided to behave himself the rest of this detention.
The sooner he finished here, the sooner they could slip off to the Room of Requirement for some more alone time. He still had several more upsetting memories he needed her to ask him about. He'd discovered, the first time, that it was easier for him to talk about his memories if he allowed her to view them first, then ask him about them. She had never asked 'how he felt' because she already knew. He loved how she would ask him about some random little thing, then draw him into talking about the actual upset shown in the memory. He wasn't ready yet to show her any of his Voldemort memories so he was instead going to show her his memory of the attack that gave him and Alex lycanthropy.
Pretty soon, he and Alex finished with the rules. Alex volunteered to help the rest of their house with the tables, effectively freeing Mikey from detention. Hermione waited to see if she had SAT long enough to satisfy the old hag. Reluctantly deciding that both Hermione and Mikey had behaved well enough, she allowed them to leave.
They went to the Room of Requirement and he went right to the pensieve. Before he could draw out a memory, she hugged him tightly. Watching the memory drop into the bowl, she prepared to enter the memory.
Once she dropped inside, she found herself inside a huge ballroom. It looked like a birthday party. To her surprise, Dumbledore was there, talking to the parents of several students. She heard a familiar laugh and looked to her left. Mikey and Alex were standing there, with Marcus, Aidan, Draco, Vincent, Gregory and Blaise. They were showing newly earned Aurors badges to the boys and talking about their training. They imitated Alastair Moody 'Constant Vigilance!' Alex told them they'd heard it so often, Mikey actually woke him up from a dead sleep once yelling "Constant Vigilance, Scabior!" in HIS sleep! They were laughing at him as he laughingly covered his face for that. Hermione laughed softly.
Soon, Alex and Mikey decided that they needed something stronger than butterbeer and wine to celebrate their birthdays. They slipped into the garden and Disapparated. The memory briefly twisted around her. When they reappeared, they were at a tavern. She knew immediately this was when they were attacked. They walked in and greeted some of the older, more experienced coworkers. The older wizard discovered it was Mikey's eighteenth birthday and the previous weekend had been a celebration for Alex. They immediately called for a birthday celebration and insisted that the young wizards were not allowed to pay for any drinks the rest of the evening. Everyone sang happy birthday to them and they were praised the rest of the evening. As it wound down to closing time, everyone was a little unsteady on their feet. The two boys were absolutely smashed. They were propping each other up, laughing at a coworker's joke when suddenly the doors and windows burst open.
Death Eaters came streaming in, blocking the door. Werewolves leaped through the windows and began transforming. The patrons screamed as the Aurors, jumping in front, ordered everyone to the back of the tavern. Though they could barely stand up, Alex and Mikey were prepared for a fight. They whipped their wands out and stood back to back. Surprisingly, their drunken state didn't hinder them, in fact several times a well-timed stagger actually helped them dodge a portion of the curses fired at them. A short break in the fight resulted in a male patron, thinking the fight was over, promptly dying as he unexpectedly stood up and tried to make a break for the door. After that, the other patrons panicked and all hell quite literally broke loose.
The werewolves were attacking anyone who moved, be it patron, Auror, or death eater. Alex fell away from Mikey. He turned to check on him, discovering him in a desperate battle with a werewolf but he was managing to hold his own. Mikey turned back to his own opponents, two Death Eaters firing curses at him rapidly, attempting to catch him off guard. He dispatched them in time to turn back to Alex. He darted over, just as Alex cried out.
There were two wolves there with him. One which he had obviously managed to subdue but the other rose with blood smeared on his face. "No!" Mikey cried as he saw the blood spreading from his cousins side. Then he realized who he was looking at: Fenrir Greyback. He gulped but bravely raised his wand. Greyback almost casually walked after him as he fired curse after curse at him, seemingly unaffected by any of them. Suddenly he felt the sting of a curse hit him in the back, immediately setting up a burning sensation in his veins. He screamed and almost dropped. But he was still desperately shooting curses at Greyback, who had frozen. He suddenly jumped at Mikey. Flinging up his already injured left hand, he felt Greyback grab it and latch on, biting deeply. He went down, screaming as it felt like his body was burning from the inside out. He vaguely heard Alex yelling his name. Glad his cousin was still alive, he tried to let him know HE was ok, too. Blackness swam around in his vision as he saw Alex crawling toward him. He looked up, puzzled at seeing the huge Greyback crouching over him and, apparently, waiting for Alex.
The fight was over for them. Greyback disapparated and their coworkers came running to check on them. Upon realizing that they had been bitten, the others backed away from them. Suddenly Greyback was back, snarling at the older wizards, he knelt, clapped a hand on each boy and disapparated once more. The memory twisted around Hermione again. This time, they were in the lobby of St Mungo's. "Medic, now, you bunch of pansies!" Greyback roared. He waited until the two boys were surrounded by medical personnel, then walked away. He ran lightly up the steps and burst onto the third floor.
Grabbing a dark haired doctor, he whispered in his ear. The doctor jerked away, almost pulling his wand on him, anger on his face but Greyback spoke again, quietly but urgently. The man suddenly had a look of fear on his face. He yelled a woman's name and ran after Greyback. She dropped her cup and ran after them. They reached the floor in time to see the boys loaded onto two stretchers and wheeled to the back. Greyback vanished in the confusion but the male and female doctor both pushed forward until they were beside the boys. "Mikey, my baby! Alex! What happened?!" she screamed. The man grabbed her as she tried to jump forward, keeping her back as the other doctors attempted to keep the boys from bleeding to death. His teeth were gritted as he whispered in her ear. She jerked and looked at him. She looked behind them, obviously for Greyback. "Why? Why would he DO that? He knows what they'll face from now on! Why would he DO that to them?!" he shook his head. They were obviously trying to figure out the motives of why Greyback had either bitten the boys or saved the boys.
The memory twisted again. This time, the boys were in a private room, from the looks of it. There was a window looking in at them. They were either asleep or faking it. The two doctors, who Hermione finally recognized as Mr. and Mrs. Scabior, were outside the room, along with another couple, the McKeons.
"What have you found out, has Greyback shown himself? I fucking want to know why the fuck he bit my son! Dad is furious at him, as well!" Mike snarled angrily.
"There's been neither hide nor hair of him spotted, he's known to hang around the death eaters but all of them seems to have gone into hiding as well." Alexander said. "Don't worry, we'll find him. We'll get some answers from him. They better be damn good or we'll also beat the living fuck out of him!"
Inside the room, the boys were indeed faking, they laid quietly listening to their parents, actually their fathers, plotting to hunt down, question and beat the holy fuck out of Fenrir Greyback for biting them. Hermione smiled. It was clear to see where the boys got their vengeful natures from. The women were worried about their sons, the men were plotting revenge. As the men walked off, still plotting, the ladies decided to go grab a cup of tea, then visit their boys.
"We can't let them do it, Mikey. We got to get outta here. They go hunting down Greyback, they'll lose their jobs AND he'll probably shred them for daring to come after him. We need to just disappear for a while." Alex said unhappily.
"We'll not be accepted back into society, Ally, you know that as well as I do. We might as well just drop of the public eye, for good." Mike sighed. They sat up, both still wincing in obvious pain and pulled their clothes on as quickly as they could. They slipped into the hall and snuck into the stairwell. As they slowly climbed down, they discussed their options. Finally, they decided to contact their uncle, Severus Snape. He had a well-known hatred of werewolves but he was the only one they could think of who might be willing to hide them.
The memory swirled again. This time, she recognized the dusty, roughhewn interior of the Hogs Head bar, owned by Aberforth Dumbledore. The two boys were sitting in the darkest corner, away from the door and the crowds. They were attempting to keep anyone from realizing they were werewolves. The door opened and a gust of wind blew through the room. Severus Snape entered and looked around. Upon spying them in the corner, he stormed over.
"What in the name of Salazar Slytherin are the two of you doing out of the hospital?! Are you TRYING to finish what that attack started! Gods, we've been so worried! Where the hell have you two been holed up at?!" he finally finished his little rant and allowed the boys to answer.
'We went to Spinner's End. You gave us permission, remember? We know what it's going to be like now, Uncle Sev. We were just keeping our heads down so nobody had to worry about claiming us." Mikey muttered softly.
Snape shook his head. "Boys, boys, why would you think that? Your parents have worried themselves sick! Your mothers desperately want you home! They are not about to throw you away! Your fathers were, I admit, planning on going after Greyback, but after the two of you disappeared, all they've thought about is finding you."
The boys looked wistful at the thought of going home. They missed their parents badly.
"They're not ashamed of us for letting our guard down and being bitten?" Alex asked hopefully.
"No, they aren't. They're quite pleased that you survived the attack, actually, not many survive a werewolf attack in the full heat of battle like that. Besides, they didn't have to hunt Greyback down. He sought them out and explained, to them, exactly why he bit you. He also wants to explain himself to the two of you." He didn't think the boys would very agreeable to the idea and he'd told Greyback the same thing. But Greyback had insisted that he meet the boys himself. Sure enough, both boys were shaking their heads, they wanted nothing to do with the werewolf.
"The new school year is about to start. I won't home much but you can stay there as long as you want to. On the other hand, if you wished to, you could stay at the school with me, Dumbledore would move a couple of rooms around to attach to my quarters. Also for your transformations, there's the shrieking shack. Only one way in or out and that's going under the Whopping Willow." He tempted them.
Mikey remembered an angry little spitfire on the train back to London. She would be a sixth year. His eyes widened. 'seventeen years old! It would be a treat to see her again. He nodded. Having no clue what had actually persuaded Mikey to accept, Snape took that to mean Mikey, at least, would take him up on his offer. Now he just had to persuade Alex. He needn't have worried. He should have remembered, anywhere Mikey strayed, Alex followed right behind him. It was actually pretty surprising that Alex, being older, was content to let his younger cousin lead the way.
The memory twisted again. Hermione's eyes widened. She'd known there was something strange about the Shrieking shack that year! Every time she was in sight of it, she'd felt watched. She also saw how he polyjuiced them to look different. Those two students had sat with her and Vicky every day that whole year in Ancient Runes! How had they kept her and Vicky in the dark? The memory twisted again. She and Vicky were in Hogsmeade in Honeydukes. The two polyjuiced boys offered to 'take care of Weasley' for her. Even watching him and Alex buy the same sweets they had bought every year hadn't given them away! She watched as they, all four, walked out and froze at the sight of Fenrir Greyback. They had evidently caught him off guard as well. The two boys sent her and Vicky on ahead to snag a table at the Three Broomsticks. They followed Greyback and when he went to turn around, they both drew their wands, holding them steady. He held his hands up to show there would no problems with him, at the moment.
"Hello, boys, it's good to see you. How are you handling your transformations? Still fighting it?" Greyback asked. The boys remained silent. Greyback sighed. He'd known, going into this, there was the likelihood of not being able to get the boys into his pack.
"Listen to me, I'll only say this once. Had I not bitten you, there were only two ways you had of getting out of that bar. Alive as captives, going straight to the clutches of the Dark Lord or dead under the orders of Bellatrix LeStrange. When we were sent to that fight, I was Imperio'd by him, under VERY CAREFUL orders to only catch the two of you. Bella caught me on the way out the door. She added her own Imperio: kill you and Alex. We got there and the fight was going perfectly."
"Then,,,, then I saw my boys. I had two sons. They died many years ago, back when I myself was a wizard. I was walking with my family, we'd been to watch a movie. We were also attacked, same way, combined Death Eaters and werewolves. I sent my family on home ahead me. I was clawed by the wolves and that's how I became a wolf. I had sent a distress call for protection for my family. When I got home, they were dead and Aurors didn't show up for another two hours. I resigned the office and joined the Dark Lord that same day. But it had been years since I remembered my family."
"But I walked into that bar, fought like hell and got blindsided. There were only two newbies that day. They were drunk off their arse, should have been an easy kill. Instead we were having problems getting close enough to even grab you two. But I worked my way over to you, got past you and took Alex down first. He had just won a duel with one of my others. I knocked him down and froze! Could not move! I looked down and my Ian looked up at me. I hadn't any sons and so I bit him. Then I turned around and there was my Malcolm, holding his little wand on me. I stalked but not enough to even the odds. Then he took a blood boiler curse to the back and I couldn't sit there and watch the boy die, I just couldn't. That's who I saw in that bar. I looked at the two of you and saw my boys."
"I COULDN'T kill you nor could I turn you over to HIM. So I went back, having deliberately failed him for the first time since joining him. I took my punishment and laughed while he cursed me, knowing you were still free of him. I'm tired of fighting, boys. I just want this whole mess to be over and to be able to go home to my mate, take care of my pack." He stopped talking. There it was, the reason for biting them. Now it was up to them. Either he would walk away, knowing he had two more pups in his pack or he would walk away, knowing the next time he faced them, it would be as enemies once again.
The memory twisted again. Two boys were in a moonlit field, surrounded by ten wolves and Fenrir Greyback. "Just relax, don't fight it. Let the change happen naturally, don't fight it. That's the main thing, boys, do not fight the change. The sooner you can accept it, the easier it will be each month." Fenrir paced around the boys, lecturing them on how to handle their transformation. The boys were tense but alert. Then Greyback transformed and they followed suit.
Hermione came up out of the memory with a gasp. "You were at Hogwarts my sixth year? That was you and Alex? I can see how I was fooled but how did Alex fool Vicky?"
"Very carefully, Granger, very carefully." He murmured, watching her hands. Hermione's eyes widened. 'Why was he so fascinated with her hands?' She asked him, "Mikey?" she raised her hands quickly and he flinched back. "Ok, Mikey, what's wrong? Why are you so jumpy?"
He was breathing heavily. She sat very still. His eyes were wide and amber, she noticed with alarm. She reached out, very slowly, watching his eyes track her hand. She laid her hand on his cheek. His eyes drifted almost shut as he leaned into it. It reminded her of that day. She had reached out to him then, too. His eyes had been blue, but heavily glazed. Then he'd been Imperio'd. "Mikey, when is the full moon?"
He shrugged, "next week, sometime? Fen will know, we're transporting the pups to our hunting grounds for training." His eyes were slowly fading from amber back to blue. She relaxed. She'd never thought to keep track of when his transformations would be.
"Were you scared, just now?" she had an idea but she needed to test it.
"Yeah," he saw no reason to lie. "Why?"
"Did you know your eyes turn amber when you're scared?" she tilted her head. "Why were you scared just now?"
"Not many witches would be happy about being deceived like that, Granger, I was weighing my chances of making it out the door before you hexed me." He surprised a laugh out of her. She shook her head in amusement. 'He really was too adorable.' She thought about the memory she'd just watched. "So, Fen was Imperio'd to either bring you and Alex back to HIM or kill you per Bella."
"Yeah, but he couldn't do it. We reminded him of his boys. He actually went back and ALLOWED himself to be crucio'd for failing to bring us in." Mikey shook his head at that one.
"Your dads were going to hunt Fenrir down?" Hermione smiled. "They seemed determined to find him."
'Yeah, they were. Uncle Sev said Greyback hunted THEM down. He wanted to tell them personally why he'd bitten us. They still weren't happy but they understood once he explained about his family. They were mainly just happy he hadn't actually killed us." Mikey seemed more relaxed now that he was sure he wasn't going to be hexed for tricking her during sixth year. "Dumbledore knew who we were and what we were. We stayed in the background, a lot. We figured it would be better that way. But Alex couldn't be that close to Vicky and not talk to her so I stayed close to him and you stayed close to Vicky so,,, that's how that happened."
"Did you really wake Alex up, screaming "Constant Vigilance" in your sleep?" she giggled. He laughed and covered his face. "Yeah, I did. I'm surprised I haven't woke anyone up here, doing that."
She stood up from her chair and sat down in his lap. "I'm glad you're doing this. I know it isn't easy for you. Would you like to watch one of my memories?" he nodded, curious to know more about her. She drew out a memory, hesitated, then dropped it into the pensieve.
"You might see why I understood about your memory loss after you view this memory." She said quietly. He looked at her. She looked slightly pale. He dropped forward into the memory.
He was standing in a bedroom. There was a girl there, looking at an article in the paper. He stood beside her and looked down. "Entire Muggle family killed!" screamed the headline. The girl was Hermione and this was evidently her childhood home. "Hermione, darling, come to eat." A voice drifted in, from downstairs from the sounds of it. He watched as she put the strap of a beaded bag around her neck. He followed her down. There were two people on the couch, her parents, presumably. He watched silently as she pointed her wand at them. The tears sprang into her eyes as she whispered "Obliviate." He saw how they poured faster as each picture on the walls around them slowly changed. Each completely empty frame was removed and put into her bag. She kept one picture of the couple. She went over to the unconscious couple on the couch and kissed their cheeks. She whispered, "I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Then she walked out the door and down the street. The memory twisted.
She's at the Burrow. They are getting ready for the wedding of Bill and Fleur. At the end of the ceremony, a Patronus rushes in. "Minister is dead. Ministry has fallen. They are coming." Suddenly, there are Death Eaters flashing in, fighting members of the order. Guests are screaming, panicking, apparating out of the tent. She struggles to reach Harry and Ron. As they touch hands, they disparate. They flash back in on a busy street. She leads them down an alley. She pulls clothes out of the little bag. They get dressed and go to an all-night café. As they sit there, talking, Harry mentions Voldemort. A moment later, two men walk in, dressed in Muggle work overalls. He stiffens as he recognizes Dolohov and Rowle. It takes Potter less than a minute to realize the danger. "Get down," he screams, pulling his wand. Hermione and Ron duck, pulling their wands. The fight only lasts about five minutes, at the most. At the end of it, being 'the best' at memory charms, she obliviates their memories of the fight. They leave and go to Grimmauld Place. There, they set up their own little headquarters to figure out what their next move will be.
He came up out of the memory. "So you have fought Dolohov twice before Hogwarts, yeah?"
She laughs, merrily. "That's the first thing you ask me?"
He shrugged and nodded. "I already knew you lived at Grimmauld Place for a while. Yaxley took me there to get your scent after you little buggers escaped from the ministry again. Did you get their memories back?" Referring to the first part of the memory he watched.
"Yes, I was able to restore their memories. They weren't too happy with me, at first. Until Harry helped me explain how bad things really were. Then they realized it was for the best. That I was only trying to protect them. They forgave me." Tears had popped up in her eyes once more, remembering how scared she'd been of them rejecting her.
Mikey wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, enough memories, yeah? How about we give that bed over there another work out, aye?" he kissed her, trying to cheer her up. She wound her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He stood up, carrying her and carefully made his way to the bed.